The enjoyable sightseeing tour of London with my parents ultimately ended with a contemplation of London's severe air pollution.
Well, my parents just thought it was a bit smelly, visibility was a bit low, the mood was a bit stuffy, and there was some discomfort like occasional coughing...
But I couldn't just take it easy in this situation.
Air pollution...
Isn't that actually incredibly serious?
Back in 21st century Korea, I was the type to wear a KF94 mask even if just a 'Normal' fine dust advisory was issued.
Why?
Because I want to live a long, healthy life.
No, more than that...
_'Because I know all too well how hard it is for patients with chronic respiratory diseases...'_
Working at a hospital, you end up seeing patients with all sorts of ailments, and honestly, it's hard to say that any one disease is more difficult than another.
When they get serious, they're all tough.
That's true, but among them, there are some that make you think, 'I really want to avoid getting that particular disease.'
Mainly, head and neck cancers or respiratory diseases fall into that category.
Especially respiratory diseases; you might have to live the rest of your life feeling like you're half-drowning.
_'Why hadn't I realized this at all until now?'_
The 1952 London Great Smog.
How many days was it then...?
I don't remember exactly, but I do know that in less than a week, thousands died and over 100,000 suffered from after-effects.
If the short-term impact was that bad, then considering the long-term effects as well, probably most people living in London at the time had their lifespans shortened a bit because of it.
So, what about now?
Well... it's over 100 years ago, so it seems better than back then.
For one, there are no cars, and above all, the population is much smaller, right?
But...
_'Wait, now that I think about it, why the hell do these crazy bastards only use coal for heating? If they burned wood... is wood any better?'_
It would probably be better than coal.
I thought about it. Our lovely London smog, with its cute name 'Pea Soup'...
Isn't it because sulfur dioxide is yellow, so you can see it?
I thought that even if you burn wood, there's no sulfur in it, right?
Even so, if millions of people are gathered burning wood, that wouldn't be good either...
_'Natural gas... Pointless. I don't even know how to do it.'_
I thought I should start wearing a mask from now on.
Not just during surgery, but outside too.
"Oh, Pyong. Going to rob somewhere?"
The problem was that masks during this period were essentially just cloth masks.
Even so, if wearing masks were a common practice, it might be different, but...
Mostly, they were only used for the purpose of covering one's face.
There was a rational reason why Liston, upon seeing me, greeted me like this without even a second of hesitation.
"No..."
"If you know a good place, do share."
"You have plenty of money now, sir."
"If you are thinking of robbing a place, with your wealth, it must be quite a spot."
"It's not that... I just thought the air was a bit bad."
"Hahaha! London air is always like this. Still, it's a relief, isn't it?"
"Huh?"
What's a relief?
I made a bewildered expression as we entered the hospital we had set up in Kensington.
I really thought I was getting used to the 19th century by now, you know?
But I have no clue what he means by it being a relief...
I even jokingly told my parents yesterday, with a smile, that the smog was our London's specialty, 'Pea Soup'.
I've reached that point, but now I don't get it.
"In the past, yes, there was an irrational anxiety."
"Uhh...?"
Even with this follow-up explanation, I don't get it.
"But not anymore. It's all thanks to you."
"Thanks to me?"
I also don't understand why he's saying it's thanks to me or anything.
No, not only am I starting to think 'I don't get it', but I'm also gradually getting a bit anxious.
My future reputation is already ruined because of cocaine...
If something else pops up here because of this, it would be a bit much, you know?
"The Miasma Theory is practically obsolete, wouldn't you agree? Of course, there are still fools who believe in it... but at least our hospital has now escaped that ignorant world."
"Ah, the Miasma Theory."
Haven't heard that in a while.
It was the theory that if a smell is bad, you get sick.
It's completely wrong, but...
Since Liston denies it, this is...
"Think about it, Pyong. That air ultimately comes from the smoke produced by burning coal, right?"
"That's correct."
You have to be even more careful when correct statements are mixed in.
Because the scientists of this era absolutely do not know all natural phenomena.
In fact, even in the 21st century, not all secrets were solved, so what about the 19th?
"Could there be Miasma in it? The stuff we use for disinfection is carbolic acid, right? And have you ever been next to burning coal?"
"No. Why would I...?"
"It's terribly poisonous. No Miasma could possibly survive in it!"
"Th-that's probably true."
But can we humans survive it?
The question arose, but a somewhat frightening thought came to mind, so I didn't continue.
- Oh, so you're saying the gas from burning coal could kill people?
- How would you prove that?
- Shouldn't we just try it?
- Haha. Go ahead and build a gas chamber, then.
I didn't want to bear the stigma of having developed the gas chamber before the Nazis.
Actually, we've already experimented on several convicts, but...
A gas chamber is a bit much.
It feels too much like a full-fledged murder factory.
To actually run those, not even to prove something but purely to exterminate an entire ethnicity... what the hell were those Nazis doing?
"So, that air is just a bit uncomfortable, but it's been proven that it can't cause any disease. Haha. We were worried about nothing."
"Ah..."
Those who believe in the Miasma Theory think they just need to be careful of smells, so they don't disinfect.
At least London hospitals did that, and patients still died, whereas in our hospital, fewer patients die, so even those who believe in the Miasma Theory are secretly starting to disinfect, if only because their business was suffering...
But in other regions or countries, the Miasma Theory is still believed.
I was thinking I had to do something about it somehow, but I just realized that if you deny the Miasma Theory, this kind of problem arises.
'Hehe. The 19th century... As expected, it's no pushover.'
If this were the 19th century I chose, I'd grit my teeth and endure through sheer force of will, but it's not that either.
If you're going to send me here like this, clueless, you should have at least given me a status window.
"Sometimes you can be quite cute, you know. Haha, if people heard this talk, they'd find it ridiculous. My goodness. Pyong being cute. Look at my state of mind."
While I was momentarily stunned (or in despair), Liston chattered on, looking at my mask.
I really was...
Like Yu hyuk from Jeonsi? A sunfish?
I might have ended my own life.
But...
I am the embodiment of 'Jung Kkeomma'.
If I only look at the remaining problems, it might seem like there's no answer, but nevertheless, looking back at the numerous problems I've solved so far, my chest swells with pride.
I even have the martial arts master Liston on my side.
"Ah, you're here."
Thinking that, my mental state barely managed to return.
So, I went inside with a normal face and saw that our chemist uncle had arrived.
I thought he'd be lost in cocaine and out of his mind, but did my warning have an effect?
'No... Probably Lord Jamie sent someone.'
Thanks to me, didn't Lord Jamie realize early on that this cocaine was a wicked substance?
But it didn't seem like he was particularly trying to regulate it.
Maybe, unbeknownst to me, he's conducting business.
On a national level.
If you ask how such a thing is possible, I'd tell you to look up and see where the Opium Wars will take place.
Britain can do it.
No, they did it.
'Still, this uncle is competent. He's profitable, right?'
While preparing for the Opium Wars, who would know the harms of these damned medicines, which would later be named 'drugs', better than Lord Jamie and his crew?
They are receiving real-time reports on how it destroys people, that's what I'm saying.
So, it was only right to protect talented personnel.
In the process, there probably were some quite disgraceful incidents, but...
Whatever happened, once we go to Seoul, it's fine, right?
If he quit the drugs, that's what matters.
"Oh, what brings you here?"
"What do you mean, 'what brings me'? I came because of that arsenic compound."
"Ah, ahh. Right."
"The police should be sending people too... isn't that today?"
"Yes, it's today."
"I see."
The chemist uncle only talked to me, even though Liston was clearly right there.
Liston didn't seem to have any intention of saying anything to the uncle about it.
Didn't we see it back then?
Him slaughtering people.
After seeing that, you needed considerable nerve to face Liston and have a conversation.
"They say they're vicious fellows..."
"It's still three of them, right?"
"That's right. We can't narrow it down further. The thing is, arsenic, no matter what, does kill syphilis, right? The problem is that it kills dogs too... but these three, the frequency is lower, you see."
"I suppose so."
Actually...
It can't be helped.
Arsenic is poison to begin with.
In actual history, Salvarsan, a syphilis treatment made from an arsenic compound, did win a Nobel Prize for its achievement, but weren't the side effects severe?
I don't remember exactly, but I know that after penicillin appeared, it became completely obsolete.
'The problem is...'
It lies in the fact that moldy bread is even more dangerous.
I'm not even sure if it has any therapeutic effect.
It's a random draw – some have it, some don't – but I'm not such a bad person as to use it on patients regularly, just because they were desperate...
"Are you here?"
A short while later, people from the police station arrived.
Soon, prisoners could be seen pouring out of a carriage fitted with iron bars.
They were the ones classified as violent criminals, even in London, which is famous for its high crime rate.
By this point, one might feel a bit intimidated, but isn't it too familiar a sight for the people at our hospital?
The doctors, of course, as well as the nurses and other assisting staff, were just watching.
"Ugh, poor bastards..."
"To get noticed by a Pyongsiin..."
"Hey, you! If you shoot your mouth off carelessly, what will you do if you get noticed too?"
"Why? Pyongsiin is a good term."
"Ah, I suppose so."
On the contrary, most people were looking at them with pitying eyes.
Me?
I was half and half.
Because through the police chief, I knew about the crimes these bastards had committed.
The minimum was murder, and the worse ones had committed a few other crimes on top of that.
Normally, they would be candidates for hanging. And since hanging in this period isn't about breaking the neck by dropping from a height, but rather making them suffer the agony of suffocation for 20-30 minutes, arsenic might actually be more humane.
'Still, it's a relief we can pick and choose.'
At first, I thought, 'How bad must their crimes have been to receive a death sentence?' and said we'd kill them all, but then felt a bit uneasy, so I asked to see their charges, and these crazy bastards were killing people for all sorts of reasons.
Things like simple theft, poaching, horse stealing, etc., also led to death sentences.
A crime is a crime, but it's not a capital offense... that's my thought.
I can't exactly engage in life-saving activities, but.
"Hey there, Pyong."
"Yes?"
"Shall we start soon?"
"Ah, let's do that."
Whatever the case, it should be fine to use these bastards as subjects, that's what I'm saying.