Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 173: First-Class Work
A row of disappointed faces greeted me in the Royal Magic Pharmacists’ compounding room.
I was just as disappointed as they were.
“I see. Then the icehouse project must wait for His Majesty’s decision.”
“I’m sorry. This happened because I said something unnecessary to Brother Alex.”
“No, no, please don’t worry about it,” Giovanni said. “We would never ask you to keep quiet if doing so might put you in a difficult position, Julius-sensei.”
Everyone present nodded. They clearly thought the delay was unfortunate, but unavoidable.
And it seemed the habit of calling me ‘sensei’ had completely taken root.
I wanted to beg them to use that title only inside these rooms. If I bumped into one of them elsewhere in the palace and they loudly called me ‘sensei,’ I would be mortified.
“His Majesty understands the importance of the icehouse and how strongly ingredient quality affects magic potions,” Giovanni continued. “I’m certain he’ll grant permission before long.”
“That’s right. Then we’ll wait for that day. Julius-sensei, what will you teach us today?”
“Today we’ll make the Strong Antidote.”
“Ooooh!”
A cheer rose through the room.
Once I taught them how to make the Strong Antidote, we would be one step closer to producing the Panacea. The problem was that all the necessary ingredients were valuable, so none of these potions could be made carelessly or very often.
Of course, the ingredients for Advanced Healing Potions and Strong Antidotes were precious too. But with enough effort, the state could collect them.
The Panacea was a different matter.
World Tree leaves and dragon’s blood.
Could they really obtain more? I didn’t even know where a World Tree stood, never mind where to get dragon’s blood.
And so we began making Strong Antidotes. As usual, I demonstrated the process first. The Royal Magic Pharmacists watched and copied my work, while I went around the room correcting the places where anyone got stuck.
By the end, sixteen Strong Antidotes had been completed in total.
Every one of them was low quality, though.
Still, I was relieved none had fallen to the lowest rank. The finished potions were a compromise, but that couldn’t be helped. The ingredient quality was poor. It wasn’t a problem with their skill.
Rather, the fact that every single person had successfully completed one showed that their skill really was first class.
“As expected of the Royal Magic Pharmacists. Not one of you failed. I’m impressed.”
“Julius-sensei.”
“Yes?”
Huh? What was wrong?
For some reason everyone suddenly looked deeply troubled. Only a few moments earlier, they’d finished the potions successfully and had even been high-fiving one another in celebration.
“We succeeded because your teaching was so clear, Julius-sensei. The last time I made a Strong Antidote, fewer than half my attempts succeeded.”
“That’s right. And that was despite deliberately choosing ingredients that were clearly better than the ones we used for today’s practice.”
Giovanni lowered his head.
“Forgive us, but we never imagined everyone would succeed using the inferior leftovers we’d set aside. We only hoped this would serve as practice for the next attempt. We’re the ones who should be impressed.”
With that, everyone present knelt in front of me and bowed deeply.
Stop it!
The servant was going to write something in that notebook again!
Look, his pen was already racing across the page!
My Appraisal had told me exactly how inferior the ingredients were, and they’d still managed to produce low-quality potions rather than failures or lowest-quality rubbish. All I could say was that they’d done an excellent job.
I still didn’t want to drink one of those potions myself, though.
“All right, raise your heads. Please stand up.”
I clapped my hands until they finally obeyed. If someone else saw this scene, another strange rumour might start spreading through the palace.
“Next we’ll finally begin work on the Panacea, but there’s the issue of ingredients. How many attempts’ worth do you still have?”
“Enough for three more.”
Oh. As expected of a royal institution. I hadn’t thought they would still have that much of such rare material left.
Three attempts would be enough for me to teach them how to make the Panacea.
After all, making one was a long game. With this many people, they could work in shifts. Their skill was sufficient.
We could do this.
“Then tomorrow we’ll begin the Panacea—”
“One moment, Julius-sensei.”
“What is it?”
Giovanni stopped me. Was there another problem with the ingredients?
“Could you give us some time to practise and review first? You’ve taught us more in these few days than we learned in years, and almost none of it’s familiar to us. We want to make certain we’ve properly mastered everything you’ve taught before risking the remaining Panacea ingredients.”
He looked at me with pleading eyes.
I couldn’t refuse that.
I would be in the royal capital throughout the social season, so there was no need to rush. It would be enough if I could finish teaching them before I returned to the Heine Margraviate.
And while they were reviewing, I could teach them other kinds of magic potion. That way, I wouldn’t have to be summoned personally by His Majesty every time something unfamiliar happened.
“I understand. Then we’ll set aside a practice period for a while. Of course, during that time I’ll teach you how to make several other magic potions as well.”
“Thank you very much.”
All the Royal Magic Pharmacists bowed deeply again.
And the servant faithfully recorded that scene in his notebook too.
I could also teach them useful, practical products. Hand cream and facial toner would probably please Her Majesty the Queen, and the servants working in the castle would appreciate them too.
Magic potions weren’t limited to things people drank. There were products meant to be applied to the body as well.
If I gradually spread awareness of those kinds of products, the range of magic potions would expand, and so would the market for them.
That, in turn, would encourage more people to become magic pharmacists. If production increased, prices would fall. And if prices fell, more ordinary citizens would be able to use medicines that were currently beyond their reach.
Yes.
My dreams were expanding again.