Parallel World Pharmacy Volume 3 Chapter 7 part3

With tears, Falma told a cruel fact.

The liver is an organ of silence. The man doesn't notice the progress of the condition.

“What is a liver?”

The man asked.

Falma was aware of future tasks such as teaching basic knowledge of anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, etc. to the workers, even though they were coarse. So he started to carefully explain what Hepatitis was to the man.

“Even if you think that you yourself are healthy, the disease will come creeping in unexpectedly, so please do not forget to work hard to know the state of your body and become healthy. Everyone, let's create a medicine to save this patient with me.”

Falma closed off his greeting.

“Anyway…”

The overall mood had changed to a dull one.

Falma ordered everyone to go outside of the auditorium. 

“It's nice weather, so please relax.”

Falma spoke to them, went back to the carriage, and returned with Adam, who was carrying the baggage. He then took out a wooden box from the baggage.

“Falma, what is that?”

“This is a photo machine (Caméra).”

“What is that?”

Ellen asked the same question twice.

“It's a device to copy the landscape of this world onto paper.”

Falma showed a small piece of film to Ellen, Lotte, and Cedric. It was a picture of Falma. Falma has taken a picture of himself as to try out the camera. It was a black and white photograph.

“Is this a painting?”

Although it was black and white, Lotte assumed that the picture was a painting, and she was surprised that there was no evidence of brush strokes.

“It's not a painting, it's a picture”

“What?”

Falma briefly explained the principle of photography. For his trial, he had adopted the use of a pinhole camera. He had drawn a needle-thin hole in a box so light could not enter completely, and set inside it a glass photographic plate in a box filled with black ink. On the photographic dry plate, a mixture of a photosensitive material containing potassium bromide, silver nitrate, and the like were combined into a gelatin-like mixture and applied to the glass.

“Why did you not include us if you were making such a thing?”

Ellen interrogated Falma jokingly.

“I did not know if it would work, but today we have a good condition with good sunlight, and I think that I can take a beautiful picture, so let's take a picture."

In front of the factory, Falma chose a place where he could see all of it.

Once the location was decided, he measured various distances and attached the wooden box to the tripod stand. Falma divided the 200 or so workers into 5 groups of 40 each. The workers were suspicious of what they were doing. The first group arranged themselves in 4 rows of 10.

“Those in the front row, sit down. Those in the middle, please kneel, and those at the rear please remain standing.”

Falma stood behind the wooden box and gave instructions to the workers while looking at the whole scene, and thought about the approximate exposure time to sunlight. Pinholes had a small exposure zone, but the photographic plates were sensitive to light, so the exposure time could only be several seconds long.

“I will now take a group picture of each group. Please look at this box and do not move for a second.”

Since the workers were told not to move, their faces were stiff.

The exposure and shooting was entrusted to Adam. Falma, Ellen, Lotte, and Cedric were settled in the center of the screen.

“Everyone, with a smile.”

It turned out to be somewhat artificial, but Falma was still able to take pictures. As there were few photographic plates prepared, only two pieces each, even if there was movement, there was no redo.

'It seemed like I could shoot a group photo.'

They finished shooting all the groups safely.

“Thank you very much."

Falma ordered Adam to distribute the manual for Curing Lessons of Diversis Mundi Pharmacy that had been printed by the printing machine.

“Please read the material carefully.”

People who were diagnosed with an illness would later be given a treatment, so they decided to wait for instructions from Adam.

When those workers with serious health conditions received a new staff certificate from Adam, they were allowed to return home for three and a half days to rest.

Lotte and Cedric helped Falma clear up photos while being surrounded by the villagers of Estherk village.

“Show me what I took a while ago!

Ellen asked Falma.

“I am looking forward to it!”

“You cannot see it yet, I have to develop it.”

Ellen was flabbergasted with Falma's explanation about the photographic process.

“In addition to this task, Falma, you'll have to do a lot of workers' examinations. You also have more work to do, will you be fine?”

Ellen smiled wryly and hoped for the time when he would no longer be like this.

“The health of the workers is critical, as plant factory workers may contaminate every product of the factory with an infectious disease. Also, if we do not take pictures of the employees, a suspicious person may infiltrate and I will not know who that person is when we are at work.”

“You should issue such identification.”

“With photographs.”

Falma planned to cut out people from group photos one by one and issue identification with a photo.

"At the factory, we handle a lot of toxic substances and combustibles. We cannot allow invasion by suspicious individuals. Security had to be thoroughly managed."

“Long time no see, medicine God.”

A voice from somewhere struck Falma's ears.

The person getting off a horse was a priestess of the Goddess of the Fire, Kiara. She had left Estherk village and was heading for the imperial capital and was the priestess who had relieved Falma by giving him food.

“Ah, Mrs. Kiara, I am still indebted to you.”

“No, no, it's nothing”

When Falma lowered his head, Kiara also lowered her head like a beetle.

“What are you doing in such a place? You are a priestess.”

While Falma was pleased with at reunion, and at the same time, he was extraordinarily worried that she will be excommunicated.

“I applied as a worker because, like the people in Estherk village, I have something to pursue at a pharmaceutical factory. I will serve you because I will be training and studying; a salary is not needed.”

Kiara was a medical priestess who originally performed charity at the clinic.

Although she was a medical priestess who did not have the special skill of healing; it was more accurate to call her a nurse, she was exempt from punishment as she had permission from the temple to leave. Naturally, the practice of pharmaceuticals was the reason why the temple had approved her request.

“Are you training?”

“Oh, Mr. Falma's acquaintance?”

Ellen pinched her mouth.

Ellen found it strange that Kiara was so afraid.

“Oh, Mrs. Kiara is a priest of the fire attribute right?”

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Kiara keeps putting her hand on her chest.

“Are there other medical priests or priestesses coming in?”

She told them that medical priests and priestess of all attributes were said to have come to train.

“That is good, there is something I want you to do with your God Skill.”

Falma started.

With the use of God Arts, it seemed that the manufacturing process of pharmaceuticals was considerably improved and the costs reduced.

The Divine Art of Fire would be able to heat the drugs and sterilize them. The Divine Manipulation of Wind would be responsible for drying the medicine. The Divine Art of Water would cool down the water by passing it through the pipe or could be used to store the products at a low temperature with the Divine Art of Ice. Falma had never had never thought of using God Arts in the pharmaceutical process until now, but if one thought about it, this was a world where god art exists.

They could compensate for shortcomings of pre-industrial factories and the lack of power.

“Well, I will definitely help you.”

Kiara looked happy.

“Thank you. Let's expand the employment framework to god operations so that we can shift systems.”

A few days later, above the entrance of the Mercedes Factory of a Diversis Mundi Pharmacy, a large black and white group photo showing all the staff was posted.

The factory workers received identification cards with their photos and boasted to their families.

“Pictures are fun, Eleonore-sama!”

“I did not know until developing that it would be this exciting.”

“I wish I could take more of Falma because he is a beautiful boy.”

“I am not good at photos.”

“Ehhh, the inventor is!?”

Ellen and Lotte liked the camera. They changed poses, changed locations, took a picture, and took a lot of pictures. It was said that Cedric had improved his photography skills considerably because he was drawn into photographing almost every day. However, although it was quick to take a picture, its development was not as simple. They felt that it was impossible to let Falma handle the development work, so they mastered the development technology and started printing themselves.

Falma admired the girls since they could do self-portrait photography at any time.

“You can make the world's first photo collection.”

'I guess there are also people buying photo magazines and selling them in combination with a copier already.' When Falma suggested this looking at the massive pile of photographs of the two people, they laughed.

“Before that, shouldn't you make her Majesty's photo collection first?”

Hearing the words of Ellen, Falma turned pale.

“Ah…”

“Did you forget? You are absolutely not allowed to make a photo album earlier than that of her Majesty's.”

“Please do not forget about your Majesty!”

Falma made a note that he had to give the camera to the Empress first without fail when he returned from Mercer.

Chapter end