Penicillin (2)
Having confirmed the blue mold, I returned to the Infirmary with steps that felt considerably lighter….
“……?”
A familiar face was already standing inside the Infirmary.
It was the teacher from the Magic Tower I had met not long ago.
Is this person some kind of specialist in field assignments?
Last time she had been dispatched on the Emperor’s orders to teach me magic. This time, it seemed she had been summoned by Rudiger and had come flying back up to the North again.
Did the Magic Tower just operate like some kind of temp agency?
Thinking that nonsense, I stepped into the Infirmary. The teacher, who had been sitting with her legs crossed, was the first to acknowledge me.
“You’re here?”
“Quite the quick reunion.”
She looked me up and down once, then asked with interest in her eyes.
“I reviewed the Grand Duke’s request carefully. He said you need a sleep magic that can put someone into a deep slumber.”
“That is the most important thing for now, yes.”
If I couldn’t put him under, the surgery couldn’t even begin. Without sleep magic, I would have been forced to resort to primitive narcotics as painkillers.
The teacher leaned her upper body toward me and posed a question.
“But do you really only need the sleep magic?”
“……”
I couldn’t answer easily. If possible, I wanted her help with the penicillin manufacturing process as well….
While I was wrestling with that thought, a demand that revealed her true intentions slipped from her lips.
“From what I roughly heard from the Grand Duke, you’re going to drill into the patient’s skull and touch the brain directly.”
“……”
“Last time you stabbed the knight commander’s heart, and this time you’re drilling into the head butler’s head?”
“…That’s right.”
“In that case, when you’re doing that whole saving-the-person thing—can I just watch from the side?”
“Would that be alright?”
“Why not? Is worrying about me the problem? I’ll use phase magic and watch really quietly.”
“That’s not it….”
You don’t even know surgical etiquette.
Hygiene was already my biggest concern; I couldn’t let an outsider into the operating room.
“I accepted the request even though the pay is low just so I could watch a single magic being used… Really no? Seriously?”
“Of course no….”
…Wait a second.
“You want to watch?”
“Obviously!”
From the way she talked, it seemed the teacher had come solely to cast the sleep magic. That was why she’d mentioned the pay was low. So normally I shouldn’t demand magic beyond the request….
Should I offer to let her watch in exchange for some help?
If I went through a proper transaction, I could ask for assistance beyond the original request.
“If you help me in various ways, I’ll consider it.”
“What else do I have to do?”
“First… I’ll tell you the magic I need, so just say whether each one is possible or not.”
At my words, the teacher crossed her arms with an intrigued look, as if her pride had been slightly wounded.
“Asking me what magic I can and can’t do is a little disappointing. Just tell me—what is it?”
A confident reply. I opened my mouth while mentally listing the tasks I needed to solve right away.
First was selective filtration. The blue mold wasn’t the only thing growing prettily on the bread I’d made. Countless invisible miscellaneous bacteria and toxic molds would be mixed in together. Skimming off only the blue mold from that was close to impossible.
“Can you teleport only the fine powder I want to another location?”
“Hmm… it’s tricky, but if I can properly recognize the coordinates, it’s not impossible.”
With her affirmation, I immediately thought of the next thing I needed.
Penicillin was the waste the blue mold excreted after eating its fill and getting hungry—the junk it gathered inside its body to eliminate competitors for survival. Given that background, the time it took for the blue mold to produce that waste varied wildly. So what I needed in my urgent situation was—
“Then what about accelerating time in a specific space?”
Time acceleration magic.
“Time acceleration? It’s tough, but if the space is very small, it’s doable. Hmm… about the size of a fist?”
I shook my head inwardly at her answer. A fist-sized space wouldn’t cut it. To get even a single dose of penicillin, I needed to control a space at least two meters on each side.
Time acceleration is a pass.
Regrettably, I’d just have to wait for the blue mold to produce its waste.
Then next….
Could I get help with the purification process?
Getting help purifying the waste the blue mold produced after consuming the culture medium. This process was about separating pure penicillin molecules from impurities. Without magic, I’d planned to use charcoal, but….
If I can get magical help, it’s better to take it no matter what.
“In a liquid mixed with impurities, can you perfectly filter out only one specific substance I want? Selectively permeating the material, that is.”
“That’s an alchemy process. Well, it’s one of my specialties.”
Good. While I was nodding in satisfaction at that thought, the teacher furrowed her brow and posed a question.
“But you—where on earth did you learn all this?”
“Pardon?”
When I asked back at the sudden question, the teacher propped her chin and scrutinized me.
“Honestly, your usual attitude and etiquette aren’t properly polished, but….”
“……”
“Just now and before… listening to what you ask of me, it feels like you’ve learned something extremely thoroughly somewhere.”
Ah, I think I know what she means. The teacher must have felt a sense of dissonance from me accurately identifying the processes needed for problem-solving and logically breaking them down to request help.
Ordinary butlers can’t do that, after all.
The teacher continued, staring at me with clear interest.
“Is this also thanks to that knowledge you said you have?”
“That’s right.”
“Can I ask where you learned it?”
“Would that be alright?”
This is my livelihood. No way I’m telling her. I firmly cut off the teacher’s words, and looking a bit sheepish, she scratched her head.
We then stood up from our seats and moved to the Penicillin Cultivation Room located in the Main Building. Butlers carrying an enormous amount of culture medium—reaching fifty liters—came along as well.
…
After spreading the blue mold over the culture medium through the teacher’s magic, we returned to the Infirmary. All that remained now was for the molds to finish eating the culture medium and excrete their metabolic product: penicillin.
From here on, time is the issue….
Fortunately, Gilbert’s condition wasn’t that bad yet. Even so, I couldn’t relax completely. With brain diseases, it could seem fine one moment and then kill him the very next day. I needed to produce penicillin as soon as possible.
Once I successfully made usable penicillin—
“I’ll have to dive straight into surgery.”
A sigh escaped as I laid out the plan in my head. There was still a mountain of things I needed before I could actually proceed with the surgery. I had to somehow solve the hygiene problem in the operating room, for one. More than anything, I absolutely needed an assistant who could coordinate with me by my side.
Once I open the skull, the brain will be fully exposed to the air.
Leaving it like that risks the brain drying out or being damaged. That’s why throughout the surgery, I need auxiliary personnel to keep spraying physiological saline on the brain to block its contact with the air.
“…Come to think of it, I need to make physiological saline too.”
Shit.
…No, wait. A curse rose from within, but physiological saline wasn’t that big of an obstacle. Physiological saline is salt water at the same concentration as human body fluids. So I just needed to bring a precise scale, carefully calculate the ratio, and mix salt and water. It wasn’t difficult.
The real problem was still the assistant. Who on earth was I supposed to bring for a brain surgery? The assistant had to be someone who wouldn’t faint at the horrific sight of drilling into a person’s head and touching the brain, and who would steadily pour saline according to my instructions.
As I combined those conditions one by one, one person’s face naturally flashed through my mind.
“I should just make the teacher my assistant.”
No matter how I thought about it, performing the surgery alone was physically impossible. Of course, she was a mage dispatched from the Empire’s Magic Tower. Having her cast sleep magic, purification magic, and then assist in surgery too felt a bit too shamelessly overworking her, but. That woman had sparkled her eyes when I said I’d let her watch my surgery earlier. If I offered not just watching but actually participating in the surgery, she would definitely smirk and say that was even better.
“Haa….”
As my thoughts gradually organized, the sigh that had been trapped inside poured out. The teacher had gone out of the Grand Ducal household saying she wanted to look around the North a bit, so I couldn’t immediately ask her to become my assistant. After asking the other butlers to tell the teacher to come to the Infirmary when she returned, I returned to the Infirmary and continued thinking.
This surgery depended entirely on my discretion from start to finish. So I absolutely couldn’t make any basic mistakes. Moreover, this was a blind surgery. It meant the only thing I could trust was my sense of touch. The weight of responsibility felt heavy.
Just as the air itself started to feel oppressive, the Infirmary door opened and a cozy fragrance filled the room.
“Busy?”
It was thanks to Selene on day three of her daily dried-persimmon delivery challenge.
“Not at all.”
I was actually busy. I was busy, but I’d been planning to take a short break anyway. There was no way wringing my brain in this state would produce any efficiency.
Last time and this time too.
Selene really visited the Infirmary at nice timings. It was as if she was good at targeting moments when the atmosphere needed airing out.
“I’m glad the young lady has come to visit.”
Until yesterday this had been mere flattery. Today it was sincere. Chatting with a bright child rather than a stiff adult definitely helped tremendously with refreshing myself.
“First… I’ll give you a dried persimmon.”
As always, Selene took out one dried persimmon from the pouch in her hand. Watching that cute appearance, a faint smile naturally spread across my lips.
Anyone who could hold back a smile at this would have to be a psycho.
Selene liked Jian.
Of course, it was human fondness rather than romantic interest. However, the fact that Selene liked Jian remained an unchanging truth. That was why the time she spent talking with Jian was so enjoyable.
Of course, the two of them had no shared interests, but Jian’s outstanding conversational skills always provided fun. Moreover, Jian was always kind. Whenever there was a gap, he never skimped on compliments for Selene. Even to her young eyes, it was clear he was sincerely trying to treat her well.
…So this is what a friend is.
Selene recalled a word she had only ever seen in books. At the same time, she was also entertaining hopes that if they continued like this, later on they might exchange letters like in the books, or go out to the garden on nice days and enjoy a picnic together.
Just as Selene was wearing a bright smile—
Creak—.
The Infirmary door suddenly opened. The uninvited guest who cut into the flow of conversation was the teacher from the Magic Tower.
“I heard you were looking for me? What is it….”
Starting with the main point as she entered, she spotted Selene and immediately bowed her head.
“Greetings, Young Lady. I didn’t realize you were here.”
A light bow. Selene gave a small nod in return. Then Jian stood up from his seat.
“Let’s step outside for a moment to talk.”
Jian judged that he couldn’t discuss the heavy topic of surgery in front of the young lady Selene. Before leaving the room, Jian leaned toward Selene and spoke kindly.
“Our conversation was a bit short today. Once the head butler’s surgery is safely over, let’s talk for a very long time then. Please go on ahead.”
With a soft voice like soothing a child, the two of them left, and Selene was left alone in the Infirmary.
“……”
Selene sat quietly in the chair and stared at the closed door. It wasn’t that she felt sad enough to cry or depressed. Her face was simply gradually hardening.
The time I can talk with Jian is only about twenty minutes….
Today they had spoken for a mere seven minutes. Her precious time had been more than halved because of that woman who had barged in.
She was angry. She wanted to kick the door open right then and confront that mage. How dare you interrupt our conversation and steal my time? How incredibly rude.
But….
…If I get angry, it’ll cause trouble for Jian.
Jian seemed to have been about to make some important request of that mage. In that situation, if she stepped forward and got angry, the request might fall through, and as a result Jian would clearly be put in a difficult position. On top of that, the woman was the famous red-haired mage of the Magic Tower. Getting angry at someone like her was a poor choice, and knowing that, she could only swallow her resentment.
Selene tightly clenched her small fists and suppressed the irritation rising up. Since Jian had said they would talk at length once the surgery was over, she chewed on those words and held back her anger.
A friend she had for the first time was a being who made her suppress even great anger.