Mixing: Recovery Potions

"My Lady, this afternoon is alchemy practice, so let's put off our discussion and hurry to lunch."

Urged along by Lieseleta like this, I decided to discuss our strategy against Drewanchel after dinner. Since the afternoon's practical was alchemy, I needed to change into my mixing clothes.

When riding a riding beast, you can't wear a skirt, so you change into riding clothes—similarly, when performing alchemy, you change into mixing clothes that won't have sleeves getting in the way. When mixing potions at the Temple, I'd always done so in my regular priest robes, so this was my first time threading my arms through the sleeves of actual mixing clothes. The mixing outfit looked a bit like a civil official's uniform. The sleeves didn't flutter about too much, and decorations like lace or pleats that might interfere with work were excluded as much as possible. And the biggest distinguishing feature was that mixing clothes didn't come with a cloak. Instead, a scarf-like piece of cloth in the same color as a cloak was fastened with a brooch.

After Lieseleta helped me change and we checked that I hadn't forgotten anything, I called out to Philine, who was also heading to the alchemy lecture.

"Philine, are you ready?"

"Yes, Lady Rosemine."

Philine smiled softly, pinching the skirt of her mixing clothes. Her outfit was a hand-me-down from someone, sourced by Lieseleta and Ottilie from who-knows-where. But it had been tidied up and even embroidered so that it didn't look like a hand-me-down at all.

"I'm so happy to have beautiful mixing clothes too. Everyone taught me how to mend them. I think my sewing skills have improved a little as well."

"You really give your all at everything, Philine."

"My Lady, you should work a bit harder on your embroidery too, just like Philine."

"Yes, yes. When the threads of the Goddess of Time, Dreuffangauer, overlap, I'm sure I will..."

I let Lieseleta's words about seizing the opportunity pass me by as I descended the stairs. Embroidery was less important than copying books, and copying books was less important than reading.

"Thank you for waiting. Let us head to the small hall."

Though this was my first lecture on alchemy, I'd already been made to produce countless recovery potions, so there was absolutely nothing new about it for me. It was amusing to see Wilfried saying, "This is my first time doing alchemy—I'm so excited," with such a delighted expression.

At the Temple, making recovery potions had been nothing but preparing the materials exactly as the Chief Priest instructed, measuring, chopping, tossing them into a pot, and blending them with Magic Power. For someone who wasn't yet allowed to make her own recovery potions, the whole process was just practice, and the finished products were sold off to Brother Eckhart and Angelica. It had become completely mechanical work, with no enjoyment left in it.

"I've already been taught by Lord Ferdinand, so there's nothing exciting about it for me. I wish I could at least make something other than recovery potions."

My attendants already knew that I'd been drilled by the Chief Priest, so they simply agreed with murmurs of "Indeed," but Roderich's eyes went wide and he cried out in surprise.

"You've already been mixing potions, Lady Rosemine!?"

"Lord Ferdinand told me, 'If you can't even make your own recovery potions, what good are you?' and proceeded to teach me. So far, I can make four types of recovery potions."

The moment I said this, all the apprentice knights turned to stare at me.

"Wait just a moment, Lady Rosemine. There are four different kinds of recovery potions!?"

Apparently, at the Royal Academy they only learned two types: a basic recovery potion used by lower- to middle-ranking nobles, and a higher-grade one made with quality ingredients. Unless you were a research maniac like the Chief Priest, you could only make two types on your own. No wonder Eckhart and Brother Angelica would volunteer as guards whenever I made anything more complicated—they'd buy it on the spot.

"The ones I can make are: a potion that partially restores both Magic Power and stamina, a potion that restores slightly more of both, one that barely restores stamina but greatly restores Magic Power, and one that barely restores Magic Power but greatly restores stamina—four types in total."

...In addition to those, there was the super-nasty-tasting version where both were greatly restored but flavor was sacrificed, a slightly improved gentler version, and a perfect version using Brenneuse fruit from Haldenzel that drastically improved the taste while keeping the effect unchanged. The Chief Priest could make seven types in all, you know.

I wasn't sure if it was wise to rattle all that off, so I kept it to an inner murmur.

"If Uncle were here, it wouldn't be necessary to come to the Royal Academy at all."

"In terms of lectures, perhaps not. But there are things you simply cannot do without attending the Academy."

"Attending the Academy is absolutely essential to obtaining a Stappe and being recognized as a proper noble."

Charlotte said this with a light sigh as she headed to the lecture hall for the lecture portion. Thinking about the social obligations ahead, Charlotte apparently already wanted to return to Ehrenfest. I could completely understand the feeling of finding socializing tedious.

"It can't just be for the Stappe, can it? You need to attend the Academy to interact with other duchies and make friends."

Wilfried emphasized the enjoyable side of socializing, and Charlotte's smile returned. As her older sister, I couldn't lose to Wilfried. I needed to lift Charlotte's spirits too.

"Brother Wilfried is quite right. If you don't come to the Academy, you can't make bookish friends, and you can't read the books in the library. The loss to one's life would be far too great."

"Rosemine, you really need to look beyond just the library and books."

Wilfried sighed as he said this, and Charlotte nodded emphatically in agreement. But being told that was no help. Beyond the library and books—where on earth was I supposed to look?

"My adoptive father told me to keep my time at the Academy as peaceful as possible this year. It would cause problems if I were to throw myself into socializing."

We'd built too many connections with the royal family and upper-ranked duchies, and everyone had been running around in a panic. This year, I thought it would be better to focus on maintaining those connections, keep socializing peaceful, and devote myself to the Library Committee activities.

"Then, to make sure you can enjoy reading in the library, Big Sister, I'll help as much as I can."

"Charlotte, how brave and sweet of you! But don't worry. I'll do my best at socializing too, as Charlotte's older sister."

"Huh, but, Big Sister... Why? You're allowed to go to the library, you know?"

Charlotte's eyes went wide in surprise. I lightly patted her arm and nodded repeatedly.

"It's all right, Charlotte. I'm a Lord's child too—Charlotte's older sister. I'll fulfill the responsibilities I've been given."

I couldn't just dump all the troublesome duties on such a brave little sister and hole up in the library. I'd handle as much socializing as I could. That was my decision, made right now.

When we entered the small hall, it had been prepared differently from usual so that alchemy could be taught. A large white cloth was stretched across the frontmost wall. A stand was placed before it, with nothing on it yet.

There were several tables as well, and only the frontmost one had six small mixing pots arranged at intervals. It seemed the process of blending herbs had to be done where the instructor could see. Since the pots weren't prepared for the number of students, it would apparently be first-come-first-served after chopping. The other tables had boards laid out for each student. Additionally, there were balance-scale-like weighing instruments at the center of each table.

The method for making recovery potions was simple: weigh the amounts of herbs to mix, chop several types on a cutting-board-like surface, put them in a pot, and stir. There was nothing difficult about it, so I thought everyone would pass quickly.

"Let us begin the mixing."

Hirschur said this and started explaining the handling and cleaning of equipment, as well as precautions. Every last point was something the Chief Priest had drilled into me so thoroughly I could have recited it in my sleep. I listened while nodding, but truthfully, my eyes were glued to the Magical Tool that Hirschur had brought in. It was the Magical Tool the Chief Priest had been repairing.

When Hirschur touched the Magical Tool, the quantities of herbs and the procedure appeared projected onto the large cloth. Judging from everyone's "Whoa" of surprise, this Magical Tool was apparently not very common.

"I will only use this Magical Tool for the first lecture. Be sure to write down the names of the herbs, the quantities, and the procedure yourselves. Those who finish may begin weighing your herbs. Then, transform your Stappe into a knife and chop them."

At Hirschur's words, everyone began taking notes in unison. Since everything was recorded in the reference books, neither Wilfried nor I needed to bother writing it down. For my part, I just confirmed the herb names and quantities for the simplest recovery potion, and that was more than sufficient. "Brother Wilfried, please go first," I said, reaching toward the scale.

Wilfried, with a tense expression, weighed his herbs and began transforming his Stappe into a knife. As I weighed my own herbs, I glanced over at Wilfried and my eyes went wide.

"Brother Wilfried, you'll cut your fingers like that!"

His knife grip looked like he was about to chop his fingers rather than the herbs, and I couldn't help but gasp. It was worse than the boys in my first cooking class during my Mitsukuni-era days. At my pointed comment, Wilfried blinked several times and chuckled softly.

"Hm? It's fine, Rosemine. This knife is a Stappe, so it's safe."

A Stappe was made from its owner's Magic Power. Therefore, a knife formed from a Stappe would not harm your fingers no matter how clumsily you used it—provided you weren't trying to hurt yourself on purpose.

I'd wondered why they insisted on transforming the Stappe when you could mix just as well without it, and using a Magic-Power-infused knife would actually save on Magic Power. But it wasn't until I heard Wilfried's explanation that I finally understood.

Thinking about it, it was probably obvious. The lord candidate and upper-noble classes were gatherings of young ladies and gentlemen who had never once cut anything with a knife. There were bound to be plenty who would stumble at the herb-chopping stage.

"Even knowing your fingers can't be cut, it's still nerve-wracking to watch."

"Then why don't you demonstrate first? You're supposed to be good at making recovery potions."

When Wilfried lightly shrugged, I could feel the other students' gazes converging on me. I'd ended up drawing unwanted attention again, but there was nothing to be done. I might as well teach them how to chop herbs properly.

"I'm not particularly good at it—I'm simply used to it."

Being "good" was a word for people like the Chief Priest. I shoved the scale to the center of the table, took out my Stappe, and chanted "Messer."

"Brother Wilfried, hold the knife like this, and press down on the herbs with your hand in this shape, and you won't cut your fingers."

Explaining to Wilfried while demonstrating how to hold down the herbs like a cat's paw, I quickly chopped through the herbs. Voices of admiration rose from the surrounding students—"Ohh," "That's so fast"—but there was nothing remarkable about it. Any Commoner who cooked on a daily basis could do this.

"I've heard it's best to cut them as evenly as possible so they dissolve more easily into Magic Power."

Once I finished, I undid the Stappe's transformation with "Rücken," dispelling it, then carried the board with the chopped herbs over to the mixing pot. Wondering how the mixing would proceed, Wilfried and the other students at the same table followed behind me.

"Professor Hirschur, is it all right if I use the mixing pot?"

"I was a bit surprised at how quickly you got started, but yes, that's fine. Lady Rosemine, you know how to clean it properly as well?"

"Yes."

"That saves me the trouble of teaching you step by step. ...Everyone, this is Lady Rosemine's demonstration! Those who have never seen mixing done before, or who are anxious relying only on the written instructions—please come forward and watch!"

Hirschur raised her voice to call over the other students. I restrained myself from the retort of "Don't be stingy about the effort of teaching!" and thought I was a remarkably perceptive student for it.

With spectators gathering all around, I felt extremely awkward, but I set the board down on the table, took out my Stappe, and chanted "Waschen" to clean the mixing pot. I was not going to splash water everywhere again. My Magic Power control was perfect.

"The cleaning is perfect. Now then, proceed with the mixing."

I swept the herbs from the board into the pot. I took out my Stappe once more, chanted "Styro" to transform it into a Magic-Power pen, then drew a circle around the rim of the mixing pot and inscribed several symbols inside it.

"Rosemine, what is that magic circle?"

"It's necessary for shortening the time."

As I explained this to Wilfried, I undid the transformation and chanted "Baimen" to turn it into a stirring stick. I'd already learned how to size a stirring stick to the pot, so it came out to just the right length.

All that remained was to stir in circles until the surface began to shimmer lightly, and the recovery potion was complete.

"Lady Rosemine, I don't believe the magic circle was covered in the lecture..."

"Oh my, I do apologize. I fell into the habit out of sheer routine..."

After the Chief Priest had taught me the shortcut for shortening the time, I'd used it constantly, because stirring for that long made my arms ache. Come to think of it, drawing a magic circle hadn't been part of today's lesson. Hirschur had pointed it out, but there was no way to erase the circle now.

"The magic circle Lady Rosemine used multiplies the flow of Magic Power to more than double, which shortens the time. However, it will cause failure if used by someone unfamiliar with mixing. Everyone, please infuse your Magic Power slowly and carefully."

After directing this warning to the students, Hirschur let out a sigh and muttered, "Honestly."

"Being able to finish quickly with a magic circle—aren't you just a bit too used to this, Lady Rosemine? At the very least, it's not something to do during your very first practical mixing exercise."

"Lord Ferdinand taught me to make my own medicine. I don't have the skill to produce it yet, but—"

"As always, it's hard to tell whether Lord Ferdinand is being strict or lenient."

Hirschur shook her head, saying, "Educating someone just so she can teach you her own recipe—normally, no one would do that," while she dripped a few drops of the recovery potion I'd made onto some kind of Magical Tool. It was a tool for measuring the quality of the finished product. The Chief Priest had one just like it, so I'd seen it before.

"Both quality and effect are satisfactory."

...Yes!

After that, I spent my time teaching Wilfried mixing tips, glancing over at the surrounding students using their knives like frightened rabbits and feeling my heart give a jolt each time.

"Rosemine, is there a trick to keeping the Magic Power even?"

"The trick is to not weaken the flow. As you get tired, the amount of Magic Power flowing naturally decreases, so you should either start with a smaller flow from the beginning, or—like I did—use a magic circle so you can shorten the time. However, the time-shortening magic circle requires you to pour in all the Magic Power at once until it's complete, so I wouldn't recommend it for beginners."

I could tell the surrounding students were straining to listen, but going out of my way to teach when no one had actually asked would just be nosy interference, wouldn't it? While I was debating this with myself, the ending bell rang.

No other students passed. Evenly blending the Magic Power in was apparently quite difficult, and nobody else managed to produce a recovery potion that met the passing standard.

After dinner, the lord candidates and their attendants put their heads together and began strategizing against Drewanchel, composing letters of inquiry about social matters. From Wilfried to my adoptive father, from me to the Chief Priest and my mother, and from Charlotte to her adoptive mother. The content was nearly identical, but Charlotte said she wanted separate answers from each, so we divided the work. We'd have the knights in the transfer room send them to Ehrenfest. I handed the inquiry letters to the apprentice attendants and let out a soft sigh.

"You must be tired, Big Sister. Are you feeling all right?"

"Never mind me—what about you, Charlotte? Tomorrow is an important day, isn't it? You mustn't go into it exhausted, or you'll collapse partway through."

The next day was when the first-years would head to the innermost chambers to receive "the will of the gods." Therefore, only tomorrow would the first-years have lectures in the morning while the second-years had practicals. Reminiscing about being made to walk endlessly through caverns, I warned her, and Charlotte giggled.

"Even if I'm a little tired, I won't collapse or lose consciousness."

"Even if you don't lose consciousness, lord candidates have to walk much further in than lower-ranking nobles. You should rest early, Charlotte."

I'd been putting on a brave face saying I was fine, but she nodded obediently to Wilfried's words. Somehow, I felt like I was losing my dignity as the older sister. This was a serious problem, wasn't it?

While I was pondering what I could do to reclaim my dignity, Charlotte peered into my face.

"Big Sister, Big Sister. You really aren't feeling well, are you?"

"I'm still fine. More importantly, as your older sister, I want to—"

"If you're thinking of me, then please go to rest immediately. Immediately, Big Sister."

With her indigo eyes trembling with worry, Charlotte said, "I'm worried about you," and Lieseleta added, "You mustn't cause your younger sister distress." The tag team between the two of them sent me tumbling into my bed before I knew what happened. Incidentally, it seemed the hole in the tent had been mended during the lecture. I couldn't find it anymore.

I must have fallen asleep while thinking about what I could do to regain my dignity as an older sister, because when I came to, it was morning.

Today's morning session was practicals. We would be making armor from magic stones. Fully encasing the body in heavy armor was something only knights wore, but apparently, if everyone couldn't make something similar to a simple bulletproof vest, it would be a problem in dangerous times or places.

"Rosemine, shouldn't you be thinking about making cool armor, just like you made a cool Stappe?"

"...Brother Wilfried, the thing we're making today is something that gets worn under everyday clothes, so I don't think we can show off its coolness to anyone."

"I-I see..."

He looked so devastatingly disappointed. His shoulders slumped to a degree that called for comforting. Did he want to make cool armor that badly? I didn't really understand Wilfried's fixation, but it was uncomfortable to leave him so dejected.

"Um, but they say true elegance lies in not cutting corners even where no one can see, so I think it's perfectly fine to care about making it cool."

"Not cutting corners even where no one can see—that's elegance? Hmm, I like that."

He perked up immediately, and Wilfried began enthusiastically discussing his ideas for cool armor. He apparently already had a design in mind.

Unfortunately, the armor Wilfried envisioned was not designed to be worn under everyday clothes, so he had to go back to the drawing board.

The first to finish the practical was Hannalore. In Dunkelfelger, they apparently wore this kind of armor all the time, so she was used to it. With Hannalore leading the way, the Dunkelfelger students passed one after another.

Just like when we'd made the magic stone for a riding beast, it was a matter of solidifying the material around the body, and it wasn't particularly difficult. And unlike Wilfried, I had no intention of obsessing over coolness, so I received my passing mark easily. Wilfried, meanwhile, was determined to make cool armor. I figured he could keep at it until he was satisfied.

That afternoon, the lectures had ended, so I had free time. After seeing off the first-years heading to the innermost chambers, Philine, Roderich, and I used the third-years' reference books to begin previewing the civil official curriculum in the multipurpose hall. Today, Judith, who had finished her lectures, was on guard duty.

The other second-years seemed to be spending their time either beginning their own studies or training in practicals alongside Wilfried.

"When the second-year lectures are over, what will you two do?"

At a natural stopping point, I turned to ask them both.

"It won't take me as long to pass the practicals as it does you, Lady Rosemine, but once the second-year lectures are done, I plan to go collect information from people in other duchies."

Philine's young-leaf-like eyes sparkled as she said, "I think I'll be able to collect even more this year." Unlike last year, she now knew how to approach people for interviews, and after dealing with various people at both the castle and the Temple, she said she no longer felt intimidated about talking to strangers.

"That sounds promising. Roderich, what about you?"

When I prompted him, Roderich slowly raised his head. His hair was a color close to orange-brown. He set down the pen in his hand and interlaced his fingers on the table, pressing them together with effort.

"Lady Rosemine, I have something to discuss with you. Would you be willing to give me some of your time, whenever is convenient?"

His determined, tense, dark-brown eyes were fixed steadily on me.

Rosemine has gained motivation for socializing.

Charlotte had underestimated her sister's love.

Wilfried wants to make cool armor.

Next time: Roderich's wish.