Run A Medical Clinic In The Abyssal World

Chapter 5: Childhood Sweetheart and Unmarried Fiancée

The Abyss is an extremely dangerous place, with vultures and wild dogs lurking in the dark corners, eyeing the passing fat sheep.

There is no law here, only the natural law of the jungle.

This is the impression of the Abyss from the original memories.

Charlotte stood at the door of the clinic, at noon, surrounded by a hazy and dim atmosphere.

Looking up, through the misty haze, a narrow strip of white light could be seen. This is the sky of the Abyss.

The Abyss lives up to its name, a narrow city located in the great rift outside of Calva City.

Narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, with cliffs several hundred meters high, it forms a natural barrier, blocking the rampaging monsters of the wasteland.

It is one of the few large cities on the Isor Continent protected by a non-magical barrier.

Chaos and disorder are the stereotypical impressions of the Abyss from the outside.

However, under the control of several major mafia families, the real Abyss maintains a unique order.

As long as you pay enough protection fees, you can also do some small business in the Abyss, like opening a clinic.

Bakka Street where Charlotte's clinic is located belongs to the Harriman family. Compared to other streets controlled by mafia families, it is relatively harmonious...

Not far away, two orcs fought in the street. The one with the white knife went in, and the one with the green knife came out. The victorious orc bent down and snatched the money bag before disappearing into the mist, while the other orc died in the middle of the street with no one caring.

Well, he takes back what he said earlier.

There is no safe place in the Abyss.

Poverty is the best passport in the Abyss.

Unless you are excessively beautiful, few people are interested in poor beggars.

Of course, you must always be wary of desperate beggars. To survive, they will do anything.

Like any social structure, people in the Abyss are also divided into different classes.

Represented by the four major mafia families and powerful individuals, they are the rulers of the Abyss, the upper class.

They kill and rob the lower-class people without mercy, exploiting them at will.

Next are the middle-class people who survive cautiously under the protection of the mafia families by paying protection fees. They are also the tender and fresh vegetable class most favored by the upper class.

They are generally the owners of various personal shops in the Abyss, or criminals, mercenaries, and adventurers with some self-defense abilities...

Charlotte is now one such tender and fresh vegetable. He works hard every month to earn money and pays a hefty rent to the landlady, leaving only a few copper coins jingling in his pocket.

In the Abyss, what is earned in the Abyss is spent. Don't even think about taking a single cent home.

At the bottom are still the beggars.

Many of them were forced into the Abyss after being persecuted in other cities, without the ability to protect themselves or earn money, and can only slowly die in the dark corners.

There is also a part of the middle-class vegetable class that has been poisoned by the addictive magic drugs distributed recklessly by the mafia, causing them to lose everything and have their bodies ravaged.

Of course, there are also some salted fish who have lost their dreams mixed among them, which are relatively harmless beggars.

Charlotte has the self-awareness to be a qualified vegetable. He works hard to make himself fatter and a tenderer so that the landlady will be happier when she harvests him.

The primary goal is to safely get through each day.

Going out means taking risks.

Charlotte has done statistics. In the past three years, he has gone out a total of 204 times and encountered danger 18 times.

Among them, 12 times were pure robbery, and he managed to return to the clinic with only a piece of cloth to cover himself.

Twice, he was knocked unconscious from behind and robbed of all his belongings, not even leaving a piece of cloth to cover himself.

Two more incidents were even more outrageous.

One time, he was targeted by a female orc who weighed over 360 pounds. After being knocked unconscious, he was carried back to her home. If he hadn't managed to escape while she was out hunting, he would have lost his innocence.

The other time, he was abducted and sold to a certain club. After enduring three days of training, he was deemed unfit due to lack of endurance and excessive speed and was directly thrown out.

Charlotte:?

This incident dealt a huge blow to Charlotte's self-esteem, and he went through a period of social withdrawal where he couldn't open his clinic for business.

Charlotte glanced at his skin, pale to the point of being almost translucent from not being exposed to sunlight for years. Luckily, that club was only open to female clients, or else he would have surely gotten dirty.

Looking up at the sky, estimating the time, Charlotte took the first step into the Abyss.

Going out at noon would be relatively safer.

This was a truth that the previous owner of his body had practiced.

Next to the clinic, there was a bakery. Charlotte spent four copper coins to buy two dark loaves of bread.

He stood at the shop's entrance and hastily took a few bites, then took a big gulp of cold water, swallowing the dry and hard bread. Only then did he feel that his body belonged to him?

Stuffing the remaining bread into his pocket, Charlotte glanced left and right before briskly stepping into the mist along the edge of the street.

Charlotte needed to refine hemostatic potions and cleansing elixirs, which were vital in his daily medical treatments. He found the refining methods in his notebook and decided to give them a try.

In addition, he planned to refine a moisturizing essence, which was a high-profit product. If he could establish a market for it, it would bring him substantial returns.

The alchemy materials shop was located on Tuck Street, about seven or eight blocks away from Baka Street.

Following the route in his memory and avoiding some dangerous areas, Charlotte arrived at the materials shop unscathed after an hour.

The shopkeeper of the materials shop, Harry, was an elderly goblin. Behind the thick lenses of his black metal-framed glasses were a pair of sharp eyes. Seeing Charlotte enter, he smiled and stood up from his recliner. "Dr. Charlotte, it's been a while since you last came. I thought you had been sold to some club again."

Charlotte's face darkened. This was the least desirable part of his history to be mentioned.

However, he wasn't angry either. Harry was one of the few individuals in the Abyss whom the previous owner of his body could call a friend, and he was also a reliable supplier of medicinal materials.

Although he loved taking advantage of others, the quality of the materials he provided was never compromised.

"Forget it, things haven't been going smoothly lately. Here's the list of materials I need this time." Charlotte took out a list from his pocket and handed it over, speaking in the usual manner they communicated.

Harry took the list and the cloth bag, measuring the materials while saying, "What kind of troubles have you been facing? Tell old brother and make him laugh."

"The landlady of my house has fallen in love with me." Charlotte casually came up with a topic.

"That's impossible!" Harry decisively shook his head, then turned to look at Charlotte. "After all, you're a low-quality male warlock who was rejected by the club."

Charlotte: -_-

Engaging in idle conversation with Harry, Charlotte surveyed the materials shop.

A long pole held silver bats the size of palms, a colorful giant snake skin wrapped around a pillar, green dried frogs piled up in a corner, and a putrid smell permeated the air.

Harry's materials shop not only supplied materials for magical potions but also various mage supplies. Behind the counter stood two rows of exquisite magic wands, and colorful magic stones were placed in individual boxes. Two fist-sized purple magic cores, originating from a level five raging giant lizard in the wilderness, were the shop's prized possessions.

This was one of the most comprehensive magic materials shops in the Abyss, and also one of the wealthiest private stores.

Harry had hinted before that this materials shop had the background of one of the four major mafia families, the Kade family. Therefore, no one dared to mess with him.

"Anything interesting happening in Calva recently?" Charlotte casually asked.

Harry frequently traveled between the Abyss and Calva. It was said that he had an even larger materials shop in Calva. One important reason why Charlotte enjoyed chatting with him was to gather information from the outside world.

Charlotte stuffed the remaining bread into his pocket, glanced around, and stepped briskly into the mist along the edge of the street.

"There's nothing new under the sun. Those old guys in the council have made Calwa more and more boring. Calwa was not like this hundred of years ago," Harry said disdainfully.

Charlotte remained silent. Hundreds of years ago, Calwa had just been established and was full of potential. Naturally, it was different from what it was now.

"There's no big news, but there is an interesting incident, and it involves you," Harry said, pushing up the glasses that had fallen to the tip of his nose, and looking at Charlotte with a smile.

"Involves me?" Charlotte frowned. Could it be that there was still a legend circulating about her in Calwa?

"Your former fiance, Elizabeth, the daughter of the Lord of Calwa, is said to have been arranged a new marriage by her father recently. The groom is the second son of Duke Cornwall, a high-ranking official in the Lance Empire," Harry stared at Charlotte's face, seemingly hoping to see some interesting reaction.

Charlotte's expression didn't change at all, and he calmly said, "Sounds like a good match."

In his memories, there wasn't a particularly strong emotional bond with his childhood sweetheart and former fiance, Elizabeth. At most, there was a sense of humiliation from being rejected after his downfall.

Since attending the Calwa Medical School, Charlotte had been devoted to studying surgery. After graduating, he had been committed to medical reforms and had little contact with Elizabeth, who had always dreamed of becoming a dragon knight.

The engagement was arranged by their elders when they were children. Charlotte's grandfather was once a member of the Calwa council, and his parents were high-ranking mages. However, more than ten years ago, his parents died in an accident during a mission to defend Calwa from magical creatures, leaving him an orphan.

Seeing Charlotte's expression unchanged, Harry couldn't help but find it boring. He pursed his lips and said, "Sounds like a good match, but that second son of Duke Cornwall is notorious for being a playboy. Your former fiance doesn't like him, so she announced that if the young Duke can defeat her, she will marry him. Otherwise, the marriage won't count."

"So, the marriage might be called off?" Charlotte found it somewhat amusing.

In his memory, Elizabeth, who had half-elven blood, had reached the fourth rank as a knight three years ago. None of the young knights in Calwa was her match, and even among the younger generation on the continent of Isor, she was outstanding.

"Hard to say. Duke Cornwall wields great power, and if the Lord of Calwa wants to enter the council, he will need the support of human council members. That's why he arranged this marriage," Harry said, shaking his head with a smile. "Who knows, it might turn into a drama of forced marriage in the future. It's nothing new."

Charlotte shrugged. Indeed, it was nothing new. But what did it have to do with him?

Right now, all he wanted was to focus on making money!

"All the materials are here. It's a total of 15 silver coins. I've deducted four copper coins for you." Harry handed the bulging cloth bag to Charlotte.

"Thanks." Charlotte placed the 15 silver coins on the counter, shouldered the heavy cloth bag, and turned to leave.

"Hope to see you next month," Harry's farewell came from behind.

Charlotte tucked the remaining two copper coins into his shoes. If everything went smoothly, he would be able to return to the clinic in an hour.

The return journey was the most dangerous part. Although the worn-out cloth bag contained strange things like silver-winged bats, dried green frogs, and seagull droppings, it didn't diminish its eye-catching appearance.

Moreover, carrying dozens of kilograms on his back greatly restricted his agility and speed, given her petite frame.

But at this time, the return journey was relatively safe. Most of the Abyss creatures had just finished their lunch, making it their most sluggish time.

When robbery became a profession, it inevitably followed a regular schedule.

Charlotte quickened his pace, hoping to return home as soon as possible.

Then, at the corner, he collided with a sword.