How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom: Volume 1

“Well, in some ways, I can’t blame you,” I said. “The concept of hygiene doesn’t exist yet in this country. In fact, only two of the medical professionals I’ve met with understood it.”

I think I’ve mentioned before that because this country had magic, its technology was sort of all over the place. Well, that was true in the field of medicine, as well.

As you might expect from a fantasy world, this place had what was called recovery magic. By converting magic into certain wavelengths within the body, it heightened the body’s natural healing ability. It was effective in treating external injuries, such as scratches, cuts, and bruises. Really impressive practitioners could even reattach an arm that had just been severed.

If this was all someone saw of it, it would seem like a miracle.

On the other hand, recovery magic couldn’t treat viruses and infections that the body’s natural ability to recover couldn’t. All people had to lessen the symptoms of those were medicine men and women who could brew herbal remedies. Furthermore, for the elderly, whose natural healing ability had declined, it wasn’t effective in treating external injuries, either.

Once you know how something works, it might be easy to think, “Oh, that’s simple,” but most people in this country didn’t even know about microbes, let alone viruses. When people try to find answers to questions they don’t have the necessary knowledge to answer, they’re prone to finding answers that fall within what’s common sense to them.

“Healing magic doesn’t work” would equate to “Even miracles can’t cure it,” and then turn into “It’s a devil’s curse.”

People put together these sorts of formulas in their heads, then end up using bizarre occult goods in their attempts to treat the illness.

“If you buy this pot, you’ll never get sick” actually worked as a sales pitch in this world, so it was nothing to laugh at. If you’re going to buy something like that, you might as well wrap a leek around your neck before you go to sleep instead.

However, there were buds of hope. The two doctors I just mentioned. If I could have those two lead a reformation of medical practice in this country…

“Hey, Souma, what are you mumbling to yourself for?” Liscia’s voice snapped me back to reality.

“Sorry,” I said. “I got to thinking for a moment there.”

“Geez… Okay, so what did you mean when you said you nationalized garbage disposal?”

“Exactly what it sounds like,” I said. “Liscia, do you know how trash is generally disposed of in this country?”

“Garbage is sorted into ‘burnable’ and ‘non-burnable,’ then burned or buried accordingly, right?”

“Wow, you were able to answer that pretty easily,” I said.

“Did you think I was ignorant of the peoples’ lives just because I’m royalty? Don’t insult me. I lived in the dorms when I went to military academy, I’ll have you know,” she said indignantly.

I see. So she’s not as ignorant of the world as I thought…

“But you’re still wrong.”

“Huh?” she asked.

“I said ‘generally,’ didn’t I? Your answer is still only representative of upper class thinking. It’s a world away from the common way of thinking.”

“W-Well, what is the common way of thinking about it, then?” she asked.

“Aisha, how do your people dispose of garbage in the God-Protected Forest?” I queried.

“Hm? Garbage?” Aisha’s eyes went a little wide when I suddenly turned the conversation to her, but she was able to come up with an answer right away. “Let me think… We burn it.”

“Is that all?” I asked.

“That is all.”

“That can’t be right! What do you do about the things that won’t burn?!” Liscia objected, but Aisha just stared blankly back at her.

“Would you even throw out things that aren’t burnable to begin with?” Aisha asked.

“Of course you would! What else would you do with broken tools?” Liscia demanded.

“We fix them and keep using them.”

“…Huh?”

“We use kitchen waste as fertilizer. With pottery that is too broken to repair, we break it into fine pieces and scatter it over the ground. If metal tools break, we fix them so they can be used again. If they can’t be fixed, we sell them to a used metal dealer.” (A type of merchant who collects scrap metal.) “The only things we throw out are splintered wood and damaged leather armor, but… we burn those in our campfires.”

This time, it was Liscia’s turn for wide-eyed surprise. I couldn’t help but laugh a little at their exchange.

“Ha ha! Aisha’s got it right this time.”

“Soumaaaa…” Liscia moaned.