Chapter 123

Episode 123: Penicillin Production Factory (1)

****

Luciana was finally able to enjoy working without stress. There were no higher-ups looming over her at the factory, and no professors pestering her to write papers.

Luciana had recently graduated from the alchemy department’s graduate program. She heard the imperial court was recruiting alchemists for a new chemical company.

Professor Wolfram had let her go despite the last-minute struggles, and she managed to graduate successfully. Thanks to the Academy’s help, Luciana secured a position at the royal chemical company.

The newly established company was said to be founded by a scientist linked to the palace who developed a new medicine, aiming to utilize it properly.

She didn’t know all the details though.

It had been a week since Luciana started working at the Pallete factory.

All she had to do was follow the instructions from above and produce white powder. Though she had to repeat experiments to increase production, the tasks weren’t particularly difficult.

They called this process optimization.

Her main job was making the white powder and testing it on animals to ensure it wasn’t dangerous. It was supposed to kill bacteria, though she wasn’t entirely sure about that part.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have come today…”

Blue mold is a living organism. Since you never know when it might die, it needs regular checks and feeding. If not for that, she wouldn’t have come in on a weekend.

But hey, there’s weekend overtime pay!

Since it was the weekend, aside from feeding the mold and checking its status, she had nothing else to do. She’d already checked earlier…

Creak.

Luciana looked out the window at the sudden sound of wind. A shadow passed over the building. Was someone visiting the factory?

‘What is that? A dragon maybe?’

Through the window, two flying creatures landed in front of the factory. They were wyverns. Two people dismounted from them nearby.

Someone had just arrived at the factory riding wyverns. Were they important visitors? Luciana straightened her tie and stood up from her seat.

Who could it be?

It might be an imperial bureaucrat, a senior researcher, or a colleague. Given they arrived on wyvern knights, they were definitely sent by the palace.

Anyway, she needed to greet them. Luciana double-checked her tie, put on her jacket, and left the office.

****

I didn’t return directly to the academy.

“Is Vinia Castle safe?”

“It should be fine. There should still be some medicine left, and we’ve documented countermeasures thoroughly.”

Istina tilted her head.

“Still, it’s scary. If even one bacterium clings to our clothes or equipment, we might cause more deaths.”

“That’s why we didn’t return to the academy immediately.”

We couldn’t risk anyone at the academy catching the Black Death. Though the possibility was low, I still didn’t want to go straight to the academy after being in an infected area.

It felt too unsettling.

Following Hedwig’s orders, the wyvern knights dropped us off in Pallete Village and left. Istina looked around the quiet village.

“It’s kind of creepy. We can’t go back to the academy right after leaving a Black Death hotspot. At least we won’t enter the capital for three days.”

Pallete—a small village outside the imperial capital—is also home to the empire’s first large-scale penicillin production facility, which was completed not long ago.

The headquarters of the Royal Chemical Company would be located here.

“Where are we?”

“The place with the penicillin factory.”

For now, there were only incubators, warehouses, and a few buildings, with not many employees. Construction was ongoing on the other side of the site.

Regardless, production had already begun.

“Was the factory already finished?”

“Are they making medicine? They aren’t producing sellable products yet… Still in the process optimization and animal testing stages.”

“I didn’t know they were already making it. I thought building a penicillin factory and starting mass production would take years.”

It didn’t take that long.

“We’ll check if the penicillin is being produced correctly here while isolating ourselves outside the capital. We’ll return to the academy later.”

Recruiting alchemists was announced before, but I wonder if they brought the right ones.

I’ll meet the alchemists working here. I don’t know who they are yet.

“What should I do?”

“Just find a suitable spot to rest. We’ll be here for a few days anyway, so if there’s work, we can handle it later.”

Istina nodded.

“Oh, thank you!”

****

I walked into the facility and met a familiar face—a female alchemist with blue hair waiting for me. Her face seemed familiar.

“Oh!”

A graduate student from the alchemy department at the academy. Wasn’t her name Luciana?

Looks like she got hired here. When she saw me, she screamed as if she’d seen a ghost.

Too excited to see me?

“Why?”

Luciana seemed embarrassed about screaming earlier… She hesitated, cleared her throat, and began speaking again.

“Sorry.”

“Right. Isn’t your name Lucia?”

“Uh, yes. It’s Luciana. Professor, what brings you here?”

She stammered a bit. She probably doesn’t know who the boss is yet.

Technically, I’m the nominal head of the Royal Chemical Company once it launches, though the empire’s government will handle the actual management. I never intended to run the company myself.

“This is my facility.”

“Ah…?”

Luciana’s eyes widened.

“Follow me. Let’s talk.”

“Uh, yes.”

Luciana looked uneasy. Seriously, if this is her real reaction, isn’t she acting foolish? She accepted a job without knowing who the boss was?

****

It was a cruel irony. Maybe calling it “cruel” is a bit exaggerated, but it wasn’t exactly non-ironic either.

Luciana sighed inwardly.

She should’ve noticed earlier. That research project at the academy involving Professor Wolfram’s lab rejection came to mind.

Professor Asterix initially proposed the drug research to the alchemy department but eventually left due to conflicts with Professor Wolfram.

She suspected this current drug project was similar to that one.

Had no idea it was the same person pushing it. If she had known, she would’ve reconsidered. Who’s to blame? Herself for lacking insight.

Honestly… She fled the academy to avoid people like Professor Asterix, but how does he keep following her?

This is cheating. She doesn’t know who’s cheating, but it’s definitely unfair. Luciana thought that internally.

She should’ve investigated the research and leadership before accepting the job. Just because it was an offer from the palace doesn’t mean she should’ve accepted blindly.

“Teacher Luciana.”

In the company office where Luciana sat dazed, Professor Asterix poured her tea, snapping her back to reality.

“Uh, thank you.”

Professor Asterix sipped his tea.

“I’ve heard many times that Teacher Luciana is a capable alchemist. Have you made any progress here? Any results yet?”

There were results.

The factory warehouse already had a significant amount of penicillin stacked in brick-like shapes, though it hadn’t been made into pills yet.

“Uh, we’re producing penicillin smoothly. No need to worry.”

“Not many people around.”

Professor Asterix looked around.

“I’m the only one working on weekends. I just came to check on the culture briefly.”

“Ah.”

Though her working hours weren’t long, regularly checking the culture medium was quite tiring since mold is a living organism.

“I’m worried the blue mold might starve or die, so I try to check the culture medium as often as possible.”

“How much medicine are you producing?”

“Hmm. Right now, the results look like white bricks, but I’m not sure how much it would be if shaped into pills. With limited manpower, we’re making ten bricks per day.”

Professor Asterix scratched his head. Did he make a slip of the tongue? Luciana anxiously glanced around, though there was nothing unusual.

“Why is that?”

“No, Teacher Luciana, as an alchemist, shouldn’t your unit of measurement for chemicals be more precise than ‘bricks’?”

Luciana shook her head.

“Ah… Sorry. Checking shows each brick weighs about one kilogram.”

She did make a slip of the tongue. Making medicine requires scientific precision; calling it “bricks” was too vague.

“Alright. Can you increase production?”

“It seems possible.”

“Our target is 30,000 units per day. Based on Teacher Luciana’s words, we’ll need at least 30 penicillin bricks per day.”

Making 30 penicillin bricks per day wasn’t impossible. It’s just a matter of having enough manpower.

“Understood.”

“Can you show me the production process now?”

Luciana nodded.

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