Chapter 12
“…You really are strange.”
Hezbeni let out a helpless laugh, as if admitting defeat.
“Fine. I’ll diagnose you.”
“Really?”
“…Yes. After all this effort, how could I not?”
He rolled his eyes, but his cheeks had a faint blush. His expression was just as full of anticipation as Idette’s.
So he had been pretending to resist, but clearly, he’d been curious too.
Idette held back a grin and cleared her throat.
“Give me your hand.”
She silently held out her hand. Hezbeni carefully felt her pulse.
His expression turned grim.
Idette immediately guessed what he was about to say — the same thing the temple priests always said.
“You’ve survived this long thanks to holy power.”
As expected.
“But… I really did feel better after taking the medicine…”
“Hadi probably told you — it’s only a temporary effect.”
“…So there’s no cure? What illness do I even have?”
“You said you were born weak. Always carrying a low fever, collapsing whenever you overexerted yourself, coughing, catching chills easily.”
“Yes…”
“Your life force is extremely weak. There are blockages in your body’s pathways. This isn’t just about being born frail — your body’s circulation is fundamentally blocked. We call this Jermeri Disease. This is only the second time I’ve seen it myself.”
He explained that in his family’s old secret records, it said the only way to survive was to unblock the blocked pathways.
“So… I’m not the first? What happened to the other person with this disease?”
“…”
He didn’t answer. From the hesitation, Idette could guess — that person had died.
“…Never mind. You don’t have to say it.”
“There’s another problem.”
“What is it?”
The method for unblocking the pathways no longer existed — it had been lost.
“Because of the secret manual?”
“…Yes. That manual was written by the ancestor who founded apothecary arts. For some reason, he wrote it in code. Because of that, most apothecary knowledge has only been passed down orally, and much has already been lost. I didn’t want it all to vanish, so I’ve tried working with other apothecaries to decode the manual, but none of us succeeded.”
Idette remembered Hadi had mentioned something similar.
So her illness wasn’t an instant death sentence, but without opening her blocked pathways, she would eventually die.
And the only method was hidden in a coded secret book even Hezbeni couldn’t read.
“…I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing for you to apologize for, Hezbeni.”
“This isn’t the answer you wanted. But… if you truly want to keep fighting and continue treatment, I’ll do everything I can.”
“Thank you. Even saying that helps.”
At least it wasn’t utterly hopeless — that was some comfort.
Hezbeni urged her to continue taking the medicine he made. Herbs gathered under the power of the full moon held more magic, so the effects would be stronger.
Idette nodded, promising to take them faithfully.
In fact, she felt like she should be the one thanking him.
“…Could I see that secret manual sometime?”
“You could, but it wouldn’t be easy to understand. It looks like it’s written in some ancient language — a lost one. I’ve never found any information about it.”
Still, Hezbeni promised to bring the manual with him next full moon.
***
At first, Hezbeni wouldn’t even greet her — just tossed the medicine and left. But since Idette always took it faithfully and treated him without prejudice, he gradually opened up.
That was why he eventually gave her a diagnosis — and agreed to show her the secret book.
“Do you have the manual?”
“Yes.”
He pulled out an old book from his herb basket. Its worn cover was dark with years of use.
“…What?”
The moment Idette saw the cover, a memory stirred.
This… this was…!
It looked exactly like Chinese characters she had studied in her past life — Level 1 proficiency, at that. The cover was written in Chinese, clear as day.
Until now, her past-life memories had always been blurry. The only sharp ones were about the original story of this world. But now… this book? She could read it.
As she hesitated, Hezbeni frowned.
“Ah… is it too dirty?”
“No. I was just wondering… is it okay for me to see this? Didn’t you say it’s been in your family for generations?”
She babbled the excuse, flustered.
“…It’s fine. You won’t understand it anyway. If you could read it, that would actually be helpful.”
He said it, but clearly didn’t believe it possible.
But I can read it, Idette thought, taking the book with trembling hands.
And sure enough — she could. Perfectly.
Some characters looked slightly different from the ones she had studied, which made it tricky in places, but still — she could read it.
A reincarnator’s perk, perhaps.
“Where should I look for Jermeri Disease?”
“This section here.”
He pointed to an entry labeled with the characters for “blocked meridians.”
“…Blocked meridians?”
“…What?”
“Circulation… blocked…”
The description matched exactly what Hezbeni had explained earlier.
“Elixirs…”
“…Wait. Are you actually reading this? Seriously?”
Depending on the type of blocked meridians, the required elixir differs.
However, in general, blocked meridians share similar treatments.
The essential cure is to consume special elixirs. These are not ordinary medicines, but substances naturally formed over hundreds or thousands of years, infused with unique energy.
I will attempt to list elixirs from this world that may have similar effects.
“…What is this…”
She couldn’t fully translate every line, but she understood the gist — there were cures.
But… it was risky.
If the wrong elixir was consumed, the result could be death.
Apparently, this world was different from the martial arts world the writer came from. So the effects of elixirs here weren’t fully known, making it like a gamble.
The author had tried researching, but never found an exact match for the martial elixirs.
“…Wow.”
And the author himself was long gone. So the chances of finding the right elixir were basically fifty-fifty.
Idette flipped to the first page again.
“It pains me to see ignorant fools putting all their faith in something as useless as holy power. That is why I write this book. Since I cannot write the Empire’s language, figure it out yourselves. For the sake of caution, I have left this knowledge to my disciples. May it be of some use. Farewell, you damn people of another world.”
Idette stared blankly.
…So there had been a transmigrator too.
She knew about reincarnators like herself, and that even people who possessed others’ bodies existed… but this?
Someone had crossed from an entirely different world.
Judging from the characters and the talk of elixirs, it was clearly someone from a martial world.
After a long while of translating, Idette finally raised her head.
“…I can read this. The whole thing.”
