Chapter 124

Episode 19: History at night (5)

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Very contrary to Nephther’s expectations, Aristine tossed Tarkan aside and head straight for the forge.

“Ritlen!”

“Princess Consort?”

Ritlen was startled to see her while he was working.

“You’re in such a hurry…is something the matter?”

The worry clouding his gentle face made him seem so angelic.

Seeing that, Aristine quickly shook her head.

“Well, something almost happened.”

“What?”

“But I will stop it,” Aristine grinned.

The reason they don’t use scalpels multiple times even when the blade wasn’t an issue.

If you think about it, the problem was simple and obvious.

“Oxidation!”

“What?”

Seeing Ritlen staring at her with wide eyes made Aristine chuckle.

“We have to limit the scalpel’s oxidation!”

In simpler words, they needed to make a scalpel that barely rusted.

‘That’s why Umiru stacked scalpels like that.’

Even if Umiru performed many surgeries, there was no reason for it to be used like that on average.

‘But if they are single-use scalpels, then it’s a different story.’

If you think about when surgery began, even on earth, an all-in-one scalpel was used until relatively recently.

‘And even in the 19th century, if you told a doctor to wash their hands before an operation, they would make a fuss about how a gentleman’s hand was not dirty.’

In that time period, it was natural to perform surgery with bare hands that hadn’t been washed. They performed surgery with bare hands, not even wearing surgical gloves, talk less of disinfecting their surgical instruments or the operating room.

When her previous life self heard about a gentleman’s hand not being dirty, she couldn’t believe it at all.

Of course, even with the common sense here, it was ridiculous.

Umiru was thoroughly disinfected before the surgery and Aristine who entered the room was also disinfected.

‘But do other hospitals maintain hygiene to that extent?’

The treatment ward in Tarkan’s palace was one of the most well-structured hospitals in Irugo. Furthermore, there was no need to worry about the operating costs of the hospital.

Because Tarkan, the man with the largest amount of reserve cash in the country, ran it free of charge for his warriors.

No matter how expensive they were, scalpels could be treated as disposable things that could be thrown away after one use.

‘But other places certainly can’t do that.’

There would definitely be a deficit.

Since that was the case, there would be no issue if it was managed properly, but there was likely a considerable number of places that didn’t.

《 How do you manage the rust?》

Aristine remembered asking that while looking at Mukali’s sword some time ago.

《 Well, I have to clean it, so it doesn’t rust. I do that every morning and evening.》

Think of the hospitals, both small and big, in differing situations. It was statistically difficult to keep all their scalpels in optimal condition.

‘Even if it’s neglected once, that is 100% from the patient’s point of view.’

Now, she felt like she understood why there were so many parties blaming the blacksmiths for medical negligence.

‘Of course, the biggest problem is with hospitals that don’t manage their scalpels properly.’

Dishonest. Unskilled.

They simply tried to push the blame on reputable smithies. Since it was true that the surgical procedure had no issue, and the infection came through the scalpel.

“Princess Consort, preventing iron from rusting is no easy task. Especially with scalpels that constantly come in contact with blood and water…”

Ritlen cautiously advised and Aristine nodded her head.

“Mhm, that’s why I was thinking, how about making it a single-use disposable item?”

“Disposable? That’s an excellent idea! If we do that, managing the rust becomes a different…”

Ritlen, who was talking happily, paused.

“…But that puts too much pressure on the buyers. After all, before, they bought it once and only replaced every few months…”

“I know. If it becomes a financial burden, they will be reluctant to buy it even if they think it’s good.”

“That’s why we’ll keep the handle and make it so that only the blade needs to be changed.”

This way, the cost of the disposable item is reduced.

‘Even on Earth, they only replace the blade, yet I was only focused on imitating the appearance.’

She could see why her future self felt so much regret.

‘Even if it’s single-use, I don’t plan to give up on making it rust resistance.’

As Nephther said, you have to be outstanding enough to change the dominant market.

She didn’t want to regret it later by not doing what she could.

“Have there been any alloys you tested that rusted slowly, Ritlen?”

“I’m sorry. I tried many things because I was curious too but that sort of thing…”

Ritlen gloomily shook his head, looking ashamed.

“It’s okay.”

Aristine grinned.

“Because I know.”