Chapter 80
“I wish I had a microscope…but there’s nothing like that here.” The man didn’t even know what a microscope was, but the important thing was that…
“An antibody… An antibody! The first thing that the doctors, who were the best of the best in this field, gave up on was making an antibody!” The man, Baron Gorneo, gasped in astonishment.
“It’s not easy.” Davey just grinned.
The human body had a system that prepared for the next viral attack by remembering its initial attack; this was the relationship between antigens and antibodies. However, Gorneo had thought that an antibody couldn’t be developed for this nasty disease. Since he was also an exceptional doctor, he had attempted to make an antibody numerous times, but had failed time and time again. Yet, right in front of his eyes now was the outcome he had been searching for over the last three years.
“B—But this isn’t something that could be made this easily…” Gorneo stammered.
“It’s because I used something that isn’t usually used in medicine. Baron Gorneo, can I tell you something funny?” As he stopped stroking Winley’s head, Davey spoke with a smile. Then, he filled a thin needle with the transparent liquid he had made and injected it into the blue-black blood. Just then, something fascinating began to happen; the blue-black fluid started to gather in one place, as if it was running away from the needle. Then, the blue-black color subsided and all that was left was a red fluid, normal human blood.
“You know, the ‘Melting Acceleration Virus’ should actually be thought of as an organism that strategically targets the human body, which has strong survival instincts. It is a parasite, and an extremely malicious one at that.” Baron Gorneo anxiously looked at Davey, who went on to explain, “So, I needed to break the spirits of this damn parasite to do something.”
No one had ever thought about such an approach. This method needed a few kinds of medicinal herbs and a few kinds of poisonous plants that people believed could not be used for medicine.
“Haha, I had some trouble with finding the medicinal herbs because the names are different.”
Everyone, including Class-5 Yulis, Baron Gorneo, and Princess Winley, shared the same thought. ‘Where did he find that out?’
* * *
‘How much do you know, and what more do you know?’ Baron Gorneo parted his lips to speak, but promptly shut his mouth. He was deep in thought.
Right now, it seemed like Gorneo was interrogating Davey. But Davey just calmly handed him the test tubes he had prepared, as if he had already expected such a reaction. Davey said, “The dosage per person is one over fifty. Give it to them. Exactly fifty people can be treated with one tube. Since there are markings on the tube, can I leave this to you?”
“Oh, yes.”
“One dose won’t completely cure them, so they can’t be up and about. The dose has to be given somewhat regularly. Well, the prescription of the drug is as written. I have obtained the ingredients and left it in the back, so use it however you’d like.”
‘Since it’s not even my money, and it’s charged to the Coalition for Disease Control.’
Gorneo couldn’t laugh even when Davey was speaking playfully, because Davey was acting like this wasn’t a big deal. Countless doctors had given up on this disease, but this young boy in front of him had solved it in four days.
Baron Gorneo felt like he didn’t know what to do, but he could also feel his long-forgotten passion as a scholar of medicine returning. Then, he just bowed to Davey with wide eyes, abandoning his initial objective and the petty pride he had as a doctor. “L—Leave it to me!” That’s all Gorneo could say.
Afterwards, word began spreading all over the territory that Prince Davey had finally completed the cure for this nasty disease.
* * *
“Did you hear?”
“Ah, are you talking about that piece of news?” Lington answered as he was relaxing and sipping on a glass of wine. “Yes, the commoners are going crazy over it, saying that he’s the saint who has driven out the demon. Haha, I guess it’s not weird that he is being called a saint since he has a stigmata.”
“…”
“And aren’t I right? The prince of the Rowane Kingdom actually cracked the problem that the coalition had left unsolved for all this time,” Lington said. Then, he murmured to himself, sounding intrigued, “And in just four days.”
“What are you thinking of doing?’
“About what?”
“I’m asking if it’s okay to just leave it like this.”
There wasn’t anything that would cause any problems, at least in principle. Prince Davey was given the authority through negotiations with Lington and was successful in curing patients. Of course, Lington could have declined the prince’s help, but he was confident that he had seen all kinds of people; it was clear that Davey had a bold character that constantly pushed him forward despite any setbacks.
“This is how medicine will advance again.” Lington smiled.
“Hm…”
“This was a task that the continent’s greatest doctors have racked their brains about, and they couldn’t come up with an answer. It’s a nasty disease that could have been forever left as an unsolved problem.”
Holy power didn’t work on this disease. Normal drugs became poisonous and caused the patient to die if administered incorrectly. In addition, the course of death was absolutely horrendous.
“This teenage boy has rescued humanity from a huge crisis. Thankfully, this disease hadn’t caused any problems in the past because it’s extremely rare, but now, the ‘Blood of the Demon’… It was called ‘Melting Acceleration Virus’, right? Anyways, this disease has now lost its power.”
The problem was that a teenage boy was the one who had developed a cure for it. If this were to be known, not only would Count Lington’s reputation be damaged, but the reputation of everyone who was involved. It wasn’t really their fault, but it was just that an outsider had done their work for them.
Thud!!
“Who is it?!” Count Colio shouted angrily.
A knight quickly ran into the room. “I—I’m sorry! But it is urgent news!”
“Now now, don’t be so mad, Count Colio,” Lington said to Colio. “So, tell us. What’s the matter?”
Count Colio frowned. He didn’t like the fact that Lington was remaining calm even in a situation like this.
“Th—That is… The patients who were given the new cure developed by Prince Davey…”
“Hm? Has something gone wrong?”
“No! Apparently, they are making a rapid recovery…”
Shwing… Splatter!!! The knight who was wearing a strange, hooded cape that only had holes for the eyes fell. Blood splattered everywhere and he collapsed onto the ground. Count Colio’s sword glistened.
“I don’t like it.”
Lington, who was smiling, murmured in a quiet voice, “Count Colio. I am…”
“Tell me.”
“I am a doctor. I am a doctor who fixes people and politics.” Then, Lington put his hands behind his back and stared out the window. “Let’s perform a little bit of a procedure. Our funding is going to get cut off if we leave the situation as is, right?”
With an eerie smile, Lington’s eyes sparkled with a hint of madness.
Lington had received quite a lot of funding for the treatment of the ‘Melting Acceleration Virus’. And part of that money had been used to achieve his other precious goal. Count Colio had joined forces with him for the same goal as well.
“So, let’s do it quietly and secretly. Now that it has come to this, let’s get rid of that wary Baron Gorneo who is digging up dirt on us. Ah, and the person who has the stigmata and the talented mage of the wizard tower… They are quite interesting. Don’t kill them.” The eerie smile on Lington’s face deepened as he said thoughtfully, “I guess there will be some resistance, but a ‘Swordmaster’ should be able to do it. Just subdue them. We can just tell the public that the Ordem Territory has been completely destroyed by monsters. It has to be a win-win situation, right?”
* * *
“Big brother, do you know what the residents are calling you? They are calling you a saint. A saint…! Yes. I knew you were extraordinary, but I didn’t know you were well-versed in the art of medicine as well.”
Davey lightly pinched Winley on the cheek because her sparkling eyes were so cute, so she groaned quietly. Yulis, who had his gaze fixed on her, laughed.
“Your Highness, you are more fascinating the more I get to know you. But how did you know?” Yulis asked.
“Know what?” Davey asked while he organized some documents and divided the medicine into separate tubes.
“Um… The ‘Melting Acceleration Virus’. You already seemed to know about that disease.”
“That’s right.”
“Big brother! Does that mean we can save Portna?” Winley exclaimed.
“Of course. She actually needs to be the first one to be treated because she is in the worst situation.”
Baron Gorneo, who was absent because he had to go administer the cure, seemed very wary and meticulous. Looking at him, Davey respected the man’s integrity and determination. ‘That kind of good will is hard to see.’
-Good will…
Count Lington seemed like a person who could embrace anything on the outside. Davey wouldn’t have doubted him if he didn’t catch the familiar feeling in his smile. However, the man seemed more like a researcher rather than a doctor. On the other hand, Baron Gorneo was stubborn, but Davey respected his dedication to medicine. Perhaps that was why Davey was able to treat Gorneo with kindness even though Gorneo had been nothing but snippy.
-Well, you rarely had a chance to meet someone new. You can meet new people and start growing from now on.
Perserque was the only person who could truly understand Davey, and she was the only person he could truly understand. Davey smiled at her warm words.
“Anyways, I wonder where Baris went. I heard that he left the territory with some knights.”
“He also has his work to do.” Winley puffed up her cheeks and complained, as if she didn’t like the fact that Baris was absent.
“Anyway, Your Highness, is there anything I can do to help?” Yulis asked.
“That’s right, big brother! All I’ve done up until now was just watch you. So please let me do something to help you.”
Davey thought about what they were saying, then nodded. “Then could you alter the temperatures of those fluids that are being heated?”
“The…temperature?”
This shouldn’t be a difficult task for them, since they knew magic from the Red Tower.