"Sigh."
Viscount Milangell let out a long sigh.
"That's right, my family members... My only family member is ill, Your Excellency Lynn."
The Viscount seemed to age several years in an instant, his eyelids closing forcefully.
Clearly, this seemed to be more than just a simple illness.
Lynn rubbed his chin.
"I’m very sorry to hear that, Lord Viscount."
Although this world did indeed have healing magic, the Church, which possessed Saintesses with such power, wouldn’t easily bestow its blessings upon others.
The Church claimed that illness was an external manifestation of sin, and therefore a Saintess's healing was the forgiveness of sin.
Unless a huge sum of money was paid to purchase an indulgence, the power of healing would absolutely not descend upon a mortal.
However, although he was just a border Viscount, the Milangell family should still be able to afford the money to buy an indulgence, right?
"Did you not seek out a Saintess from the Church?"
Lynn voiced the doubt in his heart.
"We tried that long ago, but they were helpless... She only said that it wasn’t an ordinary illness.
In the end, with no other options, we could only rely on palliative treatment..."
Due to an over-reliance on magic, the development of medicine in the World Island was extremely slow.
Although it was said that a wondrous and ingenious craft called alchemy had begun to become popular in the southern countries, it hadn’t yet reached the northern regions where the Milan Empire was located.
As such, when faced with illnesses that couldn’t be cured by magic for the time being, there were only two choices.
Either seek out a more powerful Saintess from the Church and pay an even greater price.
Or return to the wisdom of Milan's old ancestors and choose bloodletting therapy.
Clearly, the Viscount didn’t have the ability to seek out a more powerful healing Saintess and had already begun the second method.
Lynn vaguely felt that this was an opportunity for him to get closer to the Viscount.
Although his university major wasn’t medicine, as a modern person, he had heard of some of the so-called serious illnesses of the Middle Ages.
And no matter how little he understood, he felt that he was still better than a well-trained Milanese doctor who would use a small knife to open a patient's eyes.
At worst, he could just stuff the patient full of willow bark*. It might have a miraculous effect.
Speaking of which, if he managed to extract salicin to sell as a panacea later on, wouldn't that also be a business opportunity?
Lynn, realizing a path to wealth lay before him, wanted to go see the patient's condition right now.
"Lord Milangell, if you don't mind, could I take a look?
I once studied ancient books with several great scholars of Milan and know some medical techniques from the eastern part of the World Island.
Although I can’t guarantee its effectiveness, perhaps I can identify some problems."
After spouting this nonsense without blushing or his heart skipping a beat, Milangell, whose expression had been dim, was overjoyed upon hearing this.
As if grasping a lifesaving straw, he unconditionally believed the other party at this moment.
He stood up excitedly.
"This is truly… Thank you so much, Elcasino—"
"Ahem, let's skip the long surname. It's as good as gone now anyway."
Just like that, Milangell, grasping onto a sliver of hope, hurriedly led Lynn out of the dining room.
Before leaving, the Viscount didn’t forget to instruct the servants to continue serving dishes according to Iyanna's requests, which made the latter quite moved.
After entering a long corridor, the two arrived at a room with a servant guarding the entrance.
"Was it not aired out today?"
The Viscount looked at the completely still door and asked with some confusion.
"My Lord, this new batch of charcoal produces very little smoke and dust. Considering the Young Master's health, we didn’t open the windows to ventilate."
The servant bowed respectfully in response.
Through the door, Lynn could feel the faint heat coming from within the room.
It was as if several stoves were burning inside at the same time...
Was this a sickroom or a kiln?
With doubt in his heart, Lynn looked toward the opened door.
It was a simply furnished bedroom. Just as Lynn had felt, five stoves were burning fiercely within it.
Looking at those stoves filled with burning charcoal, Lynn narrowed his eyes.
Strange, he felt that they looked very familiar... The charcoal…
Wait, wasn't this the White Charcoal he had given to the Viscount?
Seemingly sensing Lynn's confusion, the worried-looking Viscount explained.
"I concealed this from you before because I really didn't want the matter of my son to affect Your Excellency Lynn's mood.
In fact, the lack of charcoal I mentioned earlier was precisely because I needed to heat this room.
The gift that was originally meant for the winter hunt was used here. Please forgive me, Your Excellency."
Lynn stopped the Viscount's apology, then he followed the man’s gaze to the bed, which was covered with thick bedding.
To be precise, he looked at the white mist surrounding the bed.
As if water was being boiled, a continuous stream of white mist rose up from the bed due to the heat of the stoves, gathering into water vapor on the ceiling.
It seemed to have been like this for years. Lynn noticed that the ceiling paint had already peeled and fallen off, and there were also spots of mold on the wooden trim... And this was the dry north!
"This is my eldest son, and the only child my former wife left me.
A year ago, after he fell from his horse, an icy coldness latched onto him.
This strange illness causes his body temperature to continuously drop, to the point that the heat from the stoves forms water vapor around him."
Watching the Viscount heartachingly stroke the pale cheek of the blond youth on the bed, Lynn couldn't help but sigh in his heart—
‘Damn, in this situation, this person should have died from hypothermia long ago!’
‘Could it be related to the magical aspects of this world?’
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【E-Rank Magic Fluctuation detected】
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As if to verify his guess, the system's pop-up window and prompt sound appeared at the same time.
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【Dark Curse detected—Veil of Interference】
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‘Veil of Interference?’
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【An ordinary curse in Dark Magic. The duration of a single cast is half a month, and its effect is only to interfere with detection】
——————————————————
‘Interfere with detection? Is it trying to prevent something from being detected?’
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【Interference ignored. Frost Ice Poison detected】
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‘Isn't that the same poison that the apprentice next to that Dawson fellow had?!’
Lynn felt a drop of cold sweat trickle down his forehead.
This was bad. It seemed like he had truly stepped into a large net.
However, sense of crisis aside, Lynn, who had already figured out the cause of the illness, still slowly curled the corners of his mouth.
"Lord Viscount, I have a hypothesis… Would you like to try letting the patient drink a little alcohol?
I know this might sound absurd, but drinking alcohol does indeed make the body heat up. It might have an unexpected effect."
Drinking alcohol?
Viscount Milangell's brows furrowed, but he quickly took a deep breath again.
Indeed, no previous healer had proposed such a thing.
Perhaps it really would have some effect?
"...Bring some wine."
"Something stronger might be more effective."
In the end, a small cup of barley whiskey, a specialty of Milan's northern border, was slowly poured into the mouth of the Viscount's eldest son through a feeding funnel.
A touch of red gradually appeared on his pale face.
The next moment, even more water vapor suddenly bloomed from his body.
"Cough... cough..."
When the funnel was removed, they heard a faint coughing sound.
"Ah, ah, ah!"
Viscount Milangell's mustache trembled, and tears uncontrollably gathered in his eyes.
In the crystal-clear reflection of the teardrops, the pale blond youth's eyelids quietly twitched.
And then, they slowly opened.
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*Willow bark, often called "nature’s aspirin," contains salicin, a compound similar to aspirin used to reduce pain, inflammation, and fever.