Chapter…09

“It’s embarrassing. To receive such praise from you, teacher.”

Louis scratched the back of her head, laughing awkwardly. Ahh, Louis is too cute. I kind of want her as a little sister.

“Now that I think about it, Louis. When did you join the ‘Liberators’?”

Rick had left the Aube district five years ago and settled in the underground city, so I knew he had been with the Liberators for about five years. But I had no idea about Louis.

“Louis is one of the founding members,” Rick cut into our conversation, sounding a bit smug.

A founding member? I looked at Louis in confusion.

“Uh… I actually don’t remember it very well. I was five at the time. When the leader and Richard-nim left the village they were living in to found the Liberators, they took me with them.”

As I listened to Louis, I started counting years on my fingers blankly. If Louis was five… Jin and Richard were sixteen?

In this world, women became adults at eighteen and men at nineteen. That meant Jin and Richard had founded the Liberators long before they even reached adulthood. That was truly impressive.

“I was originally the daughter of a blacksmith in the village where the leader and Richard-nim lived. But when they fled, they took me with them.”

As I listened, my expression gradually stiffened. Wait—that sounds like child abduction, doesn’t it? Why would they take a child who was living normally with her parents?

“Louis… don’t you miss your parents?”

I asked carefully. Louis suddenly covered her mouth with both hands and grabbed mine tightly.

“N-no! Teacher, please don’t misunderstand! I wasn’t kidnapped while living normally!”

My thoughts only became more complicated. What is this, Stockholm syndrome? Has she been with them so long she’s psychologically bonded to her captors?

“My father… was a very bad person.”

Louis spoke urgently.

But I only grew more confused. What was this situation?

“I don’t remember much, but when I think about it, all I remember is painful things. I don’t recall ever eating food my father gave me. I used to beg in the streets, or sneak into the kitchen when he was asleep and quickly steal something to eat.”

She spoke calmly.

The more I listened, the more uneasy I became. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked?

“And… he was violent too.”

I almost felt like crying. Don’t say something like that so calmly, Louis.

I wanted to ask about her mother too, but I was afraid it would reopen wounds, so I stayed quiet.

“So to me, those two are benefactors. I hope there’s no misunderstanding.”

At her words, I nodded frantically.

At the same time, Jin and Richard began to look even more impressive. They founded the Liberators at such a young age and even saved a vulnerable girl from a tragic situation.

They really were righteous people.

“Good, good, drink it all up! Not a single drop left! I’ll check if you finished it!”

I hummed happily as I watched Jin take the medicine I handed him.

It had been almost two months since I arrived here.

During that time, Jin had gained a little weight. Not much, but maybe about 3kg.

He was still extremely thin—like he could collapse if someone tapped him—but at least he was moving away from being a skeleton.

Because of that, I couldn’t even take off my mask in front of him anymore. With some weight on him, his looks had also improved dramatically. It was like every breath I took was “Jin,” and every exhale was “he’s too handsome!”

“Are you keeping up with exercise?”

I asked Jin. His “exercise” basically meant being dragged around by Richard once and then collapsing back into bed, but it had already been about three weeks since I prescribed it.

Still, he was now able to sit up without support, even if only for a short time.

“Of course, doctor. I’m doing exactly as you said. And I’m taking my medicine too,” Jin said proudly.

I nearly blurted out, “That’s because I made it taste like fruit, Jin the child,” but swallowed the words.

“Let me listen to your lungs.”

I put on my stethoscope and sat in front of him. Jin obediently unbuttoned his loose shirt.

It had been over a month since I started seeing his bare chest, so I felt nothing anymore. Just “wow, he’s thin.”

I placed the diaphragm on his chest.

By now, I could distinguish some of his breathing sounds. A bubbling sound meant excess phlegm; a wheezing sound meant he was struggling to breathe.

“…sigh.”

I let out a small groan.

The problem was that his condition was getting worse over time. The bubbling had slightly decreased after giving him expectorants, but his breathing was becoming rougher and more strained.

Even though his strength was slowly returning, his breathing kept worsening. I sighed deeply.

“Not getting better, huh.”

Jin said it in a self-deprecating tone.

My heart dropped. I had momentarily forgotten how fragile he was.

“…No. It’s about the same,” I lied weakly.

Of course, he could tell it was a lie just by looking at my face.

After writing the results in the chart, I sighed again.

For respiratory illness, oxygen would be the best treatment—but there was no way to produce oxygen here.

No matter how talented Louis and Rick were, if I told them “make oxygen,” they’d probably just stare at me blankly.

It was strange. Ice magic, fire magic, water, lightning, light, darkness—so many elemental magic stones existed… but no air attribute?

Even if there were, it would probably be impure air mixed with 80% nitrogen anyway.

“Should I try electrolysis…?”

Maybe use water magic stones with lightning magic stones? I knew water could be split into oxygen and hydrogen, but I didn’t know the exact method.

I was lost in absurd thoughts when something suddenly struck me.

Of course! Why didn’t I think of it earlier?

There were things that constantly produced oxygen in nature.

Plants. Photosynthesis!

I felt incredibly foolish for only realizing it now.

“Rick! Louis!”

I ran straight to their lab.

These days, I spent a lot of time there whenever I got bored.

Using tools like medicine for Jin, humidifiers, stethoscopes, and penlights, we had been gradually recreating modern equipment that I could never obtain alone.

So far, we had made powdered detergent, mint toothpaste with soft-bristled toothbrushes, lavender body wash… especially the body wash was my personal luxury.

We also made medical tools like tweezers, alcohol swabs, and latex gloves—though those last ones were admittedly for personal comfort.

“Teacher Ober, did you think of something again?”

Louis greeted me warmly. Rick was not in the lab.

“Is there a greenhouse here? Where is it?”

I asked urgently.

“Yes, right next to the lab. Why?”

“Can I go see it?”

Before she could finish answering, I grabbed her hand.

“Let’s go, quickly!”

Louis looked confused but led me there with a cheerful smile.

And when I saw the greenhouse…

It was… perfect.

This air. This smell! The scent of oxygen! Well, I couldn’t actually smell oxygen, of course—but still.

Rick, surprised by my sudden arrival, looked just as confused as Louis.

“Is there another greenhouse besides this one?”

I asked.

Rick nodded.

“Yes. There’s also one for poisonous plants, and another empty one.”

Ah, a toxic plant greenhouse… I briefly got curious about what they used it for, but pushed the thought aside.

My plan was this:

Move a bed into the empty greenhouse and have Jin lie there during the day. Around him, I would plant medicinal herbs known to help the respiratory system from the “Great Herbal Compendium.”

Plants would produce oxygen through photosynthesis, so the greenhouse should have higher oxygen concentration than anywhere else.

At night, I would move him back to his room. (Plants release carbon dioxide at night too… right? My memory was fuzzy.)

The only concern was pollen. That could be dangerous for his lungs.

So I decided to make another ridiculous request.

“Louis, could you make a device that purifies air? Something that filters dust from the air…”

Before I even finished, Louis looked bright.

“Teacher, what do you think that sound is?”

“Sound?”

I looked around. I didn’t hear anything special. Just the usual ventilation system?

“An air filtration system made by dwarves has already been installed throughout the city. We could easily miniaturize it.”

I was speechless.

So there was already an air purifier.

Of course—otherwise the underground wouldn’t have such good air.

I had been worrying for nothing.

Still, even if this plan was absurd, I hoped it might help Jin in some small way as I looked around the greenhouse.