Monitares Flowers and Sap 3
After taking a short stroll in the garden, we decided to return to our
room, but an unfamiliar carriage was parked at the entrance.
Wondering what was going on at this hour, I passed by the carriage and
entered the entrance hall, where a young man in a white coat and Blake-san
were talking with serious faces. Next to them, Gray-san, red-faced, was
gulping down the water he had been handed.
「Ashren-sama, Layla-san, perfect timing.
Actually, it seems about ten emergency patients with unexplained high fevers
have been brought to the town's clinic. They suspect an infectious disease, but
according to the doctor, they have no idea what disease corresponds to the symptoms.
Please lend us your knowledge.」
「We are not doctors, but we will cooperate with whatever we can. So,
what are the symptoms? Also, who is examining the patients right now?」
The doctor Ashren-sama spoke to was in his late twenties. Having
seemingly rushed over still wearing his white coat, he explained while slightly
flustered.
「My master and senior apprentice are examining the patients. As for the
symptoms, there is a sudden high fever exceeding forty degrees, and several of
them have broken out in purple rashes.」
「What are the ages and genders of the patients, and were they all
brought in at once?」
「Their ages range from a ten-year-old girl to a seventy-year-old man;
truly men and women of all ages. The girl was brought in first, then the old
man, and so on one after another. It seems all of them attended the girl's
birthday party held tonight.」
When he had spoken that far, Gray-san interjected with an
"Excuse me." His red face was apparently because he had drunk
heavily, and the smell of alcohol was strong.
「An acquaintance's birthday party was held, and everyone was eating and
drinking. Finally, we ate apple pie, and a while later, the girl who was the
guest of honor developed a fever. At first, everyone thought she had just
gotten too excited, but eventually, several adults also started saying they
felt sick... Actually, I drank too much alcohol early on and went to sleep
right away, so this is all hearsay. Since the symptoms were getting heavier as
time passed, they decided it would be best to go to the clinic.」
From the story, food poisoning is the most likely culprit, but that
doesn't cause purple rashes. When asked if there were other symptoms, it seems
several people are vomiting and having diarrhea.
「The biggest clue is the purple rash. As far as I know, it is something
rare.」
「Yeah, I feel like I've read about it in some literature... but it
wasn't a book from the Kanista Kingdom.」
As Ashren-sama crossed his arms and pondered, the front yard
suddenly became noisy. "Carry him slowly," "Hurry," several
men's panicked voices approached, and the front door was roughly thrown open.
「...Prince Elliot?」
There was Prince Elliot, being carried on the back of a
well-built knight. Completely different from when we were talking just earlier,
his whole body was limp and his breathing was rough.
「A-Actually. Prince Elliot suddenly collapsed, and his fever is
very high. Please call a doctor.」
「I am a doctor. Um, for now, please lay him down somewhere.」
The doctor looked around the entrance hall and pointed to a bench
placed at the edge. The guards carefully lowered Prince Elliot, and Blake-san
ordered the servants to bring things to cool his body.
「T-This is... The same symptoms as the patients brought to the clinic!」
When the doctor rolled up Prince Elliot's sleeve to take his
pulse, several purple rashes had formed on his tanned skin. As I blinked, one
more, then another one appeared.
「Ashren-sama, do you have any idea what these
symptoms might be?」
「One. But Prince Elliot should know more about it than I do.」
Saying so, Ashren-sama switched places with the doctor and
lifted Prince Elliot's arm with the rashes so that he could see it too.
「Prince Elliot, please look. These rashes, the fever, and people
with vomiting and diarrhea have also been brought to the nearby clinic. Do you
have any idea what the name of this disease is?」
「Surely not... However, that is... an endemic disease of our country.
This is the Kanista Kingdom... right?」
「So it is true. This is called Bareinurake disease, an endemic
disease that breaks out once every dozen years or so in the Tarteria Kingdom.」
Hearing the name Bareinurake disease, I remembered what I had
once read in a book. If I recall correctly, the main symptoms are fever and
purple rashes all over the body. The incubation period is from a few hours to
half a day, and it can lead to death within a day of onset, with a fatality
rate of about twenty percent.
Like other diseases, the fatality rate for children and the elderly is
higher than for young people with stamina, and in some cases, aftereffects such
as numbness in the limbs remain.
Because it is a disease that ravages only the Tarteria Kingdom
once every few decades, and patients with the same symptoms do not appear in
other countries, research on it has not progressed much. It might not be a good
way to think, but it is somewhat inevitable that research on diseases prevalent
in one's own country gets prioritized.
「...I apologize for my ignorance despite being a doctor, but is Bareinurake
disease airborne?」
「No, the literature I read did not mention such a thing.」
Prince Elliot also nodded weakly. The guard knights were just
pacing back and forth, seemingly having no idea how to deal with this disease.
「I have fever reducers on hand, but what should we do?」
When we told him that we worked at the castle's medicinal herb
laboratory and mentioned Ashren-sama's status, the doctor was surprised
and bowed his head.
「I apologize, I did not know you were such incredible people. The fever
reducer cannot cure the disease, but it should alleviate the patients'
suffering somewhat.」
As the guard knights carried Prince Elliot to the bedroom, we
instructed the doctor to remain and treat him. Blake-san wrote a letter
to inform the clinic of this, I prepared the fever reducers, and Ashren-sama
decided to hear a more detailed story from Gray.
Having busily done what we each needed to do, as we waited in the
dining room with Gray, about thirty minutes later, Ashren-sama
and Blake-san arrived holding a thick book.
We sat on the sofa, while Gray, who hesitated to take a seat,
just shrunk his body and stood next to the door.
「First, let me tell you what I heard from Gray. As for the people
infected with Bareinurake disease, it seems everyone except Gray
ate apple pie. The other dishes were served on large platters, so it's unknown
who ate what, but it's certain that only Gray, who got drunk and slept,
didn't eat the dessert after the meal.」
「Apple pie?」
「Gray's wife brought it; apparently, after
boiling down the apples and sugar, she added the sap of the Monitares tree.」
Eh, looking at Gray, he made his body
shrink even further.
「P-Prince Elliot was eating it looking so delicious, and when I
asked the guard knights, they told me it's common in the Tarteria Kingdom
to add Monitares sap to apple pie...」
It seems he asked his wife to make it as a trial.
Seeing Prince Elliot eating it so deliciously, I think it can't
be helped that he thought it would be fine to eat.
Eh, does that mean the cause is the Monitares sap? But that is supposed to be something eaten normally in the Tarteria
Kingdom. How does that relate to the Bareinurake disease that breaks
out once every few decades...
「Is it the temperature?」
「Exactly. Plants can become toxic depending on the temperature. Blake's
ancestor, who studied abroad in the Tarteria Kingdom, was also a
collector of various materials, and when we went to the library, we found
literature regarding the weather of the Tarteria Kingdom.」
Prompted by Ashren-sama's words, Blake-san opened the
book to where he had placed a bookmark. There was a graph recording the highest
and lowest temperatures for each month of the year.
「Once every few decades, there is a year where the average winter
temperature drops sharply. Having said that, it is about the same temperature
as winter in the Kanista Kingdom.」
I wonder if it drops below five degrees. In the Jilgista Kingdom,
it's not uncommon for winters to go below freezing, so it's a temperature I
would consider warm, though.
「It seems it's under investigation, including air currents and ocean
currents, and the cause is unknown. However, the Bareinurake disease
breaks out in those years. Layla, what is your hypothesis?」
Ashren-sama opened another book. It recorded
the years the Bareinurake disease broke out, and the number and ages of
the people who died.
「...Let's see. The harvesting of Monitares sap is done from spring to
early summer. Does it mean that if the winter temperatures a few months prior
are low, the sap becomes toxic? To add to that, although the lowest
temperatures vary by year, the temperatures from spring onward are the same
every year, so the winter temperatures are not related to the conditions for
the Monitares flowers to bloom.」
Whether the flowers bloom or not seems to be determined solely by the
early summer temperatures. On the graph, the early summer temperature in the Tarteria
Kingdom already exceeds forty degrees. By the way, in the Hadren
territory, it is twenty to twenty-five degrees, which is the midsummer
temperature in the Jilgista Kingdom. I belatedly realized that wearing
long sleeves should be hot.
「...I didn't even think about the flowers, as expected of you. Then, I
searched for literature stating that the quality of the sap changes depending
on the temperature, but it hadn't been researched from a pharmacological
perspective.」
When I tilted my head at the suggestive way of speaking, Ashren-sama
looked at Gray.
「I-I eavesdropped on the knights talking. They said that if the winter
is cold, the sap becomes highly sticky. Apparently, they've heard their mothers
complain, "It was cold this year, so the sap is sticky and hard to use in
cooking." The sap I collected is apparently quite sticky.」
I knew Gray was near the knights in the botanical garden, but to
think he had overheard such a conversation. Seeing Prince Elliot eating
the Monitares sap so deliciously might have piqued his interest.
「Although the viscosity of the sap changes proportionally with the
temperature, the boundary line of how sticky it has to get to become toxic is
unknown. However, it will serve as a rough guide.」
Perhaps feeling responsible, Gray's tightly clenched fists had
turned white. Unable to just watch, I stood up from my seat.
「Please open your hands. You will injure your palms with your nails.」
「I, I've done... something terrible... Even though Blake-sama
told me so strongly not to eat it. M-My wife was against it. But I wanted to
brag that I was involved with such a delicious thing... and because of that, my
wife too...」
「You are bleeding. Let's apply some ointment.」
Gray just kept shaking his head, saying 'No,
no.' Somewhat forcefully sitting him down on the sofa, I applied ointment and
wrapped bandages around his hands. While I was doing that, it was decided that Blake-san
would go to tell the doctor at the clinic what we had found out, and would drop
Gray-san off by carriage on the way.
Although this mansion is currently used as a villa, it seems plant
research was once conducted here, and thanks to that, medicinal herbs
apparently grow in the backyard as well.
When I asked about the types, there were medicinal herbs that serve as
ingredients for fever reducers, so Ashren-sama and I decided to use them
to make medicine.
The location is the room we used for perfume making; various
experimental tools are still left out there, and unused beakers and such are
placed in the corner of the room.
「Ashren-sama, I am also concerned about Prince Elliot's
condition.」
「Understood. In that case, I will go gather the medicinal herbs, so
let's meet up in the room.」
Parting ways in the entrance hall on the first floor, I went up the
stairs and headed to the third floor. When I asked the doctor about his
condition at the entrance of the room, his fever was still high, but it
apparently hadn't gone up any further. Whether that is thanks to the fever
reducer or not is unknown, but right now, symptomatic treatment is the only
thing we can do.
I told the doctor that Blake-san had gone to the clinic, and asked him to inform me or Ashren-sama on the second floor if anything happened. The doctor turned pale, saying, "I only came to report to Blake-san, so having to examine royalty is too heavy a responsibility," so I encouraged him, telling him not to worry because we would take responsibility if it came down to it. It's terrible that he got caught up in this, but since neither Ashren-sama nor I are doctors, we have no choice but to have him do his best.
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