30 – Cure the Skin Disease Sweeping the Village!
Cotton grew increasingly fearful of the worsening skin flakes.
He began to wonder if something was wrong, thinking, ‘I never had this itch before, and it’s getting worse.’
Flakes started appearing all over his body.
“Dear, could it be a curse?”
“It’s strange. I haven’t encountered demons or black magic users…”
“Oh, look at your skin. Stop fussing and go see Doctor Cheolsu! They say he’s amazing at curing curses.”
“Hmm… Could it be that serious?”
“Just to be sure!”
Pushed by his wife, Cotton eventually ended up at Doctor Kim Cheolsu’s clinic.
Surprisingly, there were many other villagers in the waiting room of Kim Cheolsu’s clinic, not just Cotton. Like him, they had lots of red dandruff-like flakes on their bodies, and some were in severe pain.
“Even Cotton?”
“Uh… Peter, you seem to have similar symptoms as me.”
“Tsk! These flakes used to be tiny. But they kept growing when left alone. Could it be that some crazy black magic user cursed our village?”
“Hmm… Makes sense. Should we investigate the black magic user and maybe hunt them down…”
In this era, illnesses are often thought to be the result of demonic curses.
Could it be that this time a black magic user, not a demon, cast a curse?
Since killing a magician usually dispels their magic, Cotton the carpenter and Peter the lumberjack seriously contemplated this.
Of course, even though there was no black magic user in Count Roland’s estate!
Some were praying earnestly, drawing a cross, asking to get rid of this strange keratin.
“Next, please!”
Amidst the confusion, Catherine’s cheerful voice echoed.
Catherine was managing the patient waiting room, guiding patients into the examination room.
Since it was Peter’s turn, he nodded slightly to Cotton and got up from his seat.
“I’ll be back.”
From Noble mtl dot com
“Got it.”
—
‘What a mess!’
I felt terror.
All the patients I saw today had similar symptoms.
Is it contagious!?
They all had keratin on their bodies, and only after examining Lumberjack Peter could I be sure of the disease.
‘Ah, this is psoriasis.’
I had confused it with eczema and dry skin before.
Psoriasis.
Eczema can cause raised bumps, while psoriasis results in thickened keratin and rashes, which was the case with Peter.
Thankfully, it wasn’t a contagious disease. Phew, I almost had to work overtime today.
I breathed a sigh of relief and said to Peter, “Phew… Peter, this is psoriasis, right?”
Psoriasis.
A chronic disease with recurring flare-ups and remissions.
Difficult to cure, it requires consistent management to prevent relapses.
“It’s not a curse, it’s a disease, a skin disease. Have you been bathing a lot lately?”
“I do it about three times a day.”
“Three times?”
It’s not even summer, why bathe so much!
I distinctly remember advising the maids to bathe every other day when Peter was bathing excessively.
He had misunderstood something.
“Do you know, Cheolsu? Bathing is good for the skin. Some people bathe seven times a day. The more you bathe, the better your skin gets.”
“Seven, seven times?”
“Yeah. I need to step up my game. Bathing frequency affects self-esteem, haha!”
I had a hunch.
The rumor had spread!
Count Roland’s villagers were competing in daily bathing frequencies.
Even if Peter didn’t say it outright, he was subtly ranking them.
It’s chaotic.
If you bathe too much, the sebum that protects your skin is stripped away, making it easier to get skin diseases.
Sebum is like armor that covers the skin and protects it, just like armor on the battlefield. It’s not a good idea to take off your armor and get shot with arrows and die.
That’s exactly how the people of Lord Roland are right now.
The cause of psoriasis hasn’t been properly identified here, but frequent bathing is often considered a cause.
“…Reduce the number of baths. Once every two days! You got it because you bathed too often.”
“Huh..? Wasn’t it good for your skin to bathe frequently?”
“You have to do everything in moderation! There’s nothing good about going overboard. You need to bathe regularly and moderately.”
“Really..? Maybe I shouldn’t bathe at all.”
“Oh my, I said do it in moderation.”
Managing your health is always so demanding and difficult.
Even I, who consider myself an expert, had a hard time with frequent skin diseases when I used to go to the hospital because of frequent bathing.
“You have to do it in moderation. What can you do? This is how the human body is.”
By the way, honestly, I hope I can eat a lot of beer-chicken-pizza-jajangmyeon-tang-fried rice and still be healthy!
It’s just that my blood vessels and insulin are acting up, damn it.
But if you consistently manage your health, it’s okay to indulge once in a while.
Like occasionally forgetting to apply lotion or eating a lot of delivery food, as I mentioned earlier.
As long as it’s a moderate indulgence, it won’t ruin your body.
After emphasizing once again to Peter to bathe in moderation, I gave him some lotion.
“From now on, make sure to apply lotion after bathing.”
“Uh.. Okay.”
Peter accepted the lotion with a somewhat disappointed expression.
He wouldn’t think that bathing frequency is a competition, right?
But after Peter left, other people in the village were all the same!
Patients who bathed more than five times a day had proud expressions, while those who bathed only once a day had regretful expressions.
“Remember, bathe once every two days. Apply lotion after bathing!”
I corrected the mistake!
Finally, after giving lotion to Carpenter Cotton, the examination was over.
I felt uneasy.
“Most of the people in the village seem to be like this. Aren’t there any psoriasis patients who didn’t come to the clinic?”
Fortunately, psoriasis is not a contagious disease.
It doesn’t require isolation treatment like cold or flu, but I thought I should take preventive measures.
* * * *
I conducted an inspection of the village.
Just in case, to see if there were any patients with psoriasis who didn’t come to the clinic.
This time, I ordered Ma Boi to bring a lot of lotion, but Ma Boi had a dark complexion.
“They say if you breathe outside air too often, you’re more likely to be cursed.”
Shrine Hikikomori Ma Boi becomes extremely negative when exposed to unfamiliar environments!
“Just endure it a little since you’re treating patients, Ma Boi.”
“How long do I have to work?”
“I’ll send you off once I finish distributing the lotion. Don’t worry.”
“Sigh, I hope you send me off before I get cursed.”
“Of course.”
I didn’t ask where the curse was because I had never directly witnessed one, so I let it pass.
Once, I asked my fellow warrior, Lara, if curses were real. She started telling me such mythical stories that it left me dumbfounded.
Well, I guess they must exist.
Since there are demons too.
I’m somewhat skeptical.
You have to have seen a curse in your lifetime. I should ask Mateo later if he knows anything about curse magic.
Anyway, I went around the village distributing lotion like crazy.
Sure enough, there were many people in the village who had eczema but hadn’t visited the clinic.
I educated each of them on how to manage eczema!
“After bathing, apply lotion. Dryness isn’t good for eczema. Drink water frequently, and make sure to ventilate once a day.”
“Oh my, so it wasn’t a curse that my husband was suffering from, but this eczema thing?”
“Yes, that’s correct. Madam.”
It was Mrs. Cotton.
It’s good for families to know about health care, not just the patients.
Because family members can fall ill at any time too.
Mrs. Cotton seemed relieved by my words.
She seemed very worried about Cotton.
After educating Mrs. Cotton, I went around the entire village distributing lotion and educating them again.
Only then did I send off Mr. Malboi.
“I feel like negative energy is approaching me. I’ll leave now, Brother Kim Cheolsoo!”
“Be careful not to slip on the slippery floor!”
“Haha! I will!”
Talking about negative energy and all, Mr. Malboi’s face was flushed with excitement.
He must have been in a good mood at the thought of leaving work!
He just wanted to go home.
“He’s quite a funny guy.”
When you see Mr. Malboi, you won’t be bored.
I watched Mr. Malboi run happily toward the temple and shook my head.
Lastly, I went to ‘Room 1♡’.
It’s our clinic’s only ward where Daisy, our inpatient, is located!
I have to check on everyone.
I opened the door to Room 1 and entered.
Daisy seemed to have known I was coming in advance, as she was staring at the door, and somehow, her gaze felt eerie.
She coughed nervously and averted her eyes as soon as she saw me.
“Ahem, you’re making an unexpected visit today.”
“Oh.. there’s a lot of eczema in the village right now. I came to see if Daisy is okay.”
“Is it psoriasis?”
“Think of it as a skin condition. Haha.”
“Is that so..”
I explained psoriasis to Daisy and checked her skin.
Daisy flinched! But carefully rolled up her sleeve.
“So clean.”
Is it because she’s a warrior? Not a blemish in sight.
Instead, could I say her firm muscles were sporadically visible.
Daisy’s face turned as red as a persimmon.
“Are you feeling feverish?”
“Ah.. no, not at all.”
“Daisy, you don’t have a single skin issue~ Phew, stay healthy. I’ll leave you some lotion. Bathe every other day and apply the lotion.”
“Bathe every other day?”
“Yes.”
I even educated Daisy on health management.
No matter how much I educate, it’s never enough!
But Daisy’s expression turned perplexed.
“Eight times a day is not allowed..?”
“Whaat..? Of course not.”
“Ah.. Catherine Youngae holds the record for the most baths, I wanted to beat her.”
My head felt foggy.
A bath frequency competition, both Catherine and Daisy were partaking in.
Moreover, Catherine was the top scorer!