SSS-Ranked Surgeon In Another World: The Healer Is Actually OP! Chapter 206: A Seed Of Doubt

The room felt different after Code left.

The sharp tension that had been hanging in the air seed to drain away along with the purple haze, leaving only the soft crackle of the lamps and the steady sound of Jas’s breathing.

Bruce turned back to him.

"For now, rest," he said calmly. "Your body just purged Violetbane. That doesn’t an you’re fully healed yet. Your nerves were suppressed, your circulation disrupted. It’ll take ti for everything to stabilize."

Jas nodded slowly, easing back against the mat as the exhaustion finally caught up to him. The adrenaline that had kept him awake was fading fast.

"Yeah... I can feel that," he said with a weak chuckle. "Everything feels heavy. Like I ran for days straight."

"That’s normal," Bruce replied. "Sleep if you can. I’ll keep an eye on you."

Jas let out a long breath, his shoulders relaxing for the first ti since he’d been carried in. His gaze drifted to his hands again, opening and closing them slowly, as if he still couldn’t quite believe they belonged to him.

"You don’t know how happy I am right now," he said quietly. "I really thought that was it for ."

He turned his head slightly to look at Bruce. "The Village Chief really had good eyes. To think the person he recomnded to everyone could actually cure Violetbane poison..."

His voice cracked just a little at the end.

Bruce didn’t respond right away.

He simply nodded once.

"The antidote only stops the poison from spreading," he said. "Your body is doing the rest. If you push yourself now, you’ll regret it later."

"I won’t," Jas said quickly. "I swear. I’m not moving anywhere."

A faint smile crossed Bruce’s face.

"Good."

Jas hesitated, then laughed softly. "I owe you my life, don’t I?"

Bruce shook his head. "You owe money for stuff’s after this. That’s enough."

Jas closed his eyes, still smiling.

"Deal."

The lamplight flickered gently as silence settled between them. No longer heavy, no longer sharp. Just quiet. Earned.

And Bruce stayed where he was, watching, waiting.

His gaze drifted briefly to the doorway the two villagers had left through.

’Code.’

The na surfaced again in his mind.

The timing. The certainty. The way his shock had co too fast, too raw. The fleeting spike of killing intent, thin, but unmistakable. Most people didn’t even realize when they leaked sothing like that.

Bruce exhaled slowly.

There was sothing wrong there. Not enough to act on yet. But enough to rember.

After a while, he glanced back at Jas.

Despite his eyes being closed, Bruce could tell he wasn’t asleep. His breathing was too controlled. Too aware.

"Jas," Bruce said quietly.

"Hm?" ca the tired response.

"What do you think of Code?" Bruce asked. "Don’t you think he was acting a bit... strange?"

Jas frowned slightly, eyes still shut as he searched his mory.

"Strange...?" he murmured. "I don’t know. Maybe that’s just how he is." He paused, then added, "Whatever the case, he’s a good friend."

Bruce didn’t argue right away.

"You might be blinded by friendship," he said calmly, "so you don’t notice it. But that Code guy is suspicious. Be careful around him."

Jas’s brow creased. "Suspicious... how?"

"He’s not trustworthy," Bruce replied evenly. "Be very careful."

The words hung in the air.

Jas opened his eyes this ti. "Why?"

Bruce’s gaze remained steady. "Because I suspect he’s the one who poisoned you."

Silence fell.

Jas’s breathing slowed.

Unbidden, a mory surfaced. Code’s hand brushing against his wound earlier, fingers lingering just a little too long. At the ti, he’d thought nothing of it. Pain did that. It blurred details.

Now, the mory felt different.

Bruce continued, his voice low. "You said there was no Violetbane where you fought the feral wolf. No traces. No reason for it to be there."

Jas didn’t respond.

"The wolf is a variable," Bruce added. "But not the most likely one."

The room grew still.

Jas lay there, eyes unfocused, thoughts clearly churning beneath the surface. He didn’t deny it. Didn’t agree either.

He said nothing.

After a while, his breathing deepened. The tension in his face eased. Whatever thoughts had been spinning finally loosened their grip.

Sleep claid Jas not long after.

His breathing evened out, chest rising and falling steadily now, no longer strained. The tension in his body slowly unwound, limbs slackening as exhaustion finally dragged him under.

Bruce watched for a few monts longer.

Only when he was certain Jas was truly asleep did he turn away.

He stood up and moved back toward the worktable, rolling his shoulders once as if loosening stiff joints. The events of the past hours didn’t linger in his expression. Whatever suspicions he held, he tucked them away neatly, filed for later.

Right now, there was work to be done.

Bruce resud his research.

He reorganized the remaining herbs, discarding what had proven ineffective and setting aside what showed promise. So were crushed, others steeped in water or alcohol, their properties tested in isolation. He adjusted ratios, altered preparation thods, changed the order of application.

Not everything had to succeed.

Failure was information.

He observed how Violetbane residue reacted when exposed to heat, to cold, to prolonged circulation stimulants. He tested diluted mixtures on restrained mutant tissue, watching how the poison’s spread slowed, twisted, or resisted.

Every result refined his understanding.

At one point, he paused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"So it’s not just the nerves," he muttered. "It’s how the body panics afterward."

Ti passed quietly.

The room slled faintly of crushed leaves and antiseptic sap. Outside, the village had grown still.

Only then did Bruce return to Jas.

He crouched beside him and checked his pulse. Steady. Stronger than before. His skin was warm, color returning properly now instead of that sickly pallor.

’Good.’

Bruce took out a clean cloth, freshly boiled and dried, along with a mild antiseptic extract. He cleaned the wound carefully, his movents precise but gentle, making sure no residue remained before wrapping it properly.

Jas stirred slightly, brow furrowing, but didn’t wake.

’He’ll live,’ Bruce sighed.

He finished bandaging, secured it firmly, then adjusted Jas’s position so he’d be more comfortable when he woke.

But then, Bruce sensed sothing....