Chapter 558: Swallowing Both the Pure and the Tainted

Guided by the elder sister among the gardeners, I made my way back to the rest area. One by one, the other gardeners were also returning, their boots muddy, their shoulders relaxed. It seemed the morning inspection rounds were finally over. After taking a brief breather here, they would likely begin the day’s real work in earnest—the careful, painstaking tending that kept these grounds alive.

As I exchanged greetings with the gardeners, the young woman brought over a small container of soil. The quantity wasn’t large, but I recognized that color instantly. There was no mistaking it—this was the soil I had purified back then.

I thanked her, accepted it, and examined it closely.

“Good, good… looks like all the necessary nutrients are present in the soil. We probably won’t need to add any extra fertilizer.”

“Then all that’s required are the ingredients for the magic potion, correct?”

“Yeah, that’s how it looks.”

Fabienne and I spoke in hushed whispers, careful not to let the others overhear.

Not having to add supplementary fertilizer was an unexpected but welcome stroke of luck. That meant I wouldn’t need to prepare huge quantities of fertilizer after all. All I had to do was add a fertilizer-type plant nutrient supplement. Simple.

To make it slow-acting, I was thinking of solidifying the plant nutrient. Once I cleared that hurdle, I could involve the gardeners under the banner of “fertilizer production,” turning it into a group effort and mass-produce fertilizer-type plant nutrients together.

“I’m thinking of turning the plant nutrient from a liquid into a solid.”

“Is such a thing even possible?”

“I think it probably is. And once it’s solid, we’ll treat it as fertilizer.”

　

Ah—Fabienne was looking uneasy. I’d better explain properly. I couldn’t just leave that anxious expression on her adorable face.

“It’s fine. We’ll use the fertilizer here as the base to make the magic potion. To anyone watching, it’ll look exactly like we’re just making fertilizer.”

“I suppose that’s true, but…”

“Besides, if we openly call it a magic potion, then only licensed potion makers will be allowed to produce it. That would make mass production extremely difficult.”

Fabienne nodded, her expression solemn. It seemed she was convinced.

The potion makers in the royal castle already had their hands full producing purification powder and basic stamina recovery potions. If we added large-scale production of fertilizer-type plant nutrients on top of that, there simply wouldn’t be enough people to make potions.

But if we treated it as fertilizer, not only the gardeners, but others could help with the work as well. It was admittedly a rather gray area—but if I firmly declared it to be a new type of fertilizer, then fertilizer it would be, not a magic potion.

To restore the greenery as quickly as possible, this was the best approach.

Of course, if I chose to put myself front and center, things would be different. But that was a last resort. It wasn’t time for that yet.

“Julius-sama, if we get scolded for this, I’ll be scolded along with you.”

“Thank you, Fabienne. I’ll do everything I can to make sure it doesn’t come to that. Though honestly, if the greenery recovers successfully, I don’t think this level of maneuvering will be an issue.”

Running a country requires swallowing both the clean and the dirty. I was sure His Majesty, the King of the Raven Kingdom, understood that well.

The King of the Spencer Kingdom had also recognized us as potion makers, even though we weren’t yet of age. Whether something was technically a magic potion or fertilizer hardly seemed like a serious problem.

With our policy decided, I once again began inspecting the fertilizers in detail. Ideally, I would have liked to use medicinal herbs as materials, but that was unrealistic. Those herbs were already being used for purification powder and basic stamina recovery potions.

Even relatively easy-to-obtain materials would fall short if consumed in large quantities.

Medicinal herbs were also used in recovery potions. Given the recent battle against the Bone Dragon, there was no doubt that an enormous number of recovery potions had been consumed. That meant potion makers across the country were probably working nonstop to replenish their supplies right now.

“Is there anything usable here…? Hmm, the components in this fertilizer look promising. Let’s dissolve these into distilled water and extract them. And this here might work too.”

“This is… Trevi fruit, isn’t it? I believe it’s mixed into soil to improve drainage.”

“That’s right. Trevi fruit has countless tiny holes in it. I’m thinking of letting it hold the plant nutrient components inside.”

“I see… so every time it rains, the active ingredients will slowly leach out.”

“Exactly.”

As expected of Fabienne—she immediately grasped my idea. Since it was already one of the materials mixed into the fertilizer, it should be easy to obtain. We wouldn’t have to worry about running short.

“Julius-sama, it looks like this leaf mold contains medicinal herbs that were already used up during potion creation.”

“Huh? You’re right. I never imagined they’d be reused like this. They might be spent, but even so, we could still make use of them.”

“Is this a fertilizer unique to this place, perhaps?”

It seemed this was the first time Fabienne had seen it as well. Maybe there were more usable fertilizers here than I’d initially expected. We would need to examine each one carefully.

Following the gardeners’ guidance, we proceeded to inspect every fertilizer stored in the shed.

As a result, we managed to find several fertilizers that could be put to good use.

Before we knew it, it was time for lunch. After thanking the gardeners, we decided to return to the castle. I was also curious about the automatic magic stone pulverizer, and I hadn’t checked in on Giovanni-sama and the others at all. At the very least, I should greet them once a day.

But first—lunch.

I ate in my room. Part of me wanted to visit the guest dining hall inside the royal castle, but getting caught up in unnecessary trouble would be a headache. Better to play it safe.