Summer, in the Northern Hemisphere, is the season corresponding to June through August, the second of the four seasons.
Because it's the closest to the sun, it has the highest temperatures.
The fact that you can feel the mugginess even here in London says it all.
And what else is there?
Summer...
"What are you thinking about? Both of these seem like huge successes."
I really...
I prided myself on having experienced just about everything since coming to the 19th century.
I say my childhood spent in Upton was just so-so because it's in the past now, but back in those days, it felt like hell.
No heating in winter, no cooling in summer...
If I tried to wash up, they'd fuss, saying I'd die if I did.
I finally got used to it and came to London, only to see people having their legs amputated without anesthesia in the square...
I went to the anatomy lab, and it was filled with rotting corpses, rats running around, flies buzzing, maggots crawling.
Ah, the flies and maggots are still there.
I clean really diligently, but maybe 19th-century window frames are very different from the ones I knew. It's like they just spawn naturally.
"I asked what you're thinking about. Sorry. Pyeong is like this sometimes."
"Haha, I'm well aware. Possession? Something like that, right?"
"Yeah, spirit possession. You're almost an honorary Joseon person yourself. I should give you a certificate sometime."
"A certificate? Does such a thing exist?"
"Inspector Jamie and I made it. We anticipate more people will want to go to the country called Joseon. It's the hometown of the Joseon shaman, the heart stealer, the one who feeds people shit and piss, the opium enthusiast Pyeongsin, isn't it?"
"Well, I suppose so. I should diligently learn Joseon language too. Anyway, this needs to be resolved quickly. The arsenic compound is one thing, but I have so much to tell you about cocaine."
"I'm curious, I am."
Anyway, on top of that, there were body suppliers, murder, robbery...
They cut off balls...
They drank sewage water, and cholera spread...
I've really been through all sorts of things, haven't I?
Secretly, I didn't view it all negatively.
Because it meant there probably wasn't anything left that could shake my mental state.
But...
My own lab, which I created, gave birth to cocaine?
'How did they do it...?'
No, more importantly, why did they even make it?
I never even mentioned the letter 'C' of coca.
Of course, I did tell them to research anything that seemed like it could be medicine on their own.
But I told them to start with things already known in the 21st century as ingredients for proven medicines, like willow bark or wormwood.
So why...
"Why...?"
"Ah, you're back."
"Did you say something?"
"No, no. Let's just hear it. Starting with the arsenic compound from earlier."
Frankly, I want to ignore it.
But...
I can't.
First of all, since it was made in my lab, it's under my responsibility.
The bigger problem is that it's not a place I founded alone, but one I founded with several influential people.
Which means it's not something I can cover up just because I want to.
"Ah, that. Yes. It was made targeting syphilis... It definitely seems to do something to syphilis."
"What do you mean by that?"
"It's a situation where we can't do many experiments... so it's not certain."
"Can't do many? So you are doing some?"
This is an era where the terms 'animal testing' and 'human testing' don't formally exist.
Of course, 19th-century people aren't without conscience, so in most cases, they used animals.
Mainly dogs.
But even Jenner, who developed vaccination...
Didn't he just jab some stuff squeezed from a cowpox tumor into a child without any theoretical basis, and later jab stuff from a smallpox patient's tumor into him?
So it's natural to think of human experimentation when you hear the word 'experiment'.
I was being unnecessarily stubborn...
"Well, we do. Dr. Liston and Inspector Jamie mainly help. Well... the police come too."
"The police...?"
"We pay money, right? While treating them."
"If it's an experiment, we should pay."
"Haha, it's called an experiment, but frankly, these are people who would all die if left alone. We're giving them a chance to leave a mark on human history. And we pay them money on top of that. It's incredibly popular. But the director, or rather, Alfred and Colin's folks are a bit stingy. They dislike paying to do it."
Thank goodness they're stingy.
Otherwise, they might have been force-feeding arsenic compounds left and right?
Well... most of those people would die without treatment anyway, as this gentleman said...
"Anyway, after trying it, it definitely, hmm, kills well."
"Syphilis, or people?"
"People were going to die anyway. But it kills syphilis too, you see?"
"Ah."
"And it seems like fewer people die? Anyway, you said something before, didn't you? That even if a medicine seems effective, we shouldn't just start selling it."
"That's right."
It's an obvious point.
Because anything used on the human body, whatever it is, must be handled with caution.
However, it's still an era where spreading such awareness is difficult.
Most things produced right here in London...
They don't consider safety, do they?
Lead paint, lead roofs, lead wine...
It seems like they just do whatever works?
It's all real, actually.
"I agree to some extent. We definitely need to find out how much of this should be used. But that requires experimentation. Don't you agree?"
"That's... correct."
"Fortunately, our Great British Empire has plenty of bastards to kill."
"That too... is correct."
"Why are you so proud? I learned it all from you."
"From me?"
"Diabetes."
"Ah."
Yeah, I do have my own karma.
Our prisoners...
Because of me, they drank urine and got insulin shots.
But arsenic is poison, right?
Actually, even among arsenic compounds, the one used as a syphilis treatment was called things like 'magic bullet' and even won a Nobel Prize, but...
It was just a drug that killed syphilis better; since its base was arsenic, it killed people too.
It was naturally phased out after penicillin came out.
'But... there are plenty of bastards to kill.'
Besides, didn't they use arsenic?
They did.
Who?
Me.
Hmm.
Thinking back on my track record for a moment, it's not for nothing that I have such a notorious reputation.
"So I'm formally requesting. If you and Boss Liston just give the order, we can bring the prisoners in droves and test on them for free... no, well, yes, free. Anyway, we can conduct large-scale experiments. If we manage to make a syphilis treatment that way, imagine what would happen!"
"It'd be a jackpot."
"Yes! We'd all be sitting on money cushions!"
"Well... more than money, for the progress of humanity..."
"Hahahahahaha! Bullshit!"
It's offensive, but it is bullshit.
No matter how you think about it, there's no one who says they aren't interested in money who isn't actually obsessed with it.
Myself included.
It's money, money!
"Alright, that's good. But the cocaine...? How on earth did you end up making this, and where?"
"Hm? Do you know what it is? The name 'cocaine' is just something I came up with."
"I just had a feeling. Coca leaves... right?"
"Ye... Exactly! You really are Pyeongsin, the medicine lover!"
"No, no! It's not that!"
"Hahahahaha! Bullshit!"
It is offensive, and it is bullshit.
Medicine... I don't love it...
Of course, sometimes I do think about that drink, whether it was opium tincture or whatever.
But it's not to feel the so-called 'high'.
It's just...
Those bastards forced it on me, that's how it happened.
Bloodletting or medicine.
Even now, thinking about it, it's a suffocating choice.
"If it's coca leaves, I know a little something about them too... What exactly are the effects?"
I was shaking my head in disbelief when Liston hurriedly asked.
Who's calling whom a drug addict here?
Anyway, the chemist gentleman chuckled heartily.
He couldn't dare not answer Liston's question, so he busily moved his mouth.
"When the Spanish conquered the New World, there was a story that the natives there could exert strength just by chewing coca leaves without even eating food, right?"
"That's right. But those leaves... didn't they all rot on the way over?"
"Not anymore. They seal them somewhat, and navigation has improved."
"I see. So? Is cocaine a refinement of that? Like how they refine opium to make morphine?"
For someone who knows nothing, his analogy is remarkably apt.
Why is it that humans are always faster when it comes to the bad parts?
Thinking about it, it's really strange.
No, is civilization supposed to develop like this...?
Before I came here, in the 21st century, some scholars argued that the reason humanity started farming was to cultivate drugs, right?
I saw it on YouTube while taking a shit, so my memory is fuzzy and the basis itself is probably weak, but still.
"That's right. It has an alkaloid component. The Germans are good at this stuff, right? We got it through Dr. Joseph."
"You got it through that madman?"
"Yes, Inspector Jamie used some of his influence."
"Ah... By the way, what happened to Dr. Joseph? He said he was staying here to get revenge."
"You didn't know?"
"No, I didn't."
"I thought the boss gave the order. He's gone far away."
"Aha."
I wonder if it's his body or his soul that went far away.
I don't really want to ask.
Actually, I want to run away from here, but I'm just staying put.
These bastards... and Liston too, their eyes will surely roll back in their heads when they hear about the effects of cocaine.
This... I have to stop it.
No, this can't happen.
"Anyway. What were we talking about?"
"Cocaine."
Police officers are passing by beside us.
Probably... after the 19th century, there won't be an era where you can so boldly bring up the topic of cocaine in front of the police, right?
While I was having that thought, the chemist gentleman was elaborating on the effects of cocaine in great detail, just as I had feared.
Feelings of euphoria, nourishment, tonic effects, and going further, a sense of omnipotence, etc...
'It seems weaker than I thought...?'
Surprisingly, there was no talk about addiction or anything.
The reason became clear by looking at the gentleman talking.
'Ah, he ingested it by mouth, not snorted it. Well... no one would think to snort it right away upon seeing it.'
In a way, it's fortunate.
That makes it easier to talk them out of it.
"I didn't bring the arsenic compound because it seemed like it wouldn't be of use, but I brought this."
"Oh. But why isn't this container full?"
"Well, I came here first originally... but the atmosphere was weird, so I went to see the other patrons first."
"Ah... Yeah, that makes sense."
No...
You went to the other patrons first...?
This is trouble.
Especially Inspector Jamie—isn't he pointlessly brave?
That guy, he'd...
"Hyung-nim! This is no time for this!"
"Huh? Why all of a sudden?"
I originally planned to calmly talk it out and dissuade them...
But if this madman has already distributed it, there's no way out.
-Kim Taepyeong and Liston, the drug lords of the century.
There's no way we can end up in textbooks like this!
"Explanation later! Let's go to Inspector Jamie first!"
"What the hell kind of nonsense is this?"