Garrett didn’t catch Seraina’s muttering. Even if he had, he would have just laughed it off:


    "Emergency rescue is not the same as outpatient care! In an emergency, you rush to the rescue wherever you hear a cry for help! What patient consent? The patient has lost consciousness; what consent can there be?


    Save them first is what matters!"


    Holding this thought, Garrett dashed forward. Unfortunately, with his short stature and the physical level of a Level 1 warrior, he was nothing compared to the barbarians present. By the time he reached the scene, a thick wall of people had formed, towering nearly half a meter taller than Garrett...


    "Make way! Make way!" Garrett had no choice but to shout while tiptoeing and pushing through:


    "I’m a healer! Let me through!"


    His efforts were... not completely ineffective, but barely. After all, not every barbarian understood the common tongue, and Garrett hadn’t learned the Level 3 Articulate Speech spell yet, nor could he casually throw around the Language Comprehension spell to the crowd...


    Hesitating for a moment, Garrett was about to cast Strength of the Bull on himself when the Silver Dragon Girl, like a whirlwind, reached the front. She grabbed a barbarian in front of him and easily dragged him aside, the barbarian offering no resistance and stumbling away.


    Seraina charged forward, parting the barbarians like Moses parting the Red Sea. With Garrett following behind, bolstered by the dragon’s aura, he effortlessly made his way to the center of the circle to assess the situation—


    "Stop! Don’t touch him!"


    The old hunchback lay unconscious on the ground, limbs twitching, eyes rolled back, foaming at the mouth. At first glance, it was a clear case of epilepsy. A young boy, just over ten, knelt beside him, crying and calling "teacher" while trying to insert a long-handled spoon into the old man’s mouth, desperately prying...


    Garrett’s shout went unheard, the boy’s hands never pausing. Nearby, "White Wolf" Wolfgar, the Elder of Grom, and two young warriors were busy pinching the patient’s philtrum and casting healing spells, all hands on deck. Only the Elder of Grom looked up at Garrett, clearly hesitating:


    ...Should they listen to him?


    "Stop! Don’t touch him!"


    Seraina echoed the shout. While shouting, she picked up Wolfgar and another warrior and threw them aside. She was about to grab the boy when a piercing scream halted her:


    "Ah————"


    The scream was excruciating. Even for the Silver Dragon Girl, with her robust nerves, her hands involuntarily paused. Looking down, she saw the boy holding half a spoon handle, looking up with a tear-streaked face:


    If the spoon ended up in the stomach, that’s one thing, but if it’s stuck in the esophagus, that could lead to death in eighteen different ways, none of them pleasant.


    He hurriedly cast Language Comprehension on the boy, asking anxiously:


    "What material is the spoon made of?"


    "Copper, with a wooden handle..."


    The boy replied with a mournful face. Garrett fell silent, took out the Endless Ink Pen, and, using Mage Hand, moved it behind the old man. He also unbuttoned the old man’s collar and checked from the neck to the chest for any strange amulets, then lay on the ground, tilting his head to see—


    No sign at the throat. Looking lower, the clavicle, the first rib, the second rib, !!!!!!!


    What was that oval object behind the shadow of the second rib!


    Garrett crawled closer for a better look. On the AP view, an oval shadow; on the lateral view, a flat "D" shape. Judging by its location, near the second costosternal junction—


    Garrett broke out in sweat. That spot, that spot was near the aortic arch! The cursed spoon even had a piece of wooden handle attached; if the spoon’s position in the esophagus was just so, and the handle pierced through to the aortic arch, the consequences would be dire!


    Don’t panic, don’t panic. Garrett tried to reassure himself. The spoon was wooden, and from the looks of the splintered handle, it wasn’t very sharp; it might not have pierced the esophagus.


    Besides, even if it did pierce, the outer wall of the aorta is very thick and strong, often able to "clamp down" on foreign objects that pierce it. If lucky, there’s still time to save him, still time...


    "Stop arguing!" He looked up and shouted:


    "Seraina, clear the area! Elder Grom, come help me! The spoon is stuck in his esophagus! We need to remove it quickly! If we’re unlucky, he won’t survive!"


    ---------------


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