IHBAVD CH 03

“Seriously. Who told him to tease me first?”

Crash, thud, clatter.

Tomi even tripped over a rock while running away. He must’ve been really startled. Oops… maybe I went too far.

‘More importantly, that status window said enteritis.’

I hesitated for a moment.

If I told Tomi to go home and rest because he had enteritis, it would sound suspicious and strange.

‘It’s probably just mild enteritis. No need to worry too much. It usually gets better with rest.’

Without thinking too deeply, I turned and continued on my way.

Still, the more I thought about it, the stranger the status window seemed.

‘He was surprised that I knew his name. So he can’t see the status window.’

I looked around.

Now that I noticed, not everyone had a status window above their head. I occasionally saw them above some elderly people, but almost never above younger ones.

It seemed like they only appeared for people who were sick.

‘Interesting. I still don’t understand how this works. I need to look into it more.’

Tilting my head, I decided to casually ask about it while stopping by the village herbal shop to sell the herbs I’d gathered.

“Hello, sir.”

As I cautiously greeted the herbal shop owner I remembered from Aillet’s memories, he warmly welcomed me.

“Oh? If it isn’t Aillet from the mountain! You haven’t come down in a while. Did something happen?”

“Well… I was a bit sick.”

I gave an awkward smile and brushed it off.

It seemed Aillet had maintained some connection with the villagers.

Considering how many medical and herbal books she had, she must have traded frequently with the herbalist.

While I was thinking that, the shop owner looked surprised and examined me closely.

“You were sick? And for that long, when you couldn’t even treat yourself?”

“Huh?”

I asked blankly, and he replied as if it were obvious.

“What do you mean? Your treatment skills are incredible. Everyone wants to go to your house for treatment. But since you don’t tell anyone where you live…”

“Oh, it’s not that amazing. Even I couldn’t treat myself when I was sick.”

“Well, just like how a barber can’t cut their own hair, I suppose. You look fine now.”

“Yes.”

Aillet really was an unusual woman…

‘She must have been extremely skilled.’

If she was that talented, it made sense she became the Grand Duke’s physician.

‘Damn it. Now I feel wronged again.’

If I transmigrated into Aillet’s body, couldn’t she at least leave me her medical and herbal knowledge? Instead, I only got the body and language.

‘That’s why I’m studying from scratch, Aillet.’

I grumbled internally and sighed before getting to the point.

“By the way, I have a question, sir.”

“What is it?”

“Do you see anything above Tomi’s head over there?”

I pointed to Tomi, who was already back to playing energetically in the square as if he’d forgotten his fall. The herbalist followed my gaze.

“What? Tomi?”

Though his complexion looked worse than before, Tomi seemed unwilling to give up playing and was running around with his friends.

“Hm?”

But the herbalist tilted his head, clearly confused.

“What are you talking about? There’s no bird, no butterfly, nothing above his head.”

“You really don’t see anything?”

“What are you saying is there?”

He narrowed his eyes, looked more closely, then chuckled.

“What, are you trying to make a lame joke about seeing ghosts?”

“Haha… I thought you might be scared of ghosts, but I guess not.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Of course, the bluish rectangular status window was still floating above Tomi’s head, but I pretended not to notice and laughed awkwardly.

Then the herbalist said,

“Still, it’s good to see you smiling more than before. After what happened to Mr. Rinken… you hardly smiled at all. So, what did you bring today? Oh~ Mendran herbs. Good quality. I’ll give you a fair price.”

“Yes.”

With the money I got from selling the Mendran herbs, I bought bread and butter in the village.

On my way back up the mountain, I recalled what the herbalist had said.

‘After what happened to Mr. Rinken…’

I thought carefully.

‘Rinken must be my father.’

The name “Rinken” appeared throughout the house, and it seemed he was Aillet’s—my—father.

‘Wait… that’s strange.’

I couldn’t understand why people said it was hard to find my house.

You just had to follow the mountain path up.

There were too many odd things.

‘And it’s clear now that the status window only applies to me. Is it some kind of benefit given to transmigrators? It doesn’t seem that useful…’

The status window.

And the reason people couldn’t easily find my house.

I didn’t know how these two things might help me, but one thing was clear—I should hide them as much as possible.

‘Otherwise, someone might try to use me.’

Having reached that conclusion, I returned home and enjoyed a luxurious meal of bread and butter instead of potatoes and sweet potatoes. I also shared it with the fox waiting for me.

“Yip!”

Nom nom—

The fox, which seemed like it would only eat meat, happily ate the bread too. It was adorable.

Spending peaceful days studying and eating with the fox made me genuinely happy.

A few days later, after gathering more herbs, I headed down to the village again to sell them.

“I’m heading out!”

“Yip yip!”

This time, the fox properly saw me off, even wagging its tail. I smiled and made my way down.

But when I reached the village, I heard shocking news.

“This is bad. There’s no hope.”

“What happened?”

The herbalist clicked his tongue and explained.

In just a few days, Tomi was now dying.

“What?! What happened to Tomi?!”

“That’s what I’m saying. Poor child… maybe he drank bad water, or ate something spoiled.”

I left the herbal shop immediately and asked around, gathering information about Tomi’s condition.

He had been vomiting and having severe diarrhea, unable to eat anything. Even injections weren’t helping, and the physicians had given up.

He was said to be on the brink of death.

‘That status window… could it be?’

Could it be that it only appears above people whose lives are in danger?

Remembering the window above Tomi’s head, I quickly asked for directions and ran to his house.

I rushed through the open door and called out,

“Tomi!”

“Aillet?”

A man and woman, presumably his parents, turned toward me in surprise, their faces streaked with tears as they stayed by his side.

They seemed to recognize me.

Aillet must have been quite well-known in this village.

After greeting them briefly, I quickly checked on Tomi and looked at the status window above him.

Tomi (7 years old): Bacterial enteritis, sepsis. Will die if not treated immediately (Gauge 20/100)

The condition displayed was far worse now. I frowned.

It wasn’t just simple enteritis—sepsis?

Sepsis was a terrifying condition where bacteria spread throughout the body, lowering blood pressure and leading to death.

Damn this status window! Why didn’t it say bacterial enteritis from the start?! I could’ve treated him sooner!

‘Ah…’

Now I understood.

This status window only appeared for those nearing death.

I rolled up my sleeves and stepped closer to Tomi.

“I’ll treat him!”

“Aillet, you will?”

His parents, their tears dried from crying so much, looked at me in disbelief.

“Yes! Please trust me!”

The accuracy of the status window sent chills down my spine. I took out all the herbs I had and began preparing medicine for Tomi.

‘I’ll save him. I have to!’

Tomi had a high fever.

Raising his gauge from 20 to 100 wouldn’t be easy.

If I hadn’t spent all this time studying basic medicine and herbalism with the determination of my past life, Tomi might have died already.

‘Please!’

Time passed both slowly and quickly at once.