My eyes locked with the bespectacled doctor. He looked as if he were a guilty child, about to be whipped bloody.
"What is it that you are doing here, Master Gram?" I said with a voice that a stereotypical noble would use. The sort of voice that conveyed friendliness but spoke of cloaks and daggers.
"I-" Master Gram stammered, but I cut him off before he could continue.
"And don't try to fool me, Master Gram. I may not be from around here, but I'm not an idiot." This line wasn't really all that necessary, but it did do a good job of making the man's face drain of blood and become a sickly looking grey. In this sort of conversation, dominance was everything.
"Well, I…" He began before sighing, his body slackening, "I am a man of medicine, Master Maximilian. It is a difficult profession, especially around these areas. There are so many injuries to fix, diseases to cure, most of them that I've never even seen before nor my father. I have five generations of comprehensive medical knowledge and notes, and none of it even references some of the illnesses that people are coming to me with!" His voice began to raise in frustration, his smock waving emphatically with arms. I watched on in amusement when the man finally got to the end of his sentence and he realised he had been yelling. His eyes went wide, and he seemed about to apologise but I waved it off.
"Go on." I said, face still a mask of friendliness. He hesitated for a moment but nodded and continued.
"There are many different ways that you can learn about an illness, and study it, but one of the more useful ways that I can learn about something is a… direct examination." The final words came tentatively.
"The direct examination of someone's corpse. A post-mortem." I said plainly. His eyes widened in shock, and a little excitement.
"You know of it?"
"Not quite, but I am aware of a few pertinent procedures." I answered truthfully.
"Then you must understand the necessity of a post-mortem! You must see why I am doing this!" I dropped the friendly façade.
"Understanding is very different than agreement when it comes to an argument of ethics, Doctor," I could see the chill run through the man as I gazed deep into his eyes, "I am an outsider. The way I view the world is vastly different than the townsfolk that live here, and even yourself. However, nothing that I know can properly excuse your actions, not ethically."
The man visibly began to panic. I could see the words rushing through his brain, trying desperately to find the golden words that would make this mess go away. He wouldn't find those words, of course. Things like this aren't easily brushed under the rug for too longy. Someone always fucked up, and someone's head always ends up on a pike. I paused to let the man panic for a while before I spoke, letting the man sweat for a bit.
"Are you a moral man, Master Gram?" I steepled my fingers on the legs that I had crossed, back straight. To a man like Master Gram, I must be the one of the most intimidating men he's has probably ever had to face, at least in this moment. Which is sad in a way, because I am a small fry when it comes to intimidating people. Mayer could have probably made the man wet himself by now.
"I– I believe so, Master Maximilian."
"Then you are wrong, Master Gram." I said stonily. The middle-aged man's face contorted in fear for a split second before I continued.
"You are a grave robber and a corpse thief. A moral man will never even think of doing such a depraved thing. Exhuming a corpse that has been laid to rest in the comfort of the soils?" Words sprouted from my mouth while I stared into the man's eyes. They were words that spoke directly to the man's guilty conscience. It was so obvious, in fact, that I swear that I could feel his guilt myself. "So, I ask again, Master Gram. Are you a moral man?"
I let the words hang in the air as I stared into the man's eyes. I saw more panic, which quickly became what I almost suspected was anger. I don't know whether it was at himself, me or maybe even the corpse that laid on that table. But it soon quelled into resignation and sadness.
"No, I am not Master Maximilian." He spoke the words in almost a whisper.
"Good. Then at least you understand that much. However, Master Gram, do you believe yourself just?" The man's eyes flickered up to mine, and without a second's thought, he spoke.
"Yes, yes I do." I smiled.
"I am of a similar mind to you, in that fashion. I am aware of the heights that medical understanding and technologies, and possibly even shifting, can take us. Within a mere lifetime I've seen wonderous developments begin in the most unlikely of places, or possibly even with the darkest of depravities." I stared into his eyes, trying to convey the gravity of what I meant by the 'darkest of depravities'.
What I meant of course, was the human experimentation done by Nazi doctors during the Second World War. While the information gained from the torture—that Nazis wrote down in books and called science—may be questionable, the data there was pertinent enough to at least have a moral argument about using it after the fact. Historically and scientifically disputed as it may be, it found its way home in Master Gram's heart. As Master Gram looked me in the eyes, I knew that he had something come to mind as I talked about atrocities.
Good to know that there are downright terrible people everywhere. Very homely.
"Now, let's speak of what we shall do about this." I stood up, lightly brushing myself off for effect, and moving over to the body that lay on the table, quickly examining it. It was the corpse of a young man, probably not even thirty—although death seems to have an aging effect. The body was somewhat damaged, probably from being buried for a few days, but was in otherwise reasonable condition. The doctor hadn't actually started a procedure yet but was likely in the process of cleaning the body as best as he could.
"Why have you taken this specific body, Master Gram?" The man paced up to the other side of the table and stood across from me.
"Derno was his name. He became ill quite suddenly and before long, he died. I cannot tell what it was that he had contracted or developed, but he started getting many sores that wouldn't heal on his back." Master Gram rolled the body onto its side displaying gaping wounds that had been filled with dirt and other grime. For some reason, I didn't feel any revulsion at all. I know that I would have when I was back on earth, but right now I was starting right into those dirt filled holes without a hint of a gag or thought of looking away.
"Quite nasty," Not letting emotion into my voice, "Did you try to convince the family to give you the body for your testing?" The ensuing silence was answer enough.
"Have you ever tried to convince someone of this idea before?" The man nodded, but with a grim look on his face.
"It was a bad idea. I think if they hadn't told me to leave and never come back that day, I could have been thrown out of the town for it. It's an extremely touchy subject, Master Maximilian." I nodded, understanding but with an eyebrow raised.
"This wouldn't have happened to be right after the person had died, would it, Doctor?" His face went through a few emotions before he nodded ashamedly.
"Not the best at bedside manners, it seems. They may be extremely resistant to the idea in the first place Doctor, don't get me wrong. But they are also capable of changing their ideas and opinions like anyone else. However, right after a loved one has died is not when they are going to do so. You and I think of this process in a very different light than they think of this. They think of this as a sort of sacrilege, where you brutally chop up their loved one's body and defile their remains. You have to convince them that this is not the case, and that there is merit to what you are doing. Something that this," I gestured to the body lying on the table, "does nothing but hurt. The moment that this is found out, they will have your head." I walked back over to the stool that I had pulled out and sat on it again, assuming my earlier pose.
"I think it is possible that I could help you in this regard, Doctor." Master Gram's eye opened wide with shock, but then narrowed with trepidation.
"Why would you possibly choose to do that? Your reputation could be irreversibly harmed through doing something like this, and you are currently the town's bona fide Lord. Or at least the nephew of the Lord." I laughed but kept it short.
"Maybe so, but I came here today for something and while it might not be what I wanted, I think I got an alternative that was possibly better." I grinned a wide, devilish grin. The man across from me gave a nervous one in return, I laughed deeply and got up and patted the man on the shoulder in a friendly way before I gripped onto his shoulder firmly and let my joviality drop away to seriousness.
"I advise you, Michael, to get rid of that body as soon as you are done with it. It would serve you well to never do this again. Clear?" If the usage of his first name bothered him, he definitely didn't let it show. He nodded tersely and I nodded back without further fuss.
"I'll leave you to your devices, Gram. I will be back later today to speak with you more about acquiring bodies for proper post-mortems." I didn't state explicitly that I was setting somewhat of a deadline, but I think it was made pretty obvious anyways.
"Good day, Gram."
"Good day, Master Maximilian."
I turned, opened the door and walked out without a hitch in my stride. I was, however, careful to move through the doorway in such a way to block the view of the insides and closed the door immediately after exiting, which turned out to be an idea that I was extremely grateful for.
"Hello." A small voice said from the hallway beside me. I casually turned, not frightened by the voice like I swear that I should have been. There was a small girl, standing there. Black hair that was likely the same colour as her father's, before his had well and truly become various shades of grey. Her frame was extremely slight, so much so that you'd think that she was maybe only ten or so years old, but with one look into her eyes, you could tell that she was older. Maybe Rethi's age, maybe even a bit older than that.
"Good morning. My name is Maximilian." I said, regarding her professionally. I sensed that it was the best way to address her.
"I know who you are, your name is the talk of the town Maximilian. My name is Alena." She smiled gently, but also didn't use the title. An issue with authority it is then. That is when a thought hit my mind.
"Do you happen to know Rethi all that well? I believe he mentioned you at one point." Her face lit up with recognition.
"I do, he is here quite often looking for treatments for his mother. How do you know him?" And I laughed, politely of course.
"Seems that you aren't entirely informed then. He is currently employed under me." Her eyes shot up in surprise, it looked a little comical on her small face, but I saw the apprehension set in on her features.
"He is just in the other room, if you'd like to come talk with him?" I asked, pretending to not see the mix of emotions of the young girl's face. Maybe hearing that a friend was someone's servant wasn't exactly a pleasant thought.
I strode out to the storefront area to see Rethi standing diligently behind the counter, awaiting any customer that might come in.
"Rethi!" Alena said loudly. Not quite a shout, but also not a normal tone of voice. She rushed past me, quickly pulling on Rethi, who looked shocked, but seemed compliant enough to her will. I chuckled to myself quietly. Seems like this little girl might be a bit of a storm in a bottle.
I strode past the two who had huddled themselves in the corner, quietly whispering to each other, Alena with a look of worry and anger on her face and Rethi with a look of utter bewilderment.
I opened the flap at the side of the counter and made my way to the door, and as I opened the door the bells jingled. I saw Rethi's gaze move to me and I smiled impishly and mouthed, "Good luck." He scowled and I laughed a little too loudly, causing Alena's gaze being turned to focus on me. I grinned at her, probably infuriating her all the more and left the storefront and into the street, walking slowly down the path to Mayer's home.
It took probably 10 minutes for the boy to finally catch up to me, with a slightly depressed and bewildered look on his face, but I left him alone. I had a sneaking suspicion that at least one of the two had romantic inclinations towards the other. This wasn't really something I wanted to chime in on all that much, especially without the express request from Rethi himself.
Ah, young love.