I Became a Plague Doctor in a Romance Fantasy Novel

Graduate Student Diary (1)

Graduate Student Diary (1)

The first patient I saw at the academy was a male student who had broken his arm while riding a horse last time. His name was probably Benjamin. That student came to the outpatient clinic today.

“The stitches on your arm are out, right?”

“Yes.”

“Is there any discomfort in moving it?”

Benjamin carefully moved his arm.

“Well, it still seems to have some range of motion issues. Is this normal?”

It could originally be like that.

Well, I’m not an orthopedic specialist, and the surgery might not have been perfect. It might have been unavoidable.

It’s a bit hard to say definitively without an X-ray. I pondered a bit.

“You should exercise.”

“Really?”

“After surgery, the ligament might have stiffened. You probably need to loosen it and exercise for a while to restore it to its original state.”

“Ah.”

“Since your wrist is uncomfortable after the surgery, it seems good to exercise that area.”

It’s hard to say anything hastily. The results vary from person to person. It could be the foreign body sensation that naturally occurs after surgery, or the reinforcement plate in the bone might be scratching the ligament.

Which one could it be?

Ah, I thought of a way to check.

“Can you stretch out both arms? Move your fingers and wrists symmetrically on both sides.”

Up, down, left, right. And even the fingers.

It looks fine. There doesn’t seem to be a functional difference between the two hands. I can’t be sure without an X-ray, though.

“It doesn’t hurt, right? No heat sensation?”

“No.”

“It seems to be healing well.”

Benjamin pondered a bit.

“Professor, I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

It seemed like he had something to say, but what was it? Was there a new place that hurt?

“There was the swordsmanship tournament, and me too. You really saved many people. I went to see other healers, and they said that if an arm is broken to the point of being bent, it’s normal for it to be unusable.”

“That’s true. I was lucky too. If I had touched a joint or blood vessel, there wouldn’t have been much I could do.”

Benjamin nodded.

“I’m telling everyone around me that I survived thanks to you, professor. And that I can use my arm.”

This student’s name is Lieselotte.

An academy girl. Of course, one shouldn’t think lightly of the symptoms a patient describes. But this friend wasn’t seriously ill.

She came because of vertigo.

“You’re not feeling dizzy these days, right?”

“Gasp, you remember that?”

It’s in the medical records. I wrote it down.

“I remember all the information of every patient I’ve seen. That way, I can diagnose faster and more accurately.”

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

It was a joke. Lieselotte was slightly impressed by my lie.

“Anyway, why did you come?”

“I was wondering what to do if the dizziness recurs. And my eyes have been blurry lately. Is this also a disease that can be cured by shaking my head well?”

“Well, it can recur. If your sense of balance is off, you can experience dizziness or visual disturbances. Are you feeling dizzy?”

“No. Not really.”

Lieselotte shook her head.

“When did it start?”

“Since a day ago.”

“There’s an academy exam these days, right?”

“Gasp, how did you know?”

The princess told me. The princess is also in the exam period.

Isn’t it normal for your eyes to get a bit blurry when you’re tired? I’ve experienced it many times.

“You can’t see at all, right?”

“No.”

“Can you read letters?”

“I can see them.”

“Hmm. There might be a problem, but it doesn’t seem like a serious illness. Get a good sleep for about a week, and if it continues after the exam, come back.”

A relieved expression. Lieselotte nodded. In this case, there’s not much I can do, but ah! I can do that. I took out a small paper bag from the desk.

“Professor. Am I coming to the hospital unnecessarily for a trivial illness?”

To be honest, it does feel that way. But that doesn’t mean it should be ignored.

“Well, healthy people don’t pretend to be sick. Dizziness and not being able to see are serious matters. Even if I don’t know the cause.”

Lieselotte nodded.

“Right?”

“These are medicines. Take one every morning.”

“What kind of medicine is it?”

“Medicine that makes your brain work well.”

This is something I prepared for when there’s nothing much I can do, or for patients who seem to have come to the hospital for no reason.

It’s just a glucose candy.

Eating sugar in the morning can sometimes clear your mind. Let’s see if the placebo alone can cure the illness, it might surprisingly work.

“Thank you again for today!”

“Yes. Come right away if you feel sick.”

Lieselotte greeted and left the consultation room.

Is today’s consultation over? I checked the time. I wonder if I can go back to the lab.

Meanwhile, in the lab.

Istina was heading to the lab when she met the princess who was also heading there.

Istina was flustered. Should I greet her? We often run into each other, but usually, if I keep my eyes down, the princess just passes by.

“Was your name Itty? Let’s have a chat for a moment.”

“Yes? That…!”

Istina dropped the book she was carrying on her foot. With a short scream, she rolled on the floor. The princess looked down at Istina, who was clutching her foot on the floor, with a look of disdain.

Istina looked up at Mint.

The princess looked down at Istina.

Their eyes met.

“I’m Istina. S-sorry, but, what business do you have with me, Princess?”

“Is your foot okay?”

“Uh, probably.”

No matter how equal the academy might be. For Istina, who had been attacked because of her status before, the princess felt like an unattainable ivory tower.

She looked the part too.

In fact, even now, sitting down and looking up at the princess, Mint felt an overwhelming sense of intimidation.

“If your feet hurt, just sit down.”

“Oh, thank you?”

The princess seemed unaware of the ambiguous irony in her words. Still, she was trying to be kind.

Mint continued speaking.

“How is the professor in private?”

“You mean the professor? I don’t really know. Wouldn’t you know better, Your Highness?”

Mint tilted her head this time.

“Why? You work together.”

“There are many days when we don’t exchange a single word during shift changes in the ward. Even though we’re usually busy.”

“Ah.”

“I’m just a graduate student, so I think Your Highness knows better what kind of person the professor is.”

“What do you do usually? Aren’t you close with the professor?”

Istina hesitated a bit. What was the princess’s intention in asking this? No, could they even be close?

“Can you be close with a professor…?”

“You spend a lot of time together, don’t you?”

“Your Highness. I think there’s a misunderstanding, but I have to get paid under the professor, get my degree, get a co-author spot on papers, and take classes.”

“So, you like it that much?”

“No, it’s that uncomfortable…”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

He had a look of utter surprise.

“But still, someone like the professor is a good person, right?”

Istina opened her mouth, then closed it again.

Whether out of malice or just plain obliviousness, the princess could repeat what she said about the professor. They were close, after all.

“Yes, the professor is a good person.”

“So, you like the professor?”

Was the princess an idiot, trying to mess with her, or was there something clouding her judgment? Istina sighed.

“No.”

“Really?”

She seemed satisfied with this answer.

“Has the professor ever asked you to do anything strange?”

Again, the princess’s curious gaze. Istina pondered for a long time. Strange things, strange things. There were a few.

“Well, there was that one time. He didn’t have time to go to the execution ground himself, so he asked me to bring back a corpse. He needed to study the bone marrow…”

“And?”

Istina hesitated for a moment. The bone with the most marrow, the largest bone, is the femur.

“He asked me to buy a human femur. So I went to the execution ground, but they don’t sell them by parts, so the executioner gave me a saw.”

Mint frowned.

“So, what did you do?”

“If they tell me to do it, I have to. I cut it off.”

“Oh my. Did you really do that?”

Istina nodded vigorously. The princess seemed at a loss for words at this fact.

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you afraid the professor will hate you?”

“Ha, I don’t know. If I get kicked out from under Professor Asterix too, I really have nowhere to go.”

This was the truth. Istina’s voice carried the resentment that had been building up over time.

“Well, hang in there.”

An indifferent voice.

Istina stood up from the floor and dusted off her clothes. The princess stared at Istina blankly.

“Uh, I’ll be going now.”

Istina quickly disappeared.

The princess, Mint, scratched her head.

“What the…?”

She had come to ask if Istina liked the teacher, or if the teacher liked Istina, but…

Istina treated the teacher almost like an enemy, far from liking him. Well, in a way, that’s a relief.