WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Dark Fantasy Doctor Was Mistaken for a Saint ◈
Chapter 89: Mistaken for a Criminal (4)
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* * *
The day after Perisia became my bodyguard.
During dinner, I informed my family of several developments.
That I had received my senior spellcaster qualification.
That I had become a professor.
That Perisia had become my bodyguard.
My peaceful life had reached a turning point, but that did not mean my daily routine had changed much.
Before the dawn mist had fully cleared, I got out of bed to go to work as Director Schun.
When I opened my bedroom door, I found Perisia leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.
Her head was lowered, her military cap tucked beneath one arm.
Then she slowly raised her head.
“You are awake, my lord.”
Her voice was flat.
I could guess why there were such dark circles beneath her eyes.
“Surely you have not been standing there since last night?”
“It is all right. A bodyguard must protect their charge during their most vulnerable hours.”
She put on the military cap she had tucked under her arm.
“Once you go to work in Limbus Pit, I intend to hand over your protection to the holy knights and catch up on the sleep I missed.”
“That is a relief... Hm?”
Wait.
What did she say?
“What did you just say?”
“Lord Nihirit said I could sleep while you treated patients in Limbus Pit.”
“...I am not going to Limbus Pit.”
Mindful of my identity as Director Schun, I played dumb.
“I merely intend to meet with His Highness Edmund and help my fiancée investigate...”
“You need not conceal that from me. The Inspectorate has already transferred the information concerning you.”
“...”
Those Inspectorate people.
I heard they were thorough about keeping secrets.
I heard they even used perception alteration magic.
Why did it feel like the whole neighborhood knew?
‘This is not some Truman Show, is it?’
Surely not.
It could not be.
“...Does the military know too?”
“Only I know the details of your circumstances. And let me correct one misunderstanding. I am not affiliated with the military.”
“What?”
“I ask for your understanding that I cannot explain my affiliation in detail. However, it is true that I was assigned to protect you at the military’s request. You may trust me.”
After saying that, she checked her watch and pulled an unfamiliar mask from her coat.
It was an extravagant red mask that looked fit for a masquerade ball.
She turned her back to me and put it on.
Then, when she turned around wearing it,
a black-haired young man stood before me as though I were looking into a mirror.
The being wearing Julian Nihirit’s face opened their mouth.
“This is a magical tool issued to strengthen your protection. It will make it much easier to establish alibis for both Director Schun and Lord Nihirit.”
“You intend to impersonate me while I am away?”
“Yes. That is why I was dispatched. Before you leave for the Academy, my current assignment is to observe you as much as possible.”
“I see.”
So she had arrived so early to rehearse the part before I went to the Academy.
No wonder I had thought it strange for a bodyguard to arrive so soon.
“The Inspectorate is thorough too.”
“I am not affiliated with the Inspectorate either.”
Come to think of it, that made sense.
The Inspectorate only controlled information.
My master had told me before that they did not provide bodyguard services.
If she was neither military nor Inspectorate...
‘Where exactly is she from?’
No affiliation came to mind.
The Special Operations Bureau?
Those people worked outside the Empire.
Besides, I had never heard of them handling protection assignments.
The more I thought about it, the more mysterious Perisia’s identity became.
She seemed to have even more secrets than I did.
She continued.
“You must be present before me for the disguise to work. Therefore, please seek me out before changing identities. Also, only I know this matter, so you may continue keeping it secret from the holy knights as you have been.”
I could roughly understand why.
It was probably a sort of power struggle.
To make it clear that my affiliation lay with the Empire, not the Holy See.
The Church would know only my identity as Director Schun, while the Empire would know all my secrets.
That was not a bad thing for me either.
The fewer people who knew a secret, the better.
It was not that I distrusted the Church’s Inquisition.
But with the Empire already hiding things so well, there was no reason to increase the number of people sharing my secrets.
I checked the time again.
Six o’clock.
It was about time to leave for work.
She checked her watch as well and removed the mask.
The beautiful blond, blue-eyed elf reappeared before me with a pop.
“Since I have not yet learned enough about you, my impersonation would be inadequate. While you remain in the capital, I believe it would be best if you continue as usual.”
She planned to begin disguising herself as me after we went to the Academy.
“I will only escort you as far as the Chief Inspector’s estate.”
Until now, I had used House Hausen, Marquessate, whenever I changed between Julian and Director Schun.
Julian would go to the marquis’s estate to have a deduction battle with his fiancée, then the Chief Inspector’s car would leave the estate.
After transferring vehicles several times in secluded places, I would complete my disguise as Director Schun inside Otto’s car.
Then, as Director Schun, I would meet the holy knights at the trading company building and head to work in Limbus Pit.
Perisia meant that she would accompany me only as far as House Hausen’s estate.
“Let us go. I will escort you safely to the Chief Inspector’s estate.”
* * *
The morning sun rose.
Outside House Hausen, Marquessate.
Perisia, wearing Julian’s outer appearance, listened as the carriage carrying her charge disappeared into the smog.
For a while, she watched the surroundings.
To make sure no one was following the route.
Fortunately, there were no unwelcome visitors today to disturb this peaceful routine.
She relaxed her shoulders and returned to House Nihirit.
Head butler Wilhelm welcomed her upon her return.
“Welcome back, Guard.”
“Yes.”
“Then may I introduce you to the young master’s daily routine?”
“Please do.”
Head butler Wilhelm.
A member of this household.
To Julian, he was like a grandfather by blood.
The man who had been the only one to serve Julian even during his difficult years in this estate.
The highest possible level of trust and closeness.
Someone who needed to be protected with priority comparable to that of the family if a crisis arose.
Perisia followed the butler, repeating the protection priorities Julian had given her.
“I heard it from the young master. You wished to familiarize yourself with his routine?”
“Understanding a schedule is important to protection.”
“Indeed it is.”
For some reason, Wilhelm seemed to be in a good mood.
And he had every reason to be.
A Rank 4 superhuman had been assigned as protection.
With arcane magic, a Rank 4 superhuman could earn the title of viscount or count.
Such superhumans were normally hired only by powerful figures of ducal rank or above.
In other words, the Empire considered Julian valuable enough to warrant that level of protection.
“...You seem pleased.”
“The young master received his senior spellcaster qualification, and Ms. Erika passed the first round of interviews for the Academy’s Academic Division. Ms. Freya has also begun to stand out in high society. There has been nothing but good news for the house lately, so this old man cannot help becoming excited despite his age.”
Watching the old man genuinely rejoice as though it were his own achievement,
Perisia understood why Julian treasured this elderly butler so dearly.
As Wilhelm guided her around, he explained Julian’s routine.
“The young master mainly spends his time in the laboratory converted from the backyard storage room, his bedroom, and the annex where Ms. Erika stays.”
Perisia committed that information to memory and nodded.
Wilhelm stopped in front of the laboratory.
“On days when he does not go to work, he is usually here in this laboratory. Think of it as a rehearsal. Would you like to stay inside until I come to fetch you?”
Perisia silently nodded.
Wilhelm unlocked the laboratory and turned away.
Perisia hesitated at the entrance before stepping inside.
‘The person I am protecting this time is rather unusual.’
Spellcasters normally hated letting outsiders enter their laboratories, commonly called workshops.
After all, who would want to show others the secrets they had spent their entire life building?
But Julian was different.
He did not seem to care much if anyone, not only Perisia, came into his laboratory.
‘He does not seem to realize how dangerous this workshop is.’
Perisia looked around Julian’s workshop.
Research notebooks were packed densely into shelves in one corner.
At the same time, the research topics Julian had scrawled down yesterday came back to her.
‘...This is a restricted archive that black mages would drool over.’
If he left for the Academy, he would probably move these notes too.
Depending on the contents, they could easily be considered grimoires.
‘I should contact headquarters and make sure the transport route is secure when they are moved.’
Thinking about what she had seen yesterday...
The Empire could suffer a fatal blow if even one volume was leaked.
‘I need to raise the protection priority of these grimoires.’
With that thought, she quietly picked up one research notebook.
Before parting from Julian, he had permitted her to read any notes kept outside the safe, so she did not hesitate.
The notebook she opened was titled Clinical Anatomy: Healing Studies Department, First Year.
Moving black-and-white images filled its pages, along with dense explanatory annotations.
‘It must be a textbook to distribute to students once he stands before the class as Director Schun.’
Even to someone who knew nothing of anatomy, it was clearly explained in an easy-to-understand way.
The moving black-and-white images showed how to locate each structure.
Circles and lines appeared over the images, connecting to the annotations.
======================
[Make a longitudinal incision along the midline of the sternum. Separate and excise the thymus as a single specimen from the upper mediastinum.
In anatomical standards, the thymus is classified as a vestigial organ that regresses in childhood and is nearly absent in adults.
However, this specimen retained a thymus weighing approximately 18.4 grams in an adult male who died at the age of twenty-nine.
A clear boundary between cortex and medulla was observed.
Numerous microscopic concentric structures were distributed throughout the medulla.
Conclusion: This provides a theoretical basis for the possibility that the thymus remains in adult males. The remaining structures are provisionally designated Hassall’s corpuscles.]
======================
<Moving Text>
<Moving Image>
It was Grade 0 beginner magic.
A basic spell spellcasters learned that could be activated with only a pen, ink, and paper.
It was also a spell that any spellcaster whose grimoire was their life had to learn.
Yet Julian was using such magic to create textbooks for students.
‘It must cost a fortune...’
For a moment, Perisia envied the students who would learn from him.
She lost track of time as she turned the pages.
Before she knew it, she had reached the very end of the book.
There, information about those who had donated their bodies and their final words had been recorded in detail.
Imperial Year 1046, April.
One adventurer from an expedition beyond the Brass Wall donated their body.
Cause of death: Multiple traumatic injuries caused by a magical beast attack.
Age at death: Thirty-one. Unmarried.
Treatment was attempted, but they died from irreversible spinal damage.
Final words before donating their remains:
I came back alive from beyond the wall seventeen times. Healers saved me ten of those times. If this body cannot rise again, give it to the healer folk. I will repay the debt I owe you after death.
Imperial Year 1047, December.
An elderly resident of Limbus Pit died at my clinic.
Cause of death: Natural causes.
Age at death: Seventy-one. All three children entrusted the body with the deceased’s consent.
Final words before donating their remains:
I never learned a single letter in my whole life. If someone can gain understanding through my body, even at the end, would that not be a kind of learning too?
Imperial Year 1049, spring.
An adventurer who suffered an amputation below the knee in a drawbridge accident during an emergency evacuation donated their body.
Cause of death: Unrecorded.
Age at death: Twenty-nine. Died at my Limbus Pit clinic. Unmarried. Family: None.
Final words before donating their remains:
I hope my body can help the students in the Healing Studies Department. If they are the students who stayed with me until the end, I can entrust my body to them.
“...”
Perisia looked down at the anatomy records for a long time.
‘He went out of his way to obtain consent for the bodies.’
In this harsh world, even corpses were objects of trade.
Some people sought knowledge from corpses, while others processed them into catalysts for magic.
If they were lucky, they could even study the magical circuits remaining in a body.
That was why gravekeepers secretly sold corpses for money.
Nobles and clergy buried bodies in family graves or cremated them to prevent magic from leaking out or their ancestors from being dishonored.
But in Limbus Pit, even that permission was a luxury.
Just yesterday, not only were freshly made, still-warm corpses in the alleyways treated like merchandise, but people also dug up graves in full view of others as though selling fish at a market.
In H Sector, they even delivered corpses that had been made five minutes earlier.
Everyone knew it was not a desirable practice.
They simply lacked either the time or interest to care.
But Julian was different.
Perisia’s hand stopped on the final page.
May you rest in peace. Thank you, deeply and profoundly.
He was always reverent in the face of death.
He recorded every detail about his patients, always treated them with respect, and never used them carelessly.
‘My lord...’
At that moment, she remembered what headquarters had told her about Julian, or rather, Director Schun.
It was said that he had taken revenge on the black mage who attacked him in the most horrifying way imaginable.
It was said that the lizardman who had attacked his students was still suffering in the trading company’s basement for some kind of research.
It was said that the first two papers he submitted had initially been considered for forbidden classification, and only one had been lowered to Grade 1.
It was said.
‘If even the slightest suspicious movement is detected, report it immediately. Depending on the circumstances...’
Immediate execution was authorized.
That order had come directly from the Imperial Family.
Perisia was Julian’s bodyguard, but she was also his watcher.
That was why Perisia had remained deeply wary of the man named Julian.
A double-edged sword that would surely benefit the Empire, yet could become fatal to it if mishandled.
That was the Empire’s assessment of Julian.
But...
‘Seeing these notes, perhaps we have been too suspicious of him.’
Of course, he was still dangerous.
Perisia had the feeling that Julian could secretly do something even with her, a watcher, at his side.
But this anatomy textbook left her no choice but to reconsider.
A man so respectful before death.
She could not imagine him abusing that knowledge against the Empire’s citizens.
Tap.
She closed the research notebook.
At the same time, a question arose.
What were this man’s other studies like?
She wanted to examine the path he had walked.
Even if only so she would not have to suspect him.
With that thought, Perisia reached for another book.
That was when it happened.
Creak.
The laboratory door opened with the sound of its hinges.
Someone poked their head through the gap.
It was Erika, her red ahoge bobbing like an antenna.
‘...A retriever?’
The moment Perisia saw Erika, that thought came to mind.
Why a retriever of all things?
Even she did not know.
Erika’s round eyes turned toward Perisia.
“...”
“...”
Erika broke the silence first.
“Huh? Why are you here without Teacher?”
“I am Guard Verbois. I have been ordered to remain at House Nihirit while Lord Nihirit is away today and study his daily routine. To operate the disguise tool, I must learn beforehand how to imitate his routine as accurately as possible during his absence, my lady.”
“...?”
The furrow between Erika’s brows deepened.
Perisia’s way of speaking was still difficult for her to understand.
There was only one thing she understood.
Perisia had called her Lady Erika.
“I’m not a lady. I’m just a guest staying here.”
“Yesterday during dinner, I observed Young Master Fried referring to you as his eldest sister, Lady Erika.”
“Fried’s still young, that’s all. Feel free to call me Erika.”
“I am on duty. I will address you as Ms. Erika.”
“Being a soldier sounds rough...”
For a moment, Perisia nearly said she was not part of the military, but barely held it in.
There was no need to tell someone other than Julian.
“Teacher and you both have it rough, Guard Perisia.”
Perisia stared at Erika.
She was not normally someone who enjoyed small talk.
But if she had to impersonate Julian during her assignment, she needed to develop some ability to make conversation.
After watching Erika for a while, Perisia spoke.
“I was informed that before I assumed this position, Ms. Erika personally handled my lord’s private protection.”
“Ah, I did, but not anymore.”
Erika waved a hand.
“Teacher’s become too important for me to protect now. I only barely made it to Rank 1. What kind of bodyguard could I be?”
Erika snickered.
But Perisia’s eyes widened in surprise.
‘She is already Rank 1 at this age?’
Even among the noble young men and women called rising stars of high society, only a handful reached Rank 1 so quickly.
Perisia herself had not reached Rank 1 until after entering the Academy.
‘Just who is this girl...?’
Impressed by Erika, Perisia brought up another subject to continue their conversation.
“Then may I ask what you have been doing recently, Ms. Erika?”
“Lately, I’m preparing for the Hero Studies Department entrance exam. I passed the first round of application screening, so I just need to pass the second-round sparring test and the third-round written exam.”
“Someone like you will certainly be accepted, Ms. Erika.”
Eschenwald Academy was always open to the capable.
Perisia could not imagine a future in which Erika failed to cross its threshold.
“Thank you.”
“Hehe.”
Laughing foolishly, Erika lightly hopped up onto a chair.
It appeared to be the chair Julian normally used, the one Perisia had not dared to sit in.
Erika casually dragged the chair over and pulled out several books.
Rumble.
When five books came out in sequence, the bookshelf slid aside, revealing a classic hidden safe.
Perisia had noticed the safe beyond the bookshelf as well.
She simply had not opened it without permission.
Erika turned the safe’s dial.
“Hmm-hmm-hmm!”
She spun the dial in time with the tune.
Click.
The safe opened.
Several notebooks lay inside.
[Three Sacred Treasures]
[Complete Compendium of Black Magic Variations]
The notebooks inside the safe had suggestive titles.
Those had to be the true grimoires of Julian, or Director Schun.
But Perisia pretended not to see them.
She could not betray Julian’s trust.
Perisia was a sign of the Imperial Family’s goodwill toward Julian.
Her betrayal would be no different from staining the Imperial Family’s name.
So she decided to neatly forget what she had seen inside the safe.
However, there was one thing she needed to confirm.
“Ms. Erika. Are you permitted to open the safe?”
“Huh? Oh, yes. Teacher’s allowed me to since I was twelve.”
“Then besides you, is anyone else permitted to do so?”
“No? I’m probably the only one.”
Confirmed.
Perisia committed to memory that anyone besides Erika was to be denied access to the safe.
Erika took out a thick bundle of leather-bound notebooks.
“My magic seems rather different from ordinary magic. So I learned only the basics and technical parts from Master, and Teacher told me to refer to his notes for the symbols and principles used in magic.”
Unease crept over Perisia.
Was this really all right?
“Are you... a black magic user?”
“I wondered that too, so I asked whether it was all right. Teacher said it wasn’t very important. Using black magic itself isn’t forbidden, after all.”
“That is true.”
Using black magic itself was not forbidden.
Still, for some reason, Perisia wanted to discourage Erika from learning it.
Even though she had just decided Julian was trustworthy.
Erika tilted her head as she waved the leather notebook around.
“But why are black mages’ Magic Towers and research societies forbidden when black magic itself isn’t?”
“You will gradually learn that after entering the Academy, Ms. Erika. For now, you may focus on your studies.”
“Hmm. Is that so? Then I’ll hear about it then.”
She turned back to the notebook.
“Blood... blood, hematology, hematology...”
Her finger quickly ran down the notebook’s index, line by line.
“...Here it is!”
The single strand of hair atop her head twitched upward like a tail.
Watching her bright red eyes and cheerful smile from the side,
Perisia thought of an animal.
‘No matter how I look at her, she’s a retriever.’
After committing the hematology material to memory, Erika placed the book back in the safe, restored the bookshelf, and hopped down from the chair.
Growl.
The red-haired girl’s stomach announced lunchtime.
“Huh? It’s already lunch?”
“You should go eat.”
“Aren’t you eating too, Perisia?”
“I...”
Perisia briefly explained that the butler would come for her.
“Since I am studying Lord Nihirit’s routine now, I will eat at the time Lord Nihirit eats.”
“Then you should come now.”
“What?”
“Teacher usually sneaks into the kitchen around this time without the butler knowing.”
Confirmed.
Head to the kitchen during mealtimes without the butler’s knowledge.
“He mostly does it at dinner, but he goes at lunchtime on weekends too.”
“Does he cook there?”
“Yes. Do you know how to cook, Guard Perisia?”
“I will do my best.”
“...”
Erika looked at Perisia with distinctly uncertain eyes.
Perisia only remained expressionless as always.
“Then shall we practice starting today?”
“What should I cook?”
“Check the desk.”
Erika pointed to a stack of cards on the desk.
“They’re recipe cards. Whenever Teacher cooks, he draws one and cooks the recipe on it.”
Perisia nodded and drew a card.
<Croustillant de Ris de Veau>
Literally, crispy calf thymus.
Put more naturally, crispy calf thymus sweetbread.
“...”
Perisia’s brows drew together.
She wanted her to cook this?
Her gaze turned to the anatomy book lying on the desk.
Then she remembered what she had just learned about the thymus.
In anatomical standards, the thymus is classified as a vestigial organ that regresses in childhood and is nearly absent in adults.
This specimen retained a thymus weighing approximately 18.4 grams in an adult male who died at the age of twenty-nine.
‘It’s calf thymus... right?’
It was a coincidence, surely.
Without a word, Perisia picked up the card and followed Erika to the kitchen.
One hour later.
“Um... Perisia?”
“...”
“Have you cooked before?”
“I learned it for survival when I was stranded in the Demon Realm during a mission.”
“How many years ago was that...?”
“Half a century ago.”
“...”
Erika poked at the blackened meat.
How did one cook to produce something like this?
What had once been calf thymus had gone beyond merely burning. It had become an unrecognizable alien substance screaming from atop the frying pan.
“I don’t think effort’s the problem here.”
“I agree.”
“Let’s agree not to cook when you’re disguised as Teacher.”
“I strongly agree.”
Even from Perisia’s perspective, this did not seem like something effort could solve.
There was absolutely nothing wrong with her cooking skills(?).
Julian’s cooking had simply reached too high a realm.
Afterward, Perisia happily ate what remained in the frying pan.
“...Is it good?”
“Perhaps because it’s beef, it tastes better than survival worm rations.”
“...”
That day,
Erika had no choice but to accept that food existed which she could not eat.
And that there were people who could eat even that food.
A Word from the Author
I am making up for the late update with a heaping helping of chapters!
It would be more important not to be late in the first place, but I keep ending up late because I do not want to disrupt the flow. I am sorry.
Footnotes:
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