I Quit My Job and Run a Café - Chapter 499
Only Noblemtl
Episode 499: Plague [2]
“The Lord says… … .”
Of course, it was not possible to just keep talking nonsense.
Then isn’t he just a total scammer?
This is Kim Tae-pyeong.
I have lived without any shame, looking up to the sky.
This means that, without exception, he has mixed facts with white lies.
In fact, doing so makes people more susceptible to being deceived.
If it were all a lie, would people believe it?
No, not this.
‘What is it…? What kind of disease is it?’
I continued to walk around the village, muttering prayers.
The guy who had hastily touched the body earlier was left alone.
I made him wash his hands, but well.
I wonder if that will prevent infection.
‘If it was cholera, it would have smelled like shit already.’
First of all, looking back on my experience in Paris, cholera smells different.
If you think about it logically, it’s obvious.
I keep fighting but it doesn’t smell.
After thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t cholera at all.
‘For cholera to spread more easily, there would have to be more people than this. And… … It seems like we would all have to share a water source, and there are already three wells… … And there’s a stream nearby.’
This was a natural thing, as this was a neighborhood with a lot of water.
In Joseon and here, where rice farming is done, isn’t water the most important thing for survival?
also…….
Britain and France are a bit uncivilized.
It’s because we treat water, the most important thing for living in this world, so carelessly that tens of thousands of people are dying from cholera.
“Oh, there’s a survivor here!”
“Don’t approach carelessly. There is something fishy about this place… the evil spirits here.”
“yes yes!”
“Stay within my territory.”
“yes!”
One of the brave redcoats, wearing a mask, opened the door with his gun rather than his hand, looked inside, and finally found the survivor.
The general public, who inevitably lack the concept of disinfection or infection, were left behind me.
I don’t have enough time to explain it all medically, and it doesn’t seem to be particularly important right now, so I’ll just give a brief summary.
As I was talking, it surprisingly worked well and I found it quite fun, so I thought I should just keep doing it like this from now on.
Anyway, I pushed the non-medical people back and stepped forward.
‘I don’t think it’s a respiratory disease.’
I can’t hear the cough.
Of course, just because you don’t cough doesn’t mean that the disease isn’t transmitted through the air.
This means that bacteria and viruses can float in the air even if you don’t have respiratory symptoms.
However, the concentration will probably be low.
And it is not easy for small concentrations of pathogens to cause infection in people with normal immune systems.
‘I don’t know about something like Ebola, but… Ebola in East Asia in the 19th century?’
There is no Ebola.
Because it is a disease that originated in Africa.
Because of its lethality, some say it’s a disease that came out of a lab, but whatever it is, it’s not a disease that should be here now.
‘Yeah… … It’ll be okay.’
Only after I reassured myself while standing in front of the doorway could I move forward again.
Naturally, the prayers stopped.
If you move your mouth uselessly and get something caught there, it’s really stupid.
A so-called doctor gets sick while playing the role of a sorcerer?
That’s really not possible.
“older brother.”
“I told you not to say anything.”
I warned Liston to be careful, but unfortunately, neither of us could sign.
So I had no choice but to open my mouth to Liston.
I put on a few more layers of mask before coming in, but I was worried about how useful it would be.
“I need to see that person’s body, but can I just cut the clothes with a knife?”
“huh.”
Liston would answer with fatalistic one-liners and then cut his opponent’s clothes with his knife.
The samurai behind were shocked.
It was clear that he was saying something like, ‘Why have you been treating the civilians like this until now? Are you going to cut them down with one stroke of a sword?’
You can tell just by looking at the face.
Of course, our Liston was a swordsman of such excellence that it was hard to find him in the East or the West, past or present, so he never missed what he aimed for.
I literally just cut the clothes.
“Uh-huh… … .”
The patient was also surprised.
It’s only natural that you’re lying in bed sick and suddenly have your clothes cut with a knife.
Anyway, while the hem of the robe spread out to the left and right, Liston and I stood at a distance and examined the patient’s body.
It was a lesion I had seen before.
It was not a past life, but this life.
I was in Upton when I saw it appear not in a person but in a cow.
I seemed to have seen Liston somewhere before.
“smallpox…….”
“Fuck.”
Without any hesitation, we all ran out of the room.
Just because I’m a doctor doesn’t mean I’m immune to infections.
‘This kid… … is this what it felt like?’
I think I’ve said this a few times, but he was an ENT doctor and then became a web novel writer…
Didn’t he say that he had a sense of debt to Vital?
Maybe that’s why I went to volunteer when the coronavirus pandemic started.
I didn’t think much of it because I was wearing all the protective gear, but now that I think about it, facing a disease with no clear cure was a cold sweat.
“What should I do, brother?”
“Well, I guess I should try to fix it.”
“Fix it?”
“Yeah, we need to fix it.”
Well, if I were a nobody, then I wouldn’t know.
But I am a nobleman of the British Empire, and furthermore, I have much to do for humanity.
Wouldn’t it be a bit stupid to die in a place like this?
I asked, firmly believing that not only me but also Liston was thinking similarly.
But the answer I got back was, from my perspective, extremely disappointing.
“You want to fix it? Is there a way?”
“I have to find a way now. Well… … there are several ways.”
“Is there a way?”
“Let’s start with bloodletting. Isn’t the rash and fever caused by too much blood loss?”
“No… … How much has this gentleman taught me so far?”
“But isn’t there a good method? Are you saying that just giving them water like we did during the cholera outbreak will work?”
If it were that good, would smallpox have been such a scary disease?
In the first place, in Joseon, they called her Mama.
It’s the same word as mamarang used in the palace.
This means that the people were truly afraid of smallpox.
It is inevitable that this is a disease that is scary even when you see patients now.
A rash all over your body… Where can you find a disease that causes such a horrible rash?
“No way. That won’t work… … We have to come up with a different number.”
“Are there any other numbers?”
There is… … no cure.
It’s not that it doesn’t exist in the 19th century, it’s that it doesn’t exist in the 21st century either.
Of course, there are some antiviral drugs that can be used… … .
As for its effectiveness, it is only at the level of an antiviral used against COVID-19.
It is not for nothing that many countries and organizations stockpile smallpox for biochemical terrorism purposes.
If this is the case in the 21st century, what can the 19th century be like?
‘There is a way to treat and prevent at the same time… ‘
Of course, that doesn’t mean there is no way.
Isn’t there something called the Udder Law?
Even if you ask whether this is something incredibly new, it’s not.
In England, Edward Jenner had already developed a vaccination method.
So, our Dr. Liston and the Red Coats know how to do it.
“You’re not thinking of Jenner’s vaccination method, are you?”
“Why? Isn’t that a method that has been proven over many years?”
“That’s… … that’s right, and there’s also a story about a child turning into a cow.”
“Uh… … Brother, you didn’t hit me, did you?”
“It wasn’t right. Were you right?”
“That’s right.”
That’s right, but it’s unclear how effective it will be.
It’s not a properly produced vaccine, it’s just pus extracted from cowpox.
I had diarrhea for a few days, but I don’t know if it was psychological or if I actually got infected and developed immunity.
So that’s what I was trying to do… … .
“no…….”
If even Liston was refusing to be vaccinated, I thought, this is a big problem.
I don’t know if this is some kind of cutting-edge treatment, but that guy Edward Jenner passed away a long time ago.
“The child has become a cow.”
It’s not even a plausible conspiracy theory.
When I asked what the hell he was talking about, Captain Charles intervened.
It wasn’t me, it was Liston who was involved.
You crazy kids.
“I saw this picture when I was little… … In it, it looked like a kid got a shot and… … horns grew on his head and stuff.”
“No… … Where in the world can you find someone like that?”
“I guess my parents killed me because they were ashamed of me.”
“Does that make sense?”
“Then the child becomes a cow, so are you going to let him live?”
“What the hell.”
We can’t communicate.
Seriously… … .
The term ’19th century brats’ comes out naturally.
‘This won’t work… … .’
Even those who are considered intellectuals believe that people have become cattle, so can we just leave this alone?
I was already thinking that I should start to understand the concept of vaccines, so I thought it was a good idea.
“Oh… … Lord!”
“It’s a surprise.”
“What, all of a sudden?”
So I raised my arms and sought the Lord.
In 21st century Seoul, South Korea, if you do this kind of nonsense, the police or 119 might come, but here, it’s okay.
It’s not like everyone is okay, but it’s okay for me.
If you happen to go back to 19th century Europe and suddenly start acting up like this, you’re in big trouble, so please keep that in mind.
“We need a sacrifice! Cow, cow! Find a dying cow, not a healthy cow! Quickly!”
I pretended to be crazy and screamed.
While Liston and Captain Charles were still in a state of confusion, the rest of the men moved busily.
One of the redcoats was shouting at the interpreter so fiercely that the interpreter was also shouting at the samurai to find the cow.
Since many people were already fascinated by my appearance as a sorcerer, everyone started moving quickly.
People go home when they’re sick, but cows don’t have a home like that.
Especially during this period, Japanese farmers were literally so poor that even a barn could barely keep out the rain.
“Here! I found it!”
“Death is not allowed! It is blasphemous!”
“I’m alive here!”
“Uhh… … yeah, hmm… … .”
Still, finding it wasn’t easy.
It was because there weren’t many cows in the first place.
Well, well… … .
In a time when famine and great hunger were not uncommon, it was a miracle that cows were still alive.
It is said that during this period in Japan, they even ate human flesh.
‘It must have been the same in Korea as well during the Gyeongsin famine.’
It is an inevitable law in order to survive.
Anyway, how did I feel when I barely found one?
Of course I was touched.
It’s a good condition for acting, that’s what I’m saying.
“The Lord says! This cow’s pus is a sign that the Lord is sorry for us. Let us eat and drink it and be saved! Oh, thank you, Lord!”
Liston was just looking at me like, ‘What the hell’, but the rest of us couldn’t do that.
That’s because the power of witchcraft is not that easy.