Chapter 439 - Episode 422: Honor
"How could you, why, Sensei!"
"This is absurd!"
"I can't accept this! Why only you, Sensei!"
After receiving Selfers' explanation regarding the measures to be taken, Liris and the other disciples spoke up immediately. These were emotional retorts that could hardly be called counterarguments.
To house all infected persons in the clinic. That was understandable. Though it carried risks, Liris and the young doctors—who had been taught Selfers' knowledge and wisdom without reservation—also thought it was an effective means of breaking the current deadlock.
However, why was it that only Selfers would remain at the clinic to look after the infected, while they were assigned to work outside the clinic? For a doctor to be shut out of the medical site was equivalent to a soldier being driven from the battlefield. To Liris and the others, it was a humiliation.
"If someone is to stay, it should be us youths, not you, Sensei, who are advanced in years!"
"Precisely because I am old, I am the one who will remain at the clinic."
At Selfers' quiet words, Liris and the others fell silent.
Their master, Selfers, had never once raised his voice at his disciples, Liris and the others. He simply spoke quietly, conveying everything to them through the thoughtfulness imbued in his voice.
Faced with this tone of his, Liris and the others could no longer raise their voices to argue.
"You are all excellent. That is why, in truth, you already understand. What we are about to do is not something as noble as treatment. It is mere isolation. For the isolated infected, there is no treatment to be administered other than having them drink the magic potion... To remain in a clinic housing all the infected is, in extreme terms, a role anyone could perform. However, as long as magic potions are being handled, it is impossible for no doctor to remain at the clinic."
Furthermore, considering the emotions of the subjects, the doctors could not all flee from the clinic.
If the infected were locked in the clinic without a doctor, the people would view it as the sovereign Noein Arqvist and the doctors of this country having abandoned them. Even if there were few treatments available, having one of the doctors remain at the clinic would allow them to maintain the people's support for Noein and the physicians.
Even if it seemed meaningless, such considerations were important. At times, they were enough to determine the survival of a nation.
"Someone must remain. That is why, rather than you who have a future, I, whose days are few, shall remain."
"...! To put it like that...!"
It sounded like the words of someone heading to their death. Feeling this, Liris choked up, tears welling in her eyes.
To her, Selfers gave a gentle smile.
"Liris. I still remember. I remember it often. The day when you, still a child, told me you wanted to become a doctor, sparked by my lessons at school. I was truly happy then. My happy twilight years in this land began in a true sense from that day."
Selfers' gaze turned toward all the young doctors.
"Including those who are not here due to recuperation, you are all excellent. You are disciples I can be proud of. I have no children of my own, but to me, you are all like my own children. That is why, as your teacher—and as a fellow doctor—please, let me act the part of the hero. To fulfill the mission of staying by the patients' side as a doctor, while protecting the young physicians who carry the future of this country... this is an honor for me... You all understand, don't you?"
Liris and the others wept, yet they did not reject Selfers' will.
.....
A few days after Selfers' decision, all those infected with Herzgenheim disease within the Archduchy of Arqvist were gathered at the Archducal Noeina Clinic.
The clinic's original capacity was about thirty people, but now simple beds were lined up throughout the facility, housing over eighty people. All of them had already been given the magic potion, and some who had been mildly ill were showing recovery to the point of being able to move.
While it could hardly be called comfortable, the clinic had reached a state that was at least not inhumane, and its lockdown was now about to take place.
"Now then, Your Grace Archduke Arqvist, by the authority of the Director of the Archducal Noeina Clinic, I hereby lock down this clinic. From this point forward, the entry and exit of people is forbidden until all infected have either recovered or passed away."
Selfers spoke after maintaining a sufficient distance from Noein, who had come to witness the lockdown.
For the next several weeks, he would be shut in the clinic with the infected. Necessary supplies such as food and water would be delivered to the front of the clinic, but all direct contact between the inside and outside of the clinic would be severed.
They would be released from the lockdown and step outside the clinic only after the infection had subsided or it was confirmed that the containment had failed.
"...Selfers-sensei. Please, stay safe."
"Thank you. I shall fulfill my mission as a doctor with all my might."
This might be the last opportunity to exchange words with Selfers. As Noein spoke while thinking this, Selfers answered quietly.
"And Bishop Hasel... I pray that God's protection be with you."
"I am grateful, Your Grace Arqvist. Following the teachings of God, as one who serves Him, I intend to fulfill my mission."
The one who answered, standing beside Selfers, was Bishop Hasel.
When he heard of this lockdown, Bishop Hasel, as the representative of the Milleon Holy Religion Missionary Society in this land, offered to enter the clinic with Selfers and look after the infected.
Noein, as the sovereign, and Selfers, as a doctor, had tried to reject Bishop Hasel's offer, but he pleaded as a member of the clergy. As one who had chosen a life of serving society in accordance with God's teachings.
Bishop Hasel stated that just as Selfers had chosen to enter the clinic without regard for his own life as a representative of the doctors, he too wished to contribute in the same manner as a representative of the clergy.
Upon hearing this, Selfers was the first to give in, and Noein, who found himself persuaded by both of them, eventually accepted Bishop Hasel's offer. When told that this choice was the form of Bishop Hasel's happy way of living, he had no choice but to accept.
"Well then, Your Grace, I shall be going."
"I shall see you after the infection has subsided."
Selfers and Bishop Hasel bowed to Noein, then lightly waved to those who had come to see them off. Selfers waved to Liris and the other disciples; Bishop Hasel waved to his wife, children, and the monks and nuns.
"...Well then, shall we go?"
"Yes. Let us fulfill our duty."
When Selfers spoke in his usual, unchangingly gentle voice, Bishop Hasel answered with a smile.
Despite being locked in a clinic full of infected people, there was not a shred of fear in their voices or expressions. Because Selfers was a seasoned doctor, and because Bishop Hasel was one who offered his entire being to God, they proceeded with composure.
Seen off by those they loved, the two disappeared beyond the clinic doors.
Watching that sight, Noein let out a deep sigh.
"I wonder if I'll regret this choice?"
To that murmur, Yuri, who had seen Selfers and the other off beside Noein, answered.
"I don't know yet... but I think if you hadn't made this choice, Noein-sama would have ended up with a much greater regret in the end."
Noein glanced at Yuri from the corner of his eye. Yuri continued while still facing forward.
"Anyone could see there was no other option. For Noein-sama, of course, but also for Selfers-sensei, Bishop Hasel, the infected and their families, and for us vassals and subjects—for everyone, this was the choice with the least amount of regret. Personally, that's what I think."
"...You're right. I feel a bit easier now. Thank you."
"I'm glad to hear it. Though all I can say right now is little more than a platitude."
At Noein's faint, bitter smile, Yuri also let out a short, breathy laugh.
No matter how it ended, this was the only way. Rather than telling himself that internally, it was somewhat more comforting to have a trusted aide put it into words.
Thinking such things, Noein left the clinic.
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[Author's Note]