Royal Capital Barga (7)
Still, how were we supposed to leave? Going out the back door again would only draw more eyes after all the commotion.
"Let's walk out the front gate like we belong there."
"Like we belong there?"
"Yes. If we leave with the other worshippers who came to pray, we can blend in and keep the attention off us."
Maximilian's reasoning made sense. We had entered through the back, so that was where everyone's focus would still be lingering. The front entrance ought to be relatively unguarded. And slipping out among ordinary pilgrims would only make us less suspicious.
"That's it!"
I adopted his plan on the spot. We rested in the meeting room, sampling the snacks and drinks the temple had provided.
"This is a bribe, isn't it…"
That was the first thought that crossed my mind the moment I laid eyes on the sweet cake.
"Please don't think of it that way. Just enjoy it."
Sister Mary tried to persuade me, insisting that if I refused even this, the faithful in the temple would be heartbroken.
I had never intended to refuse in the first place.
Throwing away expensive, delicious food would be a waste!
"What will you do about the letters?"
Maximilian gently reminded us of why we had come to the temple in the first place.
"We'll have to send them, won't we?"
I had no desire to come back again, so they needed to go out today. I asked Sister Mary for stationery and a pen, and together we composed the letters. I had three destinations in mind.
The first was my adoptive parents. They would be wondering how I was getting on, so I owed them an update.
The second was the Instructor. He probably wasn't fretting over me, but I still felt I ought to send word.
The third was the Master — and that one required the most writing by far. I filled page after page with the magic combinations I had devised, alchemy recipes, and notes on my progress with Holy Magic.
"All done."
Once the letters were finished, I sorted them by destination. Sending anything to the Master or to the Baron's household would be simple enough, but the letters for my adoptive parents and the Instructor presented a problem.
The village itself was remote — no temple, and merchants rarely passed through.
"You needn't worry. We'll handle the delivery properly."
The nun who came to collect the letters couldn't bring herself to lift her head when she saw me. That face… she was one of the nuns who had been at the back door earlier.
She assured me there would be no inspection, and that the letters would be sent as though they were ordinary temple correspondence, so I had nothing to worry about — or something to that effect.
"Well, that really is everything, then…"
The letters — our original purpose — had been sent. I had planned to tour the temple grounds and build a few connections while I was at it… but all of that had fallen apart.
"Will you be returning home?"
Sister Mary still looked unwell; the earlier incident had clearly taken a toll on her.
"Yes. I'm worried about you, Mary."
"I…"
She started to say something, then stopped.
"Yes. Let's go home and rest."
The moment I declared we were leaving the temple, the Archbishop presented me with a gift.
"This is a present for the Saintess."
I wanted to refuse… but turning this down as well would only make things harder for the temple. Reluctantly, I reached out and accepted it. Then I slipped in among the other worshippers and left the temple behind.
The sun was still high in the sky — early yet — but we returned to the mansion all the same.
"Ugh, I'm exhausted…"
The mental fatigue was crushing. I was not someone who lost her temper easily, so when one irritating thing after another had piled up without warning, the weariness hit me like a wall.
I slumped into a chair to rest, then finally examined the gift from the temple.
"This is… money?"
The first thing I found in the pouch was a handful of gold coins. Thirty of them! A lot, or not much, depending on how you looked at it.
"No — it's definitely not a small amount…"
Receiving two hundred gold at the main temple had briefly skewed my sense of scale. Calling thirty gold "not much" was absurd.
With this much, a person could live comfortably on their own for half a year.
I transferred the gold coins into my wallet. Even after emptying the pouch of every last coin, something still remained inside.
"What's this…"
The remaining contents looked like a dried root of some kind.
"That's—!"
"Ah!"
Sister Mary and Maximilian both reacted as though they knew exactly what it was.
I felt like I had seen it in a bestiary somewhere myself…
"Mandragora!"
Huh? At the sound of the name, I looked down at the root in my hand.
"This is a Mandragora?"
This shriveled, scrawny little thing?
Mandragora was a plant that turned up often enough in the novels of my previous life. My knowledge of it came entirely from fiction. I had heard the name in this life as well — a medicinal herb famous as a tonic.
The problem was that it was nearly impossible to cultivate in bulk, and even harder to harvest.
"This?"
I held the withered root up high.
"Yes, that does appear to be a Mandragora."
I asked the two of them how they could tell.
"If you look carefully at the root, doesn't it resemble a face? That's how you identify it."
Following Maximilian's indication, I could indeed make out something face-like in the shape. He added that it would have been far easier to recognize if the form had been intact.
"It's said that Mandragora is best eaten immediately after harvesting, but it's also dried like this for long-term storage."
We debated what to do with it. Maximilian suggested eating it. I wondered whether it might serve as material for experiments. Sister Mary proposed selling it to help with living expenses…
Opinions were all over the place.
In the end we decided nothing, and for the time being I simply tucked the Mandragora back into the pouch.
I went to the study and opened a book. Flipping through the bestiary, I searched for the entry on Mandragora.
"Let's see…"
A monster that grows beneath the earth. Though it possesses life and the capacity to move of its own will, it remains quietly underground to accumulate nutrients for its growth.
When pulled from the soil, it emits a grotesque cry. This scream carries a powerful demonic force capable of plunging a person into hallucinations — and of killing those of frail constitution outright.
For this reason, the harvesting of Mandragora must only be undertaken with thorough preparation.
That was what the bestiary said.
"And the medicinal effects…"
The entry listed neither medicinal properties nor uses. Other plants had those details. So why not this one?
Was it because Mandragora was so hard to obtain? I checked the other books in the study, but found nothing on its efficacy either. So I asked Maximilian, who clearly knew something about it.
"Its effects, you mean?"
"Yes. I figure I need to know what it does before I can decide how to use it."
"Hmm…"
He rested his chin on his hand and sank into thought.
"Mandragora has two principal effects."
Eaten raw, he explained, it temporarily boosted one's mana and invigorated the body.
"So it's a doping agent, basically?"
"Yes — but that method only draws out half of its true potency."
The real way was to decoct it into a medicinal broth, concentrating every last drop of its essence.
"The effects are similar. An enhancement of mana, a strengthening of the body — a kind of panacea, really."
Oh…
"So nobles must be after it constantly?"
"They are. However, Mandragora is also toxic."
Consume too much, and the poison could kill you…
"And even if you take it repeatedly, the effects diminish."
Still, the benefits were so substantial that wealthy nobles made a point of giving it to their children at least once.
"Have you tried it yourself, then?"
Maximilian gave a slight nod.
"Yes. The amount I took was very small."
Roughly one-fifth of the Mandragora I was holding, he said — and even that had been a divided portion of a full specimen, not a complete one.
"With so little, even decocting it was underwhelming. But there was an effect."
Hmm… so that was why he had suggested eating it? Thinking about the potential results, there was something to look forward to if I used it as an alchemy ingredient as well.
But I was torn.
An intact dried Mandragora like this would fetch no less than five hundred gold on the market.
That figure alone explained why Sister Mary had wanted to sell it. With that kind of money I could buy all sorts of materials I wanted and put them to use in experiments.
On the other hand, simply selling something I had received as a gift felt a little ungrateful.
"It wouldn't have any effect on Holy Power, would it?"
"That I couldn't say. But the body would still grow stronger, wouldn't it?"
Even that alone would make it worthwhile…
With a specimen of this size, he said, there would be enough potency for four people to share. Eating it was fine. Using small amounts for experiments was also clearly a good idea…
Honestly, either option worked for me. Both had their merits…
Then a thought struck me — my older sister.
"If I think about Emma…"
Last time, with the wild ginseng, I had regretted not being able to give her any.
Emma growing stronger was good for me too. Barring something unforeseen, wasn't she the person I would be with for the rest of my life? We would live in the same village, and she would be a huge help whenever I went out gathering materials.
"I've decided. We'll eat it."
Yes — invest in Emma. If something is called a panacea, you feed it to people when the chance arises, don't you?
"Are you certain?"
"Why are you asking me that all of a sudden?"
He was the one who had suggested eating it in the first place…
"In the end, the owner is you, Miss Julian."
I let out a short laugh.
"Money I can get by speaking with the temple, and there are still plenty of alchemy materials I haven't tried yet."
Once the decision to eat it was settled, I called for Sister Mary.
"Mary, will you be having some of this?"
"The Saintess should be the one to take it."
"I have no intention of eating it myself."
This time, I was determined to give the whole thing to Emma.
"You mean to give it to Emma, then."
Sister Mary had read my mind.
"Why do you suppose the temple gave us this?"
As someone raised in the temple, she might know something.
"Who can say? They simply hoped it would be of help. However you choose to use it, that would be what the temple wants, wouldn't it?"
Hmm…
She had a point.
"I plan to keep researching alchemy going forward."
"Yes, I'm aware."
"And that means I'll need to travel and go out gathering."
Sister Mary nodded, giving me her full attention.
"Right now I have Maximilian, but he's a noble — an outsider. There's no telling how long he'll be able to stay with us."
A companion, yes, but one who could vanish at any time.
"Emma, on the other hand, is someone I'll probably be with for life. If she grows stronger, my safety is as good as guaranteed."
Sister Mary did not bring up the Holy Knights.
I knew that assigning Holy Knights as my escort was an option. But I didn't want that.
"I see."
"Yes."
"Then do as you wish."
"Really?"
"Yes. Even if I took some myself, the effect wouldn't amount to much."
The fate of the Mandragora was decided.
The method for preparing the panacea was rather involved. You put it in water with other herbs and boiled it, and boiled it, and boiled it again until the contents completely dissolved, then reduced and condensed the result.
"This feels a lot like alchemy…"
Examining the material's condition, I could clearly sense mana within it — no surprise, given that it was essentially a monster's remains.
"Could it be…?"