Angel on earth

The patients came from different villages and towns, most far from Chalek.Thanks to the church, the epidemic prevention project in most areas of Potosi is not bad. These are a few unfortunate people, but they are considered criminals by the old-fashioned lucky ones because of this disease.They were not allowed into the town, and their shopping had to be done on a long pole with hooks, and they had to sound the castanets or blow the horn as they walked.

Apart from the free black clothes and big hats, the church always directed them to a special leprosy hospital, but no one knew where the hospital was.The patients were not allowed to get close to streams and other water sources, but there were no people patrolling in the field, and after going back and forth a few times, the group gathered together.

Speaking of this, one person said: Your Highness, please forgive us, people have to drink water...we can't live by relying on God like you, otherwise we wouldn't suffer from this problem.

The couple who touched the tassels of his clothes originally had a son who was also infected and died on the road. Everyone kept vigil for the poor child.In fact, the group has been reduced by half, and no one remembers where the companions died.Travel expenses and food are precious, and physical strength cannot be wasted. They poured all their guilt and nostalgia on that child.

"It will get better." Mikhail comforted, and handed the middle-aged man a cup of hot tea with sugar, the teacup was newly bought today, "Arnold, I mean Dr. Edwards, the best in Chalek Doctor. If he can’t be cured, I’ll take you to Lieyang City. And—it’s not my excuse to shirk, such cruel treatment is outdated. Although there is no leprosy in the church’s land, it will never be treated like this Patient. This is also one of the purposes of this pilgrimage: we want to promote some new concepts, so that everyone can treat each other harmoniously and kindly, and feel the love of God the Father more deeply..."

"It can't be cured." A woman interjected, "We have too many people. In the summer, if we die in the wild, more people will be infected. If it can't be cured, we will stop here, and the church will always stop here." We can’t starve to death, if someone dies, it’s also convenient to dispose of the corpse.”

The middle-aged man from earlier rubbed his teacup and said, "I've never used such a good teacup before I got sick. It's a pity for us to use it."

"It's not a pity." Mikhail himself took a cup and drank tea, "The war is over..."

"Nothing's going to get better!" the woman screamed from the other side of the canopy, but not to Mikhail.She tore her husband's clothes and hair, and cried loudly: "What about my Ilyusha? He won't come back! Why did you bury him? Isn't he still alive? Why didn't you bury me with me?"

Mikhail patted the old man on the shoulder, held the teacup for him, walked around the fire, and tried to comfort the woman.However, she suddenly turned around, tore off her clothes, threw the hat and robe at him, and then rushed towards him.Mikhail grabbed the robe, shook it off, and covered her with the robe the next moment.Her husband was weaker and couldn't hold her down at all.She knelt on the ground, covered her eyes, and asked after a long time, "Why didn't you kill me?"

"I won't." Mikhail bit his lip, turned around, and looked at the silent patients, "I will come over in the afternoon. I will live with you until Arnold cures you. You are my brothers and sisters, and I—”

"Please leave."

The leading old man calmly pointed out: "We still have an umbrella, if you don't mind... Since we are not gods, please don't have mercy on us."

Mikhail looked at them in astonishment.The pale faces of the leprosy patients showed different guilt. The old man put down his teacup, stood up holding his long pole, weighed it twice, turned the hooked end, and stabbed the pole towards Mikhail.

"When I was young, Potosí had just escaped the rule of the Siegfried Federation, and I fought for the dignity of my motherland. A few years later, I fought on the front line with the soldiers of the church." The old man said, "Now , Your Highness, I still love her, and I am unwilling to accept the mercy of the enemy. One day, Mithra will leave like the Siegfried Federation!"

"But leprosy—"

"Before Mithras came, it was not a criminal's disease," said another old man. "We used to take care of our sick countrymen, and they could be well cared for, and they wouldn't be kicked out of town and wear black all year round." Robes wandered like wandering spirits, and finally disappeared in the wilderness; we used to live in wars, but every grain of food was exchanged for our own labor, and our children will not be forced into the monastery, and there will be no news from then on!"

"But most things are better now than decades ago." Mikhail raised his hand, but he didn't move the stick in front of him, "Sanitary, epidemic prevention, economy, and politics are all better than before. Serfs were abused, and the church does have a leprosy hospital. Maybe the bishop of that diocese didn't figure it out. Sorry, please give us some time. After all, the Archdiocese of Potosí is very special. We are with Iris and Aiden -"

"It's just a new parish for you, but this is the hometown of our ancestors!" The old man couldn't help but stooped and started panting, and tried to straighten up again.Mikhail was not good at dealing with these people, and their insistence on old habits became a kind of arrogance.But this is an old man after all, just trying to defend the hometown that Mikhail never had.

Mikhail took a step back and said politely: "I'm sorry, I hurt you on my own initiative. I don't intend to offend you. I hope God the Father blesses you with health and safety. Dr. Edwards is an excellent doctor, and you can trust him."

He nodded his head, and when he was about to leave, a strange light burst out from the eyes of the old man.The latter suddenly gained strength, stepped forward in twos and threes, and stuffed a heavy purse into his hand heavily, saying loudly, "Thank you and Dr. Edwards for your kindness, Your Highness."

Mikhail blinked, bent down and promised: "I will convey my greetings for you, sir."

"Goodbye."

Mikhail helped the little black hat, and finally couldn't help but grabbed the blond hair, and then walked into the city.

Back at the monastery, I had a quarrel with Ethan and Beto, and it was already two o'clock in the afternoon when Mikhail was free.He was a little absent-minded for most of the day, and Rollins had nothing to do with him, he just regarded it as a common problem of 16-year-old boys, stopped holding on to a few questions about Father Vasily's death, and asked him to go out and relax by himself.Then Mikhail swept down the hillside like a black whirlwind, jumped briskly in the rain, and headed straight for the lower district.

Arnold Edwards was escorting a peasant woman out.A wooden plank was set up on the mud pit in the front yard, and Mikhail waited for a long time outside the fence, listening to the doctor standing on the wooden plank sternly admonishing some precautions for diet and medication.The peasant woman looked up at Arnold, but she still couldn't understand here and couldn't remember there. In the end, Arnold had to agree that she could come for a follow-up visit every day.

For some reason, Mikhail was a little upset.

As soon as the lady left, Mikhail moved and stopped in front of Arnold.

"Good afternoon, Misha." Arnold took the basket of flowers he stuffed, blinked his eyes, and still hadn't reacted, "...is this?"

"Butterflies."

Of course Arnold knew it was a pansy.Purple, in the Siegfried Federation, every Kupala festival is everywhere.

He thought so, but didn't say it.Mikhail tilted his head: "You...don't like this?"

Arnold touched his face subconsciously, but this face couldn't even smile properly, and there was no way to show any subtle expressions.He said quickly and calmly: "No, this is just right for summer. The effect is a bit worse than mint, but it tastes good."

Mikhail said cautiously: "This is my favorite flower."

Arnold didn't close his mouth all of a sudden, and stayed for a while, Mikhail kept looking at him.After regaining his senses, the doctor waved his hands irritably, turned and entered the door: "Okay, come in."

Katya is not here today, and Arnold made the tea himself without any sugar.Mikhail drank half a cup of herbal tea and took out a money bag from his pocket: "Mr. Gavriel entrusted me to hand over the prepaid consultation fee. They thank you for your kindness."

"As you can see, the one who received the money." Arnold didn't pay attention, opened the money bag and counted, and threw him two silver coins, "You deserve it."

Mikhail took it, two silver coins that he did not have in his collection.Some are old, they should be coins from Potosi before.

"Thank you."

"No." Arnold was a little uncomfortable, "Do you have anything else to do?"

"I... I'm a little curious about your work. The church's leprosy hospital has a low cure rate. You know, since the first generation of saints established the orthodoxy of the church through the first jihad, Lieyang City has been surrounded by powerful enemies, plus Under the blessing of the Sun God, we seldom get sick, and the church has far more researches on defense and war than medical treatment.” Mikhail obviously rolled his eyes, “—I’m just curious too. If it’s inconvenient , I’ll just wait here for a while, and I’ll go there with you when the time comes. Let me take the liberty, Potosi is not developed, food is rare, and alcohol is very expensive, but I can make holy water as long as I have clean water, and the effect is the same.”

"Ah, that would be really nice! Thank you, Dian-er, Misha. As you can see, I'm not rich. As for work, there's nothing you can't see. I always think that medical research needs to be shared, It is also written in the scriptures that those who communicate and improve will go to hell if they bury their treasures in the ground." Arnold was a little surprised, although there was no expression on his face.

Mikhail laughed all of a sudden, a simple and bright joy overflowing from that beautiful face rather than handsome: "Thank you for your generosity, Arnold! I can assure you that if you If people don't enter the kingdom of heaven, I should go to the same place as you."

For some reason, Arnold's laughter sounded like a sneer.But Mikhail didn't care, and the doctor quickly stood up: "Then let's hurry up and try to finish the work before tomorrow evening worship."

The two went down to the basement one after the other, and there were still a pile of bottles and parchment on the workbench.Arnold pushed it casually, took down the pestle and mortar from the shelf, and was about to speak, when Mikhail suddenly put his hand on top of his head, but he didn't touch it, but a gust of hot wind rose out of thin air in an instant, drying him s hair.

The gray hair that had just been blown dry lay down limply, and Arnold snapped Mikhail's hand open.

"……Feel sorry."

"sorry!"

The two spoke at the same time, and Mikhail looked at him with a smirk.Arnold grimaced and said, "It's not polite, Your Highness. Don't do this casually."

"But you are my friend," Mikhail protested. "You can get sick even in summer with wet hair. You should wipe it when you come back."

"I just took a shower." Arnold curled his lips, "I didn't have time. Anyway, don't do this in the future. It's okay for me to be like this, and it's absolutely—"

"I wouldn't do that to anyone else," Mikhail said naturally.Arnold had nothing to do with him, and sent him to move herbs.Those fresh ones were picked by himself in the afternoon, and he got muddy all over his body for this; just after taking a shower and changing clothes, the peasant woman came.

Arnold grabbed some leaves and spices and put them in the mortar, and prepared a copy for Mikhail, saying:

"This is vetch, thyme, and plantain. You should recognize these spices. Just a little bit. Grind it into a paste like this, and then add an appropriate amount of milk...[1]"

"Wait!" Mikhail opened his eyes wide, and Arnold was startled by the thunder above the clinic across the floor, "That lady just now?"

"Ah? Yes." Arnold gave him a strange look, and soon a half-smile and a bit of irony appeared on his face, "I gave the money. Her child died young, and I still need to see a doctor." Money. She is too weak... just a little, not much, barely enough."

"And what about her husband?" Mikhail couldn't believe it. "She's still breastfeeding and sick...he..."

"It's a little bit of savings." Arnold frowned, "They have other children to support."

The author says:

[1] Nie Wen. Epidemics and their prevention and control in Western Europe in the Middle Ages [D]. Shaanxi Normal University, 2016.