OHNIR – Chapter 110
Chapter 110: Accumulation
Kelusta paused, keenly aware of the change in address.
She had to admit… it was certainly more pleasant to hear than the cold “Miss Amirium.”
Her expression softened in response. She lifted the hem of her skirt and gave Lysa a slight curtsy, a gesture of goodwill.
“I would be glad to hear the details, my dear professor.”
Lysa nodded with a faint smile. “During the break, Professor Noah, Madam Lechena, and I returned to the Holy Light Magic Academy early. We also had Gloria specifically invite Mr. Dite to join us, all for the purpose of developing something special.”
“…Something special?”
“Yes,” Lysa said. “Over a decade ago, I happened upon a mutated herb with powerful healing properties. Its effects miraculously surpassed all existing potions and even the healing spells of healers… I must say, when I realized this, I was nearly ecstatic.”
“But the good times didn’t last. I soon discovered its limitations—the conditions for cultivating this precious herb were extremely demanding. Even if a seed was lucky enough to sprout, its continued growth was a matter of probability. Under such strict constraints, I tried for many years, but regrettably, I had no success.”
As Lysa’s story unfolded, a look of tension began to cross Kelusta’s face. But then, Lysa suddenly smiled.
She winked at Kelusta and changed the subject. “However, just as I was about to lose heart, I heard a rumor about Gloria one day.”
Kelusta thought for a moment, then finished the thought with a flash of understanding. “‘Any flower or plant personally tended by Duke Reginald’s eldest daughter will flourish with astonishing vitality’?”
“Yes, that’s the one.”
Lysa nodded. “So, with a glimmer of hope, I traveled to the Silentdis estate, intending to ask this young lady, who seemed to possess some mysterious power, to lend me a hand.”
—The former Goddess of Life, Lysasa, had shared her divine attributes with the Goddess of Light. Thus, in addition to “healing injuries,” Light magic also possessed the power to “stimulate life.”
Therefore, forget a single herb; if you placed a person in a vegetative state next to Gloria, they might actually be revived after many years…
“Hmm, Professor, allow me to guess—with Gloria’s help, the herb successfully grew to maturity?” The brown-haired girl blinked. Though she framed it as a “guess,” her tone was one of absolute certainty.
“Yes, they succeeded.”
As if reliving the excitement of that moment, Lysa took a deep breath and said, her voice trembling slightly, “The first plant reached full maturity two months later. The second and third sprouted and grew in succession… By the day I left, a total of thirty-eight plants had filled the Silentdis family’s greenhouse—and without exception, every single one had grown to a perfect state!”
“…I see.”
The brown-haired girl tapped her chin thoughtfully. A glance out of the corner of her eye caught the potions professor, who wore a dark expression as if someone owed him money, suddenly taking half a step forward when no one expected it.
And that half-step was always Mr. Noah’s telltale sign that he was about to call on someone in class—
Kelusta, who was perpetually distracted in potions class: “!!!”
She jolted in fright and instinctively shoved herself back in her chair. With a sharp screech, the heavy armchair scraped against the floor, letting out a short, piercing shriek that instantly drew everyone’s attention.
Kelusta: “…”
Professor Noah: “…”
That was quite a commotion.
And judging by the increasingly dangerous look on his face, he had clearly figured out the real reason for Kelusta’s backward step…
Before the potions professor’s face could turn blacker than the bottom of a cauldron, the ever-kindly Lysa patted her colleague’s shoulder, suppressing a laugh. She managed to remind him of the matter at hand, forcing him to swallow the lecture he was about to deliver.
Kelusta quickly coughed twice, her guilt plain to see, and offered an enthusiastic, if clumsy, attempt to smooth things over. “My apologies, my apologies, that was rude of me—Professor, please continue?”
…Perhaps because Kelusta had managed to scrape by with an “A” on her final exam, Noah merely gave a cold smile and, with rare tolerance, didn’t expose her fawning.
With a frosty expression, he averted his gaze from Kelusta and continued where Lysa had left off. “Many years passed. The herbs were continuously cultivated and harvested in the greenhouse, but a clear drawback soon emerged: using the raw herbs directly as a treatment was far too wasteful for such a rare plant.”
“By a rough estimate, this crude method wasted seventy percent of the herb’s essence,” Lysa added. “So, to avoid excessive loss of the raw material, Wend invited Professor Noah and me to begin researching how to maximize its use—that is, by turning it into a potion.”
Professor Noah nodded, his face stern. “After a period of experimentation, we successfully created the first batch of potions.”
“As expected of you, Professor!” Kelusta chimed in with a compliment at the first opportunity.
“…However, the utilization rate of the herb in this batch was still a bit low,” Professor Noah shot his student an exasperated glare and continued in a strained voice. “But if we reduced the amount of raw material, we couldn’t achieve a sufficiently powerful healing effect. We were caught in a dilemma and could only choose to have Lechena begin preliminary clinical trials while we continued to search for a solution.”
“Oh, just as Noah said—during the trials, the first batch of potions was extremely effective, capable of completely healing relatively severe external wounds within two hours. But the second batch, the one with less of the herb, was far less effective than the first, even inferior to a healer’s spell.”
Standing behind them, Madam Lechena gave Kelusta a friendly wave and took over the narrative, speaking calmly.
The twists and turns of the situation made the brown-haired girl frown, and she couldn’t help but press, “So in the end, how was it resolved?”
“—That’s where I come in.”
A lazy male voice emerged from behind Madam Lechena, dragging out the last syllable as if he hadn’t quite woken up. It immediately captured everyone’s attention.
Mr. Dite scratched his messy hair and walked to the front. His eyes darted up and down, everywhere but at Kelusta, as he said distractedly, “After Lady Gloria learned of the situation, she had me learn the formula for the Hippol family’s ‘Potion Potency Amplifier.’ By applying it to the manufacturing process of the second batch of potions, we successfully resolved the embarrassing issue of ‘insufficient efficacy.’”
The moment he finished speaking, Madam Isabella, who had been listening quietly, spoke up as if she had just remembered something. “So the ‘man who looks like a teddy dog’ that Lewis mentioned was wandering around the Hippol estate—that was you.”
Kelusta: “…”
The professors: “…”
Dite: “…What? Who’s a dog!”
Principal Love acted quickly, placing a hand on the indignant healer’s shoulder. With a placating smile, he neatly summarized, “Alright, and that’s how it all happened.”
“…Uh, so, this potion has now been perfected, correct?” Kelusta forced herself to tear her gaze away from Dite’s brown, curly hair, which did resemble a dog’s fur, and turned to Professor Lysa’s equally complicated expression.
The latter cleared her throat and, as expected, gave an affirmative answer. “Indeed. And thanks to Professor Noah’s hard work, we have a considerable supply.”
The potions professor let out a disdainful snort, seemingly indifferent to the praise he received.
I see… I think I know why potions class was canceled around finals time.
Kelusta thought, tears of gratitude welling in her heart.
Now that the story was told, it was time for them to reveal their true purpose for coming today.
“Classmate Kelusta… we have heard about the recent events in the capital and on the west coast.”
Lysa pressed her lips together and said resolutely, “Therefore, given our understanding of this healing potion, and because of a promise we made to Gloria—we unanimously hope that, through you, we can join the army heading to the battlefield, so that we may provide timely treatment to the wounded.”
A promise to Gloria?
Kelusta keenly caught that key phrase.
She blinked, a warmth spreading through her chest. Her golden eyes swept over the determined faces of the professors, finally resting on Principal Love.
The elderly great mage gave her a benevolent smile. “Of course—although your professors didn’t invite this old man to participate in the creation of this legendary potion—please be sure to count me in for a spot in the army, child.”
“It’s not boastful to say that no one on the entire continent of Nobili can cast a stronger defensive spell than I,” Principal Love said calmly. “So, I too am willing to do my small part for this war—consider it settling a score for my old, unlucky friend, Terra.”
—Terra Nobili.
That was the name of the former king.
Kelusta couldn’t help but press her lips together and nod firmly.
She took a deep breath and looked at the people before her, her eyes filled with burgeoning admiration. Her voice was exceptionally solemn as she said, “It is a great honor to receive your help, ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of Seaside Town, I, under the name of Breviou, extend our most sincere gratitude to the five of you—”
“His Highness Satrick’s army has been assembled and will soon depart for Seaside Town as reinforcements… When the time comes, I ask that you all set out with me, so we can rendezvous with Gloria and the others as quickly as possible.”
Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, the young woman from Seaside Town gave a faint smile. Her voice was both resolute and full of hope.
“This war,” she said, “we will surely win.”
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