第１８４０堀：医療現場の方は？ (Part1)
Chapter 1840: What About the Medical Front?
Side: Yuki
"So that’s why Agil’s report was delayed..."
I muttered this to myself while scanning the documents Rurua had handed me.
"It’s not that there are no new species in the wilderness, but the plateau is on an entirely different scale. It seems the investigation simply took that much longer. Or rather, the time was spent deciding how much to condense into the report."
"I bet. If seventy percent of what you’re seeing is completely new, just categorizing it is a monumental task, let alone analyzing the details. You seem to be focusing primarily on plateau medicinal herbs, though. So, what’s the verdict, Rurua? Even looking at the ingredient list in the report, I can’t make heads or tails of it."
I’ve studied a fair bit, but I haven’t mastered every single component unique to this world. Honestly, I leave that kind of nomenclature to experts like Rurua and Agil. It’s all Greek to me.
"We are just as puzzled, honestly. We don’t know how a difference of a few percentage points in composition might affect the medicine, nor do we know if there are medicinal properties or effects we haven’t yet discovered. You understand this as well, don't you, Rushi?"
"Yes. Yuki-sama, that is precisely why I am requesting permission to conduct clinical trials using the plateau herbs."
Ah, I see. So they want the green light to test the medicines they’ve developed. That’s only natural.
"I’ve left all matters regarding treatment and medicine for the plateau—and the south, the New Continent—entirely in Rushi’s hands. She consulted me, and I’ve simply accompanied her here. As for Agil..."
"Oh, don't worry about her. She isn't a doctor or a healing mage; she’s a researcher. If it were her, she’d be asking for test subjects—guinea pigs, really. Right now, she’s likely throwing everything she has into the discovery and analysis of new species, isn't she?"
"Exactly. She has already sorted through the plant life, focusing on the medicinal herbs, and left the rest to us. Though, given that this concerns medical care, I suppose that is only to be expected."
Agil has a knack for delegating work in these areas. While she could certainly secure permission herself, it’s better for Rurua and Rushi to handle the potion-related negotiations. They are the specialists, so Agil’s judgment was spot on.
"True. Regarding the plateau herbs, Taiki and Holy are currently focusing on the habitats and environmental factors, gathering the data needed for cultivation. Medicinal herb farming, huh... What’s your take on that, Rurua?"
"To be frank, I think it will be difficult unless we use dungeon skills to grow them. They are unique herbs that only thrive on the plateau."
"Well, that’s not a doctor’s job. That falls to researchers or professionals like Kaya and Faide. So, what about the efficacy of the herbs you want to use for the trials? You can tell the effects through Appraisal, right?"
"It is, for all intents and purposes, a standard potion. Here it is."
Rurua held up a small vial of liquid, the kind I see all the time. We rely more on healing magic than potions, so I don't encounter them often, but this is the standard for the general public. A signature trait of Weed is that we’ve refined the formula, reducing the volume from 200ml to 100ml. In games, you can carry an infinite number of items, but in reality, each one weighs 200 grams. That means five of them weigh a full kilogram. Healing items aren't something you can just ignore. Halving the weight while maintaining the same efficacy is a massive improvement.
But putting that aside, I looked at the potion made from the plateau herbs.
"Yeah. To my eyes, it looks like a normal potion."
Even with Appraisal, the display shows nothing different from a standard recovery agent. Perhaps because Rurua and Rushi handled the refinement, the quality is top-tier. Generally, top-tier medicine is said to be five times as effective. Since this is approaching the potency of a High Potion, it’s the type of thing that causes headaches in the market. Medicines are useful precisely because their performance is stable; if the performance fluctuates, they become a nightmare to use—both for the seller and the buyer. And if you’re wondering if the price is five times higher, it’s not that simple; scarcity can drive the price up or down. It’s a real hassle.
But again, that’s not the point. The point is this plateau herb potion.
"Yes. It is definitely a potion for restoring stamina and healing wounds. However, as noted in the report I gave you, there are unfamiliar components present. We’ve given them names for the sake of convenience."
"Ah, the ones you underlined in red at the bottom?"
Sure enough, there were three spots on the ingredient list highlighted with red lines.
"We don’t fully understand these components yet, and refining them into a potion didn't cause any changes in the medicine’s properties. That is why we want to extract them and experiment further. I would like your permission for that as well."
"You won't know until you try, I suppose. I’ll grant permission for the research, but no animal testing—including humans—is allowed yet. You’ll need to appraise the results and report back to me first."
"I understand. We wouldn't dream of suddenly administering unknown components to people."
Good. I trust Rurua on this. Agil, on the other hand, would likely find some wild monster and start injecting it with things just to gather data. If she discovered some bio-hazard fungus and started testing it on animals without a second thought, that would be completely unacceptable. In a place like the plateau, with its unique environment and abundance of new species, that’s not an impossible scenario.
...Wait. Do I need to warn her?
"Yuki-sama, was there something difficult to understand in the report?"
"No, I was just thinking that even if I warn you, Rurua, I need to give Agil a stern warning not to go injecting plants and animals with these components on her own. If she’s not careful, she might end up creating some bizarre monster."
"Ahaha... I cannot deny that possibility."
"Oh, my..."
It seems Rurua and Rushi share my mental image of Agil; neither of them could offer a word of denial.
"Well, the fact that Agil is so obsessed with the place just goes to show how interesting the plateau is. In that sense, I think we secured a good piece of land."
"I agree. New medicinal properties might be discovered, perhaps even a cure for incurable diseases."
Right. That’s the same expectation people have for the unexplored regions of Earth. It’s no surprise the same hope is placed here. After all, we have magic. As it stands, most things that can’t be healed by restoration magic are dismissed as demonic curses. Since stamina and physical wounds can be healed so easily, illnesses are often treated the same way. Because of that, knowledge of disease in this world of Aulrit is sparse, and when I first arrived, even the concept of hygiene was faint. It was more of a "feel-good" thing, like, "let's clean up because it's nice."
For me, Taiki, Taizo-san, and Souta-san, that was unbearable. Oh, and Menou was there too. Since then, we’ve enforced strict hygiene management, which has drastically lowered the incidence of disease. In the end, the numbers don't lie.