Dungeon Refrigerator 255

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Dungeon Stampede 2.0 Minister

This place had become a shelter, a super sento.

Injured people were being carried in one after another, and the doctors and nurses were frantically trying to keep up.

"Hey, almost done stitching! Where are the bandages?!"

"Y-Yes! Almost there!"

Tsunami hurriedly cut up towels with scissors, spurred on by the old retired doctor with white hair.

Though the Self-Defense Forces were there, medical supplies still hadn't arrived, so they were using the super sento's towels as makeshift bandages to deal with the situation.

When the previous Dungeon Stampede occurred, the government had established a special supplementary budget to assist recovery and strengthen disaster prevention measures.

However, the duration of the stampede was much shorter than anticipated,

and since all of Japan was affected, not just certain areas, supplies were running dangerously low.

Amidst this chaos, more injured people were being brought in.

"Clear the way! Let us through!"

"Doctor! Please stay with us, doctor!!"

Among the commanding, booming voice of a Self-Defense Force officer, a panicked, high-pitched male voice was drawing closer.

"Doctor, I’m sorry, but could you see this person first?"

A high-ranking officer stepped forward from the mass of soldiers, his military boots thudding heavily on the carpet, and addressed the doctor, who was already deep in treatment.

"Hey, can’t you see I’m busy? I’m in the middle of treating someone."

"Yes, I know, but please, we’re begging you…"

The doctor shot a sharp look at the officer, clearly irritated by the unreasonable demand.

Tsunami, observing nearby, also found the phrasing "this person" strange. Normally, they would refer to such people as "the injured" or "the wounded."

"There are other injured people. It’s about order."

"(Well... the person we brought in is the minister...)"

The officer whispered, and the doctor’s eyes bulged as he shouted.

"What?! The minister?! You’re telling me I should see him first because he’s the minister?! Are you saying the minister gets to jump the queue for treatment? When did Japan stop being equal under the Constitution?!"

At that moment, a man in a torn suit, with cracked glasses, broke through the soldiers and fell to his knees, clinging to the doctor's waist.

"Doctor, please! Save Minister Oharaguro!"

"Oharaguro? You mean Oharaguro Taro?"

Ohara Kurotaro—former Minister of Industry, a major figure in both the political and business worlds. A man who wielded enough power to squash rumors of his involvement in various scandals, including political donations—a true political giant.

Upon hearing this, Tsunami understood.

It made sense that the soldiers were shielding the injured man from view. However, the secretary’s panicked outburst had drawn the attention of curious onlookers.

"Wait, did he just say Oharaguro?"

"No way..."

"Is it really him?"

The man who appeared to be the secretary, realizing the attention he had attracted, began to panic as more people gathered, curious about the commotion.

Meanwhile, the officer continued speaking quietly to the doctor, explaining the situation.

"(The minister’s car tried to break through the monsters and meet up with the Self-Defense Forces, but it lost control and crashed into one of their vehicles.)"

"I see… that’s what happened."

If word got out that a sitting minister died after crashing into an SDF vehicle, it would cause a backlash against the Self-Defense Forces, even though it was an accident. The officer, fearing this, had been pushing for priority treatment, and the doctor grasped the situation.

"Alright, I’ll take a look. Sorry, but can you finish this stitching for me?"

"Me?!" 

Tsunami was stunned as the doctor handed her the needle, still attached to the patient’s wound.

"You’ve been doing careful work, and you’ve been watching me the whole time, haven’t you? You can handle this much now, right?"

'(Nod)'

"Wait, seriously?!"

Looking back at the patient in disbelief, she saw them bow their head, pleading as well. With the other nurses too busy to help, Tsunami had no choice but to take over.

"Move aside. Let me see... Oh, this is bad, brain matter’s leaking onto his face."

"Eek!"

The minister was carried in on an oil massage bed, concealed by the soldiers.

But just before the curtain closed, Tsunami caught a glimpse of his face, more than half of which was crushed.

"Alright, I’m prioritizing him. Someone take notes.

Frontal bone fracture, right side.

Same for the right nasal bone and cheekbone. Severe depression, with brain matter leaking. Some tissue has protruded.

The upper lip is gone, but the lower jaw seems intact."

"Will the minister survive?!"

"I’m not a neurosurgeon, but if we can get the necessary tools quickly, I’ll do my best."

"Yes! Thank you! What do we need?!"

"First, a sterile operating room. And a skilled neurosurgeon."

"That’s impossible to arrange right now!"

The doctor, visibly frustrated, tossed aside the metal tongue depressor he’d been holding as he walked out from behind the curtain.

"Then there’s nothing I can do. I’m throwing in the towel!"

'Clink!'

(Oh...)

Watching this, Tsunami couldn’t help but think, "So doctors really do throw in the towel," even though the tool he threw wasn’t actually a towel, but a metal tongue depressor.