Chapter 670: Trouble on the Holy Droplets Front

After tea with Her Majesty, Sister-in-law Daniela and I separated for a while. I intended to visit the compounding room.

“If anything happens, tell a servant immediately. Nero, please look after him.”

“Understood. Please look after Mira.”

“Leave Lord Julius to me.”

“Kyuu.”

“Of course.”

Sister-in-law Daniela was going to meet acquaintances in the royal capital. In other words, a gathering of women was about to begin, and she had decided to bring Mira.

She would probably boast about Mira, while Mira would receive plenty of sweets. It was mutually beneficial.

Visiting the compounding room with us offered Mira no advantages. I felt slightly lonely. Perhaps I should have prepared some bait.

After separating from them, I reached the compounding room without incident. I had visited many times, after all. I had become remarkably familiar with the castle for the mere child of a frontier margrave.

A knight guarding the door opened it for me. Ordinary people could not enter, but since the guards knew me, they allowed me through without question. Was that truly acceptable?

A wave of humid air rolled through the doorway.

Oh, they were certainly busy. Since they produced distilled water and heated ingredients, the room inevitably became humid. Everyone was currently confronting their magic potions with serious expressions.

Several noticed me.

“Professor Julius! We’ve been waiting. There’s so much we want to ask.”

“You came to see us too. As expected of Professor Julius.”

I did not know what was “as expected”, but everyone appeared to trust me, which was good. Building trust mattered everywhere.

I quietly observed without disturbing their work.

As expected from skilled magic pharmacists gathered from across the kingdom, they continued working without distraction despite having a visitor.

They appeared to be making not only Anti-Ageing Skin Lotion but Holy Droplets as well. However, perhaps because the ingredients were poor, the finished potions did not look especially good.

Once their work reached a stopping point, everyone gathered in the nearest salon. The compounding room had no proper break room.

Technically, one existed, but it had become so crowded with tools and ingredients that no one could use it. His Majesty would surely smile wryly if he saw it.

“Thank you for coming.”

“I’m glad to see you looking well, Commander Giovanni.”

“That’s thanks to you, Teacher Julius. You continue teaching us one new magic-potion recipe after another. We can’t resist making them.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. We exchanged recent news, then began discussing magic potions.

“You appear to be making the Anti-Ageing Skin Lotion without difficulty. Her Majesty was delighted and said it’s popular among the noblewomen.”

“It is, but some have come directly here. It’s been quite troublesome.”

Commander Giovanni smiled wryly. Ordinarily, no one but magic pharmacists came near this place. Even one outsider would be startling.

Apparently, other people had asked to learn the recipe, but the Royal Magic Pharmacists had refused.

“You entrusted the recipe to us, Teacher Julius. We’d never teach it to others without your permission.”

“I-I see. I appreciate that, but if demand begins interfering with your work, you may teach other trustworthy magic pharmacists. If we produce it in the Heine Margraviate, we can sell it only in the surrounding region.”

Even with the recipe, the quality would vary greatly depending upon the maker’s skill and ingredients. The effects would differ somewhat as well, so teaching others should not cause a problem.

Anyone seeking highly effective Anti-Ageing Skin Lotion would need to purchase one made by a sufficiently skilled person.

They understood my reasoning and immediately began considering whom to teach, thanking me as they did. Apparently, they knew quite a few trustworthy magic pharmacists. Perhaps I should learn about those people as well.

However, something else concerned me more.

“The Anti-Ageing Skin Lotion seems fine, but the Holy Droplets appear rather poor. Do you know why?”

“Ah, so they’re poor after all. The Holy Clover is probably responsible.”

“The Magic Pharmacists’ Guild didn’t carry it, so we asked adventurers to gather some. It seems to be a little-known ingredient, and merely finding it was difficult.”

I see. Without a comparison, they had not known what standard their finished Holy Droplets had reached. Even when a potion was merely average, the ingredients’ quality and the maker’s skill could mean average was the best achievable result.

“Holy Clover isn’t widely used. That may be why. Finding wild plants would also be extremely difficult. Have you tried the cultivation method I sent?”

“Securing a large plot around the royal capital is difficult. We’re preparing one corner of a greenhouse. Will that be insufficient?”

“This is only my estimate, but I think you’d be limited to harvesting one stalk a day.”

“One stalk a day…”

Commander Giovanni faltered. He must have realised that would be far too little. I agreed.

We did not know when a crisis might arise, so we should prepare as soon as possible.