To Hell with Being a Saint, I’m a Doctor

Ray sighed.

It was hard to tell if they were dissecting a pig or butchering it.

Despite his warnings not to damage the organs, the students were too distracted to be careful.

If the subject had been a person instead of a pig, they would not have lasted long before losing their life.

Even immobilized by the hold spell, Lich kept talking.

“Pathetic.”

Despite the spell’s hold, Lich’s immense mana allowed him to move his mouth without much difficulty.

He constantly criticized the students as they attempted the dissection.

“It seems you’ve picked up some dissection knowledge from somewhere. But that’s all. You can’t even dissect a pig properly. Tsk tsk.”

His rigid, absurd posture contrasted with his non-stop chatter, making it hard for anyone to listen.

The polite (?) tone he used with the professor was gone, replaced with arrogance, even towards strangers.

For Lich, this was natural.

To him, all humans, except for the sorcerer who had killed him, were no more than foolish, weak bugs.

Even though he had once been human, his mentality changed after his transformation into an undead.

It was difficult for him to feel any kinship with humans.

Lich glanced around.

Watching the students struggle to even skin the pig properly, he frowned.

Group 2, in particular, clumsily handled the pig’s organs, causing him inner turmoil.

Lich’s sneer was obvious.

“If you intend to destroy the organs, you might as well use a hammer instead of that puny knife.”

At his harsh words, the students hung their heads.

They had no comeback, considering the fear they felt towards the powerful saint who had just confronted dozens of students.

Overwhelmed by fear, they dared not speak up.

Ray looked at Lich with intrigue.

“Oh? So you can dissect?”

“It’s my specialty, Lord.”

Lich was confident he could dissect a student on the spot if asked.

Despite being restrained, he wiggled his hips in an attempt to demonstrate his eagerness.

Noticing his eagerness, Ray said with interest,

“Then show me. But if you try anything funny, I’ll kill you instantly. Don’t get any other ideas.”

“Such thoughts are absurd.”

Ray released Lich from his hold.

Once free from his awkward position, Lich chuckled lowly.

“Hehehe. Such foolish ones, this is how you dissect.”

He approached the pig on the table, picked up a small knife, and began skillfully skinning the pig.

Slick—

His cuts were decisive, as though he knew exactly what to do next.

The students watched in awe, their mouths agape.

They hadn’t expected much, but his speed was beyond words.

Honestly, he seemed even faster than the professor!

Ray watched in silence, admiring Lich’s technique.

“No unnecessary movements. He must know not only the pig’s organs but also its bones and muscles.”

His skills were truly befitting of the head of the Black Magic Tower.

He began separating the organs without even nicking the vital ones, seemingly more adept than Ray himself, at least in pig dissection.

Furthermore, the pig’s lungs are situated close to the esophagus, trachea, veins, and arteries.

Lich dissected the pig’s complex parts with ease, making it clear he was no novice.

“Amazing,” Ray whispered in admiration.

Doesn’t praise make even a whale dance?

Lich, who had lived far longer than any whale, felt immensely pleased, experiencing a sense of accomplishment he hadn’t felt in ages.

When was the last time someone stronger than himself had acknowledged him?

Without being prompted, he began to dissect the pig’s colon, turning it inside out as he started to explain.

“You fools probably don’t know, but you can tell the pig was sick by looking at this part. The skin is rough, and something is growing in the colon.”

Ray nodded at Lich’s words.

The explanation wasn’t detailed, but the conclusion was spot on.

Although not an expert in veterinary science, Ray was familiar with edema, which occurs when blood fluid seeps into tissues, is obstructed in the blood or lymph vessels, or when a tissue’s water absorption increases.

Edema in the colon’s inner vessels suggested increased capillary pressure or decreased plasma oncotic pressure.

Ray smiled at Lich, who had skillfully dissected the pig.

“You’re quite confident, aren’t you? It was a good dissection.”

Lich’s medical knowledge was advanced for that era.

He could have become a great doctor if he had applied himself.

Lich’s face swelled with pride at the praise, wiping the pig’s blood from his hands onto a white cloth.

“This is basic knowledge, Lord.”

Ray did not deflate Lich’s ego, merely watching him with a cunning smile.

“Hehehe. Yes, it’s basic.”

He became eager to train Lich further.

Hadn’t Lich said he had come to serve him?

There was one perfect task for him.

---

She clutched her head while sipping her fragrant tea.

“I can’t do this anymore!”

Iriel despaired in the ornate office.

Griaia, who was organizing documents alongside her, laughed awkwardly.

“Lady Saint, that’s the third time you’ve said that today.”

“…Sigh.”

They had been buried in paperwork for months.

While Ray was preoccupied with the Medical Academy, Iriel managed the duties of a saint herself.

The overwhelming offers and requests from neighboring countries, due to the Saint’s wartime prowess, left them with endless paperwork.

Most tasks were diplomatic, but many were invitations to their nations, which were tricky to ignore.

These invitations, which required a response from a duke or higher, could not be handled by the lower nobility.

Griaia, temporarily managing the duties of House Duke Chepes, was assisting, or else Iriel would have faced the paperwork alone.

Seeing Iriel nearly collapsing at her desk, Griaia suggested,

“Leave this to me and take a few hours off. You haven’t been sleeping well.”

Iriel was sleep-deprived, burdened with not only diplomatic tasks but also internal affairs.

Frequent wars had also depleted the Holy Kingdom’s finances.

With severed diplomacy, the Holy Kingdom found itself in a more precarious situation than its neighbors, the Beibon and Glaymen Kingdoms.

In such a situation, how could Iriel, a saint, push away her duties for sleep?

Stretching widely, Iriel remarked, “If only our foolish saint would return, I could rest right away.”

“Ha ha ha. I’ve already sent a messenger to the Saint as you instructed. He should be back soon.”

“That’s efficient.”

“The Lesian Empire has urgently requested it. A messenger even came with the letter, so it must be important, right?”

Griaia didn’t know the contents of the letter sent by the Lesian Empire.

It was so confidential that even she, temporarily entrusted with some powers of Duke Chepes’s House, couldn’t see it.

Only Pope Eclair and Saint Iriel had seen the content of the letter.

Iriel nodded, “It’s urgent. I don’t know the details, but the Lesian Empire seems to want only the Saint…”

Her curiosity surged, but she refrained from asking, worried about what the Lesian Empire might be plotting.

---

Eil and Saein were dining.

“With the war in the Holy Kingdom, I’m worried, even though it’s over,” Saein expressed her concern.

“Don’t worry. Unless the Holy Kingdom has lost its mind, they wouldn’t have sent the Saint to war. Just take care of the baby,” Eil assured her, stroking her belly.

Still, Saein’s worry didn’t fully disappear.

“But still…”

“You know the child is not ordinary. He’ll be fine anywhere.”

That was true. From a young age, the child had been exceptionally smart, understanding much from little explanation. He would be fine in the Holy Kingdom.

The Silia Kingdom, a bit distant from the Holy Kingdom, hadn’t yet heard about the Saint’s feats against the Necromancer.

Eil smiled, thinking of Ray far away, “He’d be happy to know he’s getting a sibling.”

“Of course. He might be more excited than us.”

“Ha ha ha. When Ray returns, I’ll have to teach him some swordsmanship. I’ve had a small epiphany recently.”

“Ha ha ha. Don’t end up being outdone by him again.”

Saein’s teasing made Eil’s expression stiffen. There was a real chance of that happening.

“Maybe he’s already reached the advanced level of Aura users.”

“Eh, but you’re still stronger. And it’s impossible to use magic and aura together…”

Saein stopped mid-sentence, struck by a sudden thought.

It seemed like something Ray could do.

Usually, it’s impossible to use magic and aura together due to the circle system. Magic manifests because of these circles.

Conversely, creating aura is impossible with the circles present.

But Ray, who could use magic without circles, might manage it.

Perhaps he could create a denser, more perfect aura than the one he had shown off before leaving for the Holy Kingdom.

The thought of their son becoming a master before turning twenty sent shivers down their spines.

A Swordmaster who could also use magic would be a real mage knight from storybooks.

They laughed, realizing their son might become the strongest on the continent.

“Ha ha ha…”

“Ha ha ha…”

Their faces bore smiles, but they recognized it as a real possibility, given their son’s growth.