Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Became the Greatest Genius in History
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I busily hustled about to secure places to live with my precious people.
Fortunately, there was a land manager who was something like a real estate agent, and I got his help.
As expected, finding a ready-made house that matched all my conditions was impossible, but securing bare land was a breeze.
The outskirts beyond the castle walls were generally less popular than the interior, and the land manager said from the start that the only folks looking for homes out there were the farmers tilling nearby fields.
Anyway.
I followed the land manager around to check out the listings.
"By your voice, you don't sound of age yet, and your clothes back that up. You got the money?"
He eyed me suspiciously.
The way to convince the land manager was simple: show him the gap in our stations.
I took off my robe.
"Heugh."
I figured this might happen, so I'd dressed the part of a proper young nobleman.
Now do I look like I've got some coin to you, human?
"From here on, milord, I'll show you only the S-grade properties."
"So these weren't up to snuff until now, huh."
"Hahaha, perish the thought."
The land manager introduced the listings with twice the courtesy he'd shown before.
It was absurd how he tacked "milord" onto every other word, but no need to worry about getting stiffed, so it worked in my favor.
In my past life, adults had drummed it into my head that real estate scams were the most dangerous thing to watch out for.
This guy's a civil servant—no way a cushy lifer has the balls to fleece a noble.
The listing I picked was a 200-pyeong empty lot about a thirty-minute walk from the capital.
Quiet, peaceful, clean air. Perfect.
I paid the deposit.
I'd promised to settle the balance next time I was in the capital, planning to sell the Hell Tank for the funds.
'Securing a place to move to: done.'
Deed in hand, I set off.
Before heading back to the palace, I swung by a bookstore to browse. Spotted a novel by author Tia that wasn't in the mansion library and snapped it up.
Gonna read this on the way home.
Errands done, I poked around for gifts for Sis and Dalpi, then returned to the palace.
Banquet time was approaching, so I stashed the book and deed in my room and strolled the halls. The vibe was off—chaotic.
'Was it always this quiet?'
Only Art was waiting for me in the banquet hall.
Ten minutes to start, and not a soul in sight. Something was wrong.
"You've arrived. I've been waiting."
"Did something happen? Where is everyone?"
"Actually..."
Art explained the situation.
Word was, the banquet had been canceled about thirty minutes ago.
Reason:
"The princess suddenly collapsed. She's always been healthy, but out of nowhere..."
'The princess collapsed?'
I'd had a bad feeling since seeing her yesterday. Her condition must've been worse than it seemed.
I pressed Art—who was trailing off—for more details.
"She started coughing hard in the banquet hall, then collapsed spitting blood. The royal physician said there were white spots on her chest..."
'White spots...'
For an introvert like me, skipping the banquet was great news.
But knowing it got canceled because someone collapsed left a bad taste.
Honestly, with my own sick sister, it hit way too close to home.
Didn't feel like anyone else's business.
"Understood for now."
I headed back to my room.
"......"
I lay in bed trying to sleep, but worry kept me wide awake.
Body and mind exhausted, yet consciousness razor-sharp.
After about thirty minutes.
"Haa..."
I finally got up.
Truth be told, I didn't think the royal physicians could handle it.
If they could, they'd have done it already.
Maybe to adapt to mana?
Humans in this world had body structures different from my past life's.
Mana circuits embedded inside, heart evolved not just to pump blood but to generate and circulate mana.
This world's medicine had advanced to fit that evolved physiology.
I knew the physicians weren't total primitives.
Thanks to bio-school mages chipping in, they grasped germs and hygiene.
At least no treatises spouting nonsense like airborne miasma invading lungs to cause illness.
Haniel's condition improving was possible only because I'd studied this world's texts.
Still, it couldn't compare to modern medicine, forged in the blood of countless lives.
No antibiotics had been invented here yet.
I found Art and asked where Livian was.
"The princess's room is that way, but why?"
"I'm going to examine her."
"Examine her...?"
Art blinked.
Might sound laughable—a non-doctor like me playing physician.
No time for lengthy explanations.
I brushed past him and kept walking.
The princess's door stood open.
Sounds leaked into the corridor.
"Cough cough, it hurts..."
"Livian, it's okay. I'm right here."
"Just hang in there. I've prescribed medicine. Close your eyes, sleep it off, and you'll wake feeling better."
Childhood memories hit me.
The me clutching sick Haniel's hand had a trembling voice just like that.
Despair from her groans, helpless to do a thing.
Yeah, it gnawed at me.
I bowed to the guards at the door and stepped inside.
"Ester..."
"What brings you here..."
Bimark and Trowill were people first, royals second.
A strange kinship stirred, seeing their worry etched as they gazed at Livian.
I politely asked if they'd step out for a bit.
"I'll take a look at her."
Bimark's eyes shifted slowly.
"Aren't you a physician?"
I shook my head.
"My sister was ill in the past, so I studied medicine. Leave her to me."
"Is that true... But."
Trowill met my gaze.
Something in my eyes must've convinced him. With the physicians offering no answers, he talked Bimark into it.
"Father. Let's trust Ester this once."
Bimark let out a heavy sigh, then nodded.
"I beg you. If the princess recovers, anything you desire is yours."
Oh, for real?
Music to my ears, but wrong moment to celebrate.
"Then please, everyone out."
Sorry to say it, but their presence would just hinder treatment, so I politely ushered them out.
They left without protest.
Royals gone, I shut the door.
I spoke to Livian.
"Princess. Can you hear me?"
"Yes..."
She could barely speak.
High fever, soaked in sweat head to toe.
I wiped her face with a towel.
"Everything I do now is for your recovery. It might feel strange, awkward, weird—but trust me completely."
She nodded weakly.
Good, green light.
Honestly, unsure if I should even go through with this.
A shocking demand for Livian, raised like a flower in a greenhouse as the kingdom's princess.
But all for the greater good.
Time to buck up.
"Here..."
I offered her a disinfected cup.
***
Ester's request was absurd.
Livian stared blankly at the disinfected cup.
'What the... suddenly?'
Ester calmly voicing something too embarrassing to say aloud was nothing like the image she'd held of him.
Rude to think it of the kingdom's savior, but for a split second, he looked like some raving lunatic.
'He really wants me to...?'
He was dead serious.
Spouting baffling medical jargon, insisting it was vital for pinpointing the illness.
She was clueless on this stuff.
No doctor had ever asked a patient something so outlandish.
Still.
She had no choice.
Dying as she was, she had to take the shot.
Gritting through the shame, she did exactly as told.
He set the cup down.
And.
"Don't move."
Next came her nose.
It felt like a brain stab—tears welled up on their own.
"Kuaang..."
Ester looked like a torturer in that instant of agony.
"Now for blood."
"B-blood...?"
"Yes. Little sting."
'Is this guy a total quack...?'
Livian couldn't fight back.
No strength left, and Ester moved with the unflinching confidence of total certainty.
He stepped out briefly, then returned.
Held a strange vial; dabbed its liquid on gauze, rubbed her skin.
Felt cool.
"Stings. Scared? Don't look."
"Ow..."
Ester bound her right arm with soft cord, drew blood with a mana needle.
"You did great."
"......"
No strength to reply.
He was a mage, first off.
Medicine and magic were worlds apart, as far as she knew.
Even if some Erps or life-school mages dabbled in medicine, Ester's feats had zilch to do with it.
Genius or not, could a non-doctor make any real difference?
She missed the kindly royal physicians.
Commotion over, drowsiness hit.
Pain throbbed, but she could sleep like this.
Last glance at Ester before drifting off.
He hadn't left the room.
Doing some magic, from the look—but what, exactly?
"...Good dreams..."
Feeling him adjust the damp cloth on her forehead, Livian fell asleep.
***
『Liver values are pretty high. Looks genetic.』
『Urogenital system's fine.』
『Red blood cell count...』
Nob AI hijacked my body to run a battery of tests on Livian.
Handy life-school spells could stand in for precision gear, analyzing and assessing components.
Hours later, it nailed down her condition.
『Bacterial infection.』
『...』
Long story short from Nob AI: Bacteria enter via the respiratory tract, lurk in the mana circuits, absorb the host's mana to multiply, then choke out the lungs. That's what's killing the princess.
『Not a superbug—antibiotics will wipe it easy.』
『Nob AI's got this handled.』
『˶˙ᵕ˙ )ﾉﾞ』
Yeah.
Today too, you're my only hope.