Don’t Tame It!

Chapter 31

Despite Miguel’s advice, Irene didn’t stop what she was doing. Miguel rolled his eyes at her refusal to listen.

“You don’t believe me, even if I tell you it’s useless. This is why rookies are like this. They don’t understand the value of experience gained on the field.”

Just then, a commotion started outside the tent. Curious, Miguel waddled over and lifted the flap, calling out to a passing soldier.

“What’s going on? Why is it so noisy?”

The soldier recognized him and responded urgently.

“Oh, Mr. Flich! His Majesty has ordered us to march. Everyone is busy preparing for battle. Sorry, I have to carry weapons now!”

The soldier ran off in a hurry. The entire camp was buzzing with activity.

Miguel let the tent flap fall and turned back, frowning.

“We’d better stay inside the tent for now. If we wander around, we might get hit by a stray arrow.”

Then he suddenly widened his eyes in realization, his face filled with deep concern.

“But if everyone is leaving… who’s making dinner tonight? I’d better go check on that.”

With a quick “Good luck,” Miguel rushed out of the tent.

As soon as he disappeared, Mia muttered in a small voice,

“Mr. Flich cares more about dinner than the war. The soldiers don’t even know if they’ll be able to eat tomorrow.”

Irene remained silent, focused on organizing her medical tools. Then she suddenly stopped and listened.

“What is that sound?”

“Huh? What sound… oh?”

Mia also focused, and the faint noises became clearer.

“Ugh… ughhh…”

It was someone groaning in pain. Someone trying to hold back their agony but failing.

Mia covered her mouth, her expression full of pity.

“There must be a medical tent nearby. Oh no, Ms. Rios… They must be in so much pain.”

Mia was right. The sound wasn’t coming from just one person. Deep voices, high-pitched cries, rattling coughs, and muffled screams blended into a single, painful chorus.

“While I was living comfortably inside the castle, a battle was happening here… I feel so guilty. And I was even complaining about coming here…”

Mia’s eyes filled with tears. Irene stared at her, confused. She still didn’t understand why Mia was crying.

Just then—

“AHHHH!”

A terrible scream tore through the air, followed by an eerie silence.

Irene and Mia looked at each other in shock.

“!”

“W-What was that?”

Mia shivered and whispered.

“Could it be… Are enemy soldiers attacking?”

Irene quietly shook her head. It wasn’t the sound of many people panicking—just one sharp, piercing scream.

After hesitating for a moment, Irene put down her tools and stepped outside. Mia gasped and ran after her.

“Where are you going, Ms. Rios? There might be a battle soon! Wouldn’t it be safer to stay inside, like Mr. Flich said?”

Irene stopped and turned to face Mia.

She didn’t dislike Mia. That was rare for Irene, who generally disliked people.

When Irene got lost, Mia had worried for her. Even though she was terrified of coming to the battlefield, she still followed Irene here.

Most people distanced themselves from Irene when they first met her. Some acted like she didn’t exist at all.

But Mia wasn’t like that. She always expressed kindness, even when Irene showed no reaction. She never gave up.

That’s why Irene didn’t dislike her. She had even decided to give her the nickname “Carrot.”

“Wait here.”

“Ms. Rios, please! I’m sorry! Don’t abandon me! I have three younger siblings to take care of, and my mother is expecting a fifth child!”

Mia panicked and hurriedly followed Irene.

Irene frowned slightly. She didn’t want Mia to get hurt. She wanted her to stay somewhere safe.

But why did Mia look so heartbroken?

Irene let out a small, hidden sigh.

I don’t know how to make people happy.

“Please don’t leave me behind, Ms. Rios.”

Mia stayed right behind her, afraid of being left alone.

As someone else’s body heat grew closer, Irene flinched slightly.

Then Mia pointed ahead.

“Over there, Ms. Rios.”

“AHHHH!”

At that moment, another agonized scream came from between the flapping tent covers.

Irene nodded and stepped forward, pulling back the tent flap.

Mia hesitated before peeking inside, only to immediately cover her nose and mouth. A terrible stench filled the air.

How could she even describe it? It wasn’t just the smell of dirty water or rotting food. It was…

“There are both the living and the dead here.”

Irene’s calm words made the horrible smell’s source clear—it was the scent of decaying corpses.

It was a scent she was all too familiar with. No matter how many times she encountered it, it never became any less overwhelming.

Irene coldly scanned the room. The tent was huge, at least six times the size of her own. Despite the daylight outside, it was dark inside.

Rows of wooden beds filled the space—at least forty of them. None were empty, and over half were already occupied by the dead.

Some bodies had begun to rot, while others had only just stopped breathing. A few were still sitting upright as if they had died waiting for their turn to be treated.

“This is… horrible. It’s like hell, Ms. Rios. Oh, dear God. Please grant these poor souls eternal peace.”

Mia clasped her hands together, whispering a sincere prayer with tear-filled eyes.

“Shut up, will you?!”

A rough voice suddenly barked.

“!”

Mia gasped and clamped her hands over her mouth.

Irene turned to the source of the voice.

A burly man with a thick beard moved quickly between the patients. His sunburned skin, broad shoulders, and muscular arms made him look more like a warrior than a doctor.

“AH!”

“Shut up already! Do you want to bleed to death?!”

The bearded man held a red-hot iron rod, yelling at a soldier clutching his bleeding side.

“I’d rather die from blood loss! Whether I burn to death or bleed to death, I’m going to die anyway!”

“You idiot. Fine, do whatever you want. There are plenty of others who need saving. If you’re lucky, you’ll still be alive when I come back.”

Annoyed, the man stomped away. As he said, there were too many wounded soldiers waiting.

“Damn it. This never ends.”

He muttered as he moved to another patient, one who seemed just as close to death. The soldier was staring blankly at the ceiling, mumbling to himself.

“Hey! Stay with me! If you give up now, you’ll die!”

“Doctor Uno! We need you over here!”

“Just wait a second! If I don’t handle this guy first, he’ll be a corpse soon!”

Irene silently observed the chaos before her.

—Real medicine isn’t inside the university. It’s outside in the real world!

Maybe Miguel was right.

She had stitched up countless cadavers before, but she had never seen so many injured people at once.

This was the edge of life and death. One wrong step, and you’d fall straight into hell.

A battlefield.

No one paid any attention to Irene and Mia. There was too much happening to care about two extra people.

There was only one doctor and three assisting soldiers trying to manage all the wounded.

Unlike the chilly spring air outside, the tent was suffocatingly hot. Dozens of people packed tightly together, their feverish breaths mixing into the thick, heavy air.

The wounded, waiting for death, clung desperately to life.

That’s why being alive felt so much more real here.

This wasn’t an anatomy lab filled with cold corpses. These were living, breathing people.

“AHHHH!”

Someone screamed in agony. They wanted to live.

“Please! Save me!”

Irene understood.

She, too, wanted to live. She wanted to survive.

For a long, long time.

So she screamed.

A desperate, silent scream that no one could hear.

Not even herself.

Please…

Someone, save me.