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Chapter 83
The terminally ill baby’s doctor turned out to be a genius — didn’t hide it
What is this harsh yet somewhat old-fashioned form of address?! Even if I’ve heard of being called the family’s watchdog before…
“…Useless talk.”
I stared at Father with bright, round eyes. Wow, he’s uncomfortable. He’s embarrassed. Should I ask?
But the attempt fizzled out. Father’s hand suddenly covered my eyes.
“Hey—let go. Let me see!”
What the—why won’t you show your face?!
— I’ll tell you later. For now, focus on the matter at hand.
At that, I stopped squirming and calmed down.
With one hand I held the bag Raon was carrying and wrestled Father’s hand away.
“All right, fine.”
No matter how close I was, I wasn’t about to drop my polite speech to an imperial envoy.
“You want treatment, right?”
“…So you truly are a doctor, then.”
“You’ve got quite an eye for noticing, haven’t you?”
“It’s more that I recognize the visage of the Heukbihoon.”
Sylvester answered evenly.
“People thought Father had gone missing, so they didn’t get a good look at his face.”
“That’s because of his special position.”
Sylvester Buk.
He is the heir of the Buk family, one of the empire’s eight noble houses.
Buk is a family that deals in information; their character differs from other prestigious houses.
Still, as with other families, when it came to medicine they tried to recruit capable physicians aggressively.
In this world, the number of doctors you controlled basically meant wealth.
“So, you want treatment?”
“Yes. For now. It’d be a shame for him to die yet.”
“And what will you give in return?”
“Excuse me?”
Sylvester faltered for the first time.
The Buk family hoarded information like gluttons, and Sylvester was a capable heir in that trade.
Most of the eight houses could be called rivals, but there’s a reason I didn’t view him with outright hostility.
Not long before I died in the third run, the Buk family had been almost ruined by this man’s actions.
Yeah—he was someone like the dark-scheming physician of the third run who uprooted the family’s foundation himself.
“…Weren’t you a straightforward physician of the Black House? I heard your rule was not to discriminate among patients.”
“What’s the point in talking about a rule that’s already meaningless? Other physicians charge money, too. We like money. I like money as well.”
“How refreshing that you’re so honest. How much do you want?”
“You say we like money, but did I say we’ll take any? ”
“…?”
In the third run this man had little contact with me aside from coming to ask questions, but I’d heard repeatedly how competent he was.
Meeting a heavyweight like him was an opportunity I couldn’t miss.
“Please grant me what I want.”
“…Let’s hear it first.”
“Hmm — is it more important than your life?”
“…”
Judging by his actions in the third run, this man certainly wouldn’t want to die now.
(If he’d met me when I entered the imperial palace, then he must not have died here before.)
I wasn’t going to tell him that.
“…How about this: let me show you how remarkable a physician Mistress Young is in my eyes, and then you can decide. You never know — I might be generous.”
So, at least, he said he’d listen. I reached for the water without hesitation.
It was the fresh water I’d received from my uncle at the headman’s house.
Shhhhhh.
As soon as I put Sylvester in the flow of water, I was stunned. The diagnosis results were so unbelievable.
‘…What the hell. If his condition is this bad, why is he standing normally and talking?’
His internal organs were a wreck. To a worse degree than Lord Lederic, who had been unconscious from sepsis.
Even the toes, hidden by shoes, had begun to rot.
‘Wow, does human willpower have no limits?’
He was projecting an extraordinary presence with every inch of his body. I went so far as to diagnose Sylvester’s superior as well.
The one who’d passed out actually had a slightly better condition than Sylvester.
His face was so ashen he looked like he’d die any moment.
“…How do you endure this? It must hurt a lot — especially under the arms and the chest.”
“…!!”
Sylvester flinched and put a hand to his chest.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen a diagnosis like this. It’s by far the most curious method I’ve encountered. What principle is this?”
Is that the important thing right now, mister?
He looked like he’d die any moment. How on earth did he survive the third run?
Maybe he wasn’t present back then?
“And about the pain—well. It’s fine. Even if it hurts enough to kill me, I’m confident I won’t die.”
“Huh?”
“But living with a disease like this is a nuisance, so I beg you to treat me.”
From his words it sounded like he had some secret trump card.
“I’ll do anything. What do you want?”
“First, tell me why the imperial envoy came here.”
“Huh?”
Suspicion flashed in Sylvester’s eyes in an instant.
“…Even if it’s a state secret?”
“If it’s more important than life itself, then pass.”
“I can’t tell you in detail, but I won’t die even if I don’t get treatment here.”
“In that case, I might just carry on living with pain that’s worse than death.”
I smiled broadly as I laid my head comfortably against Father’s chest.
“I’ll bet on it.”
“…”
“This illness, only I can cure it.”
Even under the thick curtain of suspicion, I spoke clearly.
I’d briefly let my speech shorten during the moment, then returned to polite form.
“This disease first appeared in this region, and I’ll be the first to make a medicine for it.”
“…”
“In other words, for now only I can treat it.”
“What an astonishing confidence.”
“If you don’t believe me, look at Lord Lederic here.”
When Count Lederic insisted on following us, I hadn’t actively refused for this very reason.
“Oh… a witness, then? Yes, Secretary. As a fire mage, I clearly felt my life ebbing away. If the physician hadn’t treated me, I think I would have been dead as soon as tomorrow or the day after!”
Why does this lord speak so innocently? I didn’t expect him to be that eager.
“…Very well. Evidence is visible; there’s no reason to doubt.”
He’s even better than my own head of household. That man would still demand proof even when presented with the result.
“I will tell you the purpose of the envoy. What else do you want?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
“Do as you like. But I cannot comply with requests that threaten my life or force me to do things under duress.”
“I won’t do that. I might look like a shady physician, but I don’t play with lives.”
“…Very well. Then how much money will you take?”
Huh? Money? I cocked my head.
