[To the Lord Saint.]
「The heat of summer is boiling beyond the Brass Wall.
I presume the sound of cicadas will be in full swing there by the time this letter reaches you.
If the sound of cicadas has no connection to the Academy Territory, I apologize.
In The West, cicadas and Crickets are bound to reach a state of Rampancy around this time.
Moving on, I will get to the Main Point.
Upon realizing what the Catalyst you sent has brought to this Frontline, I simply could not bear it without picking up my pen.
It has been a long time since I wrote a Letter, so I ask for your understanding if there are any somewhat disrespectful expressions.
First, I convey my deep gratitude in the name of Count Hiren's Family.
If Divine Power were to be converted into a Strategic Resource,
half was spent cutting and healing the injured Part (of the body), and the other half was spent restoring the Limbs of useful fighting forces.
Even this was an improvement thanks to that Triage (Triage) Sorting Method devised by you and Archbishop Raylick.
Because in the past, there were many soldiers who were sent off in vain among those who had their limbs amputated.
At least the soldiers were not bleeding to death, so my heart felt better than before.
However, we could not send those whose limbs were amputated back to the battlefield, so it was difficult to expect a very Dramatic change on the battlefield.
But thanks to the catalyst you sent along with Priest Mencia, the tide of the war has noticeably changed.
I found that if Heal was used after applying that catalyst, the consumption of Divine Power could be saved by a whopping five or six times.
Thanks to that, we were able to treat the majority of the soldiers with just Low-rank Healers.
With the remaining Divine Power, the number of knights making a return to the battlefield increased, and thanks to that, we have begun to push back those damn corpses, albeit little by little.
Perhaps by the end of this year, I might be able to deliver the good news that we have pushed them all the way to that horizon and expanded our fortress walls.
What I am thankful for more than anything is that there is no longer a need to hesitate in cutting off arms and legs.
It might not be something I should say, but I will eagerly wait for the day when you, the Saint, can comfortably come to the Western Front.
Not knowing how to repay this debt, I have enclosed a small token of our family's sincerity, however meager it may be.
Please do not refuse it.」
[Dietrich Hiren, Head of Family of Count Hiren's Family]
"..."
I neatly folded the Count's letter and placed it into the safe.
I heard this from Freya before, but it's good to collect Thank-you Letters from Nobles like this.
It's because in the distant future, when my descendants find themselves in trouble, they might be able to receive the Count's Family's help through these letters.
It's roughly like a bond saying, 'Our Ancestor helped you once, so you help our family once too.'
Since a noble is someone who makes a living not only on Skill but also on Trustworthiness, she said it would be hard for them to refuse if we had such a letter.
As a superfluous remark, this is also the reason why families with deep history are strong.
It's because the deeper a family's history, the more Letters of Gratitude like this are piled up in their safes.
However, if there was one trivial problem...
'Hmm... I'm short on Warehouse space.'
It was that after making Penicillin this time and deploying it to the frontline, it wasn't just one or two families who sent these kinds of letters.
Count Hiren's Family was just one of the families guarding the westernmost frontline; there were many other families protecting the Western Front besides them.
Moreover, the ones who sent letters weren't just from the western fortresses.
The West was just the most severe; no matter which battlefield you went to, soldiers were bound by Destiny to engage in a Struggle against Infection.
Ultimately, including the east, west, south, and north, and even fortresses bordering the Demonic Realms, the majority of fortresses had sent letters like this.
My descendants had essentially obtained a Free pass for almost all the nobles.
'Still, since they like it this much, it's a good thing I did the Clinical Trial early.'
Penicillin exceptionally skipped its clinical trials.
More accurately, the battlefield was the clinical trial site.
Because there were so many urgent locations, I omitted a few procedures.
In addition, thanks to aiming for priority supply to The Military, Penicillin was making a great performance on the battlefield in less than one month.
'Because Prontosil's Effect on the battlefield was terribly underwhelming.'
The reason why Prontosil is a mortal.
That is because Prontosil is only effective against the Germs that cause Pneumonia or postpartum Sepsis.
The Bacteria Cocktail formed by all sorts of germs on the battlefield could not be handled with Prontosil.
It might have an effect once in a while, but it wasn't guaranteed to work.
But Penicillin is different.
Because it shows efficacy in nearly over 80 percent of the injured.
It wasn't for nothing that Prontosil was pushed aside by Penicillin.
'I guess I just need to add Metronidazole to this.'
It would be perfect if I just added the Antibiotic called Metronidazole, Penicillin's Best Friend, later on.
Because from that point on, it could be said that Humanity has somewhat conquered germs.
'I think I can fetch the Recipe for Metronidazole straight from the Library of Memory.'
The Cosmic Head's words came to mind.
I understood the 'status' he spoke of as something like the Good Karma Mileage I had accumulated.
The Good Karma Mileage from Penicillin would by no means be small, so it seemed I would be able to view Metronidazole soon as well.
While leaning back in my chair like that, I was in the middle of organizing the medicines I would make in the future in my head.
"Lord Yulian."
From my bedside, my Elf Escort Officer, Perisia, called out to me softly.
"It's from The Military."
She handed over a letter.
Rustle. As I unfolded the letter, the neat, stiff, typewriter-printed Writing distinctive to the military caught my eye.
[To the esteemed The Black Saint.]
「I offer infinite Gratitude to the Saint who shows Devotion day and night for our Humanity, and as the Chief of Personnel of the Imperial Military, I respectfully submit this letter on behalf of The Military.
That medicine you provided, Saint, has bestowed a tremendous gift upon Humanity.
Regardless of east, west, south, or north, all battlefields have noticeably regained their Vigor, and Humanity has earned the Qualification to dream of the greatest hope in History.
With this one thing alone, I dare say The Military owes a debt to the Saint that cannot be repaid.
However, there is a matter that The Military must duly consider, so I am writing it here as well.
Due to the situation of the war being so urgent, we are well aware that in order to answer The Military's request for supply, you, the Saint, unreasonably expedited the Process you originally should have gone through.
The Military by no means takes lightly what kind of Covering Costs that unreasonableness must have forced upon you, Saint.
Hence, we are separately seeking an appropriate Reward for that hard work, so we make a Request for you to kindly spare a little more Time and wait.
Compared to the Grace bestowed by you, Saint, it will be meager, but through this letter, I promise first that the army is not an organization that forgets its debts.... (Omitted)」
'Hmm.'
As expected of The Military.
The words are too long and bureaucratic, so reading it is an Ordeal.
Thanks to that, I had to go through the work of summarizing The Military's lengthy Thank-you Letter in my head one more time.
And the following is the Result of translating the contents of The Military's letter.
「Due to the situation of the war being so urgent, we are well aware that in order to answer The Military's request for supply, you, the Saint, unreasonably expedited the Process you originally should have gone through.」
— Honestly, we will Apologize profusely for being lukewarm when you initially insisted Penicillin had to be supplied to that extent.
In truth, there was a bit of noise while supplying Penicillin nationwide.
The Military knew the Efficacy of this medicine, but they seemed doubtful whether its Strategic value was to that extent.
So I overexerted myself a bit.
From making the medicine, to distributing it to every battlefield.
Saying the Company would handle the Covering Costs, so let's please just Supply it quickly.
The Military accepted with glee at the words that they could save money.
But what do you know.
In less than a week, The Military ended up becoming a body that could not live without Penicillin.
That was why they sent a letter like this.
Saying they would reward me for everything later, so please don't be sulky and expand the Penicillin production Process.
A smirk naturally slipped out at the letter begging for Penicillin like someone with a Drugs Addiction.
'They sure Worry a lot.'
As if I would sulk over something like this.
Rather, I even understood The Military's Feelings.
When I suddenly suggested we sprinkle a medicine made by hiring Mold Sorcerers across every battlefield claiming it was a catalyst, dissenting opinions were bound to emerge from within as well.
Regardless of The Black Saint having made many medicines until now, it was the Fault of the Black Sorcerer's image being just that bad.
If I hadn't overturned that internal atmosphere using Lobbying through overwhelming Capital and Personal Connections with Imperial Prince Edmund, Penicillin being distributed to the battlefield would have been Next year.
Penicillin, actually deployed like that, had captivated The Military in less than a week.
And since The Military knew their lack of a Sense of Shame, they offered me an attractive Option, serving as an Apology for this as well.
「As a Result of internal review, after the application of Penicillin, the safety of the Southern Front began to be more certainly guaranteed than this.
Therefore, as a trial, the army plans to lay down a Railway between the southern fortresses.」
There is no Train in this world.
More accurately, train technology exists, but it hasn't been commercialized because Railway Tracks couldn't be laid down.
Because the moment they lay down a Railway Track connecting a fortress to a fortress, the Demonic Beast bastards bite and tear it all apart.
However, the story seemed to have changed a bit for the Southern Region.
Along with Quinine, and even Penicillin.
As the 'frontline sustainment'—the reason Humanity struggled against Demonic Beasts—was resolved, The Military also began to throw a rather interesting Gamble.
「The army plans to issue Bonds to the private sector regarding the relevant Track Project.
However, to the Merkur Trading Company and you, Saint, along with providing these bonds, we wish to give you Priority Bidding Rights during additional Biddings.」
In other words, it means they will reward me with bonds for the railway as compensation for reasonably overspending money due to this Incident.
'...Is this a good thing?'
I'm not too sure.
Because I am a Doctor, not a businessman.
I couldn't tell if The Military was pulling a scam, or if they were offering this Reward because they were truly thankful to me.
So I pointed to that section and showed it to Perisia.
"What do you think, Perisia?"
"...I am registered on the Military register, you know?"
"Didn't you say you weren't affiliated with The Military?"
"I'm just not affiliated with The Military, but I am registered on the Military register."
What kind of nonsense is that.
"Will you be alright? Even if you use my Personal Feelings as reference?"
"It's fine. Because I believe in Perisia."
"..."
Perisia looked at me with meaningful eyes.
Soon, she nodded her head.
"Before I answer, how do you foresee the future of the Railway Project, Lord Yulian?"
"I am not expecting much from it."
It's not a matter of Failure or Success.
I just have no Interest.
Railway? How much money does that even make?
I know nothing but drugs and Medicine.
However, Perisia seemed to have taken my answer to mean something else.
"Most other companies also do not view the future of the Railway Project very brightly. For the past several hundred years, The Military has attempted the Railway Project countless times. But they haven't achieved a Success even once."
Perisia seemed to think that I, too, was not viewing the project's prospects brightly.
However, just as I thought about giving a Correction to her misunderstanding, I just kept my mouth shut.
Because it seemed more useful Information would come out if I left it alone.
Sure enough, a rather heavy piece of Information popped out.
"But this project is different. On the surface, The Military is pushing for it, but in reality, it is a project being pushed forward by His Highness the Crown Prince."
The Crown Prince is making a move.
The implications of this are huge.
Originally, The Military is a group specialized in Shifting the blame, for better or for worse.
Anyone who has served in the military in Korea would strongly agree with this.
For that reason, the more High-ranking people in The Military they are, the more they tend to take a step back from highly dangerous matters.
But the Crown Prince made a move.
What that means is only one thing.
'Does that mean it's for real this time.'
If all the attempts up until now were on the level of a test to see whether or not a Railway Track could be laid down,
this meant that it was a project big enough for even the Crown Prince to get involved.
"Isn't that a Secret?"
"Since you, The Black Saint, have the authority to access that Secret, it does not matter."
"Since we are on the topic, as Yulian, may I ask up to what level of Secrets I am allowed to access?"
"Because you have already submitted several Taboo-level Academic Papers, you possess a Secret access authority on par with a Saint."
What is this.
Is it Just a feeling.
Perisia's gaze was profound.
It was a gaze that seemed to say, 'Why is a human who creates even greater Secrets worrying over a Secret like this?'
"...Anyway, I have understood your opinion well, Perisia."
The fact that it's a project being directly driven by the Crown Prince.
To put it another way, it means the Future of this bond is undoubtedly bright.
Perhaps it could even become Bitcoin.
I wrote a Reply without hesitating.
[Thank you for your Words.]
I don't know how promising the future of that Railway Bond will be.
It would depend on how extensively that railway is laid down.
However, since it is a project with the Crown Prince's involvement, the military officials wouldn't proceed with it half-heartedly either.
"Understood. Then I shall accept this Proposal."
I gladly wrote a Reply accepting The Military's Proposal.
And Several days after that.
'...What is this. Why is this sweet.'
While visiting the Blasting Site of the Southern Tunnel to bore a Transcontinental Railway crossing the Southern Region upon receiving an Invitation.
I met a guy I hadn't even expected.