Chapter 73

Damn Asterix (Male) exited the symposium hall with a calm demeanor after finishing his speech. He had even distributed samples of the blue mold, but…

The symposium was already in chaos. Only the moderator and the next speaker sat there anxiously scratching their heads.

Of course, it wasn’t entirely unexpected, but no one anticipated this level of disorder. The symposium organizers thought: “Not every professor can come and overturn our event with groundbreaking discoveries.”

They were wrong.

In fact, it was the opposite.

That presentation might have been one of the most shocking announcements in medical history. As a result… people were leaving left and right.

At least those who quietly left were lucky.

There were also people loudly discussing or arguing from their seats. Despite efforts by the moderator and the next speaker to restore order, the commotion wouldn’t subside.

That blue mold strain handed out by Professor Asterisk was like a fragment of the Holy Grail.

Of course, many thought Asterisk was a fraudster, but these people were adding to the confusion rather than calming it down.

“Hey, everyone! Professor Asterisk has already left, so let’s move on to the next presentation…”

The moderator raised both hands, but almost nobody listened.

“Is that even important right now?”

“That’s just an attempt to disrupt the symposium by bringing some props!”

“Molds competing against bacteria and producing antibacterial substances is logically plausible, though. It needs verification.”

The crowd split into two camps – those who believed antibiotics could exist, and those who thought Professor Asterisk was just a scammer.

Voices rose from both sides. People who had stood up to ask questions or grab sample vials only added to the growing chaos in the audience.

“The most important thing is patient health and lifestyle habits. Only scammers sell universal cures! This professor is no different!”

“Then why don’t you hand over your bacterial strain first?”

“Isn’t it necessary to verify how wrong you are? We should culture it ourselves.”

“Why are you yelling and fighting if you’re going to experiment as Professor Asterisk suggested anyway?”

“I’m angry because he’s a scammer!”

“It was the same when they announced bacteria, probably.”

“Whenever this guy shows up, the symposium gets paralyzed. Shouldn’t we ban him from entering?”

A somewhat heated response came back. The auditorium was filled with the sounds of people moving around and arguing. The moderator massaged his temples again.

“Professor Asterisk has been gone for more than ten minutes… We’re the ones causing the paralysis, not him…”

The moderator took a seat nearby. Could we possibly resume the symposium today?

Damn Asterix, you son of a gun. If you were going to cause such chaos, why didn’t you stay and answer questions? You set the place on fire and calmly walked away.

Maybe he’s just got an odd personality. Regardless of academic merit, he seems to be genuinely eccentric.

***

Creak –

The penicillin announcement was over. I don’t know what happened to the Witbi symposium after I left, but it probably turned into a mess, right?

This is a café near Witbi Castle where you can see the sea. Amy and I were sitting by the window.

A few seagulls flew past outside.

Actually, I just call it a café, but it’s more like a teahouse. Still, they do sell coffee, so it’s a café to me.

Amy was sipping her tea. She seemed pretty tense from the presentation and kept nervously looking around.

“You really shook things up…”

“What, the symposium?”

Amy nodded.

“Yes.”

“Always happens.”

“Does it always happen like that?”

Hm… I thought about it. Whenever I attend a symposium, it usually ends up like that. Since I’ve never attended one without me, I wouldn’t know.

I thought this kind of symposium was supposed to be free-spirited, with people shouting and questioning during presentations, but maybe I was wrong?

Amy doesn’t attend many symposia either.

“Hmm. Other professors and researchers are people too, right? When something truly amazing or desirable appears, they react like this.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. I did give out the bacterial strains.”

Amy tilted her head. How to explain… the impact of the presentation is important.

“There’s something called paradigm theory. It suggests scientific progress isn’t gradual or step-by-step…”

“Yes.”

“So people view the world through certain paradigms. Even if there are theories that don’t fit, they’ll try to force them into the existing framework.”

“I guess that makes sense?”

“Exactly. Saying the right thing isn’t the important part. A square peg in a round hole still won’t fit properly.”

“You’re talking about being the odd one out.”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

Saying the right thing isn’t important. What matters is breaking the old theoretical paradigm to make room for the new one.

It’s not that the old paradigm was wrong. It was likely the best answer based on known information at the time.

Now that we’ve learned something new, the existing theory needs to change.

It’s simply time for generational change.

“So what’s important then?”

“Not being trapped by paradigms. Breaking old theories and enabling new theories to be clinically applied and researched.”

Science is full of “what ifs”.

The Song Dynasty in China invented the steam engine a thousand years ago. Even ancient Roman Egypt created similar machines.

But these civilizations neither properly utilized nor recognized the value of their inventions, nor industrialized them.

They just thought “that’s neat” and moved on.

If they had realized the potential of the steam engine and collaborated with authorities to distribute and research it empire-wide, history might have taken a different path.

Penicillin is similar.

“Aha. So that’s why you present in such a dramatic way? To create maximum shock?”

“Yeah.”

Even those who dislike me or don’t believe my theories will have to hold onto my papers, if only to refute them.

Amy gazed at the distant sea.

“Most of academia is still debating germ theory. But if medicine that selectively kills bacteria starts being used clinically within a few years, before textbooks even get updated…”

“The paradigm won’t be able to hold.”

Textbooks related to healing and physiology will all need to be rewritten from start to finish.

“I’m glad I visited your lab, Professor!”

Amy smiled brightly and I nodded. The goal is to change the world in whatever ways I can, ideally for the better.

***

Meanwhile, Violet.

“Need to swindle some research funds.”

Violet is an imperial healer. The royal medical team isn’t large, but they treat patients around the palace and conduct research.

One notable point is that not many people can enter the palace, so the number of patients they actually see isn’t very high either.

Violet was sitting in a corner of a borrowed classroom at Witbi University one day, along with two other royal healers.

The royal healers looked at the moldy bread. Three healers from the palace attended this symposium – these three.

“Thanks to this sample distributed at the symposium, we should be able to secure more research funds. We’ve already reported it to the palace.”

Violet had received the blue mold sample a few days earlier, but her conclusion was similar.

From Violet’s perspective:

She could reduce patient consultation time using the “research” excuse, secure more funding, and request additional staffing.

“But is this real?”

Violet shrugged. There was no way for her to know if it was genuine or not. They’d find out upon returning and researching it.

“…I’ve known Professor Asterix longer than anyone. We’ve worked together since I joined the palace. But I’ve never seen him be wrong.”

This would likely turn out to be another accurate statement. That’s what Violet believed.

“Finding a magical silver bullet to kill diseases… it’s hard to believe easily. But it’s worth investigating.”

The royal healers nodded in agreement. Violet moved on to the most important topic.

“I’ve been feeling guilty getting research allowances while doing no actual research lately. But this should help us last a few months, right?”

“That’s true.”

The royal healers nodded.

Very true. While research results are important, isn’t the most crucial part receiving a paycheck for conducting research?

As for the silver bullet… well, it would be great if we could make it. And if we can’t, perhaps future researchers will discover it, right?