Ch.241Chapter 241 – Signs of Plague

Another peaceful day at Glesius Academy.

I woke up and was eating the breakfast that Regina had prepared for me, checking the student management window to see if there was any new information.

Just then, Regina, who was serving me another bowl of stew, seemed to remember something and said, “Ah!” before speaking to me.

“Pathos, have you heard? Serin Ekatos won the family succession trial and will soon inherit the position of head of the Ekatos family.”

“That’s good to hear.”

What Regina told me was about Serin.

It wasn’t long ago that she had received special training from Cheon Hyeryeong and left for the Ekatos family, and it seemed she had finally challenged Count Ekatos and claimed the position of family head.

“Looks like Cheon Hyeryeong’s special training helped.”

“I suppose so. According to rumors, she deployed an Aura Blade during the trial with the family head… If that’s true, she’d be the youngest Sword Master of this generation.”

“A Sword Master… She’ll be a great help in the fight against the Demon Cult.”

“Indeed. After all, a Sword Master can easily fend off thousands of enemies single-handedly.”

As Regina boasted that she, as an Archmage, could block thousands or even tens of thousands of enemies, I was once again reminded of just how extraordinary Archmages truly are.

Now that the Ekatos family matter has been resolved, things should be peaceful for a while.

I scooped up some stew with my spoon and prayed that nothing would happen for the time being.

But sadly, heaven seemed to betray my wishes mercilessly.

“Chancellor.”

While Regina and I were eating, Shannon, Regina’s secretary, opened the door without knocking and called for her.

“What’s the matter?”

Both Regina and I were surprised that Shannon had entered without knocking.

Unless it was extremely urgent, Shannon always knocked before entering, but she came in directly without knocking?

This was practically equivalent to a very serious incident occurring within the academy.

“Professor Pecos from the infirmary has requested an urgent meeting.”

“Professor Pecos?”

Shannon mentioned Professor Pecos’s request for a meeting.

I know Professor Pecos well.

I heard he was one of the people who treated me when I was caught in the Demon Cult’s bomb attack.

He’s known for his expertise in treating physical wounds, making him an ideal talent for the academy where students can easily get injured during frequent training sessions.

If someone like him was suddenly requesting a meeting… something must have definitely gone wrong at the academy.

“Hmm… I understand. Tell him I’ll grant him an audience in 30 minutes.”

“Yes, Chancellor. I’ll relay your message.”

After receiving Regina’s instructions, Shannon bowed to us and left the room, closing the door behind her.

“What could it be? Requesting a sudden meeting like this.”

“I’m not sure either. Professor Pecos isn’t someone who requests meetings for trivial matters…”

Regina also seemed unsure about why Professor Pecos had requested a meeting.

“Is there anything showing up in the student management window?”

“In the student management window? Well… I don’t see anything particularly concerning.”

Regina opened the student management window and began looking for anything unusual.

But even as the time for Professor Pecos’s meeting approached, we couldn’t find any signs of trouble.

“Well, it’s time, so I’ll go meet with Professor Pecos. If I need your help, can I call you?”

“Anytime.”

I made an OK sign with my fingers in response to Regina’s question.

She used to ask what that gesture meant, but now she knows it means “I understand.”

Regina made the same OK sign back at me and left the room.

A sudden meeting request from the professor in charge of the infirmary…

I have a feeling that some inexplicable major incident is approaching.

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Professor Pecos, who was in charge of the infirmary at Glesius Academy, stood up and greeted Regina as she entered the meeting room.

“Chancellor, thank you so much for agreeing to meet me despite my sudden request.”

“I would certainly agree to meet with you, Professor Pecos, more than anyone else. I know you wouldn’t request a meeting without good reason.”

Regina knew Professor Pecos well and believed there must be a reason for his sudden request for a meeting.

In fact, compared to other departments, the infirmary rarely sent reports to the chancellor unless there was something truly serious.

“So, what’s the matter?”

“Yes. There’s an unknown epidemic spreading among the students.”

“An… epidemic?”

Regina expressed doubt when Professor Pecos mentioned an epidemic.

When she had checked the student management window, there was no indication of an epidemic.

“At first, I thought it was just simple stomach pain, but as time passed, more people started showing the same symptoms.”

“How many are affected?”

“About a week ago, there were only 2-3 people, but recently that number has suddenly increased to around 40.”

Regina realized the seriousness of the situation when she heard that the number of patients had increased twentyfold in just one week.

What if the number of patients increased by a similar ratio in another week?

Then there wouldn’t be just 40 patients, but over 800.

Perhaps even more people could become infected.

There was also the possibility that this epidemic could spread beyond the academy to the outside world.

“Have you identified the cause?”

“Not yet. There’s been no contact with outsiders, and we’ve investigated all the food the students eat, but we couldn’t find any suspected cause of the epidemic.”

“This is troubling. Not knowing the cause of the epidemic.”

Regina was visibly perplexed by Professor Pecos’s words.

The most important thing in preventing an epidemic is to find and eliminate its cause.

But if even Professor Pecos, who knows more about epidemics than anyone else in the academy, couldn’t find the cause…

“However, there is one thing I suspect.”

“What is it?”

“While researching ancient literature for my thesis, I discovered that some diseases can lie dormant in a person’s body for weeks without any symptoms, then manifest at a certain time and spread to others.”

“Hmm… I understand. Please conduct further investigations and report back.”

“What do you plan to do with the students?”

“I’ll give you an answer by the end of today. Until then, please keep them isolated in the infirmary.”

“Understood.”

Regina rose from her seat, leaving Professor Pecos behind.

She felt she needed to discuss this matter with Pathos, thinking that he, having received abilities from the Great Goddess, might have some solution to this situation.

◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈

“…that’s what he said. What do you think?”

I listened to what Regina told me about Professor Pecos’s report and her thoughts.

As soon as I heard it, I was reminded of COVID-19.

A disease that shows no symptoms during the incubation period but is still contagious, and once symptoms appear after the incubation period, it causes great suffering.

When I was living on Earth, everyone was going through difficult times because of the coronavirus. I myself had been infected and suffered for several days.

What was needed in this case was thorough disinfection, social distancing, and isolation.

We needed to disinfect thoroughly to prevent the virus from spreading further, practice social distancing to block transmission, and isolate infected people in safe places, prohibiting external contact until the virus died out.

Based on my past life experience, I offered my solution to this problem.

Regina nodded in agreement with my suggestions.

“I see. So we need to implement social distancing, thorough disinfection, and strict isolation of infected people to prevent contact with others?”

“Yes. And since anyone who has had contact with an infected person could also become infected, we should temporarily confine everyone to their dormitories to prevent people from meeting each other.”

Classes would come to a complete halt, but that would be safer than letting the epidemic spread and devastate the academy.

However, there was something we hadn’t anticipated.

“Chancellor. An unknown disease has started spreading throughout the Empire…”

It was that this unidentifiable epidemic had already begun spreading outside the academy as well.

Who on earth… could be spreading this disease?