I Became a Plague Doctor in a Romance Fantasy Novel

Episode 37. Heart Pounding (3)

Episode 37. Heart Pounding (3)

Knock. Knock. Knock.

A cautious knock.

Who could it be? If it were the princess, she wouldn’t have knocked. If it were a fellow professor, the knock would have been stronger.

If it were Istina, she would have mumbled as she came in. Istina doesn’t need my permission to enter the lab.

“Uh, hello. Is the professor here?”

It’s an undergraduate student!

I straightened my tie, got up from my seat, and carefully opened the door. The undergraduate student who came to see me today was-

Amy. From what I’ve seen so far, Oliver seems smarter. But that’s not important. What’s important is working hard.

If there are zero participants, well, just showing up at the venue means winning. From today, the winner of the undergraduate class is Amy.

“Are you here to apply for graduate school?”

“What? Me?”

“First, have a seat.”

“Okay.”

A lukewarm response.

That’s unfortunate. Amy, if she’s not here to apply for graduate school, then what is she here for?

“What brings you here?”

“Hello. I heard there’s going to be a human dissection practice, so I came to ask how it’s done.”

It’s an open secret that academy healers conduct dissection practices.

In fact, when I went to the execution ground and revealed that I was a professor from the academy’s healing department, I could immediately purchase a corpse.

There are social taboos, but it’s also necessary. People of this era don’t understand which organs do what and how, but the history of human dissection itself is quite long.

“So. You want to observe the dissection practice?”

“Yes.”

“Graduate school. No plans to go?”

“I’m not sure yet. Isn’t it something I can decide after graduation?”

“No. Amy, look. Of course, the earlier you prepare, the better. For your career, and graduate students get paid too. If you firmly decide to go to graduate school, it’s much easier to graduate early.”

“That, that…”

“Speak comfortably.”

Amy quietly muttered something.

“If it’s so good, why doesn’t anyone do it?”

Checkmate. Bullseye.

This kid, she’s too quick-witted. That’s why I can’t stand quick-witted undergraduates.

“I don’t know either. Maybe they met the wrong professor, or they lack passion for academics, or maybe they’re just not intelligent enough?”

“Uh…”

Amy took a slight step back.

“Anyway, come to the underground dungeon at midnight tomorrow. You can bring up to two students. Paper and pen, mask and gloves are essential.”

“Understood.”

Unfortunately, recruiting graduate students failed again today.

Amy left my lab. I stared at the back of her head. Still, I have to prepare for the dissection class that was originally planned.

And then, it’s midnight. Istina, Amy, and Oliver were standing in front of the underground dungeon.

“Ah, everyone is here.”

“Hello.”

“Good day, I’m Oliver.”

“I’m Amy.”

The murmuring sound of greetings.

We must prove the existence of microvessels.

This is today’s goal.

We will identify the location of the major vessels in the cadaver, observe the differences between arteries and veins, and cut out liver tissue to examine under the microscope.

It’s a bit of a shame there’s no blackboard.

The underground dungeon was cold. Fortunately, if it had been a little warmer, the corpse might have deteriorated.

We put on our equipment one by one.

Aprons, gloves, plague doctor masks, black gowns.

“Then, let’s begin the dissection.”

“Who is this?”

“Don’t know. Came from the execution ground.”

I don’t know. I think we had a similar conversation last time, but there’s no way for me to know. We just received the corpse from the execution ground after death.

“Today’s plan. We will cut out the patient’s heart, observe it, identify the location of the major vessels, and prove that blood circulates.”

Amy immediately frowned.

“Blood circulates?”

“Yes.”

“Uh, but arteries and veins aren’t connected to each other, right? How do they circulate?”

“Good question. We’ll see that from now on.”

“First, we need to open it.”

“How do we open it?”

“With scissors.”

I started opening the thorax and cutting the ribs one by one with metal shears. This time, the condition of the corpse seemed better than last time.

“Amy, what does the heart do?”

“It sends blood throughout the body.”

“That’s correct.”

“Right. That’s correct, but do you know where the blood that enters the heart is made?”

“Isn’t it made by the liver?”

“Half right and half wrong. An adult’s liver only makes part of the blood components. The blood that goes out through the arteries returns to the heart through the veins.”

“Here’s the thing. People in the old days weren’t fools. It’s not entirely wrong to say that all veins pass through the liver.”

“The veins of the digestive system send nutrient-rich blood to the heart through the hepatic portal vein. It’s half correct, so it’s hard to refute, hmm.”

“In conclusion, the heart beats to send blood throughout the body. After circulating through the body, the blood returns through the veins.”

“But there’s no evidence that veins and arteries are connected. Even if there’s a link, they should be considered separate, right?”

“Well, let’s see.”

Having done it once before, it was easy.

I cut out the heart and handed it to Oliver.

“Uh, unfortunately, to properly see the aorta, we need to remove all the other organs.” I started cutting and removing the organs one by one.

Istina chimed in.

“Just take it out. There’s no other way.”

“Yes.”

Time passed like that.

“Look. Here, above the heart, is the aortic arch, and from below, the thoracic and abdominal aorta come up, right?”

“I can’t see it well.”

“Put your hand in and feel it. Yes, that’s the aorta.”

Oliver frowned but did as he was told.

“That’s the aorta. You know that every artery has a vein pair, right? This is the inferior vena cava.”

“Yes.”

“Veins come into the heart, and arteries come out. You know this much, right?”

Amy and Oliver nodded.

“Fill the heart with water. How much does it hold?”

I submerged the heart in water, squeezed it a few times to remove air and clots. The water that entered the heart poured out again when I squeezed it.

“This much. More than 100 milliliters. So, the heart beats once or twice per second. That means it moves 6 liters per minute, 360 liters per hour.”

The volume of blood passing through the heart is about 6 liters per minute. Of course, the liver can’t produce that much blood.

“Ah.”

“Right. It’s impossible for the liver to produce 6 liters of blood per minute. In the first place, the amount of material entering the liver is not 6 liters per second.”

“That’s true…?”

“The volume of the liver itself is less than 2 liters. It’s impossible for the liver or any organ in the human body to produce that much blood.”

I handed the cadaver’s liver, which was lying next to the dissection table, to Istina. There are three blood vessels that pass through the liver: the hepatic artery, the hepatic vein, and the portal vein.

Istina looked around the liver.

“See? There are three major blood vessels that move in and out of the liver. The artery, the vein, and the portal vein that receives nutrients from the intestines.”

Amy had a complicated expression.

“Uh, so. Is blood just circulating around the body like a water supply and drainage system? It’s not being produced, consumed, and absorbed within the body?”

“Almost.”

She seemed to find it hard to believe. Well, it’s not easy to refute conventional wisdom.

“It’s very different from the original academic thinking.”

“Others are wrong.”

This time, Oliver raised his hand.

“Then, shouldn’t there be a section outside the heart where the artery and vein are connected?”

“Right.”

“You know, professor. The blood flowing through the arteries and veins is different in form, shape, and nature. Anyway, they seem separate.”

This is the problem. Arteries and veins are connected by capillaries. Capillaries are scattered throughout the body. It’s true that they are hard to observe.

But with a microscope, it’s not impossible.

“Give me the liver.”

I picked up the scalpel again and carefully sliced the liver tissue thinly, as if filleting a fish. The liver tissue sample was cut thin enough for light to pass through.

“Istina. Do you have a microscope?”

“I brought it, but we don’t have any staining solution.”

“Istina. What are we trying to observe right now?”

“Blood vessels.”

“What runs in blood vessels?”

“Uh, blood?”

“What color is blood?”

Aha. Istina muttered something softly. If the goal is to see blood vessels, dye is unnecessary. Hemoglobin is already present.

“Then… let’s see.”

Logically, it’s obvious.

The liver is one of the tissues with the most capillaries. As soon as we placed the liver tissue under the microscope, we could observe the capillaries.

Red blood cells lined up, crammed inside the capillaries. Some capillaries are smaller in diameter than the red blood cells, so the red blood cells move through them while being squished.

“That’s the essence of blood.”

“Those round granules are blood?”

“Yes. Red blood cells.”

This should completely dispel any thoughts about blood being consumed.

Blood is made up of living cells, not invisible substances or nutrients. Capillaries connect veins and arteries.

“This theory will turn the academic world upside down again. If everything the professor says is true.”

I believe what I say is true.

Of course.

Amy reconsidered her evaluation of people.

Istina was much stronger than she appeared. Professor Asterix was much crazier, or stranger, than he seemed.

Entering graduate school might be good for my life. I could definitely build up my achievements and skills. But why do I feel so reluctant to go?