Chapter 604: Being Prepared Is Everything 

In the end, no conclusion was reached on whether “Rapid-Growth” should be classified as a magic potion or simply treated as fertilizer. For now, it seemed the matter would be left under observation. If it caused too many problems, then they would probably have no choice but to register it as a magical medicine so it couldn’t be produced so easily.

Once something was officially categorized as a magic potion, only licensed alchemists and magic pharmacists would be capable of making it. Naturally, that would place strict limits on production volume.

“So, the letter mentioned that you received a new blessing from the spirits. Would you mind showing it to me?”

“Yes. This is the new blessing I received from the Spirit of Earth.”

I held out the back of my hand and showed Father the earthen crest engraved there. The moment he confirmed the mark, the deep crease between his brows slowly loosened.

Though honestly, it didn’t look like he felt relieved so much as burdened by an entirely new set of worries.

As for me, I’d already accepted that things would unfold however they were going to unfold. It wasn’t as if I’d begged for these blessings in the first place. The spirits simply decided to bestow them upon me. I had no right of refusal.

“…Haaah. Well then, next…” Father exhaled heavily before fixing me with another look. “I hear you somehow managed to grow a Divine Tree?”

“No, well… that was just an accidental byproduct during a performance test for Rapid-Growth…”

“What kind of lunatic grows a Divine Tree during a test experiment?! …Or rather, apparently one exists, and he’s standing right in front of me.”

Father pressed a hand against his forehead in exasperation.

“I received a letter from Sophia-sama regarding it. She wrote that for those whose hearts had been wounded by disasters unlike anything they had ever experienced before, the tree became a source of emotional support. She said they intend to treasure it from now on.”

“I-Is that so…”

At that point, all I could do was force out an awkward smile.

I genuinely hadn’t intended for any of this to happen.

Back then, Fabienne and I had simply stood there in stunned disbelief after witnessing it. We had even briefly considered cutting the thing down. But if it had truly become something that supported people emotionally… then perhaps leaving it alone had been the right decision after all.

“Then there’s the Hot Water spell.” Father continued, sounding tired already. “For someone like you, Julius, who can produce wind at precisely the right temperature for drying hair, I can certainly see the practical applications. Later, teach it to the magicians in the knight order. It sounds useful in all sorts of situations.”

“Understood.”

…When you lined everything up like this, I really had caused one issue after another.

And all of this had happened in barely a month.

No wonder Father looked like he was developing a headache.

At the moment, the information seemed to have stopped with him, but once it spread to Mother and Alex-niisan…

Yeah. The number of people clutching their heads in agony would definitely increase.

Maybe I should prepare stomach medicine for Mother and the others too.

…Yeah. That sounded wise.

Father suddenly shifted topics.

“By the way, you mentioned that silver weapons are effective against the creatures dwelling in the corrupted lands.”

“Yes. Erwin-sama personally fought those black creatures and confirmed it, so I’m certain.”

“I see.” Father folded his arms gravely. “As you know, there’s no wielder of a Holy Sword in this kingdom. Which means that if black creatures were ever to appear within our borders, we would have no choice but to fight them using silver weapons.”

“That would be the case.”

If that happened, then we’d need to stockpile silver weaponry.

The Heine Frontier Territory sat, true to its name, on the far edges of the kingdom, and its landmass was vastly larger than most other domains. Because of that, the likelihood of corrupted land appearing somewhere within its borders was considerably high.

Still…

How much preparation was enough?

Even if they bought massive quantities of silver weapons, they weren’t practical for ordinary use. Most of the time, they would simply sit in storage gathering dust.

“Lionel,” Father said, turning toward the knight commander, “how many silver weapons can we realistically prepare?”

“At present, the knight order possesses twelve. If we immediately begin purchasing more, I believe we can gather around thirty in total.”

“Thirty, hm…” Father frowned deeply. “If that number includes reserves as well, it may still be somewhat unreliable.”

Both Father and Lionel sank into troubled silence.

Well, naturally. Opportunities to fight with silver weapons were exceedingly rare. Neither of them had any way of estimating how many would actually be necessary in a real emergency.

Still, there was one thing they undoubtedly wished to avoid: being caught unprepared because they lacked the proper weapons.

…In that case, wouldn’t it be easier to temporarily transform existing weapons into substitutes for silver ones?

In other words, grant them a Light attribute—the same attribute that was especially effective against monsters like zombies and ghosts.

And if we used that method, then even I could contribute.

“Father, I have a proposal. What if we temporarily turned ordinary weapons into substitutes for silver weapons?”

Father looked at me as though wondering what absurdity I was about to say next.

Meanwhile, Lionel’s eyes lit up with unmistakable anticipation.

Well, that reaction made sense. If ordinary weapons could be converted into silver-equivalent weapons, then enormous unnecessary expenses could be avoided. Silver weapons were outrageously expensive, after all.

And if those saved funds were redirected toward improving the knight order’s equipment overall, the survivability of the knights would rise dramatically.

If the same amount of money was being spent either way, Lionel naturally considered that option far more valuable.

“Julius-sama,” Lionel asked eagerly, leaning forward slightly, “what exactly do you intend to do?”

“We’ll use a magic potion that grants Light attributes to weapons, Lionel. The effect won’t be permanent, but it should last for around half a day.”

“A magic potion that grants Light attributes?” Father’s eyes widened in surprise. “Does such a thing truly exist?”

“Umm… I believe there was something similar written in one of the books Grandmother gave me.”

Of course, that was a complete lie.

There had never been any such description in those books.

But no one besides me could possibly know that.

Because the moment I returned to my room later, I fully intended to add that description myself.

“…A magic potion recorded in those books…” Father muttered thoughtfully before nodding decisively. “Very well. Julius, I order you to create this potion and verify whether it truly works. If it proves effective, report to me immediately. Lionel, assist him as necessary.”

“Understood.”

“As you command.”

Good grief…

It seemed I’d managed to avoid getting thoroughly scolded.

Fabienne would probably be relieved once she heard.

As for Mira…

I glanced down at the little girl sleeping soundly in my lap, utterly defenseless and completely lost in dreams.

Yeah. I should just let her sleep.

Ever since we returned home, she’d been bursting with excitement nonstop.