“What do you think makes people sick?” Hohsalle asked.
“I think something evil must enter their body,” Van answered.
Hohsalle smiled. “That’s certainly one cause.”
“You mean there are others?”
“Yes. Other causes, other effects, and other processes. Diseases result from different combinations of factors, so complex and varied that it’s staggering. And I’m only talking about what we know presently.”
Van gazed at the young man’s fine-cut features. What kind of thoughts filled the space behind that pale forehead?
Hohsalle held up two fingers. “But if I were to divide them very roughly, I would say there are two causes of disease. The first is that something enters the body from outside, just as you said. The second is that the body itself causes the disease. The important thing here is that these two causes are not necessarily exclusive. Within that fact lies the answer to why some people who get sick recover, while others don’t. No two people are the same. Human bodies are both surprisingly similar and astonishingly different.”
Van’s eyes narrowed. “Such as some people being born healthy and others, not?”
“Mmm. Yes and no. Some are indeed born with weaknesses that make them more susceptible to disease and harder to heal. But even if you’re born healthy, that doesn’t mean you’ll automatically win every fight against disease. Did you know that Utalu died after being bitten by a Kinma dog?”
“Yes.”
“See what I mean? He was a strong and healthy warrior who’d never been sick in his life, whereas that little rascal you took under your wing was just a baby when she was bitten, right?”
Van nodded.
“There may be some exceptions, but young children are almost always more susceptible than adults to the seeds of any disease that enter their bodies. You’ve heard the saying that children under seven have just been placed in our care temporarily by the gods, right? That’s owing to how suddenly and easily they can die. Despite this, a helpless little infant occasionally endures a disease that kills a hale adult. Behind the question of whether someone will get sick, there are many complex factors for which there’s no simple explanation. Both the strong and the weak will get sick at times. No one in this world is completely free from disease.”
Van listened without uttering a word. Behind him, he sensed the specters of his wife and son. After a long silence, he asked, “Is it just luck, then?”
Hohsalle narrowed his eyes. “Luck? You mean whether someone gets sick?”
“Yes, and whether they get better.”
Hohsalle wrinkled his nose. “Luck. I hate that word. It’s so convenient. Probably true, too. But does it change anything to accept illness as mere fortune?” His expression turned defiant. “There’s a lot we still don’t know about why people get sick or why they recover, but we’ll never give up searching for the threads of cause and effect. If we keep trying, we’re bound to find clues.”
He took a deep breath. “For example, if we continue researching why Utalu died of black wolf fever when your adopted daughter didn’t, we’ll reach an answer one day. And once we do, we’ll save a lot of lives. Do you follow?”
Van nodded, feeling as though he’d glimpsed a shaft of pure white light pouring through young leaves, a long-forgotten scene from the past. “You told me you have a guess about why Yuna and I survived.”
Hohsalle’s mouth curved in a lopsided smile. “I certainly do. Have you ever heard people say that someone’s ‘free’ of a disease?”
Van remembered his grandmother using that phrase. He’d come down with the measles at the age of six. When the fever had broken, Van awoke to find his grandmother smiling down at him. “Good,” she’d said. “You’ve made it through. Now you’re free of that disease. You’ll never get the measles again.”
His eyes widened, and he stared at Hohsalle. “Are you saying that I’ve had black wolf fever before?”
Hohsalle’s eyes went wide. “I’m impressed! You catch on quickly.” Then, perhaps realizing his own impertinence, he plowed on hastily. “To put it very simply, yes, I think so.”
“But—”
Hohsalle raised a hand. “Hang on. I said that I was putting it simply. I know you were never bitten by a Kinma dog before… Wait. Were you?”
“No.”
“Right. I thought as much. And I’m sure your girl was never bitten previously, either. Yet I’m guessing the disease agents that cause black wolf fever had already infiltrated your bodies before you were bitten.” A strong light gleamed in his eyes. “I believe that’s precisely why the disease didn’t kill you.”
Van frowned.
“Look,” Hohsalle said, pointing to himself. “The human body has many different points of entry. I don’t mean just cuts and scrapes, but our eyes, ears, mouths, and noses. Disease agents so small they’re invisible can enter through any of these, and if they multiply inside us, they can make us sick.
“But they’re actually infiltrating our bodies constantly. They lurk in our food, or even in the water with which we wash. Yet they don’t make us sick every time. Why? The answer to that question is one key to the puzzle of what’s happening to you and Yuna.”
He laughed. “The human body is really like a country.”
Van blinked, recalling what the Echo Master had told him, that the human body was like a forest. How odd that two learned men of such divergent backgrounds would compare the human body to a country and a forest, both populated by diverse creatures.
Hohsalle tapped his chest with his forefinger. “Invisible beings live inside me and are working to keep me alive—never resting, always collaborating.”
He touched his eye. “If a speck of dust gets in my eye, tears will wash it away. Similarly, if a disease agent enters my body, there are warriors who will attack and kill it.”
Van’s expression clouded. How could there possibly be little warriors inside him?
Catching sight of his expression, Hohsalle added hastily, “Of course, these things inside us aren’t really soldiers, but they act in the same way.” He explained how minute and invisible beings attacked and defeated disease agents that entered the body through a wound, giving up their lives in the process, and how their corpses formed pus.
As Van listened, understanding gradually dawned. “So people who have a big army of these little warriors inside are strong and healthy and can fight off disease?”
“Basically, yes. But there’s a bit more to it than that. This is a crucial point, so bear with me. When someone enters your clan territory, how do you tell if they’re a friend or an enemy?”
“By their behavior, I guess.”
“Right. Well, although many things enter our bodies, not all of them will harm us. If we assumed that every outsider who entered our territory was an enemy, we’d kill the traveling merchants who bring us goods and riches, and our countries would perish. The little warriors have to instantly discern whether intruders are friends or foes. It wouldn’t do for them to kill their allies. However, if they fail to spot a dangerous enemy and let them in, that enemy will multiply in no time, and soon, it’ll be impossible to defeat them. The ability to distinguish one from the other at a glance is crucial.” He paused and threw Van a questioning look. “So as leader of the Lone Antlers, how did you single out the Zolians?”
Van chuckled. “By their helmets. I could tell by the tip of one poking out of the bushes.”
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. If someone dressed in an unfamiliar way entered your territory, you might be suspicious, but you wouldn’t suddenly attack them, would you? You’d wait and see. Yet if he was a Zolian soldier, you wouldn’t pause to think. Why?”
“Because I’d already know he’s an enemy.”
“Exactly! So if you know your enemy, you can attack right away. You know their faces and how to defeat them. The same is true for the little warriors inside you. They can stop invading soldiers before they multiply and gain control because they recognize them.” Hohsalle smiled. “That’s the mechanism that keeps people from getting the same illness twice and makes them ‘disease-free’ for the rest of their lives.”
“I see,” Van said. Hohsalle’s explanation was finally taking shape in his mind. “So that’s why we only get the measles once? Because the warriors inside us already know what its agents look like and can destroy them as soon as they enter?”
“That’s right. While bravely fighting off the invaders, they gain the skills and experience they need to battle effectively. The next time they meet that same enemy, they can defeat it instantly.
“Of course, it’d be easy if this mechanism worked every time, but some disease agents change shape very fast, which means we’re bound to get sick occasionally. Even so, we stay healthy most of the time thanks to this army inside us.”
Van felt as though the bizarre and incomprehensible saturated his body. Even now invisible little beings inside him were fighting disease and keeping him alive. “How strange,” he muttered. “All that is happening inside me, yet I never even knew.”
Hohsalle’s eyes shone. “I know. It’s crazy, isn’t it? We can’t see or hear what’s going on inside us.”
A log crumbled on the fire, sending up a puff of ash and sparks. Hohsalle stared at the flames, lost in thought. Then he raised his head and looked at Van.
“Actually, there’s something even stranger.” He smiled. “The black wolf fever agents that entered your body are probably still alive inside you.”