Upon arriving at the brick house, I immediately opened the door and rushed into the room next to the main bedroom, which now serves as a storage space since no one uses it (there's a separate storage shed next to the brick house, but it's not used). It felt like I was being sucked inside.
[Wow, just as I felt before, this really is a pigsty… no, it's even messier than a pigsty!]
Calling it storage is generous—it's more like a dumping ground for all sorts of junk! Though it's not exactly trash, it's still incredibly cluttered, wouldn't you say?
Anyway, I had my reasons for coming here, even putting aside Eleanor's training.
"Earlier, when I saw the message panel for [Someone from Another World], there was an option to attach something separately, right?"
[Yes, but why?]
The reason I rushed here in the first place was because of the message saying, "Why don't you try experimenting to see what and how much you can send?"
For example, with email, you can attach files like videos, photos, or documents. So, what can I send, and how much?
To find the answer, I immediately squeezed through the clutter, grabbed the handle of a refrigerator visible among the junk, and pulled it open. It was an old-fashioned fridge, not something you'd see in modern times, so it wasn't used for storing food.
[Huh? What's that?]
"Antibiotics."
What I stored here were mainly medicines like penicillin. This fridge was a place to store medicines that couldn't be kept at room temperature and required refrigeration.
[But… why antibiotics all of a sudden…?]
"Earlier, I saw messages saying things like 'I'm being chased by pursuers' and 'I got into a fight,' so it seems like their world isn't too different from Eleanor's civilization-wise."
[That's right. No, they're residents of the same world as that sow!]
"I thought so, but is it really true?"
If that's the case, then their way of fighting likely involves swords, spears, and arrows rather than bullets and missiles like in modern society. And given that there were messages about people getting injured, I thought there must be a risk of tetanus.
I'm not particularly knowledgeable about medicine, but I've heard somewhere that penicillin-based antibiotics are used for tetanus.
Of course, tetanus often occurs when bacteria from soil enter the body through wounds rather than rust, but you never know. Besides, even if it's not tetanus, they've been running for a long time without worrying about their financial situation, so their immune systems might have weakened, or they could have gotten bacterial infections through wounds.
[Uh, uh… well, maybe… Ah, hahaha…]
"?"
But another problem arises here. As I mentioned earlier, I'm not a doctor, and my medical knowledge is at the level of "apply red ointment for injuries" and "take Tylenol for headaches. " I don't know the side effects of administering this recklessly.
There's no such thing as a perfect medicine in the world, and if you administer this carelessly, you never know what side effects might occur…
[It's fine! I checked everything, and there are no side effects if you administer it, ahem, none at all!]
"…You're acting suspicious."
Given the context, it sounds like you're saying, "It doesn't seem necessary." Of course, since this is a conversation via text in a message window and not voice, I can't be sure, but it feels like you're hiding something from me…
[No! I'm not hiding anything! As I said before, I'm ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of the keeper's convenience!]
"Everything? How far does 'everything' go?"
[E-everything means everything!]
Why are you asking something like that? As if embarrassed, the bright red SD character floated a speech bubble saying, "No naughty stuff!" while covering its cheeks with its palms.
"You're still acting suspicious… I don't know about other things, but if I catch you hiding something from me…"
[If… if you catch me…?]
What else? If you dare try to deceive me, you'll have to pay the price. For now, there's a master-servant relationship between me and this thing, but there's no telling how long that will last.
If, and it's a big if, the day comes when I manage to train Eleanor and the other sows…
"I'll use any means necessary to capture you and train you as one of my sows too."
[Eek!?]
"So behave yourself. Got it!?"
[Sniff! No, yes, yes!]
"?"
The last part was a bit much, but I suddenly realized I hadn't mentioned that I discovered this… or rather, there was no need to mention it, so I didn't.
Anyway, following its words, I slowly lifted the medicine bottle and dragged it to the attach button. The bottle in my hand disappeared with a poof, and a new message appeared before my eyes.
[Attachment 1: 1 bottle of Penicillin]
"Ah, so this is how attachments work?"
Once confirmed, I quickly pressed the cancel button, and the bottle of penicillin returned to me. Holding the penicillin, I went to the next room, tore open the plastic packaging of unused plastic syringes lying on the floor, and asked,
"How many family members does [Someone from Another World] have?"
[Huh? Are you planning to send syringes too?]
To be precise, syringes prepared with penicillin. The message immediately wrote back the number 21 as soon as I finished speaking.
"…They're more capable than I thought. I thought they were like Heungbu [1]from Heungbu and Nolbu."
As far as I know, Heungbu had 10 children, right? This is double that. Maybe they're the eldest of their family and brought their nephews or other relatives along while fleeing.
[Hmm… Based on my calculations, you don't need to worry about side effects. They're such resilient types that this antibiotic alone might be enough to cure all their ailments.]
Before I knew it, 21 syringes filled with penicillin were lined up inside the transparent sow, ready for deployment. Before sending the syringes, I opened the message window to [Someone] and sent a short message, "What are you doing?" A few minutes passed.
"…Are they asleep?"
[Seems like it! They've been on the run with their family for weeks now, so they must be exhausted.]
[Someone from Another World has prepared to accept the keeper's revelation, who called to them in their dream, and is kneeling down to report!]
"…"
It's still an overwhelmingly burdensome reply. While it might be burdensome now, there's no better way to explain the concept of injections and administration methods to a culture that might not even know about bacteria.
I immediately sent [Someone] a simple explanation about the syringes and where to place them. Then, I stuffed the syringes into an apron with a front pocket reminiscent of a kangaroo's pouch, rolled up the apron, and dragged it over the attach button as before.
The apron disappeared with a poof, and a message window appeared:
[Attachment 1: Apron,
Attachment 2: 21 syringes (including medicine)]
"The problem is how to retrieve this, but that's a problem for later. For now, send it."
I gave sufficient explanations and believed I hammered it into their head enough to treat it as a revelation. When I pressed the send button, another reply came immediately.
[Someone from Another World is utterly astonished by the items placed beside their pillow!]
[Someone from Another World is waking their family to inform them that the keeper appeared in their dream!]
[Someone from Another World is praising the keeper's omnipotence and begins to bare their family's buttocks!]
I'm going crazy.
It's still a dizzying spectacle just to look at the message window.
Whether they were administering the injections or not, the message window didn't update for a while. With an anxious heart, I waited, and soon a new message arrived with a ding.
[Someone from Another World is shedding tears at the sight of their family regaining vitality and health immediately after the injection! Someone from Another World swears allegiance to you with their remaining family, saying they can do anything for the keeper!]
Isn't penicillin's performance a little too reliable?
[1] Korean Folktale