When I met Earl Freche's youngest son Cornell again, autumn was just about to end. It was around the time when the commotion over summer's incidents was finally dying down.
With only a minimal number of servants, I received Cornell in my plain drawing room and served him black tea, and we got straight to the main point after briefly exchanging pleasantries.
"……That thing you mentioned, is this it?"
He brought out a cream-colored lump with a tense expression on his face. I took it from him, and handed it to Ratoka behind me who was wearing a veil. Ratoka confirmed the aroma for me, and tapped my shoulder. That's the signal that there's no mistake.
"It seems that this is correct. Thank you for your troubles, Cornell Freche. With this, our deal is now complete."
"……I'm glad to hear that. This is a load off my shoulders."
He rubbed his hand over his heart in relief, and kept anxiously looking over at the lump in Ratoka's hands.
"Um, is this really alright? I mean, that's…… it's what caused such an uproar in the royal capital, right……"
"This is the addictive beeswax, so of course it caused that commotion."
"I knew it……"
As I nodded in confirmation, his face paled. I told him that there wouldn't be any problems.
"Starting from tomorrow, this beeswax will become a 'controlled medicine' that can be traded."
"Controlled, medicine?"
"Indeed. A licensed doctor's prescription will be required, but any noble can purchase it. They must acknowledge that side effects may occur, and only take it according to a doctor's instructions. Arxia has decided to regulate this drug and control its supply."
In Arxia, there's laws and a system preventing the use of dangerous drugs, any drugs classified as dangerous would be banned from being manufactured, sold, or taken. While there is a system in place for licensing doctors, the mortality rate remains high because the medical knowledge in this world isn't that advanced yet.
……By the way, Arxia's average lifespan is still higher than the neighboring countries.
Younger noble boys that aren't heirs often go down the path of becoming a doctor, but there's still not enough research and medicine available. If anything is recognized to be harmful to the human body, it doesn't matter what type of effects it has, it will become regulated. Since medicine and drugs go hand in hand, so technological innovations in both fields have been slow to progress.
……I haven't done anything all that remarkable. It's just that during the final dance parties of this season, I just talked to some adults about my own ideas. I had many opportunities to chat with nobles that lost some of their family members to drug addiction, as well as nobles that had domains where medicinal herb production was thriving.
"Renvia flowers – in particular its resin, it does have addictive properties, but the symptoms are light compared to most other regulated drugs. It doesn't have much of an effect unless it's used frequently and daily. Also, it has a history as a folk remedy for being a treatment for forest syndrome."
"Forest syndrome?"
"……Ahh, you don't hear about this disease much in the south. Forest syndrome is a type of respiratory problem caused by inflammation in the bronchial tract due to inhaling powder from a type of cotton butterfly monster that lives symbiotically with cypress trees. Since the north has many cypress forests, these butterfly monsters are very common.
These butterflies avoid the scent of the Renvia flower, and its smoke seems to have easing, anti-inflammatory properties. I prepared a lot of information on its medicinal properties in advance, which I also gave to your father, and it was decided that this would be certified as the first regulated medicinal drug."
I could tell that Cornell was confused as he only said eh, ah, and um, so I subtly moved my line of sight away from him. When I tilted my head, he looked down as if he was greatly relieved.
"My apologies. There were probably many words you haven't heard before, that you didn't know the meaning of."
"……Ah, no. I wasn't being considerate."
In this world, medical knowledge is mostly only for experts, so medical vocabulary isn't widely known. Many common words that I know because of my knowledge from a previous life aren't typically taught even to nobles.
Recently I've only been talking to nobles that are experts in medicine and pharmacology, so I'd forgotten to watch what I say. ……This time was my mistake.
"To explain things simply, the Renvia flower can be used as a medicine for some northern regional diseases. It's easier to use after being processed as beeswax."
"You've made it quite a lot easier than your previous explanation."
"If you want to know the details, ask your father. I'm sure that you'll probably be deeply involved in the future as well."
At any rate, this will become the main business of his future wife-to-be's domain. More than anyone else, Cornell should go and learn some knowledge from Earl Freche.
"Well, that's true. -Then, this ends our deal. I'm deeply grateful for all your assistance, Lord Kaldia."
"Not at all, same to you."