chsdbacks #486 - Theodora and the Jeanne d'Arc Hospital
#486 - Theodora and the Jeanne d'Arc Hospital
Fingers brushed against the mossy wall, feeling the rough texture. Theodora withdrew her hand, thinking it was moss.
Outside, the rain poured down on the eaves, shaking the wind chimes of the townhouse.
Looking at the greasy fireplace, Theodora disdainfully lifted her skirt, gracefully stepping over a corner of the floor that was missing.
She pulled up the wooden blinds, revealing a somewhat desolate flowerbed and courtyard outside.
Further away, she could see the tower of Jeanne d'Arc Hospital.
According to the nuns, it was the ward for patients with infectious diseases.
The hospital kept them as isolated as possible, only allowing them to leave when they recovered.
Standing at the door, a man dressed as a butler was arguing fiercely with a middle-aged property agent.
"Three months' rent minimum, that's my bottom line."
"Perhaps we'll only stay for a month, then you'll have to lower the price."
"Is 60 dinars a month expensive for such a good house?"
"If we didn't have women in our party, who would look at this out-of-the-way house?"
Theodora and her party had been in Langsand County for over a month for medical treatment.
Having stayed in a low-end hostel for so long, and having just recovered from two major illnesses, she naturally wanted to move to a more spacious and ventilated house.
However, the two men were arguing so loudly that it was quite annoying.
Theodora frowned, her veil fluttering in the gentle breeze, revealing her delicate chin. "Bonato, tell Moernstein to ask if there are any other shops or properties? Can we buy them?"
"Yes, Miss Theodora."
Theodora's meaning was quickly conveyed to Moernstein and the agent.
He shook his head regretfully: "You are not on the census register of the Papal States, so you cannot buy property locally, you can only rent."
Moernstein pointed to Bonato beside him: "Is it too late for us to register now? For example, let this companion register first."
"I'm sorry, you have to submit an application first, then work locally for a year with no criminal record before you can register." The property agent pushed his felt hat on his head, regretting, "I'm afraid it's too late now."
The commission earned from selling a house was much higher than renting one out.
It was a pity that they probably couldn't buy one at the moment.
"We don't want to become local citizens, we just want to buy a house here. What merchant would want to open a chamber of commerce here with your household registration system?" Bonato glared dissatisfiedly.
"I'm sorry, we have our own national conditions here, we can't do anything about it." The property agent shrugged.
"Can it be done within a month? For example, replacing someone else, or changing a few words on the household register?" Moernstein walked slowly forward, quietly slipping a few Solakin coins into the property agent's pocket.
The agent was stunned, reached into his pocket and fumbled twice, and his expression changed.
He coughed, reluctantly took out the gold coins, turned and handed them to Moernstein: "I am just a small property agent, the Salvation Army is different from the past, how can I have the ability to manipulate the household register."
Moernstein smiled and pushed the gold coins back: "My lady's money will not be taken back once it is sent out, please take it…
Can you think of a way? Give us some advice, without violating your noble conscience."
Looking at the shiny coins, the agent hesitated for a few seconds: "There are indeed special channels for adding household registration, for people who have this authority, it's just a word.
You must be wealthy merchants, you can buy enough Holy War bonds to show your financial strength, I think I can find an elder to receive you.
As long as you say you want to buy property locally, it will be much easier then.
As for whether you really want to buy property, to be honest, just put up a name and drag it on, no one dares to use force to urge you.
They will at most visit every few months, and then wait for a while, and then sell the bonds at a slightly lower price, it won't cost much."
Moernstein looked at Theodora behind him, Theodora nodded first after thinking a little, then shook her head.
He immediately understood, turned around and said to the agent: "Then we will rent this house first, and we will talk about the rest later."
"Okay." The agent touched the pound coins in his pocket, "Tomorrow is my day off, I can take you to the Holy Maiden Bank.
As for this house now, if you don't mind it being a bit dirty, you can move in and sign the contract now, 50 dinars a month."
"Then sign it now, let's rent it for a month first."
Moernstein took the property agent to the next house to sign the contract, while Theodora lifted the veil on her hat and began to look around the house.
She had a reason for trying to buy property or shops.
After experiencing Jeanne d'Arc's chief hospital, Theodora planned to stay here until the war ended and the roads were clear.
Since she was idle anyway, she might as well take out the hidden money and try investing in some small local businesses.
If Thousand Valleys really became independent from the Kingdom of Leria in the future, it would be good to establish a commercial base for the Crab Yellow Fort family here in advance.
During this period, Jeanne d'Arc had left Theodora with too many deep impressions.
Not only the hard roads, the orderly rural system, and the good public security, but also the rather free and open atmosphere.
In a building shaped like a monastery, there were black market witch doctors practicing medicine openly.
The black market witch doctors here were surprisingly good at their skills, even better than normal black market witch doctors.
Theodora not only cured her previous parasitic disease, but also cured the back sores she had had for years.
The back sores were caused by Theodora's father accidentally shooting his daughter while hunting, and subsequent infections and other reasons turned it into a chronic illness.
You must know that even priests of the priest level could not cure Theodora's back sores.
Theodora's father found the so-called "Cod Fort Miracle Doctor" to treat her.
The other party said that he needed to drink a sleeping potion first, then use a battle-axe to open the spine and remove the damaged spine to rest easy.
Theodora's father immediately ordered the son of this "famous doctor" to be called over and let him demonstrate it first, and then do it for Theodora if it was successful.
The result was that the son's spine was split open by a battle-axe, and the father's head was split open by a battle-axe.
She even wanted to coexist with the disease. When she arrived here, when she was treating the parasitic disease, those witch doctors discovered her back sores.
With the mentality of giving it a try, Theodora asked them if they could cure it.
As a result, these witch doctors told her that they had seen this kind of disease a lot on the battlefield, and they could definitely cure it, but the cost was not cheap.
This problem was naturally not a problem for Theodora.
The Jeanne d'Arc Chief Hospital dispatched four miracle priests, constantly using frost spells, hypnosis spells, and searing rays.
Three witch doctors took action together, removing the rotten flesh from Theodora's back.
Then they gave Theodora a potion and invited a monk to use divine magic to heal and repair her external injuries.
Divine blessings and witchcraft magic were used in the same room, which did not cause angels and demons to fight, but the effect was surprisingly good.
In just one month, she was able to get out of bed and walk around on crutches.
Although she had an ugly scar on her back and was suspected of blaspheming the Holy Lord, she could finally sleep lying down!
For this price of 35 pounds, what did she need a four-horse carriage for?
35 pounds may be the total salary of a worker for five years, but for a noble like Theodora, it was only two months' worth of pocket money.
Compared to the price of hundreds of pounds for a single relief at the Cod Fort Church, it was simply cheap.
You must know that there are countless nobles in the Nonn aristocracy who are difficult to treat when they get sick.
Most of them can only go to the church to use divine magic, which can only restore the pain to its initial state, but cannot cure the root cause, or even only relieve the pain, and sometimes even aggravate the condition.
Many nobles donate to the church, in addition to their own political stance and beliefs, to pay for the recuperation costs of the church.
The Salvation Army Hospital's attitude of curing you once and being afraid that you will come a second time is really rare for Theodora.
I just don't know if these witch doctors and miracle priests can create miracles in my father's migraine?
"Miracle Priests... Alchemy Potions..." Reaching out and turning over the picture frame on the wall, Theodora blew away the dust, and a portrait of a knight, the former owner of the house, was revealed, "Interesting..."
"Miss Theodora, the notary has signed the contract." Moernstein put his right hand on his chest and gave Theodora a salute, "Are we going to the bank next?"
"Why seek far and wide?" Theodora lowered her veil, "Mr. Halkin introduced us to the hospital, and we haven't visited to thank him yet."