Chapter 74: Syphilis (1).

"Well, this is something."

"It's fine, man."

"Straighten up, kid."

A moment later, I found myself receiving some rather unwelcome comfort.

Why are all these lunatics so…?

Especially Brother Liston…

He really was like an older brother.

"I didn't realize the sizes would vary so much."

Ever since I saw that earlier, every little comment like this seemed to pierce right through me.

"Exactly. From the very small to the very large…"

"What should we even target?"

Wait, are they messing with me?

That possibility wasn't entirely out of the question.

Dr. Liston probably had no complaints, but the other two were definitely being a bit overworked by me.

Especially Alfred, who, despite being a senior, seemed to glance at me when he mentioned "very small."

"Hey, why so quiet all of a sudden?"

Liston pulled me out of my thoughts.

Are these people just plain ruthless?

Huh?

And they're so crude.

Why are they only talking about size when it comes to condoms?

Sure, that's important from a business perspective, but there are more critical things to consider.

"I was thinking about contraception and sexually transmitted diseases."

"Oh… really?"

"What do you… mean?"

"No, nothing. Hahaha."

Liston flashed an unsettling smile before quickly turning serious again.

"Contraception is one thing, but STDs are a real issue."

"You're talking about syphilis, right?"

Alfred chimed in at Liston's words.

Syphilis.

It really was a terrifying disease.

I've always wondered why these people don't wash more often.

Especially those without bathtubs at home—they went out of their way not to wash, and one of the reasons was syphilis.

Syphilis is an STD, but its transmission rate is so high that it could even spread in public bathhouses, though rarely.

That's why the myth that bathing could kill you emerged around the 16th century and persisted well into the 19th century.

"Yes, syphilis. It's practically incurable."

"Right. It's even referred to as divine punishment."

Even the devout Joseph added his thoughts.

He looked slightly displeased.

After all, STDs are more likely to occur with multiple partners, right?

For someone like Joseph, a Quaker with strict religious principles, STDs might genuinely feel like divine punishment.

Quakers could think that way.

But Joseph, as a doctor, shouldn't.

"Let's not say things like that. Even if the cause lies with the patient, a sick person is still a patient. A doctor isn't here to judge, right?"

"Ah… I'm sorry."

Surprisingly, Liston was a true doctor in that regard.

With his knowledge, he could probably be considered a top physician even by modern standards.

"Anyway… prevention is key. Prevention."

"Right, but to do that, we need to know if this actually prevents it or not, don't we?"

Liston patted Joseph's shoulder and continued.

Then, out of nowhere, Alfred made a rather unsettling comment.

Prevention… of course it works, right?

It's an STD.

Condoms are meant to block mucosal contact during intimate encounters.

They prevent pregnancy, so why wouldn't they prevent STDs…?

"Ah, right. That makes sense. That's a very good point."

What?

Why are you agreeing with him, you lunatic?

I stared at Liston in disbelief, and he turned to look at me.

'Please… don't tell me you're suggesting we test it on people with syphilis and those without to see if it works…'

His face was already intimidating enough, and I was genuinely afraid he might say something devilish.

"That's easy to test. Didn't you say the production cost isn't high?"

"Ah… yes, that's right."

Contrary to my expectations, Liston said something quite reasonable.

It might not have been what Alfred, who was financially involved, wanted to hear, but from both a medical and human perspective, it was sound.

"But we'll sell it at a decent price."

"Yes… that's right."

"And summer's coming up. There'll be tons of social gatherings in the countryside."

"Ah…"

London wasn't exactly a city you'd call happy, not even as a compliment.

The slums were a given.

Just look at the sky…

It's pitch black.

Dirty and grim.

The air quality was a disaster.

These people might think it's fine as long as it doesn't stink, but the problem was, it did stink.

If you go to the Thames, the smell is absolutely insane.

"All sorts of things happen during social gatherings."

"Are you going, Professor?"

"Me? I'm not from a family that can afford to do those kinds of things. And I'm not looking to charm some noblewoman to turn my life around either."

So, the wealthy and influential gathered in mansions outside London instead.

I've never been, of course, but I've heard about them…

Some of these gatherings are incredibly lavish.

I heard they even have elephants?

India isn't a colony yet, but they still have enough influence to import them.

Anyway, these social gatherings are more like matchmaking events than anything else, so all sorts of crazy things happen.

"But I do have a friend who's interested in that sort of thing."

"Who?"

"Blundell."

"Huh? Professor Blundell is single?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course, he's a bachelor."

"Wow…"

"He thinks he's quite handsome, and he goes every year. He'll probably go again this time. I'm thinking of giving him some condoms to distribute and see if they work. We need to know if they prevent anything. Honestly, even if they just prevent pregnancy, that's enough. That's the main concern there."

I slapped my knee at Liston's words.

This is marketing, isn't it?

A promotional event, if you will.

Give them to people who might buy them and let them try it out.

The only issue is that people need to know these are single-use…

'Surely… they have common sense.'

I decided to keep quiet.

It wasn't that I had any particular intention, but someone came in just then.

It was Blundell.

Our condom evangelist…

"Perfect timing. Let's measure your size."

"Huh?"

He was immediately humiliated.

"What kind of nonsense is this?!"

"Now I see why you've had no luck all these years. I didn't realize there were even smaller sizes."

"What… what…"

His face turned bright red as he stammered, and I gently patted his shoulder.

'He said… even smaller.'

Poor guy.

He's already losing hair, and life seems tough for him in many ways.

"What… what are you doing?"

"More importantly, why did you come?"

I asked him the reason for his visit, trying to steer the conversation away.

If we keep dragging this out, he's just going to get more hurt.

I know from experience.

"Ah, it's about syphilis."

"Did you get it?"

"No! It's not about me!"

"Ah, right, of course."

"This is somehow making me feel worse…"

My efforts were in vain.

He dug his own hole and jumped right in.

Sigh…

"That's not it!"

Anyway, being a doctor, he naturally brought up a patient's case.

He was talking to me, not Liston.

"There's been a sudden increase in syphilis cases lately. I think one guy might be the source."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

I'm not really the right person for this…

Liston or Alfred would be better.

Joseph, because of his religion, and me… well, me too, because of my religion…

"Lately, I've been seeing more and more syphilis patients. They're all in the early stages, but when I dug deeper, it seems like one guy might be the cause."

"That's interesting."

Liston, who had been listening, chimed in.

When I turned to look at him, he had a genuinely intrigued expression.

"Interesting?! Syphilis has no cure! We need to catch him and do something about it. There are innocent women out there… huh?"

"If you want to catch him, you should go to the police, not me."

"The police won't work. Some of the patients are married women."

"Oh."

This was getting complicated.

There were gaps in the story, but to summarize, it seemed like there was a playboy who was spreading syphilis to multiple women.

But reporting it to the police could make things worse for the victims…

"What about the husbands?"

"They're furious. Some have already been infected… thankfully… well, not thankfully, but those who were already infected didn't notice and moved on."

"But how many are we talking about?"

"From what I've gathered, over ten."

"Oh dear… this is serious."

Did everyone with symptoms go to the hospital?

Unlikely.

As I've said before, in this era, people believed going to the hospital meant certain death.

And the sores that appear in the primary stage of syphilis usually don't hurt.

'There could be several times more cases… What kind of lunatic is deliberately spreading this?'

Medical knowledge was lacking in many areas during this time, but syphilis was somewhat of an exception.

Why?

Because syphilis was believed to have spread to Europe around the late 15th century, and by the 16th century, it had already spread across the continent.

And since it's an STD, it affected many people of high status, leading to significant research.

Not that it led to any effective treatments, though.

But they did have knowledge about its progression.

'Primary… or secondary stage. Secondary stage causes rashes on the hands and feet… You'd notice if you looked closely. It's unlikely to be primary. If there were sores on the genitals, they would've… said something.'

I thought they would've noticed, but it seems that wasn't the case.

"But how do you find a syphilis patient just from a description? What are the characteristics?"

"He wears an old navy suit, leather shoes, has a scruffy beard, and speaks with an Irish accent… He smells like alcohol, so he might be a sailor."

"Is that kind of man popular these days?"

"Ah, apparently he's very handsome."

"I see."

The two were deep in discussion, but they were missing the most crucial characteristic.

They hadn't mentioned the rashes.

It seemed like they genuinely didn't know.

"But how many Irish sailors are there in London… How do we even find him? Can't we ask the patients?"

"Are you crazy? Would they agree? I did find out where they met him, but… the locations are all over the place."

"This is a problem."

I couldn't just sit back and watch.

Syphilis at this time had no real cure…

Prevention was the best option, but there's a lunatic out there deliberately spreading it.

He seems like a psychopath…

Unfortunately, this era didn't pay much attention to psychology, for better or worse.

"Hey."

"Huh?"

So, I decided to share some knowledge.

An excuse?

I had one ready.

"In Japan, a neighboring country of Korea… syphilis is very common."