There's a saying that the first move sets the tone.
It's usually a phrase used in gambling, but…
This is Joseon, after all.
Huh? Not a single word from our ancestors should be taken lightly.
"Agh."
"Oh dear."
Our drill…
Is the tip getting dull already?
It's not just grinding down the tooth—sometimes it shatters it.
Well, since these are teeth that would've been yanked out immediately if they'd gone to Tooth Conqueror Meng Huo, I don't feel too guilty about using a slightly more complicated procedure to extract them…
It's not like we're doing this just to treat this one person, right?
"Huh? It's already fallen out?"
"Isn't this way too soft?"
Not only is the tooth itself breaking, but the amalgam is also falling off or sticking somewhere—it's a complete mess.
Saying it like this might make it seem like we're terribly flustered…
But actually, we expected all of this.
"Why is this happening?!"
"Whoa."
Others might not, but I did.
That's why I prepared nearly 20 types of amalgam with different mercury concentrations.
Admittedly, even I didn't anticipate that none of these 20 would have the right concentration…
But it's fine.
Most of the prisoners detained for minor crimes—the ones that are visible, meaning those that can be handled with just a lantern—have already been treated, but there's a new group causing problems.
They're the other group voluntarily eating sticky lumps of sugar to prove that reducing sugar intake is effective for dental health, and that brushing properly is also effective.
"Good thing we started with the prisoners first."
"I was wondering why we were wasting such precious mercury and silver on those bastards…"
"There's a plan for everything."
"By the way, what are you going to do about that?"
I turned at Liston's words and saw prisoners whose teeth had been ground down but couldn't be filled because the amalgam was in a weird state.
Every single one of them was complaining of terrible pain.
That's only natural.
For one, I'm not a dentist.
I only have this much experience—it'd be stranger if there were no issues when I did it.
Besides, if the recklessly ground area isn't covered, it'll hurt even more.
"We have to cover it. I'll fix the amalgam by tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? You're just leaving them like that today?"
"Well, we can't just use anything to patch it up."
"Really? Why not just extract it? It'll only hurt for a little while."
"Hmm."
I thought he'd lost his mind.
Did he just flush everything I said earlier—about preserving the Lord's creations as much as possible—down the toilet?
But it didn't seem like just Liston's opinion.
All my disciples were here too.
Lately, especially since the Iron Cup incident, they hadn't dared to talk back, but today seemed to be an exception—everyone was chiming in.
"Shouldn't we just extract rotten teeth?"
Even Colin said that.
"The Lord… must have had a reason for giving us so many teeth, right?"
Even the clever John Snow was spouting insane opinions.
The John Snow in the textbooks was a real genius…
I guess he's still young?
Surely I didn't ruin him by taking him in too early?
I can't just be optimistic—even a major war like the Opium War got moved up.
I'm realizing in real time just how enormous the butterfly effect is.
"Hmm… So, what if we just extract them? They're not in pain anyway."
I didn't expect much from Alfred.
This guy is quite exceptional at the skills needed for anesthesia, but other things… not so much.
He seems aware of it too, since he doesn't volunteer to perform surgeries much lately.
Well…
Actually, since Alfred is now the best talent we have for anesthesia, it's not a bad policy.
Besides, in the 21st century, anesthesiology is a really powerful department.
It was so much so that there was hardly ever a board of directors without an anesthesiology professor.
"No, I like this method."
There was exactly one person on my side.
Joseph Lister, my friend.
"Turning something black into white—that's treatment."
It probably wasn't for medical reasons but more due to his sterilization obsession.
But still, it probably wouldn't hurt.
Since I'll do as I please anyway, whatever reason he has for supporting me is good.
"Let's not extract them for now. If they don't eat anything, it probably won't hurt that much."
"Because of you, we can't even drink alcohol, only water… Even that makes it sensitive and causes a fuss!"
"Does it make sense to extract it just because it's sensitive?"
"No, and why do we even have to… what's it called again?"
"Amalgam."
"Right, why do we even have to fill it with that?"
Even Liston is holding back from wanting to extract it.
It's proof that my status has truly become immense.
Of course, unlike the others, Liston is the type to demand an explanation.
Which is annoying, honestly.
But it's not entirely bad.
It'd be maddening if he stubbornly insisted even after an explanation, but he's a flexible person who knows how to be persuaded and change his mind.
Judging by his appearance, you'd think he'd be impossible to reason with, but he's not—what a relief.
"Bones, right? Don't they heal on their own when broken? I've broken plenty, so I know—they might heal crooked, but they do heal."
"Well… that's true."
"Teeth are bones too. So won't they grow back on their own or something?"
"Ah."
The problem is, I only know that they don't—I don't know why for many of the questions he asks.
As far as I know, teeth are the only bones in our body that can't regenerate.
But I don't know why.
I'm not a dentist.
And it's not like I've ever studied it out of interest.
"Well… in Joseon, it's not for nothing that teeth are discussed among the 'bok' (complexities), but teeth are different from bones in that they can't regenerate—"
"I've heard the first part, but the latter is entirely new to me."
"Geumsichomun…?"
"In Chinese characters, it's '今始初聞.' It means 'hearing it for the first time now.'"
"No…"
I wondered if he'd kidnapped some schoolmaster.
I know the term geumsichomun too, but if you asked me to write it in Chinese characters, I wouldn't be confident.
No, to put it another way, I'm not confident—meaning I can't write it.
"Even someone like you can't be an expert in everything, right?"
"Well, that's true."
Maybe because I was so surprised, my head nodded on its own.
Probably anyone else would've done the same.
In the 21st century, if some blonde guy showed up and wrote Chinese characters, people would be shocked—but a 19th-century British guy writing Chinese characters…?
"Let's do this. For now, leave them all. But only fill half. Let's leave the other half as is."
"Ah… to see if they heal on their own?"
"Right. If that happens, there'd be no reason to use silver."
"Well… that's true. But in return."
"I know. I'll make sure they don't eat food. Especially with the ground areas. When I broke my arm, I noticed it heals better if you don't touch it too much."
"Yes, that's right."
Well, bones actually need traction to heal properly…
But without X-rays, how am I supposed to explain that?
We've only just started grinding down teeth that are clearly visible—what can we do?
Besides, it's not just this problem—there's a mountain of other things to solve.
"Whew, let's take a break then."
As if reading my thoughts, Colin sat down and started puffing on his pipe tobacco.
Look at that rude bastard.
Even if they don't know smoking is harmful, it's a smelly habit—how can he do that in front of his elders?
"Hmm, the scent is nice. How'd you do it?"
Of course, no one said anything.
These guys are just as conservative as Joseon people, so they usually care about etiquette…
But by now, the relationship between me, Liston, and disciples like Colin has long surpassed that of a simple professor-student dynamic.
"My brother gave it to me as a gift… He said there's a secret to it, but I don't know what it is. Professor, would you like some too?"
"Huh? Ah, no. I'm good with this."
Liston refused Colin's offer and pulled out a small ceramic jar from his drawer.
It was a Qing Dynasty ceramic, clearly a proper item made for the emperor.
Just because an item is proper doesn't mean it's used properly.
Click.
A clear sound rang out as the lid opened, and a strong, paste-like smell seeped out first.
It smelled somewhat different from cannabis, but anyway, it was a smell you wouldn't want to inhale for long.
Of course.
There was tobacco inside.
"Ah… As expected, Professor. You're aware of what's popular these days?"
Joseph, seeing that.
This bastard is the same age as me, so he's 18 now, but he's been smoking for 7 or 8 years already.
He's become quite the heavy smoker, and it's not for nothing that he's making a fuss.
"Indeed. It's snuff. It's not as hard to get as it used to be. Haha."
"But still… isn't it incredibly expensive?"
"It is expensive, but it's not like we don't have money, right?"
"Well, that's true."
Ah, including Joseph, all the disciples receive a salary from us.
In this world, it's common—almost rampant—to exploit people under the pretext of teaching them, paying them peanuts or nothing at all, but I feel too guilty to exploit them like that, so I pay them quite well.
Anyway, the way he uses that snuff looks dangerous.
"Sniff."
He inhales it through his nose, like cocaine.
Well…
Since it's not burned or anything, no smoke comes out, so it doesn't cause secondhand smoke harm to those around him, but that doesn't mean it seems safe.
If it were unequivocally better, it would've survived instead of cigarettes.
"Phew."
"Hey, why do you smoke that?"
Meanwhile, Alfred took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.
It was a hand-rolled cigarette—the kind we commonly know as a cigarette, or a "jigwallyeon."
In the 21st century, cigarettes became so popular that this is what people think of when they hear "tobacco," but not in this era.
It was a tobacco for poor people.
"Ah, this has its own taste too."
"But doesn't some powder get in?"
"It's fine if you use this."
Since they're smoked just rolled up without any filter, of course the rich wouldn't like them.
Naturally, Alfred isn't smoking them out of necessity but because of his preference, so he started smoking using a device called a "mulburi."
"Phew."
And so, the already small room began to fill with hazy smoke.
If you're a non-smoker, you'd know—there are few experiences in life more unpleasant than this.
In the 21st century, if someone frowned, you'd at least apologize, but here, even that doesn't happen.
They just look at you like, "Why are you acting like that when we're giving you this good smoke for free?"
Of course, in this room, since I'm quite a high-ranking person and everyone is close, they didn't just stare.
"Ah, I noticed—Pyeong. You don't have any tobacco, do you? Here, take this."
Liston handed me a tobacco pipe.
I have no idea where he got it…
It was the kind of tobacco pipe you'd see in old Joseon folk paintings.