Header Background Image
    Chapter Index
    Read Advanced Chapters on Patreon: patreon.com/fantasystories797

    Chapter 44: Your Hand, I Can Heal

    The two knights hastily bid farewell and left. The next day, Gretel spent the entire day copying books. When he returned home in the evening, he found the two knights, Flynn and Siro, waiting at his doorstep with a bearded middle-aged man.

    Besides the three of them, there was an unexpected visitor, persistently sticking around the entrance with a jovial demeanor. Before Gretel even got close, he saw the man’s large head shining brightly, making him quite conspicuous:

    “Bishop?”

    “Ah, young Gretel, you’re back!” The Bald Bishop greeted him with a carefree wave, acting as if he were at home. He then grabbed someone from between the two knights:

    “You want to heal him?”

    Gretel: “…” Can you tell me who that person is first?

    He approached to greet them, simultaneously using his gaze to inquire about the situation from the two knights. As he drew closer, he smelled a familiar stench emanating from the middle-aged man.

    This smell is so familiar… Gretel sniffed, suddenly startled:

    “You smoke?”

    Does this world have tobacco?

    Has the Age of Exploration begun?

    Rubber, quinine, coffee, cocoa, and even cocaine, which doctors both love and hate, have all been introduced?

    And the three wonder-crops: corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes, have those arrived too?

    Gretel forcibly pulled back his thoughts. He opened his door and invited them in. The Bald Bishop, without hesitation, stepped inside with a big stride. The three knights trailed behind him, grumbling:

    “Bishop, what are you doing here?”

    “I treated this injury, but I couldn’t fully heal it! Now young Gretel says he might be able to, so I naturally came to see for myself.”

    “Do you really believe he can heal it?”

    “Well, young Gretel’s methods are different from others. If he says he can heal it, then I’ll come and see for myself.”

    Years ago, when Knight Baron’s wrist was injured, he had sought medical treatment everywhere, even offering substantial donations to the War God Temple for help. However, even after repeated applications of Healing Techniques, the Bald Bishop could only tell the knight: “The tendons are severed, there’s nothing I can do.”

    Seeing the knight leave in dismay, forever unable to draw a bow, the Bald Bishop couldn’t help but feel pained. So, when he heard there might be a chance to cure him, even if it meant prying into someone else’s secrets, he shamelessly pushed his way in.

    Five people crowded into the small room – three knights, and one who was even more knightly than the knights – the twenty-square-meter house felt like it was about to burst. To make matters worse, there were only two chairs, one of which had a broken leg…

    Gretel looked around. For the sake of the diagnosis, he could only ask the patient to sit on the intact chair. He cautiously sat on the broken chair himself, and the others were left to their own devices. He offered a sheepish smile, inviting them to sit on the bed or stand, whichever they preferred. Gretel settled his mind and began asking questions:

    “Knight Baron?”

    “That’s me.”

    “You… were injured three years ago? What’s the current situation?”

    “Yes… I injured my right wrist…”

    While asking questions, Gretel quietly observed the man. Judging from his appearance, Baron was about seven or eight years older than the other two knights. He looked weather-beaten, with a rough beard and a dusty appearance. His complexion was sallow, and his eyes were puffy, with only a faint light shining when he was addressed by name.

    Looking at his body, even though Baron had been injured for three years, he was still physically robust, his belly hadn’t bloated. The bicep of his left arm was prominently bulging, while the muscles on his right arm were visibly atrophied.

    Hmm… the patient has been exercising consistently, and his desire for recovery is strong. Gretel Nordmark, former emergency doctor, silently made a note in his heart and stretched out his hand:

    “Let me see your right hand.”

    Knight Baron obediently extended his hand, palm up, lying flat on the table. Gretel looked down at it by the light of the oil lamp. There was a scar on the wrist, a fleshy, worm-like protrusion on the skin, a red mark. The Bald Bishop’s giant hand immediately reached over, just as he was about to point at the wound and describe it, Gretel sighed in relief:

    “What does your wrist feel like? Can’t you bend it inwards? You can still extend it outwards, right?”

    “How do you know?”

    Knight Baron unconsciously glanced at the person next to him. Flynn on the left and Siro on the right both denied simultaneously:

    “We didn’t tell him!”

    Gretel pouted. He was about to continue asking, but the Bald Bishop’s hand turned over, blocking the view between him and the patient, with a tone that implied he wouldn’t give up until he got an answer:

    “How do you know!”

    Gretel rolled his eyes. He glared at the Bald Bishop with daggers, but he couldn’t outstare him and retreated helplessly. Taking a deep breath, he pointed at Knight Baron’s wrist and explained:

    “It’s so obvious! He injured the inner side of his wrist, not the outer side. The tendons on the inner side are responsible for bending the wrist inward, the outer side wasn’t injured, so of course he can extend it outward!”

    “Ah… oh.” The Bald Bishop withdrew his hand: “Then what exactly is damaged? Why couldn’t I cure it back then?”

    Gretel wiped his sweat. Which tendon was damaged – he couldn’t know without a physical examination! But, in any case, as long as it wasn’t the right hand…

    Hand tendon injuries, this kind of surgery, Gretel was not incapable of performing. The problem was that the surgical instruments available now were too crude…

    He chased away the Bald Bishop and focused his energy on examining Knight Baron. In the twenty-square-meter house, the knights huddled together, even their breathing was suppressed to a minimum. Under the dim light, Gretel’s clear instructions rang out one after another:

    “Come on, bend your wrist.”

    “Straighten your wrist.”

    “Abduct your wrist.”

    “Adduct your wrist.”

    “Flex your elbow.”

    “Rotate your arm forward, yes, like that.”

    “Bend your thumb, good, straighten it… index finger… middle finger…”

    Flexion, extension, rotation, palpation. Gretel examined carefully, and Knight Baron cooperated fully. The only headache was the Bald Bishop hovering nearby, asking a question after every examination: “Why are you doing this? What’s the result?”

    Finally, the examination was complete. Gretel took a deep breath, his confidence overflowing, and he reached a conclusion:

    “Radial wrist flexor tendon rupture.”

    “Wh… what?”

    Left and right, and even directly opposite, the three knightly gentlemen were dumbfounded, their six eyes staring blankly at Gretel. The Bald Bishop’s big head came over once again, asking a barrage of questions:

    “What broke? You were making him do this and that, what exactly were you doing? – Can it be healed?”

    So many questions…

    Gretel was overwhelmed. He finally couldn’t bear it anymore, he slammed his hand on the table, suddenly erupting:

    “I’ll tell you slowly later! No! Way!”

    There were so many tendons, from systemic anatomy to regional anatomy, then explaining how to examine and diagnose, it would take at least a lecture! Could we please focus on the patient first!

    The Bald Bishop was stunned by his outburst, staring at Gretel, seemingly unable to believe this kid could be so imposing when he erupted. He blinked his eyes, took a while to understand a little, and responded blankly:

    “Ah… oh…”

    He withdrew sullenly. Knight Baron looked at his own wrist and asked cautiously: “Can it be healed?”

    Yesterday, 21 more collections were added!

    Although it’s still a third of the peak, it’s already pretty good compared to recently!

    It seems modifying the text really does work… continuing to modify with tears in my eyes…

    Please collect, please recommend, please comment… please support in any way you can…

    (End of Chapter)

    Previous Chapter | TOC | Next Chapter

    You can support the author on

    0 Comments

    Heads up! Your comment will be invisible to other guests and subscribers (except for replies), including you after a grace period. But if you submit an email address and toggle the bell icon, you will be sent replies until you cancel.
    Note