It turned out it was rotten cheese.
Ah, but that doesn't mean they laid out something inedible right in front of us.
Surprisingly, in Italy...
It seems they had this... heinous custom of eating cheese infested with maggots.
No, wait.
'Really... Is this another world?'
I...
I hadn't lived a particularly affluent life in my previous one, but I had coincidentally been to Europe once.
Well, it was more like I just followed along to a conference in Italy, but anyway.
Since I liked pasta even back in Korea, I enjoyed the local cuisine in Rome, Italy, and back then, I didn't see any maggots, let alone rotten cheese.
'Certainly...'
It's the same with Liston. There are many situations that seem slightly off from common sense.
If I had been more knowledgeable, that is, if I were well-versed in 19th-century Europe, my judgment would probably have been much easier and quicker...
Unfortunately, just studying medicine was demanding enough.
"What are you thinking about so hard?"
As I was lost in thought, Liston approached.
The ship we were on had briefly resupplied in Lisbon, Spain, and was now heading straight south. Maybe because of that, the weather was extremely hot.
Above all, if you came out on deck, there was absolutely nothing to block the scorching sunlight, so it was disgustingly hot.
Then why come out? Why not just stay inside?
Steamship...
No, wait.
People who have only been on motor-powered ships wouldn't know.
They couldn't possibly understand this... god-awful shaking unique to sailing ships.
"I feel seasick... But, hyeong-nim."
"Yeah."
"Why did you... take off your top?"
"Because it's hot. You should take yours off too. It's much better. And when else would you get to soak up the sun like this?"
I originally thought I didn't get seasick...
But I think that was just because I'd never been on a proper ship before.
The storm we encountered on the way to France was dangerous and hellish, but being on a constantly rocking ship is also torture.
So I was out here...
But just because he's the human Liston doesn't mean he can completely avoid seasickness.
He was usually out on the deck or in the captain's quarters located at the bow.
And when he was out on the deck, he had started taking his clothes off at some point. His already formidable body started getting tanned by the sun, and it really...
"I can't do that."
"Yeah, I figured you couldn't."
"Hearing you say that hurts my feelings a little."
"Then, do you want to try fighting me?"
"No. Why don't you fight the soldiers?"
"Unfortunately, no one challenges me anymore."
And yet, our esteemed Royal Navy comrades...
No, rather, because of that, they became even more motivated.
They dared to challenge Liston recklessly?
-Haha, it's a good thing. Life at sea is often boring. Especially when we have good winds and are just cruising like now...
The captain, far from stopping it, just stood by and watched.
So what happened?
What do you mean what happened?
Our workload increased.
"Well... they got pretty hurt."
"I didn't break any bones, though."
"You controlled your strength, right?"
"Huh? Of course. If I were serious, the ship would sink."
"I... guess it would."
Cracked heads, sprains here and there...
Amidst all that, it was a real relief that no one had any broken bones.
Thinking about it now, it seems less like luck and more like Liston intended it that way.
Anyway, whether because of that or not, the soldiers became much, much friendlier.
-Oh, Dr. Pyeong!
-A curse upon the Qing savages!
-If I die, you can drain the blood from my heart or whatever... just please save me.
Well, it wasn't like they were particularly unfriendly before.
Even I can understand why they'd be that way.
How could anyone dare act rudely toward someone about whom such rumors spread in the world?
Even I would be scared and tread carefully.
"Please try this."
"What is this...?"
"I caught it when we docked in Lisbon. People... might think that if you're in the navy, you get to eat fish to your heart's content, but when we're sailing like this, we absolutely cannot fish. On the contrary, something like this fresh fish is a delicacy for us."
"Ah, I see. Thank you."
Fresh...
This fish looked like it had been dead for over a day.
The only saving grace was that they didn't serve it raw, but if you asked if it was well-cooked, that wasn't the case either.
Lighting a fire on a wooden ship is far too dangerous.
Unless it's a necessary task or permitted...
Bringing personal food onto a warship without the captain's permission is actually illegal.
Well, it seems they turn a blind eye to something like catching and eating fish, but anyway, the result was this strange food placed before me, cooked only with seawater and sunlight.
'Usually in these cliché situations, it often turns out to be surprisingly delicious when you actually eat it.'
But this case was an exception.
Because the one who "cooked" it was a Brit.
However, these rough sailors, especially naval soldiers, were looking at me with such innocent eyes; wouldn't it be intimidating to refuse?
So I ate it, and as expected, it was god-awful.
In terms of taste alone, even the rotten cheese might have been better.
But...
"Thank you."
"Yes, it's delicious, right?"
"Yes..."
Even though the captain is considerate enough to occasionally let me eat meals with him...
No matter what, it couldn't possibly compare to the food I ate in London.
Moreover, recently, since my parents started coming over, I've been eating Korean food fairly often.
And then, to be subjected to this damned soldier's rations... how could I not feel resentful?
And it's not just any soldier's food, it's British military food.
It makes me think it wasn't for nothing that Italian prisoners during World War II threw tantrums, begging to be allowed to cook their own meals.
'Is that torture? This is torture.'
The more I think about it, these guys...
They definitely became imperialists because of their food.
This isn't slander; it's a reasonable deduction.
"Ah, I'm thirsty..."
After eating that tasteless fish, Colin appeared with a face that looked half-dead.
Poor guy.
He's originally from an up-and-coming aristocratic family; I heard they sent him to medical school because he had a weak constitution...
And because of me, he got on this damned ship.
What's more, we're sailing not in the Mediterranean, but across the Atlantic.
It's not like we're going to America; we're sailing along the African coastline...
But isn't that actually much longer in terms of total distance?
"Then drink water."
"The water isn't water... it's... strange, Professor."
"Ah, that's right. It's practically alcohol."
"Yes. It's quite strong."
"Weren't you originally much better at holding your liquor than me?"
"Because of the... seasickness."
"Ah."
Originally, when you have conditions like seasickness, hydration is essential.
But there is no pure water on the ship.
Instead, there is weak alcohol.
It's for the simple reason that water rots...
Didn't we always look for Professor Carrier every summer?
No.
From now on, we need to find and start worshipping the person who invented the refrigerator.
No matter how you look at it, that person is on a whole other level.
'Why could they make a stove just fine, but not a refrigerator?'
19th-century scientist bastards...
They're all useless.
I asked them to make medicine, and they went and made cocaine...
"Cape of Good Hope!"
How long had we been sailing like that?
Colin eventually said it was better to just drink alcohol and get drunk, so he was buying and drinking the alcohol that seemed to have been stashed away for the captain and officers, using an advance on his inheritance from his father in London.
He's paying almost ten times the price it would be on land.
In other words, he's lost his mind.
It wasn't like George and Alfred were in a better situation; surprisingly, those two were very vulnerable to the heat.
"Ugh..."
"Save me..."
Well, the UK's latitude is quite high.
Especially London, which is also damp.
Compared to that, here...
This vast, endless ocean has, of all things, no clouds, so the sun beats down like crazy.
"I'm going to die too, damn it."
Even Liston, who seemed the hardiest of all, started complaining in the midst of it all.
I wondered if he had just been pretending to be fine until now out of a sense of responsibility as an adult.
But the answer I got back was truly ridiculous.
"It's so boring... No one even gets hurt. This isn't the war I imagined."
"No... Hyeong-nim. How can you, as a doctor, say that?"
"If someone gets hurt, I'll treat them right away. Isn't that an excellent mindset?"
"What kind of mindset is it to wish for people to get hurt...?"
"Anyway, we've finally reached the Cape of Good Hope. That means we can get off the ship."
"But it'll probably only be for a day or two, right...? And if it's longer, that wouldn't be a good thing either."
I didn't know this, but apparently ships are things that break down just from sailing.
Thinking about it, cars are like that too, so ships probably are as well...
Even though it felt like an eternity, the actual time hadn't been that long, yet it already needed repairs.
Fortunately, if it's not seriously damaged, they said the work would be done in a day or two.
"What do you mean? I actually wanted to go to Joseon if possible, but now I'm utterly sick of ships."
"Well..."
Actually, isn't it several times farther from here to get to Qing China?
Moreover, we're not going to live in Qing China; we have to come back, so it's a truly despairing situation.
But wouldn't it be unwise to say something like that in front of Liston and make him explode?
"That's right. We don't have much left now."
"Yeah, right..."
Unfortunately for him, the ship was remarkably sturdy.
We set sail again less than a full day after docking in Cape Town.
-Haha. It's the fortune of the British Empire! It seems the Lord has bestowed his blessing upon the ship to crush the Qing.
When Liston heard the news about our departure, his face literally transformed into that of a ferocious deity or evil killer...
But since they were talking about the Lord and the British Empire, and Liston prides himself on being a patriot and a true believer, it would be strange for him to get angry there, so I could see him barely holding it in.
"The Qing... It's all because of the Qing."
He was holed up in his room, muttering strange things.
It would be scary enough if an ordinary person was doing that, but Liston, with his tanned skin and muscles that seemed to have grown even more, perhaps from Vitamin D synthesis due to UV exposure, had become a complete monster, making it all the more terrifying.
-That person is our secret weapon, I see?
Even the British people in Cape Town, who didn't know the situation well, said things like that.
I saw clearly with my own eyes the captain just saying 'Yes' and moving on, probably not wanting to say something no one would believe, like 'That person is actually a doctor.'
'He wouldn't actually jump onto a Qing warship, would he?'
Perhaps I wasn't the only one who had that thought, because George Eliot, who joined us in Singapore, grabbed Liston's shoulder as he was glaring at the Qing warships gathered off the coast of Guangzhou.
"Please take care of treating the wounded."
He said it to remind Liston of his role as a doctor.
However...
Once again, the answer I got back far exceeded my expectations.
"I intend to treat not only our soldiers if they are wounded, but also the Qing people, at least for now."
"Pardon?"
"Isn't that what a doctor should do?"
Did he undergo some kind of character refinement during that long voyage?
Just as I was beginning to reflect on having misjudged him, Liston whispered softly in my ear.
'Got any treatment that hurts? Treatment that hurts.'
I thought the devil had incarnated.