"They say medicine was created to defy death... But what happens when the healer shakes hands with death itself?
In a world where lives are measured by numbers, and every breath is weighed against wealth, patients do not perish from disease alone... but from greed dressed in the robes of mercy.
Between the scalpel that was meant to heal, and the hand that turned it into a tool of profit, the Court of Ruin stands today.
Let the curtain rise...
And let the judgment begin
Chapter Eight: Greed
After leaving the City of Justice, which was said to possess the fairest judiciary on earth, Eilia ventured deep into the forest. He did not know where he was heading. He was torn between listening to LiliE and holding on to his convictions.
LiliE suddenly laughed.
"Heh... Heh... Hahaha..."
Then she said:
— How long will you insist on holding onto your beliefs? When will you admit that I am right?
Eilia replied:
— As I told you, not everyone is complicit. Goodness belongs to a few, while evil spreads far. Certain groups of people affect others. We exist to distinguish between them and judge them. LiliE, have a little faith in goodness.
She answered:
— Heh... Goodness? Heh... You can keep goodness for yourself.
Eilia continued walking slowly, one step after another, until his foot caught on something and he stumbled.
When he stood up, he discovered that his leg was bleeding.
He continued on his path until he reached a city that was rumored to have the finest doctors.
He walked to the hospital and entered through its doors.
He could hear people thanking the doctors for treating them.
Soon, one of the doctors approached him and said:
— Welcome, sir. What seems to be the problem?
Eilia replied:
— I stumbled and injured my leg. Could you treat it?
Eilia felt uneasy.
The doctor replied:
— You must pay the treatment fee.
Eilia said:
— I do not have that amount of money.
The doctor answered:
— Then you must excuse me. There is no treatment without payment.
Eilia said:
— You are a doctor, and this profession is humanitarian. You should treat everyone without charge.
The doctor laughed and replied:
— And what do we gain from treatment if it is free?
Eilia answered:
— You save lives for free. Not everyone possesses money. By your logic, you are erasing the poor from receiving treatment.
The doctor replied:
— And how is that my problem?
The doctor called for the guards and said:
— Throw him out.
As Eilia left, LiliE whispered:
— Heh... Keep your goodness.
Eilia replied:
— Even if you try to convince me a thousand times, I will remain firm in my beliefs.
Suddenly, Eilia heard the sound of someone sobbing.
He followed the sound until he found a young man crying.
— They killed her... They killed her...
Eilia approached him and asked:
— What happened to you?
The young man answered between heavy sobs:
— They killed my beloved.
Eilia asked:
— Who killed her?
The young man replied:
— The doctors.
Eilia asked:
— How?
The young man answered:
— My beloved suffered from cancer. They could have treated her, but they refused because I could not afford the cost of treatment.
Eilia sighed and said:
— Be patient with this suffering. Patience is beautiful.
Then he heard another voice.
He approached and found a woman crying.
He asked:
— What is wrong?
She replied:
— I lost my son.
Eilia asked:
— How?
She answered:
— I could not afford the cost of his treatment.
Eilia could bear no more.
He turned around, and blood began to flow from his eyes.
He entered the hospital and went directly to the director of the doctors.
He burst into his office and found him in an indecent situation with one of the nurses.
Disgust filled Eilia's expression.
He said:
— Do you possess a conscience? Do you possess any humanity? Answer me.
The director replied:
— Why, blind man?
Eilia said:
— How could you allow people to die because of greed? Medicine is a humanitarian profession, and you swore an oath. You betrayed both the oath and the promise.
The director replied:
— Are you finished? Get out now.
Eilia answered:
— Compassion toward a traitor is betrayal, and betrayal means death.
LiliE said:
— Deliver your judgment.
Eilia raised his violin and began to play.
The Melody of the Scalpel and Greed
[Funeral-like repetitive notes, resembling the final pulses of a life-support machine, interrupted by sharp violin strikes mourning the bleeding bodies abandoned behind the fences of materialism.]
"Bloodsuckers... dressed in the robes of healers,
Pouring poison... into the depths of suffering.
A patient dies... while pockets overflow,
And the groans of the helpless... become a trade of the sick.
They see souls... as contracts and bargains,
And agony is sold... in the marketplace."
[The melody suddenly turns savage and violent, poisonous notes tearing apart the false medical oath and exposing the corruption of bribed surgeons.]
"Emperors of death... behind the curtains,
Sold their principles... to gather wages.
Operating rooms... became slaughterhouses,
And the vile one profits... from human fear.
They complain of shortages... while in nights of depravity,
Cancer spreads... and profit is harvested."
[A frenzy of strings erupts. Eilia plays with the spirit of the Executioner, while the notes fall like rusted hammers upon the masks of luxurious hospitals.]
"Wolves in white coats... merchants of disease,
They betrayed their duty... through deception and lies.
The prince of corruption... lives in his filth,
And the rope of greed... protects the cursed.
I shall tear down the roof... of every falsehood,
And sever the necks... of those who followed corruption."
[Sudden silence, followed by a heavy whisper filled with the Energy of the Void and the echoes of deprived heartbeats.]
"Your oath is false... and your medicine is loss.
I am the shattered vessel... and within me burns the covenant.
The curtain has fallen... and the face of the massacre is revealed.
No wealth shall save you... from the disgrace of the hereafter."
[A final strike of the string shatters the silence, followed by Eilia's cold breaths and a decaying aura hanging over the luxurious hospitals.]
"Wash yourselves in your calamities...
Build your graves from the ashes of your ill-gotten wealth...
For the erasure has come...
Long live Ruin."
...
...
...
(Guilty)
Eilia turned and left.
Screams erupted from every direction.
LiliE was carrying out her work until the voices finally fell silent.
Only five doctors remained.
Eilia approached them and asked:
— What were you doing?
A comforting aura radiated from them.
They answered:
— We were helping those who could not afford treatment. The punishments fell upon us instead. We thank you. You have freed us from those corrupt people. We swear to you that we never betrayed the oath.
Eilia turned and walked away.
Then he said:
— LiliE, did I not tell you? The light exists... it only needs someone to ignite it.
LiliE replied:
— We shall see how long you remain this way.
...
...
...
To Be Continued
"The trial has ended... And the masks have fallen.
Yet the wound left by greed is far deeper than a single night can heal.
For in every city where conscience sleeps, a new victim is born. And in every heart that sells its humanity for wealth, Ruin draws one step closer.
And yet...
There are still those who carry the light, even if it burns faintly.
As long as that light remains, the Court shall never cease its judgments.
For the road is still long, and the next sin... awaits its turn."