Kays Translations

Chapter 208: The Panacea Is Complete

As soon as I returned to my room, I tried reproducing the cooling effect using the method I had just discovered in the library.

The disadvantage was that I had to draw two magic circles, but the combination worked without any problems.

Good. This would work.

Now the question was mana consumption.

Could I place an energy-saving magic circle between the other two? That would make three magic circles in total. If anyone tried to mass-produce this design, it was going to be a tremendous amount of work.

Good luck, magic-tool makers of the future.

I'll do my best over here making magic potions.

The basic preparations for the icehouse cooling system were now complete. All that remained was to wait for the rest of the materials to arrive.

Speaking of things being completed, the Panacea should be ready tomorrow.

The quality would probably be poor because of the condition of the ingredients, but if all three batches were successfully completed, His Majesty the King should be able to relax. It would also prove beyond doubt that the Royal Magic Pharmacists' Corps had the ability to make Panacea.

Their success rate until now had been poor.

From my point of view, it was almost impressive that they had managed to complete any at all using the old method. There was no question that the royal magic pharmacists themselves were highly skilled.

If I wanted proper magic potions to spread quickly, relying on the Royal Magic Pharmacists' Corps was probably the best approach.

The problem was that their loyalty—or perhaps their expectations—towards me had become far too intense.

Even if I told them, “Please spread these new compounding methods under the name of the Royal Magic Pharmacists' Corps,” I was almost certain my name would be mentioned somewhere.

What was I supposed to do about that?

There was no point worrying endlessly. I would just have to adapt when the time came.

I was still a child, after all.

Whether the people around me actually remembered that was another question.

Brother Alex apparently had business at the royal castle today as well, so I decided to travel there with him.

This time we weren't using a carriage sent by the royal family. We were riding in a House Heine carriage, which meant I could relax. If I wanted, I could even open the curtains and look outside without drawing unnecessary attention.

Even though it was still early in the morning, the streets were already crowded and lively.

I hoped the territorial capital would become this lively someday too.

“Today is the day the Panacea should be completed, isn't it?” Brother Alex asked. “From your point of view, Julius, how does it look?”

“I have no doubt they'll be able to complete all three batches. The quality still won't be very good, though. Once the icehouse is improved, we'll be able to preserve the ingredients in good condition for much longer, so I think the quality will improve too.”

“I see. You've made quite a contribution to the royal family and to the kingdom, haven't you?”

What?

Why did that sound like a question?

Scary.

What was Brother Alex trying to say? Did this have something to do with whatever business had brought him to the castle today?

“Why are you suddenly saying something like that?”

Brother Alex narrowed his eyes slightly and arched his brows.

Was I in trouble?

“Well, apparently there's been some discussion about awarding you another medal.”

“A medal?!”

“Yes. One given to people who have rendered exceptional service to the kingdom.”

So that meant official recognition from the state, didn't it?

Was that even something a child who hadn't come of age could receive?

Brother Alex must have noticed my confusion, because he continued.

“No one your age has ever received such a medal. If it happens, you'll be the first. And once that precedent exists, other nobles may start trying to have their own children awarded medals as well.”

Yes. Nobles did things like that all the time.

They were quick to jump at any opportunity to obtain a medal, a fief, or a title. If I accepted one here, it could cause a ridiculous competition throughout the kingdom.

This was one reward I needed to refuse.

“Brother, please decline it for me. I don't need a reward. If we've managed to prevent a national crisis, that's enough.”

“I see. Thank you, Julius. I'll tell them that.”

Brother Alex let out a sigh of relief and gave me a wry smile.

Apparently, he had been against awarding me the medal too. But he couldn't simply turn it down on my behalf without asking me first, which was why he had raised the subject in the carriage.

I didn't think he needed to worry about me quite so much, but perhaps my presence in the royal capital really was becoming larger and larger.

I didn't want that.

I wanted to do something about it, but I had no idea what.

The only solution that came to mind was to retreat to the territorial capital and stay there.

After parting from Brother Alex at the castle, I headed straight for the compounding room.

The whole room felt feverish with anticipation. The Panacea was finally approaching completion.

“Julius-sensei! We've been waiting for you!”

“Look! It's almost ready!”

“I can't believe all three are going to succeed. Amazing! As expected of Julius-sensei's teachings.”

This was bad.

Maybe it was because they had spent three straight days making magic potions, but everyone seemed to have entered a strange state of excitement.

First, I needed to calm them down.

“Please calm down. The magic potions aren't finished yet. There is still a chance something could go wrong from here. Stay focused until the very end.”

“Yes, Julius-sensei!”

That unified response was reassuring in one sense, but at some point a complete master-and-disciple hierarchy had established itself.

Was Commander Giovanni, the actual commander of the Royal Magic Pharmacists' Corps, really fine with this?

Ah.

He looked completely fine with it.

Don't tell me he was planning to make me commander of the Corps instead?

I refuse.

I checked the pots belonging to each team and waited for the proper moment.

Before long, the liquid simmering inside them began to emit a faint glow.

That was the sign that the potion was complete.

I used Appraisal to make certain.

Panacea.

They had really done it.

The others must have recognised the sign too. Each team turned off the heat, stopped applying magical pressure, and carefully transferred the contents of the pot into the special containers I had prepared in advance.

Three batches in total.

All three had succeeded.

Not a single one had been lost.

“You did very well. Now you can make Panacea yourselves.”

“Thank you, Julius-sensei,” Commander Giovanni said, deeply moved. “I never imagined that the very foundation of our method was wrong. Several magic pharmacists working together to produce a single magic potion… I had never even considered such an approach.”

The others listened while busily writing notes so they wouldn't forget what they had learned—or perhaps what they were feeling at that moment.

Those records would surely become useful in the future. I hoped they would pass this knowledge down to later generations.

Just… please leave my name out of it.

Maybe I should check those notes myself later.

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