The Saint's Winter and the B-Sector Crisis

I took Ayla to the diabetes examination room. "Director, what kind of disease is treated in this clinic?"

"It's a bit early for you to learn about this, Ayla, so I won't be introducing it today."

On the way to the diabetes lab, there was a clinic that male patients frequented with suspicious frequency, but I let it slide naturally. The diabetes lab was tucked away at the end of the hallway. When I opened the door, two healers were standing in front of a long table. One healer with round glasses was arranging glass cups, while the other was busily recording something.

"Ah, Director. Welcome."

The healer with the round glasses saw me and gave a light bow. His name was Kowu Gomikawa. He was a diabetes-specialized healer I had trained personally. He was in his late thirties, a former low-ranking priest, and his healing skills were just average. However, he had a high understanding of alchemy. He had originally dreamed of becoming an alchemist, but due to the realistic reason that alchemists had fewer job opportunities than healers, he had chosen the path of a healer. Then, after I sparked the insulin boom, he abandoned holy magic and began walking the path of alchemy once again.

"Kowu, I've brought my student today."

"Oh! Are you finally taking on an apprentice, Director!"

Behind his round frames, the eyes of Kowu, the healer-turned-alchemist, grew as large as full moons. "The rumors have been spreading among the healers at the Merkur Clinic, too. That you've finally brought in a disciple."

Generally, healers bring their apprentices to the clinics where they work to teach them, hoping they will one day take over their duties. The healer currently helping with the tests silently beside Kowu was also his apprentice. If I remembered correctly, she was a student who had entered the Department of Healing last year.

"Introduce yourself, Yutsuki."

"Hello, Senior. I'm Ayla."

"Nice to meet you, Ayla. I'm Yutsuki."

The healer who had been recording something greeted Ayla. I stepped forward, positioning Ayla so she could see Kowu clearly.

"Kowu, Ayla hasn't entered the Department of Healing yet. I'd like you to give her a brief explanation of the diabetes test—would you have the time?"

Kowu nodded readily. "I just finished the morning batch. I was just preparing the afternoon ones, so you can watch along."

It was perfect timing. I gestured for Ayla to come inside. Twelve glass cups were lined up on the table. Each cup contained a yellow liquid, and each had a name tag attached.

Healer Kowu explained to Ayla, "These are all urine samples from patients suspected of having diabetes."

"Pardon?" Ayla's expression was filled with shock. "Why on earth...?"

"Because urine is a mirror that shows the state of the body inside."

Kowu replied, dropping a blue liquid into each beaker containing urine. The name of the blue liquid was Benedict's reagent. It was a reagent used to detect sugar. Next, Kowu heated the mixture of urine and reagent. Most of the cups just bubbled and remained yellow, but some turned from yellow to red. Kowu's apprentice recorded the changes one by one.

Once the apprentice finished recording, I took the sheet and showed it to Ayla. "Now, Ayla, can you explain what diabetes is, based on what you know?"

"It's a disease where you're constantly thirsty, drink a lot of water, but it all just comes out as urine."

"Correct. You've studied well, Ayla."

Excessive thirst, excessive hunger, excessive urination. These were the three major symptoms of diabetes. "Diabetes is a terrifying disease where the blood becomes sticky due to an excess of sugar flowing through it. This sticky blood frequently clogs blood vessels, leading to various complications."

I omitted the principles of diabetes, such as pancreatic function or how sugar accumulates in blood cells. That was content she would learn when she went to the Academy. "Because of this, sugar that shouldn't be there ends up being excreted in the urine."

"Did you discover this, Director?"

"No. Another healer discovered that fact. I simply used that fact to create the medicine."

The diagnostic criteria for diabetes had been known long before I created insulin. It was thanks to a healer from long ago who realized that sugar appeared in the urine of diabetic patients. "The diagnostic criteria for diabetes were discovered over forty years ago."

"Aha."

Of course, even at the time of discovery, they hadn't found a cure. While being able to identify diabetic patients faster allowed for dietary control, it didn't lead to the treatment of patients who had already contracted the disease. Not until I introduced the technology to extract insulin from pig pancreases.

"How much do you know about insulin, Ayla?"

"I've heard it's a miracle drug essential for diabetic patients."

"That's right. But it still has many shortcomings to be called a miracle drug."

First, there was the issue of purity. I had succeeded in increasing the purity by introducing a zinc purification method, but compared to the era I lived in, it was still far from sufficient. "That's why we need to conduct improvement research through the information gathered at these clinics."

This was the reason I said the role of the clinics was important. Every medicine I introduced to this world was merely a prototype. Insulin, quinine, colchicine, vaccines—they all needed improvement. But I didn't know how to improve them. After all, it was knowledge I had essentially "stolen" from another world. Furthermore, that was the realm of biochemistry, not medicine. So, I entrusted all improvement research after drug development to the alchemists.

Perhaps it was because the alchemists of this world were the type to create various derivative potions whenever a new one appeared. When I tossed them a few clues, provided some budget, and gave them clinic data, they went wild, churning out all sorts of derivative drugs.

— "A thousand patients? This is a scale I couldn't even touch unless I was affiliated with a lord or the imperial family!"

— "The budget is... what? This much? And the time? What? Unlimited? Can I sign a lifetime contract right now?"

If there was no progress in research, one had to reconsider if the budget and time were insufficient; the alchemists affiliated with the merchant group were proving that truth themselves. "Kowu here also recently succeeded in improving the duration of insulin's action. This is why clinics are necessary."

I pointed to Kowu and his apprentice, who were busily recording the results. I didn't know alchemy well. I wasn't particularly good at biochemistry, either. My knowledge was nothing more than acting as if I were solving a problem with the answer key laid out in front of me. It wasn't my real skill. But alchemists were different. They were people who had started from nothing and built up their knowledge and skills themselves. Perhaps that was why. Whenever I tossed out a few clues, they would figure out the direction for improvement on their own. Was this the "misunderstanding-based" automated process? Thanks to this, I was enjoying the privileges of a protagonist in a misunderstanding story to the fullest.

"Haha, Director. Won't the student misunderstand if you say it like that? You taught us all the principles, we just added a spoon. And didn't the conclusion come out that the new drug I made has no clinical significance?"

"But it has significance in that you made improvements."

I turned my body toward Ayla and said, "If you have any questions about insulin or diabetes, ask Kowu. In this field, he has now surpassed me."

"Director! I told you it's not like that!"

I ignored the protest of Healer Kowu. In reality, alchemists had indeed surpassed me in the fields of diabetes and insulin. I didn't feel particularly bitter. There was no reason to. In any case, I had plenty of other areas to look after besides diabetes. There was no need to obsess over the title of the world's leading authority on diabetes. Besides, ultimately, I was the one who had fostered and supported these alchemists. As their reputation grew, my reputation would naturally rise as well. That was why I acknowledged Kowu as the best.

"Ayla, do you have any questions?"

Ayla, who had been listening to me quietly, looked at the record sheet and opened her mouth cautiously. "By any chance, what are these figures?"

Ayla's finger pointed to a line on the record sheet. It was the date and the number written next to it. Kowu pushed up his glasses and peered at the record. "Ah, that's the blood sugar level. Since we can't verify the drug's efficacy simply by the presence of sugar in the urine, we quantified the concentration of sugar in the blood."

Ayla tilted her head. "How do you find that out?"

"Good question." Kowu took another record sheet from the table drawer. It was filled with numbers for each date. Numbers spanning several months were listed for each patient.

"We are placing requests with mages in our merchant group," Kowu explained. "Among mages, there are rare individuals who possess the talent to sensually perceive the concentration of components dissolved in blood. They analyze the blood drawn from patients and quantify the sugar concentration."

It wasn't a difficult task for mages. Sensing humidity or depression through the skin, or feeling the degree of bone marrow activation—those were the kinds of creatures mages were, possessing such nonsensical talents. So, whenever I discovered a mage with a useful talent besides Eri, I would hire them at the merchant group level and use them as diagnostic tools like this. Unfortunately, I hadn't yet found a mage with talent as unparalleled as Eri's. Regardless, with the help of such mages, it was possible to quantify sugar levels in urine or blood. However, Ayla seemed unable to believe it easily.

"There are people with such mage talents? I've never heard of such a talent."

Perhaps it was because she aspired to be a healer. She seemed to have some knowledge about mage talents. Healing magic was, after all, similar in principle to general magic. If you subtracted the fact that they replaced the talent for sensing the surroundings with faith, and replaced mana with holy power, they were no different from mages. So, she seemed to think Kowu's words were a joke.

"Does such a talent really exist?"

At Ayla's reaction, Healer Kowu chuckled. Then, his expression changed slowly. The laughter vanished, and his face became gloomy, filled with a sense of remorse. Kowu put down the record sheet and slowly lifted his head.

"Ayla."

"Yes?"

"Do you know why diabetes is called 'diabetes'?"

"Because sugar comes out in the urine..."

"It's because the urine tastes sweet."

"...."

Ah. Ayla let out a sigh. "No way..."

Ayla couldn't continue. There were countless mages who grasped the state of their surroundings ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with their tongues, not just their eyes or noses. She seemed to have recalled that fact. "Don't worry, Ayla. It's a diagnostic method that you and Yutsuki don't need to know."

Kowu, who said that, was still looking at the ceiling. His eyes behind the round glasses were fixed on a distant place. "Come to think of it, it reminds me of when I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was an apprentice. I said the diagnostic method for diabetes was discovered forty years ago, right?"

"...."

"Benedict's reagent hasn't been made for very long. It's a reagent that Director Shun created while making insulin."

I nodded quietly. If you want to make medicine, don't you also have to make a diagnostic method? So I made it. Because I couldn't bring myself to taste the patients' urine. Well, when I developed this reagent, the healers cheered for a different reason. Kowu called me in a low voice.

"Director Shun."

"Yes."

"Couldn't you have made it three years earlier?"

For reference, Kowu obtained his healer's license ten years ago from now. It meant three years before I made the reagent. "I apologize. I was busy making quinine at that time."

"...No. I have made a slip of the tongue. Thank you very much for making it."

The expression of the low-ranking healer who said that looked very sad.

It had been several months since I took Ayla as my apprentice. Ayla's education was going smoothly. Her speed at absorbing knowledge was extraordinary. As if the title of valedictorian at the seminary wasn't just for show. She had already grown to a level where it would be fine for her to enter the Department of Healing. At this rate, I thought it would be fine for her to do some previewing before entering. However, I decided to postpone that period for a while.

'The snow is looking ominous again this year.'

It was about that time. The world was preparing to be dyed white again this year without fail. It was a time when every household prepared to spend the harshest season. Since Ayla was also busy, I postponed the lessons. And during my free time, I took care of the things I never missed every year.

'It's about time for them to come.'

Before the heavy snow began. I usually sent winter promissory notes to the scholarship students. Heating costs, book costs, food costs, etc. I sent those every year. Then, around this time, thank-you letters from the scholarship students would arrive.

Knock, knock.

Just in time, the butler knocked on my room door. "Young Master, you have letters."

"Come in."

Butler Wilhelm entered the room holding a silver tray. I checked the envelopes placed on the tray.

"Thank you."

I took the letters and checked their contents. The contents were nothing special. The swordsmanship student, Karl, wrote that his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠injuries had all healed. Alchemy student Ellie wrote that she would return to school and study again once the snow stopped. Valeria wrote that she would do well on this graduation exam, making it easier for her to advance to the Department of Heroics in the Academy.

'Come to think of it, Valeria was twenty when the snow stopped.'

It felt like yesterday that I promised to support her application to the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Department of Heroics. Time really flew. As I continued to flip through the letters, one letter remained. A familiar envelope sealed with string, not wax.

[Sender — Ayla.]

I carefully untied the string on the envelope. This time, a pressed flower flowed out with it. A small purple petal, a violet.

'She's even growing flowers in winter now.'

Violets were flowers that bloomed in spring. To make such flowers bloom in winter. It was now beyond surprising, reaching a level of wonder. How on earth was she growing them? I tucked the violet between the bookmarks and unfolded the letter.

'She's cute.'

She wanted to bring her friends. There was no reason to refuse. It would be even better if Ayla became closer to her friends through this. I immediately picked up my fountain pen and began writing a reply. The content was that I would positively consider the visit of her friends. I added a promise that "when the snow stops, I will show you something more difficult this year." I folded the letter and sealed it by melting wax over a candle flame.

*

And winter passed, and the snow stopped. That dawn, I went to the D-1 clinic for the first time in a while. And before Ayla and her friends arrived, I prepared for the morning's work. Just as I was recording today's schedule in my notebook with a fountain pen, preparing for the various emergency patients that would occur immediately after the heavy snow.

Thump, thump, thump, thump!

The sound of someone urgently knocking on the clinic entrance rang out. "Director! Director, are you there!"

It was Wangcho.

'At this hour?'

I closed my notebook and headed to the entrance. When I opened the door, Wangcho was standing there. Ice fragments were stuck to the shoulders of his khaki long coat, and his sideburns were glistening with cold sweat.

"We're in trouble, Director," Wangcho said, gasping for breath. "B-Sector is in chaos."

"B-Sector?"

"Isn't this the season for cooperative subjugation right after the heavy snow?"

That was true. The period immediately after heavy snow was the season for cooperative subjugation of magical beasts. It utilized the time when magical beasts that hadn't fully awakened from hibernation were sluggish. During this period, mercenaries, knight orders, and nobles cooperated to cull the population. It was a joint event of the Empire to manage the density of magical beasts in the demon territory outside the Brass Wall. But what had happened there to cause this reaction?

"A variant appeared. They say a variant bird popped out of a nest the subjugation team was trying to wake up, and that bastard woke up all the hibernating ones."

"What about the damage?"

"Not to mention the mercenaries, the knights and nobles who went in together are also seriously injured. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they suffered almost devastating damage."

Wangcho rubbed his hands. "Aren't the mercenary guilds and clans in B-Sector? They say all the injured are gathered there. So the leader of that side sent a support request to us."

The leader of B-Sector was close to Wangcho. In the first place, there were many cases where adventurers traveled far to D-Sector to receive treatment. As I frequently treated them, I had somehow come to have friendly relations with D-Sector.

"He's crying and begging me to please bring you."

"Understood." I picked up my coat. "I will contact the healers affiliated with the clinic. Let's head out first."

Just then, I saw a car carrying Ayla coming toward the clinic in the distance. I pondered for a moment, then added to Wangcho, "I'll take Ayla with us, so Wangcho, please take good care of her."

"Yes. Is there any doubt?"