Chapter 22 (1/2)
Faerieeee again. Here is the next Chapter of Heibon! Without further ado, please enjoy
TL: LynneSuzuran
Editor: Planes
Healer Leone 3
It has been 35 years since Rou was taken to the country of the heavens.
I have continued to be a healer even now. Ever since that small village disappeared, My hair that Rou would say was the amber color of dandelions, has grown white.
When ones hair grows long, one must walk a new life.
However, it is not possible for me to move on…
…because Rou is always there next to me.
When I close my eyes, I can feel his gentle presence beside me, watching over me. This is my reality.
That is why I did not need an escort. In exchange, I needed to protect myself. I had specialized in only healing magic until now, and relied on Rou to protect me.
I had said before that general and offensive magic was of no use to me, but I could not claim that any longer. I made effort to practice my self-defense arts and magic. In this way, I have gained the strength to protect myself without an escort.
Ironically, the most powerful magic I could perform was fire magic.
When chanting flame magic, there was no need for me to imagine fire. I would just summon the memory of that small village swallowed by scorching flames.
I have been researching a way to cure miasma on my journeys. I have run around Sherfield Kingdom, and sometimes to my mother's hometown, Elphilia Kingdom. However, I cannot fight the aging process. Since 10 years ago, I have based my adventures in the territory of Oliviria.
Initially, the feudal lord's house was in disarray and public order was poor. Since the replacement of the feudal lord with a new one, this had improved enough that the population of the fief are smiling again.
Around that time, the Countess of Oliviria became pregnant. This was when I first met the girl who would change my destiny. The young girl, Liliana La Oliviria, the count's daughter. She was one of the children that I delivered eight years ago.
Even though 8 years have pa.s.sed, I still have not forgotten a single moment from that day.
The infant Miss Liliana was born into the world with difficulty breathing, and when she finally took a breath, we all cried tears of joy.
Congratulations on being born to this world.
Everyone here gave you their blessings.
At that moment, stars fell from the sky.
This must be what people call 'The Jewelbox having been turned upside down.'
Everyone held their breath at the amazing spectacle, as if it was a kind of divine revelation.
That was 8 years ago.
In other words, she is now 8 years old.
The young miss Liliana grew wiser than her age. One wouldn't think of her as an eight year old.
When I was eight, the most I did was run through the hills with Rou. Are all n.o.ble children like this?
No, that cannot be.
All the rumours that have been pa.s.sed along to me of n.o.bles are atrocious. Is it because they are allowed to act however they please for being blood descendants of the country's founders?
Being by Young Miss Liliana's side is very comfortable. I am able to see many things I never dreamed of seeing. Again and again, I witness new discoveries; much like the light at the end of a long tunnel. (1)
TLC Note: An idiom, meaning ‘to come to realisation’ or ‘to see the light’.
A bit off, I believe the origin of the phrase was from the Christian Bible’s New Testament, in which Ananias cured Saul (or Paul)’s blindness. And it looked as if something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes when he was cured.
Young Miss Liliana tends to try many things on her mother, the Madame. At first, it would be various small things that I wouldn't notice. For example, at first, she would act charmingly and talk in a carefree att.i.tude to unborn siblings, calling it prenatal care. She would then explain the effects, honestly, I think she is a precocious and interesting young miss.
Soon, however, young miss Liliana's conduct slowly grew more extreme. I lost my temper when she took the pregnant Madame for a walk outside after being given the prognosis of complete bedrest. I scolded the young miss Liliana harshly. If she was a normal child, such a scolding and frightful angry look of an adult would have brought about silent sobs.
Miss Liliana, however, is different.
Yes, instead, she flared back with anger herself.
I was startled by that reaction. It only added fuel to my ire, and the result was Madame chiding both of us. If I think about it in hindsight, I was being surprisingly childish.
It was at that moment that I had realized that young miss Liliana's arguments cannot be taken as those of a child's, but of a person of equal standing. No normal childish tricks would deceive her cunning.
From that day onward, young miss Liliana began displaying knowledge of things I had never seen nor heard without reservation.
”Since Leone-san is mother's healer, I thought that I should inform you what kind of things I am doing to my mother.”
”Young miss Liliana, are you telling me that there are other things that you've been doing without my knowledge?” I unintentionally knit my forehead.
”Medical diet and nutrients, do you know those terms?” looking up at me timidly, young miss Liliana asks.
Am I really that scary? She should know that I won't do anything, yet she is afraid.
”No, it's my first time hearing those terms.”
Hearing this, young miss Liliana mutters ”as I thought.”
“Uhm… the explanation is a bit complicated but, for living beings to preserve their life, to do activities, they need to intake certain substances from outside their bodies. Those substances are called nutrients. Normally we get nutrients from food. Furthermore, there are various components of nutrients, and each component has their own special characteristics. Those components' special characteristics also vary in different foods.”
That food are nutrients, and that nutrients have components…
That eating is important for living beings so that they can live, even children know that. That is part of the survival instincts of living beings. Has someone ever studied it so deeply though? Nutrients? Special characteristics?
I have never heard of these before now.
Young miss Liliana continues to explain them further.
“If humans can balance the nutrients intake, they can maintain their health. Right now, for Okaa-sama's sake, I am preparing her meals considering nutrient intake. That is why I am preparing fruits, vegetables, and legume pulses high in beta-carotene and low in sodium content for Okaa-sama.”
She was taking into consideration all of that when she made those delicious meals!?
“If you are unable to maintain the intake of nutrients and fall into nutritional imbalance, you will become malnourished and easily fall ill to various diseases. Although for those types of illnesses, when you give the food containing adequate nutrients for the patients, the healing process from that illness will go well. This type of remedy is called medical diet.”
Amazing.
Could we gain an understanding of each component of a nutrient, and still save people, even if all healers disappeared?
I was overwhelmed by young miss Liliana's knowledge.
She will become an existence that will open paths of light for the medical practices.
I mythicized the idea. I felt a premonition that this wouldn't be inaccurate either.
To be honest, I initially thought of young miss Liliana's talk as jokes, or fibs. The more I listened, however, the more I confirmed to myself that it may be valid theories.
Lies and jokes have holes in them, but there were no such holes in young miss Liliana's arguments. Where did she learn such knowledge, really? Young miss Liliana never ceases to amaze me.
The only point of contention is that she will only ever tell me that she ”heard it from someone else,” and refuses to expound further.
Her wisdom is filled with such compelling concepts that it’s not possible to coldly dispute her ideas as those of a child, and it's disappointing, but there are no methods to ascertain whether her theories are credible. Due to this, I can't easily bring myself to accept them as truth.
From that time forward, I have secretly antic.i.p.ated what reveals young miss Liliana with conject next.
As I was thinking about that, suddenly there came a tapping, as if someone was gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
Speak of the devil, and she doth appear. Well then, what wonders will she herald to me today?
“Leone-san, it's Liliana. Is it alright if I enter?”
“Go ahead.”
None other than Oliviria Count's young miss Liliana enters the room. Straight silver hair, amethyst eyes that beckon, a girl of beautifully perfect features. It could be said she belongs to the realm of the G.o.ds.
This beautiful girl is holding a long white cloth dutifully, as if it was important. I find it distressing.
That cloth, could it be…
“Young miss Liliana, that cloth in your hand, is it be bleached cotton?”
“Yes. That's right. Leone-san, I want Okaa-sama to wear this bleached cotton cloth, is that not okay?”
The young miss Liliana sweetly tilts her head to one side while holding the cloth in her hands, and waits for my response.
That gesture is just absolutely adorable, but what is the intention behind having Madam wear that piece of cloth?
“Young miss Liliana, could you explain why you intend for the Madam to wear this cloth?”
Young miss Liliana grasps the bleached cloth tightly, and proceeds to explain it with sparkling eyes.
“We fold the bleached cloth into 3 or 4 folds. Then we wrap it around the patient's iliac crest [TL NOTE: most lateral, superior point of a person's hip] to the base of their hip, such that their legs are firmly closed. If it is too tight it can be painful, so wrap it with the suitable strength you want. Additionally, during the pregnancy, the fold is located below in order to support the womb, while after the childbirth, the fold is worn above in order to help the lochia [TL NOTE: medical term of the v.a.g.i.n.al discharge after giving birth] in secreting out.”
”Just like this,” she says as she awkwardly wraps the cloth around herself.