“But I can’t believe this wheat has that kind of effect.” Corinna-san said in amazement as she stared at the spelt that was placed on top of the desk.
I went to the distillation room the day after I made the pasta and was surrounded by everyone.
They heard about spelt from Corinna-san.
People who were interested in medicinal herbs gathered in the distillation room.
I had expected this to happen.
However, I hadn’t heard what the knights from the 3rd Knight Order had said about it at this time, so everyone quickly left me alone.
Of course, that wasn’t the end of it.
They surrounded me again after I’d returned from my potion delivery.
I decided to tell everyone the results of the investigation.
“There are many types of wheat, and I noticed that this particular wheat contained a lot of nutrients.”
“Is it like the medicinal food you were talking about?”
“It’s similar but a bit different.”
A certain nun, who was known as a saint in medieval Europe, studied spelt.
I found out about this Nun-san when I went to the bookstore to find a book for my hobby, aromatherapy.
Nun-san thought that healthy meals were important for maintaining good health.
Because of that, she seemed like a person who was well versed in medicine and herbalism and she made great achievements in food culture as well.
And the book I picked up that time was about spelt.
“I see. That’s really interesting. Are there any other notable ingredients?”
“There’s too many things. I can’t explain it all at once.”
“Then tell me little by little, starting from this wheat.”
There were many notable ingredients known as superfood, but honestly I couldn’t remember them all.
Cold sweat ran down my back and I tried to cover it up. Anyway, her attention has been diverted for now.
Corinna-san picked up the spelt and began to think of something while muttering.
She’s probably thinking of a new potion recipe like she said she would.
But a potion made from wheat……
What kind of potion would be made from wheat?
Wheat…… Drink…… Beer?
Was that made with barley?
“Can you make something more effective than an Advanced HP Potion?”
“Oh my, do you want to make a more effective HP Potion?”
“Yes. I looked up various things, but I couldn’t find a recipe that was more effective than Advanced HP Potions.”
From the effects wheat added to food, I thought that I could make a potion more effective than Advanced Potions if I could make a potion from spelt.
Like secrets recipes, I had an easy idea of adding wheat to the current Advanced HP Potion recipe.
I’ve browsed through a lot of books but I couldn’t find anything that could improve potions and I hoped that Corinna-san might know something.
I asked Corinna-san about it casually and her reply was unexpected, “There was something more effective than Advanced HP Potions a long time ago”.
“What?! There was?
“Yeah. But it doesn’t exist anymore.”
It doesn’t exist anymore?!
I widened my eyes in shock at this new fact.
I looked around but no one else was surprised because they already knew this.
I looked at Corinna-san again and she beckoned me to the back of the room.
I followed her and Corinna-san took a book from a locked bookshelf and opened it.
The book had various potion recipes written in it.
“Look, this is the recipe for the Master HP Potion.”
“This is……”
“It’s highly effective, but it’s also expensive. The medicinal herbs used in this recipe aren’t easy to get. They’re probably really expensive. Besides, very few here could make it.”
The level of the pharmacists in Klaussner was high, since this was a sacred place for them.
In fact, compared to the pharmacists at the Royal Capital, the ones in Klaussner had a higher pharmacy level on average and more experience.
I might have been a bit biased on their praise because Corinna-san had told me that they were the best pharmacists.
I don’t know much about the other pharmacists in the Royal Capital but the pharmacists here were better than the ones at the Research Institute.
I was the only person at the Research Institute who could make Advanced HP Potions, but there were a lot of people here who could make it too because of their high pharmacy skill.
Still, there wasn’t anyone who could make a more advanced potion than that.
This was a gathering of talented pharmacists, but there was a reason why it was impossible for them to make the Master HP Potion even though people have made it in the past.
They couldn’t harvest the medicinal herb needed to make that potion, so they couldn’t raise their pharmacy skill.
The medicinal herb used in that potion could only be harvested from a region north of Klaussner.
In addition, it only grew in a limited number of places and it couldn’t be found unless one went deep into the forest.
It was a rare medicinal herb, but they were able to cultivate it at Klaussner before.
“Eh? You cultivated it?”
“Yeah, we did.”
“Did?” I was confused and Corinna-san explained it to me.
There used to be an extremely talented pharmacist in Klaussner.
That person was the one who built the foundation of pharmacy used today. She was also known as the mother of medicine.
The【Pharmacist】was respected by all other pharmacists in Klaussner. Should I say that this was as expected or something along those lines?
She was someone who straddled the line between genius and madness and it seemed that she was also famous as an eccentric.
People who loved gossip called the 【Pharmacist】, a herb fanatic.
Yup.
She was also the person who made it possible to cultivate all sorts of herbs in Klaussner.
She wanted to make potions freely with the herbs growing in the wild, so she established a method to cultivate them.
She might have said something like, “If I can’t harvest the herbs then I’ll just make it so I can”.
The ingredients for the Master Potions were also one of the herbs that was cultivated by this【Pharmacist】.
Of course, it wasn’t a simple thing to do even with all the different cultivation methods she’d developed.
According to Corinna-san, a lot of conditions were needed for it to grow.
“The cultivation conditions were often kept secret. I can’t be sure of it, but some of the conditions probably weren’t met and we couldn’t grow the medicinal herbs needed for the Master Potion anymore.”
“The conditions are kept secret?”
“Yeah. Only a few people know all of the conditions to grow herbs.” Corinna-san said as she picked out another book from the bookshelf and handed it to me.
I looked at Corinna-san and the book cover without opening it.
She was signalling me to open the book with her chin, so I flipped it open……
Of course, my eyebrows would scrunch up.
Because the methods that were being ‘kept a secret’ were written in this book.
“Um…… Is it alright for me to see this?”
“I’m the person in charge here and I say that it’s fine, so it’s fine.”
Was it like that?
I pondered while flipping through the pages to search for a particular herb.
I soon found the page and read it. Corinna-san stood next to me grumbling, “This is confidential. Don’t say a word about it to anyone. Well, it’s not like you can do anything about it even if you know what the conditions are.”
I understood Corinna-san’s words after reading a bit more.
◊♦◊♦◊♦◊
The book that was handed to me was a record of various cultivation methods.
Likewise, the herb needed for the Master Potion that I was interested in was also recorded in here.
The cultivation conditions for it were: the amount of water and light, temperature and the type of fertiliser needed. There was a word that I wasn’t familiar with in this section.
“…… Blessing?”
Blessing wasn’t a word I would see under plant cultivation conditions.
I imaged someone praying in front of a herb field.
Where the heck did this religion come from?
At the same time, that image stuck a cord in me and my heart jumped.
No way, it couldn’t be.
I timidly looked at Corinna-san, who was standing next to me, and found her staring straight back at me.
“Do you understand what it means?”
“No…… I’m not sure.”
This wasn’t a lie.
I knew something about it, but I wasn’t sure if my assumptions were correct.
In the first place, these cultivation methods should have been written by a 【Pharmacist】not a【Saint】.
Therefore it was possible that it was something different from the blessing that I was imagining.
Was what I’d thought, but I had a feeling that I was correct.
“I see, what a shame. Well, whatever. Even if we had the ingredients, we couldn’t make it anyways because our level isn’t high enough.”
“You’re right.”
“By the way, I’ve never asked you this before, have I? What level is your pharmacy skill?” Corinna-san said, but she didn’t look like it was a shame.
Her words cut off my thoughts that were going around in a circle.
Corrina-san was right, even if the herbs were available, people couldn’t make the Master Potions if their skill wasn’t high enough.
I opened up my status in order to answer her question.
| Takanashi Sei | Lv. 56/Saint | |
|---|---|---|
| HP: 5,003/5,003 | ||
It’s higher than before……
I thought it would be impossible to raise my level because it didn’t go up even when I made Advanced HP Potions.
Did it go up because I made potions using the Advanced HP Potion recipe that Corinna-san taught me?
If so, then I’m glad.
Since it was still possible to raise it even if I don’t make the Master Potions.
“Level 32.” I chuckled while answering and Corinna-san frowned at me.
“What did you say?!”
I took a step back because she was looking at me so strongly.
“What’s wrong?”
“Your level’s higher than I thought it would be.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, it’s even higher than my level.”
Eh? Really?
I was surprised and Corinna-san looked shocked.
“So you’d reach that level if you made that many potions every day.”
“Mhm…… I’m sorry.” I couldn’t stand Corinna-san’s shocked expression and apologised.
The pharmacists in the distillation room were all surprised when they saw how many potions I could make in a day, but Corinna-san didn’t say anything about it so I wasn’t worried.
But, I guess I did make a lot after all.
It wasn’t just the mercenaries who ordered potions from here, the knights did as well.
Should I have held back?
“You can make the Master Potion if you’re at that level, but it’s a shame about the ingredients.”
“I agree……”
Corinna-san put a hand to her chin and pondered.
I glanced at her and thought about the Master HP Potion.
I wasn’t surprised that my pharmacy level was high enough to make Master Potions.
I had expected this to happen.
You could make more advanced potions every 10 levels, and I thought that I would be able to make it if my pharmacy level passed level 30.
I could raise my level again if I had the ingredients to make the Master Potion.
The problem is the ingredients.
It was difficult to get the ingredients now and it couldn’t be prepared at once.
The cultivation conditions couldn’t be met, so it was impossible to grow it.
Hmm.
Should I tell Corinna-san about that thing? I thought worriedly and then Corinna-san moved.
Corinna-san moved to the corner to a two-leaf door cabinet and opened it.
Unexpectedly, there was a metal door inside of the cabinet.
I thought that metal cabinets were unusual, but it appeared to be a safe.
Corinna-san kept the key to the safe around her neck and she reached under her clothes to take it out.
She took a really old looking book out of the safe.
This book was thinner than the books that contained the potion recipes and herb cultivation methods.
What kind of book is it?
I stared at it and Corinna-san gave me the book.
I opened the book gently.
The bindings were firm, but the colour of the paper changed towards the edges. I could tell how old this book was.
I turned the pages and read it. It read like someone’s diary.
“Is this a diary?”
“It is. But it’s also a very precious document.”
Document?
It felt like a normal diary when I skimmed through it. What was she talking about?
“This is a really precious book, so only read it when you’re alone in this room.”
“Only when I’m alone?”
“Yes. That book contains highly classified information and it can’t be seen by others.” She said and I wanted to ask her if it was alright for me to read this, but her answer would probably be the same as before.
She urged me to read it with her eyes, so I looked at the book again.
I placed the book on a table and sat on a chair so that I could read it carefully.
After reading it for a while, I understood who had written this diary.
The person who had written this book was the 【Pharmacist】.
Daily events were also written in this, just like any normal diary.
The cultivation trial and error process was also written as part of her daily life.
“She even wrote something like this……” I stopped mid-sentence and Corinna-san, who was sitting next to me, nodded quietly.
My guess is probably correct.
The trial and error process which was not written in the cultivation method book was written in here, along with the【Pharmacist-sama’s】feelings at that time.
Her road to success wasn’t smooth and she seemed to have enjoyed the twists and turns she experienced along the way.
However, she didn’t just write about medicinal herbs. She also wrote about her love for Klaussner and its citizens.
I found out that Klaussner didn’t have any special products to begin with from reading this diary.
They mainly produced wheat, like most of the other fiefs in Slantania Kingdom.
Then the wheat production was hurt badly. This didn’t just occur in Klaussner, this crop failure spread throughout Slantania Kingdom and many people starved to death.
The feudal lord’s daughter, who was also【Pharmacist-sama】, was extremely distressed when she saw the people starve to death.
Thus, she began to find ways to cultivate medicinal herbs, so that it could be used to pay tax in place of wheat.
Her hobby was certainly influenced by this crop selection, and she became known as 【Pharmacist-sama】.
I inferred from the diary that she started behaving the way she did for the sake of the people.
She was happy that she could curb the people’s hunger every time she succeed in cultivating different medicinal herbs.
I turned the page and read that she wrote a lot about a certain herb.
It seemed that cultivation of this herb wasn’t going well for her, and compared to the other herbs that she’d been cultivating so far, this one had been stumping her for a while.
That herb was important to her, but she had no choice but to leave it aside for now and focus on cultivating other herbs.
I could also tell that she was frustrated.
I skimmed the next entries because the contents remained the same and then I found an entry where she was overjoyed.
She’d found the last cultivation condition.
I found the condition when I read the entry before this one.
It was blessing and something else.
I found a description that couldn’t be overlooked.
“Golden magic……”
Ah, I knew it.
Corinna-san called out to me while I was surprised, “Do you know what this passage means?”
Yup, absolutely.
◊♦◊♦◊♦◊
A few days after I found the shocking truth.
I searched through the diary of 【Pharmacist-sama】.
I was confining myself in the corner of the distillation room since morning today, as well.
It wasn’t like I wasn’t opposed to reading someone else’s diary.
But sometimes you have to do things that you would rather not……
This was also for the sake of being able to use the 【Saint】technique.
I was just making excuses to myself while I read her diary.
From the description written in the diary, blessing seemed to be the same thing as the 【Saint】technique.
It was as I’d expected.
And I thought that 【Pharmacist-sama】was a 【Saint】since she could use that golden magic power.
When I confirmed this with Corinna-san, she told me that I was right.
Although, it wasn’t known that blessing was the 【Saint】technique.
Because this was confidential information.
Detailed information about blessing was only passed onto Klaussner’s feudal lord and the person in charge of the distillation room.
Due to the diary being top secret.
I was worried that I would anger Feudal Lord-sama because I was reading such a document, but I worried for no reason.
Corinna had received permission from Feudal Lord-sama beforehand.
I was relieved to hear that.
If I thought about it carefully, even if Corinna-san was in charge of the distillation room, she wouldn’t just show top secret information of the fief to a stranger without permission from Feudal Lord-sama.
It was fine for me to advance to the next stage now that I knew about blessing, but there was another problem.
I didn’t know the activation conditions for the 【Saint】technique.
To solve this, I’ve been reading 【Pharmacist-sama’s】diary for the past few days.
I hoped that I would find some hints.
But the progress wasn’t going well.
I couldn’t find any description that described what I was hoping to find.
I stretched while still seated in my chair when I finished reading the diary in my hand.
The writing was beautiful, but my eyes got tired from reading the same text for a long time.
I rubbed the corner of my eyes with both hands.
I looked at the window and saw that the light shining from outside had already reached the back of the room.
From how high the sun is right now, I’d say it was about 3 o’clock in the afternoon.
Come to think of it, I didn’t realise that the bell, that informed the time, had rang a while ago.
I’ve been reading since morning, should I go outside for a change of pace?
I got up from the chair as soon as I thought that.
“Oh my, are you going out?” Corinna-san called out to me as I was leaving the back room.
“I thought I should get some fresh air.” I replied and she returned it with a wry smile.
“That might be nice.”
Apparently I looked really tired.
She patted my back as if she was cheering me on.
I exited the distillation room and headed to the back of the castle.
There was a small herb garden there for cultivation experiments.
It didn’t smell of medicinal herbs like in the distillation room, but I felt as if I was being healed and it was a nice change of pace.
I arrived at the herb garden and sighed.
I squatted down on the field, rested my jaw on my arms and absent-mindedly gazed at the scenery.
Because my view was low, I could only see the herbs rustling in the wind.
I emptied my mind for a short while and then it was dusk.
Nevertheless, the investigation was more difficult than I’d expected.
The trials and errors of the cultivation were written in fine detail.
So I had hoped that the conditions for blessing would also be written, but that wasn’t the case.
Pharmacist-sama only wrote about other conditions and about the people of the fief.
No.
I might have overlooked something. I thought. I stared at the herbs and recalled the contents of the diary.
The thing she wrote about most after herb cultivation, was it about the fief’s citizens?
After that, she wrote about her daily life in detail.
Come to think of it, she did name a few people too.
I saw a certain man’s name a lot.
This is just a feeling I got from the writing, but was it her younger brother?
She had written about him more than others, so it left an impression on me.
Oh yeah, the first time she’d used blessing was also for her brother.
She originally cultivated herbs to heal a disease that was spreading throughout the fief.
The symptoms of the disease progressed slowly, but if untreated, the person would get weaker and weaker until they eventually died.
When her cultivation wasn’t going well, the citizens fell to the disease one by one, and eventually her brother also fell victim to it.
Then, 【Pharmacist-sama】grew impatient.
The herb was difficult to obtain; I don’t know if she had found it earlier, or if she had cultivated it fast, but 【Pharmacist-sama】wagered on it.
The result was her win.
Her younger brother and the citizens of the fief were able to recover safely, thanks to the potions she had made from the cultivated herbs.
The entry on the day her brother’s symptoms calmed down were wet and blurry.
“Mm, it’s a mystery.”
I tried to recall, but nothing of interest came to mind.
Then, the hints are in the parts I can’t remember?
It wasn’t possible to remember the diary word-by-word, so it was a possibility.
But, was it something so trivial that I couldn’t remember it?
Even though I thought about it for a long time, I couldn’t come up with an answer and my legs were going numb, so I stood up.
I stretched my arms.
I’ve been reading the diary the whole time so my back bones cracked.
I don’t know if I was able to change my mood or not, but it’s been a while since I’ve been out, so let’s head back now.
I turned back to head to the distillation room when I heard a crowd of people speaking.
Turning towards the voices, I saw mercenaries heading back towards the castle.
I stared intensely at their figures, because it was different from normal. They were in a rush.
I saw someone familiar in the group and headed towards them.
When I got closer, I understood the reason behind their attitude.
They were probably on a subjugation because there were injured people.
There were some who couldn’t walk unless they borrowed someone else’s shoulders.
“Are you okay!?”
“Oh, it’s you, Jou-chan.”
I ran up to Leo-san and his expression changed from a mixed one to a smiling one.
I felt like most of the mercenaries were looking at me like, ‘who the heck is that?’, but some people looked at me and their expressions softened.
I knew them because they had come to the distillation room to pick up potions before.
The people next to them asked about me and some people explained who I was, I heard the word ‘distillation room’ from them.
“Are you returning from a subjugation?”
“Yes. Demons that don’t usually appear on the forest edge were there. We were subjugating them. We still have our lives, but we were beaten.”
“It must have been tough. Are there a lot of injured people?”
“Yeah. But they’re livelier than ever. It’s thanks to the potions you made, Jou-chan.”
The people, who were listening to the conversation between Leo-san and I, started a commotion.
“Did you make that potion, nee-chan?”
“We were saved thanks to you!”
“Without it, I’d be dead by now.”
“The potion you made me drink was amazing!”
My accursed 50% increase was doing a great job as usual.
Leo-san’s words started the chain as the mercenaries surrounded me and gave their thanks.
Even though I had gotten used to the 3rd Knight Order, the mercenaries surrounding me were even bulkier than them, so the pressure I was feeling was high.
I felt the ends of my mouth become stiff, but I want you to overlook something like that because of the pressure.
“Will you be receiving treatment at the castle after this?”
“Yeah. Even though the potions are better than normal, there are still some guys who need more treatment.”
“Then, I’ll head to the distillation room and prepare new potions for you.”
“No, it’s not something that needs to be healed with potions. It’s enough just to get them wrapped up in bandages.”
“But some of them look seriously injured……”
“Ah. That’s right. What should I do……?”
He refused, saying that new potions weren’t necessary, but there were some people who couldn’t even walk by themselves.
When I told him that those people might need it, he was being evasive.
Leo-san scratched his head, looking troubled.
Rather than wait for it to heal naturally, it’s more effective for them to heal quickly with a potion.
I’m sure Leo-san and the other know this since they’re pros.
Were they being mindful of the herb shortage?
The amounts of potions used in a day might have already been decided.
The potions sold to the mercenaries were always at a fixed number.
Yup, why don’t I quickly use recovery magic here?
It looked like Leo-san and the others were patrolling and fighting every day, so it’s better for them to be in perfect condition, isn’t it?
Was there no one at the castle who could use recovery magic?
Of course, there aren’t.
I thought it was really odd when I first heard this since this was the Fief Capital, but all the fiefs were like this.
In addition, only a few people could use magic and fewer could use recovery magic. So they all went to the Royal Capital.
Yes, to the Court Mage Division.
The Court Mage Division had a better salary than working for the local castle. Someone told me this.
“Mm, if you don’t mind should I heal you?”
“Huh? If it’s with a potion……”
“Well, not with a potion but with magic.”
“What?”
As expected, the mercenaries and Leo-san all looked surprised.
They probably didn’t expect to find someone that could use recovery magic around them.
“Jou-chan, aren’t you a pharmacist.”
“Well……”
Leo had recovered and asked me suspiciously. How should I reply to him?
I am a member of the Medicinal Herb Research Institute and I do have the pharmacy skill. Would it be fine just to say that I was a pharmacist?
“I’m a pharmacist”
“““…………”””
I had a feeling that they were looking at me with eyes that said, “What the heck is this chick saying,” but I paid it no heed.
I felt like I would lose if I paid attention to that.
I asked seriously, “What’s wrong?” Leo-san seemed to have abandoned any thought and replied, “Please.”
After receiving permission, I casted 『HEAL』on the people closest to me.
They were injured but no one was close to death so it was probably fine if I didn’t prioritise who I healed.
It seemed that healing people with magic was rare and a lot of them saw it for the first time, so their eyes shone.
With this number, it was faster to cast AOE magic, 『AREA HEAL』. But I steadily casted 『HEAL』this time.
Because magic with the name ‘AREA’ attached to it required a high skill level.
It was rare to use recovery magic, if they found out I could use a higher level magic then I had a feeling that things would become troublesome.
So even if it was a pain to heal them individually, I won’t use 『AREA HEAL』.
Leo-san’s words broke my resolution.
“You’re really skilful too.”
“I am?”
“Ah. I’ve seen a court mage heal before, but your healing is even better than theirs, Jou-chan.”
“Th-thank you.”
“Since you’re this good, you’ll probably be called by the Knight Order too.”
“Excuse me?”
“They also received heavy damage.”
The Knight Order also received damage?
He’s talking about the 3rd Knight Order, isn’t he?”
“Yeah, we didn’t come back together but they looked seriously injured.”
“Seems they went in deeper than us, so that’s probably why.”
“A lot of demons have spawned further into the forest, so it’s more chaotic there. You have to prepare properly before going in.”
“Excuse me, is the Knight Order the one who came from the Royal Capital?”
“Ah, yup.”
I was filled with dread and chills ran down my spine at the mercenaries’ confirmation.
The smiling face of Captain-san always appeared in my mind after I thought about the knights.
Then, I saw the scene from that time.
“Hey!” Leo-san was surprised at the rapid speed of my magic power and called out, but his voice no longer reached me.
“『AREA HEAL』” After casting 『AREA HEAL』on the mercenaries, I left them and ran towards where the knights were on standby. I didn’t even turn back when a voice called out to me from behind.
Inside the castle, I glanced sideways at the surprised maids and ran to the separate building where the knights were stationed.
How long has it been since I’ve run this hard?
I feel like I’m running faster than when I was in my previous world.
I might be able to enter the Olympics now.
I desperately ran while thinking such thoughts.
I also thought that I wasn’t in a situation where I could think about other things, but if I don’t think, I think I would be really frustrated.
I remembered what the mercenaries said before.
They’d said that the knights had received more damage, but how were their injuries?
I had participated in subjugation missions while at the Royal Capital and I have seen them injured before.
If the damage they’d received was the same as that time, then it was still alright.
The people from the Court Mage Division that accompanied us could also heal well.
However, if they received more damage than the mercenaries, then that meant that more people were injured than usual.
Usually, fewer knights were injured compared to the mercenaries from earlier.
Is he alright?
I suddenly thought and drew my lips together.
It didn’t matter what state he’s in, as long as he’s alive.
Then I’ll do my best to heal him.
I renewed my determination and headed towards where the knights were stationed.
I saw the knights coming back in groups at the same time I saw the building.
There really are a lot of injured people.
The number of people borrowing other people’s shoulders to walk were more than the mercenaries.
I instinctively frowned.
The entrance of their station was crowded with injured people.
“Sei!!!” When I approached them, someone among them noticed me and called out to me.
All the other knights also turned towards me when they heard that.
Everyone’s tired expressions changed to a relieved one.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, as you can see, no one died.”
I was also relieved at those words.
“We’re getting treatment inside but……”
“I’ll help!”
“Sorry, that’ll be great.”
When I interrupted his words, he looked apologetic as he thanked me.
No, no.
Even though I came here because I was interested in the sacred ground for pharmacists, we still came here together for subjugation.
It was only natural that I also participate in curing them.
He didn’t ask for help, even though he was so apologetic.
So I smiled at the knight.
The entrance to the building was crowded, but when people noticed that I was coming through they opened up a road for me.
When I entered the hall, it was just as equally crowded inside as out.
The Court Mages were seated at the back of the hall and injured people were lined up before them.
It seemed that they were treating minor injuries.
Severely injured people were sitting or lying down along both sides of the walls. Another mage was walking between those people and casting recovery magic on them in turns.
Now then, where’s Captain-san?
No matter what I do, I should first confirm the situation with him and ask him what I should do.
I thought and looked around but I didn’t see his familiar blonde hair.
Has he not returned yet?
Or……
I couldn’t see him and the heavy feeling in my heart grew.
No, the knights said it before, didn’t they?
No one died.
I shook my head to get rid of the nasty thoughts.
I looked around restlessly for Captain-san and one of the knights, who I accidently met eyes with, beckoned at me.
When I looked towards there, I saw a crowd of people.
Captain-san might be there.
I walked quickly towards that spot and saw Captain-san sitting on a chair through a gap between the crowds of people.
What’s wrong with him?
He seemed to be completely exhausted but I couldn’t see his expression because he was facing the floor.
“Hawk-sa……” I tried to call out to him and froze.
Someone who looked like a servant was wrapping a white cloth around Captain-san’s head.
I saw a little dull, red colour spread onto the white cloth.
Did he injure his head?
…… His head?!
My face quickly paled.
Having a head injury is bad.
I have to heal it quickly!
When I thought that, I felt a familiar feeling swell up around my chest.
“This is-!”
“Sei!”
Eh? What is it?
Although I couldn’t understand the reason and was panicking, the magic swelling up inside me didn’t stop.
Light gold and white magic started drifting in the air and gradually covered the whole hall.
The knights noticed the magic in the air and started getting noisy.
Ah, what should I do?
No, anyway……
I broke off my thoughts that were becoming chaotic and remembered my original purpose.
Yes, the treatment.
I have to heal him.
The moment I thought that, the skill activated and the magic that filled the hall reacted.
The light was stronger than usual and my vision was dyed in white.
The people in the hall were healed just as I’d expected they would from the light.
Loud cheers could be heard when my vision returned to normal.
“Sei?”
“Ah…… Hawk-sama, are you alright?”
“Yeah, my injury wasn’t that bad.”
“Wasn’t that bad…… Even though you injured your head?”
“It’s fine. It only seemed like a big deal because of the blood.”
I was surprised at the skill activating, but Captain-san brought me back to my senses when he called out to me.
Of course, the skill also healed Captain-san’s injuries.
Blood wasn’t flowing out of his head even though the servant had released the pressure.
I sighed in relief at that.
“Anyway, that skill just now was it……”
“Yes……”
Everyone knew what it was even if it wasn’t said aloud.
He probably just wanted to ask if that was the 【Saint】technique or not.
I nodded in the middle of Captain-san’s sentence.
Even so, why did the 【Saint】technique activate now?
It wasn’t like with recovery magic where it spread out of my body because of my intention, now is it?
I’m sure that something triggered it but……
I thought about different things and then recalled what was written in【Pharmacist-sama’s】diary.
I’m sure when 【Pharmacist-sama】activated the 【Saint】technique, she was frustrated that her brother’s illness had taken a turn for the worse.
Is that frustration the trigger?
It could be said that for this case that was the one thing in common.
I might have lost my head when I saw Captain-san’s injuries.
It wasn’t just this time, but I was like this when we were at the West Forest too.
But, the situation at the research institute had been a little different.
I was certainly frustrated at that time because I couldn’t find a way to increase the effects of the potions.
However, if the skill could be activated with just that much frustration, then I should have been able to use it at the Court Mage Division’s training grounds.
The pressure coming from Head Magician-sama, who was standing next to me at those times, wasn’t a joke.
I thought that I was pretty frustrated at those times.
But it still didn’t activate.
If it isn’t frustration, then what the earth could……
“…… i. Sei?” My consciousness raised to the surface at the voice calling out to me.
I seemed to have pondered too hard.
I met Captain-san’s eyes and he looked worried since he had called out to me many times but I didn’t respond.
“Sorry, I was just thinking a little.”
“I see. About the 【Saint】technique?”
“Yes. About why I was able to activate it……”
“Hmm……”
Captain-san put his hands to his chin when he heard my words and pondered.
The knights around us, who had also heard us talk, also pondered.
I was very thankful that they cooperated with me in this way.
Listening to other people might bring new ideas onto the table.
Everyone was piling in their ideas and it felt like we were comrades.
Comrades…… Comrades, are we?
Come to think of it, when I first activated the 【Saint】technique at the research institute I was thinking of the researchers and knights from the 3rd Knight Order.
Could it be that thinking about my comrades is the trigger?
Mm, isn’t it a bit weak as a trigger?
But I feel like I’ll know what the trigger is some time in the near future.
When I was at the research institute, I surely……
When I tried to recall as much as I could about the first time I activated the technique, I noticed something different.
Something in my chest finally started moving.
I was surprised for a second and stopped thinking about it; then that feeling also started calming down.
I unintentionally frowned.
“Sei, what’s wrong?” Captain-san called out to me when he saw my expression but I couldn’t answer him frankly.
“Ah…… No, it’s nothing.”
Ugh……
Even if you look at me with such eyes, I can’t talk about it.
Because, because……
Captain-san, I was able to activate the technique because I was thinking about you; how could I say something like that!?!?
It’s so embarrassing, I can’t do it! I really can’t say it out loud!
Translator: Blushy
Editor: Sam
“But I can’t believe this wheat has that kind of effect.” Corinna-san said in amazement as she stared at the spelt that was placed on top of the desk.
I went to the distillation room the day after I made the pasta and was surrounded by everyone.
They heard about spelt from Corinna-san.
People who were interested in medicinal herbs gathered in the distillation room.
I had expected this to happen.
However, I hadn’t heard what the knights from the 3rd Knight Order had said about it at this time, so everyone quickly left me alone.
Of course, that wasn’t the end of it.
They surrounded me again after I’d returned from my potion delivery.
I decided to tell everyone the results of the investigation.
“There are many types of wheat, and I noticed that this particular wheat contained a lot of nutrients.”
“Is it like the medicinal food you were talking about?”
“It’s similar but a bit different.”
A certain nun, who was known as a saint in medieval Europe, studied spelt.
I found out about this Nun-san when I went to the bookstore to find a book for my hobby, aromatherapy.
Nun-san thought that healthy meals were important for maintaining good health.
Because of that, she seemed like a person who was well versed in medicine and herbalism and she made great achievements in food culture as well.
And the book I picked up that time was about spelt.
“I see. That’s really interesting. Are there any other notable ingredients?”
“There’s too many things. I can’t explain it all at once.”
“Then tell me little by little, starting from this wheat.”
There were many notable ingredients known as superfood, but honestly I couldn’t remember them all.
Cold sweat ran down my back and I tried to cover it up. Anyway, her attention has been diverted for now.
Corinna-san picked up the spelt and began to think of something while muttering.
She’s probably thinking of a new potion recipe like she said she would.
But a potion made from wheat……
What kind of potion would be made from wheat?
Wheat…… Drink…… Beer?
Was that made with barley?
“Can you make something more effective than an Advanced HP Potion?”
“Oh my, do you want to make a more effective HP Potion?”
“Yes. I looked up various things, but I couldn’t find a recipe that was more effective than Advanced HP Potions.”
From the effects wheat added to food, I thought that I could make a potion more effective than Advanced Potions if I could make a potion from spelt.
Like secrets recipes, I had an easy idea of adding wheat to the current Advanced HP Potion recipe.
I’ve browsed through a lot of books but I couldn’t find anything that could improve potions and I hoped that Corinna-san might know something.
I asked Corinna-san about it casually and her reply was unexpected, “There was something more effective than Advanced HP Potions a long time ago”.
“What?! There was?
“Yeah. But it doesn’t exist anymore.”
It doesn’t exist anymore?!
I widened my eyes in shock at this new fact.
I looked around but no one else was surprised because they already knew this.
I looked at Corinna-san again and she beckoned me to the back of the room.
I followed her and Corinna-san took a book from a locked bookshelf and opened it.
The book had various potion recipes written in it.
“Look, this is the recipe for the Master HP Potion.”
“This is……”
“It’s highly effective, but it’s also expensive. The medicinal herbs used in this recipe aren’t easy to get. They’re probably really expensive. Besides, very few here could make it.”
The level of the pharmacists in Klaussner was high, since this was a sacred place for them.
In fact, compared to the pharmacists at the Royal Capital, the ones in Klaussner had a higher pharmacy level on average and more experience.
I might have been a bit biased on their praise because Corinna-san had told me that they were the best pharmacists.
I don’t know much about the other pharmacists in the Royal Capital but the pharmacists here were better than the ones at the Research Institute.
I was the only person at the Research Institute who could make Advanced HP Potions, but there were a lot of people here who could make it too because of their high pharmacy skill.
Still, there wasn’t anyone who could make a more advanced potion than that.
This was a gathering of talented pharmacists, but there was a reason why it was impossible for them to make the Master HP Potion even though people have made it in the past.
They couldn’t harvest the medicinal herb needed to make that potion, so they couldn’t raise their pharmacy skill.
The medicinal herb used in that potion could only be harvested from a region north of Klaussner.
In addition, it only grew in a limited number of places and it couldn’t be found unless one went deep into the forest.
It was a rare medicinal herb, but they were able to cultivate it at Klaussner before.
“Eh? You cultivated it?”
“Yeah, we did.”
“Did?” I was confused and Corinna-san explained it to me.
There used to be an extremely talented pharmacist in Klaussner.
That person was the one who built the foundation of pharmacy used today. She was also known as the mother of medicine.
The【Pharmacist】was respected by all other pharmacists in Klaussner. Should I say that this was as expected or something along those lines?
She was someone who straddled the line between genius and madness and it seemed that she was also famous as an eccentric.
People who loved gossip called the 【Pharmacist】, a herb fanatic.
Yup.
She was also the person who made it possible to cultivate all sorts of herbs in Klaussner.
She wanted to make potions freely with the herbs growing in the wild, so she established a method to cultivate them.
She might have said something like, “If I can’t harvest the herbs then I’ll just make it so I can”.
The ingredients for the Master Potions were also one of the herbs that was cultivated by this【Pharmacist】.
Of course, it wasn’t a simple thing to do even with all the different cultivation methods she’d developed.
According to Corinna-san, a lot of conditions were needed for it to grow.
“The cultivation conditions were often kept secret. I can’t be sure of it, but some of the conditions probably weren’t met and we couldn’t grow the medicinal herbs needed for the Master Potion anymore.”
“The conditions are kept secret?”
“Yeah. Only a few people know all of the conditions to grow herbs.” Corinna-san said as she picked out another book from the bookshelf and handed it to me.
I looked at Corinna-san and the book cover without opening it.
She was signalling me to open the book with her chin, so I flipped it open……
Of course, my eyebrows would scrunch up.
Because the methods that were being ‘kept a secret’ were written in this book.
“Um…… Is it alright for me to see this?”
“I’m the person in charge here and I say that it’s fine, so it’s fine.”
Was it like that?
I pondered while flipping through the pages to search for a particular herb.
I soon found the page and read it. Corinna-san stood next to me grumbling, “This is confidential. Don’t say a word about it to anyone. Well, it’s not like you can do anything about it even if you know what the conditions are.”
I understood Corinna-san’s words after reading a bit more.
◊♦◊♦◊♦◊
The book that was handed to me was a record of various cultivation methods.
Likewise, the herb needed for the Master Potion that I was interested in was also recorded in here.
The cultivation conditions for it were: the amount of water and light, temperature and the type of fertiliser needed. There was a word that I wasn’t familiar with in this section.
“…… Blessing?”
Blessing wasn’t a word I would see under plant cultivation conditions.
I imaged someone praying in front of a herb field.
Where the heck did this religion come from?
At the same time, that image stuck a cord in me and my heart jumped.
No way, it couldn’t be.
I timidly looked at Corinna-san, who was standing next to me, and found her staring straight back at me.
“Do you understand what it means?”
“No…… I’m not sure.”
This wasn’t a lie.
I knew something about it, but I wasn’t sure if my assumptions were correct.
In the first place, these cultivation methods should have been written by a 【Pharmacist】not a【Saint】.
Therefore it was possible that it was something different from the blessing that I was imagining.
Was what I’d thought, but I had a feeling that I was correct.
“I see, what a shame. Well, whatever. Even if we had the ingredients, we couldn’t make it anyways because our level isn’t high enough.”
“You’re right.”
“By the way, I’ve never asked you this before, have I? What level is your pharmacy skill?” Corinna-san said, but she didn’t look like it was a shame.
Her words cut off my thoughts that were going around in a circle.
Corrina-san was right, even if the herbs were available, people couldn’t make the Master Potions if their skill wasn’t high enough.
I opened up my status in order to answer her question.
| Takanashi Sei | Lv. 56/Saint | |
|---|---|---|
| HP: 5,003/5,003 | ||
It’s higher than before……
I thought it would be impossible to raise my level because it didn’t go up even when I made Advanced HP Potions.
Did it go up because I made potions using the Advanced HP Potion recipe that Corinna-san taught me?
If so, then I’m glad.
Since it was still possible to raise it even if I don’t make the Master Potions.
“Level 32.” I chuckled while answering and Corinna-san frowned at me.
“What did you say?!”
I took a step back because she was looking at me so strongly.
“What’s wrong?”
“Your level’s higher than I thought it would be.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, it’s even higher than my level.”
Eh? Really?
I was surprised and Corinna-san looked shocked.
“So you’d reach that level if you made that many potions every day.”
“Mhm…… I’m sorry.” I couldn’t stand Corinna-san’s shocked expression and apologised.
The pharmacists in the distillation room were all surprised when they saw how many potions I could make in a day, but Corinna-san didn’t say anything about it so I wasn’t worried.
But, I guess I did make a lot after all.
It wasn’t just the mercenaries who ordered potions from here, the knights did as well.
Should I have held back?
“You can make the Master Potion if you’re at that level, but it’s a shame about the ingredients.”
“I agree……”
Corinna-san put a hand to her chin and pondered.
I glanced at her and thought about the Master HP Potion.
I wasn’t surprised that my pharmacy level was high enough to make Master Potions.
I had expected this to happen.
You could make more advanced potions every 10 levels, and I thought that I would be able to make it if my pharmacy level passed level 30.
I could raise my level again if I had the ingredients to make the Master Potion.
The problem is the ingredients.
It was difficult to get the ingredients now and it couldn’t be prepared at once.
The cultivation conditions couldn’t be met, so it was impossible to grow it.
Hmm.
Should I tell Corinna-san about that thing? I thought worriedly and then Corinna-san moved.
Corinna-san moved to the corner to a two-leaf door cabinet and opened it.
Unexpectedly, there was a metal door inside of the cabinet.
I thought that metal cabinets were unusual, but it appeared to be a safe.
Corinna-san kept the key to the safe around her neck and she reached under her clothes to take it out.
She took a really old looking book out of the safe.
This book was thinner than the books that contained the potion recipes and herb cultivation methods.
What kind of book is it?
I stared at it and Corinna-san gave me the book.
I opened the book gently.
The bindings were firm, but the colour of the paper changed towards the edges. I could tell how old this book was.
I turned the pages and read it. It read like someone’s diary.
“Is this a diary?”
“It is. But it’s also a very precious document.”
Document?
It felt like a normal diary when I skimmed through it. What was she talking about?
“This is a really precious book, so only read it when you’re alone in this room.”
“Only when I’m alone?”
“Yes. That book contains highly classified information and it can’t be seen by others.” She said and I wanted to ask her if it was alright for me to read this, but her answer would probably be the same as before.
She urged me to read it with her eyes, so I looked at the book again.
I placed the book on a table and sat on a chair so that I could read it carefully.
After reading it for a while, I understood who had written this diary.
The person who had written this book was the 【Pharmacist】.
Daily events were also written in this, just like any normal diary.
The cultivation trial and error process was also written as part of her daily life.
“She even wrote something like this……” I stopped mid-sentence and Corinna-san, who was sitting next to me, nodded quietly.
My guess is probably correct.
The trial and error process which was not written in the cultivation method book was written in here, along with the【Pharmacist-sama’s】feelings at that time.
Her road to success wasn’t smooth and she seemed to have enjoyed the twists and turns she experienced along the way.
However, she didn’t just write about medicinal herbs. She also wrote about her love for Klaussner and its citizens.
I found out that Klaussner didn’t have any special products to begin with from reading this diary.
They mainly produced wheat, like most of the other fiefs in Slantania Kingdom.
Then the wheat production was hurt badly. This didn’t just occur in Klaussner, this crop failure spread throughout Slantania Kingdom and many people starved to death.
The feudal lord’s daughter, who was also【Pharmacist-sama】, was extremely distressed when she saw the people starve to death.
Thus, she began to find ways to cultivate medicinal herbs, so that it could be used to pay tax in place of wheat.
Her hobby was certainly influenced by this crop selection, and she became known as 【Pharmacist-sama】.
I inferred from the diary that she started behaving the way she did for the sake of the people.
She was happy that she could curb the people’s hunger every time she succeed in cultivating different medicinal herbs.
I turned the page and read that she wrote a lot about a certain herb.
It seemed that cultivation of this herb wasn’t going well for her, and compared to the other herbs that she’d been cultivating so far, this one had been stumping her for a while.
That herb was important to her, but she had no choice but to leave it aside for now and focus on cultivating other herbs.
I could also tell that she was frustrated.
I skimmed the next entries because the contents remained the same and then I found an entry where she was overjoyed.
She’d found the last cultivation condition.
I found the condition when I read the entry before this one.
It was blessing and something else.
I found a description that couldn’t be overlooked.
“Golden magic……”
Ah, I knew it.
Corinna-san called out to me while I was surprised, “Do you know what this passage means?”
Yup, absolutely.
◊♦◊♦◊♦◊
A few days after I found the shocking truth.
I searched through the diary of 【Pharmacist-sama】.
I was confining myself in the corner of the distillation room since morning today, as well.
It wasn’t like I wasn’t opposed to reading someone else’s diary.
But sometimes you have to do things that you would rather not……
This was also for the sake of being able to use the 【Saint】technique.
I was just making excuses to myself while I read her diary.
From the description written in the diary, blessing seemed to be the same thing as the 【Saint】technique.
It was as I’d expected.
And I thought that 【Pharmacist-sama】was a 【Saint】since she could use that golden magic power.
When I confirmed this with Corinna-san, she told me that I was right.
Although, it wasn’t known that blessing was the 【Saint】technique.
Because this was confidential information.
Detailed information about blessing was only passed onto Klaussner’s feudal lord and the person in charge of the distillation room.
Due to the diary being top secret.
I was worried that I would anger Feudal Lord-sama because I was reading such a document, but I worried for no reason.
Corinna had received permission from Feudal Lord-sama beforehand.
I was relieved to hear that.
If I thought about it carefully, even if Corinna-san was in charge of the distillation room, she wouldn’t just show top secret information of the fief to a stranger without permission from Feudal Lord-sama.
It was fine for me to advance to the next stage now that I knew about blessing, but there was another problem.
I didn’t know the activation conditions for the 【Saint】technique.
To solve this, I’ve been reading 【Pharmacist-sama’s】diary for the past few days.
I hoped that I would find some hints.
But the progress wasn’t going well.
I couldn’t find any description that described what I was hoping to find.
I stretched while still seated in my chair when I finished reading the diary in my hand.
The writing was beautiful, but my eyes got tired from reading the same text for a long time.
I rubbed the corner of my eyes with both hands.
I looked at the window and saw that the light shining from outside had already reached the back of the room.
From how high the sun is right now, I’d say it was about 3 o’clock in the afternoon.
Come to think of it, I didn’t realise that the bell, that informed the time, had rang a while ago.
I’ve been reading since morning, should I go outside for a change of pace?
I got up from the chair as soon as I thought that.
“Oh my, are you going out?” Corinna-san called out to me as I was leaving the back room.
“I thought I should get some fresh air.” I replied and she returned it with a wry smile.
“That might be nice.”
Apparently I looked really tired.
She patted my back as if she was cheering me on.
I exited the distillation room and headed to the back of the castle.
There was a small herb garden there for cultivation experiments.
It didn’t smell of medicinal herbs like in the distillation room, but I felt as if I was being healed and it was a nice change of pace.
I arrived at the herb garden and sighed.
I squatted down on the field, rested my jaw on my arms and absent-mindedly gazed at the scenery.
Because my view was low, I could only see the herbs rustling in the wind.
I emptied my mind for a short while and then it was dusk.
Nevertheless, the investigation was more difficult than I’d expected.
The trials and errors of the cultivation were written in fine detail.
So I had hoped that the conditions for blessing would also be written, but that wasn’t the case.
Pharmacist-sama only wrote about other conditions and about the people of the fief.
No.
I might have overlooked something. I thought. I stared at the herbs and recalled the contents of the diary.
The thing she wrote about most after herb cultivation, was it about the fief’s citizens?
After that, she wrote about her daily life in detail.
Come to think of it, she did name a few people too.
I saw a certain man’s name a lot.
This is just a feeling I got from the writing, but was it her younger brother?
She had written about him more than others, so it left an impression on me.
Oh yeah, the first time she’d used blessing was also for her brother.
She originally cultivated herbs to heal a disease that was spreading throughout the fief.
The symptoms of the disease progressed slowly, but if untreated, the person would get weaker and weaker until they eventually died.
When her cultivation wasn’t going well, the citizens fell to the disease one by one, and eventually her brother also fell victim to it.
Then, 【Pharmacist-sama】grew impatient.
The herb was difficult to obtain; I don’t know if she had found it earlier, or if she had cultivated it fast, but 【Pharmacist-sama】wagered on it.
The result was her win.
Her younger brother and the citizens of the fief were able to recover safely, thanks to the potions she had made from the cultivated herbs.
The entry on the day her brother’s symptoms calmed down were wet and blurry.
“Mm, it’s a mystery.”
I tried to recall, but nothing of interest came to mind.
Then, the hints are in the parts I can’t remember?
It wasn’t possible to remember the diary word-by-word, so it was a possibility.
But, was it something so trivial that I couldn’t remember it?
Even though I thought about it for a long time, I couldn’t come up with an answer and my legs were going numb, so I stood up.
I stretched my arms.
I’ve been reading the diary the whole time so my back bones cracked.
I don’t know if I was able to change my mood or not, but it’s been a while since I’ve been out, so let’s head back now.
I turned back to head to the distillation room when I heard a crowd of people speaking.
Turning towards the voices, I saw mercenaries heading back towards the castle.
I stared intensely at their figures, because it was different from normal. They were in a rush.
I saw someone familiar in the group and headed towards them.
When I got closer, I understood the reason behind their attitude.
They were probably on a subjugation because there were injured people.
There were some who couldn’t walk unless they borrowed someone else’s shoulders.
“Are you okay!?”
“Oh, it’s you, Jou-chan.”
I ran up to Leo-san and his expression changed from a mixed one to a smiling one.
I felt like most of the mercenaries were looking at me like, ‘who the heck is that?’, but some people looked at me and their expressions softened.
I knew them because they had come to the distillation room to pick up potions before.
The people next to them asked about me and some people explained who I was, I heard the word ‘distillation room’ from them.
“Are you returning from a subjugation?”
“Yes. Demons that don’t usually appear on the forest edge were there. We were subjugating them. We still have our lives, but we were beaten.”
“It must have been tough. Are there a lot of injured people?”
“Yeah. But they’re livelier than ever. It’s thanks to the potions you made, Jou-chan.”
The people, who were listening to the conversation between Leo-san and I, started a commotion.
“Did you make that potion, nee-chan?”
“We were saved thanks to you!”
“Without it, I’d be dead by now.”
“The potion you made me drink was amazing!”
My accursed 50% increase was doing a great job as usual.
Leo-san’s words started the chain as the mercenaries surrounded me and gave their thanks.
Even though I had gotten used to the 3rd Knight Order, the mercenaries surrounding me were even bulkier than them, so the pressure I was feeling was high.
I felt the ends of my mouth become stiff, but I want you to overlook something like that because of the pressure.
“Will you be receiving treatment at the castle after this?”
“Yeah. Even though the potions are better than normal, there are still some guys who need more treatment.”
“Then, I’ll head to the distillation room and prepare new potions for you.”
“No, it’s not something that needs to be healed with potions. It’s enough just to get them wrapped up in bandages.”
“But some of them look seriously injured……”
“Ah. That’s right. What should I do……?”
He refused, saying that new potions weren’t necessary, but there were some people who couldn’t even walk by themselves.
When I told him that those people might need it, he was being evasive.
Leo-san scratched his head, looking troubled.
Rather than wait for it to heal naturally, it’s more effective for them to heal quickly with a potion.
I’m sure Leo-san and the other know this since they’re pros.
Were they being mindful of the herb shortage?
The amounts of potions used in a day might have already been decided.
The potions sold to the mercenaries were always at a fixed number.
Yup, why don’t I quickly use recovery magic here?
It looked like Leo-san and the others were patrolling and fighting every day, so it’s better for them to be in perfect condition, isn’t it?
Was there no one at the castle who could use recovery magic?
Of course, there aren’t.
I thought it was really odd when I first heard this since this was the Fief Capital, but all the fiefs were like this.
In addition, only a few people could use magic and fewer could use recovery magic. So they all went to the Royal Capital.
Yes, to the Court Mage Division.
The Court Mage Division had a better salary than working for the local castle. Someone told me this.
“Mm, if you don’t mind should I heal you?”
“Huh? If it’s with a potion……”
“Well, not with a potion but with magic.”
“What?”
As expected, the mercenaries and Leo-san all looked surprised.
They probably didn’t expect to find someone that could use recovery magic around them.
“Jou-chan, aren’t you a pharmacist.”
“Well……”
Leo had recovered and asked me suspiciously. How should I reply to him?
I am a member of the Medicinal Herb Research Institute and I do have the pharmacy skill. Would it be fine just to say that I was a pharmacist?
“I’m a pharmacist”
“““…………”””
I had a feeling that they were looking at me with eyes that said, “What the heck is this chick saying,” but I paid it no heed.
I felt like I would lose if I paid attention to that.
I asked seriously, “What’s wrong?” Leo-san seemed to have abandoned any thought and replied, “Please.”
After receiving permission, I casted 『HEAL』on the people closest to me.
They were injured but no one was close to death so it was probably fine if I didn’t prioritise who I healed.
It seemed that healing people with magic was rare and a lot of them saw it for the first time, so their eyes shone.
With this number, it was faster to cast AOE magic, 『AREA HEAL』. But I steadily casted 『HEAL』this time.
Because magic with the name ‘AREA’ attached to it required a high skill level.
It was rare to use recovery magic, if they found out I could use a higher level magic then I had a feeling that things would become troublesome.
So even if it was a pain to heal them individually, I won’t use 『AREA HEAL』.
Leo-san’s words broke my resolution.
“You’re really skilful too.”
“I am?”
“Ah. I’ve seen a court mage heal before, but your healing is even better than theirs, Jou-chan.”
“Th-thank you.”
“Since you’re this good, you’ll probably be called by the Knight Order too.”
“Excuse me?”
“They also received heavy damage.”
The Knight Order also received damage?
He’s talking about the 3rd Knight Order, isn’t he?”
“Yeah, we didn’t come back together but they looked seriously injured.”
“Seems they went in deeper than us, so that’s probably why.”
“A lot of demons have spawned further into the forest, so it’s more chaotic there. You have to prepare properly before going in.”
“Excuse me, is the Knight Order the one who came from the Royal Capital?”
“Ah, yup.”
I was filled with dread and chills ran down my spine at the mercenaries’ confirmation.
The smiling face of Captain-san always appeared in my mind after I thought about the knights.
Then, I saw the scene from that time.
“Hey!” Leo-san was surprised at the rapid speed of my magic power and called out, but his voice no longer reached me.
“『AREA HEAL』” After casting 『AREA HEAL』on the mercenaries, I left them and ran towards where the knights were on standby. I didn’t even turn back when a voice called out to me from behind.
Inside the castle, I glanced sideways at the surprised maids and ran to the separate building where the knights were stationed.
How long has it been since I’ve run this hard?
I feel like I’m running faster than when I was in my previous world.
I might be able to enter the Olympics now.
I desperately ran while thinking such thoughts.
I also thought that I wasn’t in a situation where I could think about other things, but if I don’t think, I think I would be really frustrated.
I remembered what the mercenaries said before.
They’d said that the knights had received more damage, but how were their injuries?
I had participated in subjugation missions while at the Royal Capital and I have seen them injured before.
If the damage they’d received was the same as that time, then it was still alright.
The people from the Court Mage Division that accompanied us could also heal well.
However, if they received more damage than the mercenaries, then that meant that more people were injured than usual.
Usually, fewer knights were injured compared to the mercenaries from earlier.
Is he alright?
I suddenly thought and drew my lips together.
It didn’t matter what state he’s in, as long as he’s alive.
Then I’ll do my best to heal him.
I renewed my determination and headed towards where the knights were stationed.
I saw the knights coming back in groups at the same time I saw the building.
There really are a lot of injured people.
The number of people borrowing other people’s shoulders to walk were more than the mercenaries.
I instinctively frowned.
The entrance of their station was crowded with injured people.
“Sei!!!” When I approached them, someone among them noticed me and called out to me.
All the other knights also turned towards me when they heard that.
Everyone’s tired expressions changed to a relieved one.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, as you can see, no one died.”
I was also relieved at those words.
“We’re getting treatment inside but……”
“I’ll help!”
“Sorry, that’ll be great.”
When I interrupted his words, he looked apologetic as he thanked me.
No, no.
Even though I came here because I was interested in the sacred ground for pharmacists, we still came here together for subjugation.
It was only natural that I also participate in curing them.
He didn’t ask for help, even though he was so apologetic.
So I smiled at the knight.
The entrance to the building was crowded, but when people noticed that I was coming through they opened up a road for me.
When I entered the hall, it was just as equally crowded inside as out.
The Court Mages were seated at the back of the hall and injured people were lined up before them.
It seemed that they were treating minor injuries.
Severely injured people were sitting or lying down along both sides of the walls. Another mage was walking between those people and casting recovery magic on them in turns.
Now then, where’s Captain-san?
No matter what I do, I should first confirm the situation with him and ask him what I should do.
I thought and looked around but I didn’t see his familiar blonde hair.
Has he not returned yet?
Or……
I couldn’t see him and the heavy feeling in my heart grew.
No, the knights said it before, didn’t they?
No one died.
I shook my head to get rid of the nasty thoughts.
I looked around restlessly for Captain-san and one of the knights, who I accidently met eyes with, beckoned at me.
When I looked towards there, I saw a crowd of people.
Captain-san might be there.
I walked quickly towards that spot and saw Captain-san sitting on a chair through a gap between the crowds of people.
What’s wrong with him?
He seemed to be completely exhausted but I couldn’t see his expression because he was facing the floor.
“Hawk-sa……” I tried to call out to him and froze.
Someone who looked like a servant was wrapping a white cloth around Captain-san’s head.
I saw a little dull, red colour spread onto the white cloth.
Did he injure his head?
…… His head?!
My face quickly paled.
Having a head injury is bad.
I have to heal it quickly!
When I thought that, I felt a familiar feeling swell up around my chest.
“This is-!”
“Sei!”
Eh? What is it?
Although I couldn’t understand the reason and was panicking, the magic swelling up inside me didn’t stop.
Light gold and white magic started drifting in the air and gradually covered the whole hall.
The knights noticed the magic in the air and started getting noisy.
Ah, what should I do?
No, anyway……
I broke off my thoughts that were becoming chaotic and remembered my original purpose.
Yes, the treatment.
I have to heal him.
The moment I thought that, the skill activated and the magic that filled the hall reacted.
The light was stronger than usual and my vision was dyed in white.
The people in the hall were healed just as I’d expected they would from the light.
Loud cheers could be heard when my vision returned to normal.
“Sei?”
“Ah…… Hawk-sama, are you alright?”
“Yeah, my injury wasn’t that bad.”
“Wasn’t that bad…… Even though you injured your head?”
“It’s fine. It only seemed like a big deal because of the blood.”
I was surprised at the skill activating, but Captain-san brought me back to my senses when he called out to me.
Of course, the skill also healed Captain-san’s injuries.
Blood wasn’t flowing out of his head even though the servant had released the pressure.
I sighed in relief at that.
“Anyway, that skill just now was it……”
“Yes……”
Everyone knew what it was even if it wasn’t said aloud.
He probably just wanted to ask if that was the 【Saint】technique or not.
I nodded in the middle of Captain-san’s sentence.
Even so, why did the 【Saint】technique activate now?
It wasn’t like with recovery magic where it spread out of my body because of my intention, now is it?
I’m sure that something triggered it but……
I thought about different things and then recalled what was written in【Pharmacist-sama’s】diary.
I’m sure when 【Pharmacist-sama】activated the 【Saint】technique, she was frustrated that her brother’s illness had taken a turn for the worse.
Is that frustration the trigger?
It could be said that for this case that was the one thing in common.
I might have lost my head when I saw Captain-san’s injuries.
It wasn’t just this time, but I was like this when we were at the West Forest too.
But, the situation at the research institute had been a little different.
I was certainly frustrated at that time because I couldn’t find a way to increase the effects of the potions.
However, if the skill could be activated with just that much frustration, then I should have been able to use it at the Court Mage Division’s training grounds.
The pressure coming from Head Magician-sama, who was standing next to me at those times, wasn’t a joke.
I thought that I was pretty frustrated at those times.
But it still didn’t activate.
If it isn’t frustration, then what the earth could……
“…… i. Sei?” My consciousness raised to the surface at the voice calling out to me.
I seemed to have pondered too hard.
I met Captain-san’s eyes and he looked worried since he had called out to me many times but I didn’t respond.
“Sorry, I was just thinking a little.”
“I see. About the 【Saint】technique?”
“Yes. About why I was able to activate it……”
“Hmm……”
Captain-san put his hands to his chin when he heard my words and pondered.
The knights around us, who had also heard us talk, also pondered.
I was very thankful that they cooperated with me in this way.
Listening to other people might bring new ideas onto the table.
Everyone was piling in their ideas and it felt like we were comrades.
Comrades…… Comrades, are we?
Come to think of it, when I first activated the 【Saint】technique at the research institute I was thinking of the researchers and knights from the 3rd Knight Order.
Could it be that thinking about my comrades is the trigger?
Mm, isn’t it a bit weak as a trigger?
But I feel like I’ll know what the trigger is some time in the near future.
When I was at the research institute, I surely……
When I tried to recall as much as I could about the first time I activated the technique, I noticed something different.
Something in my chest finally started moving.
I was surprised for a second and stopped thinking about it; then that feeling also started calming down.
I unintentionally frowned.
“Sei, what’s wrong?” Captain-san called out to me when he saw my expression but I couldn’t answer him frankly.
“Ah…… No, it’s nothing.”
Ugh……
Even if you look at me with such eyes, I can’t talk about it.
Because, because……
Captain-san, I was able to activate the technique because I was thinking about you; how could I say something like that!?!?
It’s so embarrassing, I can’t do it! I really can’t say it out loud!
Translator: Blushy
Editor: Sam
