Chapter 20 - The Crow Doctor
"Ashe Heath, wake up and walk yourself if you don't want to miss dinner time. No meals are served to patients here."
Ashe, who had been baking under the glaring lights, sat up quickly and felt his face and abdomen. There was no pain or swelling at all, as if the beating from Igor had only been a dream.
This was not the first time he had witnessed the medical technology of this world, but each time it amazed him - the wound pierced through his abdomen by the Blood Mad Hunter would have likely kept him in the ICU for over ten days in his previous life, hanging on the edge between life and death. Yet here, it had been healed before he was even interrogated.
It made Ashe think they wanted to heal him first, so they could then put him through a full set of interrogational healthcare.
He looked around. Unlike the treatment rooms he imagined, there was no scent of disinfectant here. The environment was spotless without any clutter or bloodstains, but the color scheme was predominantly grey, black and brown, giving a visual impression of ‘dirty chaos’.
Not to mention the doctor here - dressed fully in black robes and wearing a terrifying crow mask, holding a gleaming short blade in hand.
She looked nothing like a doctor, but more like a cultist taking Ashe as a sacrifice.
The slightly shorter crow doctor speaking to Ashe had an obscured voice that revealed no gender due to the mask. Her words sounded even more frightening.
Noticing Ashe looking at her, she asked, "Any issues?"
Ashe casually replied, "I feel like there's still some issues with my face."
"Hmm? But I've healed all your wounds," the doctor sounded puzzled. "Could it be ruptured blood vessels inside?"
"I feel like I'm not as handsome as before. You didn't fully heal me right? By the way, do you provide cosmetic services here?"
Ashe had only meant to chat idly and build some rapport, so he could get preferential treatment with fruit and such when he came for healing again. But unexpectedly, the crow doctor became excited and moved closer to him, saying, "Of course we do! Eye corner lifts, nose jobs, shaving, chin fillers, any procedure I can do. I can even make you into another race if you want! I highly recommend this Kassadan procedure that can effectively expand your eyes..."
Disgusted, Ashe pushed the doctor away. "Your crow beak is poking me!"
"Oh sorry! If you want lip enhancements, I also have this new White Rabbit technique that can give your lips a natural sweet flavor..."
Seeing the doctor's fervent salesman-like enthusiasm, Ashe became afraid. "But I don't have money!"
"I don't want your money, I just want you!"
Ashe's delicate body trembled. "So fast? We've barely met! Wait, are you male or female? Wait, what race are you..."
The doctor also realized her slip of the tongue and waved her hands. "I mean, as long as you let me do the surgery, that's enough! You don't need to pay me, completely free!"
"Hmm..." Ashe asked, "What if I wanted you to pay me instead?"
"Uh...how much do you want?"
Seeing the doctor actually take out her wallet, Ashe hurriedly stopped her. "Stop stop, I was just casually asking, I don't really want cosmetic surgery. Though, are all you doctors this kind to do surgeries for free? With the way you're dressed, I thought you were the sort to suddenly raise prices mid-surgery."
Doctor: "Ah, isn't that pretty normal?"
"Huh?"
For a moment, Ashe couldn't tell if she meant 'free' or 'mid-surgery price hikes' were normal.
"So you really don't want cosmetic procedures?" The doctor strongly urged, "I'm a Silver-rank sorcerer with three spirits. You won't find another free and capable doctor like me out there! Meeting me is your gain!"
"What if you start charging midway through the surgery since I can't pay?"
"Do you have money?"
"No."
"Then what are you worried about!?"
That did seem logical. As long as I'm broke, you can't squeeze money from me... But Ashe still shook his head. "There's a saying in my profession - free things are the most expensive. If I take advantage of your free offer, I'll inevitably pay the price elsewhere."
Seeing Ashe wouldn't take the bait, the doctor resigned and admitted, "Alright, there is a small risk if you let me operate on you."
"Just a little?"
"Yes, a little." The doctor gestured with her fingers. "My surgical techniques aren't very proficient after all, so I need more practice to improve them. But with my three spirits, I can ensure there's no threat to your life..."
From the doctor's explanation, Ashe finally understood why they were willing to let patients freeload - because the medical efficacy of Silver-rank healers was not guaranteed.
Unlike evidence-based medicine in his former world, this world's medicine originated from spirits. The spirit most commonly used by healers was the 'Aqua Healing' spirit of the water-element.
As long as the patient had water in their body, this spirit could be summoned to rapidly regenerate the patient's wounds.
Cutting open wounds and scraping out flesh, then summoning the spirit to swiftly regenerate the body, was the most prevalent treatment method.
It was easy to see the many flaws in this treatment approach. However, all spirits had the trait of evolution, which was especially prominent in the 'Aqua Healing' spirit - any illness it had treated with before, it would remember and optimize, allowing it to treat the same illness much more efficiently the next time.
Moreover, once the healer had treated enough illnesses, it could even evolve the 'Aqua Healing' spirit into a Two-Winged spirit!
Therefore, Silver-rank healers were always eager for patients to practice on, while patients would rather pay more for better Gold-rank healers than risk their lives with a Silver. The weaker the healer's abilities, the worse the 'Aqua Healing' effects, and the higher the patient's risk.
To healers, Shattered Lake Prison was a honeypot - there were prisoners beaten to near-death to practice healing on every day. They could smoothly grind for experience here, and even if a patient died, there would be no issues!
Healers like the one speaking to Ashe wouldn't even have the chance to grind here if not for their connections.
Ashe thought to himself that the Deathmatch Society was not only inciting prisoners to fight each other as part of their schemes, they also treated the prisoners as renewable resources for healers to practice on. The prison profited immensely from this business model, completely winning against the prisoners.
However, the fact that healing was free and didn't require using up Death Row inmates' Contribution points showed the prison's smaller outlook compared to Ashe's company - his company not only sold Ashe sudden death insurance, but directly deducted electricity fees from his salary for his malicious overtime mining and crypto trading, completely foiling his get-rich plans.