Three Hundred and Seventeen Comatose
Within the corridors of Mercy Hospital, Vania, dressed in white nun’s robes, was walking alongside Sister Anre. Sister Anre had come to the hospital on some business and took the opportunity to visit Vania, who had been assigned here.
“At first, I thought you might have trouble adapting to the work here, but now it seems I was worrying unnecessarily. You’re doing a great job here. If it weren’t for the need for an experienced manager at the Historical Records Office in the future, you might have achieved even more here.”
Sister Anre smiled as she spoke to Vania, who responded with a humble tone.
“Thank you for your praise. Helping the injured patients alleviate their suffering is merely practicing the teachings of the Holy Mother.”
“Practicing the teachings? Heh… Yes, reverence for the Holy Mother isn’t just about reciting prayers; it requires action. You understand this well… However…”
Speaking, Sister Anre looked at Vania with a gentle gaze, then continued.
“However, I heard from Dr. Card that recently, ordinary patients in the main ward, where common illnesses are treated, have been reported to recover significantly overnight. Some even saw the shadow of a white nun, and some patients even called her an angel. Sister Vania, what do you have to say about this?”
“Oh… This…” Hearing Sister Anre’s words, Vania appeared somewhat flustered for a moment before quickly responding after regaining composure.
“I’m very sorry, Sister Anre. This is indeed the result of me using my abilities to treat these ordinary patients in the ward… I saw that many of them were poor workers injured on the job and couldn’t receive proper treatment due to lack of funds. So, I thought about helping them… This does violate regulations, and if it caused any trouble for the hospital, I apologize…”
Vania bowed her head apologetically to Sister Anre, who replied with a kind expression.
“Your compassionate heart deserves commendation, Sister Vania. This is precisely the quality we, as servants of the Holy Mother, should possess. But you must also know that compassion has its limits. Using extraordinary powers on ordinary people who don’t understand the hidden truths is not advisable. Although your intentions were good, this could still lead to the expansion of the extraordinary, making ordinary people curious about hidden powers, which could drive them to seek them out. Ultimately, this might expose them and many others to the dangers of the knowledge contained within the hidden secrets. For the sake of the greater good, we should use extraordinary powers cautiously.”
Sister Anre warned Vania, and after hearing her words, Vania nodded.
“I understand, Sister Anre. Next time, I’ll be more careful.”
“Mm… Good, then I should be leaving now. May you walk further on the path guided by the Holy Mother, Sister Vania.”
Sister Anre said her final words to Vania, who respectfully performed a gesture of the Radiant Church internally, thinking to herself,
‘Perhaps it is not the Holy Mother guiding me now, but Akka…’
Vania thought inwardly, feeling quite anxious after her previous request for guidance from the Holy Mother failed. Fortunately, Akka bestowed upon her a new divine revelation, granting her extensive knowledge of the human body, allowing her to base her healing on knowledge and willpower.
‘Compared to providing guidance to believers, Akka prefers to grant corresponding knowledge, enabling me to see through things themselves. Is this the nature of a deity? Closer to symbols of knowledge and wisdom rather than benevolence?’
Afterward, Sister Anre and Vania exchanged a few more words before parting ways. After watching Sister Anre leave her sight, Vania sighed deeply, preparing to return to her duties at the hospital.
At that moment, Vania felt something unusual. Her expression froze as she touched the area below her collarbone, covered by her nun’s robe.
‘This… It’s Miss Dorothyia calling me…’
After the puppet mark on her body emitted an anomaly, Vania hurriedly stepped forward. After turning several corners in the Extraordinary Injury Department corridor, she entered an unoccupied storage room filled with bed linens. She closed the door behind her and then took out the Sacred Text she always carried, flipping to the page for communication with Dorothy. Sure enough, there was a new message from Dorothy asking if she was still working at the hospital.
Seeing Dorothy’s handwriting, Vania did not hesitate and wrote directly in the Sacred Text.
“Yes, Miss Dorothyia, I am currently working as a temporary healing nun at Mercy Hospital. Is there anything you need?”
Vania responded to Dorothy in writing, and soon afterward, Dorothy’s handwriting reappeared quickly.
“Very well, I need to find someone. He is a therianthrope from the Wolf bl**d Association named Davik, a thin male with very dark hair, severely wounded by wind magic attacks, losing a lot of bl**d. He might have been admitted to the hospital three days ago. I remember you manage the largest extraordinary injury treatment facility in all of Tivyán. Have you seen a patient like him?”
Dorothy’s words reappeared on Vania’s Sacred Text, and Vania was taken aback. After a moment of thought, she immediately wrote back.
“Miss Dorothyia, I do remember this patient. He’s a short man with prominent cheekbones and small eyes, right? I know him. He was brought here a few days ago by the Hunter of the An Yin Bureau. His injuries were severe, mostly cuts. I even participated in his emergency treatment.”
“Is he really with you? How is he now?”
Shortly after Vania’s response, Dorothy’s handwriting reappeared hastily, indicating urgency. Seeing this, Vania realized that the patient named Davik seemed to be of critical importance. She did not dare to neglect her reply.
“He has survived our rescue efforts, but it seems he may have hit his head during the fight or suffered from oxygen deprivation due to bl**d loss. He is currently in a coma and shows no signs of waking up yet. He is receiving subsequent treatment in a specialized isolation ward, with several Hunters taking turns around-the-clock to guard him. They seem to want to question him once he wakes up, and I am still changing his bandages frequently.”
Vania wrote in her Sacred Text, and after finishing, her words quickly vanished into the paper. Meanwhile, in a distant carriage, Dorothy was delighted to see Vania’s response.
‘Sure enough, he was sent to the hospital. I knew those Hunters wouldn’t let this guy d*e without getting information.’
Inside the basket district of South Tivyán, Dorothy looked at Vania’s message in the book “Navigation of the Literary Sea” and thought to herself, now that she had found where Davik was, the next step was to find the stone stele, but this was a difficult task.
‘Now that Davik is still unconscious, there’s nothing I can ask him. And since he is in a church-controlled hospital under the watchful eye of the Hunters, even if he wakes up, approaching him for questioning would be extremely difficult.’
