Page 65 of The War God’s Favorite

They entered the mountain again, passing several of the rooms where the men had been sorted.

“Actually, I’m hoping we will get more men in the meantime. A lot of soldiers like Orwan didn’t dare to come here in the first place, remember? But what if I can show them I can heal them properly?”

“More men will come…”

Cassandra nodded, and entered one of the rooms to talk with the men still sorting her medicinal herbs. Behind her, Evin was once again speechless. She had thought that far ahead during her conversation with the Head Accountant? That her changes to the Red Room would convince more and more men to come get healed, and naturally help her win her bet?

“Alright, can you split them as we said?” asked Cassandra. “We will need to count how much we have and then dry or boil it. I’ll see later.”

“Yes, Madam,” answered the men.

Then, she went to the next room, talking to the men who were busy there.

“Please, remember to wash your hands often and keep your masks on. We need to wash the sick men’s clothes and sheets often too, and ventilate the room as much as we can. I’ll see the people who came in today now.”

For the next hour, Cassandra checked each of the men that had come in, inspecting their overall state or injury, and sorting them into separate rooms.

She had spread the men into a total of eight rooms: one for those who hadn’t been diagnosed yet, one for small wounds and cuts, one for the bigger injuries, one for the people with light symptoms like a cold, another one for dangerous or infectious diseases, one for the patients with special needs, and the last one she called for “short stay”, for soldiers who were suffering from stomach pains or headaches. The eighth room was called the “silent room”, where people who wouldn’t survive were put to rest.

However, despite that sorting, it was clear there was still way too much work for one woman to do alone. Evin said it out loud as they were leaving the mountain for the day, and Cassandra nodded.

“I know… That’s my main problem. I can teach some men, but they are supposed to come and go, and eventually, I will need people to do the exact same thing as I do, like apprentices. But where to find apprentices in a military camp? Do the doctors here have some? You mentioned there were doctors, right?”

“There are currently seven doctors working here, and each military doctor is allowed three apprentices in the Camp.”

“That’s twenty-eight people. It’s not enough for a camp of thousands of soldiers!”

Evin was about to say something about her knowing how to calculate, but didn’t. This woman was really too much.

“Actually, most of them only have one or two. I can ask if you want.”

“Please do. What are they thinking, with so few apprentices to help…”

Cassandra was still astonished. How could such a large Empire still be so uneducated about medicine and common hygiene? All day, the soldiers had watched each of her moves as if they were learning something, questioning why she did this and that non-stop.

It wasn’t like they were unwilling to learn. The main problem was that from the crib until they reached adulthood, every man and woman in this Empire was focused on one career. First sons would take over their father’s job, shop, or farm. Second sons trained to be scholars. From the third one on, they would be raised as warriors. Women very rarely had careers, but those who did would become shopkeepers, embroiderers, cooks, mostly positions that were related to the household, and not too tiring.

It was a patriarchal society, with its pros and cons.

“I need to find apprentices,” Cassandra muttered to herself.

“Do you want me to ask?”

“For apprentices?” she asked, a bit surprised.

“Some people might be interested. It’s a very vast camp, with lots of different people. I can try to ask around, if you wish.”

Cassandra nodded. Could it be possible? Would some of those men agree? What about their current positions? Well, it couldn’t hurt to ask, possibly…

“Madam.”

She turned to him, but Evin was looking up at the dark form that had appeared in the sky. Cassandra smiled. Her ride had arrived.

Krai landed with a loud growl, immediately looking for Cassandra. Wiggling up to her, the dragon waved its tail around with anticipation. As usual, she waited until Krai stopped a step away from her to move.

“Hi, Krai. Is this going to become a routine?” she asked softly, giving a few scratches.

“He is a pain when he misses you…” suddenly said a voice from above.

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