But I did not hear him. My eyes widened the moment I saw what the man was wearing.
He was dressed in a long tailcoat, complete with a vest underneath. He had one hand on the wide brimmed hat leather hat on top of his head, and another on the long black cane that reached up to his chest. And finally, he wore a mask with tinted glass openings at the eyes, with a protrusion at the very front of it, curved downwards in the shape of a bird’s beak.
That outfit— the signature style of fashion that man wore. I would recognize it anywhere and anyplace. It was…
He was a plague doctor.
And if Jay’s words were anything to go by, he was not just a doctor that went around trying to treat plague victims. No— he was the Plague Doctor.
"Huh? Is that really the Plague Doctor, Melas?"
I blinked. Jay was looking at me, and so was everyone else. I opened my mouth to speak, only to realize it was already open; I did not realize it, but I must have said the words ‘Plague Doctor’ out loud the moment I saw him.
"You ruined my grand reveal—" Hannah paused. "Wait, who are you…?"
I was about to reply, when Jay stepped forward. "She’s my friend, but that doesn’t matter." He said, before turning to the masked man. "Are you really the Plague Doctor?"
"Why yes I am. Although it appears that my reputation precedes me— I did not expect to be recognized solely based on my appearance alone. Even Ms Hannah here had a hard time believing that I was who I said I was."
The girl tried to cover her glowing red cheeks by putting a hand up and clearing her throat. "Ahem, when I heard he was in town, I searched through all inns and taverns to bring him here. He says he’ll help cure Ms Sharity and Patty."
A susurration ran through the crowd. Excited voices came from all around me, as everyone realized what was going to happen. But Jay stepped forward, and pointed accusingly at Hannah.
"And how are you going to afford that? Last I checked, we did not have any money to even pay off the debt collectors!"
Reaching for my coin pouch, I was about to say something, but the Plague Doctor spoke first. "That won’t be a problem, young Sir."
"Huh?"
"This will be free of charge."
"What? Why?" Jay asked, confused.
And I knew the answer even before the Plague Doctor said it.
"Because I am the Plague Doctor."
I should have expected it, really. You did not make a name for yourself by going around curing an incurable plague for years without charging an exorbitant amount of money. That was why I never heard of him; doing things pro bono and not just helping rich people was a surefire way to not become renowned.
It was the same thing in my world. Well, at least for lawyers; I remembered not being able to name a single pro bono lawyer until I researched them (which was what made me interested in law in the first place). Not that any of that even mattered anymore— my aspirations and goals from my previous life played no part in my present situation.
Which was sitting down and doing nothing.
After the Plague Doctor made his introduction and assured everyone that he was helping them for free with no strings attached, he proceeded to treat his patients immediately.
That was two hours ago. He locked the door to their room, saying he needed privacy, and had not come out since.
Honestly, I probably should have left a long time ago. There was no reason for me to stay, now that I was not needed anymore; that was what Jay kept telling me.
But I opted not to leave; since I was already here, I had to make sure that this Plague Doctor was not some sort of con artist trying to scam this orphanage— not that I thought that that was the case. He probably was legit, however I just had to make sure he truly did cure this Ms Sharity and little Patty. Just to fully confirm it.
And anyways, I was trying to gain more information about these so-called ‘debt collectors’. They did not visit often previously, because, according to Jay, Ms Sharity always made her payments on time. However, when they did visit, they would always cause a ruckus: they would threaten to take the house as theirs, or even one of the kids to ‘work’ for them. Thankfully, neither has happened, and I would prefer if it stayed that way.
Unfortunately, Jay could not really tell me much more about them; I wanted to know where their base of operations was, but apparently they worked from out of town, only coming in occasionally for jobs and such. Which screamed all shades of shady to me, if I were being perfectly honest.
With the more questions I asked, I was getting more and more convinced that they were slavers, to the point that even Jay started getting suspicious too. I was just about to leave and begin a real investigation instead of getting answers from kids (mainly Jay) when the door holding the patients and the Plague Doctor slowly creaked open.
All heads snapped to it. Everyone waited with bated breath as someone exited the room. A middle aged woman, holding the hands of a little girl, stepped out of the room. Their clothes were a mess, they had pale skin, and their cheeks were sucked in. But otherwise, they looked fine.
"Ms— Ms Sharity?" Jay stood up, eyes already welling up.
"Patty…?" Hannah uttered the name breathlessly.
The woman opened her
