Mistaken for a Criminal (1)

***

Right after hearing my solution.

The bishop tilted his head.

"How could that possibly be a solution?"

The bishop had asked me to stop the clinic's staff from leaving.

But I had suddenly suggested building a clinic where everyone could learn on equal footing.

It was only natural that he couldn't see the connection.

So I explained it step by step.

"All the healers are leaving their clinics because they want to learn my technique, right?"

"That's right?"

"Then instead of having the clinic's healers come here to learn, I'm saying we should train them from the academy onward and send them out to those clinics already finished."

"Ahh...!"

The original clinics are more like primary and secondary hospitals in my past life.

Their purpose isn't to train healers.

They simply take in healers who graduated from the academy, grow the denomination, or make money.

So I'm saying we should build a third-tier hospital.

We complete healers through a system where they go straight from the academy into training.

If we supply those healers to the clinics, there'd be no need for a relay of resignation letters just because they want to study under me.

After all, in a few years the clinics will have fresh, up-to-date healers from the academy coming their way.

The bishop seemed to have understood.

"So they observe while they're still students at the academy, then do one more round of training after graduation before heading out into society. Am I understanding it correctly?"

"Exactly, Bishop."

"Then what sort of compensation should the church give for the Saint's knowledge...."

"Compensation is fine."

"But..."

"That clinic itself is my compensation."

Building a hospital already costs a fortune.

I can somehow cover the building costs out of my own assets.

Hiring staff is also something I can somehow manage by leaning on the merchant guild.

But once it becomes a research-focused clinic, the costs jump to a whole different level.

Research is a money-guzzling monster.

Without the church backing me, I couldn't possibly handle it alone.

"I want a place where students aspiring to become healers can learn equally, regardless of status."

"May I ask why you came to think that way?"

"If I had raised disciples while worrying about status, how could I have found a towering tree like this?"

My hand started to reach for Aila's head, who was sitting beside me, then I hesitated.

I almost patted her head without permission.

Instead of patting her, I pointed at Aila.

"Not every sprout becomes a great tree. But if you want to grow a great tree, you have to water every sprout first, don't you?"

Medicine is ultimately a labor-intensive field.

Which means the more people you have, the better the chances of saving a life.

Just look at this clinic, for example.

When I was running the clinic alone, stitching up faces was about the limit of my skills, and I could only see a little over fifty patients a day.

But once other healers came along, I could open up skulls and, after a long time, even cut into intestines again.

The number of patients I could see in a day was also nearing a hundred.

So if we built a clinic not tied to any denomination, we might be able to do even more surgeries.

Who knows?

Maybe someday I'd even be able to do heart surgery again, my old specialty?

"Hah... but then wouldn't there be nothing in it for the Saint? At the very least, asking the other clinics to share their secret techniques with you..."

"The other clinics don't need to share their secret techniques with me."

In fact, I'd rather they didn't make them public.

I'm not teaching healers to just anyone out of charity.

It's true that the more they learn my surgeries, the lighter my workload becomes,

but the biggest reason is to monopolize high-end talent.

'I'm the only one in this era who understands the power of open source.'

The way people in this age treat knowledge is, at best, still stuck in the 18th century.

People monopolize precious knowledge and only occasionally exchange it through small societies or letters.

But having lived through the 21st century, I know very well that the strength of knowledge comes not from monopoly, but from sharing.

If I'm the only one in the world to make a certain tool or piece of knowledge public, then every healer in the world will have no choice but to become proficient in my methods.

That way, I only need to hire the best of them,

and eventually I won't have to painstakingly train talent from scratch anymore.

In other words, right now, when I have no competitors, is exactly when I can make my methods the industry standard.

On top of that, there's the publicity effect.

If I'm the only one sharing things while everyone else keeps theirs wrapped up tight, I end up looking like the frontrunner.

That gives me the upper hand in the talent bidding war too.

So I was, in fact, hoping the clinics wouldn't share their knowledge.

'Rather, this is just a stopgap measure.'

If I do it like this now, I can stop the outflow of staff.

The clinics will be grateful to me.

But in the far future, when I come to my senses, all the world-class healers will already be monopolized by me.

This clinic was the cornerstone of that.

'In the end, it all comes back around to buying the dip.'

The orphan gacha I ran in Limbus Pit.

The scholarship-student gacha I ran in Civitas Square.

Dor, Charlotte's first rival.

You could say this clinic project is an extension of that.

It's to monopolize high-end talent in the distant future without hurting the clinics' goodwill.

A very covert and meticulous talent-monopoly plan, in other words.

"The clinics can keep their secret techniques as they are. Again, I want this clinic to be a place where all academy healing students can observe, and where healers of any denomination can apply."

"Saint...!"

Unfortunately, the innocent bishop seemed not to have noticed this wicked(?) plan of mine.

Instead, he clasped both hands tightly as if I were some kind of paragon of virtue.

"Even beneath these dark clouds, there is still someone who would leave their own name blank to ease another's suffering. Truly, the sun does not only exist in the sky."

I gave a wry smile behind my mask.

If he keeps praising me like that, it's way too embarrassing.

Even Aila, who had been stiff just a moment ago, was looking at me with sparkling eyes.

"I'll do my best to smooth things over with the church."

"Thank you, Bishop."

*

From that day on, I was a little busy.

I exchanged letters frequently with the Holy See, and discussions were held about establishing a neutral clinic directly under the academy.

— [Right after the clinic is established, the Holy See says it will send healers directly.]

— [Saint. There appears to be an error in the expenses you sent. At this rate, the clinic would be the size of an entire village... Huh? You want it to be that big? Are you by any chance trying to build not a clinic, but a healing village?]

— [The Imperial side, which manages the academy fortress, also agreed readily. They say they'll provide the academy grounds.]

There were a few minor hiccups in the middle.

Namely, who would run the clinic,

and since I refused because I planned to work on-site myself, I hear factions inside the Holy See ended up competing fiercely.

In the end, the cardinal with the strongest pull in healing arts, Cardinal Wendras, got the job.

[By any chance, have you decided on the clinic's name as well?]

Of course I had already decided.

Schnabel Clinic sounded a bit awkward.

But Black Saint Clinic sounded ominous.

So the name I settled on was—

“How about Meyer Clinic?”

Meyer.

The surname of our merchant guild master, Gustav Meyer.

Why did I choose that man of all people?

— “Director? You're telling me to build a clinic and donate voluntarily? Isn't it about time the name Gustav Meyer was known far and wide!”

What a classic nouveau riche.

As soon as I told him it was a chance to advertise his name, he donated the most.

He invested slightly more than I did,

so out of respect for that sentiment, I named it Meyer Clinic.

— “Bwahaha! Build a top-floor suite too, and a restaurant on the first floor!”

Somehow, there were some odd expenses too.

I didn't really stop him.

Hospitals are supposed to make money not from treatment fees but from auxiliary facilities (like funeral parlors or parking lots).

Those kinds of facilities are necessary, after all.

Anyway, the rough plan for establishing it was decided.

[They say it should be open in about two years.]

Things progressed faster than expected.

Maybe because this is a world with magic and sturdy demi-humans.

Apparently, building a structure can be done in two years flat.

Of course, part of that was because the amount of capital involved was huge.

[Saint. Could you tell us what phrase you'd like engraved on the front gate?]

Before construction got fully underway,

I was the one deciding on the inscription to go over the front gate.

This was, naturally, already decided.

“Knowledge shall make you devout.”

Right. That's correct.

It's plagiarism.

But as a doctor, I just can't let that slide.

Of course, Cardinal Wendras on the other end of the communication orb seemed to misunderstand again.

[As expected of Saint, the meaning packed into even a single sentence is exceptional. It is enough to make theologians who've studied Scripture their entire lives bow down.]

I'll ignore the cardinal's flattery.

Anyway, that was how the Meyer Clinic establishment plan was completed.

After the discussions were finished,

I picked up another letter the head butler had delivered to my room.

[Sir Julian. The academy's dark magic course has been set up. Once you submit your thesis, we'll have you appointed as professor right away.]

It was a letter from Prince Edmund.

In the end, it seemed he'd managed to persuade the nobles' council, the church, and even the Magic Administration Bureau.

He really was a man of incredible initiative.

'Looks like I ended up living at the academy after all.'

Dark Magic Defense Professor Julian Nightrit.

Professor of Clinical Healing, Dr. Schnabel.

An unintended double life at the academy had been decided.

'Well, it'll make building the alibi easier.'

If you looked at it that way, maybe it wasn't such a bad story after all.

The academy's main campus was originally located in a fortress some distance from the capital.

The Imperial Royal Eschenwald Academy.

Just like in a typical fantasy academy story, true to its reputation as the world's greatest educational institution, the whole fortress itself was basically the academy grounds.

While Julian was working there as a professor of dark magic, I, Director Shun, was busy wondering how I was supposed to build an alibi.

And if Shun Director also became a professor like this, building an alibi would be much easier.

'It'd be a little tough, though.'

But that's just the fate of a medical school professor.

Mornings are for seeing patients and evenings for research.

And every now and then, lectures too.

I wasn't any different.

Besides, even in my past life I'd tried to become a professor knowing full well that.

'Then...'

Shun Director becoming a clinic professor was a settled matter,

and the only thing left was to write the paper I'd put off.

To become a professor at Eschenwald Academy, I needed at least one paper submitted to the Arcane Olympiad.

'The literature review is done.'

I'd been collecting the data little by little ever since I decided to write the paper.

The research topic was 'The Empire's lead-poisoning situation.'

Lead concentration in the air, citizens' blood lead levels, the state of lead poisoning among mages...

Gathering data like that was easy.

Because the patients at Mercure Clinic were providing the data themselves.

All I had to do was add a little more investigation on top of that.

'If I just organize the data for now and start writing the paper tomorrow...'

I might still be able to make the deadline for this year's Arcane Olympiad.

'I have to finish a paper Master could be proud of.'

It's been a while, so Master will praise me too.

After all, Master is the chief judge of the Arcane Olympiad.

I'll finish a paper worthy of making him proud.

'Then, first, the title...'

The most important thing in a paper is clickbait.

Sadly, judges are people too.

If the title doesn't catch the judge's eye, even a well-written paper will end up buried.

There was a professor like that at our school too.

The exact same paper.

There was even a real case where a journal's evaluation changed just because the title got more clickbaity.

That's what that professor said back then.

In the end, scholars are no different from web novel authors or YouTubers.

In that sense, clickbait in the title was a major issue.

And after much deliberation, I wrote down the title.

‘<A Theoretical Examination of the Validity of Large-Scale Dark Magic Brainwashing Mediated by a Group of Mages with Chronic Lead Exposure>’

If it's that, the judges will definitely be interested enough to read it.

They're mages too, and they handle lead often.

The paper is warning them that they themselves could be brainwashed,

so how could they possibly not read it?

'Good. Now...'

Just as I was roughly outlining the paper,

띠로링~

A cheerful alert sounded from the crystal orb.

It was Wangcho.

“At this late hour?”

I tilted my head and activated the crystal orb.

Could something serious have happened?

Had something happened to the patients at D-1 Clinic?

With a trembling heart, I activated the crystal orb.

[D... Doctor.]

“Wangcho, what's the matter?”

[Well, it's... do you know about bleach?]

I nodded.

Bleach.

A cleaning chemical I developed back when Master and I were researching vaccines.

I developed it while taking a break from vaccine research to clear my head.

Making it was easy.

When you live in the 21st century, don't you end up having to make bleach at least once?

Just kidding.

Whenever I went on relief missions to disaster sites, there were often chances to make bleach, so I naturally learned the recipe.

If you had the equipment, you could just make it by mixing chlorine gas and sodium carbonate together.

And if you didn't even have that, running electricity through saltwater could produce a crude bleach-like substance.

Honestly, it was brutally hard back then.

That damn faculty adviser.

He was always dragging me to disaster sites under the pretext of overseas training.

Of course, I learned all kinds of trauma procedures there, and on the way back he bought me delicious food, so I cooled off quickly.

Come to think of it, maybe even then he'd been planning to drag me into trauma surgery.

Anyway.

“What about bleach? Did you, by any chance, drink it?”

[No... I didn't drink it.]

Wangcho shook his head.

Thankfully, he wasn't that much of an idiot.

For starters, when the guild sold bleach, we'd put the warning on the packaging.

Don't put it in a watering can and spray it around.

Don't mix it with warm water.

Don't drink it.

Don't wash yourself with it...

We even made it guild policy to have the warning recited every time someone bought it.

We wrote out the warning and even drew pictures in case of illiteracy.

We even drew a big red X on it.

“Then why bring up bleach all of a sudden?”

[Well... isn't bleach popular these days?]

“It is?”

Bleach has suddenly been selling like crazy lately.

Back then, nobody bought it.

Maybe because concepts like germs and hygiene still hadn't spread yet in this world.

We released it, but nobody actually wanted bleach.

Only then did I belatedly realize.

That to sell bleach, I first needed to teach people about germs and the need for hygiene.

Thanks to that, the public was calling bleach 'Shun Director's first failure'.

I just sulked over that first failure and forgot about it.

But then that bleach suddenly started trending.

The reason was the healers.

— “Bleach is an excellent catalyst for divine magic!”

In rooms cleaned with bleach, less divine power is consumed.

That rumor spread through the healers who had visited my clinic.

From that day on, bleach suddenly became popular as 'holy water you can't drink.'

They didn't know anything about germs or hygiene.

But for the time being, it started selling for superstitious reasons.

Besides, bleach was cheap enough for even the poor to buy.

So the residents of Limbus Pit would buy it and spray it around their homes.

Anyway.

Beyond the crystal orb, Wangcho said hesitantly.

[Well... I heard bleach can be used to wash food...]

That was actually true.

You can wash fruit and vegetables with diluted bleach.

It was a method used even in the 21st century.

But the dilution has to be at an extremely weak 0.002% level,

and even then, only some vegetables with tough skins can be washed that way,

and you have to rinse them thoroughly with water afterward.

If you're not sure, it's best not to keep it anywhere near food.

“Then did you perhaps not rinse it thoroughly with water?”

[That wasn't it...]

“?”

Why was he dancing around the issue like this?

Wangcho rubbed his belly and watched my expression.

And then.

[I heard from a fruit shop owner that bleach could be used on food. But today one of my underlings said it gets rid of the smell of meat really well? So... you know how I go crazy over raw meat, right?]

“...Don't tell me.”

He nodded.

[I used a little too much... and my stomach hurts a bit today.]

“You said you didn't drink it?”

[Of course I didn't drink the bleach. I did apply it pretty heavily to the meat, though...]

“Isn't that the same as drinking it?”

[I didn't drink the bleach. I washed the meat thoroughly and ate it.]

“...”

In other words,

he sprayed undiluted bleach on the meat to get rid of the smell?

And because he washed it thoroughly afterward, he thought that meant he hadn't ingested any bleach?

“...”

[I thought maybe I just got a stomachache from eating raw meat... hehe...]

Beyond the crystal orb,

Wangcho was grinning sheepishly.

He seemed to believe he'd gotten sick from the raw meat, not from the bleach.

At that moment, I suddenly remembered my first encounter with Wangcho.

The king of the D-Sector, who had once taken several colchicine tablets for gout all at once and ended up with explosive diarrhea.

I silently stared at that hyena beastman for a while, thinking to myself.

I wondered whether it was even eugenically right to treat this bastard?