Beriberi. A bizarre disease that was epidemic in Japan from the 1870s to 1920s. For a long time, its cause was unknown. First of all, it rarely affected elders and children, who had weaker immune systems. In fact, young and strong soldiers were often afflicted. The wealthier people, who ate better food, were afflicted more often. This happened at a time when the existence of vitamins was unknown. To boot, there were almost no examples of beriberi in western medicine, which had rapidly increased medical technology in Japan. A truly mysterious disease. Symptoms include lethargy, swollen limbs, and dulled senses. In the end, the disease is complicated by Wernicke’s encephalopathy or heart conditions, resulting in death.
“Well, Mister Garish? Have you experienced any of those symptoms?”
“...I have,” Mister Garish answered, after a moment of silence.
That wasn’t good. In modern times, beriberi isn’t a disease to be afraid of. Which may not sound right, but I only mean that it is curable. Since beriberi is caused by vitamin B1 deficiency, the treatment is to increase it. It’s not complicated. The problem wasn’t the complexity of the treatment, though. The problem was this situation where beriberi was already widespread. What to do...? What should I do?
“...Sir Eiji. Am I going to die...?” Mister Garish asked me, pale as a ghost. He must have dedicated his life thus far to his work to earn the title of Guild Master at such a young age. Married a few years ago, his life was smooth sailing. Now, he was about to die from a disease he had never heard of. That wasn’t right. I could hear the frustration in his voice. Who could blame him? Most diseases are senseless. If two people share the exact same lifestyle, one could develop diabetes while the other doesn’t. Some people get cancer, and others don’t. That’s how it is. In the case of beriberi, though, it can be cured and prevented. It wasn’t like I was facing up against an infectious disease that required antibiotics to treat.
“It’s all right, Mister Garish. We can cure it.” I gave a reassuring smile.
“Are you sure? Eiji, giving false hope can be crueler than telling the truth,” Tiamat interrupted. She knew I was not a doctor and just a clerk, after all.
“Beriberi can be cured with a change in diet.”
“Oh?”
“For example... Mister Garish. You enjoy your white rice, don’t you?” I questioned, searching for confirmation more than an answer. He returned a nod, looking curious as to how I knew.
“And your liquor?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re not the type to shy away from exercise.”
“How do you know all this, Sir Eiji?”
“Let’s see. I’ll say it’s because I’m a Hermit. First thing, I want you to change your diet until I formulate a cure.”
“Yes, sir...”
“No drinking. Eat as little rice as you can, and don’t exercise for a while.”
His lack of vitamin B1 had caused beriberi; I couldn’t let him lose any more of it. Since vitamin B1 is required to process carbohydrates, he should cut down on his carbohydrate intake. Exercise wasn’t a good idea, either. Beriberi was common among athletes and soldiers because exercise boosts metabolism, and therefore burns more glucose, spending more vitamin B1. Cutting back on those things should help with the symptoms somewhat. Then, he just needed to eat more foods rich in vitamin B1. Specifically, protein like red meat and fish. There’s a good amount of it in soybeans too, but just by changing from white rice to brown rice, he should see drastic changes.
I mean, none of that was necessary if you had a bottle of B1 supplements. I couldn’t expect something like that in this world, though, and I couldn’t go making this world dependent on modern medicine and supplements, either. Not if I wanted to avoid making the same mistakes as my predecessors who molded this world to be easier, more convenient, and better suited to their own needs.
“...I understand.”
“I hope to bring you some good news soon. Although, it might be better for us to have a title we can use when traveling to gather ingredients, for example. Can we register as adventurers, too?”
“Eiji. You’re going to be an adventurer?”
“You too, Tia.”
“Me!?”
“...You want to be adventurers, Hermits...?”
“Yes. We can’t go hunting or shopping or anything if we cause a commotion everywhere we go by letting people know we are Hermits.”
I shrugged. In short, I couldn’t deal with people reacting like Mister Garish or his wife had everywhere we went. Things would be easier if we were common adventurers.
“In that case...”
With a chuckle, Garish wrote us a letter. We had the recommendation of the Guild Master, it seemed. I was sure it would help with registering as adventurers.
“Thank you. Then let’s hop to it.”
Patting Tiamat on her shoulder, I exited the room. Thudding footsteps followed a few paces behind me.
Back in the hall, we went through the registration process at the reception. The receptionist (aka Mister Garish’s wife) provided us with some details. Apparently, there were ranks in the adventurer world. A newly registered rookie started as an F-rank (the bottom) and climbed up the ladder by gaining experience and producing results. The top rank is S-rank. A common system found in many of the Isekai fantasies out there. In other words, it worked like a video game.
“Come to think of it, it’s like classifying freelancers and part-timers.”
There are many people in this day and age who can’t or won’t work a full-time job, and make a living by temp work or part-time work. This is a system that ranks those kinds of people, limiting the type of contracts they can accept and the pay they can take.
If you want to work for our company, you at least have to be a B-rank.
We don’t have any work for an F-rank. Try somewhere else.
These conversations may be had if the system existed in modern-day Japan.
“That’s gross,” Tiamat said, as if she had a bad taste in her mouth. It sure didn’t sound like a society where the freedom of job selection was guaranteed by law.
“Well, I guess it is efficient in a way. No need to waste your time going to job interviews at companies you have no chance of getting into.”
“Less waste but also less progression. Do you think the potential of a human can be quantified?”
“You hit the nail on the head, Tia. This system is blasphemous to humanity.”
I knew I had a sour face on as I looked at my newly acquired Adventurer Card. On it were my abilities, quantified.
Strength — E
Magic — F
Intelligence — C
Luck — D
I was so grateful I could cry. That was all figured out by placing my right hand above a literal crystal ball, by the way. How incredible. Just like that, apparently they could figure out that I had no physical strength, no magical powers, not even good luck, and barely average intelligence. In other words, the card read that I was worthless. What a joke.
“Just like a fortune teller machine, it’s not based on any facts. No sense letting it affect you.”
“Uh-huh...”
Well put, O’ Majestic Dragon. All of your stats are S. Very convincing. I just gave a half-hearted agreement. My stats didn’t matter, anyway. It’s not like I wanted to make a living as an adventurer or anything. First, I should look for any quests that mention symptoms similar to Garish’s. While I was limited to this area, I should be able to get a grasp of how widespread beriberi is.
“Um. Sir Eiji...?”
The receptionist called me back as I walked away.
“What is it?”
“I need the registration fee...”
“Oof.”
They charged a fee. It’s an unfriendly world we live in.
“Tia.”
“Why would you think I have any money, Eiji?”
“...Saw that coming.”
I was wearing the same clothes as when I was heading to meet my fiancée. Tiamat was naked. She’s a dragon, after all. Naturally, neither of us had any of this world’s money.