Parallel World Pharmacy Vol 1 Chapter 9

It seemed some chamberlain informed the young prince Elizabeth’s condition was not good, and he rushed to the Empress’ bedroom. The prince came towards Bruno, and requested he stop the administration of the anesthesia for a moment. Since it wasn’t fully administered yet, it was still possible to interrupt.

The prince was crying and calling his mother’s name at her bedside. Elizabeth feebly stroked his head with her hands. This wasn’t the hand of the Empress Elizabeth II who unified the whole continent, it was one of a mother that cared for her son.

What would happen to the prince after she died? Such thought came across her mind. Falma’s heart was shaken at the sight of the prince clinging to his dying mother.

Falma, who still had his hand on his left eye, decided on a treatment plan.
Speaking about the cure for tuberculosis, there was Streptomycin which was first discovered in 1943, but Falma rejected the because you needed to use a syringe. He decided to use the oral administration (Those that can be drunk by the mouth). Furthermore when combining different drugs, he had to be careful about the disease becoming resistant to the drug.

“Isoniazid.”
“Pyrazinamide.”
“Ethambutol.”

Falma decided on these three types of drugs as candidates. He wanted to use 4 types but [Substance Creation] was only possible if he closed his eyes and could imagine the compounds perfectly. He was only able to completely imagine 3 types of simple compounds with certainty.
It was hard to remember macromolecule compounds. He knew the structure and could write down the structural formula, but there were still lots of things which he couldn’t imagine.
The lights from [Diagnosis Eye] went out at once when he mentioned the 3 names, but when he looked carefully, there was still some dim light remaining. Falma felt uneasiness from that,
(I should add one drug just in case, but should I?)
Nonetheless, he added the 4th drug as an insurance.

(Creating this image will be a feat of mental strength. I really need to imprint this to my brain.)
He stared at the structural formula he wrote on paper and closed his eyes for his brain to project it. He used his cleverness.
“Rifampicin.”
It had the most complicated structure, but it was necessary for this drug to be the key component in the treatment.
The white light went out.

“Your majesty.”
He folded a large handkerchief, covered his mouth and tied it behind his head to make a temporary mask.
Falma decided to walk out in front of the Empress, bowed and introduced himself, and got straight to the point.
“Will you permit me to offer my treatment to your Majesty.”
Empress Elizabeth II faintly started at Falma from her bed with a blank expression.

“What, what did you say?”
There was no absolutes in the effects of the medicine. The condition of the patient could suddenly change and they could pa.s.s away before the effects of the medicine could manifest. Considering all that, he braced himself and he put some vigor to each of the word he said.

“There is a special medicine.”
Objectively looking at him, Falma de Médicis was only 10 year old apothecary apprentice. He should be far inferior in skills and knowledge compared to the famous doctors serving the Royal Court, including his father. He felt insulted as a group of court physicians insulted him deliberately that he could hear them saying, “What was this apprentice who doesn’t know his place talking about?”. They heard nothing but nonsense coming out from this greenhorn.

“Falma! Stand down!”
His father, Bruno, yelled at him with a tremendous threatening att.i.tude. With Bruno’s face turning pale, Bruno rushed towards Falma, binding his arm behind his back and leading him out of the room.

Pleading not to say any untactful thing――.
That written all over Bruno’s face.
Bruno apologized while dragging Falma.
“Forgive me your Majesty for my son was rude. I will take him outside immediately.”
“Wait for a while.”
The Empress warned Bruno. And then looked around at the courtiers and the court physicians that lined up.

“Is what he said true?”
Everyone from the court physicians to the apothecaries was embarra.s.sed and held their mouth shut.

“When was a new medicine discovered? In addition, what in the world is this disease?”
Many of the courtiers cast their eyes downward from the implicit pressure of the Empress. No one replied. The Empress, who looked away from the people she depended up, looked directly at Falma.

“You know it… don’t you.”
“I know of it.”
Falma bowed down.
The life of the Empress, who used Divine Arts more than anyone else, was in a precarious situation as death was imminent. And now, she would be euthanized by her most trusted Royal Court Apothecary and court physicians too.
It a risk on to believe this boy’s nonsense. She was practically permitted to gamble her life away.
However, she saw a certain absolute confidence in this boy’s eyes.
They were eyes which were not clouded and seemed to know the truth.

“I will entrust my fate into your hands.”
Falma’s and the Empress’ eyes met.
“As you can see.”
The Empress mustered the last of her strength to bow down. Her shoulders looked very delicate.

“I fully understand.”
Falma faced his only patient and took responsibility for her life.
He cannot back away now.
The court physicians and his father, Bruno, who are inside the Empress’ bedroom, just stood still. There was n.o.body to disturb Falma anymore. Meanwhile, Falma gathered casually some saliva samples from the Empress, left the room and said “I will borrow the compounding room”. And he locked himself inside.

“Wait for me Falma!”
His father later on bid farewell in the presence of her Majesty and rushed out to the compounding room to pursue Falma. However the door didn’t budge an inch.
“Open this door now!”
While hearing the sound of his Father pounding the door with full force, Falma stained the saliva sample into a gla.s.s plate in an experienced way. There were small bottles with chemicals lined up on top of the desk, he took a gla.s.s stick and quickly dipped it in. A gla.s.s plate was heated over the flame of the lamp, he then arranged the chemical bottles and one by one place a drop on the sample.
He took out a gadget that looked like a metal toy and placed the gla.s.s on it, he then held it up against the light of the lamp and peeked through it.

(I knew it.)
After Falma was convinced, his father destroyed the door using Divine Art and went inside.

He broke through the locked room.
In the dim compounding room that was lit up by the candlesticks were the father and son.
The hair triggering tension made the air heavy in the room.
“Speak! What are you doing!”
According to his father, it would seem Falma was performing some suspicious magic.
“What do you intend to do? This is none of your business. Stop it, what are you doing!!”
Bruno was enraged as his voice was trembling from the intense questioning of Falma.
“I’m preparing the medicine for her majesty now.”
“You fool!”
Bruno roared at Falma’s explanation.
“Even if you look for a skilled physician all over the world, there isn’t anybody that can cure White Fatal Disease! Don’t brag about some kind of new medicine.”

(Huh? Did you just said White Fatal Disease now?)
Falma stopped his hands.
“This is surprising, dear father diagnosed it as White Fatal Disease(Tuberculosis)? How did you know it?”
Among the court physicians, only his father knew that the Empress had tuberculosis. The court physicians only said about how the body fluids were affected by the constellation. Falma thought he was an occult apothecary and he misjudged his father’s ability.

“It reacted with my potion, signs of White Fatal Disease appeared. I’m saying this with evidence to you!”
His father mixed the handmade potion and the saliva of the Empress some time ago.
(Thinking back to it…)
Falma was surprised that the process was similar to a test to determine Tuberculosis. He wondered if it was just coincidence. There was no laboratory procedure that appeared in any book back at Falma’s house.
Besides, there was the time when he saw his father dance like a crazy at the herbal garden during the night as he grinded the medical plants and poured divine power. That was how his father compounded the potion.

(It had that effect!?)
Falma was astonished.
“Is it written in any of the books?”
“It is a new divine skill that I had developed. No book has it. Who do you think I am?”
Bruno de Médicis, one of the 3 Royal Court Apothecary in the continent.
Apart from being an apothecary, he was an Archduke who served as the president of a pharmaceutics university in the royal capital.

If Falma was the renowned pharmacologist back on Earth.
Bruno was the scholar who lead the pharmaceutics in this one.

Bruno and Ellen said they could create special effects on the medical herbs when they poured divine power into it. Bruno was the first in this world that systematically investigated the effects shown by the Divine Art on the medical herbs. Bruno invented a large number of original medicines.

(Is that so. What is it with this parallel world…?)
Falma felt guilty as he only saw his father’s formulation only as an occult from a biased point of view. Perhaps the potion that was ordered to be handed to Ellen, and the potion that was given to Falma immediately after he got struck by lightning really was effective.
Anyway, all of them were made from water conjured by Divine Art.
That was the one thing Falma overlooked.
This parallel world had Divine Arts. He concluded that it was an occult without performing any scientific inspection of the water made by Divine Art and other Divine Arts. it wasn’t the right att.i.tude as a pharmacologist.
The parallel world had different methods.

While Falma was impressed, his father’s behavior still left some doubt in Falma.
“Why did you do it, dear father? Why did you act like you didn’t know the name of the disease a short while ago? When did you start your diagnosis?”
They said that the diagnosis started 10 days ago. When the reaction of the White Fatal Disease increased by 30 times compared to the last diagnosis, his father felt mortified.
“Why didn’t I told you? Because the White Fatal Disease (tuberculosis) is an incurable disease. An apothecary always gets close to the patient. What would you do if Her Majesty u helplessly plunged into despair? It is for this reason that a greenhorn like you wouldn’t understand.”
So even though he had a diagnosis, he still played along with the court physicians.

“Getting treatment for White Fatal Disease has no meaning for Her Majesty. Don’t make Her Majesty suffer more humiliation on her deathbed. I never once in the past witnessed a touching hand that was able to cure the disease.”
There was a legend in this world where a king touched a patient with his [Touching Hand] and cured the disease.
Therefore no one was able to tell the Empress she had tuberculosis as there was no cure. Only a G.o.d who had higher authority than the Empress could. If so, there would be rumors that the Empress received the vengeance of heaven, and it would affect the honor of the Empress

“Don’t irresponsibly say something like a new medicine. A new medicine for the White Fatal Disease doesn’t exist! That was even the opinion received from the Nova Root. New medicine? It is just your unsubstantial and idle fantasies!”
His father always got new information from this world’s most advance Nova Root Medical University. Bruno severely admonished Falma that it was dishonest to tell a lie to a patient. It was a serious crime to prescribe a placebo drug, and that he should confess that her majesty can’t be cured.
Bruno had thought all possibilities regarding the empress well being.

(Father… youtruly are a great apothecary.)
Falma honestly re-evaluated his father, and he now bore a new deep sense of respect for his father. The reason his father had a dry cough these days was because he was infected by tuberculosis. It was clear, even if Falma didn’t use his Diagnosis Eye. Bruno was infected because he was in close contact with the Empress, even despite knowing she had tuberculosis. Bruno had been seeking a cure for her Majesty,regardless of his own life.

Falma asked his father again.
“I appreciate the concern. Nonetheless, father had thoughts of euthanizing Her Majesty.”
“It was the best way.”
Falma nodded. He agreed, it was the best card his father could use.

“A special medicine does exist.”
“Do not lie!”

“It is not a lie, and it is something you should also drink.”
“…!”
Bruno was at a loss for words as his son had seen through him, and noticed that he contracted tuberculosis, despite having kept it a secret.

When Falma conjured some water and washed his hands carefully, he wiped his hand with a cloth the he kept sterile, took a vial and a flask from his bag and placed it on top of the table.
He turned his back so his father couldn’t see, and held the vial on his left hand. The vial was also sterilized beforehand.
(Will they drink a sweet syrup?)
Potions (liquid medicine) are widely used in this world so it should be familiar to them. It was easy to drink and there was low repulsion to the taste. Patients with severe cough would be in a state that would make it difficult to take the medicine. So, Falma devised something.

“Look at me, Falma! Hmph!?”
His father did not miss the flash of the pale light.
That was the light of substance creation. It resembled a sign that a Water Divine Art was activated.
“Wait!”
Remembering the structural formula of the three types of drugs, Falma created the cure with the specified amount and dropped it in the vial. Finally, he began to write on paper the drug with the most complicated structure, Rifampicin, and burned the image into his brain. Drug development became possible.
He then filled another bottle with syrup. He held out the cure to show it to his father.
“Did you just use a Divine Art just now? Why are you hiding it from me? What is it that you compounded?!”
Falma shook the flask with the medicine to mix it well. He made a transparent viscous syrup.

“If you cannot explain what kind of compounding you did, it is just poison! What’s your excuse!?”
His father almost reached the limit of his patience, and he immediately held up his gold wand and pointed it towards Falma.
The wand was the sword of the n.o.bles.
Falma remembered the words Ellen said to him. For Bruno, it was the same as drawing a sword to his child.

“Please put away the wand, dear father. Do you intend to flood the compounding room in water?”
However Bruno didn’t paid attention to his words. Falma placed the flask on the desk.

“Danse d’épée de la glace! (Sword Dance of Ice)”

After Bruno chanted and casted, he aimed his attack at the flask that was on the table.
He didn’t intend to hurt Falma, since Falma wasn’t in the path of the attack.

(He shot it!)
A knife of ice was shot at a very close range. However, his father used a water divine skill which was based on water. Falma knew it very well, so he didn’t hesitate.

Falma stretched out his right hand to protect the medicine.
(Vanis.h.!.+)
He imagined the molecular structure of ice exactly, and transmitted it to his right hand and brushed swiped the air. When the knife of ice made contact with Falma’s hand, it totally disappeared.
He then raised his left hand and created a thick wall of ice in an instant to separate his father.
With just his bare hands only, no chanting or a wand, it was a perfect defensive barrier.
Bruno didn’t attack Falma anymore. His attribute was water but his specialty was [Positive]. Although Ice was water, he couldn’t take it down because the attribute was [Negative].

“What…?”
Bruno had his eyes wide open in fright as he didn’t expect his son to fight back.
Falma said to his father across the wall of ice.

“In the presence of her Majesty, I will explain the special medicine.”
“Oh…”
Everything will be ruined after this, is what Bruno thought.
Bruno lost all hope and went into despair. He inadvertently began to ask Falma.

“W-who… are you?”