Chapter 81: I Also Know a Thing or Two
That night, Natsuya lay on the tatami of the guest room, his gaze fixed steadily
on the ceiling.
At this moment, he wasn't checking his progress in Flame Breathing. Instead, his
focus was entirely on his Life Skill panel: [Medicine].
[Medicine LV.3 (741/2000)]
- Summary: A miracle worker's hand and a benevolent heart; its logic is
difficult to grasp without divine inspiration. Though it cannot reverse the
wheel of life and death, it can often pull the dying back from the brink of
the abyss.
- Effect: Systematic mastery of anatomy, pharmacology, etc. Capable of
handling common trauma and diagnosing diseases. Under System assistance, the
user can attempt complex treatment protocols.
Even though Shinjuro didn't seem particularly happy to have guests, Natsuya's
"Gamer Instinct" was screaming at him: The Rengoku Estate—there's a World Quest
here!
The wife of a key NPC was suffering from a terminal illness, and he just
happened to have the [Medicine] skill. In a high-freedom JRPG, you didn't need a
high IQ to realize this was an 80% chance to trigger a Hidden Plot line.
Without the medical skill, he would probably just learn Flame Breathing normally
and leave. But if he could cure Lady Ruka?
The extra rewards would be massive.
The problem was whether Level 3 Medicine was enough. In most games, hidden
sub-quests had a level gate.
Level 3... Honestly, Natsuya wasn't confident.
Whatever. Overthinking is a waste of CPU. I'll just sleep and see what the RNG
says in the morning.
[SKIP]
In the adjacent guest room, Shinobu Kocho could hear Natsuya's soft mumbling and
steady breathing one moment, and then—snap—the sound of light, rhythmic snoring.
That block of wood... he fell asleep way too fast!
The girl clutched her futon, tossing and turning in the unfamiliar room. She
couldn't sleep. She had actually been thinking about knocking on his door just
to talk for a bit.
Morning.
Shinobu slowly opened her eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. Right, she was at the
Rengoku estate. She'd stayed up late, her mind racing.
Stretching her arms, the sleepy girl sat up, her eyes still half-closed as she
reached for her uniform folded by the pillow. She turned around—and nearly
jumped out of her skin.
Natsuya was sitting cross-legged by her futon, staring at her with a flat,
expressionless gaze, looking like he'd been there for hours.
"Oi. You're finally awake."
"NATSUYA! Why are you up so early—wait! WHAT?!"
Shinobu's brain finally processed the situation. She let out a muffled shriek.
Why is this guy in my room?!
She instinctively clutched her collar, checking her clothes. Fortunately, her
sleeping shift was perfectly intact, and nothing inappropriate was showing. She
puffed out her cheeks, ready to bark a question at him, but Natsuya cut her off.
"Don't shout. I have serious business to discuss."
Natsuya was desperate to trigger the quest. Not waking her up earlier had been
his maximum display of restraint.
"Shinobu, I want to discuss a new treatment protocol for Lady Ruka."
The girl's grip on her clothes loosened slightly. "Big Dummy—I mean,
Natsuya-kun. You said you only knew 'a thing or two' about medicine."
"I only know a bit about local medicine," Natsuya corrected. "I never said I
didn't know the Western and Eastern logic from across the sea."
Shinobu couldn't tell if he was joking. "The medicine I brought from the Mansion
yesterday... how effective do you think it was?"
"Medicines take time to show—"
"Give me the 'True' dialogue option. Speak from your conscience."
Shinobu went silent. Finally, she whispered, "The effect... is negligible."
"Let me try," Natsuya said.
Shinobu hesitated. Just then, the sliding door was whipped open.
"I heard Lady Kocho cry out! I thought an intruder had entered!"
Kyojuro marched in, radiating 100% energy. He paused, looking embarrassed. "Oh!
You were both already awake! In that case—GOOD MORNING!"
"Kyojuro," Natsuya said, turning to the boy. "Shinobu and I have discussed a new
treatment plan. It might actually work on your mother's condition."
The "Owl Cub's" smile stiffened for a second, his eyes widening with a mix of
shock and hope. From their brief interaction yesterday, he felt Natsuya was a
steady, reliable person. If he was saying this...
"Natsuya-aniki! Please, you must examine Mother!"
The honorific had already changed. Natsuya looked back at Shinobu. His eyes
said: Let's go. You can't back out now.
The girl sighed. "You two... before we see Lady Ruka, can you at least let me
get dressed?!"
Fifteen minutes later, the trio stood outside Lady Ruka's room. Shinjuro was
still sitting nearby, staring blankly at the sky.
Natsuya spoke carefully: "Lord Rengoku. Regarding the Lady's illness... I have
some... 'unconventional' ideas. I'd like to try one more time with Lady Kocho."
Shinjuro's bloodshot eyes fixed on him, full of skepticism and irritation.
Natsuya added quickly, "I know the Butterfly Mansion has done its best, and Lady
Kocho is highly skilled. But I once studied under a 'Miracle Doctor' from the
West. He taught me some 'outlier' theories on organ stabilization. It might not
be a cure-all, but it could... make her more comfortable."
Perhaps the words "more comfortable" touched a nerve in Shinjuro. Or perhaps it
was Natsuya's calm, "Professional Class" demeanor.
Shinjuro went silent for a long time before grunting, "Fine. Try it."
Shinobu and Kyojuro exchanged a look and followed Natsuya into the room.
Inside, the pale but serene Lady Ruka lay on her futon, looking surprised as the
group entered.
"Pardon the intrusion, Mother."
Natsuya didn't bother with pleasantries. "I'll be the lead physician today.
Relax."
Looking at the complex debuff descriptions on her status bar, Natsuya realized
the difficulty was high. System, don't let me down now.
[Medicine! ACTIVATE!]
The world shifted. Reality was overlaid with a semi-transparent UI. A shimmering
blue analysis layer enveloped Lady Ruka. Data that Natsuya couldn't technically
"read" began to scroll past like background VFX.
Deep organ failure. Stagnant blood circulation. Status: CRITICAL. Conventional
therapies have hit a bottleneck.
[PLEASE PLAN YOUR TREATMENT STRATEGY]
Natsuya's mind raced. He began clicking through the options like he was managing
resources in a strategy game.
Step 1: Choose Strategy
- [Conservative (Blue)]: Low risk, low reward. Basically the same as the
Butterfly Mansion's current meds.
- [Aggressive (Red)]: High risk. I'm only LV.3; my 'Surgical Success'
multiplier isn't high enough for this.
- [Creative Insight (Purple)]: High-tier unique path.
- Natsuya selects: [Creative Insight].
Step 2: Choose Tools (Multi-select)
- [Field Expedient (Locked)]: Indoor items insufficient.
- [Search Surroundings]: Scavenge the dojo for old medical tools.
- [Refined Medical Kit]: Use Shinobu's Butterfly Mansion tools.
- [Expensive Imports (Locked)]: None available.
- Natsuya selects: [Refined Medical Kit] + [Search Surroundings].
Step 3: Set Duration
- [Short]: Low burden, low impact.
- [Medium]: Systematic intervention.
- [Long]: Comprehensive treatment, but high mental/physical drain on patient.
- Natsuya selects: [Medium].
Step 4: Set Objective
- [Symptom Relief (Blue)]: High success probability.
- [Healing Orientation (Yellow)]: Low success probability. Controls the
disease.
- [Root Cause Cure (Grey)]: LOCKED. Requires higher Medicine Level.
Natsuya tried a few different combinations. The "Root Cause" button remained
grey and unclickable. He exhaled slowly.
[PLAN CONFIRMED: Creative Insight / Mixed Tools / Medium Duration / Healing
Orientation]
[LOADING ASSIST MODULE...] [GENERATING EQUIPMENT AND INGREDIENT LIST...]
The System can only take me this far, Natsuya thought. The rest is up to my
mechanical skill.
He focused his mind, preparing for the high-stakes Treatment QTE Mini-game to
begin.
☆☆☆
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