The Awakening of Saint Stahl

Ever since I was targeted by Mayor Karl Lueger, the yellow press was the first to react. They immediately seized upon the fact that I was being called a "saint" in the slums.

On top of that, my focused treatment of syphilis patients also became a target for political attacks. I never imagined that curing syphilis would become such a vulgar point of contention.

But then again, Karl Lueger's support base was strictly composed of Vienna's small business owners and conservative Catholics. Naturally, they dragged the Catholic Church into this to attack me first.

"I knew it. Religion really is the opium of the people. Son, do you see? The Catholic Church is a shameless entity that blinds the masses suffering under the oppression of the capitalists..."

"Father, please! It's because you go around shouting things like that that the situation is getting worse!"

"C-cough. Anyway. It's nothing but low-class slander, isn't it? If it ends with this, we should count ourselves lucky."

"It would be lucky, but..."

There was no telling how this trashy fake news would affect my future path. Still, it was manageable for now. The yellow press's offensive was still too weak to tarnish the reputation of Marx Stahl, the young chemist who had thrown himself into the slums to practice the way of a saint.

However, it didn't end there.

This was a tough one. They were attacking the efficacy of penicillin itself.

Penicillin's efficacy was, after all, undeniable. It was highly inappropriate to launch a political offensive against it, so I hadn't expected them to target this.

"Th-this son of a bitch...!"

"Who is the doctor who conducted this experiment?! Is this bastard even a doctor?!"

Freud tore the newspaper to shreds in a fit of rage. Beside him, the gentle Landsteiner, who always spoke politely even to a seventeen-year-old boy, also turned red in the face and shouted.

It was because of the contents of the article.

I didn't know what this insane doctor had accepted from Karl Lueger, but under the guise of "verifying" penicillin's effects, he had injected completely unfiltered mold juice directly into a patient's veins.

And what happened to that patient?

Naturally, their immune system went into anaphylactic shock, and they died on the spot.

I was well aware of the barbaric state of nineteenth-century medicine. I also knew that the ruling class would do absolutely anything to secure power.

But to perform a human experiment that would put Unit 731 to shame, just for political reasons?

Of course, I didn't know if Lueger had actually ordered this experiment, or if it was truly done for political purposes.

However...

Whether it was Lueger, the conservative Austrian academic establishment, or the Catholic faction that despised my reputation as a saint, it was glaringly obvious that this experiment had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been carried out with the sole intention of attacking me.

"P-Professor Freud... h-how could this happen... If they had read even a fraction of my paper, this wouldn't..."

"Stahl! Calm down! You must calm down right now!"

In both my past life and this one, I had never felt like this.

An uncontrollable hatred made my breathing ragged. Soon, hyperventilation set in, and my vision blurred.

I wanted to publish a rebuttal immediately, but before I could even move, another incident struck.

"W-who are you people!"

"We are the State Police of the Austro-Hungarian Empire! Marx Stahl, you are under emergency arrest on charges of Lèse-majesté!"

"L-let go of me!"

"You underbite dogs! Who do you think you are, dragging a doctor away!"

The imperial state police raided Freud's clinic and laboratory.

The place where freedom of expression was most broadly guaranteed in Europe was the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

At the same time, the place where freedom of expression was most legally restricted in Europe was also the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

How was such a contradiction possible?

"What? A report of a thought crime? What a pain..."

"Vladimir Lenin is entering Austria? So what? Who even is he?"

"Just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠give him a light scare and send him on his way. He's just a young student."

While the laws existed and were legally binding, the state institutions responsible for enforcing them were incredibly passive when it came to ideological offenses.

It was several times more relaxed than South Korea in the 1970s and 80s.

If those laws were strictly enforced, not only my family but also all the uncles who visited our house would have been sent to prison, if not the guillotine.

Because of this laxity, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was simultaneously the freest and the most autocratic nation in Europe.

So why on earth was I locked behind the bars of the political police department?

Because I had been thoroughly targeted.

"Indeed. Marx Stahl. You wrote this, didn't you?"

He ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠held out a dusty manuscript.

Good grief, when did I write that?

It was just some nonsense I scribbled down back in the Gymnasium to get myself expelled. It had only been published in a minor local Viennese newspaper.

How did they even find this? Don't these guys have anything better to do?

"Actually, that wasn't my real intention. I just wanted to get expelled from the Gymnasium..."

"Is that so? Then shall we read the first sentence? 'The Habsburg family, which rules Austria, all have underbites due to generations of inbreeding.'"

"..."

Oh, boy. There was no way out of this.

An insult of that level would be grounds for a defamation lawsuit even in twenty-first-century South Korea.

Cold ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sweat broke out on my forehead.

Was this WWE or UFC? If it was UFC, the sentence wouldn't be light.

For now, let's grovel. If these guys were just trying to scare me and send me home because their superiors told them to, I needed to look as pitiful as possible.

The state police officer slammed his hand on the table.

"For what purpose did you write this?"

"I told you, I wrote it to get expelled! I have no ill will toward the Habsburg imperial family or His Majesty! I might not have loyalty, but I don't have treasonous intent either!"

"No loyalty...? You're a complete red-in-the-making. Speak. Who instigated you, huh?!"

How old was this cop? About twenty-eight?

Although he had a fierce expression and was shouting roughly, his exaggerated gestures gave it away.

This was WWE!

Without a doubt, they were just using this as an excuse to scare me before letting me go.

To play along, I pretended to be terrified. It would have been great if I could shed some tears, but I wasn't a professional actor, so no tears came.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't know this was such a serious crime...!"

"So you admit your guilt!"

"I'm sorry! If you could just forgive me this once...!"

"You confess, then? Fine, I get it. The prosecution will proceed. You'll just have to spend about three months here before you leave."

"Excuse me...?"

This wasn't WWE?

I was actually going to become a criminal?

Is this what a stronghold of reactionaries, a feudal autocratic empire, was really like?

To think I was dragged to a place like this and subjected to such ordeal just because I made penicillin...

"Why are the laws of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in such a mess! If you're going to lock people up, lock everyone up, or don't do it at all. What kind of country enforces the law like this?! Even the Russian Empire is better than this!"

"...Sigh."

Lost for words, the state police officer stared at my manuscript and let out a deep sigh. He, too, seemed ready to drop the act.

"Well, yes. Honestly, while the content is malicious, in most cases like this, we'd just put you under surveillance. You might have some trouble publishing things, but that's about it."

"Then why me?!"

"Mr. Stahl, what can we do? That's just how this country is. Do you think I want to treat a young man with a bright future like this? Especially when you're busy with your research and studies."

"Ha, haha..."

"Well, if you were a politician, this would ruin your life. But aren't you a scholar? It won't affect your academic activities at all. For now, would you like a cup of tea?"

Seeing the state police officer look at me with genuine pity, I lost all energy to even be angry.

Indeed. Citizens' rights and freedom of expression were nothing but hypocrisy.

Was this the reality of a feudal autocratic state?

A dead letter of a penal code, revived solely to punish someone who had offended them.

If I were a true traitor to the state, I could understand.

But let's think about it.

What offensive thing had I done?

I had created penicillin, liberating humanity from pathogens forty years ahead of schedule. And I had distributed that penicillin to the poor.

Ah! I realized it then.

Let's compare the mayor of Vienna with the laborers who worked twelve hours a day and lived in pigsties.

In the modern era, there was no difference in the value of their lives.

But here! There was a hierarchy of life.

Instead of treating the "patients" he was supposed to treat, this doctor had gone and treated "beasts."

Having lived in such a free household, I had completely forgotten that this country was a class-based society. Bonk.

I had acted with too much disregard for society and politics. It was as if I had been reincarnated as an American.

To hell with them.

I needed to start thinking about my next steps. And those steps were already more or less decided.

If this was an anti-Semitic feudal state until 1918...

By 1945, it would be annexed by the most evil anti-Semitic nation on Earth!

If things keep going like this... I'm a hundred percent headed for the gas chambers.

I had to drive this archaic empire out of this land, by any means necessary.

Let's think about it in prison first.

Ah, damn it. Falling into the 1900s really makes you experience all sorts of things. What should I do?

Just then, the state police officer, who was listening to another cop whispering in his ear, suddenly jumped up and rushed outside.

What was going on?

It felt as if a division commander had just visited a military base.

No, it was more than that. A division commander wouldn't warrant this level of panic.

What on earth is this situation?

A man with a mustache, wearing a white dress uniform heavily decorated with medals, stood beyond the iron bars.

Just looking at his attire, he was clearly someone of immense status.

The state police officers looked as if they deeply regretted not being able to prostrate themselves on the floor.

A noble? Are they trying to win me over?

My mind raced, sparks practically flying.

Damn, what should I do? I was about to go to prison, so shouldn't I just bow down?

It made my teeth grind in frustration, but what choice did I have? If I threw a fit here, I might actually end up on the gallows.

However...

"Y-Y-Your Imperial Highness... what brings you to a place like this?!"

The police chief stammered, trembling as he spoke to the man.

Wait, Imperial Highness?

The only person in this country who could be called that... was one man.

The only thing an average modern Korean knew about Austria was that kangaroos roamed the fields and it was famous for working holidays.

But if one had to name the most famous person from this Austria...

Wouldn't it be Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the man who advocated for peace and the eradication of nationalism, only to be assassinated by a far-right gang, triggering World War I?

I recalled the newspapers I had read recently.

Lately, the yellow press was entirely consumed by anti-Semitism, but there was one topic they never grew tired of hammering for years.

The conflict between the Emperor and Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who had entered into a morganatic marriage for love.

Perhaps... this man was someone I could trust.

He, too, must have suffered immensely because of social status.