episode_0065

Episode 65. Summer Vacation Plan (2)

****

Mint looked at me.

“Why are you like that?”

“Just. It’s funny because even teachers end up doing whatever they tell them to do. Well, what can a teacher do?”

“Oh my, you loser of character.”

I pinched Mint’s cheek. It’s not something I do often, but the reaction was definite.

“Ahhh, sorry.”

“Princess. The princess keeps acting like a child, so I’m treating her like a child.”

Mint fiddled with her hair absentmindedly. She looked apologetic.

Mint’s blue eyes looked around anxiously, slightly downcast.

“Have you seen the monster hunting patient this time?”

“Yes. The princess is not hurt, right?”

“I didn’t participate.”

“Is that so?”

“What am I going to do by participating in that?”

Well, maybe. There’s no reason for Mint to prove anything to anyone. There’s no reason for Mint to be recognized for his military achievements.

“I think I saw most of the patients who came out there injured. But I don’t think anyone was seriously injured.”

Mint chuckled again this time.

“I heard about that too. There was a guy in my class who passed out after eating mushrooms in the forest. But the teacher saved him.”

“Mushrooms… … . If you pick up and eat anything like that, you’re in big trouble. You could die.”

Anyway, I don’t think Mint came here to talk about mushrooms. I think she must have some other business besides small talk.

What is it?

“What brings you here today?”

“Do you only come if you have business?”

At those words, Mint looked up at me. I stepped back slightly.

“Coward.”

“No… ….”

Big. Mint cleared her throat briefly.

“Anyway, that’s what I was going to say. Since it’s summer, I wish you could go out and play! Maybe go see the ocean, have a picnic, or stay at the palace for a few days.”

“Isn’t it a bit difficult? In many ways.”

“Isn’t it time?”

Thud. Mint pushed me with her head. This time, I pushed the princess to the side.

“You’re really whining today.”

“What a complaint.”

Mint met my eyes again.

“Teacher. Do you hate it when I pretend to be friendly?”

“Rather than that… … . It is uncomfortable.”

“Are you serious?

Mint looked a little surprised as she pondered her answer. What kind of reaction did she expect? To be honest, it’s a little uncomfortable, but what can I do?

“If you look at it positively, wouldn’t it be possible to say that our attachment has increased? Now we can have conversations without having to twitch and twitch unnecessarily… … .”

“When I- When I talk to other people, I’m always so ticklish. I make sarcastic jokes.”

“You wouldn’t do that to the princess, right?”

“The second word I heard from the teacher today was ‘personality ruiner’. You have no self-awareness.”

I opened my mouth to answer, but I couldn’t find the words to say. This time, everything Mint said was true.

“That’s right. Sorry.”

“That’s enough to know.”

This time it was Mint’s turn to pinch my cheek. It was ridiculous, but I had no words to say… … so I just stayed still.

****

I lost the debate with Mint. I don’t know why, but it just happened as we talked.

“Teacher too.”

“Would you please let me go, Your Highness.”

“You don’t like it?”

Mint let me go after a few seconds.

“Your Highness, I checked the summer schedule. It was there.”

“Yeah. What?”

Mint sat still for a while, then turned her head at the sound of my voice. This time, her eyes were filled with curiosity more than anything else.

I looked through the schedule again.

“I heard that a fairly large conference will be held in the coastal city of Whitby soon.”

“Aha… …. So you want to go together?”

“Let’s go together. Your Highness, go on a vacation or go out and do whatever you want. I’ll see you after the conference.”

The princess hesitated for a moment, as if she was about to say something witty, then shook her head slightly as if she had changed her mind and opened her mouth.

“I thought you were going to make another weird joke. But it looks like you really thought about it.”

“Hey, what… … . That’s right.”

Mint nodded.

It seems like you have a bit of a tiring schedule with your academic conference. I should play with you when I can.

“How long does it take for the conference?”

“One or two days.”

“Oh my.”

Mint laughed bashfully to herself.

Judging from the fact that he wants to go out so much, it seems like his academy life was quite boring.

****

The next morning, in the lab.

Istina came to work at the lab.

“I bought you some coffee, Professor.”

Although his eyes were slightly sleepy, he looked more lively than usual. He had round silver-rimmed glasses and a pale expression as if he hadn’t seen the sunlight for several days.

Her hair was tied up in a bun with a ribbon, and she was wearing a white blouse, bow tie, and black skirt.

Where… … . Are you going to sell insurance?

“Istina. Sit here for a moment.”

“Yes?”

If you ask 100 medical scientists to pick the greatest advancement in the history of medicine, 98 of them will pick penicillin without a second thought.

Penicillin is considered one of the greatest inventions in modern and contemporary history, not to mention the history of medicine.

Penicillin is one of the modern civilizations that must be introduced to the world. However, in terms of world history, it was not until the 1940s that it was successfully commercialized, so the process will be quite difficult.

“I have something to say.”

“What’s going on?”

“Before Mr. Fleming, do you know why no one discovered penicillin?”

Istina put her glasses in her pocket.

“That… … . Of course I don’t know. Who is Mr. Fleming, and what is penicillin?”

I ignored Istina’s words.

It will come out as I explain.

“There are several reasons. First, there is the problem that only a few of the hundreds of blue mold varieties have bactericidal properties.”

Istina tilted her head.

“Sterilizing power? Oh, you mean that germ-killing drug. But why is that?”

“Second, the production of penicillin was extremely small, and the extraction process was extremely complicated. That’s why it took 20 years after Fleming discovered penicillin before he could start mass production of penicillin.”

Istina nodded.

“The cafe below changed their coffee beans, but I think I like the new coffee better… … !”

“And also. It took time to even discover that there were bactericidal substances that could be used as medicine. Most bactericidal substances, when ingested or administered intravenously, kill people before they kill bacteria. ”

Perhaps because it was morning, she looked a little tired. Istina looked at me with blank eyes.

“Kill people?”

“Well, that’s it. Most people die after drinking more than one barrel of alcohol, right? But drinking one barrel of alcohol doesn’t kill the bacteria in your body.”

“That’s right.”

Alcohol is a representative example.

A person will die with a blood alcohol concentration of just 0.5%, but the concentration that can kill bacteria is dozens of times higher than that, no matter how conservative.

Most doctors of that era did not believe that there was a drug that killed only germs.

Fleming also did not believe that there was a substance in the human body that killed bacteria without killing people, until he observed a weak bactericidal effect in lysosomes in nasal mucus.

So, Fleming discovered blue mold while still believing in the existence of antibiotics, contrary to the prevailing academic beliefs at the time.

“It wasn’t discovered by accident as commonly known. Look, there was blue mold growing in other doctors’ and other people’s houses.”

“But I don’t have money so I couldn’t buy cookies. Can you buy me cookies later?”

“Penicillin and all, ‘Eh, it’s rotten.’ and they would have just thrown it away. That ‘Eh, it’s rotten.’ has been repeated for hundreds of thousands of years in human history. Until Mr. Fleming remembered it.”

Until the problematic blue mold appeared to Alexander Fleming, who had the foresight that a substance called antibiotics was real.

Of course, in modern times, we know what kind of structure and method the bacterial cell wall is made of, so we can make new drugs targeting this. Anyway, the conclusion is this.

“It was no accident that Mr. Fleming discovered penicillin.”

“No, Professor. You haven’t told me yet who Mr. Fleming is and what penicillin is.”

I was a bit worried. How should I explain this so that Istina would understand?

“Penicillin is a substance that kills bacteria. Fleming is one of my seniors.”

“I see.”

Anyway, let’s continue what we were talking about.

“Fleming was able to confirm that blue mold had bactericidal properties and come up with the idea of using it as medicine because he had insight that surpassed the common sense of the time. Even then, it took 20 years.”

“Ah. Yes.”

“It doesn’t matter. We don’t have to go through trial and error. We can finish it quickly.”

I’ll explain everything. Even if Istina doesn’t want to know, by the end of this month, all the healers in the empire will be talking about this.

“Um… …. Buy me some cookies.”

“Ah. I’ll give you my wallet, so go buy it.”

“Yes!”

Istina took my wallet and left the lab. It may have been just my imagination, but she didn’t seem to hear what I was saying.

You’ll understand when I submit my paper, right?