The Girl and The War

(Adolf Return)

“Lieutenant General Adolf have returned!”

The conference room immediately filled with cheers. Serum who heard the report jumped out. And when she entered the medical room that Adolf was being carried, she groaned because of the unpleasant smell. It was a room filled with severely injured people. She felt terrible feeling looking at the situation and called a nearby doctor.

“How is the condition of the lieutenant general?”

“The wound on his right leg is very severe, necrosis has begun… We have no choice but to perform an amputation.”

“… How is his life? Will he be saved with that?”

“I will do my best. However, he cannot stand on the battlefield anymore.”

“… Please tell me if there’s anything that I can do to help.”

“We are doctors, a medical field is a hard place for a young lady. Please pray for him.”

“I can’t just stand by and watch. I won’t be a hindrance. But please let me do the personal care and chores around me.”

“… I understand. Honestly, we are short in hands. But, the only things that need to do are the heavy liftings. That’s why, please wait outside the room…”

As soon as serum goes out of the room a man with a heavy ax entered the room. In this world, of course, anesthesia was not existed yet. She could imagine what would be done inside the room.

“I will bind your limbs. Please chew on this. Everyone, please hold him firmly. Here we go, lieutenant general.”

Pounding sound and muffled scream entered Serum’s ears. Imagining the horrible situation inside the room, Serum could only hold her consciousness by a thread.

Medical care in this world was worse than she had imagined. There was a thing called analgesics, but it only could do as much as calming one’s mind and nothing more. After being cut, the bleeding part would be closed forcefully by using burning iron. It would be good if that alone stopped the bleeding, if by the time they cover the wound by old clothes and yes not a bandages, by the time they cover the injury if the wound still open, the next thing they would try to close the wound by using burned horse dung.

As expected, with such prospect to happen, Serum asked for personal post-operation care, Adolf who had incredible mental strength and still conscious immediately granted her permission.

Immediately, Serum boiled, sterilized and dried new clothes. Strong alcohol also being prepared, she filters it and dilutes it with boiling water. The doctor who was not aware of disinfection concept observed her without interfering and was also dealing with another patient.

“Aldolf-san, I will clean the wound, please bear with it…”

“Sure… Khu!”

She used appropriate alcohol concentration, in a sense, it was close to that of alcohol used before injection. As to hemostasis drugs, what she knew was only Japanese mugwort, and she didn’t have the knowledge of this world plant to apply. As a matter of fact, she used this world hemostasis drugs derived from plants on the clothes and wrap it around the wound. After that tied it with a thin cloth. After a while, one needs to loosen the tie occasionally so as to let blood flow and not to let rot.

A few days later, she brought Bell’s maid corps to help the severely injured people. They make impromptu absorbent cotton, bandages, and disinfectants, and deliver clean clothes and additional alcohol from home. Serum ran around the medical station and took care of the injured people. She told people to use tree branches or wood plank for people with fractured bones and to make sure the injured people had a blanket. Clean clothes need to always be prepared for wounds, and disinfectant required to be used to clean the wound. She also told the doctors to always wash their hands. The doctors who talked back at her was being silenced by her using her Gione family in the form of an order. After some patients getting better, the complaint from skeptical doctors began to die down, and reluctantly followed her orders.

When Adolf was able to converse and talk calmly, Serum visited him while bringing some fruits.

“The Doctors said there’s no danger to your life anymore. It is good news…”

“Indeed, this all is also thanks to Serum-dono. I heard from the others that you’ve also helped the other wounded soldiers.”

“I’m sorry… I didn’t ask for permission first…”

“No, I’m not blaming you. In fact, I wanted to thank you. As is the same case as with me, everyone is recovering better than when using conventional methods. Where did you learn such knowledge.?”

“I heard than learned… I like self-study after all…”

Serum was prepared to say such painful hard excuse.

“There was still lives that I could not save. If I had studied more, I might know a better way that all of this…”

“That is what one called Greed, Serum-dono. The survival rate of this time withdrawal battles was only 10 percent. All of what you did was enough…”

“10 percent… Is that a lot or lesser?”

“That was because only one-tenth of the soldiers headed for reinforcements. Know this, it was because you lead the front. If you’re not, most of the wounded would have died there, or became prisoners…”

She didn’t saw Igli among those who came back. Serum herself was not accustomed to the death of a familiar face yet. Thus she could not feel proud with her accomplishments.

“That is an exaggeration. I’m sure, Adolf-san would make the same decision if I’m not there…”

“I might…”

Adolf then clears his throat.

“Even so, when you called me with ‘-San,’ it is indeed calm my heart…”

“!! Excuse me, Lieutenant General. Without knowing, I…”

“No, please stay that way unless we’re in public. With you calling me that way, it feels like my grandchild calling me. And, I don’t have a grandchild…”

Saying that Adolf laughed aloud. Serum also laughed. She was glad that he had survived, that was what she felt.