Magi Craft Meister 633
18 King Klein’s Treatment Arc
19-20 Exploring Possibilities
“After all, you’re just like all the other healers, aren’t you…?”
Seeing how Elsa was so troubled, the First Prince Edmond spoke with a voice filled with disappointment.
“No, I just need a little more…”
However, Edmond quickly refused.
“No. I don’t want my father to be seen by an incompetent healer anymore.”
“T-Then, tomorrow, I could…”
“Hmph, are you saying that tomorrow you will be able to see what you cannot see today?”
But Elsa nodded so as to resist those words.
“Yes.”
When Edmond heard such a reply, he seemed to have seen something interesting for a moment, but his expression immediately returned to normal…
“Fine. But, if you’re unable to see anything new by tomorrow, then you’re done here.”
…and finally said that with a cold tone of voice.
“…Yes.”
It was frustrating, but it was also true that she couldn’t understand. So as a means to at least offer some comfort, Elsa decided to use her Healing Magic.
“’Genesung’.”
The pinnacle of internal medicine Healing Magic. After using such a spell, Elsa would have previously used up all of her magical power, but after her recovery from her magical power excess syndrome, she now still had a bit left to spare.
“Oh!?”
As a result of Elsa’s Healing Magic, Alois III’s complexion improved visibly.
“…At least, this should offer some relief until tomorrow…”
Elsa said that while being a bit short of breath due to the backlash of having used up a large amount of her magical power.
“Well then, this is all for today… If you’ll excuse me.”
Elsa bowed deeply before leaving. Princes Edmond and Arthur watched her leave.
＊ ＊ ＊
Elsa was led by a maid to the VIP room on the second floor of the royal castle. Of course, it was a different one from the room where Jin and the others were.
“Umm, where’s my brother and everyone else?”
“I don’t know. I was only ordered to escort you here.”
After saying that, the maid left the room.
Only Elsa and Edgar were in this room. Elsa dropped herself onto a sofa, and was starting to feel a bit discouraged, and understandably so.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door.
“Come in.”
Edgar opened the door, and Prince Arthur was standing at the other side.
“Miss Elsa, do you have a minute?”
“Oh, please, do come in.”
Elsa hurriedly got up from the sofa and invited Prince Arthur in.
“Excuse me.”
Unlike Prince Edmond, Prince Arthur had a gentle demeanor. Since he didn’t make Elsa feel even more nervous than usual, she was able to respond with relative ease.
Both of them sat down facing each other at the room’s coffee table.
Edgar then used the room’s tea set to brew some tea for both of them. A nice herbal scent soon filled the air.
“…Please don’t think badly about my brother’s attitude. Despite appearances, he’s very concerned about our father in his own way.”
“…I know.”
“Did you know about our mother? When our mother was sick in bed, we had every healer in the country come examine her, but she could not be cured and ultimately passed away. That’s why trusting healers is hard for those in this house. For my brother… and for me as well.”
“…”
Elsa remained silent, unable to say anything in response to that. Noticing this, Prince Arthur changed the subject.
“…Were you able to find anything about our father’s illness?”
“Yes. His liver is in bad shape.”
“You said something like that earlier, correct? But that Healing Magic spell you used on him before you left… Wouldn’t it heal him completely if you were to use it repeatedly?”
Elsa understood his reasoning very well. An amateur would normally be inclined to think that way.
“That… won’t do.. If we don’t deal with the cause of the disease, it will recur.”
“The cause? …And what is that…?”
Hearing Elsa’s answer, Prince Arthur frowned.
“I am sorry, that is currently beyond my power. However, please allow me to examine His Majesty again tomorrow.”
“…Thank you for looking after my father.”
Prince Arthur stood up and took Elsa’s hand.
“…And thank you for your sincere examination and treatment.”
After saying that, he kissed the back of Elsa’s hand.
“…Ah.”
Elsa panicked and withdrew her hand. Her cheeks had gotten quite red.
“I believe in you, Miss Elsa. Please heal my father. Excuse me.”
After one bow, Prince Arthur left the room.
＊ ＊ ＊
“…”
Overwhelmed by her feelings of helplessness, a tear ran down Elsa’s cheek.
“Brother Jin…”
(… I made up my mind to do my very best. I can’t be discouraged by this kind of thing.)
Muttering those words in her heart, Elsa picked herself up. At that moment…
“A message from Master Jin, Miss Elsa.”
“…From Brother Jin?”
Elsa felt her own heart racing.
“Elsa, I heard from Laojun… Looks like things got a bit rough, huh?”
The call had come through Laojun, but it was actually Jin’s voice coming out of Edgar’s mouth.
“…Yeah, but I’ll keep trying my best.”
“So, Laojun and I decided to look into it as well.”
Jin had decided to share his personal opinion concerning Alois III’s medical condition.
“It may not be caused by some kind of poison.”
“What do you mean?”
“I just heard from Liese that His Majesty went to Lake Manuse before summer.”
“Lake Manuse?”
“Yeah. It’s a lake near the Great Shama Marsh where people go to catch Dragonic Eels, but it seems that other freshwater fish are also quite abundant. Aren’t there any other things that one can catch there?”
After listening to Jin’s words, Elsa thought for a moment and shared what came to her mind.
“…A parasitic… bug?”
“I think it’s highly possible.”
On Earth, there are parasites on freshwater fish, crabs, and shellfish. The Ezo Red Fox is also known to carry a parasite called Echinococcus.
Elsa also knew about this as it was knowledge she got from Jin, but since there was no general awareness of their existence in this world, she couldn’t come up with it on her own.
Conducting a medical examination without that consideration, not even the “Diagnose” spell would help a healer notice the presence of parasites. Moreover, since parasites are living things, there is no way to recognize them as such unless the healer is aware that they are foreign to the patient’s body.
“Thank you, Brother Jin. I’ll look into it again tomorrow.”
“Yeah, do your best. I know you’ll pull through.”
The call ended there. Lieschen was there with Jin, so he probably took advantage of a moment where she wasn’t around in order to call Elsa.
The call had lasted less than two minutes, but it was still enough for Elsa to feel a warmth in her heart which reassured that she was not alone.
Elsa no longer cared about Prince Arthur’s earlier gesture, and decided to go to bed in order to rest her body in preparation for the next day.
＊ ＊ ＊
Being who he was, Jin asked the Third Princess Lieschen about many things regarding her father, Alois III.
“…Father likes the trout that can be caught in Lake Manuse, and when the ban on fishing was lifted in June, he visited Dekubo Village for two days as a vacation, as he used to do every year.”
“How do you eat that trout?”
“Usually, they are grilled and sprinkled with salt. I wasn’t there, so I don’t really know for sure, but I’ve heard that they cut the raw trout, sprinkle vinegar on it, and prepare it with vegetables…”
Jin speculated that it might be a way of eating similar to how marinated food is prepared.
Even if there were parasites in the trout, the vinegar should have neutralized them, but it was possible that the food itself wasn’t sufficiently cooked.
(I should tell Elsa about this…)
Once Lieschen left her seat, Jin connected to Laojun via Reiko, and Laojun connected to Edgar, setting up a phone call with Elsa.
And so, the possibility of the king’s illness being caused by a parasite was conveyed to Elsa.
Incidentally, it should be noted that the acetic acid found in vinegar is not effective against most parasites, so Jin’s assumption in that regard was actually a bit off the mark.
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