章 55: Broken dreams
Julius first walked through the gardens in front of the mansion, taking in the early morning air. He then proceeded to check on the clerics, monitoring their progress in copying books, parchments, the Bible, and other documents. As he made his rounds, he encountered his old helper and apprentice.
"Sir, can I have some of your time to talk a bit?" Aaran asked, his voice tinged with a quiet urgency.
"Of course. Tell me, what is it?" Julius replied kindly.
"Could we speak more privately?" He requested.
They walked to the back of the mansion, away from prying eyes. Once there, Aaran's composure broke. "Sir, why? Why have you abandoned me?" His voice trembled with emotion.
"I was your apprentice for years! You practically raised me from nothing to a cleric, and I gave my all to learn from you. But he… He is a nobody! He doesn't even know how to read! This isn't fair!" Tears welled up in his eyes as his emotions overwhelmed him.
Julius sighed, a cough interrupting his breath. "Aaran, don't act like that. You *cough* know I believe in you. You're a great man, but... Cleric Robert is someone special. You, more than anyone, should understand that. He was blessed by the Great Father and is spreading the Lord's knowledge to us mortals."
Hearing the man he considered a second father defending the outsider who had taken his place by force shattered the last remnants of Aaran's hope. His dreams of returning to how things were before crumbled.
"Don't worry, son. You'll return as my apprentice *cough* after him, and by then, you'll fulfill your dream. Now *cough* excuse me, I have to go."
The young man, with his broken dreams, watched in despair as the High Priest walked away, leaving him behind.
After spending nearly two hours cleaning the church and their room, Rafael found himself with the rest of the day free. He decided to visit the blacksmith to check on the items he had requested. Upon arriving, he saw the man he had spoken to the other day.
"Hey, good morning. About those things I asked you to make…" Rafael began.
"Oh, good morning, sir. Here, I finished them before you came. It wouldn't have been possible without my apprentice's help," the blacksmith replied, handing Rafael two metal pieces. One was a 10 cm ruler, and the other was a protractor ranging from 0° to 180°, both made of copper. Rafael paid the man and left, satisfied with the work.
There must be someone—or even a group—of mathematicians here. Maybe I should write everything I remember about math in a book first and then hand it to them. Haha, I can already see their faces of disbelief, Rafael thought, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
The streets were bustling with people coming and going, buying and selling goods, and chatting with one another. Despite the lively atmosphere, the unhealthy and unsanitary conditions were evident, contributing to the spread of diseases.
Fuck, why shouldn't I just pretend I received more knowledge from that all-knowing being and make quicker changes? Rafael pondered, growing tired of staying low and holding back everything he knew. He began analyzing different scenarios for accelerating the changes he wanted to implement.
As he walked through the city, deep in thought, something caught his attention. A cleric was speaking with a crying girl in front of a modest house. Curious, Rafael moved closer to listen.
"-like this since yesterday, and we don't know what to do! Please, sir, do something," the girl pleaded.
"Don't worry, girl. God has a plan for everybody. Let's go and see what's happening," the cleric reassured her. Just as they were about to enter the house, another cleric stopped them.
"Hello, I heard that someone is sick. Is that right?" Rafael asked.
"Oh, good morning, brother. Yes, it seems so," the first cleric replied.
"My mother and little sister are sick. Please help them," the girl said, turning to Rafael.
"Let's go inside and see what the problem is," Rafael suggested. They entered the house and made their way to the bedroom, where a woman and a small girl lay on a bed, covered with a blanket, only their heads visible.
"Tell me what they're feeling," the cleric said as he approached them, touching their foreheads.
"They must have eaten something bad because now they're sick, sweating, and have diarrhea," the girl explained.
Rafael stood by the door, observing.
The cleric took his time analyzing the situation and asking a few questions, many of which were related to prayer and religion. "I think we should perform bloodletting on them. I'll also request prayers at the church. Stay here, I'll be right back. Brother, excuse me." He tried to pass, but Rafael blocked the door.
Holy shit! How the fuck did we survive as a society and not die from stupidity? Rafael thought, appalled by the suggestion.
"Bloodletting? Since when does that help?" Rafael asked, incredulous.
"What? Brother… Haven't you been taught about this?" the cleric responded, confused.
"I know what it is, and I also know it doesn't help. What they need is proper care," Rafael said firmly. He approached the bed and touched the woman and the girl. "Their temperature is dangerously high; we need to cool them down. Have they eaten anything today?"
"N-no. I tried to give them grains and fruits, but they said they weren't hungry," the girl replied.
"When was the last time they drank any liquids?"
"I don't know… I think yesterday at noon."
"Brother, what are these questions for? They need treatment right now, not whatever you're doing!" The cleric was growing angry, frustrated that a younger cleric was challenging his judgment.
Rafael ignored him and turned to the girl. "What's your name, little girl?"
"Marta," she replied.
"Marta, I need you to bring some clean water here, can you do that? But it needs to be boiled for some time first. Also, we're going to need lots of towels and cloths. Right, bring a bucket of boiled water and another one with cold river water," Rafael instructed.
"I'll try," Marta said before running outside to a nearby house to ask for help.
"What kind of treatment do you think you're doing? Are you going to throw boiling water on them? I've never seen this before!" the cleric protested.
"Brother, this is called basic medicine. Now, I need you to go get something for them to eat. Something with lots of different ingredients, preferably," Rafael said, holding back from asking for meat, knowing it was not that usual for commoners.
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