I Became a Plague Doctor in a Romance Fantasy Novel

Whose Body Is This Anyway (3)

Whose Body Is This Anyway (3)

Splash.

The heart was successfully placed in the glass jar.

I don’t know how long a heart preserved in alcohol will last. Should I separate and preserve the other organs too? If left like this, they’ll all deteriorate.

“Finish up.”

Istina stared into the distance.

“This is my first time dissecting a human.”

“Really?”

“Usually, we don’t go this far. After all, there are very few healers who perform surgeries, and most surgeries end in failure. Some people question whether it’s even worth opening up the body…?”

“There’s no reason not to.”

Isn’t this a world with magic?

The operating rooms and equipment I used in my previous life were fascinating, but there was no magic. The act of wielding a scalpel remained the same.

I think I said something similar before.

“The professor might not know. There used to be a saying: the torso and head will forever remain uncharted territory for the sensible surgeon.”

I think it was mentioned in medical history. In the past, it was rare for someone to survive surgeries involving the abdominal cavity, thoracic cavity, or head.

“Surgery is indeed difficult, but not impossible. If contamination is well managed, one can enter the body’s interior and survive.”

“I honestly thought the patient whose spleen we removed would die. We opened up the abdomen and took out an organ, yet they survived…”

That’s always the way with surgery. The outcome is never guaranteed, but we saved them this time, and that’s all that matters. Nothing else is important.

“For a doctor, the result is the most important thing.”

“Oh, I had another question. Is the spleen an organ you can live without?”

Probably. The spleen helps immune cells, filters pathogens from the blood, and removes old red blood cells.

Of course, we can’t ignore the role of the spleen in purifying the blood, but most of its functions can be replaced by other organs.

There is a slight difference in that removing the spleen weakens the immune system. That’s why there are mandatory vaccinations after spleen removal, but I considered that less important.

“You can live without it. If the spleen bursts, it’s common to remove the entire spleen.”

“I see.”

Istina reached for her notebook, but once again, she withdrew her hand. Her gloves were stained with blood, so she shouldn’t touch anything.

It’s obvious she hasn’t done this before.

Anyway. The heart has been preserved, and we need to decide what to do with the other organs.

“Istina. What should we do with this?”

“What are you planning to do with the body?”

“I’m thinking of cutting out the other organs and taking them.”

This time, she shook her head.

“Well… isn’t that a bit much? Even though this person is dead, it’s a bit much to just cut up the body and keep it.”

I see. I nodded.

Just because someone is dead doesn’t mean they’re completely free from ethical considerations. This person probably didn’t agree to have their body used for research. Istina is right.

We should respect what needs to be respected.

“Then let’s just do it moderately and leave.”

“What about the robe?”

“Let’s take it to the lab and clean it up.”

It’s not easy to deal with something stained with blood.

We carefully collected the body, put it back in the sack along with the desiccant. We also cleaned and put away the tools used for the dissection.

It’s already dawn. We haven’t been in the basement for long. We came out of the underground dungeon with our masks loosely hanging around our necks.

“Oh, shit, you scared me.”

I was startled.

I wondered who was wandering around at dawn, but it was just the security guard here. I greeted him casually.

“Good job.”

He looked like he had seen a ghost. Istina hid behind me. To be precise, she hid the glass jar containing a human heart.

“Who are you?”

“Oh, I’m Professor Asterix.”

“Your hands and clothes are covered in blood.”

“There was a bit of an incident.”

Ah. Now that I think about it, that’s true.

The security guard’s gaze was strange. Well, if I met someone dressed in black from head to toe in front of an underground dungeon at two in the morning, I might be scared too.

Wait a minute, it’s not the black clothes that are the problem. My hands and clothes are soaked in blood.

Not just any blood, but blood that had clotted and then got wet, leaving unpleasantly grainy stains. If someone passed by, they might think I was a serial killer.

“You didn’t kill anyone, did you?”

“No.”

“So, what were you doing?”

What should I say to avoid any trouble?

If I said I was cutting up a corpse I bought from the execution ground, would I get arrested? It’s not exactly something to brag about.

I decided to just mumble.

“Uh, an experiment.”

“What kind of experiment is this…?”

“It’s nothing grand.”

The corpse was wrapped in a cloth, locked in a cabinet with salt. It should be fine, right?

The suspicious look in his eyes didn’t easily fade. I awkwardly greeted him again and quickly returned to the lab.

“Phew, at least they didn’t notice I brought the heart.”

Indeed. If we had shown the guard the heart in the glass jar earlier, he might have fainted. He already looked terrified just meeting us.

It took a long time to get the smell of the corpse out of my clothes. Ironically, it seems easier to remove the smell from preserved corpses.

The smell of formalin is really hard to get rid of. The real corpse smell is easier to remove.

It was fine when I was opening the corpse for research. But seeing the blood on my clothes and the corpse smell sticking to them, I don’t feel like doing it often.

I should try to find someone to participate in the dissection practice. More than that, I need to find more graduate students. When are they coming?

Anyway.

Yesterday, Istina’s paper was published in the journal. With me as the corresponding author. People seemed to think it was my paper.

The paper on the causes and responses to epidemic dysentery. Even before it was published in the journal, during the cross-verification stage, it caused a stir.

The reaction after it was published in the journal was explosive. There were folk remedies or treatments for epidemic dysentery, but…

This was probably the first time the cause was theoretically clarified and the response was carried out at the government level.

To be more precise, this was the first time a paper with such content was published.

The paper. Rumors had been circulating in the academic world for a long time, but this time politicians and bureaucrats showed particular interest. The evidence is-

A letter from the First Prince. He often sends letters asking how Mint is doing, if I have any plans to return, but…

This time, it was clear that the letter had a specific agenda. The seal on the letter was not the prince’s personal seal, but the royal seal.

– Your thesis has reached the Imperial government.

– The content is important, but it seems the last sentence of your thesis has stuck in someone’s mind. Medicine and health are tools of governance and extensions of administration, something like that.

It was a relatively serious letter from the prince after a long time. Usually, he scribbles and sends it carelessly, but it seems he has something to say this time.

– Isn’t that what you were trying to say in your thesis? If the local government of Lapis had no overcrowded slums, proper sewage facilities, and responded to the plague in time, nothing would have happened.

– The regent of Lapis seemed indifferent, but that’s how it looks to politicians.

They see what they want to see. To the eyes of Imperial politicians, my thesis seems like a means to politically attack someone.

Hmm.

– Isn’t it common sense that the plague is an unavoidable natural disaster? But if, as you suggest, the plague is spread through particles and can be controlled…

The prince seems to be pondering.

– Then isn’t it the state’s responsibility to control and manage it? We fought over this topic for a long time, but since the bureaucrats lack professional knowledge, no proper conclusion was reached.

As expected, he’s not just any prince.

Not only did he read and understand the thesis, but he also meticulously planned how to use it to his advantage.

Regardless of the outcome of this debate, he can showcase his expertise and power by summoning and dismissing experts on this issue.

Thinking about it, it’s kind of funny.

– In the near future, prepare a lecture for Imperial officials on the new theory about the plague. If there’s anything new you’ve discovered, shouldn’t it be reflected in Imperial policy?

Hmm. I had no particular feelings about the prince’s request. Honestly, I know him, and the person who usually calls me rude is now asking me to give a lecture…

No special feelings. Should I ask Istina to do it? If I say the Imperial family is calling you, wouldn’t she be delighted and consider it an honor?

I should just ask Istina to do it.

The main author of the dysentery thesis is Istina.

Of course, if Istina gives a lecture alone in front of the bureaucrats, she might get torn apart like a seal caught by a pack of sharks smelling blood…

Though it is a matter of the distant future. The image of Istina, with her deer-like eyes brimming with tears, is vivid in my mind. Is there a need to go together?