Chapter 56
“What's wrong?” Aivina turned her head, looking innocently at Shaer as she asked, “I feel like I did pretty well.”
“It's not that. You're a psychologist; how can you make every patient storm out?” Shaer took a deep breath and sat down in the spot Aivina had just vacated. “Let me show you how a psychologist should handle things.”
Aivina stood up and, with a blank expression, took the seat Shaer had just occupied. Before the next patient knocked on the door, she said, a bit aggrieved, “I think a psychologist's job is not just to make patients feel good; it’s about helping them truly get better...”
Knock, knock, knock—
Aivina's quiet muttering was interrupted by the sound of knocking. Shaer turned to the door, a smile breaking through the mask, and gestured to the chair in front of him. “Please, have a seat.”
A middle-aged woman sat down, her makeup running from tears. She began, “I feel terrible. My husband goes out every day to find prostitutes, comes back and hits me, and then...”
“...Doctor, how can I make myself feel a little better?”
Shaer took a deep breath, his right fist tightening, and slowly replied, “If you don’t shut your mouth and wipe those tears away to go home and get a divorce, I might just hit you!”
“How can you say that!”
Bang—!
Shaer silently stood up, pulling Aivina back into her seat.
Well, she wasn’t cut out to be a psychologist either.
But when Aivina returned to her seat, trying to stifle her laughter, the next person the nurse brought in caught both her and Shaer’s attention.
Adele?
A girl wearing a silver raven mask sat nervously in front of Aivina, stammering, “Doctor... you... hello, I’m Abal.”
Shaer’s lips twitched.
Kid, your medical license is still hanging on your chest.
But Shaer was also curious—why was Adele here? Didn’t she need to undergo an investigation?
---
“Please, sit down, Adaoer.”
Aivina extended her right hand, palm up, gesturing toward the table in front of her.
“It’s Abal, Doctor.”
“Alright, Anar.”
“...Just call me Adele.”
Shaer, sitting behind, had her lips pressed tightly together. She found it hard to imagine how Aivina managed to keep a straight face and maintain her composure throughout that exchange.
“Don’t be too cautious; the girl behind you is my assistant,” Aivina said, looking at Adele. “What brings you to me? Is there something you need my help with regarding the Redemption Society?”
“No,” Adele shook her head. “I... I’ve already withdrawn from the Redemption Society.”
“Oh?” Aivina straightened her back slightly, leaning forward with a blank expression. “What happened? Did they kick you out? Was it because of your teacher?”
From her vantage point, Shaer realized that Aivina’s curiosity wasn’t about the ritual; she simply loved gossip, her curiosity more insatiable than a cat’s.
“No, I left on my own.” Adele shook her head, glancing at the masked girl behind Aivina before continuing, “I saw your flyer at the Redemption Society and came here.”
“You’re here for a psychological consultation?” Aivina nodded slightly as she spoke. “That’s fine; I’ll help you with your questions. This session is free.”
Aivina’s tone was calm and steady, like a seasoned mentor guiding countless souls—if one overlooked the fact that she had scared off all her previous patients.
Adele took a deep breath, ready to speak, but noticed the red-haired girl behind Aivina seemed to lean in closer.
Unable to hold back, she finally asked, “Is she from the Redemption Society? I think I saw her yesterday...”
Not everyone in the Redemption Society knew each other, especially since many members had come to help with various tasks today. Adele clearly misunderstood upon seeing Shaer’s mask.
“No, she’s my friend. She contracted dehydration disease, and I just went to the Redemption Society to get her a mask,” Aivina explained. “You don’t need to worry about her spilling your secrets; you can trust her.”
Because she might know more than you do... Aivina didn’t say that, as she had promised to keep Shaer’s secret.
Upon hearing Aivina’s words, Adele finally relaxed, nodding. “I trust what the ‘Listener’ says. Also, miss, you can take this; it’s the antidote for dehydration.”
Adele pulled out a small vial containing a semi-transparent light green capsule.
The antidote is ready already?
Shaer took the antidote but didn’t swallow it right away; instead, she pocketed the vial and continued to listen to Adele’s story.
“I came here because of my teacher... Shiren.”
Adele seemed to drift into a memory, beginning to pour out the turmoil in her heart.
Adele and her sister Yulis grew up in an orphanage run by the church. Their parents had abandoned them, disappearing without a trace. It was little Yulis, only five years old at the time, who carried her sister through the rain to the orphanage, saving their lives.
Yulis was clever and charming from a young age, knowing how to get along with others, making her a beloved child. But Adele was different; she was a troublemaker from the moment she could crawl, always getting into mischief.
When Yulis reached the age for school, the church would come to the orphanage to select children. Naturally, Yulis was chosen to enter the seminary.
This selection process happened every year, with the most gifted children entering the seminary. Those without theological talent were sent to church schools to learn some knowledge, while the least capable were sent to slightly better factories to learn skills for survival, with the church periodically checking on their progress.
Once Yulis entered the seminary, she lost all contact. Without her sister’s protection, the usually mischievous Adele fell silent and began to try hard to study.
But no matter how hard she tried, her talent seemed to fall short, and she was eventually selected to attend the church school.
Having failed to enter the seminary, Adele lost interest in studying and gave up.
After failing multiple exams, the nuns at the church school deemed her “unsuitable for learning” and sent her to the church hospital to do menial work.
It was during this time that she discovered a keen interest and talent in medicine; she could almost perfectly replicate basic bandaging techniques after just one demonstration.
Her talent caught the attention of the pastor at the church hospital, who recommended Adele to the Redemption Medical Academy, where she met her teacher, Shiren, who guided her into the Redemption Society.
After joining the Redemption Society, she arrived in Ansu, finally having the chance to see her sister again. This filled her with gratitude toward the pastor at the church hospital and Teacher Shiren, and she remembered their kindness.
In the following years, Adele thrived, her exceptional talent in medicine allowing her to excel in both practice and theory, helping Teacher Shiren publish numerous papers.
These papers helped Shiren obtain the “Plague Doctor” potion within the Redemption Society, breaking through a twenty-year stagnation in the ritual, and led Adele onto the extraordinary path of “Physician.”
At this point, Adele took a few deep breaths, her hands trembling as she covered her face.
“I... I didn’t know his research... was meant to spread ‘infectious dehydration disease’... I just thought he wanted to start with simple infectious diseases, reverse-engineering the antidote to complete the ‘Plague Doctor’ ritual...”
Upon hearing this, Aivina couldn’t help but slowly turn her head, glancing at Shaer.
In Shaer’s eyes, she saw the same surprise.
This dehydration disease...
Was actually created by Adele?
No wonder Shiren’s research notes contained only fragments of information about infectious diseases; it turned out he hadn’t developed it himself?
Yet his words had completely claimed the infectious dehydration disease as his own, the intoxicated prose even deceiving Shaer and Aivina.
For some reason, Shaer thought of her graduate advisor and the research dogs from her past life. Poor Adele, unknowingly used for years.
But to Shiren, the self-absorbed “infectious dehydration disease” was merely a “simple infectious disease” in Adele’s eyes.
No wonder Shiren had been stuck for twenty years on the “Physician” path; he likely knew he couldn’t advance any further and chose a path that harmed countless lives instead.
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