Potion Peddler (2)
"Good heavens."
After downing the potion Felix had handed her, Remillion thought, This man has caused a massive incident, and scrambled frantically to his laboratory—only to witness an astonishing sight.
"Hey!! Honorary Professor Felix! Come out here!"
"What on earth is this potion?!"
"Get out here right now!! You just casually handed this out without expecting something like this would happen?"
"Let's talk about this first!"
Even at this late hour, a throng of professors had already gathered outside Felix's laboratory, pounding on his door.
This man already distributed it to the other professors too!
Seeing that scene, Remillion could only be astonished once more.
These were professors—magic department professors, no less. Handing them a potion like this was no different from tossing a single tender scrap of meat to a beast that had starved for five days and then running away, or giving a single sip of water to a traveler lost in the desert before vanishing like a mirage of an oasis.
"GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOOOOOOW!!!!!!!"
...Actually, it might have been even worse than that.
In any case, for a mage, side-effect-free mana recovery was nothing short of a philosopher's stone. And so, as the pounding on the door grew so loud one might wonder if these people were really magic professors at all—
Click—
Creeeak—
"Huh!? H-he's out!!"
"It's Professor Felix!!"
At last the violent knocking reached its owner, and the door opened to reveal Professor Felix's face.
"What brings everyone here at such a late hour?"
Felix, who already knew full well why they had come, wore a leisurely smile.
"Honorary Professor Felix! What in the world is that potion?!"
"Pardon?"
"Don't play dumb! The potion you handed out to the faculty!"
"That potion that goes beyond simple mana recovery to aid physical recovery as well—and without a single side effect!"
"How can something like that even exist?!"
"Ah~ so that's why you've all gathered here at this late hour?"
"Was the efficacy satisfactory for everyone?"
"Satisfactory? Are you joking right now? Are you saying that potion can be described with a mere word like 'satisfactory'?!"
"Answer carefully. Depending on your answer, the Magic Tower will move."
The potion's performance was outstanding. But it was too outstanding. This was not something that could be dismissed as a mere prototype an academy professor had created through experimentation. With this potion alone, the wars of this world would be completely transformed in more ways than one. The ability to cast a large-scale meteor spell four or five times instead of three—that held exactly that much significance. That was why the professors had no choice but to react so sensitively.
"First, would you take a look at this?"
But even surrounded by the professors' menacing gazes, Felix calmly pulled a document from his coat with an easygoing air.
"This is... an official document from the Alchemists' Guild?!"
One professor's eyes went wide as he looked at the document Felix held up with a sly attitude, and he cried out in shock.
"That's correct. While it is still a prototype, we have already received the Alchemists' Guild's analysis and their position that production and sale of the potion is permitted."
In this world, selling potions required the Alchemists' Guild's permission first and foremost. A potion was, after all, medicine—a pharmaceutical applied to the human body—so it was only natural that various risk factors be analyzed and that only products as harmless as possible be used. Even so, the side effects of potions commonly used in this world were nothing to scoff at, but that was the line they had drawn.
In a way, it seemed like a good policy that reduced the burden on potion buyers and raised trustworthiness... but the reality was different. The Alchemists' Guild granted production permits based on their own judgment and encouraged attaching a seal indicating the Guild's recognition. The fees they collected from that were substantial, and at least within this empire, the Alchemists' Guild was using that authority to rake in enormous profits.
But looking at it the other way... it also meant that as long as any potion had the Alchemists' Guild's approval, there was no problem with production and sale.
The Evergarden family had first submitted a prototype of the potion to the Alchemists' Guild and requested approval. Receiving a sales permit for a potion wasn't that big of an issue in itself. After all, the Alchemists' Guild granted production and sales approvals and earned fees from those sales, so the more people who wanted to sell potions, the fuller their coffers became—a good thing for them. Of course, even if a pouch full of gold coins "coincidentally" appeared in the pocket of the official who received the Evergarden family's letter during that process, that was truly nothing more than a coincidence.
So while normally there would be many documents to prepare—the manufacturing method, experimental logs, and so on—they were able to receive approval quite conveniently. Given that the potion's main ingredient was leaves from the World Tree, being able to avoid revealing the manufacturing method was an extremely "fortunate" situation for the Evergarden family.
"If it has the Alchemists' Guild's approval..."
"Does that mean there's no problem selling it officially?"
"Then..."
The professors' position had been as follows. The performance of the potion Felix had given them was excessively outstanding. That meant it might not be made of ordinary ingredients—something problematic could arise. Before that, it shouldn't even be possible to create a potion like this. If a potion like this were released indiscriminately, it would cause massive chaos. That was the conclusion they had reached.
But if the empire's highly credible Alchemists' Guild had already granted approval, it meant there was no need for them to nitpick here. And the potion's performance was truly outstanding. That being the case, another judgment formed in their minds.
"Sales. When does it go on sale?"
In other words: if that's the case, we should buy up as much of this potion as possible. The potion's value was extremely high, and it was only natural that they should stock up before it hit the market. Moreover, the uses for the potion were truly endless—whether they resold it at a markup when the price rose later, used it themselves, or did anything else, it was all good.
"First, sell me ten bottles. Ten bottles!"
"I'll take twenty!"
"Fifty bottles!"
"Give me a hundred!!!"
Their actions were swift. Having been hounding Felix just moments ago, they immediately changed their tune and began clamoring for him to sell them potions like participants in an auction.
"Now, now, please calm down. I haven't finished speaking yet."
As they all raised their hands high and started shouting, Felix soothed them and continued.
"This potion was created by our Evergarden family using a special secret method. Currently it's still in the prototype stage, so quantities are limited... but we plan to begin full-scale sales going forward."
"In other words... it will become a specialty product of the Evergarden Territory."
"Oh...? Then—"
"Does that mean you'll be able to secure quantities soon?"
"That's right. Additionally, we're already taking advance reservations for bulk orders, so if you're interested, how about it?"
"Then let's write up a contract right away!"
"M-me too! I need some too!"
"Don't push! I was standing in front first!"
"Nonsense! My toes were clearly farther forward!"
"You old geezer?!"
"Now, now, there's no need to rush! We'll prepare sufficient quantities, so please line up in order!"
After Felix's statement, the professors who had gathered to confront him over this issue instantly became customers and began signing the contracts Felix handed them without hesitation, one after another.
"Good heavens..."
And Remillion, staring blankly at the scene, could only feel both admiration and astonishment. Selling it as a specialty product of the Evergarden Territory meant, conversely, that the Evergarden family could also decide who they sold it to. Never mind the potion's performance—the fact that professors who would normally be buried in their labs at this hour of the night had come running in a panic to sign contracts was enough to leave one speechless.
This was still just a small commotion for now, but this potion was certain to have a major impact on the empire. If such a product could be distributed exclusively through the Evergarden Territory, the advantages gained from that would clearly exceed imagination. Those who fell out of the Evergarden family's favor would have to buy it from others at markup upon markup, so a future in which everyone bowed their heads and grovelled before the Evergarden family vividly rose in her mind.
In this very moment, Remillion was witnessing the first footsteps of the pitifully weak Evergarden County as it began to shake the empire's hegemony.
When did they come up with this plan? No, was it from the very beginning?
Looking at Felix cheerfully checking over the contracts, Remillion felt a momentary chill. Just imagining what kind of future Felix—and the Evergarden County—were dreaming of was enough to send shivers down her spine.
But.
Still, I should buy some first.
Her body honestly slipped into the line that had formed. Whether it was Felix's scheme or the Evergarden County's plan, that potion was simply too tempting.
"Hey! This is my turn!"
"Ah...! Y-yes... I'm sorry..."
I should have gotten in line first and then thought about it...
At the rebuke from the professor standing behind her, Remillion's rabbit ears, which had been standing straight up, drooped flat, and she trudged off to the very back of the line.
"Phew..."
Time passed. Having finally placed the contracts bearing the signatures of all twenty-three magic department professors who had gathered there onto the table, Felix wiped the sweat from his brow and muttered.
"You can move now."
After gazing at the contracts on the desk for a moment, Felix suddenly turned his head toward a corner of the laboratory and spoke.
"Is everyone... gone now?"
At that, the empty space in the corner of the room—which had clearly been vacant—warped, and a figure appeared. Tene, who had been crouching in the corner of the room, looking up at Felix with tired eyes, asked.
"I figured they'd come looking... but I think I underestimated the madness of mages. I didn't expect them to swarm like this."
He had been scattering the bait of prototype potions to every magic department professor he ran into since lunchtime, including Remillion, so he'd expected a response—but Felix hadn't anticipated them all rushing over together at such a late hour.
"Still, it's fine. We achieved our goal in the end, and the plan is proceeding smoothly."
"Then I don't have to do that anymore?"
Tene carefully asked Felix, who was smiling leisurely since there had been no setbacks to the plan—rather, things had gone smoothly.
"No? We're still far short."
"What?! So I have to do that again?"
But contrary to her hopes, Felix immediately contradicted her, and Tene cried out with a look of pure horror.
"Making the potion is far too simple. It's nothing more than diluting World Tree leaves in plain water. If we produce and sell it as is, the manufacturing method will be discovered in no time."
"So, to hide the fact that it was made from World Tree leaves no matter how much they analyze it... we need 'something' to disrupt that analysis, right?"
"But... why does my blood have to go into it?"
"Dragon blood contains far more information than the blood of ordinary beasts or humanoids... and even if someone tries to analyze it, there's no control sample to compare against. It's the absolute optimal additive."
The potion's performance was outstanding, but in the end it was nothing more than steeping World Tree leaf components in plain water and diluting them. While the simplicity of the manufacturing method was an advantage... conversely, analyzing the potion's ingredients would immediately reveal how to make it. If the fact that they were circulating World Tree leaves got out, it would inevitably cause various international problems, so the Evergarden family had needed to hide the manufacturing method. After conducting various experiments, they eventually discovered that if they diluted dragon blood extremely thinly and added it, it could completely overwrite that information.
However.
"But... but...! It hurts so much!"
"There's no helping it. Ordinary syringes don't work on a dragon's living flesh."
A dragon's body was so sturdy that ordinary blood-drawing methods couldn't extract blood. To wound a dragon's body, one either needed tools made from rare ores comparable to dragon scales, or...
"Weapons made from your scales are effective."
Tools made from a dragon's own body were effective. Fortunately, he had recently reinforced his staff with Tene's scales at the dwarves' fortress, Karak-Zar, making blood collection possible.
"Besides, I cast an anesthesia spell and I'm only pricking you a tiny bit... why are you so scared? You're a dragon, aren't you?"
"But... you say 'tiny bit,' but you're practically tearing my flesh open! It doesn't hurt that much, but do you know how terrifying it is to watch my own flesh being torn?"
"But it heals right away, doesn't it?"
"It's a mental problem! Mental!"
But since Felix's staff wasn't a tool designed for blood collection, the actions required to draw blood—while not painful—were enough to make her face go deathly pale, and Tene displayed extreme reluctance.
"I'll make you a syringe from your scales as soon as possible... so for now, come here!"
"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"
And so, once again today, Tene had no choice but to hold out her arm while shedding fat tears, and thanks to that, the potion production could proceed smoothly.