Chapter 40: Potential I sat at the corner of the library in the Royal Palace, quietly turning the pages of a book in the early afternoon after my lectures had finished. I had my magic lecture today and I could have gone to the practice grounds after the lecture, but I didn"t feel like that, so I decided to read a book in the library.
I picked a medicinal herb dictionary to read out of the many books available in the library. The book had drawings of medicinal herbs in it as well as a detailed description of the herb"s effects. I"d read this book once before but I discovered new facts when I read it again, so it was interesting. My eyes went over the pages and then I noticed something. The main production area was recorded within the description and I kept seeing the same place named over and over again.
I looked back at the previous pages without much thought and noticed that a lot of medicinal herbs had that region listed in their descriptions. Medicinal herbs for HP and MP potions weren"t the only herbs being produced in that region; herbs needed for abnormal status recovery potions were also produced there. I thought that it was a big production region for medicinal herbs and recalled that I heard talked about that place the other day. Yes, that region, the place that was shipping fewer medicinal herbs to the Royal Capital.
It was said to be the biggest production region for medicinal herbs and it seemed that various kinds of medicinal herbs could be harvested there. I didn"t know why fewer herbs were being shipped, but a lot of herbs could be harvested from that region, so the scope of the issue was quite broad. Potions that healed abnormal status were also used by the general public.
It might have been in my character to get worried about something once I thought about it. A sound came from the entrance of the library when I thought that I should find out more about that region next time. The door opened with a creaking sound and I saw brown hair.
"Ah, Sei-san."
"h.e.l.lo."
The person who entered was Misono Aira, the girl who was summoned with me to this world. She was still attending the Royal Academy and was graduating in a month. She should still be in cla.s.s at this time so why was she at the library?
"Cla.s.s is still in session, isn"t it?"
"No, I didn"t have cla.s.s today so I went to the Mage Division."
"I see."
"So, I wanted to do some research."
According to Airchan, the students who were graduating this year had already finished their lessons and could freely come and go from school. Those who had poor grades were doing their best with their supplementary lessons. That was similar to what happened in j.a.panese high schools.
Airchan had excellent grades and she had decided to join the Court Mage Division after graduating from school. It was more beneficial for her to go to the Court Mage Division when she didn"t have cla.s.ses than attending supplementary lessons.
Apart from holy attribute magic, Airchan was also proficient in water and wind attribute magic and, until a little while ago, she only raised the level of her holy attribute magic. She had been improving her skills by training her other attributes at the Court Mage Division. There were only a limited number of people who were proficient in multiple attributes, so they were expected to gain high positions at the Court Mage Division if they raised their magic levels.
The things that she was studying at the Court Mage Division seemed to be the same as in my lectures and practices. There was something that she couldn"t understand in her lecture so she came to the library to do some research. There were many books on magic at the Court Mage Division but they were all specialist books so the content was hard to understand. I knew because I also came to the library to research about magic.
"What are you researching Sei?"
"Well, I"m researching about medicinal herbs. Ah, if you can, please keep it a secret that I came here."
"Ah…… Okay." Airchan smiled wryly at my words. Why was me being here a secret? It"s because of that reason.
One third of my magic lectures were comprised of a certain problem. The problem was, of course, about the【Saint】technique that I used. That technique. The one that had annihilated the swamp and demons at the West Forest in a single sweep.
I hadn"t been able to activate the 【Saint】technique since I returned to the Royal Capital from the West Forest. It couldn"t be helped since I didn"t even know the activation conditions. The Head Magician had watched the technique closely at that time, but even if he could follow the movements of the technique, he couldn"t identify the activation conditions. I"m extremely sorry for that.
Yup. I lit the Head Magician"s researcher"s spirit. Like the rumours stated, the Head Magician was a magic idiot. He used my lecture time to research how to activate that technique. He observed how I used my magic and was very enthusiastic. Intelligent Gla.s.ses-sama did nothing to stop him and I was beginning to think that the Head Magician was devoting all my lecture time to his research. He stopped for a bit and now I only sacrificed a third of my lectures to his research.
I didn"t want that Head Magician to find out that I was here, so I asked Airchan to keep it a secret. If he knew that I was reading about medicinal herbs here then he would definitely make me help with his research. Definitely. All the mages at the Court Mage Division would probably agree with me. Definitely.
I am also interested in the 【Saint】technique. After all, it could strengthen medicinal herbs. However, it was mentally draining to devote my time on something that couldn"t be solved. I think that was also one of the reasons why I didn"t feel like going to the practice grounds. So I decided to do something I liked to change my mood today.
"I thought that medicinal herbs were something unique to this world but it turns out they aren"t." Airchan peeped at the book I was reading from my side and said, somewhat nostalgically.
"Yes. Plants called herbs are used as medicinal herbs."
The page I was on was about a familiar herb. I started to talk to Airchan about herbs and then the library door opened once again. We turned towards the door and saw Liz.
"How do you do, Sei and Aira?"
"Long time no see."
"h.e.l.lo."
I felt like it had been an extremely long time since I"d seen Liz. Although various things happened because of the Crown Prince, Liz was still training to be queen at the Royal Castle. Liz still had another year until her graduation, unlike the Crown Prince and Airchan, so she still had to attend school. Therefore, there wasn"t too much to say as her day consisted of going to and from the Royal Academy and the Royal Palace. She was a very busy person.
I"ve also became busy ever since I started taking lectures. It was inevitable that the chances of them meeting had decreased.
"You"re reading a medicinal herb book today too." Liz peeked at the book in my hand like Airchan did and laughed. Now that I think about it, it feels like I"m always reading a medicinal 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 oil from herbs and use it for various things."
"Aromatherapy?"
"Yes, yes."
"What is aromatherapy?"
"Aromatherapy is……"
Liz was confused by the unfamiliar words, so Airchan and I explained it to her. While we were talking the topic shifted to the recent herb shortage.
"We"ve been talking for quite a long time. Are you still free Sei?"
"I am. Researching about medicinal herbs is also working and also I can"t make potions even if I return to the research inst.i.tute."
"You can"t?"
"Medicinal herbs are hard to come by recently and the Director finally put a ban on potion making."
"Come to think of it, I"ve heard about that. The price of medicinal herbs has risen across the board because of it."
"Do you know the Klaussner region? It"s a famous medicinal herb production region."
"I know about that region. That region is famous for herb production but it"s also famous as a sacred place for pharmacists."
"A sacred place for pharmacists?"
Klaussner was the name of the region that decreased the medicinal herbs shipment and also the reason behind the potion manufacture ban. Liz was learning how to be queen, so I thought that she would know about that region in detail and I was right. This was the first time I"d ever heard it being called a sacred place for pharmacists and tilted my head in confusion, so Liz and Airchan both told me why it was called that. Airchan also knew why it was called that, so it must have been taught at the Royal Academy.
According to them, Klaussner produced many types of medicinal herbs and they produced it in large volumes. Valuable medicinal herbs that couldn"t be harvested in other territories also grew in small amounts in the wild of Klaussner, so a lot of potions were developed there. They had an abundance of different types of medicinal herbs so they had potions that weren"t mentioned in books. Each pharmacist house there had their own secret recipes that had been pa.s.sed down for generations and many pharmacists visited Klaussner in order to learn the secret recipes. Because of that, Klaussner became known as a sacred place for pharmacists.
"Oh, they have various kinds of potions, right?"
"Yes. I"ve never seen the potions before but my father has."
"The actual potion?"
"The actual potion, and he"s seen it used in front of him before too. The person they tested it on was someone from my house so the effects are real."
"Is that so?"
I heard that Klaussner had many kinds of potions and got excited. One of the secret potions might be more effective than Advanced Potions. I wonder if I can somehow learn the formula. That thought didn"t leave my mind even after we finished talking and I parted ways with Liz and Airchan.
Translator: Blushy
Editor: SenjiQ