"I was very annoyed by the pain and how the gauze stuck to the scrape," Mattheus started bullshitting. "I just… wanted it to heal, I guess? And then I saw a bit of silver in the air through the mirror. After, I found the pain gone, and a check showed the scrape was also gone."
Mattheus shrugged a bit helplessly, only half-feigning his ignorance over his new healing magic.
Edgar frowned in thought to the point his brows furrowed. He turned to his friend. "Ill, do you know of anything similar happening before?"
Illarion Snowe just gave the older Crown a look, a groomed brow silently hiking up. "I am not a Professor either, Edgar. This is why I recommend he stay here. Where the experts are and the university only a few hours away by train."
It only took a few more minutes before Edgar was convinced to at least hold off sending Mattheus back home for now, which Mattheus took as a win.
Unfortunately, Baron Endlewood would be called for again because of his expertise. So Mattheus had that to look forward to tomorrow.
…
"Professor Crown! What's this I hear about healing?" Baron Endlewood practically barrelled in with his pince-nez askew. He was visibly excited by the mystery Mattheus presented.
Mattheus was frankly unsurprised at the middle-aged man's "passionate" eyes, considering how reluctant Endlewood was yesterday over leaving without discovering what exactly the change of Color entailed (outside the fact it wasn't dangerous).
Unfortunately, Edgar had his duties to keep him away, so it was only Mattheus and two of the staff accompanying him in this appointment. The first was the butler of the manor, Roland, an older gentleman with salt-and-pepper hair. The other was the valet—Mattheus's valet—Vincent.
It meant it was up to Mattheus to hopefully keep himself from being a full-on experimental subject.
He knew these types like Baron Endlewood. The way the Baron had been perfectly mild until the readings of the machine and change of Color revealed the madman within. A person full of passion for something was one to be wary of—especially if their madness was aimed toward Mattheus himself.
Roland cleared his throat. "Do you want some tea, Doctor Endlewood?"
The bespectacled Endlewood snapped out of his fervor at the question, and Mattheus threw the butler a grateful look as the older aristocrat replied. "Oh? Oh, yes, please get me something a bit strong, Roland. I got a call last night because of the Duchess's new cat. Was taking a nap before I got the message from Lord Edgar."
"We could postpone the visit—" Mattheus started.
"Goodness! What for? I was upset I fell asleep and didn't get the message sooner, Professor!"
Mattheus could only laugh a little helplessly inside. Outwardly, he asked. "Am I a professor?"
The body was only nineteen. It was a bit young to be a professor.
The question seemed to remind Baron Endlewood of the circumstances since he sobered up just the slightest bit. Recalling his manners rather than staying caught up with the idea of research. "Right. I forgot the side-effect of amnesia. Yes, you are the youngest Associate Professor in history. Earl Crown of course beat you to youngest Assistant Professor by a year, but you beat his record for Associate by a year in return! You left the university a year ago but you are still one of academia's brightest stars."
Mattheus blinked.
"A bit of memory loss won't hold you back," Endlewood sounded pretty sure as he continued. "I mean, look! You managed to heal yourself!"
"Mm. Yes, I suppose so." Mattheus frowned, then divulged, "I understand this is a new… Color, at least with no obvious cases similar to mine, and you are someone who specializes in this subject. But I am not sure what my brother wants from this appointment?"
"Thank you, Roland," Baron Endlewood said as he received his strong black tea before replying to Mattheus. "I will run the same tests as yesterday, to see if anything has changed first. Then we will go through a more comprehensive battery of tests which I will record a copy of for your father. After making sure this new ability of yours will not harm you, we will try it out. This will not be a short process, as science always tends to be, so I will visit over the week."
"Yes, of course. You are a busy man, after all." Mattheus understood.
He was unsurprised when the Baron looked a bit sad he couldn't research a fascinating case without being distracted by other duties.
"Is there anything we need to arrange, Doctor Endlewood?" Roland asked.
Mattheus leaned back, mentally plotting to himself. Considering his healing magic actually needed other living beings to show its true ability, he wondered if he could use that as an excuse to leave the property. Normally, it would be unethical to experiment on another human. But since Mattheus was apparently a well-known academic, and if the setting was controlled and done with consent…
…
It took a few days with Mattheus being a model guinea pig and giving his own suggestions before an opportunity presented itself.
With his healing magic clearly showing results with little side-effects, it was quickly agreed that visiting a hospital wouldn't be unethical. Especially since Mattheus crammed all the available medical texts in that time, to further reassure the professionals.
The people in his old world in medical school would throw hands if they heard how he managed to pass the theoretical exam required to be a medical intern just by pulling a few all-nighters.
Honestly though, half of it was a review of high school biology. Some of what he read were also already proven wrong in his old world. So, in a way, a well-learned modern person who studied well could pull off what he did too.
Theo had only graduated a few months before, so his brain was still wired to study. That also included the passive buffs he received as a Dedicated Student.
At least Mattheus was slightly reassured by the ethics in this world (or at least within the country of New Albion). He would have been disappointed if they just let him interact with patients without making sure he had an idea of what he was doing. Furthermore, he was still supervised by two doctors and Baron Endlewood since his knowledge was just theoretical and he'd only worked on animals beforehand.
"Simply fascinating!" one of the medical doctors murmured as they checked the healed lungs of the latest patient.
Mattheus, having patiently spent most of the day at the hospital dealing with increasingly complicated and varied cases, finally found the opportunity he was waiting for as everyone crowded around the patient or machines.
The only one that spotted Mattheus sneakily leaving the private room was the middle-aged patient himself, who thankfully did not point out Mattheus leaving to the doctors.
A few minutes later, Mattheus sighed.
Free at last.
A few blocks from the Royal Hospital, the young man checked the street sign nearest him in an attempt to orientate himself, before walking to a public coach.
He was on a tight schedule, considering the sun would set soon, leaving him only a few hours before he had to return else Edgar sent out another search party.
Thankfully, the neighborhood the System directed him to was nearby, when he asked the coachman how long it'd take to drive him there.
Getting onto the coach, Mattheus leaned back and surreptitiously pulled up the System and the Quest Menu interface. The quest to find Brunilda was fairly sparse of information and he figured would only update once he arrived at Herald Court.
Internally, he hoped the System wasn't going to lead him through a wild goose chase considering his rather tight time constraints.
"We're here, sir."
"Thank you. Have a good evening." Mattheus flipped a coin to the coachman and got off.
He absentmindedly registered the driver return the sentiment as he heard a faint chime and saw the quest update.
[Head toward the station.]
Mattheus frowned slightly but moved his feet when he saw the timer start counting down.
He had looked up maps of the area in his research so knew about the rather large train station nearby. It was similar to Grand Central Station back in his world, from what he could gather, having train lines that went all over the country and even some to neighboring ones.
The man just really hoped the System wasn't setting him up to get on a train to leave the Capital when he had to reveal his healing ability to stay.
'I mean, I would do it if that's really where it's leading me, but it's still inconvenient.'
Finding an ally he knew he could trust in this new world was top priority at this point. He… would figure out things with the Crowns after if he really had to get on a train.
Mattheus had the menu pulled up and moved off to the side, so was immediately able to see the next step as it updated again, shortly before he truly entered the station itself.
[Locate and greet Duchess Sophily Morgaine.]
… Was that the person Brunilda took over?