OHNIR – Chapter 46
Chapter 46: Drug Resistance
Madam Lechena was the head of the Holy Light Magic Academy’s medical room. This kind and amiable woman had worked at the academy for decades and possessed admirable talent in both herbology and potions.
Furthermore, she was a Water Mage, the same attribute as Kelusta.
Water magic was the gentlest of all existing natural magics. With Light magic having vanished from the Nobili Continent, nearly all who held the position of healer were Water Mages.
And now, the recently arrived Kelusta was sitting in a chair, obediently listening to the middle-aged woman before her chatter on in a caring tone.
Lechena, dressed in a snow-white physician’s robe, was mixing two potions—one green, one white—while speaking to the girl before her with the earnest, fussy tone of a doting elder. “You young ladies just don’t know how to take care of yourselves. It’s so cold outside, yet you’re still wearing a dress? It’s fine to want to look pretty, but not to the point of getting sick—besides, Miss Breviou, I’ve looked at your medical record. Weren’t you just in the medical room two days ago? What’s happened again so soon?”
Her tone gave Kelusta the distinct feeling of being an auntie from town nagging her to “come home for dinner early.” She found it hard to withstand this wave of concern. She fidgeted with her dress, a little embarrassed, and said, “Nothing else has happened… It’s just that I’ve been taking the potion you prescribed for the past few days, but after all this time, not only has it not worked, my cold has actually gotten worse.”
She sighed, pointed to her stuffy nose, and said helplessly, “That’s why I’ve taken the liberty of coming again, hoping you might re-examine my condition.”
Hearing her description, Madam Lechena frowned. She temporarily set aside the task at hand and sat down opposite Kelusta. Reaching across the table, she felt the brown-haired girl’s forehead, then studied her complexion for a moment before saying thoughtfully, “Your condition has indeed worsened a bit…”
The experienced healer rummaged through a drawer and easily pulled out Kelusta’s medical record. After flipping through it for a moment, she said, puzzled, “The potion I prescribed for you last time was the most suitable one—effective but not too potent. If you’ve been taking it as scheduled, you should have been fully recovered by today.”
“I did follow the doctor’s orders and took it on time,” Kelusta said quickly. “Ten milliliters in the morning and evening… I even went out and bought a small measuring cup, afraid of making the slightest mistake!”
Her words were playful and endearing, and Madam Lechena couldn’t help but look up and smile at her.
But this brief good mood didn’t last long. The white-robed healer’s brow furrowed once more. After staring at the text on the medical record for a while, she ventured a guess, “The record shows that last time was your first visit to the medical room… So, before you enrolled, what was your physical condition like? Were you often sick, and did you ever have to take medicine continuously for as long as a month?”
Kelusta paused, then answered truthfully, “I’m in very good health. I’ve almost never been sick… At most, I’ve had heatstroke a few times in the summer, but I’d recover on my own after some rest. I never needed medicine to treat it.”
“That’s strange,” Madam Lechena muttered, pulling a thick book from her desk and opening it. She flipped through the pages nimbly, finally stopping her finger on a certain page. “Could it be,” she asked thoughtfully, “that someone in your family is chronically ill and always taking medicine?”
Kelusta hesitated for a moment before saying, “…If you put it that way, my mother was in poor health. She took medicine for years on end. That sounds very much like the situation you’re describing.”
“I see.” Madam Lechena turned the book around to face Kelusta and pointed to a line of text that had been specially marked. “This is a textbook you’ll be studying in your third year… Look at the section I’m pointing to. It should answer your question.”
Kelusta blinked, lowered her head to look at the book as instructed, and read hesitantly, “Hereditary Drug-Resistant Constitution…?”
Madam Lechena nodded slightly and explained, “‘Drug-Resistant Constitution’ refers to people with weaker bodies who, after taking medicine for a long period, gradually develop a resistance over time, making it difficult to continue receiving treatment from the same potion. A ‘Hereditary Drug-Resistant Constitution,’ on the other hand, generally appears among the relatives of someone with a ‘Drug-Resistant Constitution.’ They inherit an immunity to potions from their kin, resulting in poor efficacy when using any kind of magic potion.”
This was not a rare condition. In fact, on the Nobili Continent where potions were now rampant, everyone had some degree of drug resistance in their bodies.
This was the greatest tragedy brought about by the disappearance of Light Mages—healing magic was the purest form of treatment. Unlike potions, it would never leave the recipient with so many frustrating side effects of one kind or another.
Kelusta pressed her lips together, looking somewhat dejected.
She never expected to find a trace of her mother in herself through something like this.
In the time before she was born, did her mother, who had such a constitution, have a very hard life? Taking potions day after day that had little therapeutic effect, while also enduring the torment of her illness…
If only she, with her potential for Light magic, could have had the good fortune to be by her mother’s side, how wonderful that would have been.
Seeing her gloomy expression, Madam Lechena thought Kelusta was worried about her own constitution. Her heart softened, and she suddenly spoke, interrupting the brown-haired girl’s sentimental thoughts.
“You don’t need to worry, Miss Breviou. The academy recently acquired a new batch of ‘Potion Potency Amplifiers’ successfully developed by the Hippol family. I’ll get some for you to take back to your dormitory,” the kind potion master said soothingly. “After you drink the potion I prescribed last time, remember to take this amplifier in the correct ratio as quickly as possible. It will enhance the potion’s effects and help you better absorb its healing components.”
It sounded like a godsend for those with a drug-resistant constitution.
“…The Hippol family?” Kelusta sharply caught the keyword. Forgetting her melancholy, she quickly grasped the main point and repeated it questioningly.
“Yes, the family of Count Hippol.” Madam Lechena nodded. Glancing at Kelusta’s simple and unadorned attire, she smiled and offered a deliberate hint, “Miss Tina of the Hippol family enrolled in the same year as you. She has been frail and sickly for years and also has a drug-resistant constitution. The Count has always cared deeply for his children and joined forces with another noble family several years ago to persistently work on developing this ‘Potion Potency Amplifier’… After investing an unknown amount of manpower and resources, they have finally achieved results.”
Kelusta looked at the kind woman, who was also of commoner origin, with understanding. She smiled gratefully and continued to probe, “With another noble family…?”
Madam Lechena paused. Before she could speak, a clear and steady male voice came from behind Kelusta, picking up the conversation with extreme naturalness.
“—The Amirium Ducal Family.”
Kelusta was taken aback. She turned her head to see a blond young man standing quietly in the open doorway. His handsome face wore an approachable smile, and his azure eyes were full of gentleness. When his gaze met Kelusta’s, he raised a hand, placed his palm on his shoulder, and gave a slight bow—a simple gentleman’s courtesy to the two women in the room.
“If Madam Amirium hadn’t been willing to use the ducal family’s assets for the investment, even Lord Hippol would have likely found it difficult to develop such a valuable auxiliary potion in just a few short years.”
Satrick nodded at Kelusta, concluding the topic in a few simple sentences. He took a few steps forward and smiled at Madam Lechena. “Good afternoon, Madam. I’ve come to collect the invitation to the ‘Potions Conference’ that the royal messenger left in the medical room.”
“Oh, good afternoon, Your Highness.” Madam Lechena smiled, straightening her physician’s robe. Her voice was filled with anticipation. “Time flies so quickly. Before the messenger’s visit, I hadn’t even realized it was already time for the annual Potions Conference.”
“This year’s conference looks forward to the presence of an outstanding healer such as yourself,” Satrick said with refined courtesy, his tone formulaic and diplomatic.
Lechena nodded, but the smile at the corners of her lips gradually faded. She glanced doubtfully behind Satrick and frowned, hesitating slightly. “However… I seem to recall the messenger specifically mentioning that the person distributing the invitations this year was supposed to be Her Highness the Princess…?”
Starangui?
Well, Madam Lechena, who didn’t quite understand the undercurrents of the royal succession, might be confused, but Kelusta understood perfectly. It seemed she had stumbled right into a power play between the two heirs.
The Potions Conference was a high-level forum hosted by the royal palace. At the end of each year, His Majesty the King would, in his own name, invite renowned healers, potion masters, and herbalists from all over the Nobili Kingdom to the capital for a grand-scale collective discussion on the year’s medical and potion development issues.
And the task of distributing the invitations was an excellent opportunity for the heirs to make their presence felt before these leading authorities and enhance their social prestige.
“…Are you referring to Starangui?”
Even upon hearing such a question, Satrick’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. At most, he paused for two seconds before speaking, his tone still as warm as a spring breeze. “She has been busy with the preliminary preparations for the conference recently, so I imagine she has no time to distribute the invitations. —As her older brother, I naturally can’t let my royal sister bear all the burden, so helping her with some of her duties is… a matter of course, is it not?”
Hearing this perfectly logical and fraternally pious explanation, Madam Lechena nodded in sudden realization. She turned around, now at ease, to fetch the invitation for Satrick and the Potion Potency Amplifier for Kelusta.
The brown-haired girl, still seated, calmly fixed her gaze on the prince’s utterly natural expression, hoping to detect some awkwardness at being called out by the guileless Madam Lechena for “taking credit”… After a long moment, not only did she see nothing, but she also received a dazzling smile from him. With great regret, she had to avert her eyes.
“And you call me thick-skinned,” Kelusta complained to the System. “Look at that! Now that’s a true master of shamelessness.”
However, the System, having been thoroughly influenced by her daily tutelage, hit the nail on the head. “I didn’t realize you were aware that your own shamelessness could be compared to that of a politician.”
Kelusta: “???”
“Such clear self-awareness,” it remarked with emotion. “Once you clear the game, I’ll apply to the high-dimension developers to raise your game’s price—as a small compensation for not being able to give you the ‘Most Self-Aware Protagonist Award.’”
“…” Kelusta shut her mouth sullenly. “Alright, you great logician, you win.”
After receiving the invitation, Satrick and Kelusta, who was holding a small bag of Potion Potency Amplifiers, walked out of the medical room together.
After a long silence between them, it was Satrick who spoke first, breaking the strange, funeral-like atmosphere.
“Are you ill, Breviou?” The prince’s memory was excellent; he clearly remembered the request Kelusta had made at the tea party. He addressed her cautiously by her surname, his tone full of concern. “The weather in the capital has been quite unusual lately. Remember to keep warm.”
“Thank you for your concern, Your Highness Satrick.” Kelusta immediately plastered on a fake smile and said sincerely, “I’ve already added more layers, and the stove in my dormitory is lit… Besides, the winter vacation is about to start, and my hometown isn’t as cold as the capital—it’s just a small cold. I’m sure I’ll recover soon.”
Satrick smiled and nodded.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, he tapped his chin with a white-gloved fingertip. His azure eyes deepened slightly. Though they radiated harmless goodwill, Kelusta inexplicably felt a chill run down her spine, and a sense of unease filled her entire body.
It was as if she were being watched by a cunning hunter; an urgent sense of crisis crawled up her spine to her scalp.
“I almost forgot.” The handsome young man’s smile changed slightly, taking on a thick sense of mystery. He leaned down slightly, lowered his voice, and whispered in Kelusta’s ear with great implication, “Since we happened to meet today, I’ll let you in on a little secret in advance—”
Kelusta froze, restraining herself from pulling away. In that instant, she glimpsed a faint figure flicker past in the bushes not far away.
…Was someone watching them?
She blinked, about to focus her gaze, but Satrick’s next words completely captured her attention, causing her to miss the opportunity.
“—I think, for this semester’s vacation, you should probably prepare to be unable to go home,” the blond heir to the throne said in a low voice, his tone so enigmatic it made one want to interrogate him on the spot. “After all, in the capital, after the first snow falls, there is a major event… that awaits the honor of your presence.”
“I have a feeling it’s nothing good.”
After parting ways with Satrick, Kelusta tossed the bag of Potion Potency Amplifiers back in her dormitory and also received a letter from Wend asking her to come to the classroom to check on the quality of the Fake Illness Potion.
Now, as she walked toward the academic building, she said to the System in all seriousness, “And what’s with that ‘after the first snow falls’… Has he ever considered that with the weather being so abnormal this year, what if it doesn’t snow in the capital at all? How would he deal with that?”
“…” the System said. “Instead of worrying about such trivial things, you’d be better off trying to guess what Satrick was talking about.”
“To be honest, unlike the tea party, there aren’t many clues to dig up this time,” Kelusta admitted frankly. “Back in the dormitory just now, I checked the world line progress and found that the ‘me’ in the original game is about to go home for vacation as normal… So, I really don’t know what’s going to happen in the capital during this vacation.”
“Not a single clue?” the System asked. “That’s not like your usual style.”
“Well, I do have some ideas.”
Kelusta stretched lazily and entered the long corridor in front of the academic building. She let out a small sneeze, pulled out a handkerchief to wipe her nose, and casually responded to the System’s question. “Judging by Satrick’s attitude, it doesn’t seem like he’s preparing some kind of trap for me to fall into… And considering his choice of words, ‘in the capital,’ ‘honor of your presence’—if nothing unexpected happens, I’ll probably receive an invitation from the royal palace for some important gathering after the first snowfall.”
She picked at her nails and pouted, looking quite annoyed. “Although I’ll definitely have to worry about how a mere commoner like me is qualified to appear at an event only royalty and nobility can attend—but there’s too much going on right now. I’m too lazy to think about it. I’ll just figure out how to deal with it when the time comes!”
A faint smile appeared on Kelusta’s face as she stepped onto the winding stone staircase. Like a hopping little sparrow, she moved briskly toward the floor where the potions classroom was located.
“After all, Senior is what’s most important right now.”
After her figure had completely disappeared behind the door of the potions classroom, the sound of soft footsteps suddenly echoed on the now-empty spiral staircase.
A beautiful girl with long blonde hair, holding the railing, slowly walked to the very last stone step of the staircase. She stared straight at the potions classroom not far away with her pale violet eyes, like a snake aiming at its prey. There was no killing intent in her gaze, but it was filled with a viscous coldness that could make one’s heart stop.
After a long while, a chilly smile tugged at the corners of her crimson lips. She turned and, with the same extremely light steps as when she arrived, slowly departed from the deserted academic building.
…I’ve discovered it, your little secret.
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