The Genius Doctor Who Lives Twice - Chapter 31

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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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Chapter 31
“A most troubling incident has occurred of late. One that has thrown this entire province into turmoil.”
The Judge met Robinson’s gaze.
“Are you familiar with the ‘Doctor Belmar Impersonation Affair’?”
“…I confess I have not heard of it.”
“A man without a pharmacist’s license or a surgeon’s guild certificate took it upon himself to pose as a surgeon and wandered between several cities. The wretch conducted illegal operations and sent no fewer than twelve innocent citizens to their graves.”
The Judge spoke as though in passing, almost dismissively, yet it had been a scandal that shook the entire Guild and Royal Medical Association to its foundations.
Even the brazen quack healers who had once proliferated throughout the city had learned to keep their heads down and disappear since that affair.
“Since that incident, this court has applied the most stringent standards to cases of unlicensed medical practice. To put it plainly, you have chosen your moment most opportunely.”
“…….”
“This Allen Light you have accused—currently concealed beneath the provisional rank of surgical apprentice—his identity appears most suspect, according to your allegations.”
“Y-yes, that is correct. He currently serves as an apprentice under Edward, a military surgeon of some repute, yet it is my conviction that this Allen fellow actually performs the vast majority of the treatments himself. What is more, he conducts unverified medical procedures without hesitation, using the townspeople as experimental subjects.”
“It states here that he injects pus drawn from animal bodies directly into humans.”
“Yes! I swear before this sacred court and before God himself, that this fiend dares to take secretions squeezed from the bodies of filthy beasts and introduce them into the noble bodies of human beings, the sheer horror of it…….”
“Regarding that matter, I have already reviewed the formal complaint from the priest responsible for the Dunford parish.”
The Judge waved his hand dismissively, cutting Robinson short.
“The complaint document will be formally received and examined in good faith. Once the trial date is set, a witness summons will be properly issued to you as the complainant. Before then, should we require medical expertise on the matter of his unlicensed practices, we may call you to the court once more.”
“Y-yes, of course, Your Honor! I stand ready to take the stand and testify at any moment. It is an honor.”
“Very well. My duties press upon me, so you may take your leave.”
That was all.
Robinson rose from his seat and bowed deeply.
As though his spine might snap from the angle.
Stepping out into the courtyard, he straightened his attire as he walked along the flagstones.
With the Judge’s favorable response secured, his spirits lifted considerably.
‘Excellent. Very smooth indeed. This is the opportunity to teach him a harsh lesson. To show him that Dunford is not a place to be trifled with.’
As Robinson walked on with a sinister smile playing at his lips, he suddenly recalled something and withdrew a single sheet of paper from his coat.
Upon scanning the densely written text, his face twisted.
“Blast it all. What do I know of jewelry and dress fabric that she orders me to purchase such things? Does she think I’m here on holiday, enjoying myself at leisure? I came on serious business, to press grave charges…….”
Even as these complaints poured from his lips, Robinson’s feet were already carrying him toward the fashionable shopping district of Haveln.
Such was the inescapable fate of a man completely under his wife’s thumb.
* * *
Edward’s Clinic.
That afternoon was peaceful and unremarkable, like any other day.
When the knock sounded at the clinic door, they had assumed, as always, that it was merely another patient come for treatment.
Yet when William opened the door, standing before him were two stern-faced officials, each holding an official badge that marked them as agents of the Empire.
“Is this the clinic of Edward Gordon?”
“…Yes, it is. But may I ask the purpose of your visit?”
“Is there a man named Allen Light present here?”
“Yes, he is inside.”
“Bring him out at once.”
Though their tone was not discourteous, there was an unmistakable undercurrent of authority.
Shortly after, Allen emerged from the clinic and faced them.
The officials studied his features carefully for a moment, then withdrew a single document stamped with a red seal from within their coats and thrust it forward without ceremony.
“We have confirmed your identity as the defendant. Please affix your signature in the receipt confirmation box.”
Once they had his signature, they departed at once.
Even before unfolding the document, Allen had already discerned its nature.
The red wax seal and the imperial court’s insignia impressed upon it said everything.
“What is this, exactly?”
“A formal complaint document.”
“What??”
Allen carried the papers into the inner treatment room.
Edward looked up, his eyes wide as saucers, fixed upon the sheet clutched in Allen’s hands.
“What is that?”
Rather than answer, Allen unfolded the paper across the desk.
In that instant, the faces of both William and Edward, reading the contents, turned rigid and ashen in unison.
Imperial Court of Law, Haveln District
Defendant: Allen Light, Apprentice, Edward’s Clinic
Charges: Unlicensed Medical Practice. Inoculation of citizens and children with unverified illegal substances for profit and clinical purposes. Performance of procedures against the explicit refusal of the highest religious authority.
Below this, the court date on which the defendant must appear was written out clearly.
“U-unlicensed medical practice? And injection of illegal substances without authorization? What on earth is this sudden catastrophe?!”
Edward cried out in alarm.
Beside him, William’s face had turned cold and drawn.
“…Someone’s filed a formal complaint. Against the regional court, no less.”
“Who filed it?”
“Well, it’s obvious enough, isn’t it? The ones whose livelihoods have dried up because of this clinic.”
William replied with bitter mockery.
Allen studied the sentences written on the paper with careful attention.
Though the complainant’s name had been obscured with deliberate care, making it difficult to grasp the full circumstances, the charges themselves were unmistakable.
“…The accusation of administering an unverified substance without authorization—it seems to hinge on what happened at the Orphanage last weekend.”
“Given the circumstances, that’s the only reasonable interpretation.”
Edward, listening to the exchange between William and Allen, tilted his head in confusion.
“The Orphanage?”
The two of them then confessed to having disobeyed Gabriel’s strict orders last weekend and inoculated two children with Cowpox Inoculation.
After hearing the full account, Edward let out a long, heavy sigh, as if his chest had tightened.
“……I understand. I might have done the same.”
“But there’s something strange about this passage.”
William pointed his finger at the word “citizens” in the document.
“Citizens? The children at the Orphanage are not formal citizens under Imperial law. They’re no better than vagrants.”
“Up to now, only three people associated with this clinic have officially received the Cowpox Inoculation, isn’t that so? An act performed with mutual consent among ourselves cannot possibly be subject to punishment.”
“No, legally it cannot be.”
Allen spoke with conviction.
With his deep knowledge of Imperial law, he had grasped at once the trap concealed behind the words of this complaint.
“Do you remember that noblewoman who asked us to perform Traditional Inoculation two weeks ago?”
“Yes, of course. Wasn’t it at a relative’s house of Mrs. Parker, who lives in the Greenhills district?”
“The complainant is falsely claiming that we performed Traditional Inoculation at that noblewoman’s residence, when in truth we supposedly conducted the dangerous Cowpox Inoculation in secret.”
“What cursed scoundrels! Who in the name of all that’s holy would spread such a vicious, preposterous lie? I’ll have him—right now, I’ll—”
Edward paced back and forth in fury.
From his perspective, it was enough to make one’s blood boil with injustice.
He had repeatedly sought the noblewoman’s careful consent, and ultimately—setting aside his conscience as a physician—had meticulously performed the proper Traditional Inoculation.
Yet in that very moment, William, standing beside him, felt a terror so acute that all the blood seemed to drain from his body.
Cold sweat rolled down his spine in rivulets.
‘…How could they have known?’
It was no slander.
It was the truth.
Just before Edward was about to incise the child’s forearm with his scalpel, William himself had secretly switched the quill in the box of smallpox matter that Edward was holding with the cowpox matter quill he’d been carrying.
It had been William’s decision alone, known to neither Edward nor Allen.
‘Could it be…… that someone has been following me since I collected the cowpox matter? If those who discovered the inoculation at the Orphanage are behind this, such a thing would be entirely possible…….’
His heart pounded as though it might burst from his chest.
If the substitution he had committed were exposed during the Court Proceedings, and if that noblewoman in Greenhills learned the truth, what would become of him then?
Edward’s Clinic’s reputation would be shattered in an instant, and Allen too would surely not escape unscathed.
“William? Why is your face so pale?”
Edward looked at William’s ashen, vacant expression and asked.
William barely collected himself, his brow furrowing in feigned anger.
“No, it’s nothing. I’m simply furious. That such a contemptible slander could be uttered.”
“Of course you are. Wouldn’t anyone be? It’s infuriating!”
Edward brought his trembling fist down hard upon the desk.
“And Unlicensed Medical Practice, no less. They’re overstepping their bounds entirely. Light is a fully qualified physician! They simply haven’t confirmed it.”
Yet a strange realization suddenly dawned on William.
He had never once actually seen direct evidence that Allen was a legitimate, formally credentialed physician.
He had simply taken it on faith, as if it were an unquestionable truth, because Allen’s knowledge of the human body was so extraordinarily profound.
‘What if…… Allen Light is not actually a legitimate physician at all?’
William stared at Allen with a complex expression.
Allen kept his gaze fixed on the complaint document, maintaining his silence.
“As for my past history……I cannot claim to be in a position of particular honor.”
When Allen finally spoke, Edward’s eyes widened considerably.
“However, the fact that I am a formally credentialed physician is absolute truth, not a shred of falsehood. You need not worry on that account. This clinic will suffer no hardship on account of my identity.”
The Permanent Medical Practice Ban issued by the Capital Medical Association was valid only within the capital region, where Kalden’s administrative authority extended.
Legally, his academy diploma, medical doctorate, and former professorship could not be erased.
What troubled him was that the moment he stood before the court and revealed his identity and past in full detail, that information would flow directly to the ears of Baron Archibald Halloway in the Capital City.
Like a hunting dog catching the scent of prey, Halloway would certainly deploy every means at his disposal to bring about his destruction.
A weary, headache-ridden future stretched before him.
“Allen!”
Edward suddenly shouted, his voice ringing out.
“What does it matter whether you’re a charlatan or a proper physician? We’re already following your methods, and we’ve actually saved countless lives!”
……
“The fact that you’re an excellent doctor is undeniable. A mere title means nothing. Even if you truly were an unlicensed fraud, I would have staked my entire fortune and reputation on your innocence in court!”
Allen and William both fell silent at Edward’s sudden torrent of words, staring at him in bewilderment.
Edward’s face flushed crimson with passion, and once he’d finished his outburst, embarrassment seemed to creep in; he gave an awkward cough and glanced nervously at the two men.
“…I mean only that—I’m certainly not doubting your credentials as a physician. Don’t misunderstand me.”
“No, Edward.”
Allen let out a soft laugh.
He couldn’t remember the last time—if ever—he’d received such unconditional trust.
“If anything, it’s a comfort. I’m grateful.”
William, standing beside them, nodded solemnly.
Yet his thoughts were far more tangled than either Allen’s or Edward’s.

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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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