“What… what didn’t please you, sir!?”
Eisei grabbed my shoulders with four tentacles extended from under his robe, shaking me as if spewing ink.
“C-could it be… because almost everyone on the list is a middle-aged male demon!?”
“That’s not it.”
“Then, why!? There’s no one in this army better than the dark healers listed here! If we’re to look elsewhere… we’d have to turn to civilian medical personnel…”
“I’m not considering that.”
Mobilizing civilian medical personnel for war is truly a last resort in my mind. After all, the ones who suffer most in such cases are the ordinary citizens lacking medical knowledge.
Even after establishing the Alaya General Hospital, I often had first-time patients saying, “The usual dark healer at my clinic was drafted for the war and never came back.”
“To protect the daily lives of demon citizens, recruitment should ideally be completed within the military.”
“…! You’re absolutely right about that, sir. However, if the ones on this list won’t do, then what kind of dark healer would meet your standards!?”
“Well… I think the root of the issue lies in a mismatch between my understanding and yours, Eisei, about what constitutes a suitable candidate for an all-purpose dark healer.”
“A suitable candidate… you say?”
“I’m referring to someone with no experience as a military physician.”
Ignoring the horrified expressions on Eisei’s face, I continued.
“The longer someone has worked as a dark healer specializing in certain species, the more likely they are to be constrained by their existing knowledge and experiences. However, when treating a wide variety of demons, preconceived notions and habits are strictly prohibited. That’s why I believe that those starting from a completely ‘zero-based’ background are the best candidates for all-purpose dark healers.”
“If Lord Alaya says so, then I’ll accept it, but still!”
Eisei flailed his tentacles in visible distress.
“But gathering people with no military medical experience would take one to two years for them to become frontline-ready dark healers! By then, the war might already be over!”
“—Now, calm down, Eisei.”
It was Emeralda who stopped Eisei, who was piling up objections.
“The Demon King told Kiwi, ‘Do as you see fit.’”
“B-but Lady Emeralda!”
“Eisei, quiet down for a moment. Now, Kiwi.”
Emeralda’s sharp gaze turned to me.
“Tell me. How long would it take to train these inexperienced recruits into frontline-ready all-purpose dark healers?”
“Well… about two months, I’d say.”
—Whoosh! A jet-black stream of ink passed right in front of me.
“T-t-two months, you say!?”
Apparently, Eisei had been so shocked that this time he had literally spat ink from his mouth.
“That’s utterly impossible! The current training for military physicians in the Demon Nation requires at least one month of domestic training! Field training takes a minimum of a year! And yet, you’re saying complete novices can be ready in just two months—”
“I have an idea. That’s why I maintain that starting from zero is preferable.”
“An idea… you say!?”
“Well… it’s still in the ‘conceptual’ phase, so I can’t share any confirmed details. For now, I ask for a little time.”
However, I was confident.
Recently, I had acquired a certain “item” in Elden. If I could apply it, even those with no prior military experience could be trained at an unprecedented speed. Moreover, it might very well become a technological breakthrough for the Demon Nation.
…Heh. To think that something I’d been planning to test eventually would find its purpose at this exact moment.
“Kuhuhu…”
“…Um, Lord Alaya ? What’s with that sinister grin?”
“Ah, no, it’s nothing.”
I quickly massaged my cheeks with my hands, suppressing the smile.
Apparently, if you indulge in research and chuckle to yourself, people immediately label you as eccentric. As someone in a position of attention as a Demon Nation leader, I’d have to be more cautious than ever.
“And so, Lord Eisei, I regret to trouble you again, but I’d like to ask you to compile a new list of promising military physician candidates.”
“A-and what would the criteria be?”
“Someone without chronic illnesses, with a sound mind and body, and strong mental resilience.”
“That’s all?”
“Yes. I believe that’s the most important.”
With that, I gave my cheeks two light slaps to finish my facial massage.
“As military physicians, the work on the field is extremely demanding. To accelerate the training of dark healers to cope with such challenges… some ‘hardship’ is unavoidable.”
