rdoc

Of course, everyone here is at your beck and call.

Take this.

A book?

All of your medical records are in here. I color-coded them according to the severity of your illnesses. I've included at the end of every record a note on how to treat your conditions, and the prescribed dosage of each medication.

You've already healed us, we don't need this anymore.

No.

My power has limits. There are only a number of ailments I can actually cure. Delusions alone cannot protect you; this illness will resurface soon.

That old lady has already begun suffering pain in her legs, right?

Right, take this, and... give me the portrait.

Give me the portrait.

...As you wish.

I scrutinize the portrait again.

If the Gustave Kateb here wasn't wearing the garb of Corsica I, then perhaps I would have brought it back to Rhodes Island as an amusing anecdote to share.

But no.

I'm a doctor. I know what it means, to give a patient an impractical fantasy.

I am already swallowing the bitter pill of my own unintended making.

I hold the portrait with one hand, and fish out my revolver with the other.

The crowd can clearly tell what I intend to do, but no one moves, like devotees awaiting a final judgement.

They stare at me dead in the face, the delusions in their eyes flickering like freshly ignited candlelight.

It burns out when the revolver goes off, and there is not even condemnation or loathing left, but only disillusionment.

I won't call this 'a good thing,' but snapping them out of their fantasies is better than spilling blood.

I turn the portrait so it faces me. I have to thank the Rhodes Island Engineering Department for their industrial keton. Apart from the face, the rest of the painting is practically unscathed.

Take it, Abel.

Take... what?

The portrait.

What... even for? What use is... a ruined portrait?

Give this portrait its rightful face, or at the very least, don't ever again paint a doctor's face over an emperor's.

If Corsica I's appearance has already been lost to time, then go find someone else who is truly able to save you, someone who can take you away from the stone and salt.

Perhaps he can speak real Gaulish, or maybe he can't. He might take you down a path of peace, or destruction.

Perhaps he is here in your crowd. Perhaps he's every one of you.

But he is not me.

A doctor will fight for his patient, but his patients are human, and not... some human construct.

Sorry.

Je suis navré.

Abel takes the portrait with confusion all over his face, as whispering is heard from the crowd.

I don't know if they understood my intentions, but I can definitely see that they haven't turned a deaf ear to my words.

The most arduous step has been taken, and they will begin to think, to reflect on themselves.

I hope their reflection won't come too late.

My good sir, I take back my previous insult, you are a true patriot—uh, no, a true pacifist.

You know what transpired then?

Of course! Gosh, the level of anxiety I was on yesterday! I thought you were really going to bring those Gaulishmen to Leithanien!

What would you do, had I really done so?

It would only prove how right we were to check for runaway rogues.

There's still some time before the convoy arrives. Fancy a cup of tea?

No need.

I have to say though, your final words to them were a little... dangerous. You should exercise more restraint in future.

Restraint? Let me ask you. Are there any heavy alcoholics in town?

Well... of course... and a few of them at that, but what does this have to do with that?

May I ask which of these two methods are more restrained to you, then: To hope that they turn around before they drink themselves to death, or to let them drown their sorrows in drink because they have no other option?

Sir... my previous words were spoken out of respect, so I hope you don't get the wrong idea.

Certainly. My words at Stonebreak Village came from my responsibility as a doctor. That includes what I've just said to you. The same applies here.

Then should I say to you 'I'll abide by the doctor's orders'?

I hope you will.

It's a shame that I feel no need to take a doctor's advice seriously.

Certainly. You're not the only one. I hope you don't end up needing a doctor's services.