To Professor Kraft Wood:
Please forgive us for addressing you by this title so boldly. It is difficult to find any other words that would suit your standing and convey the right meaning.
You must be wondering whether this letter came from someone whose mind was so muddled that they made a mistake in the most basic detail. That is not the case. We are aware that you hold a lectureship at Wenden Port Academy and run a clinic in Solace Port.
As early as the beginning of spring this year, news of an entirely new surgical method traveled from the frozen ports of the Kingdom's distant north to the green woods along the Tem River.
From the extraordinary rumors brought by certain laypeople, we learned of an incredible breakthrough: a highly skilled doctor had once again taken on a challenge that no one before him had ever overcome.
From the moment the sages first grew curious about the human body to the completion of the great work Human Anatomy, the academic world's exploration of the abdominal cavity had never ceased.
The ever-growing body of knowledge, coupled with the helplessness of its practical application, had for a time left research in this field in an embarrassingly awkward position.
The design of the surgery was only part of the problem. The unbearable pain was another. Abdominal surgery was never going to be as crude as an amputation, something even a barber might attempt on a whim—and perhaps do better than some students who had studied for years.
The few reports of abdominal surgery had ultimately proved to be misunderstandings, or else the work of frauds dabbling in the occult. So when news from Wenden Port abruptly stopped, we assumed, as expected, that it had come to nothing.
But after several months