Chapter 15: The First Step I recalled the story I heard from the 3rd Knight Order the other day.
Yeah, it"s about the girl who was summoned together with me.
She was taken by the Crown Prince and now attended the Royal Academy.
I thought she was still around that age to be a student, so that in itself didn"t matter.
What I was concerned about was that her level was lower than her cla.s.smates at the time of admittance.
After parting with the Knights, I returned to the research inst.i.tute and confirmed it with Jude. I talked to him about whether there were a lot of people around level 7 or 8 in their first year at school.
The Knights said that there were many third graders who were level 12 ~16; the Prince and his a.s.sociates were excellent students, so they exceeded that and were at level 15.
Because she was being accompanied by her cla.s.smates, Airchan"s highest level would have been the same as the Prince and his a.s.sociates, level 15.
I remember my level.
Or rather, I just checked it a while back. I didn"t raise my level and my level hasn"t risen since I"ve been summoned.
It remained at level 55.
Yes, level 55.
Comparing it now, Airchan is level 15 and I"m level 55……
Even if Airchan level is higher than 15, it"s probably lower than mine, right?
I was somewhat concerned and asked. Jude was level 20 and even most of the Knights were around level 30.
I don"t think her level is higher than theirs.
What on earth is with this level difference?
I had a really unpleasant idea, but I didn"t want to think about it too much.
I didn"t want to think that it was because of our age difference, but I would hate it even more if I was the 【Saint】and Airchan wasn"t.
If it was like that, then I wouldn"t be able to live my normal peaceful life.
Airchan would also hate it, right?
She was summoned by the 【Saint Summoning Ceremony】, but she"s not the【Saint】.……
"Hey, you put a lot of energy into making it, huh."
When I turned around to the person calling out to me, I saw the Director. He looked stunned.
I silently made potions while deep in thought, so I made more than what was originally planned.
The research inst.i.tute recently started selling potions to the 3rd Knight Order at wholesale price, so I aimed to increase the efficiency by making a lot of potions at once. I was mixing 1~5 times more potions than what a normal pharmacist would make on the desk next to the kettle.
"I am sorry. I made too much while in deep thought."
"It still looks like you have room for more, so could you double this amount by the end of today?"
I said to the Director, who was smiling wryly, "Well, if it is just that much, then I can make it." And his cheeks twitched.
When I first came to the research inst.i.tute and he saw that I was making a lot of Low HP Potions, he was worried about my MP getting depleted, but he wasn"t worried about that anymore.
Now, he worried about the herbs in the medicinal herb garden decreasing day by day.
Since they are used in Advanced HP Potions, he couldn"t allow it to decrease any further, so there was a current ban on using them.
It didn"t seem like my pharmacy skills level would rise any further. So lately, whenever I needed to make Advanced HP Potions for the 3rd Knight Order, the materials were purchased from the store, so I only made a small amount.
Advanced HP Potions were both effective and very expensive, so in the recent subjugations at the East and South Forest, the Knight Order didn"t use them unless they had to. So even if I made a lot of it, it would just acc.u.mulate.
This time, however, they were going to the West Forest for the first time in a long time, so it was better for them to use the Advanced HP Potions that they normally didn"t use. Therefore, I increased the production rate a little.
The only thing I could publically do as an ordinary person, was to make potions. So I made them enthusiastically, but the look on the Director"s face told me that I overdid it a little.
I had planned on using the whole day to finish my work, but I finished everything in the morning, so I decided to go to the Royal Palace library.
I went to search for books on medicinal herbs that could be made into potions which were more effective than Advanced HP Potions.
I have been researching medicinal plants for a long time, but I still couldn"t find anything yet.
When I previously asked Liz, she told me that there might be books containing that information in the prohibited book section, but ordinary people couldn"t enter that section.
I read all the books related to medicinal herbs since I didn"t have any other choices.
There"s still a long way to go.
Even now to kill time, I was searching for a book that seemed like it would be related to medicinal herbs, but then I found a book that interested me so I took it.
The t.i.tle of the book included the words 「Holy Magic Attribute」.
My level is odd but what"s weirder is the level of my holy magic in my status.
What is ∞ (infinity)?
Levels that aren"t even represented by numbers might be related to the 【Saint】.
Since I came across the subject by chance, I was able to ask about basic levels. But, I haven"t heard anything about attribute magic levels, so I didn"t know what the average level was and I didn"t know what the limit was.
They"d ask questions if I"m too persistent, so I couldn"t ask any more than that.
I had timidly asked about basic levels, but thankfully no one asked me about my level.
Now let"s return to the main subject.
Although the book was about holy magic, I didn"t think that my level would rise any higher than this, so I didn"t have anything in particular I wanted to study.
Also, my pharmacy and cooking skills were still levelling up, so it was way more fun.
But I changed my mind, after coming here and hearing about Airchan.
She was summoned at the same time as me, but her level was lower than mine.
Because of this, the possibility of her holy attribute magic being lower than mine was also high.
Of course, it was fine if she was the same level as me. I hoped that she was the same level as me.
That way, I could remain an ordinary person forever.
Because as soon as I become a Saint, the chances that I"d have to be together with that Prince would increase, you know.
I really want to avoid that.
Ah, I strayed again.
Hearing about Airchan and the subjugation to the West Forest made me think that it was better for me to learn a little magic.
The subjugation this time would commence where that Salamander appeared.
I heard from the knights that the demons had decreased recently, but I was still a little worried after all.
A lot of people may get injured like that time. There may even be cases where potions just weren"t enough and magic was needed.
I remembered that I overheard someone saying at that time that potions might not be enough and that they would need magic to heal the wounds.
If something like that were to happen, then I felt that it"d be better to have some knowledge of magic rather than have none at all.
That was why I was interested in the books about holy attribute magic.
"Are you interested in magic?"
I turned to face the voice that abruptly called out to me and I was surprised to see a man standing close to me.
The book I took was certainly about holy attribute magic so it was quite difficult.
In other words, my eyes were going from left to right. I was so immersed in reading that I didn"t notice that someone had approached me until they had called out.
"That book is extremely difficult……"
"Yes. I was just thinking that it would be nice if I had something simpler."
"Then how about this one?"
He took a book from the opposite bookshelf and handed it to me.
I flipped through the pages. It was much simpler than the book I was reading earlier.
Even a beginner like me could understand it.
"Thank you."
"No problem."
We only talked to that extent but he was staring at me.
Yup, it feels uncomfortable.
Because he is very similar to him.
The man looked a bit older than me and I had a feeling that he didn"t just suddenly age.
The man was also a lot taller than me, but he was probably shorter than the Captain.
When I looked up a little, I could see bright copper hair on his head.
His lips were drawn in an arc, he had gentle narrow eyes and a straight nose. His features were well-balanced and really resembled that person.
Although their features were similar, his face deviation value was very high.
Since he was older, I felt that he had more destructive powers than him.
What can I say, there was a big difference in s.e.x appeal.
"It"s a bit late but I am Seigfried Slantania."
It was probably because I looked doubtful.
His face changed from a laughing one to a serious one as he introduced himself and he bowed beautifully.
From his sophisticated graceful movements and his name, he"s definitely one of this country"s loyalties, right?
Or rather, he is royalty right?
"Can I call you Sei?"
"Y-yes."
Dammit, I was supposed to give my greetings.
I was late in introducing myself because I was so surprised and dumbfounded. He"d already introduced himself and confirmed my name.
It was too late now but I should return his greeting, right?
"My name is Sei."
I pinched my skirt like an aristocrat woman, bent my knees and bowed.
It"s called courtesy.
The other person seems to be from royalty, so I think that politeness is important.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
There might be time where I meet aristocrats without knowing anything since I was in the Royal Palace so it was good that I learnt a bit from Liz.
"You don"t have to be that formal. I"m the one who should act courtesy towards you."
Seigfried-sama touched my arm, fl.u.s.tered and lifted me up.
Even if he said so, I didn"t think that there was anything that he needed to act courtesy about.
I tilted my head in confusion and he made a serious expression again and lowered his head.
"I heard that my son has been very disrespectful to you. I apologise for my stupid son"s foolishness."
"Your son?"
"Yes."
"Mhm ~, your son is Kyle…… Is it about His Highness?"
"Yes."
When the man in front of me said son, it reminded me of the Crown Prince.
I"m sure his name was Kyle. Looks like I was right.
That was his son so that meant that Seigfried-sama is…… the King!?
"Ah, please raise your head!"
"But……"
"I did not mind."
I lied when I said I didn"t mind, but I think that having a King lower his head was a problem.
I wanted him to stop, it was really bad for my heart.
"I originally wanted to apologise much faster in a proper place but…… I apologise that I"m doing it in such a place."
"No, please do not worry about it. I would rather it be here."
According to the King, there were various political problems and an official apology would take place later.
He, however, think that doing nothing would also be a problem. He heard that I often came to the library alone, so he went to the library often to meet me.
It seemed that we kept missing each other so he wasn"t able to meet me.
Well I didn"t need such an overwhelming apology in an official or informal place.
He politely told me in a roundabout way……
"I wanted to apologise, but you"ve also made various achievements since coming to this Kingdom. I would like to award you, is there anything you want? For example, territory or rank……"
"No, thank you."
"I see. Then how about a mansion in the capital……"
"I would also like to refuse that. I would not be able to manage it."
"Then how about I prepare some servants there as well?"
"Servants!?"
After that, he offered me various things as reward, but each and every one of them was too much for me so I refused them.
He also offered me dresses and accessories.
I was interested in them, but I politely refused because I couldn"t maintain them.
Then he said, "It"s just like what Johan said", while smiling bitterly.
I heard that conversations about giving me a reward had been brought up before, but the Director put an end to those conversations.
He said I would probably refused.
Good job, Director.
"Oh well. I"ll give up for today, but if you can think of anything you want, please let me know. If it"s within my powers then I"ll prepare it for you."
The King smiled bitterly, full with s.e.x appeal and ended the conversation there. It was time for him to return and my sudden audience with the King was over.
Yup, it was bad for my heart in various ways.
Translator: Blushy