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Chapter 78
The terminally ill baby doctor turned out to be a genius
Intermediate physician Koma trembled as he answered.
“P—patient… Seventy percent of the patients have d—died…! Of the remaining thirty percent, more than half are in critical condition. There’s almost nothing the medical staff can do…!”
A little while ago I’d only asked Dad, Uncle, and Great-uncle to scare them a bit.
The three brothers looked at each other, asked me for a moment, and then the uncle and great-uncle dragged the physician away.
Only twenty minutes had passed, and already the physician was kneeling neatly before me, trembling.
‘They said they didn’t hit him… so what on earth did they say to make him like this…?’
I was curious, but it wasn’t important.
The information and reports this man could vomit out were far more important.
Cheimik’s condition was even worse.
‘The disease is progressing faster than my memory says.’
I knew because I had investigated epidemic records in the third round.
In the previous round it hadn’t been this bad at this time.
‘If there’s a factor, it looks like it might be this guy…’
I don’t think this guy was the person in charge in the previous round. That was something I could learn by looking around.
But, perhaps because the intermediate physician was so scared, he said something I hadn’t expected.
“A-actually, I have a request…! I—I beg you to please look after our lord!”
Koma, having shifted his stance, grabbed at my trouser leg with desperate pleading.
“…Lord?”
“Yes! If the lord dies, I’ll be finished too!!”
Koma, nodding quickly, explained his situation.
The large city near Cheimik village, Rederic.
The lord of that place, Count Rederic, had the same plague.
Fortunately, because he had been patrolling the borders of his domain on inspection, he learned of the disease early.
And he also discovered that the same symptoms were appearing in nearby villages and took it seriously.
Since the plague hadn’t spread in Rederic’s domain, he secretly came to this village looking for a cure.
‘He chose to isolate himself for the sake of his domain. That’s a remarkable decision for a lord.’
He must be a rare kind of ruler in this world.
“I’m truly sorry I didn’t recognize you earlier! Really! The memorial tablet you have belongs to a senior physician of the Heuk family. Forgive my ignorance! I beg you, please help our lord!”
Whatever they’d dragged him to say to my uncle and great-uncle must have been powerful—he was begging at almost a rebuilt-human level.
“Ahem, now he finally seems to see our nephew’s greatness,”
Glancing at my uncle and great-uncle, they were looking back with faces like proud puppies, waiting for praise.
‘…Are they serious.’
They think my older brother Gye-won looks more mature than them.
“Hum, you. If I were a physician you’d say I eat dog dung, right?”
“…Yes?”
“Then keep saying that.”
From Dad’s arms, I gave a disdainful thumbs-down with a haughty expression.
Screw you, you brat.
This man was clearly an ordinary physician who looked down on warriors.
Judging from his earlier request to treat only the “special patient,” I could guess how he treated ordinary patients.
“Ah, ha, hahaha… Y—you must be joking?”
“Show him.”
“…Yes? Yes! T—thank you.”
“But seeing the lord will come after we look at the two patients’ conditions.”
Koma’s face fell, but he could not say anything—he just watched my uncle and great-uncle.
As I had already declared, I looked around the village once, and then went where Koma guided me to meet the lord.
“Um, masks…?”
“Not necessary.”
“Ahaha… As expected, even if the Heuk family’s physician is young, he’s different!”
The only difference was that Koma’s attitude had become somewhat more polite.
‘Because he saw a patient improve right in front of his eyes.’
Among the patients I checked while walking around, there were people who looked like they would die unless immediate measures were taken.
I made a temporary medicine to prevent the disease from spreading further and had them take it.
‘Luckily the disease isn’t different from what I remember. It’s one of the familiar variants.’
Seeing the patient’s breathing stabilize, Koma’s face turned to pure shock. After that, his behavior changed.
Transparent, maybe.
‘Better than sneaky.’
Count Rederic, the lord of Rederic, looked to be in his thirties.
Slightly sun-kissed skin, golden-brown hair. He was a good-looking man.
He was also very big.
I had pictured a bearded middle-aged man from the western continent, so I was a little surprised.
‘The condition is severe.’
His upper body was bare so I could inspect the illness thoroughly.
“Gye-won oppa, get a clean cloth.”
“Ah, okay…!”
“Shukppu, fetch water and bring it here, and ensure no one else enters.”
Without hesitation I approached the patient and spoke.
‘Hemorrhagic spots… signs of necrosis at the extremities too.’
Old memories surfaced.
I turned my head.
“There is one last thing I want Great-uncle to do.”
I muttered an incantation toward my uncle. For a moment everyone looked puzzled.
“Pi-yak, you really want me to do that…?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Great-uncle’s face also asked why such a thing should be done. But after a moment he smiled and nodded.
“As you command~”
Great-uncle went out to carry out my instructions.
I opened the bottle in my hand.
Shhhhh!
A great wave rose that could wash over a person all at once. Diagnosing the lord, I quickly realized something.
‘If left this way he would have died within three days.’
Surprisingly, among the measures that physician Koma had implemented, almost none were proper.
Even not knowing the disease well, basic things were messed up.
‘Said to be the castle’s physician. Why have they seated a quack?’
When the lord woke, I’ll see what kind of character he has and if he’s decent I’ll be sure to tip him off.
I hesitated a moment.
‘Oh no, it’s progressed to sepsis too.’
Depending on how severe the disease is and how complex the injury, the stamina needed to use abilities varies.
My deliberation didn’t last long.
“Oppa, open the bag.”
In the bag Dad carried on one shoulder were herbs and medicines I had prepared.
“Bam-bam-ah.”
I felt the snake wrapped around my wrist lift its head.
A faint light flowed from my sleeve. The snake used its power to help me.
Soon the streams of water moved here and there to make the medicine.
Then the water began to pour the medicine from the bottle into the patient’s mouth.
“Wait.”
Dad came forward and lifted the patient’s upper body.
“I’ll do it. Giving medicine to someone unconscious is tricky.”
Hmm, I know that well too.
I stopped myself from saying that I was used to it.
“Oppa, are you familiar with this?”
“Memory came back. Long ago I gave medicine like this to subordinates and comrades.”
“Hmm?”
…Comrades we assassinated together?
I was about to say that but remembered Koma, an outsider, was present here and shut my mouth.
‘It feels like the speed at which memories return is getting faster.’
At first, just recalling memories made me feverish and exhausted, but that symptom seemed to be disappearing day by day.
‘There’s no way a disease like this would improve so willingly.’
If so, it wouldn’t be the incurable disease that would consume my life.
For now I tucked that ominous feeling deep in my chest.
