The Military Queen-Chapter 95 - 74: Spiritual Healing 2

Today, Number 0 came only to inquire about spiritual therapy, but seeing that the older maid didn’t seem very approachable, she suppressed the thought for the time being.

The older maid did not ask her to stay and went straight to the inner temple.

The new maid clutched the herbs tightly and sat down in a moonlit spot, burying her head in the task of sorting them. This herb called belladonna was the most commonly used anesthetic in the temple, and many were planted around the two ponds.

Ever since those oddly-dressed soldiers appeared in the city, the temple’s supply of belladonna had become insufficient. The Goddess had ordered regular selection of belladonna seeds. The belladonna seedlings in the new maid’s hands were newly delivered by the farmers from the outskirts. However, the farmers who delivered the seedlings were not knowledgeable in pharmacology and had mixed them up during transport.

Mature belladonna plants bear berries that make them easy to distinguish, but it’s hard to identify the seedlings. This misfortune fell upon the new maid; even the older maid was troubled by the confusion and handed down the task.

The sun had just set, and the moon hadn’t yet reached its zenith, leaving the entire temple only faintly lit. The new maid carefully selected until her eyes grew sore but couldn’t decisively determine which were the true belladonna seedlings. Thinking that if she failed to pick out the correct seedlings, she could no longer serve the Goddess, she became more anxious, frowning sorrowfully at the pile of seedlings in her hands.

"The roots of belladonna are cylindrical, with a pale gray-brown surface covered in many root hairs, and its stems are flattened cylindrical with a yellow-green complexion, smooth to the touch, and downy," the person who blocked the scarce light spoke while sitting down beside the new maid, the same patient who had arrived late before. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

The new maid wondered; most of the patients who came to the temple were men, attracted by the Goddess’s reputation, and none cared to engage a maid like her.

Her belladonna seedlings were taken away and the new maid curiously watched as the indistinguishable seedlings she struggled with were neatly sorted out in no time.

Number 0 didn’t know pharmacology. She just referred to the shared classification data provided by Maggie, listed the common characteristics of the belladonna family, and with her attentive observation, distinguishing wild grass from medicinal seedlings wasn’t difficult.

Seeing that Number 0 had quickly selected the seedlings, the new maid’s heart found relief as she felt grateful. Feeling somewhat embarrassed for receiving help, she thought for a moment and stealthily picked a few packets of dried flowers from the herbs she was responsible for: "These are dried Forget-me-not flowers."

Number 0 had seen Forget-me-nots before, but she was puzzled as to why the new maid would give her these tiny purple flowers... Just as Number 0 was questioning the existence of lace garnishments in ancient times, her brain registered, "Acquired a hemostatic herb, which restores 100 Health Points and can be used in battle, as well as learning the recipe for it." Another message appeared on her Investigation Manual.

Little Eight seemed to have gotten used to the idea, thinking to herself that Military Road could indeed use another attribute; if there were a luck stat, Number 0 would undoubtedly be the luckiest person.

Number 0 now realized that Forget-me-nots could act as hemostatic herbs, and she was secretly delighted. Still, she feigned ignorance: "I heard that Babylon Temple has methods to treat spiritual damage. Could these herbs you’ve given me have that effect?" As she spoke, she tried hard to recall her spiritual power plummeting after being attacked by Bald Man, frowning and holding her head.

The new maid had pondered before, noticing that Number 0 didn’t seem to have any physical injuries, so the affliction must be spiritual. "What I gave you are herbs that restore Physical Strength. For spiritual power treatment, you can only seek the Goddess for the ’Divine Sleep’ therapy. But your military rank isn’t high enough; the Goddess only accepts one patient with mental damage per day, and requires the patient’s military rank to be at least school level."

Upon hearing this, Number 0 cursed internally. Everywhere you go, there’s discrimination based on military rank, as if low-level players who fall ill could only suffer through it. So much for the so-called temples, honoring some damn God, she thought.

The new maid had only recently joined the temple, and what she could tell Number 0 was limited to this. Number 0 sorted out the information: only the Goddess could treat spiritual damage, not with ordinary medications. Regarding the "Divine Sleep" therapy, the new maid mentioned that each treatment required the patient to be invited to the inner temple, where the Goddess would perform cleansing rituals before treatment. Aside from herself, only the patient was allowed inside, so the maids outside were unaware of how the therapy was actually conducted.

When Number 0 left the temple, the moon was slowly ascending westward. In ancient times, the markets closed early, and much of Babylon City was already enveloped in torchlight—it seemed she’d have to spend the night in Babylon City. Number 0 thought about her three and a half days in "Military Road" and the importance of finding a proper inn to stay.

The streets, now devoid of daytime bustle, had a few figures lying by the roadside; Number 0 didn’t pay them much attention, knowing there would always be homeless wanderers wherever she went.

Once she found an inn with decent exterior and entrance, she entered.

The innkeeper was dozing off near the counter, but immediately smiled upon hearing a guest, "Hello, welcome to our humble establishment. We offer hot meals and comfortable rooms. Will you be dining or staying with us?"

"I’ll have a meal, and then stay the night," Number 0 checked her Physical Strength and realized that walking around the city consumed energy too. Half a day’s activities had drained about 20 points of her Physical Strength and her Reconnaissance Skill had dropped by 5 points. However, her Loli Reconnaissance Skill had increased by one percent.

"For dining and staying, that will be 1000 military coins," said the innkeeper, smiling broadly, but Number 0 couldn’t bring herself to smile. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly passes at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)