The OP Lich is a Returnee, Chapter 161

Chapter 161 – Teaching

Doctor Yanagi Naho smiled at her guests as they walked into the classroom. While it was not exactly common for major figures to want to visit the University of Tokyo Hospital, it wasn’t rare, either. What was rare, and what made this visit stand out, was that these guests didn’t want a tour of the hospital, or to have a photo op with some of the patients. Instead, they wanted to talk to the medical thaumaturgy students learning at the hospital, which was why they were in one of the classrooms, instead of in the hospital proper.

A tide of whispers rose as the class recognized who the guests were. “Class, we have special guests today, as I’m sure you’ve already guessed. And by the amount of whispers, I don’t doubt you already know at least one of them from the news. But, for formality’s sake, let me introduce you to Queen Akagawa Kaori of Risen Athelia, and Doctor Akagawa Eri, who recently received her doctorate in thaumaturgy from the University of Seattle, in the US.”

The two women stepped forward, and Naho was struck by how you could tell that the two were related, just by looking at them. However, if you didn’t know the truth, you would have thought that the woman who looked to be in her thirties was the older sister, or perhaps even a mother who had her first child just after high school. Instead, the woman who looked to be in her teens was the older sister with five decades separating their births!

The Lich Queen nodded graciously to her, and said, “Thank you, Yanagi-sensei, for this opportunity. And allow me to thank you all, as well, for seeing a world with magic, and deciding to take up the healing arts. It is a difficult, often thankless path, that rarely gets any true glory unless something truly horrific has happened, but it is an extremely necessary one when dealing with the living. Remember, the world will always pay more attention to those who can excel in sports, or dominate a battlefield, but to every person you bring back from the brink of death, and their loved ones, you are a rock star. Never allow yourselves to forget that.”

She paused to let that comment hang in the air for a moment, before continuing, “Thaumaturgy is one branch of magic, one I, myself, am learning, and my sister has already proven herself in. According to Yanagi-sensei, we have students of a variety of elements in this class, so I will not stray into specialized applications, but instead focus on the basics, that could be used by those of any element. I will also say that the techniques I am going to speak of are not replacements to the knowledge or skills you’ve already learned. Rather, they are supplements, each one adding to the tools you can use to aid your patients.

“A simple application of this would be by using a touch of Death magic to sterilize a room, or your instruments, or a wound. I need not tell you how dangerous infections can be to an already sick patient. You would not be here if you were ignorant of that fact. However, even before I was taken to the other world, hospitals were quite adept at reducing the risk of infections during surgery, so why would you need another level of sterilization?

“The answer is simple: the world does not move at the speed you wish it would, and so you must adapt to things as they happen, rather than simply saying that ‘this is how it should be’. For instance, say that in the middle of the evening rush, one of the trains, packed with people, derails. Hundreds of wounded, many of them critically, and needing immediate surgery to save their lives. They are taken to hospitals throughout Tokyo, to try and give as many of them as possible a chance, but there are too many. When following all the proper procedures, it can take thirty minutes from the time a patient enters the operating room until the surgery begins, hours for major surgery, and another forty-five minutes to clean the operating room for the next patient. All while more people are dying in triage.

“Now, how does Death magic help in this scenario? Well, the immediate benefit is in that forty-five-minute window between surgeries. With a bit of magic, you sterilize the room, the instruments, and everything, reducing the time between patients to what is needed to replace any supplies used. When prepping the patient, a touch of Death magic to the wound will clear out any infections already starting to take root. In the halls, Death magic can also clean the wounds of those waiting their turn for surgery, raising their chances of survival.

“Of course, not all of those who make it to a hospital can be saved. It is the nature of healers and doctors to fight against this fact, but all of you will have to accept it, at some point. There are some afflictions that even someone with my power cannot undo. Some patients are simply too far gone, even with advanced medicine, even with magic. Or perhaps they’ve been paralyzed below the neck, requiring machines to breathe for them? For those people, Death magic can offer a release from pain and suffering. A quick, painless end.”

The Lich Queen paused once more, and Naho saw that the entire class was hanging on her every word, as could be expected. “Now, those are applications of Death that could be used by anyone with a sufficient level of training, regardless of their element. The same methods can be used in addition to your normal procedures, as well, even when you aren’t dealing with a mass casualty event. For instance, if someone is especially at risk, due to immune deficiencies, this extra layer of protection can save lives. A surgery that was extremely risky suddenly becomes more manageable.”

She smiled, “And if we talk about Death magic in medicine, then we cannot forget Life, yes? The simplest, and yet most compelling use of Life magic in the operating room is, bluntly, forcing a patient to keep living, even through the most complicated surgery. Before magic came to this world, open heart surgery killed between two and sixteen percent of patients. With Life magic sustaining someone, that risk can be reduced substantially.

“Going back to the mass casualty event from before, how can Life magic aid you? Well, the first step is in triage. Not, as I am sure some of you expect, in just waving your hand and healing everyone, though I’ve seen some Life mages who could literally keep an entire army from dying in the midst of combat, so long as they had mana to burn, but instead just the simple things. Stabilizing those who are critically injured until a surgery bay is open reduces the numbers of those who die while waiting for treatment.

“More importantly, Life magic can be used in the triage process, itself. While it takes specialized training to diagnose a disease with magic, anyone with a base level of understanding can use Life magic to scan a patient for injuries, including broken bones or internal bleeding, even injuries that those patients might not have symptoms of right away. Or, more importantly, it may allow doctors to see that the patient with a punctured lung also has a bleed in their brain, even if they aren’t conscious enough to complain of symptoms. Just as one example.

“And when everyone is triaged and stabilized, Life magic can be used to clear out the simplest injuries, the ‘walking wounded’. Flesh wounds and the like can be healed in moments. Someone with basic training could set a broken bone, and use a bit of Life magic to heal it to the point where the patient wouldn’t need surgery. This clears out beds and rooms for those more critically injured, and saves resources, as well.”

The Lich Queen looked out at the audience. “And let us not forget the other elements. While Life and Death are the ones most people think of with the healing arts, the other elements can play a role in medicine, as well. One critical resource, when speaking of mass casualty events, is blood. Life magic can encourage a person’s body to produce more blood, but that does not replace all the blood that they’ve lost already. Water magic can be used, here, to reproduce the blood already flowing through someone’s veins, or to make one unit of blood do the work of four.

“Likewise, Fire can cauterize wounds, preventing patients from bleeding out. Earth can be used to immobilize an injured limb temporarily. Wind can keep a person breathing, even if their lung is collapsed. Shadow can phase an object into something incorporeal, allowing it to be safely removed from the body. And any scanner you have can be replicated with Light magic.

“All of this is possible, through magic. Thaumaturgical healing magic has, so far, focused on aspects of fine control, which is the discipline’s main strength. According to Yanagi-sensei, you already know how to use thaumaturgy as a scalpel, or to do precise, delicate work on the human body, things that would be too difficult for a normal human to accomplish. This lecture is to open your minds to the possibilities of what a mage’s abilities might add to what you already know. And, with that, I wish to pass the floor to this world’s foremost expert on translating between Thaumaturgy and the Arcanist’s path, my sister, Akagawa Eri. Eri?”

After the lecture was done, Naho walked up to the sisters. “Thank you for this, your Majesty, Doctor Akagawa. I think you’ve given these students, and the ones who will see the recording of this lesson later, much to think about.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, Yanagi-sensei,” the Lich Queen shook her head. “I might be an undead, but I have a deep respect for those who take up the healer’s mantle. Plus, Eri-chan is looking to make her mark in the world working at Phantomline, finding ways to combine Thaumaturgy and a Mage’s arts, so it was the perfect excuse to get her name out there.”

“Kaori! You don’t have to put it like that!” The younger Akagawa sighed, before looking at her. “But my ancient sister does have a point. I was thinking that medical magitech would be the best place to start my work, now that I’ve completed my academic studies. Especially with my training as both a Life Sorceress and Vitamancer.”

Naho nodded. “Vitamancer is the ‘Life Arcanist’ style, yes? The one that is closest to a Thaumaturge?”

“Correct,” Eri nodded. “The first thing I thought of, when I decided to pursue my path at Phantomline, was to see about creating a scanner using Life magic to help with diagnosing injuries. But since I’m not a medical doctor, I wanted to ask you what kind of device would be most useful?”

“Well, I am not an expert on magitech, understand, so I don’t know what is or is not possible, beyond what is already included in the hospitals. However, rather than something for hospital use, I think the most useful thing would be supplies for first responders.”

The Lich Queen nodded. “While healing potions were a thing in the other world, I have held off on introducing Alchemy to this world, since it is a less precise practice than chemistry, and more prone to explosive results when experimenting. And I would rather not introduce the idea of magical white phosphorus to this world, just yet.”

Naho winced at that thought. She’d seen what normal white phosphorus could do to a body, and didn’t want to picture how magic could make it worse. “Yes, I can see why you would be concerned about that. But, if we were going by the examples you raised during the lecture, my suggestions would be something that first responders could use to stabilize patients, and some kind of portable scanner? Those would be good places to start.”

“Hmm,” Eri nodded, and Naho could see the wheels turning in her mind. “A simple focus, using Life Magic to stabilize a person it was placed on? Possibly using the ambient mana for its effect? And the scanner could use Light magic to replicate a simple X-ray machine. It wouldn’t be the most detailed, but it could give basic information.”

“Those could save a lot of lives,” Naho nodded. “At the very least, it would allow hospitals to be better prepared when people are brought in, and if they’re stable then we have time to do proper testing, rather than rushing things in order to save their lives.”

“That’s good,” the Lich Queen said. “I want people to think of all possibilities, when it comes to magic, not just considering the combat or intelligence-gathering capabilities. Combined with more people learning to cultivate their mana, it will lead to a general improvement in conditions, everywhere.”