Chapter 39: Shortage of Medicinal Herbs A year has pa.s.sed since I"ve been summoned, the seasons pa.s.sed and spring has come again. However, it was still the end of winter and the climate around the Royal Capital was milder than j.a.pan. But cold weather was still cold and so I was confining myself inside.
"Sei, are you making potions again?" Jude called out in amazement. I wonder how many times we"ve had this conversation.
"Yes, I am. The orders have increased recently."
"Even so, aren"t you making too much?"
"Am I?" I looked at the potions in front of me and inclined my head in doubt. Jude sighed deeply. You don"t have to be that shocked, right? It"s true that the orders increased. At first, the potions were only sold to the 3rd Knight Order but now they were also being sold to the 2nd Knight Order and Court Mage Division.
This was because there was a rumour going around the Royal Palace that the potions made by the research inst.i.tute were highly effective but that wasn"t the only reason. The demons had increased and so had the demand for potions in the market, so there had been a shortage of potions for a while now.
All they needed to do was increase the supply but it wasn"t that simple. There was only a limited number of people who could make stable potions and there was also a limit to how much potions they could make within a day.
Potions were a necessity because Knights from the Royal Palace went on subjugations. The number of necessary potions also increased as more demons appeared around the Royal Capital.
However, no matter how much the Royal Palace"s order was prioritised, they couldn"t monopolise the market. The quant.i.ty of potions delivered to the palace had increased compared to before because of the Royal Palace"s policies but it was difficult to increase the amount further.
Light wounds could be healed naturally and bigger injuries could be healed by Mages who could use holy attribute magic. Then the potions made by the research inst.i.tute appeared. The effects were high and the production rate per day wasn"t inferior to the medicinal specialist stores the Royal Palace used. There was no way the Knights, who were enduring a lack of potions, weren"t attracted to this.
"I don"t think they would order this much no matter how much the orders have increased."
"I made it with quant.i.ty in mind."
"Really? No one would order this many Advanced HP Potions. You"ll be scolded by the Director again, you know?"
The potions lined up before them were Advanced HP Potions. The medicinal herbs used to make these potions were expensive and it was rarely used. Of course, the Knight Order didn"t order that many Advanced HP Potions.
The reason why I had made a large quant.i.ty of potions was because I wanted to raise my Pharmacy skill. It was necessary to make potions in order to raise my Pharmacy skill. But at my current level, my Pharmacy skill wouldn"t raise even if I made Advanced HP Potions, now would it?
The medicinal herbs used in Advanced HP Potions were expensive so the Director told me to hold back and I was careful about that…… I guess there"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?
"The order mainly consisted of Low and Intermediate HP Potions." Jude had said this before but the amount of potions I made in a day was a lot more than what normal pharmacists made. I could make a quant.i.ty that took normal pharmacists days. This was probably related to my basic level. I"d heard that people who made potions weren"t even level 10. The difference in basic levels also appears in HP and MP.
One needed to concentrate magic power into the potion in order to make it and perhaps people with more MP could make more potions. I didn"t know the MP difference between a level 10 person and myself, but it was probably quite big.
"Sei, I have something……" Speaking of the devil. The Director appeared while I was talking to Jude. It appeared that he needed me for something but his eyes were glued to the Advanced HP Potions on top of the desk. Oops, he found them before I put them away.
"I don"t mind you being enthusiastic about your work, but isn"t this too much?"
"I"m sorry." As I told Jude, I made the order while taking the wholesale amount to the Knight Order into consideration. The potions in front of us were too much for one order but it was enough to handle two or three orders. The Director understood this and didn"t scold me.
However, I did understand that having them all lined up like this made him want to complain. That was why I apologised to the Director as he was looking at me extremely shocked. "Well, good timing. I wanted to talk about potions."
"What about potions?" I trembled in fear thinking that it was possible that he would give me a good scolding this time, because of his unusually serious expression. I straightened my posture and listened inventively.
"We"ve decided to stop making potions for a while." The Director continued.
"Huh? Why?"
"It"s getting difficult to obtain the ingredients."
"What?!" According to the Director, the amount of medicinal herbs brought into the Royal Capital this autumn was much less than usual.
There was only a small amount imported from a certain place which was a major production region for medicinal herbs. Therefore, there was an insufficient amount of medicinal herbs circulating around the Royal Capital.
We tried to get as much herbs as we could and the store we were close with had also helped out but even that has become difficult. A note had just arrived telling the Director that they couldn"t take our orders for a while.
"It"s become a really serious matter."
"Yes it has. I was told that there might be a shortage in autumn, but I didn"t think our orders would be suspended."
"Would our orders be suspended for a long time?"
"I"m not sure but that could be the case according to the store."
"How troubling……" The region in question had not only shipped medicinal herbs for Low HP Potions, they also shipped a lot of medicinal herbs for Intermediate and Advanced HP Potions.
Medicinal herbs needed for Low Potions were generally easier to cultivate regardless of the soil used. However, cultivation was slightly more difficult for herbs needed in Intermediate Potions. They weren"t grown in normal soil and if they were, it would take a lot of time and effort for them to grow. Instead, they were grown at the research inst.i.tute because the researchers were taking measures.
Medicinal herbs needed for Intermediate Potions grew easily in this region and they began cultivating it. The herbs needed for Advanced Potions also grew in the forests of this region so they shipped everything. Those herbs were brought by the Royal Capital at an appropriate price but they were only shipped out seasonally because of their nature.
That"s why the Director probably thought that the shift in time was the reason why they received less medicinal herbs since the beginning of autumn. However, the amount of medicinal herbs received did not improve even during the middle of the season and the herb shortage continued.
The Director and the civil officials from the Royal Palace predicted that something had happened and an investigation unit was dispatched from the Royal Palace to investigate the cause of this. "What should I do with the Knight Order"s order?"
"We have no choice but to stop accepting their orders."
"I understand."
The Director said and returned to his office. We finished at a good place so both Jude and I returned to our work. However, the potions were done and I"d been told to stop making them, I thought absentmindedly as I tidied up the tools needed for making potions.
The demons around the Royal Capital have decreased temporarily but the subjugations continued. The amount of potions used had decreased but that didn"t mean they were completely unnecessary. If the shortage of medicinal herbs continued, it would become a problem. I thought that it would be good if I could solve this before it became a problem.
Translator: Blushy
Editor: Katsono