Chapter 193: Guardian of the Royal Magic Potions Division

　The smell inside the mixing room is the worst, but the situation inside the pot is not bad. It worked out well even though we used a lot of poor quality materials. As expected of royal potion masters. They are masters at controlling magic.

“you’ve done very well so far. All you have to do now is to maintain this state. Please take it easy and switch to the next person while there is still time. That’s what this team is for.”

“Yes, Julius-sensei.”

　I’m a great teacher now. By the way, this is your final exam. Once the panacea is completed, I will be a free man.

　I checked each team’s pot again, and there seems to be no problem. Everyone is facing the pot with serious expressions on their faces.

“It looks like you’ll be fine without me.”

“Are you going somewhere?”

“I have swordsmanship practice in the afternoon, and  I can’t stay overnight in the castle.”

　Master Giovanni, the head of the royal magic Potions division, has a difficult look on his face. He seems uneasy with me leaving. Maybe so, but…it’s not a face to make a ten-year-old child. I’m  a pre-adult child.

“Can’t we work something out just for today so that we can arrange for you to stay overnight in the King’s Castle?””

“As you can imagine, I can’t decide on my own. …Well, I will send a letter to my brother.”

　Naturally, seeing such a pleading look on his face, I was unable to simply refuse him. I’m sweet like that. And because of that, I’m always strangling myself.

“Thank you. I’ll send him a letter too. I need you to watch over us no matter what.”

　Oh, this has suddenly completely turned into me being celebrated. I’ve  become a guardian deity watching over the royal palace potion masters. I was more than just a teacher.

　I suppressed my face from pulling into a tight line and headed for lunch.

“Julius-bocchan, I brought you a pen and some writing paper.”

“Thank you. I’ll have to write this down while I still can.”

　As soon as I finished my lunch, I wrote a letter to my brother Alex. He should be at the townhouse, so I’m sure he’ll reply to my letter soon. But staying at the royal castle, huh? I don’t really feel like it. I told him that I could take a nap in the nap room that I had set up next to the mixing room, but they didn’t allow it.

　I hand the finished letter to the servant.  Since he probably knows some of the circumstances, he will be able to explain it to him. It was not my fault. I didn’t ask to stay at the royal castle.

　Even though I took a lunch break, I wasn’t very tired. Feeling a little melancholy, I headed off to training.

“What’s wrong, Julius? You’re not moving properly.”

“I’m having a bit of a depressing moment.”

　As usual, I talked with Axel while we were hitting each other. Axel was mastering enhancement magic. It is still only for a moment, but he is certainly becoming able to use it with the flow.

　It is a challenge for me to deal with him. I can’t relax even for a moment. But today, I can’t concentrate.

“It’s hard for me to attack you when you’re like that.”

“Axel, you don’t use it when you have to spar with others, do you?”

“I keep my promises. Besides, if I do that, the other person will get hurt.”

　An attack using enhancement magic is extremely dangerous. If you don’t counter it with enhancement magic in the same way, you may end up with more than just a broken bone. That’s why I told him never to use it on anyone but me.

“You and Ovidio haven’t had any striking matches?”

“The Knight Commander won’t let that happen. Ovidio seems to want to settle things with me anyway.”

　I glanced over to where Ovidio was practicing. He was now in a striking match with the Knight Commander. The children around him were watching. It’s true that watching is good practice, but you can’t learn it unless you actually move your body.

“It seems like he’s been practicing with the Knight Commander lately.”

“Yeah, he says he can’t practicing with anyone else.　He declared it when you weren’t around.”

“Why is he making this declaration when I’m not around?”

“Maybe there’s a sense of jealousy. I’m getting stronger and stronger fighting with you.”

　Don’t look so happy. It’s like I’m making Axel stronger. It’s true that we are training together, but Axel acquired that strength on his own. I didn’t give it to him unconditionally.

“How could that be?”

“Well, because the Knight Commander was praising you.”

“…… in what way?”

　I really don’t want to hear any more, but I guess I have to. If strange rumors are going to spread, I must use the power of my brother Alex and Daniela-sama to dispel them.

“There is nothing more I can tell you.”

“That’s not good.”

　How did this happen? I haven’t had a single run-in with the Knight Commander since I started coming here. Why does he have such a high opinion of me? Is it Lionel?　Is it his fault?

“Won’t Ovidio one of these days come and challenge you to a match?”

“Well, I’d normally refuse. I’m a child of a margrave family. I’ll emphasize that. If you hurt a child of a high-ranking aristocratic family, you’ll be in big trouble.”

“Do you hate it that much? By the way, how confident are you that you’ll win against Ovidio?”

“I’ll never lose to Ovidio, because I won’t fight.”

“ You. ……”

　Axel is aghast, but if I compete with the Knight Commander’s son and win, I’ll be in huge trouble. Ovidio’s pride will be in tatters, and the Knight Commander won’t feel good about it either.

　That’s why I don’t try to clash with Axel and Ovidio.

　I think the Knight Commander is very overprotective, but I think the biggest problem is that Ovidio is mentally very young. Only time will tell on this one. As he grows up and become more open-minded, he’ll learn to accept defeat.

　After that, I continued to fight with Axel for a while, but in the end he did not attack me using enhancement magic. I’m sure that what I said earlier about the children of high-ranking aristocrats getting hurt must have had an effect.

　I was also lacking in concentration, so it was just as well. Axel, on the other hand, seemed to have indigestion. Should I feel sorry for what I did? But  staying at the royal Castle. I’m not too keen on it.

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