Chapter 118: Confirmation of Death [3]
“That guy… Doesn’t he move strangely?”
“Yeah. Something about him feels… really professional.”
“Isn’t Dr. Liston supposed to be more famous?”
“What’s he doing now?”
“They’re giving him poison.”
“Oh.”
A low rumble came with the wind. It seemed to be about me, but I was too busy moving around to focus properly. It could not be helped.
“Here!”
“Ah, yes.”
It was not just one or two. There were far too many people in London who looked like they were ready to die. True, but… huh? They were burning all this heat at once? Lord, this road was going to be congested today.
Not that it matters. Everyone’s headed to hell anyway.
I put those thoughts aside and looked to the next one on the list. Judging by his build, he looked like someone who had worked a tough job, and he had a unique presence. If Dr. Liston felt intimidating, this guy felt dangerous. Dr. Liston seemed like someone who would hit you when angry. But this man? He gave the impression that he could lash out anytime, without warning. Maybe he really could.
Pupil reflex… wait, huh? No way.
I checked again, wondering if I had imagined it because I was distracted by his intimidating presence. But no. There was definitely a response. He blinked tightly, and when he opened his eyes again, his pupil constricted.
No way. He swallowed arsenic. How was he still alive? I had heard that arsenic poisoning was fatal, and yet…
“Hey, come here for a second.”
“Huh? What is it?”
“He’s still alive.”
I called over the officer and explained. The cop had not noticed anything, but I had been watching closely. And when I told him the guy was alive, he flinched.
“What? Isn’t he dead?”
“No. He’s still breathing.”
“But he’s cold…”
Exactly. You could not judge death on that alone. That kind of carelessness, if some gang leader were executed and his body handed over to his crew, they might take it straight to a morgue hoping to bring him back. Hell, one local gang boss even went by the nickname Jesus. Ever since he was supposedly killed and came back, his reputation had only grown, and his men were even worse now.
“No. He’s alive. You can hear him breathing. Come here and listen.”
“Can I? Really?”
“Yes. This isn’t sorcery.”
“…Whoa. I can really hear it!”
The officer got excited and ran to inform his superior. And honestly, I could not blame him. Without a Stethoscope or an understanding of Pupil Reflexes, anyone would have thought this guy was dead.
“What now?”
“What else? I have to give him more of it. Hey, wake up!”
“Ugh.”
It was my first time witnessing an execution, and I had not expected a second round. Ugh. I did not want to watch any more of this, so I turned away. Even without seeing, the sounds were enough: slapping cheeks, prying open mouths, forcing things down throats. Could he be conscious? I did not think so. Still…
After that disturbing mess, I was able to confirm that all ten prisoners were finally dead.
“This is it… Can I ask you for help more often?”
“Ah… yes. Of course.”
Reward? There was more than enough. First off, I would not have to dissect someone alive. That alone was worth it. Plus, I now owed a favor to the police chief, a man with no small influence.
“Then let’s go to the theater.”
The reason we were holding a dissection in a theater was twisted, yes. But remembering what Liston had told me, it was not entirely bad. In this era, you needed a kind of mental self-hypnosis, convincing yourself that something horrifying was actually good.
Formalin… right. I’ll have to do that later.
If we were doing this privately, I might have gone ahead and pickled the body right away, but that was not possible in a public venue. It looked like it would just fall apart at the slightest scratch, so instead, I followed them to the theater.
“…Wait, here?”
When I heard “theater,” I thought they meant some old playhouse. But the sign said Royal. In the twenty-first century, the word “royal” was for marketing, but in nineteenth-century Britain, it literally meant it was owned by the Crown.
“This is the Royal Opera House in London. I heard Princess Victoria has a keen interest in anatomy. Haha, don’t be too nervous. She’s a princess, but she’s quite easygoing.”
“Ah… Ah?”
Victoria? Princess Victoria?
At this time in London, that could only mean one person.
The European grandmother…?
The British Empire was still a monstrous power. The Victorian era itself was iconic. From what I could tell, she was not directly next in line to the throne, but I could not say for sure. I did not know the royal family tree off the top of my head.
What mattered more was this: the soon-to-be Queen of the British Empire was not content with just watching my dissection. She provided the venue herself.
Let’s do well, Taepyeong… Do it right…
I had already planned to perform well, but now I had to give it my all.
“Don’t worry. She won’t be sitting where she can see the details anyway.”
“Ah, right.”
Liston patted my shoulder as I took a deep breath. Honestly, my worries were pointless.
Me? Nervous?
Queen Victoria was scary, yes. But was she not still young when she became queen? That was in the mid to late 1830s. She would be barely a teenager now. Even if she liked dissection, she probably would not be able to stomach it up close. Plus, I had done live surgeries before, with professors breathing down my neck. It would be weirder if this rattled me.
So I walked confidently into the stone building.
London’s Royal Opera House. The name alone was impressive, but the interior? Even more so. The wealth of the world really had flocked to this city. And with the princess in attendance, everything was perfectly arranged. The cadaver I was dissecting was laid out on the central platform, while the others were lined up below it. In a regular theater, there would not have been space, but this was an opera house, and it was massive. The audience seating stretched far back and was already packed. Judging from the familiar faces, it looked like the people from earlier had just followed us here. And that was not all.
“There are high-ranking people here too.”
“High-ranking?”
“Not just royals. Nobles as well. Look, even Count Charles Grey is here.”
“The Prime Minister?!”
The Prime Minister. Now this was serious. My hands started shaking. I knew dissections were a public spectacle in this era, but this?
“Oh, are you nervous?”
“No, no…”
“If you are, say so. I have alcohol.”
“N-No thank you…”
Liston misunderstood my shaking and offered me something that looked potent enough to knock out a horse. It was not just alcohol. It was strong liquor. No thanks. Better to be a little shaky than drunk during surgery.
And strangely, the moment I saw the cadaver, my nerves started to settle. My voice, too.
“Hello.”
Despite the massive audience, many of them nobles and royals, I spoke with the same tone I always did.
“My name is Kim Taepyeong. I’m studying medicine under Dr. Liston. So, starting now… let’s examine the anatomy of the neck.”
I turned slightly. As usual, my loyal assistants Joseph and Alfred came to stand by me. Colin handed over the scalpel. After several adjustments, it was now finally usable.
“Hmm… I see you’re wearing gloves.”
“Better than using bare hands, isn’t it?”
“Taepyeong Kim? Where’s he from? Not India, right? China?”
“No, Joseon. Their director said he was quite the talent.”
“Tch. An Asian? And he’s this skilled?”
“Still… there are always exceptions.”
The first floor stayed quiet. Maybe it was the novelty of the event, or maybe it was the pressure from the high-ranking guests speaking on the second floor. It was not the Middle Ages anymore, so no one would get flogged just for speaking up. But even in the twenty-first century, it was not smart to make a scene in front of aristocrats.
“All right. We begin the incision from the right earlobe, cutting straight down.”
What mattered now was giving the doctors behind me proper instruction. Liston already knew what to do, since I had taught him a few times, but the rest? They had no idea. They barely even knew what was inside the neck, let alone how to dissect it cleanly.
“Be careful with the depth. Cut only through the first thin muscle layer. The exact depth will vary from person to person. So, let’s peel it back all at once. No, wait. You there. Are you a doctor?”
Not only did I have to explain it verbally, I had to physically move around and split the body myself to demonstrate.
“You’re a doctor.”
“Oh, it’s Kane…”
“Tch. Is he trying to show off by cutting a neck?”
“I heard a belly’s easier to cut.”
“No, this isn’t right. You can’t do surgery like this!”
It was not easy. This was still an era where even basic concepts like separating anatomical layers were not common knowledge. Surgeons were not given the time or the tools for such precision. Anesthesia was only just beginning to be used this year, and only in a few hospitals.
Goddammit, you guys…
I gritted my teeth. This really was hell.
“Pay attention! If you don’t understand, come up and see! Don’t judge based on my face! Are you planning on complaining to Dr. Liston behind my back?”
“N-No…”
Thankfully, Liston was here. Having him around was like submitting a security deposit. No one dared say a word.
Footnotes
Translator’s Notes
Royal Opera House — Major opera house in London’s Covent Garden, associated with elite performance culture.
Princess Victoria — Future Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, born in 1819 and queen from 1837 to 1901.
Victorian era — Period of Queen Victoria’s reign from 1837 to 1901, associated with Britain’s imperial expansion, industrial growth, and distinctive social values.
Count Charles Grey — Refers to Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, British prime minister from 1830 to 1834.
Pupil reflex — Eye response in which the pupil constricts or dilates in response to light, used here to help determine whether the condemned man is still alive.