Chapter 39

39. Th-thump Th-thump (5)

***

Mint looked up at me, her eyes sparkling.

It was an expression I hadn’t seen in a while.

Since leaving the Imperial Palace, it was the first time I’d seen this side of her. Come to think of it, she must’ve been lonely without friends most of the time…

Still, going with a professor doesn’t seem much better than being alone… Anyway.

I followed the Imperial Princess out of the research lab.

Academy Café.

Truthfully, I don’t come here often. Usually, I just have Istina bring coffee back for me.

But today, it wasn’t too crowded when we arrived—just pleasantly quiet. Though a few passersby did glance at Mint, she didn’t seem to care.

“Princess, you shouldn’t sit next to me—go over there—”

“I don’t want to.”

We reached the café, and instead of sitting across from me, the princess chose to sit right beside me. Fair enough; sitting on the other side would mean facing the sun directly.

Other than looking slightly more relaxed, she seemed mostly the same as usual.

Her pale face contrasting starkly against her crisp white shirt collar, her tie skewed because no one’s around to fix it for her. Her hair was neatly tied up.

According to rumors, she’s considered the most beautiful woman in the empire… but as always, I tried to recall someone prettier than Mint from memory.

Maybe there’s someone out there?

Mint sipped her coffee casually in her seat. I racked my brain for conversation topics, but the princess was gazing off into the distance.

“Your tie is crooked, Princess.”

“Shut up. It’s fine.”

Ugh, what a stubborn princess.

“It brings back good memories.”

“Good memories?”

“From when I lived in the palace.”

Surprisingly, her memories of living in the palace weren’t filled with sadness or loneliness as I’d expected. Why does she consider those times fondly?

Is it because memories tend to get romanticized over time?

Yeah, that could be it.

“I see.”

“The exams are over, so I’ve been pretty free lately.”

“Just curious—does the princess have positive memories of her childhood?”

“My childhood? What about it all of a sudden?”

***

“Because you said you had good memories.”

“Why childhood? Of course, I’m talking about after the teachers came and treated my lung disease.”

“Ah, I see.”

After pondering for a moment, I spoke.

“Princess, I think it’d be beneficial if you practiced conversing with others.”

“What do you mean?”

“There are surely things you missed out on learning—or experiences you didn’t have—because of your health issues since childhood, right?”

Mint’s expression soured slightly.

“Like how to interact with people… It’s never too late to start building those skills now. Many people want to befriend you, and nobody can treat you poorly anyway.”

“Stupid, disrespectful brat.”

The princess gave me a sidelong glare. Even when I try to give constructive advice, she reacts like this. What am I supposed to do?

“First, let’s start with me. You should practice having proper conversations with me.”

“Hmph. Looks like there’s one person who thinks they can boss me around.”

Mint glanced at me with a smirk.

Oh, this childish princess…

“Let’s get going.”

“That’s right, the professor is busy.”

We really should head back soon. I stood up first. The princess stared at me blankly for a few seconds before extending her hand.

“Help me up.”

Though I wondered why she needed help, I figured arguing further wasn’t worth it. Technically, she is my superior, after all.

If she asks, I’ll assist.

I helped Mint stand up. She wobbled slightly but quickly regained her balance on her own two feet.

“See you next time, then?”

I nodded.

***

Now, it’s time to write the paper.

This one needs to be another groundbreaking piece challenging established academic norms. It has to be flawless in logic and experimentation.

There’s plenty of experimental evidence.

For starters, when you place liver tissue under a microscope, it’s easy to observe capillaries.

Also, when you squeeze a heart, approximately 0.1 to 0.2 liters of liquid comes out.

Let’s focus on writing the paper diligently. Maybe it’ll make it into the summer academic conference, or if we’re lucky, get published even sooner.

“By the way, what about this?”

“What about what?”

“Last time, some professors got upset because we removed the cross-validation process and they stormed into class demanding explanations.”

Ah yes, that happened.

Professors can be surprisingly childlike sometimes. Whenever something interesting comes up, they swarm in droves wanting to play with it.

Professor Croftler comes to mind. Anyway…

“So?”

“Why not skip formalities altogether? Submit the review and gather people directly for a presentation. Wouldn’t that be easier for everyone?”

I considered Istina’s suggestion.

It’s a good idea.

“Alright, let’s do that.”

Whoever wants to come will come.

These are the types who sneakily obtain papers and show up uninvited to lectures. If we send out invitations, they’ll surely rush over enthusiastically.

***

When an idea strikes, act on it immediately.

Why? Life is full of choices. There are countless things we can’t do, so when we have the chance to do something right away, we should seize it.

After submitting the paper on “Blood Circulation” to the journal, I reserved a lecture hall and sent out invitations to the professors who previously occupied my classroom.

“Let’s begin.”

The audience started murmuring even before the presentation began. Surprisingly few professors showed up personally, mostly graduate students sent in their place.

“A few days ago, a patient came in with a ruptured organ. When checking how much blood they lost and whether their blood pressure remained stable, I realized there was no proper method to determine this.”

A murmur of agreement rippled through the auditorium. A familiar scene for doctors or healers—patients dying from blood loss.

“Let’s go back to basics. What exactly is blood? Where does it originate in the body, and where does it go? Throughout history, various hypotheses have existed…”

I scanned the auditorium.

“To cut to the chase: Blood exits the heart and returns to it largely unchanged after circulating once or twice. It isn’t created or destroyed during this process.”

“Huh?”

The auditorium buzzed with whispers.

As expected, whenever a claim contradicts the majority opinion, people will scrutinize every detail to find potential flaws.

A male graduate student sitting in the front row raised his hand. I didn’t know his name or which professor he represented.

“Do you have any evidence?”

Of course, I do.

“Let me start with the strongest proof. How much blood do you think a heart can hold?”

No one responded immediately.

I retrieved a glass jar from beneath the podium containing an alcohol-preserved human heart. Squeezing the heart tightly, about a cup’s worth of liquid spilled onto the floor.

“You saw that, right? The heart expels approximately 0.1 liters of liquid per contraction. During exercise, heart rate can exceed 150 beats per minute…”

During physical activity, cardiac output can exceed 15 liters. This raises an important question…

“Think about it. Doesn’t that sound strange? The human body only contains about 3 liters of blood. Can you really believe that all the blood in our bodies is completely regenerated and consumed every ten seconds?”

How’s the reaction?

I looked around the auditorium again. About half the audience appeared confused, while the other half looked bored.

I’m certainly not the first person to raise this issue. It’s just that no one has resolved it yet, so it remains an unsolved mystery.

Anne raised her hand.

Recognizing her gesture, I called on her.

“Professor Asterix, isn’t there a lack of evidence showing that manually squeezing a heart mimics its actual function within the human body?”

I nodded.

“Teacher Anne, have you ever dissected a live rat? Specifically observing the heart?”

“No?”

“Then do it. Observe firsthand how hearts function inside living mammals.”

Of course, hearts pump blood forcefully even inside living organisms. Anne returned to her seat with a complicated expression.

“Any other questions so far?”

Several hands shot up.

“Even if Professor’s theory is correct, wouldn’t blood lack pathways to circulate at such speeds within the body?”

“If blood isn’t consumed in peripheral tissues, wouldn’t it need to be produced somewhere else?”

“If peripheral tissues aren’t absorbing and consuming blood, where do they obtain nutrients?”

Today’s session features plenty of questions.

Satisfying.

***

While I’m unsure about other queries…

This was a doubt I had myself back as an undergraduate. Why does arterial blood pressure reach triple digits while venous pressure stays in single digits?

That’s the problem.

If arteries and veins are connected in a continuous loop, why do they exhibit such different characteristics? Starting with color differences. Many incorrect historical theories stem from this very issue.

“Could you elaborate?”

“Even if the professor claims this, isn’t it observable fact that peripheral tissues absorb and consume blood?”

“It re-emerges. Through veins, right?”

“If Professor Asterix’s theory holds true, what structure connects arteries to veins?”

Capillaries.

“So to summarize: The current majority opinion in academia is that arteries and veins differ in nature and lack connecting vessels, correct?”

Heads nodded.

“Once again, to cut to the conclusion: Veins and arteries are connected by microscopic structures called capillaries that pass through peripheral tissues and organs.”

One professor stood up. Professor Brown—a staunch traditionalist within the Academy’s Department of Healing. He strongly opposed bacterial theory as well…

“Isn’t this outside the realm of falsifiable science again? Now we need to assume invisible blood vessels for your theory to hold?”

Well, technically yes… but what do you expect me to do about invisible blood vessels that actually exist? Fortunately, I’ve already observed capillaries.

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