I Became a Plague Doctor in a Romance Fantasy Novel

Dispatch Duty of the Plague Doctor (1)

Dispatch Duty of the Plague Doctor (1)

1831. A tourist guidebook in Paris recorded, “The water of the Seine is safe to drink, but it has a laxative effect.” For reference, a laxative is a medicine that causes diarrhea.

Isn’t this the epitome of positive thinking? “I drank the water of the Seine and got the plague, so now I have diarrhea? Just what I needed, a laxative!”

Modern people call it cholera. From this statement, we can infer a few things.

First, cholera was common before modern times. It had to be. Before Pasteur, according to the miasma theory, sewage was dumped into the river as quickly as possible.

The idea was to get the bad air away from people as quickly as possible.

By our standards, it’s madness.

Second, even cholera water could be something that a healthy person could just get diarrhea from and move on.

My point is this.

In areas where there are many deaths from bacterial dysentery, it is very likely that there are other problems such as malnutrition.

Let’s discuss the rest with our Mr. Hedwig. It’s not too late to decide after hearing him out.

“How long can the dragon knight wait?”

“About an hour.”

“Then let’s discuss for an hour and go.”

I picked up a bundle of papers and a pen.

“First, let me tell you the answer. This disease is a type of bacterial dysentery, spread by water contaminated with feces. Treatment is hydration and antibiotics, but mostly the former, and antibiotics are not very helpful.”

Mr. Hedwig looked puzzled.

“How do you know that?”

“Well, it’s obvious. I’ll go and reassess, but I’m ninety percent sure I’m right.”

Hedwig nodded.

“Please, continue.”

“Cholera bacteria and cholera toxin can be dealt with by boiling water…”

“That’s a simple solution!”

“Well, it’s not that simple. This is a preventive measure, not a cure. Do you think everyone in that city has the money or time to boil water every day?”

I don’t know. But historically speaking, it’s much more likely they don’t.

“Isn’t there no evidence that it’s transmitted through water? I understand your opinion, professor.”

I nodded.

“The idea that it’s transmitted through water is just my opinion. Now we need to go to the field and verify it experimentally.”

Hedwig nodded.

There was still some discussion left, but we decided to continue it on-site. After all, we would have to relay the information again once we got there.

Especially to the local officials.

The wyvern was faster than expected. The wind was strong enough to mess up my hair and robe.

“When will we arrive?”

“It will take a while!”

The wind made it hard to hear properly.

“What’s the name of our destination?”

“Free City Lapis!”

Let’s give up on conversation. Before we get any meaningful information, I’ll develop vocal cord nodules first.

In my previous life, I had flown on airplanes a few times. But in this world, today was the first time I looked down on the land from the sky.

The wind brushed past my face like a blade.

There were three wyverns mobilized for this task.

Hedwig, Istina, and I each rode one. In front of us, a wyvern knight was riding each wyvern.

The scenery was beautiful, but the city outside the well-maintained castle was dirtier and gloomier than I had expected. The city we were heading to would probably be similar.

After a long while, we arrived at the scene.

Three wyverns landed in the open space at the center of the castle. Istina was clutching a garden sculpture and retching.

“If you had told me in advance, I would have given you some motion sickness medicine.”

“Ugh, I didn’t know I got motion sickness.”

“You’re not going to throw up, are you?”

“No…”

I had taken motion sickness medicine before coming. I should have given her one. If I had known, I would have.

“There is a relief center set up in front of the castle gate. We will discuss the response strategy there.”

“Do we have personnel?”

“Well… there are some church people, some original city healers, and a few people brought in urgently by the imperial government.”

Hedwig looked around.

“Let’s unpack, report on the scene, and see the patients. We’ll meet in front of the relief center in an hour.”

I nodded. Istina was still retching beside me. She must have had severe motion sickness. I wonder when she’ll feel better.

Treatment of Cholera Patients.

In most cases, bacterial dysentery patients do not need antibiotics. The direct cause of death in bacterial dysentery is dehydration.

Antibiotics might save a person’s life, but not necessarily.

Like other infectious diseases, one cannot expect much from antibiotics. While antibiotics might treat fever or cough, they cannot resolve dehydration symptoms.

There are dozens of inpatients in the relief center.

I have been assigned five patients. I only packed for a day at the academy. It might take longer than I thought.

I do what I can for now.

“Estina. Healing magic.”

“Yes.”

Estina raised her staff and began to pray. I checked the patients’ conditions.

The first patient.

He was just an ordinary man. His status was probably commoner, judging by the dirt on his clothes, he was likely a farmer.

He seemed to be still alive. His condition wasn’t very good, though.

“Checking the conjunctiva. Yes. Please open your mouth for a moment. Oh, checking skin turgor.”

Since I already knew what disease it was, I just needed to assess the severity. It’s not as bad as I expected.

The standard treatment for cholera is doxycycline. I placed a few pills beside the patient’s bed.

“Take one pill with each meal.”

Estina was waiting beside me.

“Look. The most important symptom of bacterial dysentery is dehydration. The patient’s conjunctiva is dry, the tongue is a bit cracked, and the skin turgor is reduced.”

“Ah, that’s what it was.”

It’s a typical sign of dehydration.

As dehydration worsens, the electrolyte concentration in the body becomes abnormal, causing nerve cells to malfunction. Blood pressure drops due to lack of blood volume.

The best treatment is to connect an IV, but that’s not the important thing. The important thing is to identify the cause of the disease and prevent its spread.

I grabbed the coat rack from the side.

“Why the coat rack?”

“To connect the IV.”

I hung the IV bag on the coat rack. Then I found the patient’s vein and inserted the needle into their arm. The patient looked at me.

“What is this?”

“It’s a kind of magic.”

What else could it be? It’s a lifeline. But since this method can’t be applied to all patients in this space, we need to find the cause of the disease.

I was called here to find a solution. Of course, I have to see the patients too. The main point was to find and solve the cause of the disease.

“Where are we going now?”

Whether they are quick or slow at their work, they don’t explain anything and just proceed with something among themselves. Are they efficient, or is there a communication problem?

This time, they are taking me somewhere again. Judging by the fact that we are entering the castle, I guess we are going to a meeting to discuss countermeasures.

“It’s the conference room inside the castle. You will discuss the solution to this situation in front of Baron Lapis.”

“I see.”

There must have been a critical point that led to this situation. There have always been cholera patients in this environment. But a specific event must have triggered a sudden increase in the number of patients.

Contamination of a major water source, perhaps.

“We’re here, the conference room.”

It seems we arrived a bit late. The lord’s conference room was already quite crowded.

A woman wearing a feathered hat was sitting at the head of the conference room. She looked like a zombie who had endured three sleepless nights. Could she be the Baron of Lapis, or perhaps a direct descendant?

There were also a few people dressed as doctors, in black coats and masks, in the conference room.

Now I understand.

Hedwig is from the imperial government. He came to support the lord of Lapis, who is in trouble, and brought me along as part of that effort.

“We have invited the imperial palace healer, Academy Professor Asterix, with great difficulty.”

There was no applause. The lord of Lapis just let out a small sigh.

“Yes, Professor Asterix. I am Laplenia of Lapis. I look forward to your assistance.”

“Thank you.”

I bowed my head in greeting.

“Then, let’s continue our discussion. It seems necessary to eliminate the cause to prevent the spread of this situation…”

These people do not know the cause.

“The plague is spreading exponentially. It seems that relying on healing magic has its limits. Even if we keep bringing in healers.”

“Hmm. We have lit beacons throughout the city to remove the miasma and are preventing people from gathering in large numbers…”

Preventing people from gathering, a very modern idea. But bacterial dysentery is not a disease that spreads through meetings in the first place.

The lord of Lapis looked at me.

“What do you think, Professor?”