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Chapter 20 – Connected by Mold

Two weeks later, in the morning, Kouryuu-san showed up again.
His whole lower face was covered in scruffy stubble.

(Does this guy just pull all-nighters by default?)

There were dark circles under his eyes, his face was greasy, but his eyes alone were shining unnaturally bright.

So, the moment we saw each other, I told him:

“First, go take a bath. Shave, too. And if possible, get an hour or two of sleep before we talk.”

“O-oh…”

He looked at his face in the hand mirror I held out, and even he couldn’t argue with that.

And so, while I went about my usual little-girl daily schedule, Kouryuu-san made his comeback around snack time.
He ended up taking a pretty long nap, but considering what he was going to say next, it was the right choice to let him rest.

I waited in the lounge, all prepared, and in he came, changed into some clean borrowed clothes.
He’s basically a tall, handsome guy, so once he tidied himself up, he looked way more presentable.

“So, how did things go after you turned down being our tutor?”

“Heh heh heh… Now I can finally get my revenge on the academic society!”

He suddenly barked out those words, trying to act all cool—but with a donut in one hand, it was totally lacking in impact.

“Yeah, okay, never mind that. So the clinical trial went well?”

“More than well. Everyone from the doctors to the patients in the trial had that ‘what just happened’ look on their faces. Serves them right!”

(Ahh, he’s probably standing out at the Ootori hospital too…)

“Well, calm down. Congratulations. Now, on to the next thing.”

I said something completely different from what I was actually thinking and handed him a sheet of paper.
Kouryuu-san took it eagerly, but his eyebrows immediately scrunched into a frown again.

Still staring at the paper, he opened his mouth.

“What is this?”

“It’s some knowledge from the near future.”

“I’ll admit I’ve never heard of this before, and if it involves microbes, I suppose it does fall within my domain. That much I’ll accept. But what does shiitake have to do with medicine? Don’t tell me it’s just for making herbal remedies.”

“Think of it as my way of financially supporting you, Uncle Kouryuu. Besides, I love shiitake mushrooms.”

“Liking shiitake at your age? You’ve got fancy tastes. So, I just follow this, right? If that’s the case, I’ll need to start preparing for cultivation soon… Alright, I’ll take it. Thanks.”

“Sure. If you want, I can have someone from our household introduce you to a mushroom farmer.”

“I can manage that much myself. Anyway, enough with the jokes—let’s get to the main topic. As for the oral rehydration solution, all that’s left is to wait on the responses to the papers I submitted to various places.”

(Way too fast. No wonder you’re covered in stubble all the time…)

I thought to myself as I placed a few sheets of paper on the desk.
Kouryuu-san’s eyes followed them with such serious intensity it was almost scary.

Probably because I’d already touched on the topic a bit last time.
And just as he reached to take the papers, I stopped him with my small, cute hand.

“Wait. Let me explain first.”

“O-oh?”

“Oral rehydration solution doesn’t really have a specific discoverer or inventor. At least, not in the dream I had that showed me the future. But the artificial cultivation method for shiitake mushrooms, and what I’m about to explain now—”

“If you say you’ve seen the future, then you should know full well there is a discoverer. I don’t know about the shiitake, but the research on beriberi and the discovery of oryzanin were made by Mr. Umetaro Suzuki. Don’t tell me you’re thinking of stealing his discovery?”

He looked at me with a slightly intense gaze.
Maybe it’s because he’s a man of strong pride—he doesn’t want to do anything underhanded.

And beriberi, while not as bad as tuberculosis, was still a disease that tormented many Japanese people at the time.
Even a history buff like me had seen plenty of materials about it—stuck in my memory.

But when you’re face to face with someone actually living in that time, words don’t come so easily.

“Well, yeah, of course I know that.”

“So you do think that. But I have no intention of stealing something from someone who’s still alive and known. Even now, though fewer than before, people are still dying of beriberi. That’s why I just want to know more about it. If needed, I’ll go to Mr. Suzuki or RIKEN myself to talk about it. Wait—did you bring this up last time to test me? If so, aren’t you underestimating me a bit?”

(Ugh, scary. With those sharp, sanpaku eyes—he looks even scarier.)

I instinctively flinched, but I couldn’t just back down.

“I-it’s not like I thought that far ahead. You’re the one who was talking about devils and all, Uncle Kouryuu.”

“That… might be true. Anyway, what’s written on it? Just the method of extraction from rice bran?”

“As expected of you, Uncle Kouryuu. There’s a next step, too.”

“What is it? If it’s beyond extraction, then improving absorption efficiency would be the most desirable.”

“Bingo. You’re too sharp, seriously. That’s the right answer.”

He folded his arms and thought for a moment, and quickly arrived at the conclusion.
No, in this case, he just said what he wanted. 

And because it was purely his wish, my response carried even more impact.

“Wha—? No, no, no, don’t just give the answer like that. Everyone involved in treatment and research has been struggling immensely with this!”

“Don’t yell. I only saw the answer in a dream about the future, that’s all.”

(Though, to be fair, it usually starts from something like manga or video game knowledge.)

“…I see. So, what are we doing?”

“Here, take this.”

I handed him the sheet of paper with a soft rustle.
He kept his face forward and lifted to look at it.

He’s a guy with a lot of reactions that feel like they’re straight out of a manga.

“Hmm… HMMM? Dried yeast? Garlic? This sounds more like a recipe or something from Grandma’s old remedies. Is this for real? If you pull this twice in a row, even I’m going to start doubting you.”

He peeked out from beside the vertically held sheet of paper, but didn’t seem to realize he could just lower the paper.

“It’s real. Also, it’s not the garlic juice itself, but the compound called allicin that’s the key. That’s the stuff that gives it that strong smell. If you follow what’s written there and combine them, it’ll become a special remedy.”

“You make it sound so easy. Still, I get it. I see… isolating and crystallizing from dried rice bran yeast, and improving absorption with garlic. If that’s all it takes, then it actually sounds kind of manageable.”

“Really? Isn’t purifying the crystals or improving their precision really difficult?”

“You do understand. But if it’s in the hands of a genius like me, it’s no trouble at all. Fuhahahahahaha!”

That laugh of his, full of endorphins swirling in his brain, sounded like he still hadn’t slept nearly enough.
I started to feel a little worried, wondering if something in him was starting to snap.

“You really shouldn’t be saying that after pulling an all-nighter. Get some proper sleep, okay? This is only the beginning.”

“Ahahaha—wha, huh?!”

Once again, he reacted with his whole body to my words.

Well, be surprised all you want.
I’ve already been more than impressed by how capable Kouryuu-san is.

That’s why I figured it was best if we both stopped getting so easily surprised from now on.

“I’ll tell you the next part once you succeed with this one.”

“Don’t tease me—at least give me a hint!”

“Fufu, Kouryuu-ojisama, you’re more like a child than I am. Well then, maybe I’ll give you just a little hint?”

“That’s why I said, don’t tease me. And if possible, don’t disappoint me either. I’m seriously looking forward to this, you know.”

“Alright, alright. If you succeed next time, the world will be turned upside down. And if you want to make a name for yourself, you’d better hurry—so finish that part quickly, okay?”

“Ooh! The world, huh? Now that’s the kind of big talk I like. Very well, let’s start by eradicating beriberi. Farewell for now—we’ll meet again!”

With that, he left in the same kind of over-the-top fashion as last time.

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Artificial Cultivation of Shiitake Mushrooms
Until Dr. Mori Kisaku, an agricultural scientist, succeeded in 1942 (Showa 17), artificial cultivation of shiitake mushrooms had been considered impossible and was like a flower on a high peak—completely out of reach.

Back in the Sengoku era, shiitake mushrooms were valuable enough to become strategic goods used to raise war funds.

Suzuki Umetarou
A prewar Japanese agricultural chemist.
He is famous for discovering that rice bran could be used to prevent beriberi.
Also known for the discovery and isolation of Vitamin B1.