It has been a year since I’ve been summoned.
Four seasons have passed, and spring has come again.
Having said that, it was still the end of winter.
The climate was milder around the Royal Capital than it was in Japan, but cold weather is still cold.
I was practicing magic in the practice grounds at the Court Mage Division in this cold weather.
Although the practice grounds were outside, I was wearing a robe on top of my clothes instead of a coat.
It was thanks to a magic bestowed tool that I was able to dress so lightly in this weather.
Once worn, tools which have been bestowed with fire magic forms a warm layer around the body.
I guess you can call it a personal heater.
It was very comfortable.
The person who gave me such an expensive and handy tool was Head Magician-sama.
He had told me that he was giving it to me so I wouldn’t catch a cold, but he had given it half out of kindness and half because he had a hidden motive.
Head Magician-sama came to the practice grounds when I was practicing holy magic, instead of doing warm-ups.
“I wonder if this is like speaking of the devil, and here he appears.”
“You’ve improved a lot.”
“Thank you very much.”
Head Magician-sama, who had smiled with his fake good looks, was as handsome as ever.
However, if one were to say that his personality matched his looks, then that was wrong.
He says the wrong things, and he had magic mania. Everyone knew this, even himself.
It was such a waste.
“Are you going to try the 【Saint】technique for now?”
“Yes. I just finished with my warm-up exercises.”
Head Magician-sama also cut straight to the chase with his greetings.
The 【Saint】technique was that one. The one that annihilated the swamp and demons in an instant at the West Forest.
The only reason why Head Magician-sama accompanied me after lectures every day, even though he was busy, was to see the 【Saint】technique.
I thought that was also the reason why he gave me an expensive tool.
In fact, he was still standing next to me. His eyes were sparkling as if to say, I wonder if she’ll activate it soon.
I felt bad for making him wait too long, so I got ready to activate the technique.
I looked away from Head Magician-sama, took a deep breath, and got fired up.
The reason why I was so fired up was because I haven’t been able to activate the 【Saint】technique even once since I returned from the West Forest.
The research institute and West Forest.
I activated it two times in the past, but I still didn’t know how to reproduce it.
Anyway, even if it was called the 【Saint】technique, the effects was different between the first activation and the second.
The first time, the medicinal herbs became more effective and the second time, the swamp, which was thought to be made out of miasma, was annihilated.
Nevertheless, the reason why they were both called the 【Saint】technique was because of a common feature.
That being the golden magic.
Both times, the golden magic suddenly gushed from within me and activated, as if it was flowing out of me.
I remember the sensation I had when the technique activated, so I had a hunch that it would be easy if I just managed to produce the golden magic.
The problem was, I didn’t know how to draw out the crucial magic.
I tried a lot of things, but I still haven’t found out how to activate it.
Groping in the dark made me remember when I worked in Japan.
No, I can’t. I have to concentrate on magic.
I changed my thoughts and focused on the magic that was flowing around in my body.
In these past months, I’ve been able to feel the magic inside my body straight away if I switch my consciousness, thanks to my constant training.
I examined the magic inside of my body, but I couldn’t find the crucial golden magic.
At that time, I certainly felt it gushing out from around my chest.
Well, let’s see.
Hmm……
“Phew.”
I took a few minutes to breathe when I was out of focus.
Honestly, how do I get this magic to work?
I don’t remember doing anything special.
I don’t remember using any magic-like approaches.
“Is it difficult?”
“It is. I still don’t know what the activation conditions are……”
“I’m sorry. I should have also observed the technique properly back at the West Forest.”
“No. It’s not something you need to apologise for, Dreves-sama.”
“I really regret that I couldn’t observe it properly at that time. If I had, then we would……”
I, who was sighing because I couldn’t activate the technique, was called out to by Head Magician-sama.
Everyone had their hands full when we were at the West Forest.
Head Magician-sama was no exception. He had subconsciously followed the magic, but he couldn’t determine the activation conditions.
When we returned to the Royal Palace, he regretted it a lot because he found out that I couldn’t activate the 【Saint】technique.
If I had been able to identify the activation condition and became able to use it, then right about now, I would probably be doing various experiments with Head Magician-sama.
I think that Head Magician-sama definitely thinks about the words that follow after, ‘right about now.’
And today too, I continued to practice hard from morning until night, but I still couldn’t activate the 【Saint】technique after all.
◊♦◊♦◊♦◊
Back to the cold? Or rather, on a colder day, I holed myself up in the research institute because I didn’t feel like going outside.
“Sei, are you making potions again?” Jude called out in amazement.
I wonder how many times we’ve had this conversation.
I’ve had this conversation many times since coming to this world.
“Yes, I am. The orders have increased lately.”
“Even so, aren’t you making too much?”
“Am I?”
I tilted my head in doubt, as I looked at the potions in front of me, and Jude sighed deeply.
You don’t have to be that shocked, right?
It’s true that the orders have increased.
At first, the potions had only been sold to the 3rd Knight Order, but now they were also being sold to the 2nd Knight Order and the Court Mage Division.
This was all because a rumour spread through the Royal Palace stating that potions that were made by the research institute were highly effective.
However, that wasn’t the only reason.
With the increase in the number of demons in recent years, there seemed to be a growing demand for potions in the market, so the shortage of stock continued.
If so, then all they needed to do was increase the supply, but it wasn’t that easy to resolve.
Potions weren’t something you could make by using the ingredients provided by the recipe.
In order to make a high ranking potion, a delicate manipulate of magic was needed, and the creator needed to have an appropriate pharmacy skill.
If the level of the creator was lower compared to the rank of the potion being made, then they wouldn’t be able to create the potion well and it would fail.
It would just be a decocted medicinal herb.
Therefore, there were people who could make Intermediate Potions, but there were very few who could make a stable Advanced Potion.
Also, magic was needed to make potions, so people could only make a limited amount of potions each day.
If you make a fixed amount, then you’ll run out of MP and won’t be able to use magic.
It is said that it is hard to raise the level of the pharmacy skill, which was the bottleneck of this whole process.
As a result, it wasn’t that easy to increase the supply of potions.
Potions are a necessities, since even the knights need them to go on subjugation missions.
As the number of demons around the Royal Capital increase, so did the number of potions needed.
However, even if the Royal Palace was given priority on the potions, they couldn’t monopolise the market.
That was because, even though commoners couldn’t afford Advanced Potions, they still used lower grade ones.
If the Royal Palace wat to buy all the potions then they would definitely receive complaints from the people.
The civil officials also thought the same, and thus regulated the supply to the palace.
Based on the Royal Palace’s policies, the amount of potions delivered to the knights has increased compared to before, but it was difficult to increase it further.
Light wounds could be healed naturally, and the magicians who could use holy magic did their best to heal bigger injuries.
What appeared then were the potions made by the research institute.
The effects were high and the production rate per day wasn’t inferior to that of the medicinal specialist stores in the Royal Capital.
There was no way that the knights, who had to put up with the chronic potion shortage, weren’t attracted to it.
“I don’t think they will order this many, no matter how much the orders have increased.”
“I made it with quantity in mind.”
“Really? We wouldn’t get this many orders for Advanced HP Potions, now would we? You’ll be scolded by Director again, you know?”
Even if there were potions lined up in front of me, they were all advanced level ones.
The medicinal plants needed to make these potions were expensive and people didn’t use them thoughtlessly.
Of course, the Knight Orders also didn’t order that many Advanced Potions.
Despite this, the reason why I made a lot of potions was because I wanted to raise my pharmacy skill.
You need to make potions to increase your pharmacy skill.
But at my current level, it probably won’t increase anymore if I don’t make Advanced Potions.
The medicinal herbs used in Advanced HP Potions are expensive, and Director did tell me to hold back from making more than needed, so I was being careful……
Hmm, I guess it’s a lot after all?
“Is it alright for you not to make the other orders from the Knight Order?”
“I’ve already made them.”
“Huh? Already?”
“Well, the order mainly consisted of Basic and Intermediate Potions after all.”
Jude had said this before, but the amount of potions I made in a day was a lot more than what a normal pharmacist could make.
Therefore, I could make an amount that took a normal pharmacist days to make.
I considered that probably had to do with how high my basic level was.
According to what I’ve heard, the basic level of a person who makes potions doesn’t even reach level 10.
The difference in basic levels also came out in HP and MP.
Since magic needed to be channelled into potions in order to make them, perhaps people with more MP could make more potions.
I don’t know the MP difference between a level 10 person and myself, but it was probably quite big.
“Sei, I have something……”
Speak of the devil and he shall appear.
Director appeared while I was talking to Jude.
It seemed that he had some business with me, but his eyes were glued to the Advanced HP Potions on top of the desk.
Dammit.
He found them before I could put them away.
“I don’t mind that you’re enthusiastic about your work, but isn’t this too much?”
“I’m sorry.”
As I told Jude, I made these potions with the amount the Knight Order ordered in mind.
The amount of potions in front of us now were too many for one order, but it was enough to handle two or three orders.
Director probably understood this and didn’t give me a good scolding.
However, I did understand that having them all lined up like this made him want to complain.
Therefore, I apologised to Director as he looked at me with an extremely shocked expression.
“Well, it’s fine. I wanted to talk to you about the potions.”
“What about them?”
I trembled with fear thinking that it was possible that he would give me a good scolding this time, since he looked unusually serious.
I straightened my posture and listened attentively. He continued, “We decided to stop the production of potions for a while.”
“Huh? Why now?”
“To tell you the truth, it’s difficult to obtain the medicinal herbs that we need.”
“What?!”
According to Director, the amount of medicinal herbs brought into the Royal Capital this autumn was much less than previous years.
Apparently, only a small supply of herbs were imported from a certain place, which is a major production region for medicinal herbs. Therefore, there is an insufficient amount of medicinal herbs circulating the Royal Capital, or something like that.
We tried to get as many herbs as we could, and the stores that we had close relationships with also helped out, but even that has become difficult.
A message had just been delivered to Director stating that they couldn’t take our orders for a while.
“It’s become a really serious matter.”
“Yeah. I heard that there might be a shortage in autumn, but I didn’t think our orders would be suspended.”
“Do you think our orders would be suspended for a while now?”
“I don’t know for certain, but it’s a high probability according to the store.”
“How troubling……”
The region in question didn’t just ship medicinal herbs for Basic Potions, they also shipped many herbs needed for Intermediate and Advanced Potions too.
Generally, medicinal herbs needed for Basic Potions were easier to cultivate, regardless of soil.
However, it was slightly harder to cultivate herbs needed for Intermediate Potions.
They didn’t grow in normal soil and, if they were, then it would take a lot of time and effort in order to get them to grow.
The reason why they were grown at the research institute was because the researchers earnestly took various methods to grow them.
The medicinal herbs needed for Intermediate Potions grew easily in a few plots in that region, thus they began cultivating it there.
And, because the medicinal herbs for Advanced Potions grew in the forests, they also shipped it out with everything else.
Those medicinal herbs were transported to the Royal Capital with the appropriate measures.
However, this also had something to do with nature, so the times when it could be shipped to the Royal Capital varied.
Therefore, Director probably thought that the shift in time was the reason why they received fewer herbs at the beginning of autumn.
However, the amount of medicinal herbs delivered to the Royal Capital didn’t improve even during the middle of the season, and the herb shortage continued.
It wasn’t just Director who predicted that some kind of problem had occurred; the Royal Palace’s civil officials had also predicted it.
A little while ago, an investigation unit had been sent to the region to investigate what the cause was.
“What will you do with the Knight Order’s order?”
“We have no choice but to stop accepting their orders for a while.”
“I understand.”
Director went back to his office once he’d explained this.
We finished the conversation at a good time, so both Jude and I decided to return to our work.
Although, I was told to stop making potions, so my work of making potions was finished.
I pondered absentmindedly as I tidied up the tools I used for making the potions.
I heard that the number of demons around the Royal Capital has decreased, but the Knight Orders are still continuing their subjugation missions.
The amount of potions used might have decreased, but it wasn’t like they weren’t needed.
If the herb shortage continues, I wonder if some problem will occur sooner or later.
It’ll be better to eliminate the shortage before that happens.
◊♦◊♦◊♦◊
Early afternoon when my lectures were done.
I sat in the corner of the library in the Royal Palace as I quietly turned the pages of a book.
I had my magic lecture today, so I could have gone to the practice grounds after the lecture as well.
But, I didn’t feel like it, so I decided to read a book in the library.
The book I chose to read, out of the many available in the library, was a herb encyclopaedia.
A detailed description of the effects and drawings were written in this book.
I’ve read this book once before, but I discovered new facts when I read it again, so it was interesting.
My eyes went through the pages and then I noticed something.
The main production area for each of the herbs was written in the description and there was a place that kept popping up.
I casually turned back to the previous pages and noticed that a lot of herbs had that region listed as the production place.
Herbs for HP and MP Potions weren’t the only herbs being produced there; herbs for abnormal status recovery potions were also produced there.
I thought that it was a major production region for herbs and then recalled that it was the region that I’d talked about the other day.
Yes, that region; the place that was shipping less medicinal herbs to the Royal Capital.
It was said to be the biggest production region for medicinal herbs, so different kinds of medicinal herbs were harvested there.
I don’t know why less herbs are being shipped out, but if a lot of herbs can be harvested from there, then wouldn’t this be a big problem?
I heard that even commoners used potions that healed abnormal statuses.
It might just be in my character to get worried about something once I begin to think about it.
I should find out more about this region next time, I thought and a sound came from the entrance of the library.
The door opened with a creak and I saw brown hair.
“Ah, Sei-san.”
“Hello.”
The person who had entered was Misono Aira.
The girl who was summoned with me to this world.
She was still attending the Royal Academy, and would be graduating in a month.
She should be in class at this time, so why did she come to the library?”
“Class is still in session, isn’t it?”
“No, I don’t have class today, so I went to the Mage Division.”
“I see.”
“Then, I found something that I wanted to research.”
According to Aira-chan, the students who will be graduating this year have already finished with their classes and could freely come and go from school.
For example, those who had poor grades were doing their best with supplementary lessons.
That part was similar to what happened in Japanese high schools.
Amongst them, Aira-chan was an excellent student and she had decided to join the Court Mage Division after graduating from the academy.
She went to the Court Mage Division when she didn’t have classes, using the excuse that it was more beneficial for her to study there than at the academy.
Apart from holy magic, Aira-chan was also proficient in wind and water magic.
However, she had only raised the level of her holy magic until a while ago.
She had been practicing her other attributes at the Court Mage Division and has made remarkable progress on each of them.
In the first place, only a limited number of people were proficient in multiple attributes, so it was expected that if one raised their levels, then they would gain a high position in the Court Mage Division.
The things that she was studying and practicing at the Court Mage Division was the same as what I was doing.
There were some things that she couldn’t understand well from her lectures, so she came to the library today to do some research.
The Court Mage Division also had many books on magic, but they were all specialist books so the content was hard to understand.
I know, because I also came to the library to search up books on magic.
“Sei-san, what are you researching?”
“Well, I’m researching about medicinal herbs. Ah, if you can, please keep it a secret that I came here.”
“Ah…… Okay.”
Aira smiled wryly at my words.
Why was me being here a secret?
It’s because of that reason.
One third of my recent magic lectures were comprised of a certain problem.
The problem was, of course, about the 【Saint】technique that I’d used.
I haven’t been able to active the 【Saint】technique since I’ve returned to the Royal Capital from the West Forest.
It was inevitable since I didn’t know the activation conditions.
And Head Magician-sama regretted it very much that he wasn’t able to identify the activation conditions for it at the West Forest.
He couldn’t research it to his heart’s content because I couldn’t activate it.
And finally, it seemed that he’d reached the end of his self-control, even though he had persevered with it and accompanied me to the training grounds after lectures.
Head Magician was just like the rumours said he would be, a magic maniac.
He started using my lecture time to research how to activate the technique.
He was so zealous that he would have used the whole lecture to research, if Intelligent Glasses-sama hadn’t stopped him.
He stopped for a bit, and now only a 3rd of my lecture was sacrificed to his research.
I didn’t want that Head Magician-sama to find out that I was here, so I asked Aira-chan to keep it a secret.
If he knew that I was in the library reading about medicinal herbs, then he would definitely make me help with his research.
Definitely.
All the mages at the Court Mage Division would probably agree with me. I’m sure of it.
I’m also interested in the 【Saint】technique.
After all, it could enhance medicinal herbs.
However, it is a little draining to continue to spend time on doing something that I couldn’t do.
I think that was also one of the reasons why I didn’t feel like going to the practice grounds after lectures.
So, today I decided to do my favourite thing as a diversion, and went to the library.
“I thought that medicinal herbs were something unique to this world, but it turns out they aren’t.” Aira-chan peeped at the book that I was reading from my side and said, somewhat nostalgically.
“Yeah. The plants that are called herbs are used as medicinal herbs.”
The page that I was on was about a herb that existed in Japan.
Then, I started talking to Aira-chan about herbs and the library door opened again.
We turned towards the door and saw Liz.
“How do you do, Sei and Aira?”
“Long time no see.”
“Hello.”
I feel like it’s been an extremely long time since I’ve seen Liz here.
Although various things have happened because of the Crown Prince, Liz was still training to become queen at the Royal Palace.
Unlike the Crown Prince and Aira-chan, Liz still had another year before graduation, so she was still attending school.
Therefore, it wasn’t too much to say that her day consisted of going between the Royal Academy and the Royal Palace.
She was a very busy person.
I’ve also become somewhat busy ever since I started taking lectures.
It was inevitable that the chances of us meeting had decreased.
“You’re reading a medicinal herb book today too.”
Liz peeked at the book in my hand like Aira-chan had, and laughed.
Now that she’d mentioned it, I feel like I’m always reading a medicinal herb book whenever I see Liz.
“It’s a good change.”
“Even though it has to do with your work?”
“It was originally my hobby to extract oils from herbs and use them for different things.”
“Aromatherapy?”
“Yeah, that’s right!”
“What’s aromatherapy?”
“Aromatherapy is……”
Liz was confused by the unfamiliar word and Aira-chan and I explained it to her.
The topic shifted to the recent herb shortage while we were talking.
“We’ve been talking for a long time. Do you still have time left, Sei?”
“It’s fine. Researching about medicinal herbs is also part of my job, and I can’t make potions even if I return to the research institute anyway.”
“You can’t make potions?”
“Medicinal herbs are harder to come by recently and Director finally put a ban on potion making.”
“Now that you mention it, I’ve heard about that. The prices of medicinal herbs have risen across the board because of that.”
“Do you know Klaussner? It’s a famous medicinal herb production region.”
“I’ve heard about it. That region is famous for herb production, but it’s also famous as the sacred place for pharmacists.”
“A sacred place for pharmacists?”
Klaussner was the surname of the feudal lord who governed the fief, and it was the region that had decreased the amount of medicinal herbs shipped to the Royal Capital, thus leading to the potion making ban.
Each region in the Slantania Kingdom was named after the lord who governed it.
Liz was learning how to be queen, so I thought she would know about the region in detail and I was right.
I tilted my head in confusion because this was the first time I’ve heard the words 「sacred place for pharmacists」, so this time Liz and Aira-chan both explained it to me.
Aira-chan knew what this meant because she’d learnt it at the Royal Academy.
Did she learn it in geography class?
According to them, Klaussner produced many types of medicinal herbs in large volumes.
Valuable herbs that couldn’t be harvested in other fiefs also grew in small amounts in the wild at Klaussner, so a lot of potions were developed there.
It was said that the potions weren’t mentioned in books because there were too many kinds which covered a wide-range of afflictions.
This represented Secret Potions, that were passed down in each pharmacist house for generations.
And, a lot of pharmacists have been visiting Klaussner, since long ago, in hopes of finding the methods to compounding such Secret Potions.
From that, Klaussner became known as the sacred place for pharmacists.
“Oh, they have all kinds of potions, do they?”
“Yes. I’ve never seen any of them before, but my father has.”
“The actual potions?”
“Yes, an actual one. In fact, it was used in front of him. The tester was someone from my house, so the effects are real.”
“Is that so?”
I heard that Klaussner had many kinds of potions, so I got excited.
One of the secret potions might be more effective than Advanced Potions.
I wonder how I could learn to make them.
We finished talking and I parted ways with Liz and Aira-chan, but I couldn’t get the unknown potions out of my head.
◊♦◊♦◊♦◊
“Oh?”
I saw Captain-san coming towards this way on a horse while I was carrying a box filled with potions through the research institute’s corridor.
Does he have business with Director?
How rare.
They usually talked at the Knight Order’s barracks if it had something to do with the knights.
Didn’t Captain-san only come to the research institute whenever he escorted me back?
“Hey, Sei. Is Johan here?”
“Hello. He’s in the Director’s Office.”
“Thanks.”
Captain-san made it to the entrance the same time I did.
So, he had business with Director after all.
I told him where the Director was, and he headed straight there since he already knew where it was.
I wonder if they’ll talk for a long time.
Even if he’s used to it, he might be thirsty since he came here by horse.
I thought and headed towards the dining hall to make tea after I dropped off the potions.
“Excuse me.”
I knocked on the Director’s Office door and waited for permission to enter before going in.
The two turned to look at me, but they looked grim.
The thing Captain-san came here to talk about.
It mustn’t have been something good; it must have been about some problem.
It was something that the captain of the 3rd Knight Order and the top of the research institute would talk about. It probably wasn’t good for me to listen to this.
I thought about leaving immediately after I put the tea and teacakes down onto the table.
However, Director stopped me as I was just about to leave the room.
“Why don’t you sit down?”
“Aren’t you talking about something important?”
“We’ve already finished with that conversation.”
Director’s expression returned to normal as he invited me to sit down.
They’ve finished talking about the important matters, but is it really fine for me to stay?
I’m still working, you know?
Besides, if they’re going to have tea, then I also want to go get my own cup.
……。
Well, fine.
I gave up on going to get my own cup and sat down next to Director.
I glanced at Captain-san and saw that he had lifted his cup and drank from it.
I saw his Adam’s apple moving and the crease between his eyebrows faded.
He put the teacake into his mouth and his expression also returned to normal.
It probably wasn’t something for me to worry about, but I was worried after all, since he was making such a grave face.
Furthermore, the both of them had the same expressions on their faces.
I was satisfied that he looked fine and Captain-san’s eyes suddenly met with mine.
Dammit.
I was thoughtlessly staring at him again.
I got embarrassed when he narrowed his eyes and looked at me sweetly, so I quickly averted my gaze.
“Ah, have you forgotten my existence? You guys.”
“No, we haven’t!”
I disagreed with Director, who sounded shocked, but it wasn’t convincing at all.
Even though I really didn’t forget about him.
“Al will be away from the Royal Capital for a while.”
“Excuse me?”
Director said while I was glancing sideways in a panic.
I couldn’t help but look at Captain-san and he laughed as if he was troubled.
“The areas around the Royal Capital have calmed down, so we’re planning to go to the other regions.”
“Are you referring to the demons when you say things have calmed down?”
“Yeah.”
“Is everyone from the 3rd Knight Order going?”
“Some will remain behind, but most of us will be going on the punitive.”
It’s finally here, was my first thought.
Spring was around the corner, so it was easier to travel than in winter.
If we’re going to be travelling a long distance, then it was better to travel in spring.
It couldn’t be helped considering the situation, but my body tensed up from anxiety.
I probably let my guard down a little since some time had passed since we went to the West Forest.
Several months had already passed since then.
There was a rumour that the demon spawn rate had decreased immediately after we’d returned.
After that, the Knight Orders felt that this was in fact true from their missions and decided to wait and see how things would turn out, just in case.
And, now that a few months had passed, they confirmed that the spawn rate remained the same.
Because of that, people at the Royal Palace began to think that the Royal Capital would be fine now.
The rumour of the spawn rate decreasing spread throughout the Royal Palace, and the civil officials began receiving a lot of requests.
The requests were from the feudal lords of the fiefs; they had requested that a Knight Order be sent to their fiefs.
The other fiefs, like the Royal Capital was before, were in tough situations because the demon spawn rates had increased.
Just because the feudal lords had sent requests, didn’t mean that they were doing nothing.
Regions outside of the Royal Capital originally hired mercenary groups to subjugate demons within their fiefs.
They had managed to maintain balance somehow, even though the demons had increase by increasing the rate of subjugations.
However, that had reached its limit.
Previously, the Royal Palace would dispatch the Knight Orders, when the demons had increased and the fiefs couldn’t deal with it anymore.
It was probably inevitable that the people at the other regions expected that the Knight Order would be dispatched now, since they’d heard that things had calmed down at the Royal Capital.
“Where will you be going?”
“Klaussner for the time being. We’ll also investigate the conditions of the other fiefs on our way to Klaussner.”
“Klaussner? The place with the medicinal herbs?”
“That’s it.”
I was surprised to hear the name of the place that I’d been hearing a lot about lately.
Klaussner is that place.
The place that had been causing problems for the research institute and was famous for its medicinal herbs.
The research institute currently had a ban on potion making because Klaussner was barely shipping any medicinal herbs to the Royal Capital.
Did they also cause problems for the Royal Palace as well?
Director-san answered my question.
“It’s a problem that the Royal Capital isn’t getting any medicinal herbs.”
“Is it?”
“Yeah. It’s troublesome for you guys too, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it’s the same for the Knight Order as well, right?”
“Yeah. Even though the demons have decrease, it doesn’t mean that they stopped showing up all together.”
It was like Captain-san said, it wasn’t like the demons had completely disappeared. Even though the Knight Orders have dropped the frequency of their subjugations, they were still conducting them.
It doesn’t change the fact that potions are important.
Therefore, the effect of the medicinal herb shortage didn’t just affect the research institute, but also the Knight Orders as well.
That was probably why the Royal Palace decided to dispatch the Knight Order.
“So, when will you depart?”
“We have to make preparations as well, so in about 2 weeks.”
“In 2 weeks, was it……? Okay. Then, I’ll also have my preparations done by then.”
““Your preparations?””
Captain-san and Director both looked at me questioningly.
Huh?
“Why do you need to prepare? Oh, you need to make potions for the punitive?”
“There’s that too, but I have to prepare other things as well, don’t I? Like clothes……”
“Clothes?”
We kept talking, but the two’s expression didn’t change.
I feel like we’re on different pages.
Perhaps, did I jump to conclusions?
“You…… Were you planning to go?”
Director understood my intentions and asked.
“Didn’t we talk about this before?”
Director asked as if he could see right through me.
It seems like they decided between the two heads that I wouldn’t be participating in this punitive.
That was what I’d concluded from looking at their surprised faces.
How weird.
I’m sure Director-san and I talked about the possibility of me heading to another region soon when we talked about the rumours in the Royal Palace.
“I feel like we did……”
“Is it better to not go in this situation, after all? I don’t think I would be useless since I can use holy magic.”
I flinched a little because Director was looking at me as if he was probing me and timidly asked for his opinion.
This situation referred to me not being able to activate the 【Saint】technique.
I was able to convey this to Director, and he frowned.
It couldn’t be helped the Director and Captain-san were reacting like this.
They were probably thinking about what the heck I could do if I go on the punitive, since I couldn’t use the technique.
At least, I can use holy magic, so I could support them with healing.
However, other people could use holy magic as well, even though their levels are different, so they probably didn’t think that I wanted to participate in this punitive.
Director’s eyes glazed over
“You’re very eager, aren’t you?”
“Mmm……”
“You’re hiding something. Confess.”
I don’t blame him for being suspicious since I’m suddenly interested in this, even though I have been running away from anything that has to do with the 【Saint】.
Actually, when I talked to Director about the rumours before, I wasn’t thrilled about going to another region.
Between going on a punitive and researching at the research institute, I like researching better.
There’s only one reason why I was excited to go on this punitive.
“Klaussner is called a sacred place for pharmacists, isn’t it?”
Director probably understood what I meant from that one sentence because he looked shocked.
I’m sorry.
But, I feel like I won’t go if this opportunity wasn’t there.
Captain-san didn’t understand what I meant and looked curious.
Director-san noticed this and explained it to him in a simple way.
In the middle of the explanation, Captain-san noticed why I was so excited and he smiled.
“I see. Sei, you want to go to Klaussner because you want to learn more about herbs?”
“Yes……”
I felt like my reason was too light and it made me uncomfortable when someone, who would be doing such a dangerous job from now, said that with a smile on their face.
I couldn’t help but drop my gaze to the ground.
However, Captain-san and Director didn’t seem like they minded.
“That’s right. There’s a lot of information in Klaussner about medicinal herbs that we don’t know about. It might be good to check it out.
“We’ll probably be staying there for a while.”
“Is it alright for me to come with you?’
The two looked at each other and smiled wryly.
“Rather, I’m the one who would like to ask that of you.”
“Actually, the people at the Royal Palace told me to bring you on the punitive.”
“They did?”
“Yes, but we were against it. We were talking about how to refuse them.”
When I asked them about it, and they told me that the Royal Palace had made a request for me, but Captain-san and Director were against it because I couldn’t stabilise and active the 【Saint】technique.
The Royal Palace wanted to send the 【Saint】because they wanted to appease and lessen the feudal lords’ displeasure.
However, they were both worried that if they sent me there without being able to use the technique, then it wouldn’t just be the Royal Palace who would be on the receiving end of the feudal lords’ criticisms, but me as well.
In addition, they also wanted to refuse because I didn’t seem too thrilled on going.
“I’m sorry for troubling you.”
“No, don’t worry about it. We were just overdoing it.”
“That’s right, you don’t have to worry about it.”
I apologised and they laughed and told me not to worry about it.
It wasn’t just this time, they’ve always been protecting me like this, since way before.
I’ve never had unpleasant feelings towards the Royal Palace ever since I came to the research institute.
“Thank you for everything.”
“Mm? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing……”
I thanked them again and they looked at me curiously.
It might be normal for them to do something like that, and they probably didn’t think they needed to be thanked, but I was extremely grateful.
However, it was embarrassing to explain this to them, so I brushed it off with a smile and thanked them again in my mind.
Translator: Blushy
Editor: SenjiQ
It has been a year since I’ve been summoned.
Four seasons have passed, and spring has come again.
Having said that, it was still the end of winter.
The climate was milder around the Royal Capital than it was in Japan, but cold weather is still cold.
I was practicing magic in the practice grounds at the Court Mage Division in this cold weather.
Although the practice grounds were outside, I was wearing a robe on top of my clothes instead of a coat.
It was thanks to a magic bestowed tool that I was able to dress so lightly in this weather.
Once worn, tools which have been bestowed with fire magic forms a warm layer around the body.
I guess you can call it a personal heater.
It was very comfortable.
The person who gave me such an expensive and handy tool was Head Magician-sama.
He had told me that he was giving it to me so I wouldn’t catch a cold, but he had given it half out of kindness and half because he had a hidden motive.
Head Magician-sama came to the practice grounds when I was practicing holy magic, instead of doing warm-ups.
“I wonder if this is like speaking of the devil, and here he appears.”
“You’ve improved a lot.”
“Thank you very much.”
Head Magician-sama, who had smiled with his fake good looks, was as handsome as ever.
However, if one were to say that his personality matched his looks, then that was wrong.
He says the wrong things, and he had magic mania. Everyone knew this, even himself.
It was such a waste.
“Are you going to try the 【Saint】technique for now?”
“Yes. I just finished with my warm-up exercises.”
Head Magician-sama also cut straight to the chase with his greetings.
The 【Saint】technique was that one. The one that annihilated the swamp and demons in an instant at the West Forest.
The only reason why Head Magician-sama accompanied me after lectures every day, even though he was busy, was to see the 【Saint】technique.
I thought that was also the reason why he gave me an expensive tool.
In fact, he was still standing next to me. His eyes were sparkling as if to say, I wonder if she’ll activate it soon.
I felt bad for making him wait too long, so I got ready to activate the technique.
I looked away from Head Magician-sama, took a deep breath, and got fired up.
The reason why I was so fired up was because I haven’t been able to activate the 【Saint】technique even once since I returned from the West Forest.
The research institute and West Forest.
I activated it two times in the past, but I still didn’t know how to reproduce it.
Anyway, even if it was called the 【Saint】technique, the effects was different between the first activation and the second.
The first time, the medicinal herbs became more effective and the second time, the swamp, which was thought to be made out of miasma, was annihilated.
Nevertheless, the reason why they were both called the 【Saint】technique was because of a common feature.
That being the golden magic.
Both times, the golden magic suddenly gushed from within me and activated, as if it was flowing out of me.
I remember the sensation I had when the technique activated, so I had a hunch that it would be easy if I just managed to produce the golden magic.
The problem was, I didn’t know how to draw out the crucial magic.
I tried a lot of things, but I still haven’t found out how to activate it.
Groping in the dark made me remember when I worked in Japan.
No, I can’t. I have to concentrate on magic.
I changed my thoughts and focused on the magic that was flowing around in my body.
In these past months, I’ve been able to feel the magic inside my body straight away if I switch my consciousness, thanks to my constant training.
I examined the magic inside of my body, but I couldn’t find the crucial golden magic.
At that time, I certainly felt it gushing out from around my chest.
Well, let’s see.
Hmm……
“Phew.”
I took a few minutes to breathe when I was out of focus.
Honestly, how do I get this magic to work?
I don’t remember doing anything special.
I don’t remember using any magic-like approaches.
“Is it difficult?”
“It is. I still don’t know what the activation conditions are……”
“I’m sorry. I should have also observed the technique properly back at the West Forest.”
“No. It’s not something you need to apologise for, Dreves-sama.”
“I really regret that I couldn’t observe it properly at that time. If I had, then we would……”
I, who was sighing because I couldn’t activate the technique, was called out to by Head Magician-sama.
Everyone had their hands full when we were at the West Forest.
Head Magician-sama was no exception. He had subconsciously followed the magic, but he couldn’t determine the activation conditions.
When we returned to the Royal Palace, he regretted it a lot because he found out that I couldn’t activate the 【Saint】technique.
If I had been able to identify the activation condition and became able to use it, then right about now, I would probably be doing various experiments with Head Magician-sama.
I think that Head Magician-sama definitely thinks about the words that follow after, ‘right about now.’
And today too, I continued to practice hard from morning until night, but I still couldn’t activate the 【Saint】technique after all.
◊♦◊♦◊♦◊
Back to the cold? Or rather, on a colder day, I holed myself up in the research institute because I didn’t feel like going outside.
“Sei, are you making potions again?” Jude called out in amazement.
I wonder how many times we’ve had this conversation.
I’ve had this conversation many times since coming to this world.
“Yes, I am. The orders have increased lately.”
“Even so, aren’t you making too much?”
“Am I?”
I tilted my head in doubt, as I looked at the potions in front of me, and Jude sighed deeply.
You don’t have to be that shocked, right?
It’s true that the orders have increased.
At first, the potions had only been sold to the 3rd Knight Order, but now they were also being sold to the 2nd Knight Order and the Court Mage Division.
This was all because a rumour spread through the Royal Palace stating that potions that were made by the research institute were highly effective.
However, that wasn’t the only reason.
With the increase in the number of demons in recent years, there seemed to be a growing demand for potions in the market, so the shortage of stock continued.
If so, then all they needed to do was increase the supply, but it wasn’t that easy to resolve.
Potions weren’t something you could make by using the ingredients provided by the recipe.
In order to make a high ranking potion, a delicate manipulate of magic was needed, and the creator needed to have an appropriate pharmacy skill.
If the level of the creator was lower compared to the rank of the potion being made, then they wouldn’t be able to create the potion well and it would fail.
It would just be a decocted medicinal herb.
Therefore, there were people who could make Intermediate Potions, but there were very few who could make a stable Advanced Potion.
Also, magic was needed to make potions, so people could only make a limited amount of potions each day.
If you make a fixed amount, then you’ll run out of MP and won’t be able to use magic.
It is said that it is hard to raise the level of the pharmacy skill, which was the bottleneck of this whole process.
As a result, it wasn’t that easy to increase the supply of potions.
Potions are a necessities, since even the knights need them to go on subjugation missions.
As the number of demons around the Royal Capital increase, so did the number of potions needed.
However, even if the Royal Palace was given priority on the potions, they couldn’t monopolise the market.
That was because, even though commoners couldn’t afford Advanced Potions, they still used lower grade ones.
If the Royal Palace wat to buy all the potions then they would definitely receive complaints from the people.
The civil officials also thought the same, and thus regulated the supply to the palace.
Based on the Royal Palace’s policies, the amount of potions delivered to the knights has increased compared to before, but it was difficult to increase it further.
Light wounds could be healed naturally, and the magicians who could use holy magic did their best to heal bigger injuries.
What appeared then were the potions made by the research institute.
The effects were high and the production rate per day wasn’t inferior to that of the medicinal specialist stores in the Royal Capital.
There was no way that the knights, who had to put up with the chronic potion shortage, weren’t attracted to it.
“I don’t think they will order this many, no matter how much the orders have increased.”
“I made it with quantity in mind.”
“Really? We wouldn’t get this many orders for Advanced HP Potions, now would we? You’ll be scolded by Director again, you know?”
Even if there were potions lined up in front of me, they were all advanced level ones.
The medicinal plants needed to make these potions were expensive and people didn’t use them thoughtlessly.
Of course, the Knight Orders also didn’t order that many Advanced Potions.
Despite this, the reason why I made a lot of potions was because I wanted to raise my pharmacy skill.
You need to make potions to increase your pharmacy skill.
But at my current level, it probably won’t increase anymore if I don’t make Advanced Potions.
The medicinal herbs used in Advanced HP Potions are expensive, and Director did tell me to hold back from making more than needed, so I was being careful……
Hmm, I guess it’s a lot after all?
“Is it alright for you not to make the other orders from the Knight Order?”
“I’ve already made them.”
“Huh? Already?”
“Well, the order mainly consisted of Basic and Intermediate Potions after all.”
Jude had said this before, but the amount of potions I made in a day was a lot more than what a normal pharmacist could make.
Therefore, I could make an amount that took a normal pharmacist days to make.
I considered that probably had to do with how high my basic level was.
According to what I’ve heard, the basic level of a person who makes potions doesn’t even reach level 10.
The difference in basic levels also came out in HP and MP.
Since magic needed to be channelled into potions in order to make them, perhaps people with more MP could make more potions.
I don’t know the MP difference between a level 10 person and myself, but it was probably quite big.
“Sei, I have something……”
Speak of the devil and he shall appear.
Director appeared while I was talking to Jude.
It seemed that he had some business with me, but his eyes were glued to the Advanced HP Potions on top of the desk.
Dammit.
He found them before I could put them away.
“I don’t mind that you’re enthusiastic about your work, but isn’t this too much?”
“I’m sorry.”
As I told Jude, I made these potions with the amount the Knight Order ordered in mind.
The amount of potions in front of us now were too many for one order, but it was enough to handle two or three orders.
Director probably understood this and didn’t give me a good scolding.
However, I did understand that having them all lined up like this made him want to complain.
Therefore, I apologised to Director as he looked at me with an extremely shocked expression.
“Well, it’s fine. I wanted to talk to you about the potions.”
“What about them?”
I trembled with fear thinking that it was possible that he would give me a good scolding this time, since he looked unusually serious.
I straightened my posture and listened attentively. He continued, “We decided to stop the production of potions for a while.”
“Huh? Why now?”
“To tell you the truth, it’s difficult to obtain the medicinal herbs that we need.”
“What?!”
According to Director, the amount of medicinal herbs brought into the Royal Capital this autumn was much less than previous years.
Apparently, only a small supply of herbs were imported from a certain place, which is a major production region for medicinal herbs. Therefore, there is an insufficient amount of medicinal herbs circulating the Royal Capital, or something like that.
We tried to get as many herbs as we could, and the stores that we had close relationships with also helped out, but even that has become difficult.
A message had just been delivered to Director stating that they couldn’t take our orders for a while.
“It’s become a really serious matter.”
“Yeah. I heard that there might be a shortage in autumn, but I didn’t think our orders would be suspended.”
“Do you think our orders would be suspended for a while now?”
“I don’t know for certain, but it’s a high probability according to the store.”
“How troubling……”
The region in question didn’t just ship medicinal herbs for Basic Potions, they also shipped many herbs needed for Intermediate and Advanced Potions too.
Generally, medicinal herbs needed for Basic Potions were easier to cultivate, regardless of soil.
However, it was slightly harder to cultivate herbs needed for Intermediate Potions.
They didn’t grow in normal soil and, if they were, then it would take a lot of time and effort in order to get them to grow.
The reason why they were grown at the research institute was because the researchers earnestly took various methods to grow them.
The medicinal herbs needed for Intermediate Potions grew easily in a few plots in that region, thus they began cultivating it there.
And, because the medicinal herbs for Advanced Potions grew in the forests, they also shipped it out with everything else.
Those medicinal herbs were transported to the Royal Capital with the appropriate measures.
However, this also had something to do with nature, so the times when it could be shipped to the Royal Capital varied.
Therefore, Director probably thought that the shift in time was the reason why they received fewer herbs at the beginning of autumn.
However, the amount of medicinal herbs delivered to the Royal Capital didn’t improve even during the middle of the season, and the herb shortage continued.
It wasn’t just Director who predicted that some kind of problem had occurred; the Royal Palace’s civil officials had also predicted it.
A little while ago, an investigation unit had been sent to the region to investigate what the cause was.
“What will you do with the Knight Order’s order?”
“We have no choice but to stop accepting their orders for a while.”
“I understand.”
Director went back to his office once he’d explained this.
We finished the conversation at a good time, so both Jude and I decided to return to our work.
Although, I was told to stop making potions, so my work of making potions was finished.
I pondered absentmindedly as I tidied up the tools I used for making the potions.
I heard that the number of demons around the Royal Capital has decreased, but the Knight Orders are still continuing their subjugation missions.
The amount of potions used might have decreased, but it wasn’t like they weren’t needed.
If the herb shortage continues, I wonder if some problem will occur sooner or later.
It’ll be better to eliminate the shortage before that happens.
◊♦◊♦◊♦◊
Early afternoon when my lectures were done.
I sat in the corner of the library in the Royal Palace as I quietly turned the pages of a book.
I had my magic lecture today, so I could have gone to the practice grounds after the lecture as well.
But, I didn’t feel like it, so I decided to read a book in the library.
The book I chose to read, out of the many available in the library, was a herb encyclopaedia.
A detailed description of the effects and drawings were written in this book.
I’ve read this book once before, but I discovered new facts when I read it again, so it was interesting.
My eyes went through the pages and then I noticed something.
The main production area for each of the herbs was written in the description and there was a place that kept popping up.
I casually turned back to the previous pages and noticed that a lot of herbs had that region listed as the production place.
Herbs for HP and MP Potions weren’t the only herbs being produced there; herbs for abnormal status recovery potions were also produced there.
I thought that it was a major production region for herbs and then recalled that it was the region that I’d talked about the other day.
Yes, that region; the place that was shipping less medicinal herbs to the Royal Capital.
It was said to be the biggest production region for medicinal herbs, so different kinds of medicinal herbs were harvested there.
I don’t know why less herbs are being shipped out, but if a lot of herbs can be harvested from there, then wouldn’t this be a big problem?
I heard that even commoners used potions that healed abnormal statuses.
It might just be in my character to get worried about something once I begin to think about it.
I should find out more about this region next time, I thought and a sound came from the entrance of the library.
The door opened with a creak and I saw brown hair.
“Ah, Sei-san.”
“Hello.”
The person who had entered was Misono Aira.
The girl who was summoned with me to this world.
She was still attending the Royal Academy, and would be graduating in a month.
She should be in class at this time, so why did she come to the library?”
“Class is still in session, isn’t it?”
“No, I don’t have class today, so I went to the Mage Division.”
“I see.”
“Then, I found something that I wanted to research.”
According to Aira-chan, the students who will be graduating this year have already finished with their classes and could freely come and go from school.
For example, those who had poor grades were doing their best with supplementary lessons.
That part was similar to what happened in Japanese high schools.
Amongst them, Aira-chan was an excellent student and she had decided to join the Court Mage Division after graduating from the academy.
She went to the Court Mage Division when she didn’t have classes, using the excuse that it was more beneficial for her to study there than at the academy.
Apart from holy magic, Aira-chan was also proficient in wind and water magic.
However, she had only raised the level of her holy magic until a while ago.
She had been practicing her other attributes at the Court Mage Division and has made remarkable progress on each of them.
In the first place, only a limited number of people were proficient in multiple attributes, so it was expected that if one raised their levels, then they would gain a high position in the Court Mage Division.
The things that she was studying and practicing at the Court Mage Division was the same as what I was doing.
There were some things that she couldn’t understand well from her lectures, so she came to the library today to do some research.
The Court Mage Division also had many books on magic, but they were all specialist books so the content was hard to understand.
I know, because I also came to the library to search up books on magic.
“Sei-san, what are you researching?”
“Well, I’m researching about medicinal herbs. Ah, if you can, please keep it a secret that I came here.”
“Ah…… Okay.”
Aira smiled wryly at my words.
Why was me being here a secret?
It’s because of that reason.
One third of my recent magic lectures were comprised of a certain problem.
The problem was, of course, about the 【Saint】technique that I’d used.
I haven’t been able to active the 【Saint】technique since I’ve returned to the Royal Capital from the West Forest.
It was inevitable since I didn’t know the activation conditions.
And Head Magician-sama regretted it very much that he wasn’t able to identify the activation conditions for it at the West Forest.
He couldn’t research it to his heart’s content because I couldn’t activate it.
And finally, it seemed that he’d reached the end of his self-control, even though he had persevered with it and accompanied me to the training grounds after lectures.
Head Magician was just like the rumours said he would be, a magic maniac.
He started using my lecture time to research how to activate the technique.
He was so zealous that he would have used the whole lecture to research, if Intelligent Glasses-sama hadn’t stopped him.
He stopped for a bit, and now only a 3rd of my lecture was sacrificed to his research.
I didn’t want that Head Magician-sama to find out that I was here, so I asked Aira-chan to keep it a secret.
If he knew that I was in the library reading about medicinal herbs, then he would definitely make me help with his research.
Definitely.
All the mages at the Court Mage Division would probably agree with me. I’m sure of it.
I’m also interested in the 【Saint】technique.
After all, it could enhance medicinal herbs.
However, it is a little draining to continue to spend time on doing something that I couldn’t do.
I think that was also one of the reasons why I didn’t feel like going to the practice grounds after lectures.
So, today I decided to do my favourite thing as a diversion, and went to the library.
“I thought that medicinal herbs were something unique to this world, but it turns out they aren’t.” Aira-chan peeped at the book that I was reading from my side and said, somewhat nostalgically.
“Yeah. The plants that are called herbs are used as medicinal herbs.”
The page that I was on was about a herb that existed in Japan.
Then, I started talking to Aira-chan about herbs and the library door opened again.
We turned towards the door and saw Liz.
“How do you do, Sei and Aira?”
“Long time no see.”
“Hello.”
I feel like it’s been an extremely long time since I’ve seen Liz here.
Although various things have happened because of the Crown Prince, Liz was still training to become queen at the Royal Palace.
Unlike the Crown Prince and Aira-chan, Liz still had another year before graduation, so she was still attending school.
Therefore, it wasn’t too much to say that her day consisted of going between the Royal Academy and the Royal Palace.
She was a very busy person.
I’ve also become somewhat busy ever since I started taking lectures.
It was inevitable that the chances of us meeting had decreased.
“You’re reading a medicinal herb book today too.”
Liz peeked at the book in my hand like Aira-chan had, and laughed.
Now that she’d mentioned it, I feel like I’m always reading a medicinal herb book whenever I see Liz.
“It’s a good change.”
“Even though it has to do with your work?”
“It was originally my hobby to extract oils from herbs and use them for different things.”
“Aromatherapy?”
“Yeah, that’s right!”
“What’s aromatherapy?”
“Aromatherapy is……”
Liz was confused by the unfamiliar word and Aira-chan and I explained it to her.
The topic shifted to the recent herb shortage while we were talking.
“We’ve been talking for a long time. Do you still have time left, Sei?”
“It’s fine. Researching about medicinal herbs is also part of my job, and I can’t make potions even if I return to the research institute anyway.”
“You can’t make potions?”
“Medicinal herbs are harder to come by recently and Director finally put a ban on potion making.”
“Now that you mention it, I’ve heard about that. The prices of medicinal herbs have risen across the board because of that.”
“Do you know Klaussner? It’s a famous medicinal herb production region.”
“I’ve heard about it. That region is famous for herb production, but it’s also famous as the sacred place for pharmacists.”
“A sacred place for pharmacists?”
Klaussner was the surname of the feudal lord who governed the fief, and it was the region that had decreased the amount of medicinal herbs shipped to the Royal Capital, thus leading to the potion making ban.
Each region in the Slantania Kingdom was named after the lord who governed it.
Liz was learning how to be queen, so I thought she would know about the region in detail and I was right.
I tilted my head in confusion because this was the first time I’ve heard the words 「sacred place for pharmacists」, so this time Liz and Aira-chan both explained it to me.
Aira-chan knew what this meant because she’d learnt it at the Royal Academy.
Did she learn it in geography class?
According to them, Klaussner produced many types of medicinal herbs in large volumes.
Valuable herbs that couldn’t be harvested in other fiefs also grew in small amounts in the wild at Klaussner, so a lot of potions were developed there.
It was said that the potions weren’t mentioned in books because there were too many kinds which covered a wide-range of afflictions.
This represented Secret Potions, that were passed down in each pharmacist house for generations.
And, a lot of pharmacists have been visiting Klaussner, since long ago, in hopes of finding the methods to compounding such Secret Potions.
From that, Klaussner became known as the sacred place for pharmacists.
“Oh, they have all kinds of potions, do they?”
“Yes. I’ve never seen any of them before, but my father has.”
“The actual potions?”
“Yes, an actual one. In fact, it was used in front of him. The tester was someone from my house, so the effects are real.”
“Is that so?”
I heard that Klaussner had many kinds of potions, so I got excited.
One of the secret potions might be more effective than Advanced Potions.
I wonder how I could learn to make them.
We finished talking and I parted ways with Liz and Aira-chan, but I couldn’t get the unknown potions out of my head.
◊♦◊♦◊♦◊
“Oh?”
I saw Captain-san coming towards this way on a horse while I was carrying a box filled with potions through the research institute’s corridor.
Does he have business with Director?
How rare.
They usually talked at the Knight Order’s barracks if it had something to do with the knights.
Didn’t Captain-san only come to the research institute whenever he escorted me back?
“Hey, Sei. Is Johan here?”
“Hello. He’s in the Director’s Office.”
“Thanks.”
Captain-san made it to the entrance the same time I did.
So, he had business with Director after all.
I told him where the Director was, and he headed straight there since he already knew where it was.
I wonder if they’ll talk for a long time.
Even if he’s used to it, he might be thirsty since he came here by horse.
I thought and headed towards the dining hall to make tea after I dropped off the potions.
“Excuse me.”
I knocked on the Director’s Office door and waited for permission to enter before going in.
The two turned to look at me, but they looked grim.
The thing Captain-san came here to talk about.
It mustn’t have been something good; it must have been about some problem.
It was something that the captain of the 3rd Knight Order and the top of the research institute would talk about. It probably wasn’t good for me to listen to this.
I thought about leaving immediately after I put the tea and teacakes down onto the table.
However, Director stopped me as I was just about to leave the room.
“Why don’t you sit down?”
“Aren’t you talking about something important?”
“We’ve already finished with that conversation.”
Director’s expression returned to normal as he invited me to sit down.
They’ve finished talking about the important matters, but is it really fine for me to stay?
I’m still working, you know?
Besides, if they’re going to have tea, then I also want to go get my own cup.
……。
Well, fine.
I gave up on going to get my own cup and sat down next to Director.
I glanced at Captain-san and saw that he had lifted his cup and drank from it.
I saw his Adam’s apple moving and the crease between his eyebrows faded.
He put the teacake into his mouth and his expression also returned to normal.
It probably wasn’t something for me to worry about, but I was worried after all, since he was making such a grave face.
Furthermore, the both of them had the same expressions on their faces.
I was satisfied that he looked fine and Captain-san’s eyes suddenly met with mine.
Dammit.
I was thoughtlessly staring at him again.
I got embarrassed when he narrowed his eyes and looked at me sweetly, so I quickly averted my gaze.
“Ah, have you forgotten my existence? You guys.”
“No, we haven’t!”
I disagreed with Director, who sounded shocked, but it wasn’t convincing at all.
Even though I really didn’t forget about him.
“Al will be away from the Royal Capital for a while.”
“Excuse me?”
Director said while I was glancing sideways in a panic.
I couldn’t help but look at Captain-san and he laughed as if he was troubled.
“The areas around the Royal Capital have calmed down, so we’re planning to go to the other regions.”
“Are you referring to the demons when you say things have calmed down?”
“Yeah.”
“Is everyone from the 3rd Knight Order going?”
“Some will remain behind, but most of us will be going on the punitive.”
It’s finally here, was my first thought.
Spring was around the corner, so it was easier to travel than in winter.
If we’re going to be travelling a long distance, then it was better to travel in spring.
It couldn’t be helped considering the situation, but my body tensed up from anxiety.
I probably let my guard down a little since some time had passed since we went to the West Forest.
Several months had already passed since then.
There was a rumour that the demon spawn rate had decreased immediately after we’d returned.
After that, the Knight Orders felt that this was in fact true from their missions and decided to wait and see how things would turn out, just in case.
And, now that a few months had passed, they confirmed that the spawn rate remained the same.
Because of that, people at the Royal Palace began to think that the Royal Capital would be fine now.
The rumour of the spawn rate decreasing spread throughout the Royal Palace, and the civil officials began receiving a lot of requests.
The requests were from the feudal lords of the fiefs; they had requested that a Knight Order be sent to their fiefs.
The other fiefs, like the Royal Capital was before, were in tough situations because the demon spawn rates had increased.
Just because the feudal lords had sent requests, didn’t mean that they were doing nothing.
Regions outside of the Royal Capital originally hired mercenary groups to subjugate demons within their fiefs.
They had managed to maintain balance somehow, even though the demons had increase by increasing the rate of subjugations.
However, that had reached its limit.
Previously, the Royal Palace would dispatch the Knight Orders, when the demons had increased and the fiefs couldn’t deal with it anymore.
It was probably inevitable that the people at the other regions expected that the Knight Order would be dispatched now, since they’d heard that things had calmed down at the Royal Capital.
“Where will you be going?”
“Klaussner for the time being. We’ll also investigate the conditions of the other fiefs on our way to Klaussner.”
“Klaussner? The place with the medicinal herbs?”
“That’s it.”
I was surprised to hear the name of the place that I’d been hearing a lot about lately.
Klaussner is that place.
The place that had been causing problems for the research institute and was famous for its medicinal herbs.
The research institute currently had a ban on potion making because Klaussner was barely shipping any medicinal herbs to the Royal Capital.
Did they also cause problems for the Royal Palace as well?
Director-san answered my question.
“It’s a problem that the Royal Capital isn’t getting any medicinal herbs.”
“Is it?”
“Yeah. It’s troublesome for you guys too, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it’s the same for the Knight Order as well, right?”
“Yeah. Even though the demons have decrease, it doesn’t mean that they stopped showing up all together.”
It was like Captain-san said, it wasn’t like the demons had completely disappeared. Even though the Knight Orders have dropped the frequency of their subjugations, they were still conducting them.
It doesn’t change the fact that potions are important.
Therefore, the effect of the medicinal herb shortage didn’t just affect the research institute, but also the Knight Orders as well.
That was probably why the Royal Palace decided to dispatch the Knight Order.
“So, when will you depart?”
“We have to make preparations as well, so in about 2 weeks.”
“In 2 weeks, was it……? Okay. Then, I’ll also have my preparations done by then.”
““Your preparations?””
Captain-san and Director both looked at me questioningly.
Huh?
“Why do you need to prepare? Oh, you need to make potions for the punitive?”
“There’s that too, but I have to prepare other things as well, don’t I? Like clothes……”
“Clothes?”
We kept talking, but the two’s expression didn’t change.
I feel like we’re on different pages.
Perhaps, did I jump to conclusions?
“You…… Were you planning to go?”
Director understood my intentions and asked.
“Didn’t we talk about this before?”
Director asked as if he could see right through me.
It seems like they decided between the two heads that I wouldn’t be participating in this punitive.
That was what I’d concluded from looking at their surprised faces.
How weird.
I’m sure Director-san and I talked about the possibility of me heading to another region soon when we talked about the rumours in the Royal Palace.
“I feel like we did……”
“Is it better to not go in this situation, after all? I don’t think I would be useless since I can use holy magic.”
I flinched a little because Director was looking at me as if he was probing me and timidly asked for his opinion.
This situation referred to me not being able to activate the 【Saint】technique.
I was able to convey this to Director, and he frowned.
It couldn’t be helped the Director and Captain-san were reacting like this.
They were probably thinking about what the heck I could do if I go on the punitive, since I couldn’t use the technique.
At least, I can use holy magic, so I could support them with healing.
However, other people could use holy magic as well, even though their levels are different, so they probably didn’t think that I wanted to participate in this punitive.
Director’s eyes glazed over
“You’re very eager, aren’t you?”
“Mmm……”
“You’re hiding something. Confess.”
I don’t blame him for being suspicious since I’m suddenly interested in this, even though I have been running away from anything that has to do with the 【Saint】.
Actually, when I talked to Director about the rumours before, I wasn’t thrilled about going to another region.
Between going on a punitive and researching at the research institute, I like researching better.
There’s only one reason why I was excited to go on this punitive.
“Klaussner is called a sacred place for pharmacists, isn’t it?”
Director probably understood what I meant from that one sentence because he looked shocked.
I’m sorry.
But, I feel like I won’t go if this opportunity wasn’t there.
Captain-san didn’t understand what I meant and looked curious.
Director-san noticed this and explained it to him in a simple way.
In the middle of the explanation, Captain-san noticed why I was so excited and he smiled.
“I see. Sei, you want to go to Klaussner because you want to learn more about herbs?”
“Yes……”
I felt like my reason was too light and it made me uncomfortable when someone, who would be doing such a dangerous job from now, said that with a smile on their face.
I couldn’t help but drop my gaze to the ground.
However, Captain-san and Director didn’t seem like they minded.
“That’s right. There’s a lot of information in Klaussner about medicinal herbs that we don’t know about. It might be good to check it out.
“We’ll probably be staying there for a while.”
“Is it alright for me to come with you?’
The two looked at each other and smiled wryly.
“Rather, I’m the one who would like to ask that of you.”
“Actually, the people at the Royal Palace told me to bring you on the punitive.”
“They did?”
“Yes, but we were against it. We were talking about how to refuse them.”
When I asked them about it, and they told me that the Royal Palace had made a request for me, but Captain-san and Director were against it because I couldn’t stabilise and active the 【Saint】technique.
The Royal Palace wanted to send the 【Saint】because they wanted to appease and lessen the feudal lords’ displeasure.
However, they were both worried that if they sent me there without being able to use the technique, then it wouldn’t just be the Royal Palace who would be on the receiving end of the feudal lords’ criticisms, but me as well.
In addition, they also wanted to refuse because I didn’t seem too thrilled on going.
“I’m sorry for troubling you.”
“No, don’t worry about it. We were just overdoing it.”
“That’s right, you don’t have to worry about it.”
I apologised and they laughed and told me not to worry about it.
It wasn’t just this time, they’ve always been protecting me like this, since way before.
I’ve never had unpleasant feelings towards the Royal Palace ever since I came to the research institute.
“Thank you for everything.”
“Mm? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing……”
I thanked them again and they looked at me curiously.
It might be normal for them to do something like that, and they probably didn’t think they needed to be thanked, but I was extremely grateful.
However, it was embarrassing to explain this to them, so I brushed it off with a smile and thanked them again in my mind.
Translator: Blushy
Editor: SenjiQ
