The Dark Fantasy Doctor Was Mistaken for a Saint - Chapter 26

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Haruto

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Dark Fantasy Doctor Was Mistaken for a Saint ◈

Chapter 26: A Flower Blooming Amid Plague (1)

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Flowers that survive the cruelest beasts are bound to grow thorns.

But flowers with thorns cannot embrace one another through the coldest winter.

* * *

The adults’ conversation did not end until late afternoon.

Once the meeting was over, the head butler looked out the window for a moment.

The city received little sunlight to begin with, and now dark clouds had gathered overhead, making it difficult to distinguish day from night.

So he shifted his gaze from the window to his wristwatch.

18:24.

“Won’t you stay the night?”

The head butler asked Shen, who was putting on his coat.

But Shen wrapped his scarf around his neck as he answered.

“It’s all right, sir.”

“It’s late, and it’s snowing this heavily. If you were to go missing out there, it would reflect poorly on both Young Master and me.”

At the mention of “Young Master,” Shen’s shoulders flinched.

But he soon shook his head, refusing the butler’s offer.

“I may not be a mage, but I have enough skill to be called a spellcaster. Snow like this won’t be a problem.”

Shen quietly recited an incantation.

“Coalor carpolaris, sungel.”

With the brief spell, faint warmth rose from his skin.

“As long as I’m not trying to create fire outside my body, I can raise my body temperature without magical tools. More importantly...”

Shen trailed off as he tightened his scarf.

“I’m not yet worthy of being under that person’s protection.”

“It would not be right to force you to stay when it makes you uncomfortable. Very well. Take care on your way down.”

“Thank you, sir. If you need us again, call for us anytime.”

Shen bowed and left the drawing room.

Standing by the window, the head butler watched Shen disappear into the city’s white darkness.

For a while, his gaze followed the thin trail Shen left across the snowy road.

Then, just as that trail was covered by snow again, the head butler drew the curtains and turned off the drawing room lights.

* * *

Time passed.

By the time the blizzard had finally begun to weaken...

“Brrr, it’s freezing. This is insane.”

Erika pulled her coat tight and left the annex.

Today was her regular appointment.

It was the day she was meant to see Julian for management of her chronic PNH, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, and a heparin injection.

Normally, Julian came to the annex to see her, but he had business in the main house today and had called her there instead.

Crunch. Crunch.

Trudging through snow that sank to her ankles, Erika pouted.

‘Of all days to have an appointment.’

The blizzard might have weakened, but the wind was still biting.

Sniffling, Erika headed toward the main house.

The main house stood across from the annex, with only a garden between them.

“Why did the corridor have to collapse now...?”

Originally, a proper covered passage connected the annex to the main house, shielding people from rain and snow.

But unable to bear the weight of the relentless blizzard, half the roof had come crashing down the night before.

The passage was completely closed as a result, leaving only one route from the annex to the main house: walking straight across the exposed garden.

Naturally, Julian, the precious young master of a baronial house, could not be expected to cross this field of snow for a house call.

More precisely, Julian himself did not mind, but a certain old butler had objected so fiercely he was practically foaming at the mouth.

As a result, Erika, the patient, had no choice but to brave the cold for her appointment.

“Ugh... Why is it so far?”

Crunch. Crunch.

After several minutes of walking across the garden, Erika finally arrived before a four-story stone building.

‘Come to think of it, this is my first time here.’

Standing in front of the building and brushing snow off herself, Erika thought back.

Ever since she had arrived at the estate, her range of activity had been entirely limited to the annex.

She had woken up in the annex when she first came here, and it was where she went to and from work afterward.

To someone who had lived on the streets, even a two-story brick house with her own room felt cozy enough. There had been no reason to explore the main house.

But today, by chance, she was stepping inside it.

“Wow... Why does the ceiling look like it’s attached to the sky?”

The moment Erika opened the door and stepped inside, her mouth fell open.

A warm space, filled with the light of brass chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, stretched endlessly before her.

“Was this estate always this big?”

Looking at the hallway lined with marble statues and gilded frames, she tilted her head.

The baronial estate had looked enormous from outside, but she did not remember it seeming this vast.

Her question did not last long.

At the far end of the long hall, a small figure walking toward her caught her attention.

It was a little girl with silver-white hair neatly braided down her back.

‘Wow, there was such a cute kid here.’

Erika was a girl herself.

A girl who could not resist cute things and wanted to become friends whenever she spotted someone around her age, still only just approaching puberty.

To her, that small, adorable girl was someone she could not possibly ignore.

The girl was bowing politely to an elderly maid passing by with a feather duster.

“███ ███████, █████.”

“███! ████!”

Erika could not hear them clearly from so far away, but it was obvious that the girl was greeting the elderly maid.

A perfectly logical conclusion immediately formed in Erika’s mind.

[A little girl politely using honorific speech with an elderly maid] = [the newest, youngest maid.]

It was an entirely logical and reasonable conclusion.

The corners of Erika’s mouth curled upward.

Unlike other noble houses, House Nihirit rarely lost servants.

New servants seldom arrived before someone retired, and as a result, Erika was still the youngest person in the annex.

Even after two whole years!

But that sad life as the youngest was finally over.

‘I have a junior now!’

With a mischievous smile, Erika crept up behind the girl.

Then, wearing a somehow suspicious grin, she suddenly spoke.

“Hey, hey. Where might this cute little lady have gotten lost?”

Erika used the slick way of speaking she had learned from Wangcho’s subordinates.

Startled by a tone that did not suit her voice, the girl whipped around.

Her clear, glacier-blue eyes widened as they met Erika’s.

“Pardon...?”

“Did you get lost on your first day?”

“What are you...?”

“The family here is kind, so you’ll be fine, but servants shouldn’t wander around too much.”

“Big sister...”

Without thinking, Erika grabbed the girl’s cheeks and stretched them.

For a brief moment, she wondered whether it was all right to do this to someone she had just met, but that thought quickly disappeared.

The heavenly softness beneath her fingertips made manners seem completely unimportant.

“Wow...”

“Eep...”

“Ah, what was I about to say?”

“Um, excuse me...”

“Right. Which department are you in? The kitchen? Or the laundry room? Just tell me. If you let your big sister touch your cheeks, I’ll take you there.”

Stretch.

Erika happily pulled the little girl’s soft cheeks in every direction.

The silver-haired girl could only move her lips, her face as red as a tomato.

Then...

“Erika.”

A familiar voice came from behind her.

Erika’s hands, which had been eagerly kneading the girl’s cheeks, stopped.

She slowly turned her head and found Julian standing behind her.

Her teacher wore the same gentle smile as always.

Yet Erika somehow felt a chill run down her spine.

“Uh... T-Teacher?”

“It was about time for our appointment, so I was going to come meet you. I didn’t expect to find you doing this.”

Julian’s gaze shifted to the child whose cheeks Erika was holding.

“Still, Erika. You did this to me as well, but I think you need to learn how to be more careful around people you’ve just met.”

Erika tilted her head.

“Huh? What do you mean...?”

Ignoring Erika, Julian spoke to the silver-haired child.

“Freya, are you all right?”

Freya.

The moment Erika heard that name, her mind went completely blank.

Even Erika, who normally paid little attention to what happened around her, had heard a few things.

Freya Nihirit.

The only daughter of House Nihirit and the young lady of this estate.

“Uh... Um...”

“H-Hello...”

Freya awkwardly greeted Erika while rubbing her reddened cheeks.

“You’re Erika... aren’t you?”

“...”

“My brother told me about you. He said you have remarkable mage talent...”

“...”

“My brother called me because he said he had something to tell you and me...”

But Freya’s careful greeting did not reach Erika’s ears.

Erika stood frozen like a statue for a long time. Then she lowered her gaze for a moment before holding out a hand toward Julian.

“Could we settle this with my left wrist?”

Thwack!

Julian’s forehead flick landed squarely on Erika’s forehead.

* * *

“Ow, ow, ow...”

Inside my room, Erika sat in a chair while rubbing her swollen, reddened forehead.

“Roll up your sleeve.”

“Okaaay...”

I sat Erika down on a small chair and immediately prepared for her appointment.

Meanwhile, Erika looked around my room.

“This feels familiar. It’s like our clinic.”

She was right.

My study was closer to a clinic than the study of an elegant young noble.

I kept organizing patient charts and research notes in my room, and before I knew it, it had begun to resemble a clinic.

I briefly looked past Erika’s shoulder.

Freya was sitting on a leather sofa in the corner of the room behind her.

“So this is what my brother’s clinic feels like...”

Freya slowly nodded at Erika’s words.

Even so, she continued rubbing her still-stinging cheeks and glancing warily at Erika.

An awkward silence passed between the two.

“...”

Then it was Erika who broke that silence.

“Ow!”

When I jabbed her arm without warning, Erika let out a cute cry.

“This isn’t your first injection.”

“You should still let me prepare myself!”

“You tense your muscles whenever you prepare yourself.”

“But injections hurt.”

“They hurt more when you tense up...”

After giving the injection as smoothly as water flowing, I placed a cotton pad over the spot.

“Keep pressure on it.”

“Okay.”

While Erika held the cotton pad in place, I looked at Freya, who was sitting beside us.

“Freya, let me check you too.”

“Yes, Brother.”

Erika accepted the cotton pad and moved aside while rubbing her arm, and Freya took the chair.

I placed a hand on Freya’s forehead, checked her tongue, and felt around her neck.

Hmm. Everything was normal.

“Freya, has your coughing at night gotten better?”

The moment I spoke to Freya, my voice became about half a note gentler than it had been with Erika.

I was a slightly strict teacher with Erika, but a kind older-brother figure to Freya.

Perhaps noticing the difference, Erika pouted.

But I ignored her silent protest and checked Freya’s temperature with the back of my hand.

“Yes, Brother. After taking the syrup you made yesterday, my sore throat went away too.”

“That’s good. Still, avoid cold winds for the next few days.”

For reference, the syrup I had given Freya was thyme syrup.

I had originally planned to make it with ginger, but Freya could not stand the smell of ginger, so I changed the ingredients.

Tch.

Ginger was difficult to obtain inside the walls, too.

At least Father and Mother seemed to enjoy it, so we decided to use it for fish dishes.

“All right, that’s enough for the checkup.”

I closed the chart and turned my chair around.

There was another reason I had called Erika and Freya here.

Freya only had a mild cold, so she did not really need to see me.

The reason I had called them together was magic.

“Erika, you can read Runic now, and Freya, you can as well. I think it’s time for you both to learn exception handling.”

Exception handling.

It was the most basic of magical fundamentals, used to ensure that the caster or their allies were not caught up in their own magic.

I had intended to teach Erika as soon as she came to the estate, but the timing had been delayed because she could not read.

Freya had now reached the right age, so I decided to teach her as well.

“All right, I’ll teach you the basics of exception handling.”

“I have a question!”

Erika raised her hand before the lesson had even begun.

“Wasn’t another private tutor supposed to teach us this instead of you?”

“Look out the window. Do you think a tutor can make it here?”

“Oh.”

“Then let’s begin again.”

I immediately stood and walked toward the blackboard.

Picking up a piece of chalk, I began writing on the board without hesitation.

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.

The sound of chalk racing across the board filled the room.

「Si jactor = amicus, tunc effectus = nullus.」

「Si jactor ∈ {socii}, tunc damnum → 0.」

「Si objectum.signum = [protectum], tunc penetratio = negatur.」

「∀x ∈ zona_effecti : (x.factio ≠ hostilis) → exemptus(x)」

「Quando vis_refluxus > θ, tunc jactor.exemptus = verus.」

「Si tempus_initii < t₀, tunc omnes_socii → salvus.」

「∃y : (y.distantia < r) ∧ (y.intentio = neutrum) → y.status = immunis.」

“...What?”

As I filled the mobile blackboard with writing, Erika made a dazed noise.

“You have all of that memorized?”

“Of course. It’s basic.”

It was not that I was special.

Most spellcasters memorized formulas like these.

The only difference was that other spellcasters memorized only one or two conditional statements they used often, while I had memorized more detailed ones as well.

“Wow...”

Freya stared blankly at my back.

Heh.

What did she think?

I might not have mage talent, but I was confident no one could beat me in theory.

Do I look like a joke, when I finished a three-year course in three months?

‘Sisi tapa, CC TAPA... What came next...?’

Of course, I had no time to feel smug while I was busy reciting the opening terms of the formulas in my head.

After scratching away at the blackboard without stopping for twenty minutes...

Tap.

I finally put down the chalk after drawing the last stroke.

‘Now that is art.’

Something I realized after being reincarnated was that this body’s hardware was incredible.

Maybe it was because this was a fantasy world.

Perhaps mana had seeped into my brain, because it worked remarkably well.

‘Did I leave anything out...?’

What should I call it?

A memory palace?

Recently, I had even become able to use a technique somewhat like that.

I had filled the blackboard with formulas using that technique.

In any case.

“All right, this is a collection of conditional statements for exception handling.”

Tap, tap.

I lightly tapped the board.

“When you use magic, you need to add conditions like these to the spell formula so it avoids your allies. The combinations vary depending on the situation, and once you become proficient, you can use only some of them, but...”

I tapped the board with the chalk.

“For now, you must learn the basics properly, even if you cannot memorize everything. That will broaden the range of magic you can use.”

“A-All of them?”

“All of them.”

Again, mages were not rare for some other reason.

Becoming a spellcaster in the first place was incredibly difficult.

The world was not kind enough to let someone become a mage with nothing but the talent to sense something.

‘It’s not for nothing that noble houses rush to adopt someone with mage talent.’

I held out papers to the two girls, who were overwhelmed by the writing.

“At the very least, memorize the five above.”

“Just in case I should ask, how long did it take you to memorize these, Brother?”

At Freya’s question, I counted on my fingers for a moment.