46 - Jean-Jacques in the Basement 2
When I returned from the basement, it was a bit of a commotion. A woman who had been searching for me since she couldn't find me was arguing with the Black Knight who had been guarding the basement. About why they had let me go down to the basement.
...The reactions to seeing my face were completely different between the knights and the isolated people.
The knights who were there strictly to guard, and the people placed here for treatment or isolation as patients, showed completely opposite reactions. The Black Knight treated me, returning from the basement, as if I were some kind of pathogen or something. Maybe he knew about Jean-Jacques's current condition. Since he knew it was a contagious disease, he probably thought that I, who had visited Jean-Jacques in that state, would bring the infection to him too. He backed away to the wall, putting distance between us.
On the other hand, the woman confined in the quarantine section as a patient, upon seeing my face... I still had my plague mask on, you know... seemed relieved and hugged me tightly.
...G-gonna die from boobs...! So tight...!
With my face, mask and all, pressed into her ample chest, it was already hard enough to breathe. I tried to tap the hugging woman's shoulder to tell her I couldn't breathe, but stopped when I saw blood on my raised hand. I know the infection spreads through blood too. I should take off my gloves and wash my hands soon.
"Why did you go to the basement!? The knight told you not to get near Jean-Jacques, didn't he! What if you catch the disease too!"
She yelled right in my ear. My chest was being crushed, making it hard to breathe, and now my ears hurt too. Still, she seemed to be worried about me, so maybe I could let this go on a little longer. That's what I thought, but...
...Any minute now... let me go... Seriously, I can't breathe...!
I couldn't touch her with my bloodied hands, so I squirmed with my hands outstretched. I hoped she'd notice and let go, but maybe she thought I was trying to escape, because her grip only tightened.
...Someone... my mask... at least my mask or gloves...!
As I desperately reached out, Jasper, whose eyes I thought I met, removed my gloves for me. The hand that emerged from under the glove was white. It seemed the blood hadn't soaked through to stain my hands.
...Just to be safe, it's better not to touch another person's skin until I wash my hands.
I brought my hands around to the woman's cloth-covered back and gave her a light pat-pat. At that, the woman's grip finally loosened.
"Gonna die from boobs."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
I'd definitely die faster from having my face pressed into this woman's chest like this than from catching the disease from Jean-Jacques. Not from illness, but from suffocation. If I were a man, it might be a death any man would envy in a way, but unfortunately, I don't have that kind of interest.
It was hard to breathe, and the constriction was uncomfortable anyway, so I took off my hat and removed my mask. Since it was originally a size that didn't fit and I'd forcibly tied it on with strings, it was a hassle to take off. My small toddler fingers couldn't handle the knots tied by an adult man's strength, and after I fumbled with the strings a few times, the woman undid them for me. When she could see my face, the woman's expression briefly crumpled as if she might cry, then she put on an angry face again.
"So why did you go to Jean-Jacques's place!? You were told not to get close, weren't you!"
"Well..."
What should I say to calm her anger down? I know she's worried about me, but it's a little scary. I looked around for help, and another woman who met my eyes told me.
"Royne lost a kid about your age to the same disease just the other day."
With those words, I understood. The same disease... that's the disease Jean-Jacques brought into the city. Thinking about it in circles, maybe she resents Jean-Jacques for having killed her child.
"...Um, no one taking care of Jean-Chack. I got worried."
"A man like that deserves to die. Brita and Rana died too, and wasn't it originally because of the disease he brought! You don't need to worry about a guy like that!"
Maybe that was the consensus of everyone in the quarantine section, even if unspoken. No one interrupted the woman called Royne as she mixed insults into her words. I don't know who Brita or Rana are, but they were probably her friends or acquaintances. It might be impossible to tell her not to resent Jean-Jacques, who caused their deaths. As she spoke, the anger seemed to ignite again, and I stroked her back to calm the agitated Royne.
"Listen. Jean-Chack, I don't know about. I got worried. So, I just went to see."
For the third time today, I explained why I'd visited Jean-Jacques. No one would approach him, and I couldn't confirm things myself. That's why I was concerned. I wanted to see with my own eyes.
"Well then, you've given up on him now, right? He's in a terrible state, so bad even the knights won't go near him, right?"
"It was bad. Lots of blood, scratch marks everywhere, and bumps all over. No bath. He was restrained."
But, I paused, and stared intently into Royne's eyes.
"Still got energy. Still alive. Still, not giving up."
The emotion suddenly drained from her face, and Royne's narrowed eyes were scary. So scared that I shoved the plague mask I was holding into Royne's face.
"Mmph!? Hey...!"
"Scary eyes."
She almost swatted my hand away, but at my accidentally blurted honest words, Royne's movements stopped. Maybe because she'd heard that I was about the same age as the child she lost, it was as if her own child had said it. Mom, your eyes are scary, like that.
"Jean-Chack, brought disease. That's bad thing. But Jean-Chack, not on purpose."
If he'd deliberately brought the disease back, it would be strange for him to be infected himself. It's a disease you know will kill you. Unless he was prepared to die himself, he wouldn't bring the disease back with himself as the infection source.
"So you're saying we should forgive him because it wasn't on purpose!? My child died because the medicine was all given to him!"
Royne's child had apparently been isolated here around the time the initial symptoms began appearing. If caught at the initial symptom stage, it could be treated with medicine. But back then, when there wasn't enough medicine, it was only distributed to the Black Knights. Jean-Jacques was at the top of that list. On orders from the royal capital, medicine was given to Jean-Jacques, who was already past the initial symptom stage, and Royne's child, who could have been cured, was given no medicine. And died.
"...Forgive, don't forgive, that's not, the issue."
I wasn't trying to have that kind of discussion. Royne's resentment, and what Jean-Jacques had brought back, were already just results. I could understand her sadness and her desire to be angry, but this wasn't the time to be stuck on that.
"No one taking care of Jean-Chack. That means, if other people, become like Jean-Chack, no one will, take care of them either."
It was frustrating not being able to speak smoothly. I didn't know if what I wanted to convey was actually getting through.
"Jean-Chack in basement, not because he did bad thing."
Jean-Jacques was in the basement not because he brought the disease into the city. His groaning was part of it, but more than that, his severe symptoms were so terrible that showing his suffering to others isolated with the same disease couldn't possibly have a good effect. To put it harshly, normally people die before they get as severe as Jean-Jacques. Until now, maybe that was fine. No one had gotten as severe as Jean-Jacques because there wasn't enough medicine. But from now on, it would be different. Now that new medicine was starting to arrive, there would surely be people who, even if they became as severe as Jean-Jacques, would still survive. Tomorrow could be me, as they say.
"Taking care of Jean-Chack, someday, taking care of yourself?"
It was frustrating not being able to put it into words well. Abandoning Jean-Jacques now meant that if I ever became severe myself, I could be abandoned on some pretext too. To prevent that, we had to create a system where no one was abandoned, and stick to it until the end.
She seemed to think hard about my clumsy words. Royne muttered, a little calmer now.
"...If I end up like that, will you come visit me too?"
"I'll go."
I can't do much in the way of care right now. But I can say for certain that I'd at least go visit.
"Jean-Chack, same as everyone else. Take care of him, clean him up, cure the disease."
I was dragged away by Alf, who had noticed the commotion, so I don't know what discussion happened after that. But it's certain that from then on, care for Jean-Jacques, who had until then been deliberately neglected by everyone except the Black Knights, began to be provided. Jasper told me that Royne scolded the men who hesitated, afraid the disease might spread, and got them moving. They bathed Jean-Jacques, changed his bandages, and cleaned his blood-stained bed. Once people started coming and going to that basement, Jean-Jacques seemed to regain his spirit. Apparently, Royne laughs about how he'd complain about being bathed too roughly, making the caretakers angry, yet still mutter a small thank you as they left.
As for what I, who'd suggested taking better care of Jean-Jacques, was doing during all that...
...Punishment room now.
It's called a punishment room, but apparently it's just a room where people who've committed minor offenses or broken regulations are temporarily placed to reflect. There's a floor, no iron bars, and if I say I need to use the toilet, they let me out, so it's not uncomfortable. The only real drawback is that Alf finds time to come lecture me.
...To be precise, it's just that busy Alf finds time to deliver his lecture on one specific topic.
Honestly, I wish he'd just get it over with all at once, but that's not possible. The amount of lecture Alf wants to give and the time he can spare for it just don't balance out.
...He doesn't have to be that mad, does he? Well, I am the one who broke the rules.
I broke the order not to go near the basement, so it can't be helped that Alf is angry. Even calling it punishment, all I'm really receiving is lectures and not being allowed to return to the residence. Not being allowed to return to the residence is because of infection concerns, so I suppose that's unavoidable too. I think I'd rather be helping in the quarantine section if I'm going to be confined anyway, but the one time I made that suggestion, I got tied to a chair, so I decided not to say anything unnecessary.
Once the incubation period for the disease passed, I was finally allowed out of the punishment room. I thought that if I didn't return to the residence for this long, Leonardo would say something, but there was nothing. For all I know, he might not have even noticed I was gone. When I finally got my freedom and tried to go help at the quarantine section again, Alf got angry. Apparently, I, who broke the rules, am not allowed near the quarantine section anymore. But since the matter with Jean-Jacques was something I'd brought up, I told him I wanted to check on the situation, and he reluctantly gave permission.
The quarantine section, which I visited after seven days, had a few less people. The Black Knights on the first floor had probably recovered, but Royne was on the second floor, fighting intense itching. Jasper told me it was about time for her to get a high fever again. About thirty percent of the faces of the original residents on the second and third floors were missing. When I tried to go check on Jean-Jacques, I wasn't asked to wear the heavy protective gear like before. Apparently, by maintaining cleanliness, things had started to show some signs of improvement. I was warned to keep my distance, and then I went to visit Jean-Jacques in the basement. It seemed he was in the middle of being bathed, and I could hear him yelling about how itchy he was.
"Jean-Chack, itchy, want me to put on mustard plaster?"
When I peeked my face in at the bathing Jean-Jacques, he met my eyes and pointed at me emphatically.
"Ahh! You...! Tina-kko!! You finally showed up!"
"Who Tina-kko. Me, not that name."
"Shut up! It's because you keep calling me Jean-Chack, Jean-Chack that my name's become Jean-Chack!"
"Jean-Chack, no problem."
"I'm Jean-Jacques-sama!"
Since he had the energy to shout, Jean-Jacques was probably going to be fine. The second period of high fever was already past.
Now it was up to Jean-Jacques's stamina.
Next will be from the (self-proclaimed) guardian Leonardo's perspective. I feel like Alf is becoming more and more of a worrier. In the plot outline, he was practically just decoration... (harsh)