Previously: Charlotte, the daughter of one of the Seven Great Noble families, listened to Zeno’s explanation and decided to undergo surgery for her Kimenshu.
“Professor, please take good care of my daughter.”
“Yes, leave it to me, Lord Fennel.”
Goldrun, having exchanged a firm handshake with Lord Fennel, closed the door and approached us.
For Charlotte’s Kimenshu surgery, her room had been converted into a makeshift operating theater. A white cloth was draped over the central table, and Charlotte lay on it with her eyes closed.
She was snoring softly because she had taken a sleeping draught.
It seemed that at the Royal Treatment Institute, patients were often put to sleep before surgery to avoid causing them fear.
While magic circles with hypnotic and analgesic effects were commonly used, drugs with similar effects were sometimes employed for their simplicity. It was impressive that Becker had made this one, too.
Goldrun confirmed that Charlotte was fast asleep, then glared sharply at us.
“Now, it’s your job. Make sure it’s successful, no matter what. You understand what will happen if you fail, don’t you?”
“Y-Yes!”
Cresson stood at attention, his back ramrod straight.
“L-Leave it to ushhhh!”
Cresson turned to Zeno, his face pale, and whispered. His back teeth were chattering with tension and fear.
“Aniki… W-What should I do…?”
“I’ll do the surgery.”
At that, Cresson beamed and grasped Zeno’s hand.
“Anikiiii! You’re the best aniki everrrr!”
“I keep telling you, I’m not your big brother.”
“Hey, wait. What are you doing?”
Just as Zeno was about to stand beside Charlotte, Goldrun, who was standing by the wall with his arms crossed, spoke in a sharp voice.
“What do you mean, ‘what’? The surgery.”
“You are not the surgeon.”
Goldrun’s fingertip pointed at Cresson.
“It was you, the caretaker, who treated the dog, wasn’t it? You will perform the surgery. You, the one in the black mask, will be the assistant.”
“…No, um, that’s…”
“What is it?”
“N-Nothing.”
Cresson shook his head weakly.
He had heard that, at the Second Secretary’s suggestion, it had been reported that Cresson had treated the dog.
It was likely a situation where he couldn’t say otherwise now.
“Then, get started quickly.”
“Yes…”
Cresson hung his head and changed into the surgical gown he had brought.
He took a scalpel in his hand, but his fingertips were trembling.
Zeno stood on the opposite side of Charlotte from Cresson.
“Ugh, ugh…”
“Hey, if you shake that much, you’ll make unnecessary cuts.”
“I-I know that.”
“Well, it’ll be fine. It’s not that difficult of a surgery.”
“The textbook says it’s an A+ rank difficulty!”
If even a small root is left behind, the condition will worsen and recur.
However, removing too much will leave a large scar and potentially damage nerves.
Moreover, surgery is generally avoided, so there are very few people with experience performing it.
“Hmm…”
“Hey, stop mumbling.”
“Y-Yes, I’m sorry!”
At Goldrun’s words, Cresson flinched.
Cresson hesitantly brought the tip of the blade closer to the fingertip-sized pimple on Charlotte’s cheek.
“Okay, so the roots of the Kimenshu are at the three o’clock, seven o’clock, and ten o’clock positions…”
“Wait a minute. <Diagnostic Scan>.”
A white light emitted from Zeno’s fingertip passed over Charlotte’s face.
“What was that, aniki?”
“I checked the inside. The direction of the roots varies from individual to individual, so it’s better not to be bound by generalities. This girl’s tumor is at the two o’clock, six o’clock, nine o’clock, and ten o’clock positions.”
“You can even tell that?”
“Conversely, how could you perform surgery without knowing that?”
Zeno pointed both hands at Charlotte and said to Cresson.
“I’ll give you instructions in a low voice to minimize the scarring, so try to follow them exactly.”
“Big Bro… I understand.”
Cresson nodded and made an incision in the skin.
When he opened the dermis, he could see the black roots of the Kimenshu crawling.
While giving instructions, Zeno used protective magic to cover the local nerves and blood vessels to suppress pain and bleeding.
He finely adjusted the output and irradiation range of the magic to match the movement of the blade tip.
For any deficiencies, he discreetly created a small <Scalpel> on his fingertip to provide support.
Taking their time, the roots of the Kimenshu were peeled away one by one.
Since he was carefully healing it with recovery magic, the wound remained clean.
“…Hmm. Not bad, caretaker.”
Goldrun, peering over from the head side, nodded in satisfaction.
However, Cresson’s hand suddenly stopped.
“This is…”
“What’s wrong?”
“Um, the root, it’s… on the nerve…”
The last root was extensively wrapped around the nerve that controls the movement of the facial muscles.
“To remove the root completely, I have to cut the nerve along with it…”
“Wait.”
Goldrun stopped Cresson’s hand.
“If you do that, her facial features will change. Unlike skin, nerve repair is highly difficult. Especially the complex and delicate nerves of the face. You should know that.”
“B-But if I leave the root, it will recur.”
“…”
The professor’s brow furrowed deeply, and Cresson said hesitantly.
“How about closing the wound for now, somehow persuading her, and having the surgery redone at the Royal Treatment Institute?”
“You can’t do that now. If the Kimenshu root is left partially and closed, it will immediately take root stronger and deeper than before, and further entwine the nerves. It will become untreatable.”
“Th-Then… W-What should we do, Professor?”
“…Damn it.”
Goldrun gritted his teeth.
His frown deepened, perhaps out of anger at the situation.
Eventually, he took a deep breath and said.
“…It can’t be helped. Cut it.”
“I-Is that okay?”
“If the root remains and it recurs, my evaluation will undoubtedly drop significantly. It’s a higher priority to remove the tumor completely.”
“B-But… her facial features will change somewhat.”
“…I won’t be able to avoid the impact on the director election, but if I leave the root, she’ll have a face that’s unbearable to look at. There’s no other way than to minimize the damage. Damn it, I’ve drawn the short straw.”
” …?”
Goldrun came to Cresson, who was tilting his head, took his hand, severed the nerve, and pulled out the tumor.
Then, he said in a loud voice.
“You imbecile! What have you done!”
“Huh?”
“What’s wrong, Professor!”
Lord Fennel’s voice could be heard from outside the room, where he was waiting.
Goldrun said to the person beyond the door.
“The idiot assistant disobeyed my instructions and cut the nerve. I told him not to do that.”
“Wha, wha…?”
Cresson blinked repeatedly.
Lord Fennel didn’t seem to understand the situation very well, but he seemed to sense that something was wrong.
His anxious voice echoed from behind the door.
“I-Is that a problem?”
“It’s a big problem. Because this assistant acted on his own–”
“N-No…”
Cresson looked like he was about to faint.
“It’s your fault, caretaker. I have no choice but to take her to the Royal Treatment Institute tomorrow and use my transfer magic to perform surgery to connect the nerves. It won’t be completely restored, but it will be better than it is now.”
“P-Professor…”
In other words, he was shifting the responsibility for the situation onto the assistant, while positioning himself as the one who had recovered from it. While Cresson’s lips trembled, it was Zeno who spoke in a calm voice.
“There’s no need to worry.”
Goldrun and Cresson’s gazes turned to Zeno.
“It’s simply that the tumor was deep, so we had no choice but to cut the nerve. What’s cut can be reconnected.”
“No need… to worry…? My daughter is alright, Professor?”
Lord Fennel, behind the door, sounded like he was about to enter the room.
Zeno narrowed his eyes and looked at Goldrun.
“Yes, there’s no need to worry. This kind of injury is nothing major. It’s not something that needs to be redone at the Royal Treatment Institute.”
“…What did you say?”
“This girl said she wanted to dance again, and she endured her fear and entrusted herself to us. As healers, we must respond to that trust. Isn’t that right, Professor?”
Gazing at the photographs of a dance party displayed in the room, Zeno said.
“Now, I’m tired of standing for so long, so let’s finish this.”
Zeno used the scalpel he had created in his hand to quickly cut away the tiny tumors that Cresson had left behind.
He held his hand over the severed nerve and skin and chanted a recovery spell, and a white light enveloped Charlotte’s entire face.
“W-What–!”
Listening to Goldrun’s groan, Zeno gently whispered to the sleeping girl.
“You did well. The surgery is over successfully.”
“Huh.”
Charlotte sat up in bed thirty minutes later.
Her father stood before her, his face looking like he was about to cry.
“Charlotte!”
Pushing her father away as he tried to hug her, Charlotte said.
“Papa, the mirror!”
She hurriedly checked her face with a hand mirror.
“This is…–”
From any angle, it was her face before the tumor had developed.
Not even a slight scar remained.
“…I’m so glad.”
Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes from relief and joy.
“I’m so glad. I’m so glad. I’m so glad…”
Lord Fennel, also teary-eyed, gently placed his hand on his daughter’s shoulder.
“I’m truly glad. It seems there was a small mishap, but it turned out alright. Professor Goldrun healed you perfectly.”
“Y-Yes… Where’s the Professor?”
“He seems to be busy with preparations for the upcoming director election, so I didn’t want to keep him. Of course, I intend to fully support him in the election. He’s not only my benefactor, but my daughter’s as well.”
“Y-Yes, you’re right…”
Even as she answered, Charlotte felt a sense of unease that she couldn’t quite place.
However, she couldn’t identify what it was.
–You did well. The surgery is over successfully.
But the voice that faintly lingered in her ear, she was sure, did not belong to Professor Goldrun.
“Hey, Papa. What’s his name?”
“His name?”
“You know, the one with the black mask.”
“Ah, he said he was the Professor’s second assistant. Is something the matter with him?”
“N-No, it’s nothing.”
“Then let’s ask the butler I sent to pick them up.”
The summoned butler bowed politely and answered.
“I believe his name was Zeno, Milady.”
“Hmm…”
Charlotte went out onto the balcony.
The sky beyond the birdcage was a clear, brilliant blue, and it felt as if she could fly away at any moment.
Looking up at the clear, azure sky, Charlotte murmured his name.
“Zeno…”
A/N: The author has made some revisions to this chapter and reposted it. The main storyline remains the same, but I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause to those who have already read it… m(_ _)m