Chapter 335 Fever Illness Countermeasure Meeting Ii
"No, Mr. Jean. It's not that we've gone off track."
"What do you mean?"
"Since we don't have much time, I'll skip the detailed explanation. If you want to know more, I can set aside time later, so please bear with me for now. From my many years of experience, this year there is a strong possibility that heat illnesses will spread more than usual. Of course, it might just be a worry, but if we act with that in mind, it could save many lives. I believe I already informed the Alchemist Guild and the Pharmacist Guild about this, but has the message reached you?"
Rihito looked towards Theofrastos.
"Yes. The Alchemist Guild is currently preparing oral rehydration solutions, as well as IV equipment and fluids for patients who are having trouble swallowing, in anticipation of the heat illness outbreak."
Bernard, the Guild Manager of the Pharmacist Guild, quickly added his report.
"At the Pharmacist Guild, we have also started manufacturing the medicines as soon as we received the recipes from the Alchemist Guild. Additionally, we plan to start making liquid medicines as nutritional supplements, but we haven't arranged that yet. Also, we expect a shortage of raw materials if things continue like this."
"What!? Mr. Paracelsus shared his knowledge with you!?"
Jean was surprised. At the same time, the Commerce Guild was watching the exchange between the Alchemist Guild and the Pharmacist Guild with serious expressions.
"Knowledge about fever treatment was supposed to be shared with both the Alchemy Guild and the Pharmacist Guild over 40 years ago, with permission from the previous Marquis Grandchester. It seems that the cooperation between them has weakened over the years. It looks like there are no recipes left in the Pharmacist Guild either."
"I apologize. This is due to my shortcomings."
Theofrastos bowed deeply to Rihito.
"It doesn't feel good to have my great-grandson bowing to me. Let's put aside these troublesome exchanges for now and check the medicines and tools we need to produce. Have you made a list?"
When Rihito asked Theofrastos and Bernard, Alexander, who was sitting next to Bernard, answered.
"Mr. Paracelsus, don't worry. Thanks to Lady Alicia, both guilds have already set up a cooperation system, and we have finished discussing what each guild should produce and by when."
"Then please tell me about the raw materials you might be short on."
"There are already various concerns, but the first thing we will run short on is glucose. To be precise, it's the starch we need to produce glucose."
"--Is that because the Sophia Merchant Guild has a lot of wheat?"
When Sophia interrupted the conversation, Alexander nodded at her.
"I hate to say it, but you are correct. Normally, there would be a lot of wheat in the market by this time of year, but this year, it is surprisingly scarce. There are also many old stocks."
"I see. We should have anticipated such issues. I deeply apologize."
"Well, there are alternatives, so it won't be a big problem right now. We can also get it from corn, which is often produced alongside wheat. I've heard that the Grandchester region is a wheat-producing area, and they started refining it about 60 years ago to make the most of that. I only learned this after coming to Grandchester."
Sara glanced at Rihito.
'This is Rihito's doing. He told me to hold back on using my past life knowledge, but here he is spreading methods to reduce crop damage and how to hydrolyze starch in this land. No wonder the flour produced in Grandchester is of such high quality.'
Noticing Sara's glare, Rihito quietly looked away. He probably had an idea of what she was thinking. Sara's mood soured just a bit.
"Understood. Let's take quick action regarding the starch. In any case, I was planning to mill the wheat before selling it."
"What! Are you planning for your Sophia Merchant Guild to get involved in milling too? The milling guild won't stay quiet about this!"
Kojimo stood up, excited, and slammed his hand on the conference table.
"Of course. I'd rather have my golems grind the stones than hire those thieving millers. I can still tolerate their overpriced milling fees, but I can't accept them taking part of the flour they ground and throwing it into their own storage."
This isn't just about the Grandchester territory or Avalon. The flour milling guild, in collusion with the Commerce Guild, is making huge profits by just grinding wheat at their water-powered mills. Because of this, flour millers are hated by the people, yet strangely, they are also very popular as marriage prospects. Well, it's understandable since they don't have to worry about starving.
"That's just to check the state of the ground flour; they're only taking a small amount."
"Is it really necessary to take 20% just for a check? That's a ridiculous excuse."
"It seems that Guildmaster Sophia still doesn't understand business practices."
"Can I interpret that as meaning it's a breeding ground for vested interests and collusion?"
*Bang.*
Marquis Grandchester slammed his hand on the conference table.
"That's enough from both sides. This isn't the time for such arguments."
"I sincerely apologize."
"My apologies for being rude."
Sophia and Kojimo deeply bowed their heads to Marquis Grandchester.
"Well, I have my own thoughts about the merchants' reasoning, so I understand that we need to discuss this properly later. More importantly, can your Sophia Merchant Guild release wheat for this glucose thing?"
"We have no problem with that."
"Wheat prices are starting to rise in the royal capital; what will the price be?"
"I'm planning to sell wheat directly in the capital and other territories at the same price as usual. I'm also ready to supply wheat to merchant guilds that will sell it without raising prices, in line with the wishes of the Sophia Merchant Guild. I've already had discussions with several merchant guilds about this, and some have even signed contracts."
'Even though I can't afford to be picky, price control seems like something that would get you sued for antitrust in my past life.'
Listening to the golem Sophia's explanation, Sara looked at the strategy of the Sophia Merchant Guild from a third-party perspective.
"Hmm. So, you're ignoring profit?"
"We won't incur losses. We just don't intend to make excessive profits."
"As long as there are no losses, that's good, huh? It seems like the territory can't afford to cover any losses anyway. By the way, it was Alexander from the Pharmacist Guild, right? What other supplies do you expect to be lacking?"
"It's the equipment for IV drips. We don't use it often, so we are severely lacking in quantity. We need glass containers for the fluids, inner needles for inserting tubes into veins, and we are especially short on resin tubes. Apparently, these can only be made with magic, and only the Alchemist Guild knows how to produce them."
Alexander shot a somewhat resentful glance at Theofrastos. But then Rihito interrupted.
"Oh, I was the one who taught how to make them. It's possible to share the manufacturing method, but I find it hard to believe that just reading the materials will help you understand how to make them."
"Are you saying that pharmacists are less capable than alchemists!?"
Alexander was furious.
"Ah, no, that's not it. Please don't misunderstand. First, to create resin products, you need to learn the basic theories. This isn't something you can learn at the Academy. It's natural that I haven't made it public. Also, making these products requires using multiple types of magic. In other words, only someone who understands the basic theories and can activate complex magic that combines multiple attributes can manufacture them."
"That's a really high hurdle, isn't it?"
"That's true, but it's not like there are no shortcuts."
"What do you mean?"
"You can also produce them using magic circles and magic stones."
"Huh?"
Rihito explained with a wry smile.
"I've drawn several magic circles so that even people who haven't learned the basic theories or activated magic can create resin products. If you use these magic circles, you can produce standard items. Since they are standard items, you can't say you can apply them to make different products, but you can get stable quality products. Especially for peripheral catheter devices, I think you can't make them any other way."
"Grandfather, I mean Mr. Paracelsus, there isn't any alchemist who can make resin products without using magic circles right now. I tried to challenge it too, but I failed."
"Don't worry about it. Even in Alicia's grandfather's generation, only a few could make them. I'll teach you properly, so let's practice slowly later."
Rihito spoke to the downcast Alicia with a smile. The people from the Alchemy Guild and the Pharmacist Guild watched them enviously. No, to be precise, they were thinking about wanting to learn together.
"However, of course, using magic stones is very expensive. It depends on the market price of the magic stones, but the cost to make one set is just over 1 Dallas. Since these are medical devices for infection control, ideally, I would want to use them once and throw them away, but we will have to wash and reuse them many times."
"Huh? Using 1 Dallas as a disposable?"
"That's not realistic at all, right? But I think the ideal is to use them as disposables. I hope someone develops a technology to make them cheaply, but for now, that's difficult."
With a deep sigh, Rihito showed a troubled expression.
"It's very sad, but whether we can pay for medical expenses will divide those who can be helped and those who cannot."
"That can't be helped. We pharmacists are definitely not gods."
Everyone present had a solemn expression.
'Well, in the case of that god, they probably don't even think about helping...'
While thinking something blasphemous, Sara quietly spoke up.
"Grandfather, can't we help the poor? Illness can affect both nobles and commoners."
"A little assistance might be possible, but we can't do enough to reach all the people."
"But didn't you say that our Grandchester family exists to help the people of Grandchester?"
"Of course. That's why, to save the many, sometimes we must make harsh decisions. That's what a lord is."
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