episode_0039

Episode 39. Heart-pounding (5)

****

Mint looked up at me with her eyes sparkling.

It was an expression I hadn’t seen in a long time.

It was the first time I had seen her expression since leaving the palace. Thinking about it, she was a bit pitiful. The princess had no friends and was usually bored.

But I don’t think going with a professor is better than going alone… … Anyway.

I followed the princess out of the laboratory.

Academy Cafe.

Actually, it’s not a place I come to often. I don’t usually sit here leisurely.

I usually ask Istina to buy it for me. But when I actually got there, it wasn’t a place with many people.

It was just quiet. It seemed like a few people passing by were staring at Mint, but Mint didn’t care.

“Princess. Don’t sit next to me, sit over there-”

“I don’t like it.”

Arrived at the cafe. The princess chose to sit next to me instead of facing me. After all, if she sat over there, she would have to face the sun.

Aside from the slightly more sinister expression on his face, his expression was similar to usual.

A face as pale as a stiff shirt collar, a tie that no one would tell was crooked, and hair tied up neatly.

According to rumors, she is the most beautiful person in the empire. Today, too, I searched through my memories to think of someone prettier than Mint.

Well, it might be somewhere.

Mint sipped her coffee while sitting down. I was thinking about what to talk about, but for some reason, the princess was looking off into the distance.

“Your tie is crooked, Your Highness.”

“Be quiet. It’s my heart.”

Oh, with that stupid princess personality.

“It reminds me of the old days.”

“Old days?”

“When in the palace.”

It was a bit unexpected. Most of Mint’s memories from her time in the palace were of being sick or sitting alone in her room, feeling bored. I don’t know why she thinks those are good memories.

Is it because it’s the past that memories are embellished?

Well, that could be the case.

“I see.”

“I’ve finished a few exams. I’m free these days.”

“I’m just curious. Does your highness remember your childhood positively?”

“Childhood? Why childhood, all of a sudden.”

“Because it reminds me of the old days and I like it.”

“Why is that childhood? Of course, after the teacher comes, when you are being treated for tuberculosis.”

“Aha.”

I hesitated for a moment and then opened my mouth.

“I think it would be good for the princess to practice talking to other people.”

“What?”

“Isn’t there definitely something the princess hasn’t been able to learn or enjoy because she’s been sick for a long time?”

Mint took on a shaky expression.

“How to treat people… … . I think it’s not too late to start building it now. There will be many people who want to become close to the princess, and no one will be able to treat the princess carelessly. ”

“Stupid, ignorant bastard.”

The princess looked at me sideways. Even if I say something nice, what am I supposed to do if this is the reaction?

“First of all, me. I need to practice talking to myself like a human being.”

“Oh my. There’s someone here who can do whatever he wants to me.”

Mint looked at me and smiled.

Because she’s like a princess.

“Wake up slowly.”

“That’s right, the teacher was busy.”

I really have to go. I got up from my seat first. The princess stared at me blankly, and after a few seconds, she held out her hand.

“Wake me up.”

I wonder why this is happening, but I don’t feel the need to fight with Mint any longer. Well, in a way, isn’t he my superior?

If you tell me to do it, I have to do it, you know.

I helped Mint up. Mint stumbled for a moment, then quickly stood on her own two feet.

“Then. See you next time?”

I nodded.

****

Now I have to write my thesis.

This time, too, it must be a paper that can directly refute academic conventions. There must be absolutely no loopholes in logic or experimentation.

There are several experimental bases.

First, if you place liver tissue under a microscope, you can observe capillaries without difficulty.

And the fact that if you squeeze the heart once, about 0.1 to 0.2 liters of liquid comes out.

First, let’s work hard on the paper. It might get published in the summer conference, or if we’re lucky, it might get published before then.

“Right, how about that?”

“What?”

“Last time, you mentioned that you skipped the cross-validation process and came to class to explain it to the professors.”

That’s what it was.

There are many professors who are like children. If you show them something new, they will flock to you and try to play with it.

Professor Kropelter or something. Anyway.

“So?”

“Regardless of whether it’s an academic conference or something, why don’t you just post it for review and gather people together to present it? Wouldn’t that be more convenient for both parties?”

I gave Istina’s suggestion some thought.

That sounds like a good idea.

“Okay, let’s do that.”

Those who are going to come will come.

They secretly obtained cross-validation papers and came to my class to sit in on them. If I send them an invitation, they’ll come running and say, “That’s right.”

****

You have to do what comes to mind right away.

Why? Life is basically a series of choices. There are so many things in the world that you can’t do. If you can do something that comes to mind, you should do it.

I submitted my paper on ‘Circulation of Blood’ to an academic journal and then rented a lecture hall.

I even sent out invitations to the professors who sat in my class last time.

“Then let’s begin.”

The crowd was abuzz before the event even began. Not many professors came themselves. Most were graduate students who came instead of professors.

“A few days ago, I had a patient come in with a ruptured organ. So I tried to check how much blood was lost and if the blood pressure was still there, but there was no way to do it.”

There was a murmur of agreement in the auditorium. It was a common sight for doctors and healers: patients dying from bleeding.

“Let’s start from the basics. What is blood? Where does blood come from in the body, and where does it go? There have been many hypotheses since ancient times.”

I looked around the auditorium.

“To conclude, blood leaves the heart and returns to the heart with only a slight change in composition. It is neither created nor destroyed during the one or two cycles.”

“Yes?”

The auditorium began to roar.

It’s a sight I’ve seen many times. Since it’s different from the majority opinion in academia, I’m sure they’ll turn on the light and look at it to see if there’s anything wrong or if there’s something wrong.

The male graduate student sitting in the front raised his hand. I don’t know his name. I don’t know which professor he came on behalf of.

“Do you have any basis for this?”

There is a basis for this.

“Let me start with the strongest evidence. How much blood do you think will flow into the heart?”

There was no one to answer.

I took a glass bottle out from under the podium.

A human heart filled with alcohol. I took the heart out of the vial and squeezed it, and a cupful of liquid poured out onto the floor.

“Did you just see that? The heart pumps out about 0.1 liter of fluid at a time. The heart rate can go up to 150 or more during exercise.”

Cardiac output during exercise can exceed 15 liters. Here’s the problem.

“Everyone, think about it. Isn’t it strange? The human body only has about 3 liters of blood. Does it make sense to think that all the blood in the body is created and consumed every 10 seconds?”

How will the reaction be?

I looked around the auditorium again, half confused, half bored.

I am not the first person to raise this issue. No one has solved it yet, so it remains a difficult problem.

This time Anne raised her hand.

I was asked a question by gesturing.

“Professor Asterix. Isn’t there any evidence that squeezing a heart with your hand is similar to what the heart actually does inside the human body?”

I nodded.

“Mr. Ann, have you ever dissected a live rat? Looked at the heart.”

“No?”

“Try it. Come see for yourself how the heart works inside the human body of a mammal.”

Of course, the heart pumps blood as if squeezing it inside a living human body. Anne sat back down with a complicated expression.

“Any questions so far?”

Several hands were raised.

“Even if what the professor said is true, there is no way for blood to flow in the body at that speed.”

“Even if blood isn’t consumed in that way, shouldn’t it be made somewhere?”

“If peripheral tissues do not absorb and consume blood, where do they get their nutrients?”

There are many questions today too.

I am satisfied.

****

I’m not sure about the other questions.

The first question is one I had as an undergraduate student. Why is arterial blood pressure in the three digits, while venous blood pressure is in the single digits?

This is the problem.

If arteries and veins are connected and blood flows, why are the properties of arteries and veins so different? First of all, their colors are different. The wrong theories of the past stem from this problem.

“Can you be more specific?”

“Even if the professor claims so, isn’t it an observable fact that blood is absorbed into peripheral tissues and does not come out again?”

“It comes out again. It comes out through the veins.”

“If Professor Asterix’s claim is true, what is the structure that connects the arteries and veins?”

Capillaries.

“So, to summarize. The current majority opinion in academia is that arteries and veins have different properties and there is no tube connecting them, right?”

The head nodded.

“Let me just say the conclusion this time. Veins and arteries are connected by microscopic structures called capillaries that pass through peripheral tissues and organs.”

This time, one of the professors stood up. Professor Brown. He was considered an orthodox professor within the Academy’s Department of Healing.

He was also extremely negative about the germ theory.

“Isn’t this outside the realm of falsifiable science? Now, you have to assume invisible blood vessels to make your argument valid?”

Well, that’s true, but what do you want me to know about the existence of invisible blood vessels? Fortunately, we’ve already observed capillaries.