The Sorcerer's Handbook-Chapter 20: The Crow Healer

"Ashe Heath, leave once you're awake. Otherwise, dinner time will be over. We don't serve patient meals here."

Ashe's eyelids were already burning from the glaring white lights. He sat up quickly, then rubbed his face and stomach. There was no swelling or pain. It was as if the brutal beating he'd just taken from Iger had been nothing more than a bad dream.

This wasn't the first time he'd witnessed the healing technology of this world, and each time left him in awe. In his previous life, an injury like the one inflicted by the Bloodrage Hunter's sword would have landed him in the ICU for over ten days, with little hope of survival. Here, it was completely healed before the interrogation had even begun.

He couldn't help but wonder if they planned to heal him first, then hand him a full "interrogation wellness" package afterward.

He looked around. The treatment room wasn't at all what he had imagined. There was no smell of disinfectant, and the space was clean and free of clutter or bloodstains, but the gray, black, and brown tones gave the room a dark, oppressive atmosphere.

And then there was the healer, dressed in a full black robe, wearing a menacing crow mask, and gripping a gleaming short blade. She was on the shorter side and looked less like a doctor and more like a cultist preparing him for a sacrifice. The mask muffled her voice, which heightened Ashe’s unease.

The healer noticed Ashe staring and asked, "Is something wrong?"

Ashe replied quickly, "It's just... my face, I think."

"Hm? I've already healed all your injuries. Are you saying a blood vessel ruptured?" the healer asked, puzzled.

"I feel... not as handsome as before. Did you not fix that? By the way... do you offer cosmetic procedures here?"

He'd only meant to make small talk, leave a friendly impression, and maybe get treated to a small snack on his next visit. He hadn't expected the crow-masked healer to get so excited.

She stepped closer. "Of course we do! We have eye corners, nose adjustments, bone shaving, and chin fillers! Whatever you want. You can become whoever you want! You may even change into an entirely different species! I highly recommend the Casilande procedure. It can effectively enlarge your eyes..."

Disgusted, Ashe pushed her back. "You're poking me with your beak!"

"Oh, sorry! If you want lip surgery, we also have the new White Rabbit Sugar procedure! It gives your lips a naturally sweet flavor..."

Seeing the healer's pitch-perfect enthusiasm made Ashe uneasy. "I don't have money!"

"I don't want your money. I only want you!"

Ashe flinched. "So soon? We barely know each other... Wait. Are you male or female? What species are you?"

The healer realized her words had come out wrong and waved them off. "I mean... as long as you let me perform the surgery, that's enough. You don't have to pay! It's completely free!"

"Hm... And what if I wanted to pay?"

"Uh... how much?"

Ashe quickly stopped her from reaching for his pocket. "Wait, wait. I was just asking casually. I don't really want surgery. Are all healers as generous as you? Performing procedures without expecting anything? With your outfit, I figured you'd be the type to suddenly raise the price mid-operation."

"That's... normal, isn't it?"

Ashe couldn't tell whether she meant "normal" as in free treatment, or "normal" as in suddenly raising the price mid-surgery.

The healer pressed. "So you really don't want cosmetic work? I'm a Silver Rank Healer with three spirits. You won't find anyone outside who's free and capable like me. You should consider yourself lucky to have met me!"

"What if you suddenly start charging halfway through the surgery?"

"Do you have money?"

"No."

"Then what are you worried about!?"

That actually makes sense. If I have no money, there is nothing she can swindle from me.

Even so, Ashe shook his head. "In my line of work, there's a saying, free things always end up costing the most. If I try to take advantage of you now, I'm bound to pay the price somewhere else."

Seeing that Ashe wasn't falling for it, the healer had no choice but to confess, "Alright. If you let me perform the surgery, there's a small risk."

"Small?"

"Yes, a little," the healer said, gesturing with her fingers. "I'm not very experienced with this procedure, so I need more practice. But I have three spirits, which is enough to make sure you won't face any life-threatening danger."

Ashe finally understood why she was willing to treat patients for free. Treatments from Silver Rank healers weren't exactly guaranteed to succeed.

Unlike empirical medicine in his previous life, medicine in this world relied on spirits. The most commonly used was the Water Therapy spirit from the Water Class.

As long as the patient had fluid in their body, a healer could activate this spirit to rapidly regenerate wounds. The usual method involved bloodletting and tissue scraping, then letting the spirit accelerate recovery.

Unsurprisingly, this method had its flaws. But every spirit could evolve, and this was especially true for the Water Therapy spirit. Any condition it treated would be memorized and optimized, letting it handle the same problem more efficiently the next time.

Furthermore, if a healer treated enough cases, the Water Therapy spirit could even evolve into a Two-Winged spirit.

This explained why Silver Rank healers were desperate for patients, while patients usually paid extra to see a Gold Rank healer. The weaker the healer, the less effective the Water Therapy, and the higher the risk of complications.

To healers, Shattered Lake Prison was a goldmine. Every day, there would be near-death inmates requiring treatment, giving them endless opportunities to practice and gain experience. And since the doctor-patient relationship was extremely stable, even if someone died, there was no trouble. A healer like the one speaking to Ashe wouldn't even get the chance to practice here without the right connections.

Ashe thought. Wow, the Death Match Club isn't just stirring up inmate competition. They're turning prisoners into renewable resources for healer experience. This prison really knows how to make money. They've completely cornered the market.

But the treatment's free and doesn't cost the inmates any Contribution Points. This won't do. The prison's nowhere near as petty as Aurora. Aurora didn't just sell me sudden-death insurance; it even charged me extra electricity for all that damn overtime, and that completely ruined my plan to make money mining crypto.