20 – 20. Amnesty
Amnesty.
If Victoria’s proposal didn’t appeal to me, it would be a lie. After all, it was what I wanted from the beginning.
Anyway, there was no customer more appealing than the military in this country.
Although it wasn’t an era of war, military operations continued incessantly. There were minor clashes with the Tur Republic, the only nation capable of rivaling the Britannia Empire, and intense conflicts with the elves added to the mix. Injuries were frequent.
Victoria wasn’t bargaining on the price at all.
The delivery price she proposed was 1,000 dollars per gram.
“Lord Allan, I’ve heard that it’s not about the money. …But considering the effort you put into morphine production, it’s only right to pay this amount. Making pills requires investment too.”
Indeed, a considerable effort was put in.
Just looking at the raw materials, it was evident. Even when acquiring ammonium chloride (used here as a cough syrup), my initial thought was that it was expensive.
But Victoria’s proposed price overshadowed the cost. The profit margin was embarrassing to consider.
‘Even the risk is less burdensome.’
dru*g dealers could endure such risk because they could charge 400,000 won for a gram of ketamine.
However, I didn’t need to go through several complex distribution processes like my past life’s brother to avoid investigation, nor did I need to anonymously feed seven droppers. Just delivering was enough.
“And I hope you reconsider about the medal. Once morphine is officially introduced, no one will question your qualification for the honor.”
Even receiving praise like this.
However, there was one catch when I casually accepted it.
“Your Excellency, may I inquire about how you will secure the funds?”
“Funds?”
“Yes. Roughly estimating, at least 20 kilograms of morphine will be consumed annually at the Imperial Military Hospital alone. If emergency medical supplies are distributed to frontline units as well, the burden will not be small.”
“No. Funds are not a concern.”
Living as the Empire’s princess, did she lose her sense of money?
Fortunately, Victoria wasn’t overconfident for no reason.
“I think I’ll shoulder the burden myself.”
“Shoulder it, you say?”
“Yes. Not only me, but I also plan to share the burden with my extended family. If my in-laws contribute, the nobles who follow me will surely show some sincerity.”
“….”
“There will definitely be no need to impose a separate budget on the military fortress, so rest assured.”
…So this is real.
If it stands out, it may not be such a big burden, but the idea of emptying one’s own pocket regardless of the cost was a strange concept. As someone who had hardly ever met a good person in my life, I was bewildered.
“Alan, can I suggest introducing morphine to the military fortress?”
“Your Highness, how can I do that here?”
“Oh, I rushed the answer. It was impolite to come at this time. If you need time to think, I will give it to you. …However.”
“Please speak.”
Victoria hesitated for a while.
But soon after, she revealed that there was an urgent need for supplies at the military hospital. She said that if the patients who were deprived of morphine were even slightly disturbed, it was actually quite severe. Judging from the signs, it wasn’t just a slight disturbance, it was quite a significant one.
“What if I personally deliver morphine to the military hospital?”
“….”
“By seeing the patients’ condition, you can understand how much the military needs morphine. It may even help expedite your decision.”
It was a situation where she had already made up her mind to some extent.
But it wouldn’t hurt to see the users once in a while. I brought a small amount of morphine that had been stored in a sealed state and headed to the Royal Military Hospital.
The feeling of going to buy medicine in the early morning was somewhat peculiar.
**
Victoria didn’t say she would raid the black market for no reason.
“Patients! Please calm down…!”
When I visited the military hospital, a sit-in protest was taking place.
Dozens of resolute patients (mentally sound) had occupied the hospital director’s office.
The palace guards were stuck in a standoff with them, unable to take any decisive action.
If homeless people had done the same, they would have been beaten and chased away long ago. But the situation was different here; it seemed challenging to handle them with physical force. After all, how do you strike a soldier in a situation like this?
The patients had only one demand, of course.
“Morphine! Morphine!! Morphine!!!”
At the forefront, a patient raised his arm, roaring “morphine” thunderously. The surrounding patients echoed the chant.
“I’m a sergeant in the Chemical Battalion, huh!? Please, just give me morphine. If you give me morphine, whether it’s the deaf ears or the republic, I’ll crush them all…!”
And there was a patient pleading with the guards, emphasizing his affiliation with an elite unit. The guards were visibly perplexed, retreating.
“…We will, one way or another, receive morphine again. We will definitely get it. All the cruel deaths in the world, such as poisoning, suffocation, drowning, burning, falling, and shooting, are more comfortable compared to morphine deprivation.”
“Right!”
Even a literary youth murmured such words with moistened eyes. Judging by the situation, he seemed to be the main instigator of the sit-in protest.
It might seem excessive, but it wasn’t.
Thinking about it, these patients were the first to experience a genuine painkiller.
Honestly, even considering the hospital’s environment, it was too harsh for critically ill patients. There were fifty to sixty patients crammed into one ward.
Although the beds were clean, and there was no unpleasant odor, it wasn’t an environment where critically ill patients could pass stress-free.
Morphine was their savior, washing away their suffering.
If the administration of morphine were further delayed here, what would happen? A riot wouldn’t have been surprising. If hundreds of patients started shouting for morphine and stormed out of the hospital, it would have been irreparable.
I didn’t want to witness a riot.
After revealing my identity to the commanding officer of the guards on the scene, I stepped forward towards the patients.
From Noble mtl dot com
“Give me the morphine!!”
The patients only seemed interested in the morphine, as if they had no interest in anything else.
I decided to show them what they wanted first. I took out a small bottle containing 60 grams of morphine and shook it silently.
“Well, here’s the morphine you all want.”
“Ah…!”
Dozens of pairs of eyes turned towards me at once.
It wasn’t burdensome. They were all just staring at the morphine, not me. The literary youth who claimed he would destroy everything and the feigned soldier were the same. When I moved the bottle, their gazes moved along with it.
“I’m the one who made this morphine. I heard that the morphine I provided for free before is causing severe side effects.”
“Hurry, please.”
“Of course, I’ll give it to you. But in order to do that, you all have to follow my instructions. End the occupation immediately and return to your respective rooms to wait with the other patients. If you don’t follow the instructions, the time to receive the morphine will be delayed accordingly.”
“….”
“Or it could be discarded altogether.”
“No!”
“Then move.”
Upon my announcement, the patients suddenly became lively.
“We finally did it…!”
“You little rascal, you can’t move quickly… Hold my hand.”
“Thank you.”
Everyone was not quick to move because they were patients. They struggled to move, supporting each other. It was amazing how they succeeded in occupying it in the first place.
Anyway, the protest is over.
The medical staff, who had been waiting all night, came running and took their medicine. They all seemed to have suffered a lot, judging by their exhausted faces.
Thinking that this was enough, I sat down hesitantly in the director’s chair.
“Sir? Did you really make morphine?”
A patient with a fracture approached me and grabbed me.
“Do you remember me?”
“You don’t remember. Last year, when I was on guard duty at Thames Palace, I was hit on the back of the head by you. That’s not why I was hospitalized. …Anyway, if you really made morphine, I can’t help but praise your work.”
So please continue giving me morphine.
Please make sure this doesn’t happen again in the future.
Please.
With an earnest expression, he rambled on and then disappeared, leaning on his crutch.
I watched his back with a heavy heart. It wasn’t because I felt bitter seeing the mess that could have happened because of the morphine I threw.
There was just a slightly worrying subject.
“Siena will find out.”
I wondered what the intention of the majority shareholder, who owns 49% of my business, would be.
Logically, it was normal for Siena to welcome it. Didn’t we break through military procurement in a short period of time? We even managed to take Victoria’s money and the money of her faction, and half of the profits were supposed to go to Siena.
But there was no guarantee that Siena would definitely welcome it. Maybe she could be jealous of her stepsister who engages in noble actions.
“Is there a way out?”
Regardless of her intentions, I had no intention of giving up military procurement. It was the safest way to dispose of morphine.
“Yes, Alan Kyeong. It’s what you’ve accomplished. You can feel proud.”
Victoria appeared in the director’s office, delivering these words.
Seeing me in a distressed state, she seemed to have misunderstood something.
If she looked at me favorably, there was no need to explicitly clear up any misunderstandings. As the 1st Princess of the Empire, gaining trust from the closest aristocracy to the Imperial family and managing Sienna would become much easier, ensuring my safety.
“Thank you, Princess.”
“Have you made up your mind to accept my proposal? If Kyeong agrees, I’ll proceed immediately.”
Although I had long made up my mind, I intentionally hesitated. There was a need to show that this decision was by no means an easy one for me.
“Yes, Your Highness. I will comply.”
A sigh of relief at this response. Victoria, who left with the intention of urging the Minister of Military Affairs to ‘consider’ introducing morphine as soon as the day broke, didn’t refrain from looking at me with a gaze full of kindness before leaving.
“Thank you for making a big decision, Alan Maydof.”
I should be the one thanking. Thanks to her, the Imperial Army now had morphine as a customer.
Once the door was opened, there was no turning back.