*
— 「All surgery departments are inferior versions of plastic surgery.」
That was what the plastic surgery professor at the university hospital I used to work at said during a gathering of surgery department professors.
At the time, the professor who brought that up immediately faced retribution from the other surgery department professors.
But even I, who was present there, couldn't help but somewhat agree with those words.
'Since the surgery department cuts everything out, and plastic surgery does the reconstruction.'
The role of the surgery department is to cut things out.
Rotting parts, parts afflicted by cancer, parts where bleeding can't be stopped.
Detaching these parts from the torso takes up the majority of surgical procedures in the surgery department.
That's when plastic surgery comes in.
'As they say, the devil is in the details.'
Trauma patients often have some part of their body missing even without cutting.
Because of this, it was natural to have many surgeries alongside plastic surgery,
and watching from the side, they would somehow recreate the body using all sorts of truly creative methods.
As someone who frequently witnessed that magic, I couldn't help but agree with the plastic surgery professor's words.
「Ultimately, the final destination of all surgical techniques is reconstruction, and therefore, an excellent surgeon is bound to have a knack for plastic surgery as well.」
I agreed with his argument.
This was the reason why I brought the pleading old woman into the infirmary.
'It would be good to show the healers the true high point of surgery through this opportunity.'
Even now, there are many among the healers who doubt surgery.
The healers who had done observation on my surgery only knew that something had happened, but since they couldn't reproduce it, many of them still couldn't believe it.
Surgery is not a realm one can understand just by watching it once, so it couldn't be helped.
That is why I intend to show them plastic surgery.
To discipline the arrogant healers,
to show them the high point they should pursue,
and...
"Lord Saint. They are patients who already have scars left behind due to Heal. I don't know about scars on the limbs, but scars on the face cannot be fixed by any divine magic."
to broaden the horizons of healers like Cardinal Wendras.
"If it were a scar on the limbs, one could carve out the flesh entirely and cast divine magic, but the face is dangerous, Lord Saint."
Cardinal Wendras spoke beside me as I was setting up the surgical plan at the infirmary.
"Furthermore, regenerating without a scar is difficult even with advanced divine magic. At the very least, Regeneration would be necessary, but right now there are only three high-rank healers in the infirmary, including myself."
Minor Heal mends flesh, muscles, and bones.
Greater Heal can regenerate muscles and nerves to a limited extent.
However, to carve out already dead tissue or wounds filled in by Heal and regenerate them, an even greater divine magic is needed.
What is needed in this case is Regeneration.
The greatest miracle of humanity, which even a high-rank healer can cast at most twice a day when in good condition.
"Lord Saint. Pardon my words, but... according to doctrine, using Regeneration in this kind of situation is forbidden."
"I know."
Because this Regeneration is the ultimate miracle of humanity, it isn't something that can be used recklessly.
It is a miracle permitted only for a superhuman of at least the 4th rank, or a person with equivalent social value,
and for this purpose, a diocese-level infirmary must always have a high-rank healer capable of using this magic on standby in perfect condition.
It is not a magic to be used just to erase the scar of a Hero Department graduate who is barely rank 2.
"I ask since you said you know, but then how do you plan to treat these people?"
"Greater Heal and Minor Heal will be enough."
"Pardon?"
But in the current situation, that wasn't an important fact.
"Do not worry. I have already performed this surgery many times."
I have no intention of using Regeneration anyway.
There isn't just one or two patients; who would even benefit from a divine magic that leaves you exhausted after healing just one person?
Moreover, the number of people who can use Regeneration can be counted on one hand.
As someone pursuing a high point that as many healers as possible can follow, I had never even paid it any mind.
"Once you observe the surgery, Cardinal Wendras, you will be pleased as well."
"Hmm... I understand."
While engaging in small talk, I assessed the patients.
The number of patients was 45.
'It will take a full week to treat everyone.'
Six to seven people a day.
Even when I was at the university hospital, days where I was rolled this hard were rare.
'Well, if worst comes to worst, I can just receive a Refresh.'
But I wonder why.
I could find myself considering this manageable, with a half-and-half mix of dread and sense of awe.
As expected, even if the world changes, the inherent Korean trait seems to remain unchanged.
***
First, the monumental first patient was the old woman's granddaughter.
The middle-aged woman who had created a gap in the blockade so the old woman could break through the holy knights was the patient's mother.
"Say 'Ah'."
"Uuu..."
"The contracture is severe."
The patient had suffered a 3rd-degree burn across her face, jaw, and neck.
Because the priests had only closed the epidermis with an emergency heal at the time, the scar had hardened as it was, making her a patient who had difficulty opening her mouth.
"At the time, divine power was lacking due to the machinations of the black sorcerers."
A healer stated a fact I hadn't even asked about.
As I tilted my head wondering who it was, Simeon gave me a hint.
"She is the professor of the Department of Healing who directed the scene at the time."
"Ah, I have heard much about you, Professor Feria."
"My skill was lacking, so I could not properly treat the patients like this."
Professor Feria bowed her head deeply.
I waved my hand towards the professor.
"No, you handled it excellently."
The method to prevent a scar from remaining is simple.
When treating, if one strictly prepares the catalyst and symbol, and pours in a lot of divine power, the probability of a scar forming decreases.
But if she had done that, there might have been people who died right there.
"I heard that thanks to you, Professor, there was no death among the innocent students."
The not-so-innocent students died from the parasite, but one can't be expected to care about that.
In that regard, it can be said that this professor did her best effort in that situation.
She excellently sorted the patients according to triage, and succeeded in keeping them breathing.
Of course, there were many students left with a disability or a scar, but there was no room to pursue even that at the time.
"Since you, Professor, have allowed the patients to come this far, it is now my turn."
I focused on the patient once again.
"The patient is suffering from the aftereffects of an extensive 3rd-degree burn covering the face, lower jaw, anterior neck, and upper sternum. Following the accident, epidermal closure was achieved through the priest order's emergency healing, but the wound was closed without arranging the deep tissue and regulating tension, resulting in the progression of a hypertrophic scar and contracture."
"...Pardon?"
At the feast of specialized terminology suddenly pouring out of my mouth, the priests let out dumbfounded sounds.
Unlike them, my team from the capital familiarly began to note down the contents.
"Understood, Lord Saint. How should we set the surgery priority?"
"Let's resolve the microstomia, neck contracture, and lower eyelid ectropion."
Microstomia.
Unlike normal flesh, a scar has no elasticity.
Microstomia is a symptom where breathing and eating become difficult because the mouth doesn't open well due to such a scar on the cheek.
Neck contracture.
A symptom where the scar extending from under the chin to the chest strongly pulls the jaw downward, preventing one from lifting their head.
The urgency is high because the jaw is pulled toward the chest, making it hard to breathe when trying to sleep.
Lower eyelid ectropion.
A condition where a problem occurs in the lower eyelid, causing the eye to flip downward and be unable to close.
Because being unable to close the eyes makes it impossible to sleep, it must be resolved as quickly as possible.
"I will administer anesthesia for this patient."
Usually, I tend to leave it all to the healer in charge of anesthesia.
But for this patient, the anesthesia itself is a hurdle, so I decided to do it myself.
First, I inserted a tube made of latex, which I like, into the patient's airway.
"Observe carefully. Since this patient has difficulty sleeping, directly administering sleep anesthesia could induce dyspnea."
Normally, intubation is performed after putting them to sleep.
However, this patient needs to be put to sleep after securing the airway in advance.
This is because breathing is difficult due to the stiff scars.
"For the anesthetic, I will use ether as the primary agent, and chloroform will be used limitedly as an adjunct."
Cocaine will not be used.
Because it's going to be a major surgery, it is not a situation where a local anesthetic can play a part.
"I will begin the 1st surgery. Student?"
"Yes. 9:40 AM, starting the surgery."
Ayla's friend familiarly called the time out.
I immediately began the surgery.
The 1st surgery tackles the neck contracture first.
I made a long incision on the anterior neck scar band (*the scar mark on the front).
Then I made a zigzag incision in a Z-shape.
The human body is truly fascinating.
If you cut the skin in an I-shape and just reattach it, the skin is pulled taut, rendering one unable to straighten their neck like this patient.
However, if you make an incision in a Z-shape or Y-shape, the pulling force is dispersed, which can reduce the scar from contracting in one direction.
When this happens, not only does the scar not look like a scar, but if done well, it's also possible for it to leave almost no scar at all.
The plastic surgery professor had explained a more detailed principle at the time, but...
I don't really remember that.
I only remember him telling me this surgery was called a Z-plasty (Z-flap).
'Since this isn't a flap surgery that needs to consider blood vessels.'
After making a zigzag incision on the neck like that,
"Ayla. Heal."
"Yes, Heal."
Ayla, who had only recently awakened to Minor Heal, cast her divine magic.
Of course, she is still yet to attend the Academy, and her realization is rather shallow, so she can only recover the skin, but.
It was enough for now.
"The s... scar is...!"
Cardinal Wendras's eyes were dyed in astonishment.
"Lord Saint, what might that knife be? Have you perhaps discovered a new catalyst like Rax?"
"It is neither a catalyst nor anything else. It is just a meager technique."
Of course, making an incision thoughtlessly does not make the scar disappear.
One has to make the incision while considering the point of action of the force pulling the skin, so making an incision thoughtlessly will only add another scar.
However, I postponed the explanation for that for now.
"I will begin the 2nd surgery."
This is a part that cannot be freeloaded off with just incisions (flap surgery).
Because this is an area where cheek flesh must be created entirely anew.
I carefully brought the knife to the sleeping patient's mouth.
And like the clown from a certain bat-man movie, I cut the corners of the mouth.
"Heal."
"Heal."
As soon as the corners of the mouth were cut, blood gushed out.
Because the face has many blood vessels, it was an area that bled profusely like this.
But beside me, there was an all-purpose hemostat, a divine priest.
I stopped the bleeding, pulled the mucosa from inside the mouth, and covered a part of the defect area.
Then, Heal.
'I should take some skin from under the ear.'
From here on, it is similar to the surgery of a patient with a torn jaw.
The very surgery Otto had when his mouth was torn in the past.
I cut under the ear in a Y-shape, then twisted and turned it to cover the corner of the mouth.
With this, the reconstruction of the cheek flesh is also complete.
"..."
Leaving Wendras staring in a daze, I moved on to the highlight of the surgery.
"Observe carefully. This is the technique you all will learn from me in the future."
Ectropion correction.
It is a surgery that fixes a malfunctioning eyelid.
This surgery was practically the symbol of 'the devil is in the details.'
I looked at the patient's eyes.
Even though sleep anesthesia was administered, the eyelid was not closing due to the scar.
I immediately made an incision under the hardened eyelid to release the tension.
The eyelid that was pulled down due to the scar moved up, and the eye that wouldn't close finally closed.
Even if I cast Greater Heal in this cut state, it would be reasonably resolved.
But by adding details, it becomes possible to treat this with Minor Heal.
"I will take the lacking skin from the chest."
A woman's chest is skin frequently used in flap surgery.
Because there is a lot of loose flesh there, making it perfect for a skin graft.
For reference, for men lacking chest flesh, buttock flesh is often used.
Unlike chest flesh, buttock flesh has a quite different skin color so it looks awkward, but usually, the significance lies in the fact that it can cover the area.
Here is one detail.
"Let's use the lower chest."
If possible, the lower chest is better than the upper chest.
Because even if a scar remains there, it is not very visible.
Of course, all of this is bound to change depending on the situation, so a doctor's intuition is the most important in this area.
After taking the amount of skin needed for an eyelid from the patient's lower chest flesh,
"Heal."
I immediately performed the graft.
A perfect eyelid without a scar was completed.
"Let's perform reconstruction on the remaining scars next week."
The most urgent problems for this patient—dyspnea and insomnia—have been resolved.
It will be a large-scale flap surgery, but
'I have an invincible Saintess by my side.'
I wasn't particularly worried.
Because I had a divine power mule by my side who could somehow make it work even if my skill was a little lacking.
After finishing the surgery like that.
I pulled my gloves back—and shot them towards the trash can like a rubber band gun.
It's a performance only surgeons can do.
I wanted to try doing it in front of people at least once.
And I spoke towards Cardinal Wendras, who was standing with his mouth wide open.
"You will be pleased with the next patient as well, Cardinal Wendras. I am going to make a knee for a patient who needs an amputation."
How about it, isn't it really easy?