Garrett had thought about using his connections to gather a group of cardiovascular patients—mainly wealthy rchants—for low-cost treatnt to accumulate data. After all, most of them had high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
Garrett had thought about looking up children with congenital heart disease to see if any of those he couldn’t treat before were still alive, offering free dical care to gather data.
Garrett had even considered using his senior brother’s connections to conduct a large-scale physical examination for the followers of mages, checking if any of the older knights had cardiovascular issues.
After all, Senior Brother Carlisle had a high-ranking knight as a follower. Shouldn’t other senior brothers and sisters, and other high-ranking mages, also have such followers? Offering benefits to their followers shouldn’t be rejected, right?
But Garrett never expected the navy to co to him first. Commander Drake, Logistics Chief William Gonson, and Bishop Ampton arranged a ti to visit the Oak Grove Clinic together:
"Do you want to participate in dical care? To help when a level four warrior fails to advance to knight, possibly pulling them back?"
"Of course! No problem!" Garrett answered happily. Before Commander Drake could show his joy, Garrett added:
"But..."
"But what?"
Beside Commander Drake, Logistics Chief William Gonson had already started ntally recalculating and reassessing the fleet’s funds.
Previously, when they hired Nordmark, he was a Four-ring Arcanist and a Level Three Mage, working on a long-term project funded by the council, not through the fleet’s budget.
Now, Nordmark was a Five-ring Arcanist and a Level Seven Mage. How much should the fleet pay to hire him now?
"But first, this matter must go through the formal procedures of the council," Garrett answered seriously.
"A formal application must be submitted, confird as a clinical research project for new dical magic, commissioned by the fleet."
"Is that really necessary?"
The Logistics Chief frowned slightly. Garrett widened his eyes:
"Of course! This is new dical magic, not yet certified by the council as official magic! It’s still experintal and carries significant risks, so it must be clearly stated!"
Experinting with new treatnts and new techniques!
Of course, it requires approval!
Otherwise, if there are deaths or disabilities, who would be responsible?
Following formal procedures, it would be considered dical research, and the hospital would bear the responsibility. Without formal procedures, it would be illegal practice, leading to license revocation or imprisonnt...
"So, do I need to submit this application?"
Garrett shrugged. Of course, the fleet should submit it, not expecting him to do it himself.
Logistics Chief Gonson silently nodded. Alright, he knew this task would fall on him. As a civil servant and a logistician, such tedious paperwork always ended up on his desk...
"And second?"
Is it money? Is it about money?
God bless, please don’t ask for too much!
Logistics Chief Gonson prepared himself. If Garrett Nordmark demanded a high price—for example, charging standard rates for ergency [Treating Fatal Wounds]—he would need to have a good talk:
A knight’s value is limited, and a warrior on the brink of death after a failed advancent has even less value!
The cost of saving each warrior, calculated as two second-level spells, was still bearable for the fleet and not a loss; adding a few fourth-level spells... well...
Bishop Ampton, stationed with the fleet, as part of his job, could cast a few fourth-level spells. Hiring external treatnt services, honestly, a warrior’s value wouldn’t even match a fourth-level spell!
He was on high alert, ready to negotiate at any mont. Speaking harshly wouldn’t be a problem, as the Commander could diate...
Then, he saw Garrett smile slightly, sowhat embarrassed but firmly answered:
"Second, the advancent work must be conducted near my mage tower. Pre-examinations are necessary."
Logistics Chief Gonson: ???
Commander Drake: ???
Bishop Ampton: "…like your previous paper ntioned, those CT scans, heart ultrasounds, and other tests? Do they need angiography?"
Garrett felt deeply understood. You’ve read every one of my papers! That’s great, saving the trouble of explaining again!
Having a healer on site makes communication so much easier!
"Blood pressure must be asured, ECG, and heart ultrasound should be checked to see if the cardiovascular system is healthy and if the heart beats normally," Garrett cheerfully wrote them a checklist:
"Angiography is unnecessary unless results are abnormal and further clarification is needed. CT scans are still required; advancing warriors face significant cardiovascular stress, so potential vascular issues must be ruled out beforehand..."
"So, it has to be done at the mage tower?" Bishop Ampton hesitated.
Not doing it at the mage tower allowed them to claim that the advancent was conducted under the War God’s blessing; doing it at the mage tower clearly indicated the council’s lead.
"For now, yes," Garrett shrugged:
"CT scans currently need the mage tower’s spirit for quick results; other tests aren’t necessary but to retain data, it’s best connected to the mage tower’s core. Otherwise, a single storage crystal card..."
A card costs 10 contribution points. A full set of tests for one person, excluding spell costs, would cost over a hundred gold coins just for the crystal cards.
Conducting tests at the mage tower would save these costs.
Facing financial pressure and under Logistics Chief Gonson’s stern gaze, the Commander and Bishop could only comply. Delays were acceptable if it saved money!
With papers published in the "dical Research" journal and the fleet running the procedures, council project approval would be quick—it didn’t cost much anyway.
Garrett symbolically asked for 1000 contribution points as a reward, with the council covering 20% and the fleet 80%. Two hundred contribution points were a trifle for the council, quickly approved by the clerks without needing the review board.
——As a trade-off, all clinical data and any data collected during experints would belong to Garrett.
The day after approval, carriages arrived at the tower. Five knights and twenty warriors stood in three neat rows, looking up at the nine-story mage tower.
"Is it true that our advancent will be here?"
"A mage? Are we sure it’s safe for a mage to treat us?"
"Hush! We are the council’s fleet! Treatnt by council mages is surely safe!"
"I’m not saying that... I’m just saying, we’ve always been treated by priests of the War God Temple. Now it’s mages... really okay?"
"I don’t know about others, but this one is definitely okay." Amidst the discussions, the leading knight returned and raised his voice:
"This Mage Nordmark participated in developing the [Sea Plague] treatnt potion. To this day, we benefit from his work."
"Ah!"
"It’s him!"
The warriors buzzed with excitent. A young soldier with yellow hair and freckles stepped forward, grabbing a comrade excitedly:
"It’s him! I know! Four years ago, when I got the [Sea Plague], lying in the wounded camp, he was the one who cured ! This mage is really good! He washed our wounds and cut off rotten flesh, never minding the dirt!"
"Yes! During the last major plague, my aunt fell ill, and he led his students to save her!"
"This mage won’t harm us!"
The warriors pushed and jostled, their voices growing louder. The lead knight coldly watched before finally shouting:
"Enough! ——You all know, advancing to knight is very risky, and using potions increases the risk! The Commander made great efforts to invite Mage Nordmark to save your lives. Now, line up and be quiet! Soone from the mage tower is coming!"
Garrett cheerfully exited the tower. He looked at these warriors with delight, like seeing fresh, tender vegetables in his own field:
These are all data!
Fresh data!
Even if no one needed his dical intervention—preferably, everyone advances safely and smoothly, that’s his greatest wish—he could first gather direct data on the bodies of level four warriors and level five knights!
"Co, line up, don’t push, one by one. A knight will lead a small team, and you’ll go upstairs in turns to have your basic data tested first..."
A slight commotion arose. Then, a knight led four warriors to follow Garrett into the tower. The further they walked, the quieter the discussions beca. When they took the elevator and began ascending, all the warriors nervously shut their mouths.
One floor, two floors, three floors...
The numbers on the elevator changed continuously. Finally, with a ding, the doors slid open. Garrett stepped out first, quickly moving to the central area of the mage tower:
"Take off your outerwear, ensure your upper body is free of any tal, sit on the floating disc, and sit upright. We’ll start with a CT scan; it takes longer as the tower spirit needs ti to compute... why are you standing still?"
Behind him, the four warriors stepped back, their backs almost against the wall. The knight managed to maintain his posture but did not retreat. Hands behind his back, he was stiff, clearly afraid of touching anything...
"This golden treasure box... can we..." move it a bit?
It’s entirely made of gold!
Inlaid with countless gems!
The lines between the gems, so bright, couldn’t be just silver, probably mithril!
This thing, and the crystal ball next to it, the crystal column beneath the crystal ball... if we break even a bit, would we go bankrupt?
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