“Goodness.”
Lumillion, having consumed the Elixir Felix gave her, thought, ‘That man has really done it this time,’ and rushed to his laboratory in a fluster. There, she witnessed an astonishing sight.
“Hey!! Honorary Professor Felix! Come out here!”
“What on earth is in this Elixir!”
“Come out quickly!! You gave something like this away so casually, didn’t you anticipate this would happen?”
“Let’s talk this through!”
Even at this late hour, numerous professors had gathered in front of Felix’s laboratory, banging on his door.
‘That man, he’s already given it to other professors!’
Lumillion couldn’t help but be astonished once more at the sight.
Professors, and magic professors at that.
Giving them such a medicine was like giving a starving beast a single, tender piece of meat and then running away, or like a mirage of an oasis that offers a single sip of water to a traveler lost in the desert before vanishing.
“Come out here right nowwwwww!!!!!!!”
…Or perhaps even worse than that.
In any case, for a magician, the recovery of Magical Power without side effects was akin to the Philosopher’s Stone.
Just as the sound of them banging on the door, acting as if they weren’t magic professors at all, grew even louder—
Click-
Creak-
“Oh!? He, he’s out!!”
“It’s Professor Felix!!”
Finally, the violent knocking reached its target, and the door opened, revealing Professor Felix’s face.
“What brings you all here so late?”
Felix, already knowing why they had come, wore a relaxed smile.
“Honorary Professor Felix! What exactly is that Elixir!”
“Pardon?”
“Don’t play dumb! The Elixir you gave to the faculty!”
“That Elixir that not only recovers Magical Power but also aids in the recovery of the body, without any side effects!”
“How can something like that exist!”
“Ah~ so that’s why you’ve all gathered here at this late hour?”
“Did the effects work well for everyone?”
“Work well? Are you kidding me? To say that Elixir simply ‘worked well’ doesn’t even begin to describe it!”
“Answer precisely, the Magic Tower will move based on your answer.”
The Elixir’s performance was outstanding.
However, it was too outstanding.
It wasn’t something you’d expect from a prototype made by an academy professor through experimentation.
If this Elixir existed, the wars of this world would be completely overturned in many ways.
The meaning of being able to cast a large Meteor Magic four or five times instead of three was truly significant.
That was why the professors couldn’t help but react so sensitively.
“First, would you take a look at this?”
However, even surrounded by the menacing gazes of the professors, Felix calmly took out a document from his pocket.
“This is…an official document from the Alchemist’s Guild?!”
One of the professors, who had been staring at the document Felix held up with a sly expression, widened his eyes and shouted in surprise.
“That’s right. Although it’s still a prototype, we’ve already received confirmation from the Alchemist’s Guild, under their analysis, that the Elixir can be produced and sold.”
In this world, to sell Elixirs, you first needed permission from the Alchemist’s Guild.
Elixirs were, after all, medicine.
Since they were drugs applied to the human body, it was only natural that various risk factors were analyzed, and that drugs that were as harmless as possible to the human body were used.
That being said, the side effects of the Elixirs already in circulation in this world were considerable, but at least a line had been drawn there.
In some ways, it seemed like a good policy that reduced the burden on Elixir buyers and increased trust…but the reality was different.
The Alchemist’s Guild granted permission to produce Elixirs based on their own judgment, and they urged people to attach a mark indicating that the Alchemist’s Guild had approved it.
The fees they earned from that were considerable, and at least in this empire, the Alchemist’s Guild was making enormous profits through that authority.
However, on the other hand…it also meant that if any Elixir had the Alchemist’s Guild’s approval, there would be no problem in producing and selling it.
The Evergarden family had first submitted a prototype of the Elixir to the Alchemist’s Guild and requested approval.
Obtaining permission to sell the Elixir itself wasn’t that big of a problem.
In the first place, the Alchemist’s Guild granted permission to produce and sell Elixirs and earned fees from those sales, so the more people who wanted to sell Elixirs, the better it was for them.
Of course, even if a bag full of gold coins ‘coincidentally’ appeared in the pocket of the person in charge who received the letter from the Evergarden family, it was purely coincidental.
In that way, although there were many documents that originally had to be prepared, such as the Elixir’s manufacturing method and experimental records…they were able to receive approval very easily.
Since the main ingredient of the Elixir was World Tree Leaf, it was a very ‘fortunate’ situation for the Evergarden family, who couldn’t reveal the manufacturing method.
“If it’s approved by the Alchemist’s Guild…”
“Does that mean there’s no problem even if we sell it officially?”
“In that case…”
The professors’ position was this.
The performance of the Elixir that Felix had given them was excessively outstanding.
If so, it might not be a normal ingredient, and something might go wrong.
Before that, there was no way they could make such an Elixir.
If such an Elixir were released indiscriminately, great chaos would occur.
That was the conclusion they had reached.
However, if the Alchemist’s Guild, which had high credibility in the empire, had already given its approval, it also meant that there was no need for them to nitpick here.
In addition, the Elixir’s performance was very outstanding.
If so, another judgment would enter their minds.
“The sale. When will the sale take place?”
If that were the case, they should rather buy as much of this Elixir as possible. That was the conclusion.
The value of the Elixir was very high, and it was only natural that they should buy it in advance before this Elixir was sold on the market.
In addition, the uses of the Elixir were truly endless, so even if they sold it at a premium when the price rose later, or if they used it themselves, anything was fine.
“First, ten bottles for me. Sell me ten bottles!”
“I’ll buy twenty bottles!”
“Fifty bottles!”
“Give me a hundred bottles!!!”
Their actions were swift.
They had been badgering Felix until just now, but they immediately changed their attitude and began clamoring for him to sell them the Elixir, like people participating in an auction.
“Now, now, calm down. I haven’t finished speaking yet.”
As they each raised their hands and started shouting, Felix calmed them down and continued.
“This Elixir is made with a special secret recipe from our Evergarden family. It’s currently in the prototype stage, so the quantity is small…but we plan to start selling it in earnest later.”
“So…it will be a specialty product of the Evergarden territory.”
“Hoo…? In that case…”
“Does that mean we’ll be able to secure a quantity soon?”
“That’s right. In addition, we’re also accepting reservations for large orders in advance, so would you be interested?”
“If so, let’s write a contract right away!”
“Me, me too! I need it too!”
“Don’t push! I was in front first!”
“Nonsense! My toes were definitely further forward!”
“You old geezer?!”
“Now, now, there’s no need to be so hasty! We plan to prepare enough quantity, so please line up in order!”
After Felix’s remarks, the professors who had gathered to point out this problem instantly became customers and began signing the contracts that Felix handed them without hesitation.
“Goodness…”
And Lumillion, who was blankly watching the scene, couldn’t help but be amazed and horrified.
To sell it as a specialty product of the Evergarden territory meant, conversely, that the Evergarden family could also decide who to sell it to.
The performance of the Elixir went without saying, and it would be an understatement to say that the professors, who were busy holed up in their laboratories at this late hour, were rushing to sign the contract.
It was still a small commotion now, but this Elixir was bound to have a major impact on the empire.
If such a thing could only be distributed in the Evergarden territory, the benefits to be gained from it would be beyond imagination.
Those who fell out of favor with the Evergarden family would have to pay a premium to buy it from others, so the future where everyone would bow and scrape to the Evergarden family vividly flashed through her mind.
At this moment, Lumillion witnessed the first step in the insignificant Evergarden barony shaking the hegemony of the empire.
‘When did he come up with this plan? Or was it from the beginning?’
Lumillion felt a chill at the sight of Felix smiling brightly as he checked the contracts.
Just thinking about what kind of future Felix, and the Evergarden barony, were dreaming of sent shivers down her spine.
However.
‘Still, I should buy some first.’
Her body honestly joined the line.
Whether it was Felix’s scheme or the Evergarden barony’s plan, she wanted that Elixir too much.
“Hey! It’s my turn here!”
“Ah…! Yes, yes…I’m sorry…”
‘I should have thought about it after getting in line…’
Then, Lumillion, whose rabbit ears had perked up, drooped at the professor’s remark behind her and trudged to the back of the line.
“Hoo…”
Time passed.
Eventually, Felix, who had placed the contracts signed by the twenty-three magic professors who had gathered in that place on the table, wiped the sweat from his forehead and muttered.
“It’s okay to move now.”
Felix, who had been staring at the contracts on the desk for a while, suddenly turned his head to the corner of the laboratory and said.
[Is…everyone gone now?”
Then, the space in the corner of the room, which had clearly been empty, distorted, and a figure appeared.
Tene, who was squatting in the corner of the room and looking at Felix with tired eyes, asked.
“I thought they would come, but…I think I underestimated the madness of the magicians too much. I didn’t know so many would gather.”
Felix had been scattering the bait of a prototype Elixir to the magic professors he encountered, including Lumillion, since lunchtime today, so he thought there would be a response, but he didn’t know they would all rush over together at this late hour.
“It’s okay. In the end, the goal was achieved, and the plan is going smoothly.”
“Then it’s okay not to do that anymore.”
Nevertheless, there were no setbacks in the plan, and it was going smoothly, so Tene asked Felix, who was smiling relaxedly, cautiously.
“No? It’s still a long way off?”
However, contrary to her expectations, Felix immediately denied her words, so Tene screamed with a horrified expression.
“The manufacturing of the Elixir is too simple. It’s all about diluting World Tree Leaf in plain water, right? If we make and sell it as it is, the manufacturing method will be exposed in an instant.”
“So, in order to hide that it was made with World Tree Leaf, no matter how much you analyze it…we need ‘something’ to disrupt the analysis, right?”
“But…why does my blood have to go in?”
“Dragon blood contains more information than the blood of simple beasts or humans…and even if you try to analyze it, there’s no control group at all, right? It’s the perfect additive.”
The Elixir’s performance was outstanding, but in the end, it was just a matter of extracting and diluting the World Tree Leaf ingredient in plain water, so while the manufacturing method was simple, if you analyzed the Elixir’s ingredients, you would immediately find out the manufacturing method.
If the fact that they were distributing World Tree Leaf was revealed, there would be several international problems, so the Evergarden family, who had to hide the manufacturing method, conducted several experiments and soon realized that if they diluted dragon blood very thinly and added it, they could completely cover up the information.
However.
“But…but…! It hurts too much!”
“I can’t help it. Ordinary syringes don’t work on a dragon’s flesh.”
The dragon’s body was so sturdy that blood could only be drawn through extraordinary methods.
To wound a dragon’s body, one would need to create tools using rare minerals comparable to dragon scales, or…
“Weapons made from your scales are effective, after all.”
Tools made from a dragon’s body were similarly effective.
Fortunately, Felix had recently reinforced his staff with Tene’s scales at the dwarves’ fortress, Karak-Zar, making bloodletting possible.
“Besides, I’m casting anesthetic magic and only pricking you a tiny bit… why are you so scared? You’re a dragon, aren’t you?”
“But… you say ‘pricking,’ but it’s practically tearing off flesh! It might not be that painful, but do you know how terrifying it is to watch my own flesh being torn off?”
“But it heals quickly, right?”
“It’s a matter of the heart! The heart!”
However, Felix’s staff wasn’t exactly a tool designed for bloodletting, so the act of drawing blood, even if not painful, was enough to turn her face pale white, causing Tene to express extreme aversion.
“I’ll get a syringe made from your scales as soon as possible… so come here!”
“Noooooo!!!!!!!!”
And so, today as well, Tene had no choice but to offer her arm while shedding tears like raindrops, and thanks to that, the potion’s creation could proceed smoothly.