Chapter 22
Chapter 22
Extract It!
Amazingly, the raw material the instructor brought was… willow.
“Alright, everyone, this willow contains compounds with strong analgesic and antipyretic effects. It also interferes with blood clotting, but since all these effects come from a single compound… you need to focus your extraction magic on it for best results. Extraction magic works best when you understand the properties of the substance you’re extracting.”
Hearing that, Idnia let out a sigh of relief.
‘Ah, thank goodness. It’s salicin.’
Salicin is the natural painkiller in willow, and when refined, it becomes acetylsalicylic acid—better known to people as aspirin.
‘One of the questions in the entrance exam… salicin…’
In her previous life, Idnia had been an employee at a major bio-corporation whose name alone was enough to be recognized.
Born as the eldest daughter of a poor family, she had worked hard to enter a corporation that spanned chemistry, materials science, bioengineering, and cosmetics. After that, she had been constantly pestered by her parents for money.
‘Alright, eldest daughter. Pay back the money we spent raising you.’
‘Cover the deposit for the house.’
‘Dad got drunk and hit someone, pay the settlement.’
‘Even though I failed multiple times, give me a shop to run. No money? Fine, you take a loan for the deposit.’
The only comfort in that miserable life had been Awakening Girl Concert.
‘Everyone said the gacha was tough, but compared to my life, it was nothing but sweet!’
So even suddenly reincarnating as the villainous heiress in the game didn’t shock Idnia at all. Someone playing with her life? This world is a giant model garden created by someone? Her life on Earth had already been toyed with by others. She just needed to live her given position as best she could and act according to her own sense of justice—whether in a game world or not, she could hold her head high.
“Now, there are ten extraction wands, so ten of you come up and try extracting first.”
Ten students came forward and grabbed the extraction wands.
The wands were chained to prevent unauthorized use. Think of it like phones displayed at an electronics store. Seeing the anti-theft chains, it was clear that these extraction wands were highly coveted—even among clearly identified academy students.
‘Makes sense.’
Idnia nodded in agreement.
“Everyone, repeat after me: ‘Yong chuulhara!’”
“Yong chuulhara!”
The moment the students shouted the incantation, their magical energy was forcibly drawn into the wands. Salicin began to be extracted from the willow!
“Now, put it into the bottles!”
They carefully transferred the shimmering liquid into vials. But during the process, the students collapsed.
“Ugh?!”
“Argh!?”
“Ughhh?”
Drooling and trembling, the young teens were completely drained by the sudden strain.
“Ah, this is burnout.”
Dryad instructor Nairi spoke casually.
“Mana burnout happens when too much mana is used, leaving a void. You won’t die, but it’s accompanied by severe nerve pain. I’ve never experienced it myself, so I can’t say.”
“Burnout?”
“No, the nerve pain. Humans say it feels like a toothache spreading through the arms, legs, spine…”
All the students recoiled at her description. That sounded excruciating.
“Next!”
When another ten students tried to step forward, Nairi stopped them.
“No, have the collapsed students step out, and you take their place. Those still standing continue.”
“What? That… does that mean we stay until we collapse?”
“Yes! Exactly. See, alchemy class doesn’t actually help much with doing real alchemy. So be sure to take chemistry. And right now, my sexy bromide calendar is free!”
In other words, they were to squeeze out as much mana as possible until experiencing full mana burnout.
“This… is allowed?”
“Are they crazy?”
The students grumbled, but each took their turn. Even the first group collapsed again after another round of extraction magic.
Nairi checked whether the fallen students were truly burned out or faking before letting them switch.
“Next!”
They collapsed one after another. Most fell after one or two extraction casts, making rotations quick. Some could last three or four rounds at most. Finally, Astraea’s Mari and Isolde Polzen stepped up.
“Yongchuulhara!”
“Yongchuulhara!”
Mari and Isolde shouted the incantation simultaneously.
“Oh!?”
Nairi was impressed.
Isolde’s extraction produced in one cast what four or five others could extract, clearly demonstrating her extraordinary magical talent. Among the academy’s gifted students, her magic stood out like a rare gem.
And Astraea’s Mari?
“Yongchuulhara!”
“Yongchuulhara!”
“Yongchuulhara!”
Her mana seemed limitless.
“This is…”
“Gah!?”
Isolde was shocked that Mari could keep casting without strain.
“Did you see that?”
“Unbelievable. We shook just once…”
“Y-yes, truly a saint!”
Other students marveled at Mari’s overwhelming mana.
“But the amount extracted per cast is so small. Not even a fifth of Isolde Polzen’s output.”
“Did you extract more than that?”
“Uh… no.”
“Then shut your mouth. Stop complaining about Mari.”
“Yeah… I don’t get it. I’m not usually like this, but suddenly everything this saint candidate Mari does annoys me. Am I cursed or something?”
Isolde was initially stunned by Mari’s immense mana, but quickly regained composure.
‘Alright. She’s a worthy saint candidate. But I’ve never fallen behind in mana before.’
Isolde cast extraction again. Soon, a competitive dynamic emerged between Mari and Isolde. Isolde extracted more per cast, but Mari’s continuous casting balanced the speed. Their bottles filled at a similar pace.
“Ah! How delightful! Oh ho ho, how much… I mean, hmm hmm.”
Nairi sprayed water at her feet, maintaining her composure. Other students were dropping out, but Mari and Isolde continued side by side.
“Hmm… remarkable.”
“Indeed. I knew Isolde was great, but the saint candidate is amazing too.”
Prince Lorenzo of Mazdari stopped after five casts, Prince Karl of Oxbach after four. Both had left some energy in reserve, but beads of sweat on their foreheads showed it wasn’t a pretense. They too began to take notice of Mari, the saint candidate.
‘Phew, we’ve twisted through a lot, but now it’s starting to follow the original routine. Thank goodness.’
Idnia felt almost personally delighted seeing Mari gain attention from princes—not in a negative sense for being last in rank, but positively.
Then…
“Grrk.”
Crown Prince Rudolph set down his wand. Compared to others using only four or five casts, he had managed seven. Mari had already cast twenty times. Isolde, around seven times, still maintained her tremendous output.
“There’s plenty of willow left. If I had known, I’d have brought dozens more trees.”
“…Teacher?”
“Oh, asking if we can cut other trees? Well, humans kill humans, don’t they? Pine trees emit toxins to drive out other trees and monopolize resources. Fallen leaves’ roots do the same. Assigning weird behaviors to dryads or elves? That’s just forced settings from erotic novels. Yes! Dryads can kill trees!”
Nairi enthusiastically brought more willow from storage. Her words were horrifying, almost like confessing to being a psychopathic criminal.
Meanwhile, Idnia’s turn came as the empty space opened.
“Hmm. Extract it?”
The wand glowed red—but nothing more.
“Oh, I accidentally infused my aura…”
Strangely, when aura entered the wand, magic resisted activation. So that’s why it’s hard to learn aura and magic simultaneously. Idnia calmed herself, suppressing her aura, and focused solely on the salicin.
‘Salicin, precursor to aspirin. Hexagonal structure, tail… acetyl group, right? Since it’s not acetylsalicylic acid yet, I should remove the acetyl group.’
Concentrating on the molecular structure, Idnia gripped the wand and shouted the incantation.
“Extract it!”
-CRACK-
The willows on the table twisted violently. Amazingly, every willow was squeezed dry, releasing a massive amount of medicine. Even trees that students had already extracted from, or waste remnants, yielded more.
“This can’t be?!”
Even Nairi, observing, was astonished.
“Bottles! Bottles!”
She hurriedly brought vials, and Idnia carefully poured the extracted liquid in. The bottles quickly filled to the brim.
Isolde’s eyes went wide.
‘What the hell is this?!’
Competing with Mari was fine before; her precise, massive extraction allowed her to rely on mana. She had confidence in her own mana. The only difference was that Mari’s faster casting speed kept up with the bottles being filled. Competing with Mari had been a satisfying challenge.
‘I’m superior, but you’re impressive too. Let’s see how far you can go.’
But now…
Idnia faced overwhelmingly precise, flawless magic. She couldn’t look down on it.
‘Impossible. She surpasses my magical talent? Then what am I?’
Isolde Polzen was the daughter of the imperial chief. As such, she’d been raised with every advantage, but even she knew that people wouldn’t see her entirely favorably. The only trust she could place was in her own skill.
But…
‘The daughter of a grand imperial family… surpassing me in magic? That’s my only pride as the chief’s daughter.’
Excitement, anger, exhaustion—they drained Isolde’s strength.
Mana burnout. Isolde Polzen sank to her knees.