Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World

Chapter 150: The Medical School

TL: Etude

“Ouch, be gentle, be gentle!”

Allen frowned and kept exclaiming.

“Really, you can’t even bear this little pain, yet you brag all day about voyaging far out to sea.”

A girl, pinching a cotton cloth soaked in medicinal wine, was applying it to Allen’s swollen ankle, while ridiculing the boy who was complaining of pain.

This girl was Susan, the granddaughter of the former town elder, Peter. She was currently learning medicine in Dr. Wade’s clinic, aspiring to become a doctor herself.

The little boy before her, along with his group of companions who claimed to be naval cadets, often frequented the clinic, either for discipline-related injuries or training accidents.

Allen, the boy in question, had come this time because he missed his step descending a rope ladder from a ship’s mast and fell onto the deck, swelling his ankle and bruising his arm.

Hearing Susan mock him, Allen’s face flushed. He retorted, “I’m just honestly expressing my physical condition. Crying out in pain doesn’t mean I’m cowardly. I won’t refuse training just because I’m injured.”

“Oh, such a mouthy little thing at such a young age!”

Susan pressed down harder, causing the boy to grimace in pain.

She was already very familiar with this group of naval cadets and didn’t bother with formalities. And for Allen, the youngest among them, she treated him like a younger brother.

Knowing that the boy’s only relative had been killed by pirates, Susan felt sympathy for him. She thought about her own grandfather – her only relative who almost got killed by pirates but was fortunately saved. Compared to Allen, she felt very fortunate.

“Our lord is really something, putting you little kids in the army. What use could you possibly be?”

Susan couldn’t understand why the navy would burden itself with these unripe kids.

Allen again stubbornly said, “The lord said we are the seeds of the future navy, carrying the hope of opening vast seas for Alda. Every decision of the lord is correct.”josei

Susan shook her head helplessly. What do these kids know about ‘opening’ and ‘sea frontiers’? It all sounded like a prelude to war and death.

But she couldn’t articulate a counterargument, remembering how she had rashly spoken out of turn to Count Grayman and wasn’t held accountable. She secretly felt fortunate and grateful.

She hoped the lord’s decisions were indeed correct.

Suddenly remembering something, Susan said, “I need to remind you that the town hall sent a notice. Dr. Wade and I have to go to Lakeheart Town for some ‘training’ that might last several days. During that time, if you and your companions get injured due to carelessness or punishment for breaking rules, there won’t be anyone to treat you.”

Allen shrugged, “Is that so? Well, in a few days…”

He suddenly stopped speaking. Susan, curious, asked, “What’s happening in a few days?”

Allen thought hard to make sure the departure of the ‘Southern’ was not a classified matter, then continued, “In a few days, we’ll be heading south along the coast on the ‘Southern.’ According to the lord, we are going to open a grand sea route. Even if you and Dr. Wade were here, we wouldn’t be able to find you.”

“Oh, I know about that. The whole town is buzzing, especially the merchants. They’re all excited about the new sea route and overseas trade. It’s unheard of for a ship to sail to the kingdom’s southernmost coastline.”

“Not just the kingdom’s southernmost point!”

Allen excitedly added, “If we have the stamina, we might even sail to the Horn Bay area.”

Allen, who hadn’t been enlisted for long, didn’t have a clear concept of how far Horn Bay was. He only knew it was further south in the kingdom. Yet, seeing the excitement of his superiors when discussing the matter, he too considered the voyage to Horn Bay a significant event.

Ah, such a young age to be adrift at sea, following the adults to faraway places to venture into the world. Susan’s heart once again filled with deep sympathy for this boy who had lost his mother.

“Stretch out your arm.”

Susan re-dipped the cotton cloth in the medicinal wine and began to wipe the bruise on the boy’s arm.

As she wiped, she advised, “Take good care of yourself on the ship, listen to your superiors, and don’t get punished for breaking the rules.”

Moved, Allen responded with a smile, “Thank you, Sister Susan.”

…

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is a microscope. It can magnify the observed object by several hundred times…”

“This part is the objective lens, aimed at the object you want to observe, and this part is the eyepiece, through which the human eye observes…”

In a classroom at Weiss Academy, ‘Miss Dias’ was introducing a new object that had just been distributed to the academy to a group of students.

However, these students were not children. They were noticeably older, some even in their 30s.

These people were part of the health team being trained by the Administration Council. Two advisory Misses had compiled the first edition of the “Basic Medical and Health Manual.” With a large number of refugees about to arrive in Hansel’s care, Paul requested them to immediately start building a medical and health system.

The students in the room came from various parts of Alda and Baylding. Most of them were women, and some even couldn’t read, learning basic hygiene knowledge through illustrations and text.

“Now, you’ll take turns coming up to the podium and use this microscope to observe the microorganisms described in the ‘Manual.’”

Beginning with the front row, each student went to the podium and operated the microscope following the steps explained by Miss Dias.

“Oh, this is amazing!”

“Ew, that’s disgusting.”

Exclamations occasionally came from the podium.

While the students were experiencing the microscope, Eileen stepped outside the classroom. During the lecture, she had noticed someone peering into the classroom through the window.

“Count Grayman, what brings you here?”

Paul clapped his hands vigorously, “Very good, Miss Dias, your explanation was excellent. I came to see Morrison and thought I’d stop by.”

Strange, he could have easily sent someone to summon Principal Morrison to the lord’s residence. Why come himself? But Eileen didn’t intend to delve deeper; perhaps the lord just wanted to stretch his legs.

“Is this the second batch of doctors that have come?”

“Just the second batch. Even so, we’ve only taught them some basic knowledge about microorganisms and simple disinfection methods and principles. Fortunately, those doctors can read, so they’re learning quickly from the manual. Some disinfection measures they were already using, just without knowing the principles.”

“The pure newcomers who are completely uneducated are a bit slower to learn.”

Paul comforted her, “Haste makes waste, take it slow! We are also in an exploratory phase with many things. As we discover, we disseminate, and we should encourage everyone to explore together.”

Paul looked inside and noticed a special group of women who seemed to ‘stick together,’ apparently not fitting in with the rest and not interacting with others.

He nodded towards the classroom and asked the advisor Dias, “How are they doing?”