Smiling brightly. Darius’s face finally softened at the sight of Anette’s radiant smile.

‘I let my guard down. How could I have known a spirit could take the form of a human man?’

The Wind Spirit King Sylphid. When Darius saw that blue-haired handsome man with Anette, what he felt was hostility and intense jealousy.

To think that the wind spirit always accompanying Anette was not the Siberian husky-like sylph, but Sylphid watching over her.

Moreover, Sylphid’s true form was an enchanting handsome man that any woman would fall for.

However, he couldn’t bring himself to honestly express such feelings to Anette.

He should be congratulating his wife for gaining remarkable power, but to be a narrow-minded husband jealous over a male spirit?

Darius himself knew, as a swordsman, how important it was to pursue strength as a goal.

So even as he watched Sylphid conversing casually with Anette, he only expressed anger at the rudeness, unable to reveal his true feelings in front of Anette.

‘Goodness, was His Grace the Duke such a narrow-minded man who couldn’t even understand my spirit?’

Our Sylphid doesn’t even eat food.

The thought of Anette looking at him with disappointed eyes made him dizzy.

‘Even if Sylphid is Anette’s spirit, I’m the one who spends more time with her.’

After all, it’s just a spirit, not even a living being.

‘I just need to become a more charming husband so that Anette won’t budge an inch.’

Right now, he was the husband who went sightseeing outside the castle with Anette, dined with her, and slept with her at night.

Watching Anette counting down the days eagerly, Darius quietly made up his mind.

* * *

Physician Schmidt. The traveler in a hood dismounted upon seeing the modest sign.

The owner of the shimmering blonde hair visible under the hood was none other than Rose.

“Doctor, oh my. My legs hurt so much. Give me some medicine.”

“Hahaha, you already took medicine earlier. I’ll bring you a hot compress, so please wait.”

‘It’s not a large clinic, but the patients seem highly satisfied.’

Rose swept her gaze over the ward with a keen observation belying her age.

“What brings you here today? Ah, would you mind washing your hands and feet before entering the clinic?”

“Wash my hands and feet?”

This was a rare physician who cared about cleanliness.

Though this was exactly the kind of doctor she had been looking for, Rose deliberately feigned surprise and asked.

“Illnesses enter from outside the body. So when entering a house, one must wipe away the harmful energies from outside.”

“What seems to be troubling you, patient?”

“My body feels stiff and tired. I suppose it’s from riding a horse for several days.”

The doctor listened carefully to Rose’s words, then examined her nails and eyes. After thoroughly checking even the whites of Rose’s eyes with a blue tinge, Doctor Schmidt said:

“It doesn’t seem like you need any special treatment. You appear to be tired, so I’ll give you our clinic’s basic prescription.”

The doctor opened the lid of a large jar and ladled out a bowl of water, bringing it to Rose.

Gulp gulp. A salty and sweet taste. And besides that, an ordinary bowl of water with no special flavor.

‘This is…!’

Even in her feverish, hazy memory, she remembered the bland water going down her throat.

It was definitely saltier and sweeter than the water she drank back then.

“…Are you trying to fool me? I came for treatment, and all I get is a bowl of water? You’re going to charge me for this?”

“Haha, since the ingredients don’t cost much, you can leave without paying if you’d like. As you said, it’s just water with salt and sugar added.”

The middle-aged doctor scratched his head sheepishly.

“But you’re currently lacking fluids in your body from riding a horse and sweating, so drinking this is the best treatment.”

“That’s absurd! I won’t be dehydrated just from sweating a little!”

“No, listen. It’s a fact many people don’t believe, but what is sweat? Isn’t it water flowing from the body? So it makes sense to replenish the amount you’ve lost… Patient?”

Rose abruptly stood up and stared intently at Schmidt.

Schmidt gulped nervously at the extraordinary aura emanating from her small frame.

The water-giving clinic.

To some people, Schmidt’s clinic was known as a waste of money.

When patients came to the hospital, instead of concocting strong medicines or performing flashy medical procedures visible to the eye, Schmidt’s approach of slowly examining the patient’s basic condition from the start didn’t sit well with impatient patients or guardians.

“When entering the hospital, you wash hands and feet thoroughly, and the first treatment isn’t bloodletting but giving water?”

“Well, if I were to summarize, that would be correct.”

“The surgical tools. Surely you don’t boil the surgical tools too?”

“I-I’m sorry for boiling them!”

“This is exactly the kind of talent I was looking for!”

Rose firmly grasped Schmidt’s hand.

“I’ve found it, the talent my lady was searching for!”

“Wh-what?!”

Schmidt could only look bewildered and flustered.

* * *

Inkhart Castle. The Duke’s main chamber.

The place where the Duke usually held meetings with his vassals or listened to the concerns of his subjects was now swarming with doctors.

“Bloodletting! Bloodletting is the pinnacle of medical technology in this era! All diseases are caused by blood, so if you purify the blood, the disease will be cured!”

“That’s why we’re hiring a new doctor, because that bloodletting almost killed someone!”

“You were surprised by the doctor using a razor blade? Of course you were surprised! Proper bloodletting requires leeches!”

Wriggle wriggle.

One doctor excitedly pulled a leech out of a tank and held it up to my face.

The well-cared-for leech was showing off its plump figure. It was glistening.

“Aaaagh!”

“My lady, please look at this little one! With this tiny body, it sucks the patient’s blood so well!”

“I understand, so put that away right now!”

After it became widely known that the court physician Owen had left Inkhart Castle after arguing with me, the Duke’s wife, over Rose’s prescription.

Inkhart Castle was constantly visited by doctors aiming for the vacant position of court physician.

“Hmph, bloodletting! I can’t believe such a crazy method that kills people through excessive bleeding is certified by medical schools!”

Quack 2… no, another renowned doctor who had properly graduated from the capital’s medical school, thrust a basin in front of me.

“When I heard the news that you had driven out that quack Owen who had wasted precious lives with bloodletting, I knew that justice had finally prevailed!”

The basin was full of sloshing water. Pure, clear water with nothing else added.

“That’s right, and your follow-up! Correct, what a patient needs above all is water. It’s absurd to take blood from a patient who needs to replenish fluids!”

It sounds right, but there was another reason I called this man a quack.

“Water! Water knows everything! If you always keep water close, you’ll never fall ill!”

Quack 2 advised me that an effective treatment for patients was to install basins at the four corners of the bed and always keep them immersed in water.

For reference, mosquito larvae live in water. The chance of contracting an epidemic disease due to mosquitoes would be higher than any humidifying effect.

What nonsense about water knowing the answers?

“Plump leeches!”

“If you drink twenty glasses of water a day, you need not fear any disease! Always keep water close! Water, water, water!”

You’ll die from a burst stomach drinking all that water!

Who on earth gave these guys medical school degrees! Why bother asking, that person is probably a quack too!

‘Aaagh, medieval medicine is killing people!’

“Haha. Let’s all calm down. You’re scaring the Duke’s wife.”

The third doctor, who had been sitting relatively quietly, spoke up discreetly.

“What’s this? You’re not even a talented graduate of the capital’s medical school like us?”

“I may not have graduated from medical school, but I have plenty of experience caring for patients. Moreover, I’ve saved all the patients I’ve cared for.”

“Ha, you look like a quack at first glance.”

A quack insulting another quack. People in the same business usually dislike their competitors.

“Actually, I’m not a doctor like you two. Doctors and us are in different fields, so we don’t understand each other.”

The third doctor, or rather medical personnel, was someone who came recommended by the knighthood. A so-called healer who uses healing power.

Healers were rare. Not many people were born with healing power, and even those who were born with it lacked mentors to guide them. As a result, the injuries healers could treat were limited to minor external wounds.

‘I’ve heard that some genius healers can save people on the verge of death right on the spot, but such people are only in the royal palace, and we… are poor.’

Sob sob.

Healers who could perform miracles by healing people on the spot without side effects, but were rare in number. Medicine that anyone could learn without special abilities.

Each had its pros and cons, and most territories, due to circumstances, only kept doctors.

“Sir Dwain of the knighthood was completely cured after receiving my treatment. My secret lies in not touching the patient’s wounds.”

‘Is it a method to minimize wound infection?’

If the idea is to prevent secondary infection, it’s quite sensible for someone of this era.

As expected of a talent recommended by knights who risk their lives…

“It’s treating not the patient’s wound, but the object that injured the patient.”

You crazy fool, what?