Royal Capital Barga (18)
There were three materials I had marked in the book.
"Evening primrose, papaver, and tobacco leaves."
Evening primrose was a flower that didn't exist in the knowledge of my previous life. Or maybe I simply hadn't known about it. Either way, there was only one reason I wanted to use it in a combination.
This flower held mana. Of course, that didn't mean you could activate a magic tool with it or draw mana from it yourself.
It was a flower that took in moonlight and converted it into mana — and because of that, it gave off a soft glow on nights when the moon was out, making it extraordinarily beautiful.
"That's an expensive evening primrose."
I'd paid for it, and it was expensive, no question. More than one gold for a single bloom! And that was for a flower that wasn't even alive. There was a reason it cost so much.
Brew the petals into a tea, the stories went, and you could recover a little stamina and mana. It even appeared in the bestiary, so the claim was solid. My Master would have explained the principle with perfect clarity — unfortunately, nobody around me had any idea why it worked.
"Anyway, if it can restore stamina and mana, maybe I can make a recovery potion out of it."
The next item was papaver — formally known as Papaver somniferum, the opium poppy, and in the world of my previous life, simply called the poppy.
Both my past-life knowledge and this world's bestiary flagged it as dangerous. Used carefully, though, it made an excellent painkiller, which was why apothecaries still kept it on hand.
The problem was the addiction and the hallucinogenic effects. Dangerous stuff — but I wanted to try it at least once.
"Papaver…"
Sister Mary and the young master both knew it well enough that their faces soured the moment they saw it.
"It's dangerous, but, well — it's used as a painkiller all the time."
Fine so long as you didn't abuse it. Easier said than done with something like this.
Last was tobacco leaf.
That one wasn't exactly wholesome either.
"Um, Julian? Why did you pick materials like these?"
"Oh, just… because?"
The good materials were already being put to use all over the place. There was no real need for me to invent recipes for those. These three were different. If I combined papaver into a painkiller and managed to strip out the side effects? That would be revolutionary, wouldn't it?
I'd chosen the tobacco for a similar reason. Without the addiction, maybe something that simply made people feel good would come out of it. A small hope, nothing more.
"Given how alchemy works, something entirely new might come out of it."
One thing I'd learned practicing alchemy was that combinations tended to produce one of two results. Either the original effect or potency was strengthened, or something completely unrelated to the materials appeared. Most results fell into the first category. The second was rarer — things like Attunement Agents or tanned leather.
"R-right! It's not like I'm trying to make drugs or anything…"
Of course, the possibility that a drug would come out still existed. Sister Mary fixed me with a long, steady look.
"I-if something like that does come out, I'll just record it and throw it away."
"Understood."
I understood the worry. If a drug I made spread and hurt people? I wouldn't want that either.
"Besides, I don't have that much material."
I'd decided on the spot, so I hadn't bought much. The evening primrose in particular was expensive and hard to find.
"All right — let's try it!"
The foundation of any combination was mixing with water, so I started there.
Water and evening primrose was a failure. I adjusted the ratios and tried several times, but nothing reacted. I even tried two kinds of Attunement Agent — still nothing. If the material hadn't been so expensive, I would have run more combinations. A shame.
Watching gold vanish into thin air was a little painful. I'd already burned through more than fifteen gold.
"Maybe I should just give up on the evening primrose…"
Even with money to spare, the waste still stung. There was no helping that.
I sat down in a chair to catch my breath. The moment I started resting, Sister Mary began tidying up around me.
My sister and the young master sparred with swords outside whenever they found a free moment. No loss for me. If my sister got stronger sparring against Young Master Maximilian — who outranked her — that was pure gain, wasn't it?
I sipped the tea Sister Mary had steeped and let my mind settle.
"This tea is good."
"It's the kind the temple serves to guests."
So that was why she kept visiting the temple whenever she had free time… She'd been bringing back more than just money. Come to think of it, the cooking had been getting better and better. I'd assumed it was just because we could afford a wider range of ingredients — but some of it must have been coming from the temple as well.
"Next up, let's try the papaver."
Once I felt rested enough, I stood.
I decided to work with the poppy next. The bestiary was surprisingly thorough on the subject.
You scored the unripe seedpod so the milky sap inside would bleed out. Leave it for a day and the sap hardened, taking on a faint reddish tint; you scraped off the dried mass and ground it into powder.
That was why the papaver sold at apothecaries came as a pale red powder.
Normally you measured it carefully by dose — a ratio only physicians and apothecaries really knew. I didn't know it either…
"I should only use a little, right?"
Dumping it in the way I did with other combinations could be dangerous. I mixed water and papaver in small amounts and tried combining them.
Naturally, it failed. I hadn't expected success from water alone to begin with. I'd need to adjust the ratios, try Attunement Agents, the works. I'd bought some of the seedpods just in case, so I planned to throw those in as well.
"Hmm…"
A string of expected failures…. No matter how used to it I'd gotten, a run of failures still left me feeling hollow.
"Next…"
Seedpod, Attunement Agent, and powder — mix them all and combine.
I started with the yellow Attunement Agent. Plants were earth-aspected, right? A simple enough thought. And it failed.
"Ugh…"
I really ought to prepare Attunement Agents of the other attributes…
Next was a combination with the red Attunement Agent.
Poppy seedpod, powder, and Attunement Agent mixed together. I hadn't expected much, but the reaction was good — or rather, something about it felt right. Encouraged, I mixed the contents diligently and worked the combination, and then…
At some point the mixture twisted strangely, and a small explosion went off.
Acrid smoke rose from the pot, and the contents had become a bizarre black lump.
"A failure, then…"
There had definitely been a feeling, though. Judging by that, red was the correct Attunement Agent. Something else was still missing.
"What about adding water?"
"Water?"
Sister Mary, who had been watching the experiment from the side, spoke up.
"Yes. Watching you combine it, it looked like the Attunement Agent was disappearing too quickly."
"Not increasing the amount of Attunement Agent?"
"That could work too."
Both were worth testing.
"Except I'm out of materials…"
No more papaver seedpods. And not much red Attunement Agent left either…
"Ah well. I'll restock tomorrow and try again."
That was enough for today.
Sister Mary and I set about cleaning up the kitchen together.
Chosen as a knight of the Saintess and dispatched on his mission, he was on the road to the royal capital of Barga — and his heart was far from easy.
"Hah… will the Saintess even accept me?"
Considering the offense he had committed, rejection was the more likely outcome. He could force the issue and she might accept him reluctantly, but the thought of doing so sat poorly with him.
He had followed the route she was believed to have taken toward the capital, gathering information as he went, but…
"Even with hair that distinctive, it's strange anyone would still remember."
Two months had already passed. Most people remembered nothing.
Then he stopped at a certain village and found, to his surprise, that most of it had been destroyed.
"Good heavens…"
As a priest who served the Goddess and a holy knight, compassion moved him to offer help — only to be refused.
"We've no mind to hold out our hands to outsiders."
His lack of experience left him unable to read the situation, and he cursed it. Most likely a monster attack of some kind…
"Then at least allow me to heal the wounded."
The man who appeared to be the village chief eyed him with mild suspicion. He brought out about ten injured people — no one critically hurt, mostly light wounds.
As he healed them with Holy Magic, he asked carefully what had happened… and the answer was truly lamentable. Monsters had attacked the village. There had even been another attack roughly two months earlier.
"Back then, some adventurers who were passing through drove them off for us."
When he asked why they didn't simply call adventurers again, the younger villagers looked away.
He heard the reason from someone else, and it was absurd. The older adults simply disliked adventurers — a thoroughly selfish motive.
"So you intend to just sit here and take it?"
They had nothing to say. They had never left the village in their lives. The village was their entire world; they knew nothing of the outside. It was pitiful, but there was nothing he could do about it alone.
If a full order of knights had been moving with him, there might have been a way to help…
"Thank you, Father."
Once he had healed all the wounded, he left the village. It probably wouldn't last much longer. If a kind-hearted adventurer happened to pass through, perhaps — but as long as they so fiercely rejected outsiders, no adventurer was going to go out of their way to help.
"You're a good man…"
"As a servant of the Goddess, I simply couldn't walk past."
"Aye. The one who helped the village back then was a servant of the gods as well."
A servant of the gods…?
"Did they happen to have an unusual hair color?"
When he asked if it had been pink, the old man nodded.
"I see…"
So the Saintess had helped this village…. And they had driven out the very person who saved them. Truly lamentable — but he did not let his anger show.
"Don't let it weigh on you too much…"
"I hope nothing further befalls you."
As he crossed the village fence, the old man turned his back without a second thought. A pity — but that was their choice.
Hearing the story of the Saintess settled his heart a little.
Given her kind nature, she might accept him. She might also refuse.
"Still, it seems certain she took this road."
He strode forward with renewed purpose.
About a month later, he arrived at his destination — the royal capital.
It shouldn't have taken that long. He had simply stopped at villages along the way to offer a little service, and time had slipped away.
In truth, part of the delay was that his own heart still wasn't settled. Facing the Saintess directly and hearing her refuse him would hurt more than he cared to admit.
But he had done what he had done. If she rejected him, he would simply have to contact his father and request a reassignment.
He arrived at the temple intending to deliver the letter entrusted to him by the main cathedral — and found the atmosphere strangely heavy.
Had something happened at the temple? He couldn't understand how the temple where the Saintess resided could feel like this.
He delivered the letter to the archbishop, heard what had occurred, and lowered his head along with him.
The capital temple had made a grave mistake. Worse still, the incident had spread rumors about the Saintess — the worst possible outcome. His father had told him that the Saintess wished to keep her identity hidden.
That only deepened his worry.
"Then where is the Saintess?"
"She has not set foot here once since her first visit."
No wonder the temple's mood had collapsed. In practical terms, they had been abandoned.
The temple, for its part, was trying to atone by supporting the Saintess's daily life through a nun.
"Then I shall wait."
He knew where the Saintess was staying, but he couldn't simply show up unannounced. The proper course was to wait until Sister Mary — who attended her — arrived, sound out her intentions, and only then request a visit.
But if the Saintess was still angry, his chances of being accepted were vanishingly small.
Realizing that, he sank into gloom.
The archbishop seated across from him hung his head as well, his expression equally bleak.
Ah… how miserable…