I Proposed to My Childhood Friend After Regressing - Chapter 46

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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After Regression, I Proposed to My Childhood Friend
Chapter 46
It was material she could have simply passed over, but somehow her eyes kept returning to it.
‘Is it because there are so few noble-born patients?’
Or perhaps the condition had worsened despite treatment?
“……Hmm.”
Beatrice tapped the edge of the paper with her fingertip. She read through the text once more, her thoughts deepening with each line.
‘There’s nothing strange about the patient distribution skewing toward common residents of the territory.’
The absolute numbers of nobles and commoners were vastly different, after all, as were their circumstances.
What mattered was the rate of deterioration and recovery. Beatrice’s eyes narrowed slightly.
‘If a noble-born patient fell ill, they would have sought treatment immediately, wouldn’t they?’
And the quality of that treatment would have been incomparably superior—better food, rest, dedicated attendants. Everything differed from what common residents could access.
‘Yet even if this were some exceptionally vicious Unknown Disease affecting only a handful of people, shouldn’t at least one noble have made a full recovery?’
Or failing that, there should be at least some record of cases where the disease had stabilized.
Beatrice began searching through all the records she had gathered, including the one in her hands.
‘……Nothing? Truly nothing?’
Beatrice’s brow furrowed. This was no simple matter of probability.
It was extremely rare for any disease to leave no survivors. Even when the cause remained unknown, patients sometimes recovered by sheer chance.
And generally, such chance recovery happened more often to those with better circumstances, superior treatment, and healthier constitutions.
‘Come to think of it, the same applies to Sharon’s case.’
Of course, accidents and oversights caused by people could happen at any time.
‘But Sharon’s treatment was something Her Majesty the Empress was overseeing directly.’
Not merely showing casual interest, either.
Sharon’s treatment was a critical matter—one meant to suppress fierce opposition from the traditionalist faction and establish magic’s place in the Empire.
‘Yet she still died? Despite pouring the Empire’s finest talent and resources into it?’
Then who on earth recovered?
‘Or does anyone recover at all?’
Beatrice decided to search for records of anyone who had survived or, at the very least, showed signs of improvement.
Her fingers moved quickly across the documents. And before long, she made a most unexpected discovery.
‘Here—someone did improve.’
Though the patient ultimately appeared on the death roll, there existed a record of their condition stabilizing partway through, along with notes on the treatment method employed.
Beatrice began reading through the patient’s medical records in detail.
[Medical Record]
Patient Name: Sandra
Gender / Age: Female / 26 years old
Origin: Orbin
-First Consultation
Presented with sudden fever and vomiting during business travel
High fever, vomiting, general weakness confirmed
Suspected overlap of several Unknown Disease symptoms
Patient strongly refused extended stay due to scheduled business in the Capital. Persuasion attempted but unsuccessful. Prescribed symptomatic relief medication and discharged.
-Second Consultation (approximately X days later)
Patient returned for status check after completion of business travel
Fever reduced, vomiting and weakness improved, convulsive episodes ceased
Overall condition shows improvement
Per patient account, medication taken regularly; diet and sleep maintained stably
(*Detailed diet chart and lifestyle management guidelines recorded below)
Classified as stabilization case; clinic recommends follow-up observation. Patient consents.
Note: Family visit planned following famine relief. (Relief rations distributed: one and a half bundles of Lumen Root, half bundle of potatoes due to insufficient potato supply.)
-Third Consultation (approximately X days later)
Patient returned and admitted following family visit
Condition maintained similar to previous visit
No symptom recurrence
Continuing additional consultations while maintaining lifestyle from stabilization period. Under observation
(*Diet chart and lifestyle guidelines prepared for each consultation)
…….
-Eighth Record (Emergency)
Patient condition deteriorated sharply
Significant weight loss over short period
Vomiting recurred; general weakness prevents patient mobility
Suspected adverse reaction to tonic ingredients used at previous consultation
Intensive treatment underway with clergy
-Ninth Record (Following day)
Patient deceased
Cause of death: Unknown. Presumed due to rapid disease progression.
After reviewing all the medical records, Beatrice carefully read through the diet charts and lifestyle guidelines noted below.
The diet chart seemed unremarkable, yet one ingredient caught her eye with peculiar insistence.
“Lumen Root.”
When the patient had stabilized, Lumen Root appeared nowhere in her diet chart, but after returning to her family home and being admitted to the clinic, Lumen Root appeared nearly every day.
Given the severe famine in the Marquis Territory, this was only natural. Lumen Root wasn’t a poisonous or problematic food in itself.
‘The Imperial Court and Church conducted thorough inspections on it, so there shouldn’t be any safety concerns.’
A crop that grew well in soil corrupted by Magical Contamination, no less. The Imperial Court and Church would leap at the chance and conduct every conceivable test.
‘But why does this weigh on me so? Could there be a problem with the Lumen Root’s condition?’
A memory from the storehouse surfaced in Beatrice’s mind. More precisely, a memory of sprouting Lumen Root and…….
‘Jeremy, if you have time to pull pranks on me like this, go tell that arrogant master of yours or your stuck-up sister instead.’
The suggestive words Balloa had spoken.
‘The entity distributing relief rations varies each time, but in the Marquis Territory, His Majesty has stationed Balloa in a Church shrine and dispatched Alec, making the Church the primary distributor.’
The Grand Duke’s forces concentrated on combat support and resolving the Magical Contamination affecting the monsters.
‘……Could it truly be that the Church is the original perpetrator who turned the Marquis Territory into a Cursed Place?’
Beatrice, who had been tapping the desk with her pen, turned her head carefully and surveyed the clinic interior once more.
Clergy members stationed at the clinic could be seen rushing about tirelessly, tending to patients.
“Ahhh! Priest! If I die……!”
“Brother, please don’t speak such things. Hold on just a little longer! For your daughter waiting at home, you must endure!”
“Arrrgh!”
It was a sight she had witnessed every day for weeks now.
‘An alchemist’s five fundamental virtues: to suspect, to observe, to repeat, to analyze, and to recreate.’
Beatrice suspected the Church based on the documents and information before her, yet she also trusted what she had personally observed in these people.
So the path forward was clear.
She would study the Lumen Root that had sparked her suspicion today and search for any connections.
‘……First, I should examine the condition of the Lumen Root in the storehouse.’
Having decided what to do, Beatrice moved swiftly toward the storehouse door and opened it. There she encountered an unexpected person.
“Oh! Miss Kruger! Do you have business in the storehouse?”
“Jeremy, you were here?”
Jeremy.
The Volunteer Group’s deputy leader, the priest who had received words bordering on threats from Balloa, and the person who had shown Beatrice the most attentive care during her time at the clinic.
Beatrice greeted Jeremy with a bright smile, absently adjusting her glasses as she spoke.
“No, nothing pressing, really. I just thought the priests looked so busy with the relief distribution that I wanted to help move some supplies. And while I’m at it, I thought I’d check on the condition of the potatoes and Lumen Root.”
“Ha! I see! Truly, you’re always so thoughtful toward us and willing to help. I must confess, I thought you wouldn’t visit the clinic again after what happened.”
“……Oh, because of Croford?”
“Yes. Well…… ultimately, we couldn’t manage Croford any longer in all this chaos, so we transferred her to the Grand Duke’s care.”
Speaking thus, Jeremy smiled sheepishly and leaned slightly toward Beatrice, his lips beginning to move.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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