Chapter 2: Dungeon, Prince, Prisoner, and Science (2)
Richard stopped in front of a cell located deep in the dungeon. Because of the dim light, he squinted and looked at the figure inside the cell. The skin color on the figure’s face presented a kind of an abnormal snow-white color. There was no blood, no unusual horrors, only sitting on the floor and looking at him with blank, droopy eyes.
The guard captain screeched inwardly, daring not to make a sound ‘lest the prince hears of it.
Clearing his throat, he said, “Your Highness, this is the white-faced demon we caught.”
Richard said nothing and moved forward.
The guard captain was stupefied, wondering why Richard held no interest towards the demon. Putting the matter aside, he shrank his neck and followed.
Soon, Richard stopped in a nearby cell. The strange figure was curled up in the corner. He had a face full of wrinkles hinting his old age. He was less than a meter tall, the average height of a child, giving people a strange feeling.
The guard captain explained, “Your Highness, this is a halfling…”
Before he had the chance to explain, Richard shook his head, walked forward again, and stopped.
In the third cell was a reddish-purple skinned human. He had red spots on his face, neck, back of his hands, and so on. Parts of his skin had rotted away. Richard leaned forward and took a closer look. The man had his mouth parted slightly open letting one view his prominent and canine-like teeth that were bloody red.
“…Your Highness,” The guard captain pointed to the man on the third cell and said nervously, “This is a vampire. You must be careful so you won’t be bitten.”
“Oh?” Richard raised his brows, tone a little cold.
“Your Highness, you…”
“An albino, a dwarf, and a case of porphyria… so this is the white-faced demon, the halfling, and the vampire you speak of?”
“Your Highness…”
“Do you have any knowledge of science or not?! Ah, right, I’ve almost forgotten. The Middle Ages is a regressed and backward civilization, but that should be of no excuse! If you think about it, do you think that a white-faced demon, a halfling, and a vampire is so easy to catch? Would they allow you to catch them without difficulties? When those soldiers suffered without casualties, you should have suspicions, right? Have you not learned a thing from your past two failures?”
“This…”
“Did you see him transform into a bat as the legends speak? Did you see him fly?”
The guard captain trembled, but he suppressed his fear and braved forward with an act of surprising courage.
“Your Highness, while it is true that I did not see this evil vampire turn into a bat nor fly away, he does fear the sun. Exposure to sunlight will cause his skin to rot. Moreover, we found him on the road drinking blood. To confirm our suspicions, we brought a few garlic to which this man was vehemently averse to and had an intense reaction. If this is not a vampire, then what is it? Your Highness, I have no doubt that this evil man is a vampire!”
“But he’s only suffering from a severe case of porphyria.”
Richard remained unmoved.
“What?” The guard captained blinked.
“In other words, he’s a patient in need of treatment. All the things you’re seeing are symptoms caused by the disease, porphyria, which is very similar to the vampiric legends. But one thing I am certain of, he’s no vampire.”
“Your Highness… what do you mean?” The guard captain looked puzzled.
“Do you want to know?” Asked Richard.
“Yes…”
“Alright, then I’ll explain. Maybe soon we’ll speak the same language and you’ll know what it is that I seek.” Richard smiled. “Porphyria, otherwise known as hematoporphyria, is a group of porphyrin metabolic disorder which is when the blood pigment hemoglobin is abnormally metabolized. It’s caused by the lack of certain enzymes or decreased enzyme activity in the heme synthesis pathway. Unfortunately, at the current level of this time, there’s no way to cure porphyria. We can barely prolong their limited lifespan. They’re no worse than living as a ghost.”
“…What…?” The guard captain was unable to comprehend.
“Ah, I’ve gone off tangent. Let me put it this way,” Richard explained, “As you know, the human body consists of many parts, part of which is called heme. Heme gives our blood the ability to produce oxygen partially due to the presence of iron. And because of the existence of porphyrin is the body able to produce hemoglobins, part of heme enzymes.
“But some people, partially due to the lack of this specific enzyme, heme production is blocked, resulting in extremely high buildups of porphyrin in the body. Porphyrin is highly sensitive to light but harmless to darkness. When exposed to ultraviolet rays like the sun, porphyrin becomes toxic, resulting in erythema, herpes, and even festering on the surface of the human body.
“The mouth, of course, will be affected. As the nose and ears are eaten away due to decomposition, the lips are peeled back. You’ll see irritated gums and tooth exposures that exposes a fang-like tooth. Gradually, it’ll turn to a purple-brown color because of the deposition of porphyrin.
“At the same time, because heme cannot be synthesized and normal blood can no longer be produced, patients afflicted with porphyria experiences severe anemic symptoms and need to replenish their blood from the outside to survive. Intravenous delivery is good, but given the current tech and scientific knowledge of this world, I doubt that it’ll happen, so they can only choose to drink another kind of heme which is animal blood to relieve their anemia and pain.
“As for the aversion to garlic, it’s quite simple. Garlic has allicin, a strong bactericide. Garlic contains chemicals that aggravate their symptoms, causing agonizing pain. It’s the same with silver objects. It also has a strong bactericide.
“In short, understand this, vampires are vampires, and porphyria is porphyria. Perhaps they’re the same given their similarities, but they’re further from the truth! All I ask is that you find real vampires and things related to the supernatural phenomena, not patients in need of treatment, all right?
“When you arrest them, when they’re unable to escape for all they can do is beg and cry, is there really no doubt in your heart? Or do you believe that all is right so long as you can finish the task? This has happened twice already, and a third time once again. I have limited patience.”
“…Your Highness, I…”
The guard captain was struck speechless and occupied with great fear. He’d long heard of this prince’s coldness and hatred for trickery. If he was truly angered…
Richard looked away and walked past the struggling guard captain.
“You mentioned you caught four men this time. The last one’s a wizard, right? Well, let’s see if this holds some truth to it.”