episode_0093

Episode 93. There are too many reasons.

****

Mint was leaning bluntly next to the doll. She had nothing to say since she was a patient who needed to be admitted. But the person who went out and brought her was a girl of Mint’s age.

It’s kind of like that, isn’t it? There doesn’t necessarily have to be a logical reason for feeling uneasy.

Next time we meet, I’ll definitely tell the teacher… I don’t think it’ll produce good results. I should at least pretend to be friendly and be more specific.

****

It’s already morning. It’s time to make rounds on the ward. Next to me is Istina, Amy, who said she took a vacation due to an urgent matter.

Anyway, the only patient admitted today was Elizabeth, and she was just lying there peacefully. She didn’t look uncomfortable.

“Is the hospital food any good?”

“Yes.”

“Are you feeling better?”

“That’s true. When will you be discharged?”

It is difficult to expect dramatic improvement in symptoms within the period of hospitalization, as Wilson’s disease requires several days or months to even begin management.

“One week. This disease will not be cured in a week, but there is time needed to adjust the diet and check the effect of the medicine.”

“Ah, will the rings in your pupils disappear?”

What is this? Sometimes patients ask questions that you would never think of. Questions that would not be written in a textbook.

Elizabeth said last time that she liked the golden rings around her eyes. I thought she was joking.

“I don’t know. It could take months, it could take years. If treated well, it should go away in a few years.”

“Can’t it be made to disappear?”

“Well… … .”

I don’t know. I’d like to do what you want if possible, but is that possible?

If it were modern times, I would have just told you to get a lens. It didn’t seem like there were colored lenses in this world. I’m not exactly sure why you want to keep the golden ring.

“Honestly, I don’t know that much? Why don’t you get some glasses? Something pretty.”

Elizabeth nodded.

I looked at Istina again.

“Was there anything unusual about the patient yesterday?”

“No. The pulse was normal, and the body temperature was normal. I don’t think there was anything unusual.”

Well, that’s fortunate. Well, this person is not a patient with any special symptoms right now. It’s not a disease that will worsen day by day.

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow. Oh, and make sure you take all your medicine! And drink lots of water.”

I would hope for a short-term improvement in symptoms, but it seems unlikely that will happen. It will be a long fight, probably.

“Right, let me ask you one more thing.”

“Yes.”

“Do you really have to go home?”

“Yes?”

Elizabeth seemed to wonder what he was talking about.

I scratched my head a bit. No, going back to the mansion would be an unhealthy environment, both mentally and physiologically.

Wouldn’t it be better to go to an academy?

“If possible… …. How about just going to the academy? If you have to go anyway, you don’t know when you’ll get sick after you go back, and when you’ll be able to visit the academy hospital.”

“Ah. I’ll talk to my parents.”

“It’s the patient’s wish, but.”

It would be advantageous for Elizabeth to attend the Academy to become the head of the household or to climb the social ladder. It would also be easier to receive treatment.

“But why?”

“The mansion was an unhealthy environment for the three princesses. Whether it was the disease caused by the imitation, the mold, the contaminated rye, or the lead cosmetics.”

Elizabeth looked at the distant mountains.

“Getting out of environments that can worsen the disease can also be a treatment method.”

“I never thought about it like that. I never even thought about having to leave home… … .”

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while, but the conclusion we’ll reach in the duke’s mansion is clear. The mansion itself is the problem. Get out of the mansion.”

This is the final diagnosis.

“My head is complicated.”

“Take your time and think about it. Your parents’ opinions are important too. But my medical opinion is this. Do not return to the mansion for the time being.”

The treatment ended here.

I took Istina out of the ward. Elizabeth was lying in her bed, lost in thought. What should I choose?

****

It was a long-awaited peace. I was sitting in my lab, sipping coffee that Istina had bought. Of course, it was coffee I bought with my own money.

“I have a question.”

“Yeah.”

“How do you respond when a patient lies?”

“It depends on the situation.”

“For example?”

“In cases where you should not react. When the patient is not of sound mind due to schizophrenia or other reasons and persuasion is not possible. In such cases, just say, “I see, you think so.” ”

“Yes. But why?”

“If the patient is not convincing, there is no benefit in refuting what the patient says by correcting it.”

It will only break the bond with the patient for no reason. You should just move on without sympathizing with the patient’s delusions or illusions.

“Aha. What if he’s not mentally ill or something, but just stubborn and doesn’t listen to you?”

“That must be said for sure.”

Istina nodded.

“That, the first and second princesses. If I had been alone, I don’t think I would have even imagined that it was a case of faking illness. I wondered what kind of illness it was, and I probably would have come back after thinking about it for a long time without any results.”

“That’s also a method. The most important thing is not to harm the patient, right? You don’t want to get hurt by the doctor’s hands if you poke around for no reason.”

“That’s right.”

“There is no other way than to check if the patient is lying. Checking if the patient is lying is also similar to other people.”

“Is that so?”

“Try it out, refute it, find evidence. There is no special way.”

It is important to know about the disease.

The deductive process used in the mansion may have seemed like magic to an outsider. Even though it seemed easy once you knew what to look for and heard the answer.

“Why did you gather everything together at the end and reveal the lies all at once? Was there a special reason for that? Or just?”

“That’s fun.”

“Aha.”

“Just kidding. There are two reasons. First, it seems necessary to talk about what families are hiding from each other. Second, there are so many things that the patient’s guardian is hiding.”

“Ah. Is it a genetic disease?”

“Right. The third one is adopted, so there might be something different. That was the most important information, right? But you hid it.”

“That’s right. The professor knew just by looking at the eyes.”

Istina sighed and played with her hair. Her eyes suddenly became serious.

“When will I be able to be like you, Professor?”

“I don’t know. Istina, you still have a lot to do, right? You have a lot of research achievements.”

Don’t compare yourself to me, but compare yourself to your peers or people around you. Where is there a graduate student with the same level of skill or ability as Istina?

Istina left the lab in a hurry.

By the way, I was looking through the pile of letters on my desk. Prince Manfred said he came to the Academy to see me a few days ago.

Since I wasn’t in the lab and couldn’t meet you, he must have left a letter. Where could he be?

Ah, this is it. The prince’s letter.

– It’s Manfred.

– I heard you went to the Dukedom of Ceruleus on a royal visit. Are you finally interested in joining Imperial society? Many people are curious about what you do.

– If you have any thoughts, tell me. Or, you can talk to Mint, or the people in the Cerulean Duke family that you treated.

Will the people of the Duke of Ceruleus evaluate me positively? Honestly, I don’t know.

I still have no intention of joining the Imperial social circle. I am not a noble, and I have no family to speak of.

Even if I go, I’ll just be treated as one of the royal servants by those people. I don’t know why the prince wants to take me, though.

Well… … I guess we can guess.

If I had to guess, I guess he probably wants to brag about being the best doctor in the empire.

Anyway, I didn’t really feel like going.

– It may sound a bit worldly for your taste, but it could be helpful in attracting investment. I recommend you visit there at least once.

Oh, I hadn’t thought of that. I’ve never done any sales before, so I don’t know for sure. Isn’t that the literal job of a pharmacist?

But if you say it like that, it’s hard not to go.

– First of all, you don’t know many alchemists. Shouldn’t you find someone to work with through your connections?

Oh, I’m tired just thinking about it. I flipped through the letter a bit more. Is there anything there?

– I would like to ask the professor for his opinion.

What the heck? It was a letter from an outside academic institution.

– Written by Professor Claudius.

– A question about the classification of bacteria seen under a microscope. The types of bacteria we grow in the lab seem to be limited.

That could be the case.

– I would like to ask the professor, who is an expert, whether this is because the types of bacteria are not diverse or because we are growing them incorrectly.

That was a good question. I picked up the pen.

It’s easy to see this way. There are endless types of bacteria, but only a very small number can be cultured without special efforts. Most are a few types of Gram-positive bacteria. There are countless bacteria that can only be cultured under specific conditions and on specific media.

Let’s write it up roughly and send it to them.

Professor Claudius, I think.

– Each bacterium has different preferred culture media and environments, and there are many different dyes that make specific bacteria visible.

– You’re not doing your research wrong, but if you want to see other bacteria, it seems like you’ll have to change the environment.

I solved another one today.

****

Meanwhile, classes at the Pension Department.

Professor Wolfram stopped class and threw a small piece of chalk toward one of the students who was lying face down. Of course, he missed.

“Hey, wake up the student over there.”

Cook. A student from the alchemy department stabbed the person lying down next to him. The student, who was thought to be asleep, fell to the side helplessly.

Professor Wolfram touched his forehead.

“Hey, you guys take him to the hospital.”