I Became a Plague Doctor in a Romance Fantasy Novel

Episode 72. Summer Retreat, and the Conference (2)

Episode 72. Summer Retreat, and the Conference (2)

The last check before the presentation.

“Amy. How many of those rotten loaves did we bring? Do we have a hundred glass bottles?”

“Yeah. I brought a hundred.”

“Good. You can hand those out to the people researching the blue mold. You know the gist, right?”

“Yeah.”

At this conference, the discovery of antibiotics will be officially announced for the first time. If you exclude that one class we missed before.

Could this be the day that changes the course of world history?

I’ll be the one presenting and answering questions, so Amy doesn’t need to know the finer details.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. The next presentation is by Professor Asterisk on ‘Bacterial-Specific Toxins Produced by Blue Mold’.”

My turn.

Polite applause rippled through the audience as Amy and I walked up to the podium.

I paused for a moment before speaking.

“There have been many academic advancements in the past few months. But this time. I daresay, our lab has found the holy grail of medicine.”

The holy grail of medicine. Similar words were used when white blood cells were observed, but the discovery of antibiotics is far more significant than white blood cells.

The audience buzzed, and even those who were dozing off lifted their heads. Glances asking what the fuss was about.

“What if there was a way to destroy what causes disease in the human body? What if there was a substance that could selectively kill only the pathogens?”

There’s usually a separate Q&A session at conferences, but… Someone couldn’t wait; someone raised their hand. I looked out at the audience.

I knew most people by name in the academy, but here, with so many people gathered…

I couldn’t recognize who it was. Just some elderly healer.

“Ask your question.”

“The idea that diseases are caused by microscopic biological particles itself… Isn’t that a relatively new theory? And now you’re saying you’ve already found the solution to that problem? Isn’t that a bit of a leap?”

I nodded.

“Let’s continue with the presentation. A few days ago, during an experiment cultivating bacteria, I observed that bacteria weren’t growing around a strain of blue mold that appeared by chance.”

I looked around the audience.

“Why is that? Bacteria multiply by division, so their numbers should increase exponentially until nutrient limitations are reached. Why wouldn’t the bacteria grow?”

Silence.

“There’s only one conclusion we can draw. The mold in question used a weapon to kill the bacteria in order to claim the resources in the petri dish. A toxin that can selectively kill only bacteria, without harming the mold.”

The audience murmured again. Still, the logic was right, was it a sound argument, did it make sense, they’d have to see it to believe it, a con artist.

“You know what I’m getting at, right?”

I don’t know if there were actually more negative comments. It just sounded like that.

“That’s why it’s a holy grail. A medicine that can selectively destroy only disease-causing bacteria, without adversely affecting eukaryotes. A medicine that can eliminate infection just by ingesting it.”

Any healer with experience in this world has lost patients to wound infections. It’s inevitable.

Necrotizing fasciitis.

In the Middle Ages, this disease was so terrifying that it was common to amputate entire limbs when they were injured in the field.

Of course, over time, hygiene improved and survival rates changed a bit. This world also has its own standards.

Still, the diseases I mentioned are undeniably horrific and terrifying.

“Necrotizing fasciitis and other diseases where flesh decays from simple wounds. How many patients could we save if a simple oral medication could treat fatal necrotizing infections? That’s what I’m hoping for with this discovery.”

They weren’t just murmuring; they were openly chattering. I raised both hands.

“I understand, so please be quiet for a moment. I’ve written down most of what I know about this substance in a paper. Including the methods for production that I’ve figured out so far.”

This time, raising my hands wasn’t enough; people were starting to get up from their seats en masse. Come on, let me talk, you crazy b*stards.

“No, listen to me for a moment. I’ll take questions later. First, I’m going to explain how to make it, as best as I know how.”

The audience had settled down a bit, more or less.

“For mass production, we need a liquid culture of blue mold. The method I used is documented, but there’s probably a better combination out there somewhere.”

A few milligrams of penicillin come from a blue mold container about the size of a tumbler. A bathtub’s worth could probably make a few pills.

“The one good thing is, since blue mold produces an antimicrobial substance, the results won’t be contaminated by bacteria.”

I looked around at the audience.

“Well… that’s about it. Now I need to find a way to refine penicillin from blue mold, but I haven’t figured that part out yet.”

“Anyway. My lab tested it by injecting mice with cultured bacteria, and then feeding them mold extract, and the results showed that it was effective in preventing gangrene and necrotizing fasciitis.”

“Okay… questions.”

Dozens of hands shot up. I looked at the moderator, but he just shrugged. Well, he probably couldn’t do anything either.

“The gentleman in the front row, please.”

“Yes.”

The man who was called on stood up.

“For the sake of medical advancement, I hope you’ll share which mold you used in this research. The one with antimicrobial properties.”

A brazen and shameless question, just as I’d expected. I nodded. I was planning on sharing the blue mold strain anyway.

“Ah, yes.”

Should I push it a bit more?

The real bombshell was still behind the podium.

“Originally, I was planning on bringing the antimicrobial blue mold strain, and giving it out to everyone so you could research it yourselves…”

The conference hall instantly turned into chaos.

The once mighty Berlin Wall crumbled with a bureaucrat’s single line, “As far as I know, from now on.” This conference was similar.

My single line about sharing the holy grail of medicine shattered the conference’s order. The prepared questions, the practiced answers, all went to the dogs.

Because everyone got up to get their hands on the blue mold strain samples, the conference hall itself was paralyzed.

It was a madhouse. People trying to climb onto the stage, others talking and trying to ask questions, some just having a full-blown debate right there. Loud.

Still…even if my words didn’t really get through to anyone. I think this conference was a success.

My goal was to convince people that clinical use of antibiotics was possible. And I couldn’t have achieved that goal any more convincingly than this.

Anyway.

Gotta get some order around here.

“Shut it, everyone. I’m trying to make it so you can all get a few, if possible. How many institutions are participating in this conference?”

I looked at the moderator.

He was looking back at me, a little resentful. Well, yeah, the conference was basically paralyzed because of me… He has a right to be annoyed.

Come to think of it, I think something like this has happened at other conferences before. Actually, every time I attend a conference, it’s always been a madhouse like this.

Well. It’s not like people being passionate about their studies is a bad thing. It’s actually very positive. It just means my research is impactful.

“There are 18. From universities, hospitals, and research institutions all over the Empire.”

I nodded.

People from 18 institutions, like hospitals and schools. Right now, the important thing is to get a strain to each of those 18 institutions.

“Okay then. Let’s start distributing from that side. Uh, would the representatives of each institution please come forward!”

The crowd buzzed for a while, then professors and healers representing their institutions started walking forward. Most of them were older.

Alright, finally getting some order here.

“Amy. Hand them out, one by one.”

“Yes.”

Amy started distributing the glass jars, each containing moldy bread. Dozens more jars were still piled up next to the podium.

How should we distribute the rest…

“Alright then. Everyone, line up!”

The facilitator was massaging his temple next to me. Dozens of people were lining up in front of the podium. We already distributed them to each institution.

Does it really matter who takes them now?

“Just hand them out.”

Amy began distributing the blue mold strain to people in the order they were standing.

People further back in line grumbled and went back to their seats.

The operation was a success.

There were no hospitals or educational institutions left in the Empire that hadn’t secured the blue mold strain. It took about ten minutes for the situation to resolve.

“So then. Is there anyone who didn’t receive one?”

I looked around. It didn’t seem like anyone who wanted one was left out. They could grow it and share, or pile up bread and grow the blue mold themselves, right?

We explained the method, and it wasn’t an un-imitatable process.