Thinking about it, I wondered how Colin ended up like this.
This bastard was initially so arrogant, calling me a monkey and all.
But now...
"Professor, please have this for now."
"Ah, yes. Thank you."
He brought wine.
One might wonder, 'Why wine when you have to treat his brother?'...
But it was fine because it was a wine with not very high alcohol content, and it was intended to be mixed with a little water.
"It's boiled water, right?"
"Huh? Yes, of course. It's mandatory in the hospital now."
Of course, one must always question why they mix it.
The water...
It's because the thought of drinking plain water was utterly unappealing, so they mixed wine instead.
Even if you told them to boil it and drink it, do these bastards listen?
Some... meaning those within reach of Liston's fist, do boil the water again, but others started a strange trend.
They said disease comes from smell and taste, so they mixed wine with it.
Saying this would work.
"Right, right."
"He's been holed up at home because of his nose... He'll be here soon."
"Okay, good."
"The problem is..."
Well, the hospital water should be safe due to my instructions and Liston's threats.
On top of that, if you mix it with wine, well, the taste is good and everything else is fine too.
Hehe.
Besides, the wine our team drinks is quite flavorful, as it's either bought or given by the nouveau riche Liston, Lord Jamie (the ball-cutter), and Lord Damien.
"Problem? Don't tell me this glass is... that one?"
"Huh? Ah, no way. We've marked those glasses clearly so they don't get confused."
"Okay, good. Then what's the problem?"
I looked at the wine glass with the utmost dignified gesture and asked, just in case. Colin hurriedly shook his head.
If it's not that, then what could be the problem?
"My brother... is a racist."
"Ah."
Ah.
Right.
This guy was a racist too.
No, it's not that kind of issue; in fact, most people are probably like that.
During this period, expecting white people to think, 'Hmm, aren't Easterners also children of the same Lord as us?' would be the strange thing, wouldn't it?
If they were missionaries, it might be different, but Colin's family is a typical merchant family of noble origin, so expecting that from them was unreasonable.
It's a family that believes there are superior and inferior even among fellow Britons...
"I really tried hard to talk to him? But he just keeps blurting things out rudely."
"I'm sure. It's fine, I'm okay."
It's not an empty pleasantry; I'm really fine.
What I had prepared myself for was much worse than this.
I imagined hell, truly.
I thought I might be locked up somewhere to practice medicine, but look at me now.
How did I end up like this?
"Th... really?"
"Yes, really. If it doesn't work, then, well."
Compared to that, a bit of rudeness is nothing; I can let it pass without a second thought.
Of course, if it seems a bit too much, I might have to change my approach.
"Shall I step in? Colin's family... are they Barons?"
"Would you be intimidated by a Baron?"
"If it's not the Baron himself, but maybe the second son... I think I could even hit him. Probably wouldn't need to hit him multiple times."
"I suppose so. He should be a smart person."
"Good. Hitting someone once or twice is no big deal. It's not like we're strangers to the Baron either."
"As expected of you, hyung-nim."
I got confirmation from Liston too.
Somehow, Colin's face seemed to have turned a bit pale...
Anyway, I was in a situation where I needed to pay more attention to the brother's condition than to such things.
Think about it.
He has no nose.
We have to perform reconstructive surgery...
'I wonder if I've ever done it before...'
I'm a surgeon, and nose reconstruction?
Well, if I had intended to go into plastic surgery, that might be different.
Surprisingly, rhinoplasty is a fairly common surgery in 21st century South Korea.
And it's very expensive, that one.
'I wonder why it's expensive.'
Since insurance and surgery aren't cheap to begin with, it's hard to compare, but...
Still, if I were to attempt it, it would probably be expensive because it requires a lot of manpower or materials.
The government sets the prices; they wouldn't do it carelessly.
There has to be a basis for them to set it.
But when it crosses into the realm of non-insured, i.e., cosmetic surgery, the story changes a lot.
You have to approach it with pure market logic, and if it's expensive there, it means the supply is low.
'That means it's a difficult surgery.'
If it were easy but expensive, everyone would do it.
But the fact that it's not means it's a difficult surgery.
'Sigh...'
First, I need to see the state of the brother's nose and decide...
It might turn out to be a damn difficult surgery.
It's absolutely impossible to restore it to its original appearance as it was before.
Well, he's not dead, so... 'before'.
I don't know if it would originally be possible or not, but I can't do it.
- Don't be too greedy and cause trouble; it's much better to just do it moderately.
That's what the Professor told me.
At first, I thought, 'We're surgeons, how can he say such things?'...
But it didn't take long to realize that doctors aren't infallible beings.
Especially if it's not something that must be removed...
There are far more times when it's better to just leave it alone.
Even with cancer, there are times when you have to rely on chemotherapy or radiation.
"Ah, it seems he's here."
Colin stood up when he heard a clattering sound from the corridor.
Then he opened the door, went out, and came back in, bringing with him a rather large, burly man.
Following behind them, some people who seemed to be servants or butlers from Colin's household came in.
Judging by their clothes, they definitely seem a step above Alfred's lot.
The servants' clothes are quite nice.
Hehe.
Now that I'm making some money too, my knowledge of fabrics...
"Huh?"
Why are that hyung's pants green?
Does he want to die preserved in arsenic?
Colin, reading my expression, shook his head and said,
"Hyung, I told you these are dangerous!"
"Haha. A true man... must also know how to embrace danger."
"No... Why is that manly?"
"You need to go to sea too. Staying only among doctors is turning you into a little girl."
It was no use.
Actually, I knew it just by looking at him.
The unkempt beard, the green pants.
And the look in his eyes that openly displays madness.
I expected a really gloomy atmosphere since he lost his nose and was holed up at home, but the figure he revealed was that of a barbarian.
Let's not say he's un-noble-like.
This is a noble.
This is a very typical London noble.
Lord Jamie is only like that because he's old; he must have been the epitome of a real man when he was young.
Well... judging just by the courage to cut off his own balls, he's still the real deal.
Although, as a result, he ended up no longer being a man?
"Uh, Hyung-nim."
"Hmm."
Anyway, I couldn't just leave him like that, so I slowly got up and approached the brother.
If it were the old me, I would have been too scared to do that.
He looks tough, and his way of speaking sounds rough too.
But my closest friend is Liston.
'How cute.'
Isn't he just a young guy trying to act like a real man.
Even if he's Colin's second brother, he's still in his 20s.
Hard to believe just by looking at his face, but...
His neck is smooth.
Thanks to that, I could continue speaking without regard for the brother's reaction, which could only be described as brusque.
"I am Kim Tae-pyeong, Colin's supervising professor."
"Well, I've heard about you."
Normally, we should shake hands, but he doesn't offer his.
It's fine.
It's fine!
There will be plenty of opportunities for revenge.
If a doctor in this era is determined to be difficult towards a patient...
How much they could torment them...
Enough to make them want to die...
'Oh my, what am I thinking right now?'
Begone, specter of the 19th century!
I am a 21st-century doctor.
"Could you please lower that cloth?"
"Hmm."
"It's alright. This is the Director, and Professor Liston."
"Ah..."
"Understood."
I barely collected myself and instructed him to lower the cloth covering half his face.
The moment he saw Liston's face, the brother, who until just moments ago had a face that said 'I'm not going to listen', could be seen lowering the cloth.
Indeed, it's Liston, the Sword Master, the amputation enthusiast.
"Hmm."
That didn't mean I felt particularly happy or anything.
The nose...
'What's wrong with his nose?'
How and where did he get into a fight to end up like this?
Everywhere else seems fine, but there's just no nose.
Did someone slash it sideways as they passed...?
"Can you fix it?"
"Hmm."
Can I fix it?
I don't know.
I had prepared questions like 'What did his original nose look like?', but it seems that wouldn't be very meaningful.
This is...
It would be a miracle if it just ended up looking like, 'Ah, that person's nose looks strange," right?
The very base is just completely cut off, isn't it?
"So you can't fix it. As expected... Hmm."
"No, I'm not saying I can't fix it."
"Then?"
"I'm saying it's difficult to restore it to its original state."
"Isn't that the same thing? If you're a doctor, you should restore things to how they were."
"Hmm."
Should I hit him?
Would it be strange if I wanted to hit him right here, right now?
'No, it's fine to hit him.'
Looking at Liston, it somehow feels like he's saying something like that.
But excluding Liston...
Especially the Director, who shook his head slightly.
'Begone, 19th century!'
It might have become a story that's hard to believe by now.
But I'm a pretty good person.
I was a regular at 'Let's Give Praise'.
The times are making it this way.
"No good, it seems. Too young, and also..."
Or not?
Is it this bastard who's making it that way?
As I was getting more and more confused, the person called 'Hyung-nim' nodded, and one of the servants brought someone who was waiting outside into the room.
It was a person with a quite pale complexion, someone I hadn't seen before.
"Was thinking of entrusting it to this person. What do you think?"
"Entrust what?"
"My surgery."
I might be correct in disregarding 19th-century medicine.
Everywhere I go, I only do strange things, so how could they not disregard me?
But putting that aside for this person, meaning trying to set aside prejudice as much as possible, he still looked like a con artist.
"Ah."
Then the Director stepped in.
"Why?"
When Liston asked, the Director tilted his head and continued.
"It's a familiar face. Yes, a master of nose surgery... That's right. Joseph."
"Joseph?"
It's a Nazi-sounding name?
Ah, should I say it's a German name?
It might be better than the Apache guys, but frankly, it's six of one, half a dozen of the other.
Unnecessarily leading to a later massacre...
Ah, my inner 19th century again...
"That's right. It's Joseph. I mainly perform surgery to correct the inferior hooked noses of the Jews."
Ah...
No.
It wasn't the specter of the 19th century, but rather a reasonable deduction from the 21st century.
No wonder he gives off such a sinister feeling for his age; he really has to take responsibility for his face.
Abraham Lincoln didn't say those words for no reason.
"So, I've become well-versed in the structure of the nose. I think it's more appropriate for me to perform this person's surgery..."
"Then just do it. Why did you come all the way here?"
Regardless of my thoughts, the Director posed the question.
It seemed he sensed something cheap, as he looked more tense than usual.
"I heard some Oriental is famous. I thought maybe we could have a contest or something."
He could have been even more tense.
A real madman had arrived.