RIP
Prontosil.
You did your best.
Even though you're a mortal antibiotic bested by a newly emerged antibiotic less than a year after being born and applied to clinical practice,
The world will forget you without even knowing the fact that you were the first antibiotic applied to clinical practice,
At least I won't forget you.
Probably.
'A moment of silence.'
The moment I discovered Penicillin through the Mencia Sect.
Prontosil is definitely an antibiotic with good effects.
Although it has a minor drawback of being horribly tricky to use since it has no effect on skin germs or intestinal germs,
It's still an antibiotic that shows decent effects against Gram-positive cocci.
It's just that against something much more convenient to use, roughly three times more effective, and capable of killing a much wider variety of germs,
It simply falls short compared to its vastly superior counterpart, Penicillin.
If there's something even more unfair to Prontosil, it's that even in original history, this guy's era wasn't very long.
Was it roughly 8 years?
Even in my previous life, I remember it being bested by Penicillin in just that amount of time and disappearing into the back alleys of history.
In this world, it was even 1 year.
It practically got buried in a coffin before it could even take its first steps.
I took a short moment of silence for the first antibiotic that had been reduced to a mere mortal.
And then I immediately contacted the Merkur Trading Company.
"Yes, President Gustav. Let's start production right away."
*
As soon as I discovered Penicillin, I immediately started production.
If it were my previous life, I would have had to gather them in a cultivation tank and wait ages for the mold to grow, so mass production would have taken a long time.
But I shouldn't forget.
This is a fantasy.
By calling in mages to sing and dance in front of the cultivation tank, there's no need to wait.
Seeing things like this, it seems a fantasy world is quite comfortable to live in.
That is, as long as the prefix 'dark' isn't attached to the front of it.
'Making catalysts with black magic and saving lives with healing magic, huh.'
I immediately put out a wanted ad for Black Sorcerers under the name of the trading company.
[Job Listing]
[Black Sorcerer capable of practically utilizing mold-related black magic]
[Any kind of mold is acceptable]
The process of recruiting Black Sorcerers was arduous in many ways.
Because whenever the world even brought up the topic of black magic, people looked at it askance and avoided it.
No matter how much I explained that black magic itself isn't illegal, there was no helping the image deeply embedded in people's heads.
So only after offering double the market price for advertisement fees to the newspapers that kept refusing, was I able to put the job listing on the front page.
Naturally, with this method of mine, the Merkur Trading Company's board of directors didn't hide their discomfort.
"Just to hire one sorcerer who handles... mold, I heard you paid double the market price for the front page of the newspaper."
"Double, Director. Double. With that same amount of money, we could have brought in three renowned alchemists instead."
"Did you really have to place such a huge advertisement?"
"I broke out in a cold sweat trying to stop our clients from cutting ties, as they thought we were plotting the resurrection of 'that' Magic Tower."
"Even I felt a chill down my spine when the Board of Inspection came out."
My surroundings were noisy in various ways.
The clients were looking for an opportunity for cutting ties, afraid of being tied up in treason.
The Board of Inspection, in their terminal stage of paranoia, swept through the trading company once.
Even when the Merkur Trading Company's stock plummeted by about 10 percent, I was also slightly nervous.
'Is this how the people trading stocks for that guy trying to go to Mars feel?'
Still, I somehow wrapped it up well.
While settling this happening, there wasn't much that I did.
As always, these practical affairs and legal matters were the role of the board of directors.
"Please. I haven't been able to go home for a week..."
"Excuse me? You want me to go on a business trip to the Eastern Kingdom this time? I just returned yesterday!"
"...At least get me First Class on the airship."
Whenever I ran into the executives belonging to the Sales Department and the Legal Team in the hallways, they seemed to protest to me with their eyes,
But I merely returned these answers to them every time.
"You may look forward to your year-end performance bonus."
"By... any... chance... could I ask about how much it would be compared to last year's?"
"You can think of it as being on the level of the performance bonus after the release of Viagra."
"My wife also coincidentally told me yesterday not to come home for one month."
After coaxing and appeasing the executives and employees whose lips were sticking out in a pout with money like that,
The last person I faced was the President of the Merkur Trading Company.
"Director Schun. I have successfully finished persuading the employees. Just as Lord Saint wished, within 3 months, that... Pecinil?"
"It's Penicillin."
"It seems we'll be able to introduce Penicillin in the form of a clinical trial after mass production."
Gustav Meyer.
In this trading company full of disbelievers towards me, he was the only President who didn't even cast a glance of suspicion.
He seemed to be anticipating how much wealth Penicillin would bring to the trading company this time.
"We overexerted ourselves a little to push forward the production. And we also set the annual salary of those Black Sorcerers we acquired with difficulty at the level of Court Mages."
The plump, middle-aged mister rubbed his hands together as he studied my reaction.
"I also called out the performance bonuses quite broadly as well..."
Glance.
His gaze reached my mask.
"You haven't told me about the price of Penicillin yet, so..."
That's right.
As always, it was now my turn to set the price.
He cautiously handed over a proposal.
"Since it's a new process utilizing Black Sorcerers, we have to build a new factory this time, and wouldn't we need to predict how much the demand will be to decide on the scale?"
Gustav, waiting for my answer with a hehe.
I nodded my head calmly.
And I took out the materials I had prepared from the file folder and handed them over.
"First, I have compiled the cases that can be treated with Penicillin."
Gustav took the materials. The moment he read the first line, his eyes blinked once.
==============
〈Penicillin Indications〉
Cuts, scratches, or torn wounds.
All cases where those wounds fester.
And 'all' other trauma.
Cases where a mother in childbirth develops a fever after giving birth.
Cases where a newborn child falls ill without reason.
Almost most symptoms of pneumonia or colds.
Cases where there is discomfort, pain, or itchiness while passing urine.
Syphilis, Gonorrhea, and other sexually transmitted diseases.
In addition, almost all cases where a part of the body swells red, generates heat, and festers.
==============
Having read all the materials, Gustav was speechless for a long time.
Soon he lifted his head and asked me a question with serious eyes.
"...By any chance, is this an elixir?"
"You could consider it to be similar."
Honestly, it really is a 21st Century elixir.
With a slight exaggeration, the life expectancy of humanity increased by 20 years, from 47 to 68, before and after the discovery of Penicillin.
Of course, one has to take into account that it was a period of medical revolution back then, but even considering that, it was an era where Penicillin hard carried.
It isn't called the GOAT of human history beyond just medical history for nothing.
"Hehehehe..."
Did he finally realize the majesty of Penicillin?
Stroking the materials I handed him lovingly with his hands, President Gustav spoke.
"T-Then the price would just be whatever you call it?"
"I suppose so."
"Perhaps the price will be around Quinine's..."
"No, we will sell it for more."
Upon hearing my words, the President's complexion brightened dramatically.
He might be wondering why I'm selling a medicine directly tied to human lives at such a high price for once.
But it's not like I'm delusional either.
'If the price is too cheap, the threshold will be lowered, and the medicine might not be supplied on time to the people who need it.'
I shouldn't forget.
Humanity is currently at war with demonic beasts.
It was an era where there were many people who truly needed Penicillin.
The production volume might still be too overwhelmed to catch up with the demand.
Therefore, I had no choice but to raise the threshold a little.
"We will sell it for about twice the price of Quinine."
"Good heavens..."
President Gustav tapping on his calculator.
As the numbers went up, his cheekbones rose along with them.
It was as if I could catch a glimpse of our trading company's stock chart after releasing Penicillin right on his cheekbones.
"Is this... is this real...?"
President Gustav muttered, as if he couldn't believe it.
"Even at a conservative estimate, it's 3 times that of Viagra?"
"Yes, that is correct."
It's just because Viagra had such a huge impact, but compared to the antibiotic market, it's a mortal.
Viagra is merely to the extent of enriching one's life, but without antibiotics, it's at a level where medicine itself wouldn't be established.
If we could only monopolize it.
Antibiotics were practically a giant of medicine that would bring even Viagra to its knees.
"Uurgh... huuugh..."
Having learned that fact, President Gustav let out feverish breath sounds with a gross face.
Since he was happy, I felt good along with him.
So I delivered even better news for him.
"You don't have to worry about the contract with the military. Because I've already spoken to them."
"Is that true?"
"Yes, we will exclusively supply Penicillin to the military first."
Monopoly.
At that word, President Gustav collapsed into his chair as if he would drop dead from sudden death at any moment.
"Monopoly... monopoly...!"
Then suddenly, as if he recalled something, the President froze in place.
"...Monopoly... to the military?"
His eyes rolled over, heading towards me.
"By any chance, did you also finish price negotiations with the military?"
"Yes."
"By any chance... for how much... Perhaps half?"
I nodded.
At that word, the President's complexion suddenly turned the color of stool, and he tapped on his calculator again.
Then, he grabbed the back of his neck and said.
"That's barely a level that only leaves original cost and labor costs...!"
"And we will gain a fame that will remain in human history."
"Kuhurgh...!"
Seeing him be so happy about it makes me feel proud too.
***
The world of numbers is truly mysterious.
Seeing as how the expected sales plummeted the moment I slashed the selling price for the army, which should be the main customer base for Penicillin.
— "No! The dream of 3 times Viagra! It can't be like this!"
Leaving behind the nouveau riche President who was whining grossly while rolling on the floor of the President's office,
I briefly examined the profiles of the Black Sorcerers contained in the file folder.
'They say they all possess the mage talent to cultivate mold.'
A mage requires a heaven-sent talent.
And the Mold Sorcerers(?) the trading company picked this time possessed such talent.
As I checked the number of molds they could multiply in a day, a smile naturally formed.
'I need to raise these people's level of mastery faster.'
Although I hadn't revealed it to the President and the board of directors yet,
The reason I gave preferential treatment to the Mold Sorcerers with the annual salary of Court Mages wasn't simply because Penicillin was urgent.
'The era of mold has finally begun.'
Mold is an existence that cannot be separated from medicine.
Even just looking at the anti-inflammatory drug I am researching right now, Steroid (Cortisol), that is the case.
Originally, in order to make steroids, tearful and exhausting processes of overworking people would have to take place.
But if you feed the raw material of steroids to bread mold, you can see steroids piled up after going to sleep for a night.
I don't remember the detailed process well either because it's a hassle, but the Archive of Knowledge was telling me that it was roughly like that.
Moreover, the underlying potential of mold does not end here.
'Finally, the Three Divine Instruments...!'
One of the Three Divine Instruments that I hadn't been able to bring out after Viagra due to a lack of technical prowess.
It was because, thanks to the Mold Sorcerers, I was able to take a step closer to one of those Three Divine Instruments.
'Well, that's a story for the distant future.'
Now is the time to focus on Penicillin.
The aftermath would probably be even greater than Quinine, and certainly not any less.
"My precious labor costs...! If I knew this would happen, I wouldn't have contracted the Black Sorcerers' annual salaries like that...!"
Like that, keeping the sight of President Gustav dying of happiness in my eyes,
I mentally organized the aftermath that Penicillin would cause from now on.