Kays Translations

Chapter 465: A Bit More Difficult

We were having tea in the salon to let the three royal magic pharmacists recover from their journey, but they gradually became restless. They were plainly curious about the full recovery potion, and I could not help giving a wry smile.

“Teaching you how to compound it right now would be difficult. Including the preparations, the process takes considerable time. Would you like to see a completed full recovery potion instead?”

“Absolutely!”

I asked Nero to bring one of the full recovery potions from my room. Hopefully, that would calm them a little. The three stared fixedly at the bottle he brought. Would seeing the real thing satisfy them, or merely add fuel to the fire?

“Still, why couldn’t the royal castle produce the full recovery potion? I thought you already knew how to compound it.”

“Opinions are divided. Some believe the recipe is wrong, while others think the potion is simply extraordinarily difficult and has a very low success rate.”

“I see. World Tree materials are precious, so you could not afford to make repeated attempts.”

If the potion used common materials, they could have experimented as many times as necessary. This time, however, that was impossible. The World Tree materials themselves could serve as diplomatic leverage. Even Commander Giovanni must have had no choice but to halt further attempts.

“By the way, what method did you use in the attempt? Only what you are permitted to disclose, of course.”

“Well, about that…”

Although it was classified information, Arisa explained the recipe without holding anything back.

This was dreadful. Was the recipe even viable? It was completely different from the method I knew. The only saving grace was that it used almost the same ingredients.

Well done, Commander Giovanni. I was glad he had stopped them. Otherwise, they would have wasted a tremendous quantity of precious materials.

It appeared that I would have to teach them the correct method from the beginning.

They would naturally start asking how I knew the correct method. How long could I keep attributing everything to Grandmother’s mysterious teacher? They might already be growing suspicious. I was also curious about who that teacher had actually been.

I sincerely hoped that the person who had taught the royal magic pharmacists this full recovery potion recipe was not the same teacher who had trained Grandmother.

“Um… is it the same method as Professor Julius’s?”

Arisa asked fearfully. Lyla and Clark held their breath as they watched me. Since I was about to teach them how to compound the full recovery potion, I decided to answer bluntly.

“Not even close.”

“I knew it!”

Their voices rang out in unison. Apparently, all three believed that the recipe was wrong. They looked slightly pleased, although I hardly thought this was a reason to celebrate.

The next day, immediately after I collected Fabienne, we began compounding a full recovery potion. Arisa, Lyla, Clark and Fabienne watched my work. Since the visitors had brought ingredients with them, we could make one additional potion. Even so, the quantity was limited, so I had to proceed carefully.

“It’s finished. If anything about the procedure is unclear, please ask.”

“The method is completely different…”

“No wonder it kept failing.”

“Julius-sama, could you show me again how to use the measuring instrument? I have never seen one like it before, and I’m afraid I might break it.”

“Of course, Fabienne.”

The three visitors stood speechless while Fabienne remained as composed as ever. As I taught her how to use the equipment, the others recovered from their shock and hurriedly began taking notes.

The demonstration must have shocked them. I understood the feeling; I had been equally shocked when Arisa first showed me the royal method.

“Well then, shall we try compounding one? Because of the equipment, only one person can work at a time. Arisa will go first.”

“I—I understand.”

She was extraordinarily nervous. I had never seen Arisa so tense. Normally, even while compounding difficult potions, she wore a confident smile.

I guided and supported her carefully as we worked on the potion.

“This is… a failure.”

“Hmm, maybe the temperature and pressure adjustments were off.”

Arisa’s first batch failed. The shimmering impurities that should have appeared never formed in the solution. I had sensed that something was wrong but allowed the process to continue; apparently, their absence was already a sign of failure.

With a potion as advanced as the full recovery potion, making corrections midway through the process was extremely difficult. By the time something felt wrong, it was often already too late.

“You can’t afford to lose focus even for a moment, huh?”

“That’s right. You have to notice even the slightest change. It requires nearly perfect mana control.”

Taking the failure into account, Arisa tried again. This time, she managed to produce a full recovery potion, although its quality was low.

“Is the full recovery potion actually this difficult to compound?”

“It seems so. The fact that Julius-sama can compound it repeatedly without a single failure is astonishing.”

“As expected of Professor Julius. I have truly realised how much I still have to learn. Thank you very much.”

Arisa bowed. How had matters come to this? Afterwards, Lyla and Clark each tried twice, but all four attempts failed. Both looked utterly dispirited and raised the white flag, deciding to improve their skills before trying again.

Fabienne, meanwhile, was so overwhelmed that she did not attempt it at all.

It was a perfect opportunity, but I could not tell her that she ought to try. The ingredients were absurdly expensive—enough to support a commoner for five years. No wonder she was intimidated.

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