episode_0084

Episode 84. The Curse of the Cerulean Family (1)

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“After I graduate, let’s go back to the palace together. Like we promised. Will you do that?”

The doll didn’t answer, but Mint hugged the doll from the side and made it nod its head.

“Right, good.”

Mint thought about it for a while. When Asterix said he would quit his professorship after a few years, did he really have Mint in mind?

Isn’t that right? Given his personality, he might have just said it to avoid embarrassment.

Still. I wonder if Mint also influenced the decision… …! Even if it was just empty words, I would have thought about it and answered.

Mint decided to think so.

****

Today is also the outpatient clinic time.

What kind of strange people will come next? I haven’t yet seen anyone who can beat someone who fell down after eating a mushroom picked up on the street.

The people I see most often at the Academy Hospital are, of course, Academy students. That’s partly because they’re close by.

I think it’s because there are a lot of stupid people.

They give power and strength to young noble children who are barely in high school or college, and force them into one facility.

So it was inevitable that there would be chaos. There were things like fencing competitions where many people died, or violent monster hunting events, etc.

Knock knock. Someone knocked on the door of the examination room, and a patient came in. This patient was also a relatively ordinary-looking academy student.

Let’s take a closer look.

A female student. Her hair was disheveled, her complexion was normal, but there were some dark circles under her eyes.

He didn’t look particularly sick, had an odd posture, or seemed to be moving awkwardly. His Academy uniform was neat, but it didn’t look particularly well-maintained. In many ways.

“What is your name?”

“This is Erta.”

“How did you come here?”

“Walk.”

Oh, I see.

This guy seems to be a bit of a weird person. He probably walked or flew to me, but I asked him what made him decide to come.

“What is causing you discomfort?”

“I can’t sleep these days.”

It’s a common concern.

You may wonder, “Why are you coming to the hospital with just that?” But for most patients, it’s because they’re in that much pain that they come to the hospital.

“How much sleep do you get per day?”

“About five hours.”

“Hmm.”

I can’t sleep, so I need sleeping pills!

– It’s easy to think that way, but you shouldn’t make a hasty decision. Using sleeping pills carries many risks, and it’s right to see it as a last resort.

First of all, correcting lifestyle habits is the best method… … . It doesn’t make sense to ask a patient to do something that I can’t do myself.

Let’s talk some more and give him some vitamins.

Oh, right. I’ll have to check that out.

One of the most characteristic symptoms of a manic episode is sleeplessness, although this student does not appear to be a manic episode sufferer.

Since my area of expertise is not psychiatry, I think I need to check it carefully.

“Since when has it been like that?”

“About half a month ago.”

“Patient. Has your mood recently improved, your speech has become faster, you have been told that you have changed, or your goal-oriented activities have increased?”

“Not at all.”

“Have you ever been depressed?”

“There isn’t any.”

I wrote that down in the patient’s medical record. I checked to see if there were any symptoms of mania or depression, but there were none.

Now it’s time to suggest a solution. What should I say? Of course, it’s funny when I tell other people to change their lifestyle habits or be less stressed.

I thought back to my previous meetings with psychiatrists. What would they prescribe and what would they say to patients with insomnia?

“We will not provide sleeping pills.”

“Really?”

“There is a dependency on the sleeping pill itself, and if you feel like you can’t sleep without it, it’s a problem. It’s also a dangerous drug in many ways.”

Erta Yang nodded.

“Then. Is there nothing I can do?”

Yes. I took a short break.

“Have you ever tried not sleeping?”

“Yes?”

“Just do whatever you want at night.”

“Then I won’t be able to sleep anymore.”

It’s called paradoxical effort.

Performing certain rituals such as changing the bed to prepare for sleep, exercising before bed, and worrying about not being able to fall asleep can add to the symptoms of insomnia.

This is a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. If you are gripped by the fear that you won’t be able to sleep, you will really have trouble sleeping.

People naturally sleep. If they don’t sleep, they die. In a way, the situation where you feel stressed about not being able to sleep is paradoxical.

“If you can’t sleep for a week, just get up and do what you have to do. Don’t worry too much about not being able to sleep.”

“Will that solve it?”

“You may not be able to sleep because you are anxious. Anxiety about not being able to sleep can paradoxically cause insomnia.”

Erta scratched his head.

An expression that says, “Is that really so?” Unfortunately, diseases related to lifestyle habits are not easily cured.

Because these are not problems that can be solved by finding a cure, taking medicine, or using a knife.

“If it doesn’t work out as you said, when will you come back?”

“Try it for a week.”

Anything more than that is dangerous. It’s unlikely, but if, just in case, Miss Erta really stays up for several nights without sleeping due to her superhuman mental powers, it could be detrimental to her health.

“Okay.”

“If that doesn’t work, just close your eyes and lie down. That can also help.”

I took a few vitamin pills, put them in a glass bottle, and handed it to Erta. Erta took the bottle with both hands.

“You said you weren’t going to give me sleeping pills?”

“It’s a nutritional supplement. You may be lacking something. Take one a day.”

“Oh, thank you!”

Erta nodded a few times and then stood up, holding the bottle of medicine. People were more than happy to take something with them, even if they didn’t really need it.

****

Who is coming today? While I was briefly looking over the patients’ medical records, Istina opened the door to the examination room and came in.

“Professor. Someone came to see us today. It wasn’t the patient himself. It seems like the guardian came to see us because he had something to say.”

“Yeah? What did you say?”

“I want to see the professor.”

If the patient doesn’t come, it can’t be solved. Of course, you have to see the patient in person to treat them. If there were other patients in the ward or if you were busy, you would have just sent them away.

“So. You came here because you need my help even though you’re not sick?”

Istina nodded.

“Tell them to come in. I’ll listen and decide.”

“Professor, please come out.”

“I hate it.”

“Oh, yes.”

Istina closed the door to the examination room and left.

A few minutes later, a woman came into the examination room with Istina. She was wearing a rather expensive-looking dress, and was carrying a hat and fan.

From the way she walked to the way she sat, she had the mannerisms typical of a noblewoman, and she looked much older than the patients I usually saw.

Although she looked more like an elegant woman than an old woman. She might be a parent.

“Hello. How did you come here?”

“You’re a difficult person to meet, really.”

“Me?”

You can meet them when you come to the hospital. It depends on the number of people waiting that day, but it won’t take long.

“I tried to get a connection to secure a position, but he was more valuable than I thought. I don’t have any personal connections with any nobles.”

I’m not sure what that means.

“I think there’s a bit of a misunderstanding. If you come to the hospital, I can see you right away. There were one or two people waiting today, though.”

“I had a hard time getting in touch with the prince to see the professor, and that’s what he said. The professor is not a person who listens to requests easily, and he is not a person who does what he is told.”

What the hell is that? If you’re sick, you should go to the hospital. It’s obvious that it’s difficult to meet a doctor, or anyone else, in private…

At the very least, try going to a convenience store and asking the clerk if you want to eat something. Will that work out as planned?

Anyway, let’s leave the noble game behind.

“I don’t know exactly what you’re talking about, but let’s get to the point. Who’s sick?”

The woman let out a deep sigh as soon as I spoke. She shut her eyes tightly, as if she had remembered something she didn’t want to remember.

“A disaster has struck my house. There is no solution in sight, but I have come to ask for help from the professor, who I have heard is the best doctor in the empire.”

“What is your name?”

“Ah. I am Cecilia, the Duchess of Ceruleus. Please call me Cecilia.”

“Yes. Miss Cecilia, I would like you to explain in detail who is sick and how.”

“Haa… … . The Cerulean family now has three children. All three are sick right now.”

Oh my.

“Where does it hurt?”

“The first one is crazy, the second one has a seizure, and the third one is just not feeling well.”

“Oh my. You must be having a hard time.”

I sat up straight.

To be honest, at first glance, I thought she was just some rich, hypochondriacal aristocratic lady. Turns out she really had some serious issues?