Prisoners who had received dental treatment were lined up in a row.
About half of them were suffering due to Liston's hypothesis—the strange idea that teeth, like other bones, would heal on their own.
Of course, the ones I had patched up weren't in much better shape.
Why?
There's a reason dentists are a separate profession.
In fact, it's not just a specialization within the same field; medical school and dental school are entirely separate.
'Well… when it comes to dentistry, even if people call me a quack, I can't really argue.'
What can I do?
I really am a quack.
But conceptually, I'm probably far superior.
After all, I know quite well the risks that extraction itself poses.
'Huh? Am I going to do orthodontics? Or implants? At most, I'm just treating cavities…'
Of course, cavity treatment is probably the core of dentistry.
Especially in this era, even more so.
Why?
Because almost all problems start with cavities.
Thinking such thoughts, I approached the patients.
Originally, when doing something like this—that is, when dividing people for clinical trials—you shouldn't do it like this.
'When dividing into comparison and control groups… you have to consider many factors.'
It's not like I've never done experiments.
Given that research in our country's university hospitals is a bit different from places like the U.S., there are more retrospective studies on patients who have already been treated rather than conducting clinical trials from the start…
But in those cases, selection is even more critical.
After all, any research, whether intentional or not, can be biased toward proving the researchers' theories or hypotheses, right?
This bias can be most severe at the patient selection stage.
At this stage, both groups should consist of patients with identical characteristics.
'Right now, that's impossible.'
But how can people have identical characteristics?
At the very least, you need to match age, gender, smoking, drinking, and other medical histories… which requires a huge sample size.
But here, we only have prisoners to work with.
If I were a more powerful figure, I might be able to conduct this on general citizens…
'No, no. That would be harmful, wouldn't it?'
Well, even if I don't say anything, they'll drink and smoke after surgery anyway, so in a way, the people I select might actually be in a better position…
But even though I've grown somewhat accustomed to human experimentation since coming here, proceeding with an obvious problem like this feels wrong.
Should I say it bothers me?
"Alright, you, over here. You, over here."
Despite such thoughts, I was diligently dividing the patients into two groups.
And I was doing it as thoughtlessly as possible.
I thought that would minimize bias.
If 21st-century researchers saw this, they'd call me a crooked bastard and criticize me…
But if they were here, their perspective would change quickly.
In this world, some things are possible, and some are not.
"Alright, from now on, you guys quit smoking."
"Huh?"
"You guys smoke."
"Whaaaat?!"
I briefly explained what each group had to do.
Normally, the group told to smoke after surgery should be causing an uproar, while the group told to quit should be cheering…
But here, it's the opposite.
Actually, since the prisoners weren't given tobacco at all, the quit-smoking group was just maintaining their current state. Yet, when they heard others would be allowed to smoke, some even dared to glare at me.
"What?"
"Ah, nothing! Please spare me!"
But even my usual self is intimidating; in my steel-capped state, I am the very embodiment of a fearsome ruler.
As soon as I asked if he had a problem, he immediately bowed his head.
Then he flinched even more—naturally, since bowing would make my steel cap more prominent.
"Ugh."
"Alright, do as I say. The smoking group, go over there."
The quit-smoking group seemed a bit sulky, but what could they do?
They say bitter medicine is more effective.
I'm not sure if that applies here…
Anyway, the quit-smoking group just had to continue as they were, so I moved with the smoking group to the farthest room available.
I didn't want the smoke from this group to affect the other group.
If the results were skewed because of that…
—"Kim Taepyeong experimented and found that smoking or not during surgery makes no difference!"
That kind of rumor would spread immediately.
That's just how the damned world works.
The rumors you want to spread never do, and the ones you don't want to spread circulate in no time.
This isn't unique to the 19th century.
In fact, the 21st century, with its SNS and communities, was even worse in that regard.
"Good."
As soon as we entered the room, Liston stepped forward with a delighted expression.
I don't know when he prepared it, but he pulled out a substantial amount of pipe tobacco, leaf-rolled cigarettes, paper-rolled cigarettes, and snuff.
It occurred to me that about half of the bag he carried around must have been filled with tobacco.
But whether that was fortunate or not, it probably wasn't.
"Me too."
"Here."
I later realized that my students and even Blundell were all chipping in to offer their tobacco.
It's true that smokers tend to bond with each other…
But I hadn't expected they'd do this even for prisoners.
"Ah, snuff is not allowed."
"Huh? Really?"
"Yes. This isn't lit, you see."
"So, in your opinion, is snuff a good form of tobacco?"
"No, that's not it… but it's not a form that's used heavily anyway."
"Well… that's true."
Snuff.
Simply put, it's tobacco inhaled through the nose, like cocaine.
You'd think it was madness, but…
Surprisingly, it's popular among nobles and clergy.
—"Tobacco is the devil's substance!"
Especially among clergy, I've heard.
They say that in public but secretly enjoy tobacco.
Since snuff involves inhaling the leaf itself, it doesn't produce smoke or leave a trace.
Just brush your nose, and no one will know.
Still, harmful substances like nicotine would enter the system…
But since it's a type of tobacco I'm not familiar with, I'm a bit hesitant.
Naturally, compared to other forms of tobacco that involve burning, the short-term side effects are likely less severe.
Moreover, this type of tobacco is expensive, so not just anyone can use it.
No wonder it's called the tobacco of nobles and clergy.
"Alright, then these three. Hmm… this one looks really expensive, doesn't it?"
After excluding snuff, three types remained.
Among them, the one I was most familiar with was paper-rolled cigarettes.
These are rolled arbitrarily in paper, and most 21st-century cigarettes fall into this category.
But the one I pointed to wasn't that; it was the one called leaf-rolled cigarettes.
Somehow, it looked familiar, but I couldn't immediately recall where I'd seen it.
"Yes, that's to be expected. It's a cigar from Cuba."
"Ah… so this is a cigar."
Yes, a cigar.
"Let's exclude this. It's too expensive to give to them."
"I also regretted it as soon as I offered it."
With the agreement of Liston, Blundell, and everyone else, the leaf-rolled cigarettes were put away.
"Ah…"
A sigh full of regret, which hadn't been there when we put away the snuff, came from somewhere.
It seemed someone had wanted to try a leaf-rolled cigarette at least once.
But no chance.
Expensive things are not allowed.
Besides, the way it looks…
It might just be my bias, but cigars somehow seem less harmful.
"Then let's give them these two."
"Yes, these are more common."
"Even so, this is a bit… well."
In contrast, the look they gave paper-rolled cigarettes was almost one of disgust.
To me, who knows these will eventually dominate the world, this was a very unexpected reaction.
Then again, it's not the first time these guys have surprised me.
In an era where they stubbornly insist on wrong answers even when the right one is staring them in the face, differing tastes in tobacco are the least of my concerns.
Besides, it's none of my business.
"Alright… quite a few prisoners want circumcision, so I've made appointments."
"Good. But this bothers me a bit."
"Why? Oh, surely smoking one cigarette won't make this fall off? I think differently. Haha."
"Still…"
"Haha! That's why I'll be doing the surgery, not you. You're generally good, but sometimes you're too timid. This wonderful thing… they say it can even prevent pests."
"Sigh…"
Smoking causes erectile dysfunction…
When I mentioned that, Liston's response was unbelievable.
—Huh? Let's compare.
—What?
—Let's compare and see.
You madman…
How are we supposed to compare that right now?
You'll realize when you're older.
Well, there was one time he showed a somewhat delayed reaction.
When I told him smoking could cause hair loss.
—Huh? Really?
—Yes, really.
—That can't be. If that were true, all of Europe would be bald, wouldn't it?
Of course, it ended with him dismissing it, but still.
Anyway, you have to give credit to the British for being… well, British.
They're the type who won't know until they try it themselves.
But isn't it actually their loss?
For me, avoiding secondhand smoke is all that matters.
With that thought, about ten days passed since the experiment began.
For the first few days, not only Liston but even Colin came to me and said this didn't seem right.
"Huh."
"How can this be?"
But after ten days, a clear difference began to emerge.
Especially with cavities, where tobacco smoke was ruthlessly directed at the wounded area, the difference was enormous compared to circumcision.
Except for one or two, almost all of them reached the point where their teeth needed to be extracted.
Of course, due to my lack of skill, even among the non-smokers, some eventually needed extractions…
But fortunately, the difference was significant.
"Is it really true…?"
"When it comes to cavities, that might be possible. Is it because of the smoke?"
"Well… it could be because of the smoke."
"Yes… the smoke is harmful."
Even after showing them this, because it was so contrary to common sense, they struggled to accept it easily.
"That smoke could reach the penis too, couldn't it?"
"For that, the difference doesn't seem that great…"
"But there is a difference. Look at this. We ended up cutting it."
To them, I showed the two pieces of penis cut today.
Compared to the group that abstained from both smoking and drinking, where not a single person had complications, two from the smoking group had to be cut.
Actually, we should have cut them yesterday or the day before, but Liston denied it so vehemently that we did it today.
Thud.
Anyway, when I tossed them forward, all our avid smokers became utterly deflated.
I doubt this will make them quit smoking…
But at least they probably won't smoke in front of me anymore.
Well, going further, they'll likely insist that patients abstain from smoking and drinking until they've recovered after surgery.