“What happened in the Contas Empire’s territory in the west? All the residents ended up dying, and dozens of doctors and knights died as well,” Lington said.
“That is…”
Before Gorneo could finish his sentence, Lington went on. “Baron Gorneo, you were also there. So, are you trying to maintain your pride in this situation? If there is even a sliver of hope… It might be right for us to hold onto it.”
“That damn pride! Sigh… Well, alright.” Gorneo let out a deep breath, as if he was holding back something that he wanted to say, Then, he glanced at Davey and lowered his head. “You seem to be quite confident, Your Highness. Can you really show us something?”
“I won’t deny it.”
“…Alright. I am agreeing because you are the First Prince of this kingdom, and you possess a stigmata with special authority. If you think lightly about human life, I will make sure to hold the royal palace accountable!” Even though the patients weren’t from Gorneo’s country, neither were they his responsibility, Gorneo still treated them as his top priority.
‘I wouldn’t hand over part of my rights to someone I couldn’t trust, either.’
“I won’t let you down at least…” Davey smiled.
Gorneo left the room as if he had nothing more to say. On the other hand, Lington spoke while maintaining his calm gaze. “I will put my faith in you, Your Highness. Haha, although this is unbelievable.”
“I am grateful for your consideration.” Davey nodded.
“No, that’s alright. I was surprised that you have a better knowledge of medicine than I had expected. In fact, such cases do appear rarely, but… If it’s alright, can I ask who you learned that kind of knowledge from?”
Davey didn’t answer the question. He could say that he had learned it from Hypocria, the Goddess of Medicine from a different world, but he didn’t really have a reason to tell them.
* * *
Although she was anxious, Winley couldn’t hide her happiness when she heard that Davey was officially participating in medical activities. It seemed like she only relied on him and not the Coalition of Disease Control.
Winley and Yulis were surprised at the fact that Davey possessed medical knowledge, but they soon expressed that Davey should tell them if there was anything he needed, and that he should unhesitantly ask them for support if anything came up.
“The Red Tower will provide support, since I have quite a large amount of funds I can use with my personal authority. If there’s anything you need that requires magic…” Yulis offered.
Davey appreciated Yulis’ good intentions, but he didn’t really need them. Afterwards, Davey went into the individual treatment tents and obtained a few more test tubes with the blue-black liquid. Then, he divided them into the tubes he had prepared.
The Artmite ore was a hard, solid ore that became sticky and tough after being melted at a certain temperature over a long period of time. It was the material of the test tubes, and that was probably why glasswork wasn’t necessary in the Tionis continent.
Count Lington provided Davey with a lot of information to show his full support, especially since Davey had decided to participate. The little pieces of information allowed Davey to put forward quite a few hypotheses.
“I guess they are still the best medical organization in the continent,” Davey murmured as he glanced over the data and progress reports in the pile of documents. He had to complete this task perfectly now that he had started.
Baron Gorneo, one of the council members, wasn’t happy about this, but Davey had no reason to care about his situation.
As Davey was observing the changes in the test tubes, two of the doctors in the administration came to Davey and reported their progress. “Your Highness, we have finished classifying the patients that you talked about.”
“Well, then. Let’s try to buy some time.”
The completion of the antibody was estimated to be four days. During this period of time, Davey was determined to keep each and every one of the residents alive.
* * *
“Do you think it will be okay?” The elderly man asked. He looked quite old, but his unusually massive physique for his age and the sharpness of his gaze clearly showed that he was no ordinary being.
“For what, Count Colio?” Count Lington replied.
Count Colio was the former captain of the royal palace of Lyndis’ knights and was currently one of the Knights of Destruction’s captains under the Coalition for Disease Control. He was a ‘Swordmaster’ who used to be famous in the Lyndis Empire.
“The thing with the First Prince of the Rowane Kingdom. If he’s really doing something…”
“Yes, then the face of the coalition would be damaged.”
Davey, a teenager, had stepped up to solve what the people of the so-called “best medical organization of the continent” had been struggling with for years. Of course, it wouldn’t be a problem if this was all. However, even to Lington, Davey really seemed to have something. The stigmata was a holy power, not something that gave him knowledge. That meant Davey either picked it up on his own or he learned the art of medicine from someone else.
“It could potentially make people doubt our qualifications. They wouldn’t have been able to protest if we declined like Baron Gorneo.”
Lington just coolly nodded in agreement. “That is also true.”
“Then, why…”
“However, Count Colio…”
“Yes?”
“Wouldn’t it be good if the disease could be cured?” Lington smiled.
Count Colio’s face stiffened slightly. “Right.”
“Since it has come to this, so what if Prince Davey is successful in curing the disease?” Lington smiled. “It’s a win-win situation for him and for us. It will push the field of medicine forward, and the ones who deserve honor will be given it. It’s a win-win situation, is it not?”
Count Colio did not speak about who would be the one being given the honor.
32. The Antibody, and Movement.
“As Count Lington mentioned, the Coalition for Disease Control is changing all treatment measures to yours like you wanted,” Baron Gorneo said.
“Thank you for making such a huge decision.”
“But you must keep in mind. I will go so far as to watch you. I will at least have to be the line in the sand.”
Davey was replacing Gorneo; since Davey was nothing but an imposter to him, there was no way Gorneo was going to go down easily.
“To be honest, there are some who are saying that we should not accept your ideas.”
“Baron Gorneo.”
“Remember that the art of medicine isn’t a stepping stone for prestige.” Gorneo, right now, was simply stating the obvious.
“I know it sounds crazy and it’s hard to believe, but have some faith. I have no intention of letting Winley and Baris’ residents die.”
“…”
“This disease—no, this variant of a virus—causes high fevers, randomly alters body temperatures, and melts the entire body by the minute.”
“What are you…”
There was no significant difference between the Melting Acceleration Virus and a regular virus during its initial stages, but…
“A virus remains dormant for a certain period of time when it first enters the human body. Only after a period of time does it become active.” Speaking calmly, Davey grabbed the arm of a patient who was moaning in pain. He pressed on their entire body, and the bedridden patient began frowning from the pain.
Groan…
“Just endure a little bit. The pain will subside soon.” Davey spoke to the patient, then kept listing the symptoms. “First, the muscles start to melt. Then, the bones begin to melt, starting with the joints and cartilage.”
“…”
“It would actually be a relief if it ended there. Next, it’s the organs. It begins with the rectal area and the gonads, then it travels up to the kidneys, large and small intestines, and then the pancreas, liver, and stomach.”
Gorneo’s face was filled with surprise. Then, he expressed shock when Davey kept explaining and listing out the symptoms of a patient from the beginning stages to the end. His shock was understandable, since this disease was rarely known in this world.
“By then, the fluid of liquified internal body parts begins flowing out of the holes. Since it looks like blue-black spots on the skin as it leaks out, that’s probably how it gets the name, ‘Blood of the Demon’.”
‘Do you know why I am explaining this to you?’
“Prince Davey, don’t tell me that…”
“Well, it is officially called ‘Blood of the Demon’ here, but it is also called the ‘Melting Acceleration Virus’ in a different place.”
“A different place… ‘Melting Acceleration Virus’…”
“This is the important part. Doctors who encounter this disease try the same thing and then come to one conclusion: they have to find the source and remove it, since it cannot be treated with drugs.”
“Yes… That is true…”
“So, what happened?”
“…”
“If I’m right, most of them have died during the procedure, and the remaining few have been completely destroyed by the virus that grew inside their bodies.”
‘Am I wrong?’
Baron Gorneo trembled, feeling nervous.
‘What a sight.’
“I feel a little more comfortable, sir…” The patient said in between groans.
“Yes, try to endure the pain a little bit more even if it hurts. I will definitely keep you alive if you want to live.”
“Th… Thank you…”
The patient was just a commoner, one of the underprivileged members that this damn monarchal continent paid no attention to. Nobody would really care if people like that died. However, they were all just human beings and patients to Davey. Davey had no intention of compromising anything related to the art of medicine, even if it’s because of the promise he had made with the person who had taught him the art of medicine.
“What about the items I asked for?” Davey asked.
“I have prepared them at the location you have specified.”
“Shriek!!” Gorneo widened his eyes in surprise when he heard a man responding to Davey. It was natural since someone had suddenly appeared when there wasn’t any presence before.
“Alright. Put it on the tab and let’s finish it in four days.”
Gorneo blankly stared at the man disappearing into thin air, then followed Davey with mixed emotions.
* * *
Four days went by. Gorneo honestly couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
“My, the color is changing.”
“How is the blue-black color changing back to red?”
Gorneo couldn’t even hear the little girl and the man with square glasses who were speaking in fascination.
“How is this…” That was all Gorneo could say. If he never witnessed this with his own eyes, he would never have believed it.
“What did I say? I told you I was going to finish this in four days.”
“Big brother!!”
“Now all you have to do is monitor the situation and administer it.”
“Sob… Weep… Thank you, Big brother…”
Watching Winley, the little girl, weep as she ran into Prince Davey’s arms, Baron Gorneo just flopped onto his chair dejectedly.
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