Chapter 351 Shadowless Syndrome <TOC> Chapter 353 Strange Details
Translator: SumTLMan
In the hall of Ward No. 0, Caroline was still trying to get information about Angel’s identity from Leonrique, but Leonrique did not fall for it. As a result, Caroline became even more curious about Angel’s identity.
Upon entering the Shadowless Syndrome ward, everyone fell silent.
In every room of the ward, there was a patient with Shadowless Syndrome. The vast majority were in the late stages, with minimal brain activity. They could only cling to life with external support, and there was nothing that could be done. Their silence also expressed their feelings in the face of such an incurable disease.
After walking for a while, Angel faintly heard someone crying. He immediately headed towards the room where the crying was coming from. The others looked at him, unsure if they should follow. Leonrique, however, immediately said, “Follow him.”
It seemed that it was indeed the young man who had suggested coming to the Shadowless Syndrome ward.
Caroline glanced at Tyrell, whose face had become even colder. She whispered, “Don’t make it difficult for Leonrique.”
Tyrell nodded, “I know my limits.”
Angel stood at the doorway of a room, where someone was sobbing softly. He gently pushed the door open, seemingly startling the person on the bed, who turned her head abruptly to see a man with peculiar clothing and an obscured face standing in the doorway.
“Who… are you?” A timid voice came from her.
Angel noticed that she was a beautiful young girl with golden curly hair and blue eyes. However, she now wore a gray-white patient gown and looked somewhat haggard.
Angel didn’t respond, but stepped inside. By the moonlight coming through the window, he glanced at the floor and saw that the girl had no shadow.
“When did your shadow disappear?” Angel asked.
The soft, faint voice caused the tearful girl’s eyes to move, “Are you a doctor? Can I… be saved?”
“Are you a doctor too?” At the same time, an aged voice came from behind. The speaker was Tyrell, who had also entered the room with the others.
Angel did not turn his head, but continued to look at the girl.
Tyrell’s expression darkened. Was he being ignored? He had merely asked a very ordinary question.
Although Caroline also felt that Angel was being a bit impolite, she had some minor complaints about her old friend Tyrell. His question was ordinary, but his sudden interruption was inappropriate. Moreover, his sarcastic tone asking “Are you a doctor too?” carried a sense of superiority as a national treasure-level physician. It was understandable that others would not want to answer.
“Dr. Tyrell, didn’t you say you had some ideas about treating Magda and wanted to see the patients?” Leonrique whispered.
Tyrell turned his head, looking emotionless at Leonrique, “Are you questioning me, or are you trying to rush me out?”
Leonrique gave a dry laugh, “Of course not, I’m just… concerned about my daughter.”
The girl in the room seemed to sense that the atmosphere was a bit off. She became even more frightened, retreating to the corner of the bed and trembling with a pure white cup in her hands.
At this moment, Hedrick stepped forward to answer on behalf of the girl, “Sir, she is the hundredth patient diagnosed with Shadowless Syndrome and was only confirmed a few days ago.”
“When did she regain consciousness?” Angel asked.
“The day after she lost her shadow.”
Angel: “What happened when she lost her shadow?”
Hedrick: “She was originally a family member of a patient in the hospital. At that time, her husband was the one who was sick, and she was taking care of him in the ward. While caring for him, she suddenly fainted, and it was confirmed that she had Shadowless Syndrome.”
“Was there anything else? Did it happen at night?”
Hedrick thought for a moment, “Her husband said nothing else happened.”
At this time, Leonrique approached, “That’s right, it was at night, and I was also at the hospital that day.”
Hedrick nodded and quickly flattered, “Indeed, the Count even came to visit the patients and their families that night.”
Angel turned to Leonrique, “Did you see anything that night?”
Leonrique knew Angel was asking if he had seen the “little dark shadow.”
He shook his head and then nodded, “I’m not sure. At that time, I was in Magda’s ward. I remember the moon was very round and big that night, and the wind was strong. The shadows of the trees outside the window swayed like ghostly figures. I seemed to have seen something flash by, but it might have been an illusion.”
The others had no idea what Leonrique was talking about. What exactly did you see?
But Angel understood and nodded, “Was Magda sick that day?”
Leonrique showed a slightly embarrassed expression on his face and whispered, “That was the day the Count arrived in Watthelmgrass.”
Upon hearing Leonrique’s words, Angel understood that it was probably the aftermath of his “Silencing” spell.
However, the moon was indeed very round that night, just as Leonrique had described. That evening, Angel had visited the magician… Angel’s eyes narrowed slightly. Could it be related to the magician? After some thought, Angel temporarily dismissed this possibility, as the magician’s abilities were too insignificant to cause such an incident.
“Let’s go. I want to check the other wards,” Angel stood up, glanced at the girl who was still shivering on the bed, and sighed softly.
As he passed by Tyrell, Angel heard a cold snort. He glanced sideways at him but said nothing.
While heading to the wards of other Shadowless Syndrome patients, Angel learned something. After losing their shadows, these people would go through a long period before turning into a living dead state. During this time, their language abilities, expression, and emotions would gradually deteriorate, but the duration varied. Sometimes it was long, as some individuals could maintain a normal life for half a year; sometimes it was short, as some would lose their language abilities on the third day after losing their shadows.
No matter how long the “normal period” lasted, the ultimate outcome was still becoming a “living dead.”
Angel visited several wards, with both male and female patients, some who could still talk and express themselves, and others who had already become living dead.
In these patients’ rooms, Angel did not detect any energy fluctuations. There was nothing unusual about the bodies and souls of the people. Even those who had become living dead still had their souls attached to their bodies, albeit stagnant like still water. Angel had never studied soul-based magic, so he could not detect anything regarding the souls.
However, Angel did notice something peculiar.
“Did all these people lose their shadows at night?” Angel asked.
Hedrick nodded, “Yes, not only that, but all of them are between the ages of 12 and 40. There are no very young children nor elderly people.”
Angel chuckled softly, “Age range might not be the correct answer.”
The others did not understand the meaning of his words, and Tyrell muttered, “Mysterious nonsense.”
As Angel walked along, he no longer bothered to push open the doors of the wards; instead, he used his mental power to enter each room and took a quick look before moving on.
In the end, they all gathered in the room of the first patient.
After pushing open the door, Angel glanced at the young man lying on the bed with his eyes tightly closed, his body thin and emaciated, and whispered, “I thought as much.”
Tyrell had followed this young master all night, and his cryptic behavior had been extremely irritating. However, when he heard Angel say ‘I thought as much,’ as a doctor, he also wanted to treat these patients, so he suppressed his discomfort and asked, “What did you find?”
This was the second time Tyrell had asked him a question. Angel had not answered the first time because he did not want to reply to an interruption. This time, Tyrell came up to him, and Angel did not want to make the situation awkward, so he shrugged, “Nothing much, just an interesting detail.”
“An interesting detail?” The others did not understand his meaning.
At this moment, Tyrell approached, “What detail? Can it save him?”
“Save him?” Angel glanced at Leonrique, “I never said I was here to save anyone. I came here purely out of curiosity.”
“Curiosity?!” Tyrell’s eyes widened, as he had suspected this situation before, but he did not expect it to be true! “Do you know that you are disrespecting the sanctity of medicine?!”
Angel looked at the suddenly angry Tyrell, somewhat bewildered, “Without curiosity, would there be medicine?”
Curiosity is the reason humans have developed to such heights. Without curiosity, would one simply wait for death like a salted fish for a lifetime? In that case, nothing would ultimately be accomplished.
“Making excuses.” Tyrell pointed at Angel’s nose, “Just to satisfy your curiosity, do you know what you’ve done? You made Hedrick leave the consultation, interrupted the entire discussion, and delayed Magda’s treatment! Just to satisfy your curiosity, we’ve been following you around for an hour?!”
This was the first time Angel had been scolded with a finger pointed at his nose, but he didn’t get angry; instead, he found it somewhat amusing.
At that moment, Leonrique looked worriedly at Angel, but when he saw that Angel wasn’t angry, he felt relieved. He stepped forward, “Doctor Tyrell, you said you had an idea for treating Magda and came to the Shadowless Syndrome ward to verify it, so it’s not that we asked you to leave the consultation. Apart from you, there’s also Doctor Caroline; both of you chose to follow us here. What does this have to do with Lord Mask? Don’t be unreasonable; it’s more important to find a solution now.”
Leonrique’s blunt accusation towards the two national treasure-level doctors made them both lose face.
Caroline, who originally just wanted to stop Tyrell from losing his temper, also found herself in the line of fire.
“Lord Mask? Is that his moniker?” Tyrell turned to Leonrique, “Tell me, who is he? Why did his arrival delay the entire medical school’s consultation progress? How much authority does he have? Even if he’s a royal noble, he can’t disregard the patients’ wellbeing and desecrate the sanctity of the medical school just because of his personal curiosity!”
Tyrell’s words were righteous, and if Angel were an ordinary person or even a royal, his accusations would be justified. However, Angel was an extraordinary individual, the one who Leonrique believed could truly solve the Shadowless Syndrome problem.
Leonrique didn’t know how to respond. Without Angel’s consent, he didn’t dare reveal his identity.
Leonrique’s hesitation made Tyrell feel even more self-righteous.
He pointed at Angel, unyielding, “Get out of here right now! No matter how influential you are, you can’t throw your weight around in the field of medicine!”
As soon as Tyrell finished speaking, Leonrique’s heart leaped with fear, and cold sweat broke out.
When he defended Angel earlier, accusing Tyrell and even Caroline, he actually had their protection in mind. He was afraid that Angel would get angry, and then, not only would they be in trouble, but he would also have to face the consequences.
But now, Tyrell was openly cursing, and did he know who he was cursing at?!
There was a moment of silence in the room. Leonrique shakily turned his head to look at Angel, praying silently in his heart, hoping that he wouldn’t get angry… but was that possible?
Chapter 351 Shadowless Syndrome <TOC> Chapter 353 Strange Details