Chapitre 16: Barren Hill Mental Hospital
Éditeur: EndlessFantasy Translation
Barren Hill mental hospital was not famous for being on a barren hill, but because the director, Anze, was a highly respected psychiatrist.
He had seen countless patients with different conditions, and he had also cured countless mental patients.
The patients around them were all sitting in wheelchairs, pushed by nurses and doctors, talking to each other.
Finally, when they saw Marcus come in, they went out and started chatting and laughing together.
Marcus felt that this scene was a little strange, but he couldn't point his finger at what was strange about it.
"I'm here to see Director Anze."
Marcus showed his student ID to the female nurse on the front desk and said, "I'm an advanced mage. I have an important matter to discuss with Director Anze."
"The director is very busy—"
"The people behind me are police officers. Miss, I advise you to cooperate a little..."
"Yes, yes," another female nurse said on her behalf. "The director is in his office on the fourth floor. Do you need me to lead the way?"
"No need," Marcus replied coldly.
The corridor was very quiet, so Marcus and the others' footsteps echoed.
The surrounding nurses could only watch them. They didn't dare to say anything and quietly slipped away.
A loud crashing sound suddenly echoed. It was as if someone had slammed against a door, and it caused an impactful sound to reverberate in the minds of Marcus and the others.
"Mr. Marcus, it's here!" The police officers arrived before the nurses.
Marcus dashed to their side and said, "Open the door first and see what's inside."
The door opened, and the figure of a delicate nurse appeared. She was feeding porridge to the patient. The thing on the ground was a broken bowl.
"I'm really sorry." The nurse smiled awkwardly at Marcus and the others. "This patient has a little temper."
"Yes, yes." Marcus stepped over the broken pieces and slowly walked closer.
The nurse's arm was bleeding while the patient was in a semiconscious state.
"Are you okay? "Marcus asked the nurse with concern.
"I'm fine, I'm fine."
"How about the patient?"
"He's fine too. He took his medicine, and his mood stabilized."
Marcus saw her pointing at the medicine on the table. He went forward to take a look. It was a medication for mental illness.
"By the way, sir, are you a police officer?" the nurse asked doubtfully.
"Yes." Marcus smiled. "But we're just here to see a doctor. We have an appointment."
"Okay, okay."
...
Marcus's face was a little gloomy after he left the room, but he instantly regained his composure.
"Respected mage, have you noticed anything unusual?"
"We'll talk about it later."
"Alright. We're here."
Marcus knocked on the door and went straight in.
What greeted Marcus was an upside-down painting. It was followed by an old man dressed in a doctor's uniform.
'This must be Director Anze.'
"Excuse me, director," said Marcus.
The director smiled at them. "It's alright. Let me finish my work first, boys."
With that, he stood up and straightened the upside-down painting on the wall behind his desk.
In the painting, an old man was holding a little girl's hand as they walked together on the beach. This made all the people who saw the painting feel warm in their hearts.
"What a warm and harmonious picture," praised Marcus.
Although the characters in the painting were somewhat childish and abstract, Marcus felt that the old man in the painting was the director.
Director Anze touched the face of the little girl in the painting and said gently, "Yes, this is my life, my former life."
"Is this girl your granddaughter? She's a little cute," said Marcus.
"Yes, she painted this." Director Anze turned around and asked Marcus, "What are you here for? I'm just an old man who doesn't have magic talent."
Marcus said with a bitter smile, "We're here to solve a case. We want to see Chelsea's files."
"I'm afraid that's not possible," Director Anze said. "This is physician–patient privilege."
"We're the police, Director Anze." The police officer behind Marcus added, "This gentleman is... a mage.
"We're investigating a case related to black mages. Please consider carefully, Director Anze. Otherwise, the entire Gray Plains City will be in danger."
Marcus nodded. "Yes, Director Anze. We have no choice."
Director Anze could not go against so many people, so he could only let Marcus read Chelsea's medical records.
"Chelsea, female, 15 years old. Cause of illness: Antisocial...
"Illness: Often fantasizes that she has two friends, and they play together...
"It has been resolved.
"..."
"Director, what is the cause of this illness?" asked Marcus.
"This child, her situation is quite special." Director Anze was silent for a long time before he slowly said, "You may already be aware of some things about her.
"She lacked love from a young age. You may not know this yet. She was bullied back in elementary school, and she did not attend school ever since.
"I wanted to help her and tried to adopt her. Unfortunately, my wife didn't agree." Director Anze added, "She said that this child is a harbinger of disaster."
"Do you know which elementary school she attended, Director Anze?"
"Young Eagle Elementary School."
"Thank you, Director Anze." Marcus got closer and said to him, "So, Chelsea's illness, did you cure it?"
"No, she needs to give herself a magic tranquilizer shot every day."
"But, Chelsea claimed that someone would come to give her a shot every day."
"Well..." Director Anze wiped his sweat, "This... She can normally do it on her own. She came to my place for a re-examination last month, and I found no problem. It's impossible. I didn't instruct anyone to give her an injection."
Marcus smiled and shook Director Anze's hand. "It's okay, Director Anze. I know it's not related to you. Thank you for your cooperation."
With that, Marcus secretly cast a spell to check whether Director Anze's body contained magic power.
There was no magic power nor any signs of black magic.
And he was not a puppet!
"It seems that Chelsea's illness has relapsed, or become even worse."
Director Anze nodded after hearing that. "This is possible. I told her that if she can't find a cure for her illness, she should find an acquaintance to check in on her."
"I see." Marcus thought for a while and said, "By the way, I want to see the information on your staff. Is that okay?"
"Yes."
Marcus took the list of employees in the entire hospital.
Marcus shook his head when he saw the pictures and information of the employees on it.
He had an amazing memory, so he had long mentally engraved the appearance of the puppet that had come to Chelsea's doorstep earlier .
He had speculated that this person was a neighbor or a family member of Chelsea or even an employee from this place.
Unfortunately, that was not the case.
Although Marcus left the mental hospital, he instructed the policeman beside him, "Find a hidden place to keep an eye on this mental hospital.
"Don't let anyone slip, especially Director Anze. Send a few people to secretly follow whoever comes out.
"Tell the chief officer to request for more people."
After giving his orders, Marcus headed to Chelsea's elementary school.
The folder the chief officer had passed him had information on the elementary school but nothing on Director Anze. As such, Marcus had run some tests on Director Anze.
There was a big problem with this hospital and everyone in it!
-- Cadeau
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