The Medichin father and son ended up eating chicken as a late-night snack in the middle of the night.
“Oh!”
The moment Wilhelm bit into the fried chicken leg, he exclaimed, and a smile spread across his face.
“A crispy yet chewy texture, juices spreading throughout my mouth, and even a spicy, salty flavor on top of that! It is perfect!”
There had never been food like this before. Was this human food, or was it the food of the gods?
Wilhelm, who did not hold back his admiration, instantly began turning the chicken leg around and tearing into it.
‘It is not corn on the cob...’
After setting down the chicken leg, which had been reduced to nothing but bone in an instant, Wilhelm paid no attention to his son’s gaze and continued putting pieces of chicken into his mouth and discarding the bones.
Only after the plate had become completely empty did Wilhelm stop and grin at Friedrich.
“That was delicious. I had no idea my son had such a talent.”
‘Damn it! I only got to eat one piece!’
Was one person supposed to fry the chicken while someone else got to eat it?
However, he soon seemed to think of something and chuckled before speaking.
“How will you pay for the chicken?”
“The chicken?”
Wilhelm blinked at the unexpected bill. Then, after looking at the empty plate Friedrich pointed to, he spoke with an awkward expression.
“Since this father of yours ate everything you went to the trouble of making in the middle of the night, I suppose I ought to pay for it. Tell me what you want.”
“Hmm...”
Friedrich already had what he wanted in mind, but he pretended to hesitate for a moment before saying it.
“A vacation.”
“A vacation?”
“Yes. I want our whole family to go to Mother’s ranch and spend a few days there.”
“Hmm? Hmmm...”
For Wilhelm Medichin, whose every day was busy, several days was a significant amount of time.
However, he was not the sort of man who could swallow up the chicken his son had prepared with care, chicken so delicious that it defied belief, and then simply wipe his mouth clean and pretend nothing had happened.
‘The children have been studying hard too, so taking a few days to rest would be good.’
Having decided that they should take time to recharge, Wilhelm showed Friedrich a benevolent smile.
“Very well.”
But Wilhelm did not know.
He did not know why, out of all the many vacation spots available, Friedrich had suggested going to the ranch.
***
Friedrich Medichin had obtained a vacation by offering up chicken.
Right now, he was at a ranch on the outskirts of Firenburg with not only his family, but also the butlers and maids.
“Wow!”
In the ranch enclosed by fences across the wide-open grassland, horses, cows, and flocks of sheep grazed leisurely in their respective sections.
At the idyllic scenery, Maria, the twin younger brothers, and even Friedrich, whose mind was that of a man in his thirties, exclaimed in admiration.
‘This kind of thing is nice once in a while.’
Since he had always lived as though confined within the city, he had felt stifled. Now, after enjoying the refreshing breeze, he unpacked his belongings with his family at a nearby villa and came to the ranch.
“Since we have come all the way to the ranch, why do you not try milking the cows?”
“Milking cows?”
The four siblings were surprised by a suggestion that would have been unimaginable in any ordinary elector’s household, but Johanna gave the children a gentle smile and explained her reason.
“The reason we can comfortably enjoy milk, cheese, and butter at home is entirely thanks to the people who milk the cows here. I am telling you to experience that for yourselves.”
‘Is she saying that a person cannot become a proper leader without knowing the value of labor?’
Friedrich already knew that much, but he had no reason to refuse.
‘This will make things easier.’
Thanking his mother inwardly for lending him a hand, Friedrich spoke to his siblings.
“Let’s do as Mother said. When else will we get to experience something like this?”
“Should we? What do you all think?”
Maria answered in a daze because it was her first time doing such a thing, then asked the others for their opinions. Julian answered bravely.
“I want to!”
“Me too!”
As if unwilling to lose to his twin younger brother, Felix answered as well, and the four Medichin siblings began milking the cows with the help of the ranch workers.
“Ugh, this feels strange. Is it supposed to be like this?”
“That it is, Young Lady. When I first learned this work, I could not get used to how soft it felt either. When milking, first...”
The ranch keeper, who had a bushy gray beard, answered Maria with a warm smile as though he were dealing with his granddaughter, then taught her the knack of milking.
The three brothers, who had been listening diligently beside her, also milked the cows with one worker assisting each of them.
“So this is how milk is drawn...”
“...This is fascinating.”
As his younger brothers gained the knack and became interested, Friedrich watched them milk the cows into the wooden buckets placed beneath and chuckled.
‘Would this count as a field trip to a dairy farm?’
Because he had been distracted, Friedrich unconsciously put more strength into his hand.
MOOO!
At the sound of the cow lowing, Friedrich flinched in surprise.
“Yikes!”
“Be gentle, Brother!”
“The cow is saying it hurts!”
At the rebukes flying in from his younger brothers, Friedrich smiled awkwardly.
“You are right. It must hurt, so I should let it rest for a moment. Sorry.”
After stroking the cow and apologizing to it, Friedrich stepped away with the worker who had been assisting him and began talking.
“I saw scars on the cow.”
“Ah, are you speaking of cowpox?”
‘That is it!’
At the answer that came from the worker’s mouth, Friedrich inwardly cheered, but outwardly asked with the expression of someone hearing the word for the first time.
“So that is called cowpox?”
“Yes. It is a disease cows catch once in a while, and it can spread to people too. I caught it a few years ago and was bedridden for several days.”
“I see. By any chance, was there anything good about catching cowpox afterward?”
“I do not know myself, but the older people I worked with said that I had warded off misfortune. Long ago, when smallpox swept through our village...”
After listening to the story, Friedrich spoke to the worker.
“What you just told me is true, yes?”
“Of course, Young Master. Uncle Bauer, who was helping the Young Lady, told the same story.”
Friedrich took the worker’s hand as he emphasized that it was true.
“You need to come somewhere with me now.”
“Pardon? Uh, um...?”
***
The place Friedrich went while holding the worker’s hand was the horse ranch section, where his father and mother were riding horses.
‘To think people who will be forty in a couple of days are still so full of affection...’
He was envious.
Unlike the upper class of the empire, where affairs ran rampant and façade marriages were a daily occurrence, the two of them were talking together in such an intimate, affectionate way.
‘I feel as though I am interrupting their date...’
But this was something he absolutely had to do, so Friedrich approached them.
“Father, Mother, you seem to be enjoying yourselves.”
“Of course. Did you think this father of yours enjoyed spending every day buried in documents?”
“One needs to run like this once in a while in order to feel alive, does one not, my son?”
At his parents’ response, which seemed to ask why he was questioning the obvious, Friedrich smiled awkwardly and stuck out his tongue a little.
“You are right. But I have something to tell you.”
“What is it? Is there something you do not like?”
“No. I heard this from this man while milking the cows...”
After hearing that people who had caught cowpox had remained fine when smallpox swept through the village, Wilhelm looked at the worker with wide eyes.
“Is that true?”
“How could I dare tell lies before Your Excellency, Mayor?”
Perhaps because he was standing before the highest-ranking person in this territorial domain, the worker trembled as he answered. Wilhelm stroked his chin.
“Hmm. I understand. You may return now.”
“Yes, yes, sir!”
As soon as the worker, relieved to have finally been released, answered, he hurried back toward the ranch section.
Only after the worker had gone a long distance away did Wilhelm ask Friedrich a question.
“What do you think?”
“There are too few cases to make a hasty judgment, but I think it would be best to investigate the people working at cattle ranches across the entire autonomous territory and then make a decision.”
An ordinary mistress of the house might have looked disgusted at the conversation between the Medichin father and son.
However, Johanna, a descendant of one of the empire’s ten great knight families and as learned and rational as her husband, reacted with interest.
“I think that would be best, dear. If there are enough numbers, there may be a possibility.”
“If you think so as well, my lady, then we should begin with an investigation. It seems this must be done quickly, so let us return at once.”
‘Just as planned.’
As the price for Friedrich achieving his goal, the Medichin family’s vacation ended up becoming a day trip.
However, since they had discovered something far more valuable, it was still a profitable bargain.
***
Wilhelm Medichin returned to Firenburg after discussing cowpox in greater depth with his family.
[Investigate the number, sex, age, physique, and health condition of those who were infected with cowpox. Also investigate how many among them contracted smallpox.]
After receiving his orders, the higher-ups of the autonomous territory deployed officials and employees without a word of complaint and began a complete survey in every place reached by the authority of the autonomous territory government.
Before long, Wilhelm received the documents in which the investigation results had been compiled according to his orders, and the corners of his mouth slowly rose.
“One or two out of every hundred caught smallpox, is it...?”
“Yes, Mayor. Among them, most of those who caught smallpox after catching cowpox were elderly, frail, or in poor health.”
At the added explanation from Raul Müller, the senior aide to the consul of the autonomous territory, Wilhelm nodded.
“Then if this cowpox is placed into the human body to make one catch it artificially, it seems possible that one might not catch smallpox. Is that not so?”
“!?”
The higher-ups were startled as though they had been struck by lightning. Put cow pus into a person?
They were so shocked that they could not manage their expressions and even began stammering. Wilhelm dropped a second bomb on them.
“My family will do it first, so keep that in mind and prepare.”
“You must not, Mayor!”
“You are the pillar of our autonomous territory!”
The higher-ups, their faces turned white, all stepped forward and desperately tried to dissuade him, but Wilhelm did not have the slightest intention of changing his mind.
“If I, as the head of the autonomous territory, and my own blood relatives do not do it first, then who will? My family will be inoculated first, and afterward, we will thoroughly verify the progress and efficacy. Understand that!”
In a sense, Wilhelm Medichin had made a decision that was like a gamble.
After obtaining a cow that had recently caught cowpox, he filtered alcohol brewed from wheat, boiled it repeatedly in a copper pot to distill it into high-concentration medical alcohol, and then began a voluntary clinical experiment by applying cowpox pus to a needle sterilized with fire and lightly pricking the back of his shoulder with it.
“If you are doing it, how could we just stand by?”
“Mother is right! I am the eldest daughter of this house!”
“And I am the eldest son and heir!”
“We are also Father’s sons!”
“That is right, Father! Let us do it together!”
As even the loving Medichin family all agreed to participate in the clinical trial, the Medichin Mansion went into an emergency state.
“Prepare cold water and towels immediately!”
“Since it will be difficult for them to eat while they are ill, prepare liquid food!”
Under the direction of Alfred, the head butler, and Vera, the head maid, every employee moved in perfect order to nurse the Medichin family.
“A mild fever is rising, and the breathing has become slightly rapid...”
“Red spots are appearing around the shoulder...”
“These symptoms are similar to smallpox, just as the herdsmen said.”
“According to them, the pus must not be touched, so let us manage it carefully so it does not burst.”
As an added measure, the professors of the medical faculty of the University of Firenburg, who had received Wilhelm’s orders, cared for the Medichin family day and night while recording their symptoms from beginning to end.
After suffering for several days that way, the Medichin family finally rose from their sickbeds and received a thorough examination from the doctors.
“What do you think?”
“All six of you have recovered perfectly, Mayor, except for slight scars remaining at the injected sites.”
Only after the dean of Firenburg Medical School, representing the doctors present, declared their complete recovery did Wilhelm let out a sigh of relief.
“That is fortunate. Then now we need only pass the final stage.”
That final stage was summoning the priests of the Merkl Religious Order and having them verify the efficacy of cowpox inoculation.
“O Merkl, guardian deity of wanderers and merchants, con artists, thieves, doctors, and apothecaries...”
The presiding priest of Merkl’s temple in Firenburg offered a prayer to Merkl in a reverent voice that contrasted sharply with the dignity of the words being listed, and raised divine power.
WHOOSH!
A spherical radiance formed above the winged staff of twin serpents he held in both hands, then made a circle.
‘What is that? If it is correct, a circle appears, and if it is wrong, an X appears?’
[It is simple, which makes it good, does it not?]
Friedrich felt the strength leave him at Merkl’s answer, and while doing his best to control his expression beneath his lowered head, he listened to the presiding priest’s declaration.
“He has said that if one is inoculated with cowpox, one will not catch smallpox! O, Merkl...!?”
The expression of the presiding priest, who had been praising the god he served in joy at the thought that they would be able to eradicate the disease that had persistently tormented humanity, changed strangely.
“...Did you receive another revelation?”
Wilhelm, worried that Merkl had perhaps reversed himself and declared that the vaccination method had no efficacy, asked the question anxiously. The presiding priest shook his head.
“That is not it, but... he said not to reveal the manufacturing method outside the autonomous territory. Since House Medichin, which serves him, has proven it through self-sacrifice, others must pay a fitting price to use it.”
At those words, the Medichin family’s eyes widened, and Friedrich immediately asked Merkl.
‘Is it a gift?’
[Of course! There is one more thing besides this!]
[By practicing the spirit of noblesse oblige, you have prepared the foundation for eradicating smallpox, which has tormented all intelligent beings of Ers.]
[10,000 points have been awarded.]
‘Nice!’
Friedrich Medichin clenched his hands behind his back.
***
In addition to performing the ritual, Wilhelm Medichin also brought an official document issued in the name of the presiding priest of the Merkl Religious Order, stating, “The vaccination method is definitely effective! Lord Merkl has acknowledged it!”
“With this, the efficacy of the vaccination method has been conclusively certified. However, people will likely feel strong aversion to the pus itself, so the Pharmaceutical Division of the Medichin Konzern will take charge of securing as many cows infected with cowpox as possible and processing it into medicine. Begin inoculations as soon as stock is accumulated.”
It was Wilhelm’s unilateral decision.
Because of that decision, however, both the Etilant Autonomous Territory government and the Medichin Konzern began working on the vaccination method, with officials and employees alike suffering through overtime.
When an order came down, what choice was there but to obey?
***
By the time the vaccination program, which Wilhelm had pushed forward after gaining a clue from Friedrich, finally ended around February of the following year in every city and border region within the autonomous territory government’s sphere of influence...
“What brings all of you here like this?”
Wilhelm, who had gone to the first-half session of the Imperial Diet in the meantime and had been resting afterward, looked puzzled at the group visit from the autonomous territory’s higher-ups. They should have known that he was taking two days off, so why had they all come?