Chapter 35: Potion Bottle

　The vials of potions provided at the flood  site were returned to the castle.

　Mol, chore boy, receives them and carefully cleans them in the washing area on the first floor. After washing, the bottles used in the castle are carefully visually inspected for cracks and purified using water and fire magic.

　Meyer from the magic department passed by the washing area and took a look at Mol’s hands.

“Oh, the bottles are back.”

“Yes.”

　Looking at Mol’s hand, Meyer tilted his head.

(Hmm? Aren’t there too many?)

　Of the potions made by the Magic Department and delivered to the military, the military would contact them each time to let them know how many had been used and where. Meyer was informed by Kyrias that fifty bottles had been delivered to the disaster area. However, the number of glass bottles the janitorial staff is currently washing is nearly twice that many.

　Curious, he counted the number of bottles in Mol’s possession and found that there were ninety.

“That can’t be right.”

　Meyer muttered, and Mol looked worried.

“Is there something wrong?”

“No. You have nothing to worry about.”

　Meyer said, checking all the bottles.

　The bottles are the same as the castle’s and the store’s, which are long, narrow cylinders. The bottles used to be lavishly decorated, but when Jusel Leesley became the department head, he appealed directly to the king to abolish the decorations, and the king stopped them.

“The function of the potion is to cure injuries and illnesses. The used bottles have to be purified by magic, but the ornate decoration wastes the magic power used to purify the bottles. It is the height of folly. Your Majesty, please let the bottles be changed to ones without the decorations, like those sold on the market.”

　The king accepted Mr. Leesley’s request on the spot. From then on, the potion bottles were the same as those on the market. However, the potion bottles used by the Department of Magic are slightly different from the ones sold in stores. The glass bottles have a very small triangular pattern on the inside bottom.

　It looks like a mark made by the tip of a tool accidentally when making the bottle, but it is actually a marker.

　Only the wizards, the military doctor Belsen, the potion appraiser, and the Prime Minister knew about the mark. Moreover, the shape and location of the mark were changed periodically, and bottles with old marks were discarded.

　Meyer found that all ninety bottles had a triangular pattern.

(What does that mean?) He tilted his head as he walked up the stairs and opened the door to the magic department room. The only person in the room was Kyrias-kun.

“Welcome back, Meyer. Today you were working on the road maintenance. The others are out repairing the levees. I’m off to the landslide site by myself now.”

“Hey, Kyrias, didn’t you say that the government provided fifty potions to the flood site?”

“Yes, that’s right. What about the potions?”

“Ninety bottles were returned. I checked them all to see if there was any commercial product mixed in, but they all had the department’s marking.”

"Okay... I got it. I'll check it out. And then I'll head straight to the construction site."

“Oh, please. The lad is washing the bottles downstairs right now.”

　Kyrias left the magic department with a nonchalant look on his face, but as soon as he closed the door, his face turned grim.

(If someone is mimicking the bottles from the Magic Department, that would be troublesome.)

　The potions made by the department are different in price and effect from commercially available  products. The citizens accept that “the difference in price is the difference in effect” and use commercially available products. This is because even potions made by people who are not at the level of castle wizards have effects commensurate with their price. However, it would be a problem if someone imitated the markings on the bottles used by the country’s official wizards.

　Twenty-five years ago, when two princes fell ill one after the other, the quality of the potions became an issue. They were almost ineffective. It was discovered much later that the potions administered by the Department of Magic had been replaced with commercial products.

　To get a job at the castle, you have to go through a strict background check. After getting the job, even if you’re a familiar servant, you have to show your ID every time you enter the castle. Furthermore, to enter the back room where the magic department’s vault is located, there is a door that can only be opened if a certain amount of magical power is passed through it. Even an errand boy from the magic department cannot enter the room if all the wizards are out.

　The potions that were sometimes consumed by members of the royal family were kept in a magically sealed safe in the back room of the Magic Department.

　Stealing potions from the magic department was a mortal sin. If you are found guilty, you will be sentenced to 30 years of forced labor, a punishment worse than death. The work in the labor camps is so severe that no one has ever made it out after serving a 30-year sentence.

　The potions, which are protected by layers of protection, have never been stolen in the past.

　Because the potions had not been stolen for so many years, neither the wizards nor the guards had expected that the potion would be stolen. They were caught off guard.

　The case was solved when a person who was cured after drinking the castle potion later boasted to his neighbors that he was cured because his son had bought the castle potion for him.

　At the time, the flu epidemic that was spreading throughout the country was raging in the royal capital as well, and the castle's potions were given priority to the royal family, nobles, military personnel, and their families. No matter how many potions the Magic Department made, it wasn't enough, and the common folk couldn't buy them even if they had money.

　So the man’s story was met with suspicion, reported and an investigation began.

　When they caught the culprit, they discovered that it was a castle servant who had switched the potions. The culprit had some magical powers and was making a lot of money by selling the potions made by the wizards to rich commoners at high prices.

　The Human Resources Department was unaware that the servant had magical powers.

　Because having magical powers would get you a higher paying job, the Human Resources Department failed to consider the possibility that some employees would not report the possession of magical powers.

　The servant was hired with the intention of stealing from the beginning, and it was later discovered that potions were not the only things he stole.

　After the truth was revealed, the country’s top officials met and decided that “we cannot leave the management of potions in the hands of wizards.”

　Since then, the place where potions are stored has been changed to a building guarded by military personnel day and night. Wizards  cannot freely approach even their own potions. Even before the incident, it was forbidden to make and sell potions at home.

The reason given was that "the country pays a large amount of money for this ability, so it is forbidden to consume large amounts of magical power for personal use."

　As a result of this incident, glass bottles were now made only in stores designated by the government. These stores are strictly prohibited from delivering the same glass bottles to places other than the castle. It is against this background that we are here.

　Kyrias arrived at the washing station.

“You, can I see those bottles for a minute?”

“Of course!”

　Following Meyer’s earlier comment, Kyrias looks sternly at the bottle. Mol stood there, heart pounding, thinking, “I washed it carefully, didn’t I?”

“You, bring me one of those little boxes.”

“Yes, sir!”

　Mol ran over and brought an empty box. Kyrias took the small box and carefully looked at each of the ninety bottles, sorting them and putting them in the box. The bottles were all handmade by skilled glass artisans, but the position and shape of the triangular mark on the bottom of each bottle is usually slightly different. The distortion of the sides is also different.

　The differences were so subtle that other humans would not be able to tell the difference, but Kyrias could tell. Forty of the ninety were perfectly identical in shape and position of the triangle, and the way the body was distorted was also exactly the same. The sheer number of them made him ponder.

(Even though each one is handmade, it is impossible to make 40 perfectly identical pieces.)

“Did I do something wrong, Kyrias-sama?”

“No. You didn’t do anything wrong”

(Hmmm… I guess I’ll ask the appraiser. I’m pretty sure it contained a decent amount of potion.)

　The woman who was in charge of the potions at the flood site is a sorcerer who works for the military doctor.  Although she couldn’t use magic, she could use her magical powers to assess the quality of potions. Since nothing was reported, the potions must have been of decent quality.

(Is she in a tent by the river again today? I don’t want to talk about this in a public place.)

　Kyrias went to the landslide site with the box of suspicious bottles and decided to talk to her after she finished her work.

　After clearing away dirt from the landslide, he stopped his horse at a store on the way back to the castle. He was exhausted from all the magic he had casted and wanted Something sweet to eat. When he entered the store, He remembered Grand Master Glidden-sama. The Grand Master was the one who had cast the teleportation spell on his girlfriend.

"The bacon bread from this shop was Glidden-sama's favorite. Maybe I should drop by once in a while. The appraiser lives in the castle's lodgings, so it's no problem if she goes home late."

　Mr. Glidden’s house is close to this shop.

　He is now 85 years old, an age rarely seen in this country. He is unable to manage his daily life on his own, leaving his personal care to his servants and  spends all day lying down. He was a wizard with great  magical powers when he was active, but he has never worked at the castle, and has always been an independent magical researcher.

　Kyrias had never received direct instruction from the grand master, Mr. Glidden. He has only accompanied his mentor, Jusel Leesley, when he went to visit him. But since he started working at the castle, he has been too busy to go there anymore.

　His master, Mr. Leesley, used to visit him twice a week without a break, but it had been six months since he went missing. He thought he should visit him at least once a month in his master’s place, but in reality he had only been able to visit him once. He had been extremely busy ever since he was appointed as the head of the magic department.

“If I keep putting it off just because I’m busy, I’ll never get around to going. Ok, let’s get going now.”

　Carrying Glidden-sama’s favorite bacon bread and a box containing potion bottles, Kyrias set out for Glidden-sama’s house.

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