A Hospital in Another World? C.198

After a tumultuous journey, Master Kairel finally landed his Shadow Mare at the gates of the castle. The gates of the Augustus Castle swung open to welcome the esteemed guest.

— Upon the tower of the castle, the three magic ballistas fell silent, no longer stealthily aiming upwards.

The Augustus Castle was the inheritance left by Count Inverness’s first wife to her daughter, also the largest castle in the Loxi Viscount’s domain. Surrounded by water on three sides, it guarded the southwest end of Lake Nevis, squarely blocking the passage from Lake Nevis to Lake Loxi. Even those unfamiliar with military matters could see at a glance that this castle was a strategic location worth fighting over.

Thick stone walls surrounded the castle, with a three-story rectangular building rising in the center. The outer walls were pure white, gleaming under the lights of the tower and turrets, adding to its solemnity with a touch of beauty. A long bridge stretched from the lakeshore straight to the castle, with twin towers guarding the castle gate at the end of the bridge, impregnable.

At this moment, of course, the heavy gates were open. Viscount Loxi, with a long sword at her waist, stood smiling at the center of the gate. Elder Wood stood at her left, leaning on an oak staff and absentmindedly stroking his beard. To her right, Garrett, just pulled out of the infirmary, with disheveled hair and wet sleeves, wore a face that said, "I’m innocent, I don’t know anything..."

Master Kairel, having rushed dozens of miles and missed his target three times, finally found his man. Seeing Garrett in such a state, a mixture of anger and amusement washed over him, but his anger dissipated as quickly as it came. With the anger gone, his elegant demeanor returned, and he approached the viscount with an apologetic smile.

"I apologize for the urgency in finding you..."

Entering the castle, taking seats, serving tea, exchanging pleasantries. Once the routine was smoothly completed, Garrett was handed over from Elder Wood to Master Kairel, and then tossed onto a flying carpet:

"Follow me! Now!"

Garrett: "..." I haven’t finished my check-up, haven’t finished my drawing, haven’t finished teaching those priests...

All these words were swallowed by him.

Master Kairel, a 14th-level archmage, owed him a life-saving favor, and now he was rushing in the middle of the night to take him away —

It was obvious that protesting at this point would be utterly foolish.

He only asked one question:

"Will Elder Wood and the others be alright?"

Master Kairel glanced at him in surprise.

Dim starlight, crescent moon like a hook, only a faint silver light emanated from the patterns on the flying carpet, allowing the two to see each other’s expressions clearly during their conversation.

After careful observation, Master Kairel saw that Garrett’s worried expression seemed genuine and snorted lightly:

"You’re kind-hearted. — Don’t worry, they’ll be fine."

So it’s my problem now?

In other words, rushing over like this in the middle of the night to take me away is solely because of me?

Garrett breathed a sigh of relief, his brain working overtime, trying to think of any intersections between himself and the archmage. Someone seriously ill or seriously injured shouldn’t be the case; nor should it be a large-scale epidemic; ultrasound, microscope, bacteria...

"Ransor?" Suddenly, a light bulb went off in his mind. "Has my paper been submitted?"

Submitted?

This guy sure has confidence in himself. Master Kairel sneered and deliberately avoided looking at Garrett, gazing up at the sky:

"You’ve caused trouble, kid! Because of your paper, a 13th-level archmage got injured!"

"Ah!... Ah?" Garrett was astonished. A 13th-level archmage? Injured? Because of his paper?

"What kind of injury is it? Is it serious? Can it be treated? How much will the treatment cost? Can I afford it? If not, I’ll ask Elder Wood to help first, and I’ll slowly pay off the treatment fees?"

Garrett secretly prepared himself to sell himself to pay off his debts.

Of course, if he could prove that the injury had nothing to do with him, like being drained of magic during a magical experiment or falling down stairs, then he would definitely resist extortion.

However, before Garrett could delve deeper, Master Kairel turned his face, his expression solemnly fixed on him. Garrett shrank back under his gaze: the last time this master saved him, he seemed quite amiable, but why did his expression look so grim now... Is the injured archmage his friend? Or his relative?

"Why did you run so far? Instead of wandering around dozens of miles, couldn’t you just stay at the academy and study properly? Or did you know you caused trouble? Hurt someone? From Oaktree Ridge to Augustus Castle, did you think you could escape?"

"I...!"

"What’s ’I...’? Why did you run off?"

"I didn’t do it on purpose!" Garrett finally exclaimed, "I had an appointment with the Viscountess! If it weren’t for having to teach all the priests first, it wouldn’t have dragged on until now! — Besides, everyone else has a place to go, except me. There’s no Mage Tower, no academy wants me. Can’t I become a priest? Being a priest can still support myself!"

"You..."

Kairel finally chuckled. No Mage Tower, no academy wants him? Several schools were fighting over him! On the first day, they reported to the evaluation committee, and legendary mages were arguing behind closed doors for a whole day and night! If it hadn’t been such a mess, how could most of the students’ destinations have been decided, with only him still not receiving any notification!

Kairel really wanted to vent his frustration, but he held back. If he said it all, this kid would become even more smug — he’s already gone over to the priests’ side. He tried to keep a stern face, "From now on, you’ll stay in the Manipulation School! Behave yourself and study in the tower! Besides going to classes, don’t you dare roam around! If you have any papers, hand them directly to me, don’t toss them to the White Tower yourself!"

What? I have a new home? Garrett was stunned on the flying carpet.

"The Manipulation School?... It’s really the Manipulation School?" he asked, his voice trembling. Seeing Kairel nod affirmatively, Garrett raised his hands high and couldn’t help but bounce a little, "Yes!"

My field! My high temperature and pressure! My electric power! My electrocardiogram! Formaldehyde, ether, acrylic finally have hope! Low-temperature oxygen separation also sees a glimmer of light! With luck, I might even be able to create nuclear magnetic resonance!

"Sit down! — Be careful not to fall off!" Master Kairel urgently lowered the flying carpet.

Garrett was excited beyond measure. If he wasn’t on the carpet, he’d want to jump up and spin around eighteen times. Master Kairel watched him get so excited he almost fell off the carpet, and with a wave of his hand, he opened a small gap in the windproof force field protecting the carpet, and a sharp cold wind blew in his face, choking Garrett on the spot:

"Cough — Cough, cough, cough..."

He lay on the edge of the carpet, grabbing the fluff on the carpet, tears streaming down his face from coughing. After a while, as the excitement gradually subsided, he remembered something else:

"You can’t keep me here! I need to earn money! I need to see patients! — If you don’t let me treat people, I won’t have money to do experiments!"

"What experiments do you want to do?" Master Kairel rubbed his temples. Garrett said confidently:

"The follow-up experiments for that paper on Ransor! I said, ’Anything that can’t be further decomposed by any means is an element to us,’ and I need to prove it!"

"Write down your paper, hypotheses, and experimental designs!" Master Kairel said without hesitation. "As long as it’s written reasonably, the Horn of Thunder has plenty of funds, and you can apply for projects as you please! You don’t need to figure out ways to make money yourself!"

How many experiments can a mere level-two mage design? With the funds and manpower from his own disciples’ projects, it’s enough for this kid to get by!

"You said it yourself!"

Garrett secluded himself for ten days. Ten days later, Master Kairel held a thick stack of paper and experimental designs that made him want to turn back time and take back his words.

— Only Garrett knew that he had thrown out everything related to middle school chemistry, high school chemistry, all relevant knowledge points suitable for proving the existence of elements, and experimental plans for determining the densities of the first 20 elements on the periodic table and the first 15 elements in the metal list.

And also methods of chemical instrument operation, methods of measuring the weight and volume of gases, temperature measurement methods, titration analysis methods...

I’ve wanted to do this for so long!

Damn, dealing with earth, water, fire, and wind is just too painful. I want to test blood potassium, blood sodium, blood oxygen, and whatever else, but first, I need to establish the concept of chemical elements!

An opportunity to make the Magic Council do hard labor, such a rare opportunity, I must seize it!

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