Ch#90
"Ha, kid, why are you worrying about medical bills?!"
Veil unwittingly raised his voice in frustration.
As Basto immediately glared at him fiercely, Veil barely took a deep breath and lowered his voice, sounding exasperated.
"Who was the most excited when the old man said we'd buy a house? You. Our situation's totally different from the start now. We've got money, right?"
But Tie's face remained sullen.
"......But everyone worked so hard to earn it."
"Earn what? It's all cores you siege-broke from magic stones and jewels your skeletons dug up from the ground......!"
"Colds go away if you tough them out!"
Tie, dropping the Bear Doll from her hand, snorted through her reddened nose.
"I won't get shots for a cold, won't take medicine—Tie can totally tough it out and get better!"
It was from long ago, but the memory still lingered faintly in Tie's mind.
The day she had gone to the neighborhood clinic with Dad because her throat hurt so much and she was coughing.
That day, Dad had spent all the money he'd earned over several weeks just on Tie's shots and emergency treatment.
Tie had watched the whole time, clinging to Dad's back, as he counted out the bills.
Back then, Tie had felt so upset that she regretted ever learning how to count money from 203-room auntie.
But it didn't end there.
'Just a moment, sir. The baby's condition is high fever and severe cough right now. This could be bronchiolitis. The way she's keeps touching her ears makes acute otitis media suspicious too......'
'What's that?'
'Simply put, the small airways to her lungs are inflamed and swollen, making it hard to breathe.'
'Ah......'
'At the same time, there's a possibility of inflammation in the ears too. Colds often lead to these complications when they worsen. She's young, and struggling to breathe now, so she needs monitoring...... It'd be hard at home.'
The doctor had looked extremely troubled.
'If needed, she might require oxygen therapy in the hospital. Drug administration right away, so 4 to 5 days admission would be best. Breathing difficulty could be dangerous.'
'......'
'Well, don't worry too much. Bronchiolitis and otitis media are really common in kids this age. Proper treatment and she'll recover quick, but, uh, you said foreigner earlier, so treatment costs might be burdensome...... The hospital doesn't share records with immigration anyway? So no worries there......'
The amount the young doctor had hesitantly quoted after all that was truly enormous.
Enough to buy five hundred—no, six hundred—TaniPing sticker books.
But Dad had paid it to the hospital without batting an eye.
And kept telling the anxious Tie that she'd misheard, that it wasn't that expensive.
Tie had heard it all already.
Still, was it a relief in the end?
After that, Tie never got seriously ill again.
Anytime she was sick, it was just a mild cold.
But the memory of that hospital stay was vividly etched in the child's mind.
"Tough it out and it'll get better."
"......"
"If you really tough it out, it really doesn't hurt......"
Lucarion, sighing, tightly grasped Tie's hand as she shed sad tears.
Then he soothed her.
"Okay. No hospital."
Tie wiped her eyes and stared at Lucarion.
"Really?"
"Yeah, no hospital. Sleep a bit more first."
Only then did Tie stop crying.
And crawled weakly into the blanket.
It had felt hot just moments ago, but now she was shivering cold.
Raoul and Enzo patted the gloomy Tie's back.
Fortunately, Tie soon fell into a deep sleep again.
* * *
The rain luckily stopped soon.
The sun rose brightly, and once Enzo confirmed the road was dry, he took the reins again.
Meanwhile, Tie was still asleep.
Veil ground his teeth as always at her somewhat forlorn appearance.
"I've always been pissed at doctors charging insane amounts to patients."
Basto, looking out the window, nodded.
"Yeah. I've seen ones wrapping a bit of bandage and charging 10 gold."
Lucarion, listening, roughly converted Talochioum currency to Korean won in his head.
'1 gold's about 10,000 won.'
So 10 gold for a bandage was 100,000 won.
"Doctors are all trash, I swear. Back home too, there was this guy. Took my fifth sibling to the hospital sick, gave some unheard-of medicine bottle and demanded 30 gold......"
Veil muttered a curse mid-sentence and added.
"Bet the doctor the kid met was the same. Quack probably ripped her off for how much?"
Lucarion stared indifferently at Veil.
"That doctor wasn't a quack."
Veil narrowed his brow and met Lucarion's gaze.
"What?"
"That world has its own complex rules, so medical costs are high. In the end, Astie got treated by that doctor and recovered fully."
"What the hell. No matter how complex the rules, how complex can they be."
Lucarion, about to explain Korea's health insurance, Tie's illegal resident status limiting hospital access, and why she couldn't even get public health aid......
"It just is."
Shut his mouth.
No point explaining; Agavert members wouldn't get it anyway.
Veil clenched his fist in anger before sighing.
"At this point, I kinda wanna go see it myself, damn it."
"See what?"
"That godforsaken country you and the kid lived in. Wanna see what the hell it's like."
Lucarion chuckled.
Unless dimensions flipped and timelines warped, it wouldn't happen.
'But if it did, it'd be a sight.'
Astie's members fumbling in a totally alien world's civilization.
Lucarion turned back to Tie.
Her condition was improving with time.
Coughing had lessened a lot, fever fully down.
Feeding her porridge midway seemed effective.
Suddenly, Lucarion felt a strange sentiment.
Once, he hadn't liked Astie missing that man.
'Just 4 years, after all.'
Father or not, they'd spent just 4 years together.
Memory imperfect, but Lucarion knew he'd existed in the world a very long time.
Compared to his life, 4 years was a mere instant.
So he'd thought Astie would forget that time with a little growth.
4 years truly nothing, just a fleeting moment.
But today.
Lucarion felt he somewhat understood Astie not letting go of the man.
Last night, safely nursing the feverish child wasn't really him—it was the man.
Everything Lucarion did was just imitating the man from the past desperately caring for Tie.
As Lucarion sank into complicated thoughts quietly,
Knock knock—
A knock came from the front window.
Basto opened it, and Enzo from the driver's seat pointed ahead.
"Look there. Seems we've found a place to stay tonight."
Lucarion glanced indifferently.
Among the huge surrounding trees.
A massive cloth banner fluttered mid-air over the road.
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