Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: We Dominate This Class (1)
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It's been a while since I've been in the clinic.
Peaceful and nice. The clinic in the Lapis Barony had turned into hell because of the plague. Here... no lines at all, super comfortable.
No patients on the verge of death in sight, either.
Estina was off handling other duties, so she wasn't here. Most of the people coming in for treatment didn't have anything too serious.
Let's see what we've got. Knock knock knock. After a brief knock, today's first patient appeared.
"Hello. I heard Professor Asterix is the greatest physician on the continent. Is that true?"
"It might be."
The patient who just walked in was an academy student who looked perfectly healthy on the outside.
"Can you heal illnesses of the heart as well?"
The mystery unraveled more easily than expected.
Illnesses of the heart could be treatable or not. But I didn't have the knowledge for counseling, nor the personality for it.
I could whip up some antidepressants, but I wasn't sure if they'd help.
"Have a seat and tell me about it. So, you're here for an illness of the heart? What's your name, patient?"
"My name is Lylas. I'm a second-year student in the Academy's Knight Faculty."
He didn't mention his background, so probably a low noble or commoner? Just a guess. I needed that info for the chart—name and social history.
Social history often ties into diagnoses. Local endemic diseases, that sort of thing. Not sure if I'd use it here, though.
"Got it. Where does it hurt?"
"It's hard to talk about."
"Mm. Everything said in this clinic is confidential. Feel free to speak openly."
"It might sound corny, but I miss her so much. I really like her."
A melodrama, huh? Or just relationship troubles.
I couldn't help thinking, "And...?"
Er... the exaggerated speech and behavior made me consider bipolar disorder or a manic episode. A bit of a stretch, though.
Needed to hear more to know for sure.
"That must have been weighing on your mind. Were you feeling mentally strained because of it?"
"Oh, absolutely."
Psych issue after all?
"Have you felt depressed, gone days without sleep, or attempted suicide?"
"No?"
Then why come to the hospital? I thought, but I couldn't rule out something serious yet. Patience.
"So why did you come to the hospital?"
This answer would decide things.
If someone else told him to go to the hospital, high chance of mental illness. If physical symptoms brought him here, consider other diseases.
In a modern university hospital, I'd check hormones galore. But with the limited facilities here, more deliberation needed.
The patient's answer was...
"My heart hurts so much. I can't bear it if I don't see her; my chest feels so tight."
My heart hurts, huh.
Could be hwa-byung, but more likely, a stress-related chest pain condition...
"Reflux esophagitis from stress."
"What?"
Muttering to myself.
I jotted down a few possible diagnoses.
Unfortunately, reflux esophagitis is diagnosed via endoscopy. Which isn't available here.
"Do you drink alcohol usually?"
"Yes."
"Some questions about the symptoms. Does the heart pain feel like palpitations, burning, or dull aching?"
"Burning and tight."
First would be arrhythmia, second reflux esophagitis, third myocardial infarction. Luckily, the easiest of the three.
Burning fits reflux esophagitis.
"For now, go confess to her."
"As I thought, this hole in my heart won't fill until I convey my feelings to her, right?"
"Er... well."
I didn't say that.
Separate from his off-putting speech, he was tall and an academy student, so decent status—might actually work out?
Questions continued for a few minutes.
"Here's your prescription. Seems like reflux esophagitis. Avoid stress, no alcohol, and when lying down, make sure your left side is down."
"Will my heart stop hurting then?"
Bit of an idiot, but he seemed so purely genuine without a hint of irony that I couldn't say it.
"It'll hurt less. If it's still bad after a week, come back."
"Pouring it all out feels so refreshing! I can tell everyone the rumors of you being the empire's top healer aren't exaggerated."
"Yeah, sure. Go ahead."
A rollercoaster of an exam. Went from mental illness to heart disease back to mental, ending on esophagitis.
Avoid stress and it might clear right up—no need for meds?
The clinic wrapped up without major incidents. Aside from that lovesick knight at first, no unusual patients. Colds were the most common.
I headed back to the lab. In one corner, Estina was struggling with a map and compass. What was she doing?
"Back from the wards."
"Mm, okay. Whatcha up to?"
"That paper on cholera-like dysentery? Submitted it for cross-verification. They said it'll be published if it passes."
Thinking back, when we submitted under Professor Klaus's name, cross-verification flew through.
Name value, huh?
Whatever. If academia rejects this one, I'll borrow the princess's name and submit straight to the imperial government.
No fighting our results. In real history, once Snow's theory got policy backing, it couldn't be ignored easily.
"It'll be fine, right?"
"It'll work out. Doesn't matter."
Estina scratched her head.
"You prepared for class?"
"Yeah, worked hard on it."
Time for class soon.
Already skipped a few going to the Lapis territory—way behind.
Class time again after so long.
"Alright, today's lecture topic is—"
Huh? I squinted and scanned the classroom again. Not just more unfamiliar students, but a bunch of middle-aged guys scattered around.
Professors, probably.
I stopped the lecture and looked around.
"Uh, what's going on with everyone?"
Trouble? First, the grad student.
I glanced at Estina, closest to the podium. She stood and hurried to my side. Solution found.
"Submitted that cholera-like dysentery paper for cross-verification last time. Looks like professors and grad students came to audit because of it..."
Aha.
"Yes. We're here to discuss with Professor Asterix. Your recent research—the one up for cross-verification."
I looked around.
This was chaos.
Grad students loaded with paper and pens, professors sitting with combative expressions, undergrads starting to slip out one by one.
Felt a bit guilty. Imagine coming for class and professors/grad students hijack it.
How absurd would that be? Wait. I was absurd too. Why crash someone else's class for a protest? Weirdos—
No.
They wanted the research that badly.
Estina's paper draft must've blown them away, and our Lapis work intrigued them.
"You're talking about the response to cholera-like dysentery and related research?"
Murmurs rose. Undergrads finally catching on.
In the back, Professor Klaus raised his hand.
"Professor Asterix. Skip the class—tell us about the cholera-like dysentery."
Looked like a high schooler begging the homeroom teacher for first-love stories.
I sighed. Coming right after submission? Like they'd bolt with the paper if it slipped. Pretty blatant. Well...
Meant rapid progress.
"Fine. Ask away."
Bit disconcerting inwardly. What's the difference from a conference? Gather scholars, that's a conference.
"I'll briefly cover what I witnessed on cholera-like dysentery, my hypotheses, etc., in about ten minutes. Then questions."
Middle row, Oliver raised his hand.
"Oliver. What?"
"What about the undergrad lecture?"
"Want this on the exam?"
Oliver shut up.
"For those who don't know: Recently dispatched to the Lapis Barony, I helped treat and prevent cholera-like dysentery with great success. Estina and I published research on it."
Estina nodded beside me.
"First, the nature of cholera-like dysentery, primary prevention, secondary prevention—in that order. Finally, what happened in the Lapis territory."
Didn't prepare separately.
"First item on the agenda."