WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Haruto

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Dark Fantasy Doctor Was Mistaken for a Saint ◈

Chapter 35: The Firefly Prince (5)

──────

* * *

Imposter syndrome.

A psychological phenomenon often experienced by residents, and one Eri had suffered from before.

It referred to people who achieved great things yet thought those achievements were overrated, causing them to underestimate themselves.

Put simply, it was a state where someone attributed their accomplishments to luck rather than effort.

It often appeared in people who had experienced a sudden rise in status.

I had experienced it too.

Back when I finished my residency and became a fellow.

As my years of experience piled up and a faculty position became almost certain, the way the hospital treated me suddenly changed.

If I had to describe how I felt then in one sentence, it would be this.

Who am I? Where am I?

And now that I had transmigrated into another world, I was recalling that feeling for the first time in a long while.

‘Excuse me? Who did you say?’

To put it in terms doctors would understand, it felt like I had braced myself for the dean, only for Hippocrates himself to suddenly show up.

I nearly broke character and asked who he was again.

‘Not that I dislike it, if you ask.’

First, let’s establish one thing clearly.

I did not dislike climbing the social ladder.

In fact, everything I had done so far had been for that very purpose.

I made quinine, extracted insulin, and built up my name because I wanted wealth and glory.

I had already prepared myself for the day some powerful person decided to put a fancy collar around my neck because I stood out too much.

That was the fate given to protagonists in misunderstanding stories.

If I was going to wear a collar anyway, I had merely decided to choose one plated in gold.

‘If I’m going to be a slave no matter what, it’s better to be a winning slave than a losing one.’

That was why I had worked with the intention of accumulating as much money and fame as possible before the master who would hold my leash appeared.

But...

‘This is happening far too suddenly.’

Surely there was an appropriate incline on the road to success?

Having the person at the peak of the magical world suddenly put a collar on me was far too steep.

Usually, something like this happened in the latter half of the story, or at the earliest, the middle.

It felt far too early for someone who was not even an adult to receive an offer like this.

‘What on earth does this old man see in me?’

Where had the misunderstanding even begun?

Based on my experiences so far, it probably would not be cleared up even if I explained, but I was still curious enough to ask.

“Why do you want to take me as your disciple?”

“Didn’t I tell you? I was captivated by your ideas and creativity.”

“But I am an alchemist. I do not possess even a trace of mage talent.”

“Hmm. So you are the sort who cannot believe in yourself. Tsk, tsk. Why are talented people always like this? Polishing such an uncut gem is one of the few pleasures left in my old age, though.”

“?”

Archmage Louis raised his teacup.

“I will tell you why you have reason to believe in yourself. First, because you are not afraid of failure.”

That was because I knew I was the protagonist and had seen the results beforehand.

I did not possess the fearless heart of a beast that recklessly charged into research doomed to fail.

I only touched research that would succeed.

Still, it was not strange for Louis and everyone else to see me as a persistent person.

“Second, you possess the nature to embrace the mistakes of others. It is a virtue difficult to find among young mages these days.”

That was because of my experiences in my previous life.

When you worked with residents, you naturally learned to find their mistakes adorable.

Once you learned that, you no longer became disappointed.

Because you did not expect much in the first place.

You also learned how to clean up after your juniors’ mistakes.

That was why I had forgiven Captain Shen too.

Shen had stolen silver coins I did not care about losing, so there was no reason for me to be hurt.

That was why I forgave Shen.

“Third. You did not turn your eyes away from filth. Seeking wisdom even in taboo black magic is precisely the quality a mage should possess.”

That was because I had been a twenty-first-century doctor.

The twenty-first century was an era in which medicine and poison were not clearly separated.

Any poison could become medicine depending on the dosage, while medicine could likewise become poison.

Even the concept of vaccination, strictly speaking, involved injecting weakened pathogens.

From another perspective, it was a dangerous act that could cause a pandemic if managed carelessly.

Still, vaccines were routinely administered because their benefits outweighed the risks.

“And fourth, the most important of all. You never overlook the details most people would pass by in daily life. You must have discovered the symptoms caused by lead because you possess such a broad perspective. That is an innate talent. More than anything else, it is the talent a mage needs.”

The last part was definitely a misunderstanding.

If I had discovered it through my own observations, then I would have accepted it.

But in reality, I was simply bringing over knowledge from my previous life and presenting it as though I had discovered it.

I had never examined those things closely, nor had I organized them into research.

I had merely taken the knowledge of scholars who came before me for free.

That was precisely why I could not afford to misunderstand.

The moment I mistook this for my own knowledge, my limits might soon be exposed.

“No, sir. I merely stand on the shoulders of giants. The world may lie beneath my gaze, but that does not change the fact that I myself am a dwarf.”

“Hmm. Even an attitude that guards against arrogance. You truly possess more than enough qualities to be a mage.”

But my sincerity did not seem to reach the Great Sage.

Of course, as a Great Sage, he had seen clearly through my essence.

Yet because of a subtle misunderstanding, he was still slightly off the mark.

As expected. Since this was a misunderstanding story, explaining myself did not clear anything up.

In the end, I decided to accept my fate.

Still, I refused once for the sake of my persona.

“I apologize, sir. But I lack the knack for noticing my surroundings. I am fated to never become a mage.”

“I know. From the moment you entered the room, I had been changing the conditions at intervals. Other mages would likely grow angry at the distraction, but you did not seem to notice.”

Sigh.

Was that because he was a Great Sage who had lived for a thousand years?

He knew everything without needing to be told.

“It did not matter whether you possessed mage talent or not. I was not asking you to become a mage. Do you remember my proposal?”

“You asked me to become your disciple.”

“Exactly. I asked you to become my disciple, not to walk the path I walked.”

“Then...”

“You may continue walking the path of alchemy. I merely wish to lend you my wisdom. I am curious to see what new horizon you will open.”

The one-eyed old man smiled.

There was no logical way out.

And there was no reason to refuse.

If anything, this was a situation where I needed to accept it eagerly.

“I understand, sir.”

“Good. Then I will come here once a week. Each time, I will teach you the knowledge you need.”

“Will I not be going to the Imperial Palace or the Mage Tower?”

“Ha ha. My boy, I was captivated by your free-thinking ideas. What I wish to see is a bird soaring through the sky, not one trapped in a cage. If necessary, I can arrange for you to visit, but you do not seem to need that, do you?”

I nodded at his words.

There was still far too much for me to learn in Limbus Pit.

I had not even recovered all the abilities I possessed in my previous life.

It was too early to advance to the imperial capital or the Mage Tower.

Fortunately, I could avoid being thrown into the world before I was prepared.

Still, there was one unexpected point.

‘I’d braced myself for a collar event.’

But contrary to my expectations, the Great Sage possessed a free-minded outlook that did not suit the era.

No. Perhaps after living for a thousand years, it made more sense for him to have such flexible thinking.

‘Then perhaps I was not a character bound to the Mage Tower in the original story.’

Maybe I had misunderstood.

Perhaps the master holding my leash was never meant to be the Mage Tower.

Then perhaps, in the original story, it would have been some grand duke or member of the imperial family.

‘Or is it because I’m not an adult yet?’

Adults had legally approved collar systems such as graduate school or being a chancellor for life, but putting a collar on a child who had not finished growing up would be child abuse.

Perhaps that was why my collar had been postponed.

Not that such a thing was likely in a world where children’s rights barely existed.

As I entertained such useless thoughts, Archmage Louis rose to his feet.

“Yes. Let us begin by changing how we address each other. Since we are now master and disciple, may I call you by name?”

“That is fine, Master.”

“Good. Do you need my name? If you wish, I can announce it throughout the country.”

I considered my master’s offer for a moment, then immediately shook my head.

Excessive attention was poison.

Especially when you did not have the ability to handle it.

I had not yet matured enough to bear the weight of my master’s name.

Louis’s direct disciples were the thirteen Mage Tower Lords and the Archmages directly serving the imperial family.

I was still far too lacking to stand on equal footing with them.

Of course, there was another reason.

‘It somehow seems like it would be more fun to keep it secret.’

There was a reason that fellow from Cooking Master Boy wore an armband and walked around hiding his identity.

Keeping it secret and later revealing it sounded unexpectedly fun.

I intended to keep it secret from Eri, Wangcho, and even my family.

The fewer people who knew a secret, the safer it remained.

“Then next time, shall I go to your laboratory instead of the clinic?”

“Yes. Would it be all right if we meet once my appointments are over?”

“Let us do that.”

“I will give you a key.”

“There is no need. Who do you think I am?”

“...”

The father of magic, boldly declaring that he would trespass.

He was so confident that I had nothing to say.

And since he was Rank 8, I could hardly tell him not to.

“I understand, Master. I will be there on time.”

“Good. Then take care of your patients today, Julian.”

“Ah, before that.”

I stopped my master as he was about to leave the clinic.

“You still need to take your medicine with you.”

That was separate from everything else.

Treatment was treatment.

* * *

At the highest point of Sanctum Hill.

The Mage Tower that looked down over the entire imperial capital.

The only place in the entire Empire permitted to view the world from the same height as the Emperor.

Louis Edelhardt, the Great Sage, perched on the desk in his workshop.

“...”

The Great Sage silently looked down at the small glass bottle resting in his palm.

Pale moonlight streamed through the open window and illuminated it.

Inside was a sticky, cloudy light-brown liquid.

When he turned his head, he saw several bottles containing the same liquid arranged on the desk.

They were all medicines made by the disciple he had taken in today.

“Master, you are currently suffering from chronic lead poisoning. It will be difficult to treat immediately, so you must keep taking this medicine.”

When the sage received the bottles, he had asked how they worked.

For some, one plus one equaling two was an obvious truth, but the sage could not rest until he understood why.

Thanks to that nature, he had transformed magic, once no more than folk belief, into a field of study.

And thanks to that curiosity, he had retained the title of sage to this day.

The sage did not consider it shameful to ask his disciple questions.

And Julian welcomed Louis’s questions.

“Lead clings tightly to the bones and nerves inside the body, so ordinary magic or antidotes cannot expel it. But I discovered that when this medicine is used, its ingredients tightly bind to the lead in the body and allow it to leave through the urine.”

“Where did you discover such knowledge?”

“E Sector. There was a lead leak in Smoke Alley. I noticed that only the beastfolk workers there displayed milder symptoms. People in their culture often ate duck eggs and dishes containing garlic.”

There had been no disappointment in Julian’s eyes as he answered Louis’s question.

Instead, he had seemed impressed.

He was not disappointed or contemptuous that the sage did not know. He seemed amazed that the sage accurately recognized what he did not know.

‘To realize how important it is to know what one does not know...’

At some point, the Great Sage had stopped asking his disciples questions.

It was an age when ignorance had become shameful.

A Great Sage was expected to know everything.

It was an age in which a master had to surpass their disciples in every regard, and their prestige was diminished the moment they fell short in even one.

Surely this was not the attitude toward learning the Great Sage himself had preached.

‘But that child was different.’

Julian was different.

He welcomed his master’s questions and admired his wisdom rather than his knowledge.

Just as the Great Sage had admired Julian’s attitude.

And because of that attitude, Julian knew things the Great Sage did not.

“Chelation... That was what he called it, I believe.”

Louis let out a hollow laugh and opened and closed his trembling right hand.

He was using magical power to hold back the degeneration of his nerves, but he could not perfectly control even the smallest tremors.

In truth, Louis had long known that something was wrong with his body.

Over many years, he had researched countless magical tools and transmutation circles, and the catalyst he handled most often was lead.

There was no more perfect insulator than lead for suppressing the flow of mana and trapping the vibrations of the soul.

Lead was an indispensable catalyst when using spirit or summoning magic.

Mages vaguely knew that lead gradually consumed a person’s blood and mind.

But they did not take it seriously.

It was because of their arrogant belief that magical power would protect their bodies.

Louis was no exception.

For nearly a thousand years, he had kneaded lead with his bare hands and inhaled the fumes of molten lead as he pursued the truths of magic.

The result was the trembling wrist before him and the vicious headaches that came from time to time.

Even these symptoms had only appeared recently because his Rank was so high.

When other mages developed such symptoms, they often cut off their wrists and used divine magic to regrow them.

The Great Sage used that method from time to time as well.

‘To think there was a treatment like this.’

He had discovered it by observing ordinary life.

Now that he thought about it, he had heard that Julian discovered quinine and insulin in similar ways.

The corners of Louis’s mouth lifted.

How many years had it been?

Since he had last seen someone who did not let the obvious simply pass by.

He had always made only such people his direct disciples.

Because of his exacting nature, his line of direct disciples had been discontinued for fifty years.

‘The Emperor will be pleased.’

Louis opened the medicine bottles and swallowed the medicinal liquid and pills inside.

The terrible bitterness made him frown briefly.

Still, he managed to swallow the supplements.

He had been told they were supplements that must be taken after using the medicine Julian prescribed.

‘The name of that medicine was...’

Dimer... What was it again?

Dimercapital? Dimercarol?

He could not remember clearly.

The name was unfamiliar.

Perhaps it was because the lead had dulled his mind.

But it did not matter.

He could simply ask his disciple again in a few days.

If anything, the thought that this might allow him to ask another question made his heart race.

‘To discover in my old age a disciple without a trace of mage talent.’

Whether it was a trick of fate or the arrangement of a god, he could not say.

But one thing was certain.

From now on, he would greatly enjoy every step he took toward that shabby clinic in Limbus Pit each week.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried