episode_0070

Episode 70. The elephant must be in the refrigerator.

****

Preparations for the conference went smoothly.

I was also successful in growing blue mold.

We also prepared dozens of glass jars filled with bread.

A strain of blue mold with bactericidal properties. I’ll be giving it to researchers who want to conduct research on penicillin.

The first step toward commercial use was to successfully create a liquid culture. Up to this point, it was not difficult, but the penicillin molecule was precipitated in a barium salt form in a weakly acidic solution.

Istina’s voice broke my thoughts.

“Professor! Is this normal?”

“The alcohol lamp is broken. Turn off the light.”

“Yep.”

-What you’re trying to do is a huge failure. Well, I’m not a chemist. There’s no way this will work.

Commercial production would require enormous resources, and someone might find a way. As I recall, the chemical purification process for penicillin was more complicated than you might imagine.

The process of remembering was roughly like this.

The blue mold culture is soaked in a weakly acidic solution, acetic acid is added in the middle, centrifuged, and through various processes, it ultimately comes out in the form of a barium salt solution.

Where can I buy barium…?

“Istina. Go out and buy some barium.”

“Barium? What is barium?”

“Just buy it first.”

“You need to know what it is to buy it, Professor.”

Istina also said she couldn’t get barium.

This is a big deal. If a graduate student says he can’t do it, then it’s impossible. How do we handle this?

The answer was simple.

If you lack the technical skills, you can use magic. If that doesn’t work, then it’s not the right time yet. We just moved forward.

This is the Academy’s Alchemy Department Research Building.

I once borrowed a still from the alchemy department. I guess it would be more accurate to say I stole it since I never got it back.

Anyway, it’s a place I would never normally visit, but today I couldn’t help it.

Istina and I, wearing plague doctor masks, entered the Alchemy Department research building.

“But, Professor. Do I have to wear this just to go to the building next door?”

I have to write it down and go.

“There are no white-haired chemists.”

“What does that mean?”

“Chemists are short-lived.”

“Ah.”

This is a joke that used to go around among students majoring in chemical engineering or related fields in my previous life. It’s scary, but it’s true.

Newton, who also worked as an alchemist, reportedly had four times the normal amount of lead and fifteen times the normal amount of mercury in his hair.

So, he developed dementia in his later years.

Even when he was of sound mind, he invested in Namhae Company stocks and lost money, and he committed all sorts of strange acts, such as sticking a needle in his own eye. So, can’t that be considered sane?

Anyway, to conclude, if you want to live long, you should stay away from chemists. You should always wear a mask when meeting a chemist.

“I know what kind of poison you’re brewing. Wear a mask and go.”

Istina put on her mask without saying a word.

“So. Who was the professor of alchemy that we visited this time? Was it Professor Wolfram?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know that professor?”

Istina shook her head.

“Just this person is also a professor of pension science who is famous for being kind. I found out that he is the professor who would be the best at accepting requests.”

“Well done.”

“Thank you.”

I think he’s similar to Professor Klaus.

He threatened to not buy barium, but eventually he did as he was told and found a solution. As expected, there is nothing a graduate student cannot do, and it was just a joke.

We quickly arrived at Professor Wolfram’s lab. It seemed like there was some smoke coming out. Thank goodness we were wearing masks.

Knock knock.

The door wasn’t locked.

I walked into Professor Wolfram’s lab. There was nothing in there. Just a big pot sitting there.

Fortunately, the pot was empty, but it might have been contaminated with lead, mercury, or arsenic. I moved as far away from the pot as possible.

“Professor Wolfram!”

There was no answer. Is there no one?

I sat on the sofa on one side of the lab.

“The Imperial Family provided research funding!”

“I came to tell you some good news?”

What should I say to get a reaction?

“Graduate student salary 30 gold!”

Rustle.

At the last word, the closed door at the back of the lab opened. A student with a shabby expression poked his head out from the back of the lab.

“Oh, are you really going to double my salary? What do I need to do?”

“Just kidding.”

“Et… … .”

Given the circumstances, this person is likely Professor Wolfram’s graduate student. By the way… … .

30 gold was double? That’s half of what Istina gets. 15 gold wouldn’t even cover the cost of food for the mold in our lab.

The graduate student in the Department of Pensions frowned.

“But who are you? Why are you wearing a mask?”

I didn’t answer, “I’m writing this because I don’t know what kind of poison you guys are making in your lab,” but just shrugged.

“Professor Asterix of the Healing Department. I have come to ask for help from the Alchemy Department.”

“Ah. I’m Luciana. Just a moment.”

Luciana rubbed her eyes and tied her hair back up. She looked like she had woken up suddenly.

“What’s the problem?”

“One thing. Where is Professor Wolfram?”

“I went to my parents’ house. It’ll take a few days… … . If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.”

Luciana opened her sleepy eyes as if remembering something.

“Oh, Professor Asterix. You’re the one who discovered the centrifuge a while ago, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow, that’s the professor… …! Even in the alchemy department, there was a fuss about that. They said that you can separate mixed solutions with that.”

Well, I’ve mostly used it to separate blood, but centrifugation is a technology that has many other applications.

“I’m glad you heard about it.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Luciana sat at the professor’s desk in the center of the lab. I placed the sample bottle containing the mold liquid on the desk.

“This is what I was trying to ask.”

“What is this?”

“Medicinal mushroom solution.”

Since it’s a fungus, let’s just call it a mushroom.

This is a blue mold culture that has been centrifuged once. Now, we need to find a way to isolate penicillin from it.

I didn’t have a plan either. I just thought, “Can’t we do it well with magic?”

If you keep running the centrifuge, you might find a solution. Or is it because it is water-soluble that it doesn’t separate properly even when centrifuged?

“We need to extract a specific substance called penicillin, which has the property of killing bacteria.”

“I see.”

“Is it possible?”

“It seems difficult to look at it this way. You don’t know anything about this substance yet, right?”

“But you’ll still try, right? This is a pretty big research project, so the royal family will probably give you research funds, and if they say they’ll put you on the list of co-authors of the paper.”

“Research expenses?”

“Yeah.”

“How much?”

I don’t know either.

If you ask Mint, Violet, or the Prince, you might be able to get a pretty large sum of money. I’ve never really worried about that.

“You said Luciana. Teacher Luciana. Just succeed. I’ll pay for next year’s tuition.”

Luciana closed her eyes and thought.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, I’ll try it, so leave the culture medium. If you know anything about the target substance, please write it down as much as possible.”

It seemed like the negotiation was a success… … . I nodded, and Luciana glared at the vial of culture fluid as if she was going to kill it.

Still, it’s nice to feel the enthusiasm.

“What was the professor going to do?”

“First, centrifuge. When the solution is divided into several layers, check if each layer contains the substance we want and if there is a difference in concentration.”

Luciana scratched her head.

“Oh. That would definitely be something.”

“That’s all I could think of.”

“Let’s try it first. There’s also crystallization magic and moisture removal magic. Or, what if we just remove all the impurities and mold from a pure liquid and condense what’s left?”

“Alchemy is your specialty.”

“I’ll do it as fast as possible.”

Yes. If you are not going to inject it, you can just remove the problematic bulky impurities and make it into pill form. Or maybe you can find another way?

A solution seemed to have come to her mind. Luciana looked at the solution in question and smacked her lips.

****

The answer will definitely come out.

The elephant will go into the refrigerator.

We left the research building of the Department of Pensions. We took off our stuffy masks. Istina, seen from the side, had a slightly distressed expression.

“Professor.”

“Why?”

“Please pay my tuition too.”

Oh, damn it. I shouldn’t have brought Istina. I forgot that she’s a graduate student too. Anyway, she looks like she’s in a bad mood.

“Teacher Istina. If the Imperial Family sends you a lot of research funds this time, I’ll pay your tuition. Okay?”

“Okay, I almost got upset.”

But. You get paid for your ward work, right? The amount you get paid is probably more than ten times what Luciana gets paid. Isn’t it just that Istina is narrow-minded?

“But. Can that person really isolate the antibiotic? It seems difficult.”

“I think I can do it?”

After this is presented at the Whitby Society, research will begin all over the empire on how to make penicillin. It’s only a matter of time before we find the answer.

If possible, it would be better for us to find it ourselves. Commercialization of penicillin is also just a matter of time.