I Became a Plague Doctor in a Romance Fantasy Novel - Chapter 92



Episode 92. The Grad Student Cries Again Today

Episode 92. The Grad Student Cries Again Today

Mint looked up at me with bright, sparkling eyes.

“I was getting bored after just a few days.”

“Did you wait long?”

“No. Just came out for a walk.”

“That’s a relief. I was worried you’d been doing nothing, all day.”

“It’s my business. I can do nothing if I want, right?”

“I suppose so.”

I took Mint’s parasol and she hooked her arm through mine, walking beside me.

“Where are you headed now?”

“Let’s just walk for a bit. What were you doing?”

“A house call.”

“Did you take care of it?”

I shouldn’t get into details. It’s a patient’s private business. I hesitated for a moment. How much could I tell Mint, anyway?

“I can’t go into details, but I’d say it’s been resolved well enough.”

“Yeah, I figured.”

“I don’t usually do house calls, but the patients’ situations were desperate. And there were a lot of patients.”

I paused slightly.

“What about you, Princess, what did you do?”

“Me? Nothing special. Oh, right. That prince came to the academy. Looking for you.”

“Oh, dear. What did he say?”

“He said they’re recruiting alchemists. Told me to let him know if there were any specific people or fields they needed.”

I thought about it a bit more, but a conclusion didn’t jump out right away. What would be good?

“Let’s just see. Do whatever the Imperial family wants.”

“Alright then. They’ll like that.”

The purification process for penicillin was decided anyway, all that was left was fine-tuning. Who to hire wasn’t the important thing right now, I figured.

It’s not like I knew any alchemists at the moment. I’d have to try them out first and then decide. What’s needed, what’s impossible.

“We don’t need that Manfred guy. Let’s go have some fun! Do you know how bored I was the last few days without my teacher? No one to talk to.”

“No, Princess. Why would there be no one to talk to? There are Imperial servants and tons of your academy friends who like you.”

“Huh? Oh. I don’t mean I didn’t talk for days. It’s just an expression, you know?”

“You did talk, right?”

“Of course. How could I not talk? I’m the princess, it’s a very important position.”

It’s a good thing she knows that now. At the beginning of the year, it seemed like she was wandering around without knowing anyone, but maybe her personality has improved a little.

“Okay, that’s all I wanted to know.”

“I’m telling the truth.”

I nodded.

The three princesses I saw at the mansion did have quite a few similarities with Mint. Erzsébet, that was her name, had said it. That she had been sick since she was young, and had suffered because of it. There were some similarities.

That was why I felt more sympathy towards Erzsébet, it reminded me of someone I knew.

“Princess. I can say this. Seeing that patient this time reminded me of you for a moment. It wasn’t much though.”

“Why, because she was pretty? Cute?”

“Of course not…She was a young student, suffering and close to death from a treatable illness. That’s why I said that it made me think of you.”

Mint nodded.

“So. Not a lover, then?”

“I told you, no, really.”

“You’re something else, teacher.”

“Ugh.”

I scrunched my face.

I said no. But looking at Mint’s face, lightly smiling, it almost seemed like she was just joking? Who knows.

“Let’s go get some food.”

“Yeah. Let’s.”

Asterisk’s ward.

Erzabet was lying in her bed. Istina stood holding a medical chart, staring at the third princess with a look of some kind of fervor.

“Oh, what’s wrong?”

“Ah. I wanted to get this charted before the professor arrives. Can you tell me in detail when and where it hurt? Like, in your head.”

“It started about a year ago. It got worse a month ago. First I got tired easily, my hands and feet swelled, and then I got headaches.”

Istina nodded.

“Worse a month ago, got it.”

“Where is the professor, by the way?”

Who knows. Probably with Mint now. He’ll come eventually today, anyway, to finish the examination.

“He left your medication here though. Hmm… Anyway, it’s a disease you’ll have to manage for life, so there’s no need to be too impatient.”

Well, it wasn’t like that professor showing up quickly would make the disease better. It wasn’t it something Erzabet had been dealing with her whole life? Erzabet nodded.

“Thank you for the house call, Professor Asterix. I heard you don’t take personal requests, being the continent’s top physician.”

The continent’s top.

He does seem to be, Istina scratched her head a little. The professor had his human side too. Not that it was all good, though.

“It’s not that much. At the Academy hospital, the professor sees patients in order of severity.”

“Regardless.”

“And, Your Grace, you *are* severely ill. If you’re left as is, your brain will supposedly melt.”

“Ah. Is it that bad?”

Istina set a glass bottle down next to Erzebet’s bed. A glass bottle filled with pills.

“Take three pills a day.”

“Three a day?”

“Yes.”

Actually, Istina didn’t know why. It was just what the professor had said earlier.

“They’re supposed to remove the copper.”

“How?”

“By attaching to the copper. It’ll probably come out through your urine? That’s what the professor said.”

She couldn’t really explain it beyond that. Istina scratched her head, but it was a relief that Erzebet seemed to understand the explanation.

“Are there many patients who make it out of here alive?”

“Ah. Patients who have a chance of making a full recovery, the professor sends them all out alive. Don’t worry about that.”

“All of them?”

“Of course. This patient’s case is a little more difficult, though. It’s not just about saving you, we also have to manage you carefully so your head doesn’t go wrong.”

“Ah.”

Living isn’t the end. Erzsébet needed more than that, she needed to survive well. Well enough to take over the family.

“You said her name was Istina? Could you please tell her something?”

“What should I tell her?”

“That I’m healthy. That I can do this.”

Erzsébet suddenly grew serious.

“Um, this is just my gut feeling, but I think you’ll both make it back alive!”

Erzsébet, and Istina, both.

Experience and responsibility were definitely there, but at their core, they were still young girls. It would be a lie to say there wasn’t a childish, vague hope that things would just work out for them.

From noble mtl dot com

Meanwhile. At Professor Wolfram’s lab.

Luciana held the letter, lost in thought for a long while. The imperial letter that arrived yesterday was so worn from Luciana’s handling, it was now tattered like a rag.

– The Imperial Family is moving forward with a plan to establish a new pharmaceutical and chemical company to aid its citizens. Your assistance is needed.

– Luciana, you are a product of the Empire’s highest educational institution, and thus, a talent the Imperial Family requires. Please consider this request favorably.

Her hands still trembled.

It was a moment she’d waited for her entire life, but now that it was actually happening, there was so much to consider. She had to finish grad school first, for starters.

But the real problem was whether Professor Wolfram would allow it. Would he really let Luciana leave?

“Professor.”

Luciana bowed her head abruptly. Professor Wolfram, looked up from the textbook he was studying.

“What is it?”

“I’m terribly sorry, but I don’t know how to bring this up, Professor. An offer came from the Imperial Palace yesterday.”

“Speak freely.”

Luciana hesitated for a long moment.

“The Palace is, uh, establishing a new pharmaceutical and chemical company with royal sanction, apparently. And they’re recruiting new students.”

Professor Wolfram, at this, completely closed the book he was reading and looked directly at Luciana.

“So, you’re thinking of going?”

“No. I came to ask what I should do.”

“Do you *want* to go?”

“Yes.”

“Well, there’s not much to be done. If you want to go, then go.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Did the Palace specifically ask for you?”

“I’m not sure, but it seems they sent it to some of the graduate students in the Alchemy Department. I think maybe it was based on grades, or perhaps recommendations.”

“It’s a good opportunity.”

“Yes… I suppose it is.”

“You’re on 24-hour shifts starting tomorrow.”

“Huh?”

“Luciana, you’re not a genius, so you need to work all day to do your research faster, right? That way you can publish your thesis and graduate early, too.”

“Graduate?”

“Well, you *are* going to the Imperial Palace. I can’t just let you go after a shoddy education. Someone like you will go around saying you were my student.”

“Th-thank you… Professor. I’ll prepare diligently, so I don’t tarnish your name…”

“You crying? You got a good offer, they said. Why are you crying? Just get ready to graduate by next month.”

Luciana bowed her head sharply.

Professor Wolfram had no reason to graduate a student who was trying to escape early. No reason to teach her anything more either. It was just Professor Wolfram’s sense of responsibility to teach properly that remained.

“Thank you so much.”

“What. What even is academics anyway? It’s important that people find it useful, that you make a living from it. Isn’t that right?”

“I guess so…”

“You don’t need to feel sorry for me, just study hard. What was it, making medicine?”

“Yes.”

“Luciana, you’ll be helping many people with that. I’m just someone raising the next generation, it’s the students who should do the great things.”

Luciana cried.

She just kept crying. She hadn’t realized Professor Wolfram would think this much of her.