Diagnosis

Anthony didn't think too much about the interaction between the three adult humans. Although Vira's words were ominous, he didn't let them cloud his judgment. After all, there was no way they could make him hang out with the bear-like man's baby. If they tried, he would simply show them why they shouldn't have done that.

Anthony had no idea how, but he would make the adults regret thinking that the other baby was his equal when not even they were.

But for now, he would have to appease his parents since they were once again worried about his well-being.

He had somehow made it all this way without his hearing flaring back up, but sounds were already trickling in again, which was why he had heard the conversation. However, the sounds in the center of the village were completely different from the house's. It wouldn't be too much, but in all honesty, it would be too much for Anthony to handle without causing a ruckus, which would only further worry Thomas, Vira, and now Clemence.

Anthony thought it was shameful that he wouldn't even be able to control his voice due to something as trifling as his sense of hearing going out of control. So, when Vira followed Clemence into the room behind the curtain and sat him down on a bench the height of her midsection, he didn't do anything but wait for Clemence, who first patted himself down with what looked like a sterilizing cloth.

"Wouldn't want little Anthony to catch Evie's fever, right?"

"Honestly, Clemence, an ordinary fever would be better than whatever's afflicting our baby."

Clemence nodded slightly at Thomas' words.

"It's better to have an ailment you know how to deal with than one you don't. I've got to agree with you on that."

Clemence walked to the bench with Anthony while placing the glasses on his nose.

"He's livelier than last time, at least."

"Yeah."

Vira nodded.

"He recovered from the vacantness a little while ago, and we thought everything was alright since he was just like before. But just this morning, he grew unresponsive again."

Clemence thoughtfully hummed as he grabbed Anthony's wrist and took his pulse.

"Well, maybe not unresponsive. But Anthony didn't react unless we physically touched and held him or waved in front of his face. It was like he couldn't hear us."

"I see."

Clemence moved his inspection to Anthony's head, where he checked Anthony's pupillary response and his ears since his eyes were working fine despite the glaring.

It was only when Clemence took a proper look at Anthony's ears that his face changed. His expression grew somber as he touched them gently while looking at Anthony's reaction.

After some more poking and prodding, Clemence turned to Vira and Thomas.

"Well, the good news is that it's not the same as last time."

"And the bad news…?"

Thomas and Vira held each others' hands to comfort each other as they waited for the serious Clemence's diagnosis.

"I don't know what it is. I'm ashamed to give you such a lacking answer again despite being the village physician."

"But you looked at his ears for a long time, right? Is there anything wrong with them? Has Anthony turned deaf?"

Thomas refused to let Clemence be satisfied with that diagnosis. Clemence wasn't, and he would have elaborated if Thomas had given him the chance. So, after clearing his throat, Clemence continued.

"Ahem. I would say the opposite, actually. Little Anthony isn't deaf, but what I am guessing is some kind of ear infection has made it difficult for him to distinguish sounds."

'This doctor knows his stuff, huh.'

Anthony was a little surprised that Clemence had made such an accurate diagnosis from just touching and looking. But his hearing was rapidly growing too sensitive to hear the rest of the conversation. He tried reading their lips to see if he could make out anything, but reading the soft and flappy lips of humans proved to be almost impossible.

Instead, he looked around the room out of curiosity. Although Clemence was wrong about the cause, Anthony hadn't expected a skilled doctor like that to stay in a small and poor village like this.

The walls in the examination room were also lined with tools and items that Anthony couldn't quite recognize, even if he could guess they were mostly used for diagnostics and simpler surgical procedures, such as fishing splinters out of children's hands. But there were high-quality tools as well.

Anthony was curious about Clemence's decision to stay in this village when he could make a killing in bigger cities. At least, that's if the state of society was about the same as the last time Anthony visited the human world during his past life as Anastrus.

But maybe Clemence had a personal connection to the village, and that's why he decided it was where he wanted to practice medicine.

However, and based on the sophisticated tools, Anthony was more inclined to believe that it was also partly because of something else. The level of practical medicine in the human world had risen since his last visit.

Clemence might be a good doctor, maybe even good enough to earn a living in bigger cities. But if there was no need for him in the bigger cities the same way he was needed in small villages, Clemence might find it better to work in a small village.

Of course, no matter how skilled he was, he still couldn't diagnose Anthony. First, he hadn't even been ill. And now, Thomas and Vira had brought him in because of an effect caused by his cursed physique. His physique was something even he didn't recognize, much less an ordinary human doctor.

However, just because Clemence didn't know about his physique, it didn't mean Anthony was any less interested in the old man. After all, he was the first person Anthony had met so far who could possibly offer him any new knowledge.

Even if Clemence wasn't the best doctor in the country or even on the continent, which was extremely unlikely in the first place, he was still a member of a medicinal world more developed than the one in Anthony's memories. Even if they were sealed, Anthony was confident in his assessment.

'Guess I'll have to learn to talk soon.'

It might take a while until he could leave his house and become independent. But there was no such physical restraint when it came to learning new knowledge.