Inside the Mage Tower, under Viscount Elwin’s watchful gaze.

Garrett Nordmark exhausted all his skills. Auscultation, electrocardiograms, echocardiography, cardiovascular angiography...

Then, he proceeded with an interventional treatment to repair the heart defect, followed by another round of angiography.

At last, pointing at the angiographic images of the heart’s blood flow, in combination with the "Silent Phantom", he meticulously explained:

"This child’s heart disease is a bit different from your son’s. Your son has an atrial septal defect, while this child has a ventricular septal defect..."

Ventricular defects are more problematic than atrial ones because the ventricles are responsible for pumping blood, requiring much stronger and more robust muscles. However, in the images, the shunting was much more distinctly visible.

"Look, at this time, some of the blood from the left ventricle is shunting to the right ventricle... Now that it’s treated, as you can see from the blood flow image, all the blood is shot into the aorta, with no leakage to the right..."

Viscount Elwin was captivated.

The heartbeat, one of the most vital sources of power in the human body and a domain of the gods, was thus unveiled by Garrett.

Even though he was not a spellcaster, through various means, he could still see with his own eyes...

"How about it? When do you plan to start treating your son?"

Garrett asked him with a cheerful smile. Viscount Elwin jumped in surprise and came back to his senses:

"Ah! That... um..."

Just one case, is that stable enough? Or perhaps, should he ask for more patients to practice on?

Would this upset the esteemed mage?

Such miraculous treatment techniques, inserting vines into the heart to guide the growth of the heart’s defects, seemed costly—a thousand or two gold coins surely wouldn’t be enough!

Thinking of finding ten or eight more patients... ten or twenty thousand gold coins... could he owe such a favor?

Viscount Elwin hesitated, torn between his son’s safety and a favor that clearly exceeded his budget. Garrett saw his struggle and smiled slightly:

"Thinking of finding more patients for me to try treating? That’s not impossible, but you’ll have to do me a favor—"

Caught by Garrett breaking down his thoughts, Viscount Elwin was momentarily embarrassed. He mustered his courage and said:

"If you treat my son, it’s only right for me to do something for you. Whatever you need, I’ll do my utmost—"

"Oh, it’s not that serious." Garrett laughed and shook his head, pointing to Joanna:

"The thing is, I’m setting up a midwife training program, led by her. You have good relations with the managers of the orphanage and the poorhouse. Could you help introduce some midwives who serve the poorhouse to come here for training?"

Viscount Elwin breathed a sigh of relief. This task was indeed a bit troublesome, but it was much less costly than his original plan—perhaps it’s because priests of the Church of Nature can’t stand to see the poor suffer and genuinely want to help them!

"Oh, right, if the sick children are from wealthy families, they should bear their own consultation fees. Also, the cost of the treatment potions and the films can’t be waived~~"

"It’s a deal!"

Viscount Elwin thumped his chest and agreed.

Over the next half month, he made connections and sent people throughout the city to gather impoverished children. Once the orphanage’s children were accounted for, they swept through every slum:

It was just a matter of spending a little money! A loaf of bread per person, getting parents to bring their children to Garrett for a check-up, quite convenient!

Finding none in a day was ordinary;

Finding one was lucky;

Finding two was a stroke of exceptional luck!

Garrett sat at home daily, and people brought cases to his doorstep, utterly delighted.

The rubber products also came out, stethoscopes made of rubber tubing available for everyone, perfect for training auscultation skills—

With this device, listening to 100 people a day, for ten or twenty days, one could become familiar with the normal sounds of hearts and breaths.

Compared to medical students in his previous life, who had to practice on their classmates and beg patients to allow them to examine, the healers here were much happier!

Abundant patients, strong compliance. The patients’ parents were obedient, at least they wouldn’t claim that detecting a heart condition was caused by the stethoscope and come at them with knives~~~

Well, even if they really did come at them, these commoners’ combat prowess couldn’t breach a mage’s armor.

Half a month later, the results were significant. Four atrial defects, two ventricular defects, one pulmonary valve

stenosis, and one aortic valve insufficiency were gathered. Thank God, no Tetralogy of Fallot.

Garrett skillfully rejuvenated each case, accumulating a thick stack of medical records, just waiting to complete ten cases to publish a major paper. Lady Alva had already, through her teacher, secured a promise from the editor of "Arcana":

This paper, as long as all the medical records are verified, and all ten patients survive a month post-surgery, would be published in "Arcana"!

With a desire to publish another article in "Arcana," Garrett and the other healers in his medical facility were more motivated than ever. Every day, listening to heart sounds, conducting electrocardiograms, performing echocardiograms, they were busier than ever—

"Master Nordmark! Come and look at this one!"

Garrett rushed over. Upon arriving, he saw a three- or four-year-old girl lying on the treatment bed, next to her, Priest Matthew held up a cloud screen high, displaying an abnormal electrocardiogram—

His gaze shifted slightly, and at the bedside stood a woman wearing an apron, covered in patches from one end to the other. She held one child by the hand and carried another on her back, obviously having brought her whole family for the check-up.

Garrett nodded at her and focused on the electrocardiogram for a while before proceeding to perform an echocardiogram. In the meditative imagery, the ultrasound feedback quietly unfolded:

Thump, thump, thump, thump, the heart beat regularly. Contraction, relaxation, blood filled the heart, shooting out…

"Your judgment is correct," he said solemnly to Priest Matthew, then turned to the woman who seemed to be the girl’s mother, beckoning with a raised hand:

"Ma’am, could you come with us for a moment? There are some things we’d like to discuss with you…"

The conversation with the family was difficult. The poor woman had limited education and understanding, and Garrett had to use much effort to make her comprehend the necessity, procedure, and risks of the surgery. Then, her reply was:

"I need to go back and discuss it with my man..."

"What?! How can you discuss now when everything was agreed upon before! They take the compensation, come for the check-up, and if they’re found ill, let the priest here heal them. Why are they saying they need to discuss it now!"

"Ah—don’t be like that." Garrett stopped him with a hand, smiling to calm him down:

"Heart surgery is a major issue; it’s natural for a family to want to discuss it. So, when will you come? This is the last spot. If you don’t come, we’ll find someone else tomorrow and offer the treatment for free~~~"

"We’ll definitely come! Tonight for sure!"

That evening, shortly after nightfall, Garrett welcomed the girl’s parents. Her father, a dockworker reeking of sweat, entered and bowed deeply:

"Respected Priest Sir..."

His attitude was extremely humble. However, as Garrett and the parents discussed the pre-surgery arrangements, they hesitated and were indecisive:

"Can we not do the surgery?"

"Inserting vines into the heart... it sounds terrifying! What if she dies?"

"The previous nine are all doing well... but what if my daughter dies?"

Viscount Elwin, initially just curious and listening in for fun, heard Garrett explain once, twice. By the third time, as Garrett was still explaining with a smile, the Viscount grew impatient:

"What if she dies? The Priest here is kindly offering to treat your daughter. If she dies, it wasn’t on purpose. What can be done? If you want the treatment, get it; if not, leave. Nevis isn’t short of people who want treatment!"

The couple shrank back simultaneously. Garrett raised his hand to stop, continuing to smile:

"That’s the situation. During the treatment process, we’ll be extremely careful to ensure your daughter’s safety. But the mysteries of the human body are endless, and we can’t guarantee absolute safety."

"And... if she dies..."

Garrett inhaled and exhaled, summoning the patience he developed in his previous life in the emergency department, ready to explain for the fourth time. Before he could speak, Viscount Elwin suddenly slammed the table and tossed a gold coin over:

"If she dies, I’ll compensate! Here, take this gold coin now. If she dies, I’ll give you ten more! Is that enough?! Is that enough?!"

Before Garrett could intervene, the husband’s eyes sparkled with excitement, and the couple shrank back into their seats, nodding timidly:

"Enough... enough..."

The surgery finally proceeded smoothly. After the treatment, the little girl was observed in the hospital for a day and was well when her parents took her home. The tenth case, successfully completed!

Viscount Elwin finally

relaxed and brought his own son to the Mage Tower for treatment by Garrett. After the surgery, the atrial septal was completely repaired, no blood flowed between the left and right atria, the heart rate was normal, and the atria began to shrink...

"Thank you so much! This child’s second life is all thanks to you! Our family’s honor, continued all because of your help..."

Viscount Elwin clasped Garrett’s hand tightly, his gratitude overflowing, almost incoherent. Garrett’s smile was nearly frozen on his face, and before he could pull away, he had to call out:

"My hand—"

"Sorry, sorry!"

Viscount Elwin quickly released his grip, apologizing repeatedly. Garrett accepted his consultation fee and gifts, escorted him out, and took a long breath:

This project was finally completed... just a month to go, all patients revisited, the final bits of treatment done, then he could publish the major paper... so tiring...

Wait, why did he feel like he was forgetting something?

Garrett shook his head, unable to recall, and simply began the first round of follow-ups. According to the address book, he found the house of the girl who had just been treated two days ago, but as he pushed the door open, his expression changed:

"What happened to her? You—what are you doing?!"

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