Escape from an Ancient Civilization Ch 111

Chapter 111

 

Thanks to pushing on without rest, they entered Kish just as a full day was drawing to a close.

600 of Medeus’s luck points are consumed. (Remaining: 9,800)

“The Kish army returns in victory!”

“Truly, the blessing of Inanna¹!”

The moment they passed through the city gates, the streets to either side were crowded with cheering Kish citizens.

The gloom of the defeated Uruk forces was swallowed by the red of sunset, while the shouts of the uplifted Kish people rose bright and round like a harvest moon.

Nataek gazed up uneasily at a sky that seemed to weave these two opposing scenes together.

600 of Medeus’s luck points are consumed. (Remaining: 9,200)

“The blessing of the goddess Inanna!”

“The blessing of the goddess Inanna!”

Inanna, Shminanna—just let us through already. Hurry… please hurry, people!

By the time they finally made it through to the Kish estate, Samuagon came rushing out barefoot to greet them.

To the ruler who welcomed their return, Nataek presented Luhal-Zagesi — a living proof and trophy of Uruk’s conquest.

Nataek invoked the name of Inanna to defer judgment on the prisoner for now, and immediately summoned a physician to their quarters.

600 of Medeus’s luck points are consumed. (Remaining: 2,400)

The man who arrived as the doctor was elderly, with a thick, bushy beard that did little to inspire confidence.

But there was no one else to rely on, so there was no helping it.

Pulling up a chair beside Medeus, seated on the bed, the doctor spoke:

“We must check if any fragments of the arrowhead remain.”

As he began untying the bandage around Medeus’s arm, Nataek asked:

“How can you tell if they remain?”

“We’ll have to look with the naked eye to see if anything is left lodged in the flesh.”

So… he meant to cut or probe into living flesh without anesthesia?

“Hold on. What if doing that makes it worse?”

“If shards are left inside, the condition will only worsen. I’ll fetch some strong geshtin² — please wait a—”

“Don’t bother. Do it now.”

Nataek’s pupils quivered hard. Of course — in this era, anesthesia didn’t exist.

The doctor, utterly unfazed by Medeus’s response, folded a clean cloth and handed it to Nataek.

“It would be best if the Lion would wait outside.”

600 of Medeus’s luck points are consumed. (Remaining: 1,800)

“No. I’ll stay here.”

“Teresi. Wait outside.”

“No. I’ll be here.”

What if this so-called doctor tried something absurd in the name of treatment?

If so, Nataek had to stop him on the spot.

The doctor, unmoved by Nataek’s refusal, handed him the folded cloth.

“In that case, place this in the general’s mouth.”

A cold sweat formed on Nataek’s palm as he took it, knowing exactly what it was for —

to prevent teeth from breaking or the tongue from being bitten through under unbearable pain.

His brow knit tight as he slowly brought it to Medeus’s mouth.

“Teresi. Wait outside.”

“No. Not happening. Bite down on this.”

Nataek grasped Medeus’s jaw and lowered it.

Medeus exhaled in resignation and allowed his mouth to open, and Nataek quickly stepped aside.

The doctor took up a strange-looking metal instrument.

“Do. Not. Move.”

The doctor swabbed the exposed arm and tool in what passed for disinfectant, then began prying open the wound.

With careful precision, his eyes searched the inside of the flesh.

“…Ugh.”

Medeus’s jaw muscles bulged as he ground his teeth against the pain.

Nataek kept his eyes on the doctor while also drinking in every flicker of Medeus’s suffering.

Damn it… If only I’d pulled him away a split second faster. Or taken the potion sooner and made a clean shot… No — I should have spotted that archer from the start.

The regrets piled on, one after the next.

Medeus’s hands clenched at the bedclothes as though they might rip.

It must hurt like hell…

1,500 of Medeus’s luck points are consumed. (Remaining: 300)

Nataek sank to his knees on the floor, gently wrapping his hand over Medeus’s clenched fist.

Under a sheen of cold sweat, Medeus’s gaze found him.

Hey. Sorry for the sloppy shot. Just hang on. It’ll be over soon.

Even as he labored for breath, Medeus didn’t look away.

As if he’d heard Nataek’s heart-voice, a faint smile crossed his lips — and it squeezed Nataek’s chest painfully tight.

“Whew. Fortunately, no fragments remain,” the doctor said, wiping his brow with his forearm.

“Still, refrain from using your arm for now. Rest well. Arrow wounds can have lingering aftereffects, so lie down as much as possible — and keep eating properly.”

“Thank you,” Nataek offered, sincerely.

Seeing the remaining 300 luck points still flashing in his vision, he breathed a short sigh of relief.

“Open up,” he said, tapping Medeus lightly on the cheek with his index finger.

As he removed the makeshift gag, the tension bled faintly from Medeus’s face.

Without thinking, Nataek brushed back the damp wisps of hair sticking to Medeus’s temples.

“You are to take the medicine five times a day, at intervals,” the doctor said.

“I’ll handle it. Just show me how,” Nataek replied.

Medeus watched him quietly for a long moment as Nataek listened intently, apparently unaware of that gaze.

No more system warnings blinked before him.

Is the leaking jar finally plugged…?

But that was far too optimistic.

That night, long after the sun had set, Nataek was woken from a deep sleep by the sound of painful groaning beside him.

It was so racked with suffering that it tore the last shreds of drowsiness away.

“What is it? Are you feeling unwell?”

Blinking rapidly, Nataek scrambled out of bed.

He rushed outside, bringing back a light for the bedside lamp — only to see Medeus panting raggedly.

“Medeus?!”

In an instant, Nataek was wide awake.

Feeling his forehead, arms, legs — heat radiated fiercely from every part of him.

Nataek raced for the door.

“Is anyone there?!”

“Lion, what is it?”

A guard standing sentry outside the wall ran over.

“Bring the doctor again! Medeus’s condition is bad. Hurry!”

Even the soldier seemed startled by Nataek’s urgency, running off at once.

Nataek returned to the bedside, pulling the lamp closer to inspect Medeus’s arm.

The swelling was so angry and red that it could be seen even without removing the bandage.

Had it become infected?

In this era, there was no such thing as antibiotics.

The worst-case scenario he had feared was now reality.

He had always suspected that Medeus, a man of ancient blood, would be more vulnerable to such wounds than a modern person vaccinated and reinforced against disease.

But now that it was happening, his vision darkened.

What do I do? Should I try a blessing again? Would that help?

Before the doctor arrived, Nataek resolved to try whatever he could.

He took Medeus’s hand, kissed the back of it, moving upward to stamp a kiss on his forehead.

“I’m not doing anything strange, so please bear with it,” he said — and then covered Medeus’s lips with his own.

Through the fever’s heat, Nataek breathed in his exhalation and swallowed it.

You have bestowed “Inanna’s Blessing” on Medeus!

Medeus’s luck points +300.

“…Hahh.”

Medeus’s luck points +400.

“Mmph…”

Medeus’s luck points +600.

When the total seemed sufficient, Nataek broke the contact.

Medeus’s luck points -1,300. (Remaining: 0)

But seeing them vanish instantly, he was speechless.

The reason Medeus had seemed relatively fine before sleep was because the stored points had been holding the illness at bay.

This is… just pouring water into a bottomless jar.

“Hah…”

Medeus breathed even more heavily now, flushed from both fever and the recent kiss.

Nataek quickly soaked a cloth in the herbal water on the bedside table and wiped Medeus’s cheeks and brow.

Can this ancient — no, Sununki world’s — medicine really cure such an infection?

If not, he would have to find another way before Medeus truly worsened.

As he wrestled with possibilities, a knock came — then the door burst open.

“I hear the condition has worsened.”

The doctor came in laden with supplies, dropping into a chair.

Eyeing the herbs and liquids, Nataek thought deeply.

Having drunk and experienced countless actual potions in this ancient civilization, he had come to believe in the existence and efficacy of Sununki’s alchemy.

If that was so… could a healing potion be crafted?

He pictured the kind that instantly restored full HP while curing wounds.

Yes. Standing here won’t help him at all.

“Hot water—”

“I will be stepping out. I’ll pass word to the attendants about the hot water — please, look after Medeus for me.”

Without waiting for the doctor’s reply, Nataek hurried out the door.

You cannot be allowed to die.

Footnotes:

1. Inanna — Major Sumerian goddess of love, war, and justice, often invoked for divine favor in battle.

2. Geshtin — Sumerian term for wine/viticulture; here likely used as a strong alcoholic antiseptic.