The Genius Doctor Who Lives Twice - Chapter 41

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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 41
Helen did not answer the midwives’ question.
Instead, she turned to William and Allen.
“I’ll consider your proposal for now. But don’t get your hopes up.”
Allen lowered his head.
“It was an honor to speak with you. I’ll wait for your answer whenever you’re ready.”
“Well, well. You keep your manners to the very end.”
Helen spoke with equal parts mockery and admiration.
Throughout what hardly qualified as a negotiation, Allen’s demeanor had remained unwavering.
Yet to Helen, it felt less like courtesy than like a towering wall.
His bearing and logic were so solid that she could find no crack through which to wedge herself.
“Go.”
As Helen swept toward the main entrance, the midwives followed close behind.
Several of them glanced back at William as they left, their tongues flicking out in derision.
William’s hands clenched into fists.
“Relics of an old age.”
“They’re necessary people, William.”
“True enough. But rejecting even an offer to share knowledge and learning—isn’t that foolish?”
Helen had refused all of Allen’s proposals.
Passing along difficult childbirth cases, teaching the Forceps technique—all of it.
Helen had even suggested dividing the district among them, but this time Allen had declined.
Patients could not simply be parceled out by territory.
“It seems she took it as a matter of pride.”
“…Isn’t that natural, sir?”
“I spoke in earnest.”
“I thought it was a sophisticated negotiation tactic.”
“That woman and I seem to be looking at this from entirely different angles.”
One saw it as a question of professional dignity and survival; the other, as a matter of medical systems and exchange.
There was no possibility of real dialogue.
“I just hope they don’t spread strange rumors when they get back.”
William sighed and turned his head.
He found himself face-to-face with Bruno, the tavern keeper, whose expression was deeply troubled.
“…What’s the matter with you?”
“Those women left without paying for their drinks.”
……
Looking back, the midwives had already vanished into the darkness.
* * *
Edward Clinic.
After finishing their consultations, the three men gathered around the hearth, sipping tea and exchanging idle talk.
Edward, having heard from William about the previous day’s encounter with the midwives, burst into hearty laughter.
“Light really did bring those midwives down a peg or two!”
Allen’s expression grew uncomfortable.
“That wasn’t my intention.”
“You conducted yourself like a gentleman, but those people were petty through and through. To offer to teach them the Forceps technique—it’s something I’d never have thought of.”
Allen exhaled slowly.
For those whose livelihoods depended on it, desperation was of a different order than for those who practiced it on the side.
“I think they simply overreacted.”
William turned his teacup thoughtfully in his hands.
“Among us, I’m the only one who can perform deliveries on short notice. And honestly, I do this as a side concern—partly to help the clinic. There’s no real problem if we just leave things as they are.”
“But you have to understand their position. For them, this isn’t just about losing a few wealthy clients. It’s a matter of the profession’s very existence.”
Allen shook his head as he responded.
William shrugged.
“I’ve heard that in the Southern Kingdom, surgeons have already captured virtually all of the wealthy clientele for deliveries.”
Edward added to the point.
“Now that’s a place I rather like. Surgeons receive nearly equal standing with physicians. The Royal physicians include one internist and one surgeon.”
“But competition among surgeons there is absolutely vicious. They divide into factions by School, and if anyone leaks a technique, they’re murdered on the spot.”
Edward shuddered at William’s words.
“Good heavens—such a savage place actually exists?”
“Because of that harsh environment, their surgical techniques surpass the Empire. This Forceps came from there, after all. To them, I’d imagine our imperial physicians, haggling over pride and rank, must seem quite peculiar.”
Allen nodded in agreement.
The Empire was a place where even physicians without an aristocratic pedigree and proper credentials were treated as half-competent, no matter their skill.
The notion of a surgeon doubling as an internist was utterly unthinkable.
The conversation naturally drifted to William’s apprenticeship days in the Southern Kingdom, and then to Edward’s time in the military.
“…So there I was, flag in hand, charging toward that fortress. Then an officer beside me took a bullet. He turned to me and said, ‘Edward, I beg you. Please—plant this Empire’s Dragon Flag atop that tower for me.'”
As always, the moment military stories came up, Edward launched into one of his lengthy tales.
William, by now accustomed to it, merely nodded along with his eyes half-closed.
Then he suddenly posed a question.
“But has the Empire undertaken any large-scale conquest campaigns recently?”
“Eh? What about the fighting on the western frontier?”
“Was there such a massive fortified stronghold in that region?”
“Hmm? Ah, now that I think about it, perhaps it was a rampart rather than a fortress. Well, in any case…”
Once Edward’s narratives began, Allen found his mind wandering elsewhere rather than hanging on every word.
He was thinking about the Orphanage he’d visited recently.
His weekly “Anatomy Education” sessions had dwindled to just two students.
Riemann and Sarah.
The other children had moved on to find different diversions.
Both of them were bright children.
“…And so I met with the commanding officer, and—William? Are you asleep?”
Edward looked flustered when he noticed William nodding off, snoring softly.
Allen stifled a chuckle.
“He must be exhausted.”
“Hmm, you might be right. Though it’s not easy to doze off while listening to my stories.”
Edward certainly wasn’t lacking in conversational skill.
But staying awake while hearing the same content repeated with only the location changed—that was no small feat.
Allen had overcome it through distraction, while William’s body had simply surrendered.
“Edward, may I ask you something?”
“Of course. By all means.”
“What would you think about taking on another apprentice?”
Edward tilted his head thoughtfully.
The clinic was already running smoothly with the three of them.
But more hands were always welcome.
“More staff would be fine, but surely we can’t take just anyone, eh?”
“I can vouch for their character.”
“Ah, well then that changes matters. If you say so, Allen, I’m inclined to agree.”
“The child is from the Orphanage.”
Edward’s face stiffened for a moment, then relaxed.
“I know you visit the Orphanage on weekends. So this is a child you met there?”
“Yes. A boy named Riemann. Quite clever, actually. And resourceful too.”
Allen recounted what had happened during the vaccination campaign at the Orphanage.
Edward listened and slowly nodded his approval.
“A child of that caliber shouldn’t be any trouble to accept. When were you thinking of bringing him on?”
“Early next year, I believe.”
“I ought to visit and see the boy myself then. It wouldn’t hurt to know his face beforehand, would it?”
At Edward’s words, Allen smiled.
“Thank you, Edward.”
“Don’t mention it. This clinic is yours as much as it is mine, after all.”
Edward’s trust was always steadfast.
Emotional at times and occasionally a bit clumsy, he was nonetheless a man of integrity and transparency.
For Allen, who had seen nothing but duplicitous people in Calden, meeting someone like Edward felt like a reunion with an old friend after far too long.
Yet there was one person who weighed on his mind.
‘Sarah.’
She could not become a surgeon’s apprentice.
He’d considered taking her on as nursing staff, but if Riemann became an apprentice while she herself remained in a nursing role, the sense of disparity would be crushing.
‘The two of them are inseparable friends. So the comparison would cut all the deeper.’
Allen found himself at an impasse.
But this wasn’t a problem with an easy answer.
Since it couldn’t be resolved immediately, he decided to set it aside for now.
* * *
Time moved forward.
There were no further conflicts with the Midwives Guild.
The absence of deliveries over the past weeks had been a blessing.
Yet peace, it seemed, was not to be found.
Each time William ventured out, women’s strange glances followed him like shadows.
At first, he’d flinched—wondering if his anatomical experiments had been discovered—but soon he realized something was genuinely amiss.
“Whether they’re matrons or maidens, everyone looks at me as though I’m some sort of deviant. I haven’t the faintest idea why.”
The nature of their stares was soon revealed.
A rumor was circulating: William was a rake who made improper advances toward every woman he encountered.
William was furious.
“I’ve kept my distance from women for twenty years! And now they call me a rake—it’s unbearable, absolutely unbearable!”
“Calm yourself. Wasn’t it your own prediction that came to pass? You said someone would spread strange rumors, and here we are.”
“I never imagined it would be of this variety!”
Unlike William, Allen turned the pages of his book with unflappable ease.
Edward had gone on house calls to check on a surgical patient, leaving Allen and William to enjoy a rare quiet Friday afternoon.
“But why hasn’t anyone started rumors about you, sir? You were there the entire time.”
“I suppose I maintained proper decorum throughout.”
……
William huffed indignantly, unable to let it go.
“I’d be less angry if the rumor were something else entirely.”
“Such as?”
“That I’m fond of corpses, for instance.”
“…Don’t you dare say that in front of anyone else.”
Allen had just issued this firm warning when—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Someone rapped violently at the door handle.
When William yanked it open, a man stood there, breathing heavily.
“Sirs, I’ve come from the Whitley House.”
William sprang from his seat instantly.
These were people from the Greenhills District whom he’d agreed to attend for a delivery days earlier.
“Have the labor pains begun?”
“Yes, sir. It seems they have.”
William’s eyes gleamed.
Allen nodded in agreement.
“I’ll fetch our bags.”
Both men grabbed the bag containing the Forceps and immediately followed the servant out.
A carriage was already waiting outside.
It raced swiftly toward the Greenhills District.
Inside the mansion, all was chaos, like a battlefield in motion.
Servants hurried to and fro, and the air was thick with pungent medicinal scent.
The master of the house, who had been sitting dazed on the first floor, spotted them and rushed over with an ashen face.
“Welcome, gentlemen!”
“Where is the mother-to-be?”
“In a room on the second floor. She’s in the midst of a terrible struggle right now.”
Allen issued instructions at once.
“Bring boiled water that’s been cooled, soap, and a brazier to that room. Please also prepare plenty of clean, unsoiled linen.”
“Of, of course we’ll prepare everything. Only, there is one thing….”
The master of the house trailed off, gauging their reaction carefully.
“My mother-in-law has already engaged someone else. Due to a miscommunication… you may need to work alongside that person. Would that be acceptable?”
Allen looked at William.
Today’s wielding of the Forceps would be William’s moment, after all.
William frowned, clearly displeased that they’d been called while another attendant had already been summoned.
“I didn’t intend any offense. It was simply a miscommunication… My mother-in-law still clings to the old notion that a delivery cannot proceed without a midwife present.”
The master hastily added this explanation.
From Allen’s perspective, it hardly mattered.
When it came to saving a life, there was no room for pride.
William, seeing sincerity in the master’s manner, decided to accept the explanation even if it were a lie.
“Show us the way.”
“Thank you so much, gentlemen!”
The two followed the master up to the second floor.
As they opened the door—from which screams were seeping through—a wave of warm, iron-scented air struck their faces.
On the bed, the pregnant woman writhed with each contraction, and beside her stood a familiar face to greet them.
“Push harder. You’re not open enough yet!”
It was Helen, the midwife, who stood guard at the mother’s side.
She lifted her head toward the door, caught sight of Allen and William, and cried out in alarm.
“What are you two doing here!”
Helen’s sharp rebuke echoed through the birthing room.

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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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