Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 112: Winter Begins
Before winter set in fully, I replaced the chime’s crude boing with a cheerful two-note sound. Where there was a will, there was usually a way—especially when I could combine magic with memories from my previous life.
The firewood I had ordered arrived in the Heine Margraviate before the severe cold. We had secured enough to survive the season unless an extraordinary emergency occurred.
Father also settled the Mount Claire matter. The former manager’s land rights were purchased and transferred to House Heine at a heavily reduced price. It was still fortunate for him that the punishment ended there.
Had his deception caused a firewood shortage in the territorial capital, people might have frozen to death. A lord responsible for such a disaster could have faced execution. The law sounded severe, but the danger had been real.
Ding-dong.
The chime was no longer limited to my room. Everyone in the mansion had become fond of it. Rosalia had made units for Father’s study, our parents’ bedroom, and several other rooms.
She was advancing steadily towards becoming a true magic-tool maker.
At my glance, the servant beside me opened the door.
“Kyu!”
“Mira, what is it?”
“Kyu, kyu!”
“You want to visit Mount Claire again?”
“Kyu!”
“All right. We’ll go while the weather still permits it.”
Mount Claire had become Mira’s favourite destination. Once the snow deepened, travelling there would be unsafe for us even if Mira could tolerate it, so I took them whenever conditions allowed. Gyre and Christopher accompanied us as usual.
“Lord Julius, the snow is already getting deep,” Christopher said as we walked beneath the trees.
“Winter is close. We won’t be able to come after another heavy fall.”
“Kyu…”
Mira sounded disappointed.
“Did you really come only for a walk?” Gyre asked.
“Very perceptive. I’m also searching for a valuable potion ingredient that appears in the mountains during winter.”
“What does it look like?”
“A red Chigo berry.”
Ordinary Chigo berries were purple. A few defective fruits remained attached to the tree instead of falling and could no longer germinate. As they continued ripening, however, they turned red and their medicinal potency increased dramatically.
These mature Chigo berries were ingredients for advanced mana-recovery potions. They were available only for a short period, so I wanted every one I could find.
We searched both the branches and the snow. A mature berry might have fallen and become buried, making it almost impossible to spot.
I was beginning to accept that we would find nothing that day when Mira cried out.
“Kyu! Kyu-kyu!”
“What is it?”
They began digging rapidly with both forepaws.
Could something be beneath the snow?
I dropped beside them and joined in. Gyre and Christopher insisted that I let them handle the work, but I couldn’t stand back when treasure might be only a few handfuls away.
The snow was shallow. Soon we reached the ground and uncovered a bright-red berry.
“We found one! A mature Chigo berry! Well done, Mira.”
“Kyu!”
I hugged Mira and kissed their wet head. My face and clothes became damp, but that hardly mattered.
“There may be others nearby,” Christopher said.
“Agreed. If the mature berries have begun falling, this may be our only chance before next winter.”
We searched until dusk and recovered three in total.
When we returned, all four of us were soaked. Mother and the servants scolded us for nearly an hour while we stood in front of a hot-and-cold air blower, being dried by warm air.
Mira clung to my head after our release. Mother’s anger had frightened them as thoroughly as it had frightened me.
“Three berries should be enough for one advanced mana-recovery potion,” I said once we were safely in my room. “It would restore mana even after powerful magic, but I still lack the other ingredients.”
I placed the berries in the valuable-material storage box. I kept rare items there rather than in the more accessible compounding room.
None of the requests I had submitted to the Adventurers’ Guild had produced results. Winter was a poor season for expeditions, so the remaining ingredients would probably not arrive until spring.
The storage box contained a refrigerated compartment that greatly slowed deterioration. I had wanted to add complete time suspension, but the required magic circle would have been enormous. More importantly, anyone who discovered such a device would cause an uproar.
Grandmother could explain away extraordinary potions, but I had no legendary magic-tool master to blame for impossible devices.
If anything, people were beginning to regard me as that master.
That was dangerous. Someone might ask me to take apprentices.
Then again, Rosalia and Edward were already learning from me, so perhaps it was too late.
Then think before you leap MC.
I think it’s more he was lucky to be born to his grandmother’s lineage and be able to do the potions but no such luck for magic tools.
Bad to say it, but lucky his grandmother died so he can use her name to get out of most things potion related.