Chapter 2
"Saintess, is this how I do it?"
Before she knew it, Gain had become one of the central figures in the Kingdom's army, which was led by a seven-year-old princess fighting against a tyrant.
"Saintess, your divine power is... greater than that of any priest I've ever met. It's pure too. And there's so much of it."
"When the Saintess heals me, it feels like even my heart is healed."
"This must be the power of someone chosen directly by God."
Gain's divine power was like an endless spring.
It flowed like a river.
No, like an ocean.
No matter how much she drew from it, fresh power immediately rose again.
Gain never bothered wondering where all that power came from.
She had far more important things to worry about.
A battlefield was a hundred times more terrible than the emergency room of a university hospital.
There wasn't enough disinfectant.
There weren't enough antibiotics.
Using both modern medical knowledge and the unfamiliar divine power of this world, Gain saved dozens of soldiers every day.
"Saintess, I don't know what would've happened to the General without you."
"The Dwarf Queen you saved has arrived with an army!"
"..."
"The Elf Guardian you saved has joined us as reinforcements!"
"..."
She had merely treated patients who needed to be saved.
But people worshipped her almost blindly.
Still, a battlefield wasn't a place where medical knowledge and divine power alone were enough to survive.
"Ambush! The enemy has reached the healers' tents!"
"Saintess, run!"
There was no way a thin surgical scalpel could stop crazed knights.
But Gain couldn't simply stand there and watch her wounded patients have their heads cut off before her eyes.
Her divine power had long since changed her body.
It had made her more beautiful.
Her stamina had increased.
Her strength and agility had improved as well.
"I'll join the fighting too."
If she killed one enemy soldier, wouldn't that mean one fewer allied soldier would die?
If she looked at it broadly enough, perhaps that could also be considered a form of medicine.
To practice medicine in the broadest possible sense, Gain made a special request to Magni, Queen of the Dwarves.
"Make me a steel pole about this tall. Make sure it won't break. And put four hooks at the top."
Thus was born an absurdly enormous steel IV pole.
From one hook, she hung IV fluids and holy water and connected them to the patient's veins.
With the other end...
She mercilessly smashed the heads of enemy soldiers who invaded the medical tent.
"Haah..."
A moral dilemma about crushing people's skulls with the same hands she used to save lives?
Such dilemmas were a luxury on this savage battlefield.
My patient is dying right now!
If she didn't smash that bastard's head, her patient would die.
Gain's practical mindset and stubborn determination, both developed during her years as an OB-GYN resident, shone even brighter on the battlefield.
Watching the Saintess swing an IV pole and crush enemy skulls horrified not only the enemy soldiers, but even her own allies.
"The Saintess killed Blue Flame!"
"The enemy commander is dead!"
On that blood-soaked battlefield, Gain fought, stitched, and cut.
She killed people.
Then she saved others.
The war continued for more than thirty years.
At last, the endless war ended in victory for the rebel forces.
It took another half year to deal with all the aftermath.
Finally, the day of the Queen's coronation arrived.
"Saintess, thank you."
The tiny seven-year-old princess from the beginning of the war had grown into a dignified thirty-seven-year-old woman.
The Queen, now in her late thirties, knelt.
Gain lifted the crown from the velvet cushion.
It's finally over.
She had lost and saved so many people that even the memories of her previous life had begun to fade.
"Today, I shall break the chains of the Empire and ascend the throne of this Kingdom. The Saintess blessed by God recognizes my right to rule."
The moment the Queen rose and declared her ascension, something changed.
"!"
The sky above the great cathedral split apart.
Light so bright that Gain could barely keep her eyes open poured down.
Gain immediately understood.
I'm going back now.
"Saintess!"
"The Saintess is finally returning to God's embrace!"
"Sis! Sis, don't go!"
Among the voices was the Queen, crying like the little girl she had once been.
Gain closed her eyes.
The world turned white.
When she opened them again, yellowish light stung her eyes.
She smelled disinfectant.
A familiar ceiling was above her.
What?
Gain moved her hand, opening and closing it.
Looking at her sleeve, she saw a pure white doctor's coat.
It wasn't the Saintess's ceremonial robe she had been wearing only moments ago.
Gain slowly tried to rise from the chair.
"Did you get all the past exam questions?"
"Yeah. They said last year's questions were exactly the same as the year before, so we only need to study these."
It was a familiar conversation.
What had she said back then?
Even though it had happened decades ago, the memory returned clearly.
She had definitely asked them, "Could you make a copy for me too?"
This time, Gain said nothing.
Silence followed.
"...?"
Her classmate Han Seongyeon kept glancing in her direction.
She was the one who had brought up the exam questions.
"...!"
Thinking about it now, Gain realized something.
During all four years of her residency, not once had they shared their past exam questions with her.
Then why did I ask them for a copy?
Because they had brought up the exam questions while Gain was sitting there.
She had assumed they were indirectly saying they planned to share them with her too.
They were baiting me so they could mock me afterward.
They needed Gain to ask for the questions before they could reject her.
Since she stayed silent, none of them knew what to do.
The other residents glanced toward Han Seongyeon.
Kang Taehun cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Ahem. I got a call, so I'm leaving."
"I'm going to make copies!"
Han Seongyeon left too.
Gain stared after her in disbelief.
So that was all it was.
