The Doctor Cured The Villainess And Ran Away

When I asked about the potion manufacturing spell, Seymour’s eyes widened with interest.

“Let me guess. Alchemy.”

“Correct. You caught on quickly.”

“Haha, of course! I thought of ‘enhancement’ or ‘manufacturing’. It couldn’t possibly be black magic, right?”

Did he associate enhancement with black magic?

Well, I guess that makes sense, as one might gain power at the cost of their lifespan.

As I hesitated for a moment, Seymour squinted and asked again, “No, right?”

“Of course not. A physician can’t possess such talents.”

Seymour nodded.

“So, manufacturing spells. What are you curious about? You mentioned something like potions. What are they?”

“Think of them as supplements that temporarily enhance physical health.”

In a way, one could consider vitamins or ginseng extract as potions.

Even energy drinks, while not healthy, could be seen as enhancement potions due to their specific effects.

What I really want to create right now is a potion that boosts muscle strength for a short time.

Not that I plan to use it for climbing stairs.

Checking Acella’s schedule, it seems there’s an Imperial Martial Arts Tournament coming up soon.

A family gathering with all members of the royal family attending.

It’s a three-day flower-viewing festival held in good spring weather, nominally under the pretense of a martial arts tournament.

For the Emperor, it’s a vacation, but the factions of princes and princesses with succession rights desperately prepare to catch the Emperor’s eye.

It’s a chance to showcase their strength in front of all the royal family members and demonstrate how powerful their faction is.

Last year they went to a slightly distant eastern mountain range, but if it’s the same place, I’ll definitely end up running around all day.

Acella, aiming for the throne, wouldn’t participate in the tournament half-heartedly.

I want to prepare muscle-enhancing potions for emergencies.

“Can you understand if I say that alchemy enhances food to increase its efficacy?”

Seymour snapped his fingers.

“Understanding the source of ingredients through alchemy rather than minerals! How interesting. Are you struggling with identifying that source?”

That was a pretty accurate observation. Right now, my alchemy isn’t precise enough to manipulate exact chemical formulas.

Using [Enhancement] and [Property Change], I can only create objects similar to what I want based on rough estimates.

Items like rose candy and painkillers were created through that process.

“Have you had expertise in alchemy as a sage?”

“As a sage, I’ve mastered the principles of all things! Hey, you, lend that to me.”

Seymour took a self-defense dagger from one of his knights and held it out to me.

“Can you change this to a softer material?”

“It is possible.”

I begin casting [Property Change].

The blade of the dagger is iron.

Since it has a ‘hard’ property, I would need to change its properties to have the characteristics of rubber or fabric.

Huff.

I use mana to draw the magic circle.

Just as Acella taught me, this time I made three regular dodecagons a bit more complex.

To reinforce, I connect lines between skipped vertices.

I write an ancient word meaning ‘soft.’ Since iron’s material requires a level 2 spell, I created another identical circle to connect the mana.

I rotate it and cast the spell.

A white light glimmered, and the properties of the dagger changed.

“Oh boy, what is that smell?”

The dagger retained its hard state but emitted a horrendous stench.

“Ugh, just wait a moment.”

Even entering that recipe, the properties changed in a nearly random manner with [Property Change].

That’s why I struggled so much when making new rose candies.

I cast the spell six more times.

Finally, the dagger was cloaked in black soot and transformed into a soft, rubbery material.

“Done.”

“Haha, not very efficient, is it?”

Seymour bent the tip of the dagger.

“However, the effect is undeniably good. This phenomenon arises from casting spells without understanding the source of the material.”

“The source, you say. I know the components, though.”

Iron is iron. Rubber is a composite of carbon and hydrogen.

“The source consists of a fundamental component and a supplementary one. The blade of the dagger originally has one fundamental and twenty-six supplementary parts. If you want to create a soft material, you’ll need a certain shape made from thirteen fundamental and thirty-eight supplementary combinations.”

I was a bit shocked by Seymour’s words.

Was he actually talking about the number of atoms and electrons in iron and rubber?

There’s no way he observed the elements. Did he instinctively understand chemistry through mana?

“You’re looking quite intrigued.”

“Is there a way to apply this to spells?”

“Haha, it’s different from the shapes of magic circles. The source is something even great mages don’t fully understand. You might think it’s crazy, but….”

I picked up a twig and drew a shape on the ground.

It represented the chemical formula of synthetic rubber.

“If you structure the fundamental and supplementary components like this shape, it can transform into a soft material.”

“…Oh-ho.”

Seymour grinned widely and flicked his beard.

“Oops.”

Suddenly, he put an arm around my shoulders, almost making me fall over.

“Would you like to take lessons from me?”

“Lessons?”

Seymour’s suggestion sparked quite an interest.

There are many skills that require spellcasting, not just magic.

My alchemy skill is a prime example.

If it’s a sage’s lecture, it would surely be a great help in enhancing my alchemy.

“What’s the price?”

Seymour seemed pleased with my question.

Being a court mage, he surely has talent.

I was confident he would appreciate this mention, sensitive to costs like Acella.

“I like a sharp one. That’s why I accepted Acella.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I will present you with one problem. It’s too easy to guess what my talent is, so try to figure out the price.”

The talent would surely be something like magic, just like Acella.

However, the debuffs associated with the price are incredibly varied.

There’s only one way for me to find out.

Will it work?

Diagnosis.

I looked at Seymour and activated the skill.

Immediately, text appeared in the status window.

[Injury Status: Analgesia]

[Injury Location: Brain]

Indeed.

He is in a state of not feeling any sensation.

For the price of his magical talent, he has lost all senses.

He probably can’t feel taste at all, including touch and smell.

“You’ve lost your senses.”

“Oh ho! How did you guess that?”

“The candy I gave you is quite tasty. There’s no way you wouldn’t mention your impressions.”

“Haha, sharp as ever. Acella has brought a competent physician.”

Seymour laughed boisterously, yet I sensed an ominous energy nearby.

It was Acella, watching us discontentedly.

“Master, what are you doing not watching my casting?”

Realizing he slipped up, Seymour wiped the cold sweat and wore an awkward smile.

“Oh dear, I’ve been watching closely. Just now, your third circle was twisted 30 degrees. Try reversing the stacking order.”

“Indeed. …What business do you have with my physician?”

“Haha, he’s quite an interesting fellow.”

“Don’t take him away.”

Acella snapped back and added a word towards me.

“Prince, have you seen my magic?”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

“What do you think?”

I didn’t know what was what.

“It’s definitely magic that commands the world.”

“…Hmm, of course.”

Acella seemed pleased with my answer, quickly turning around to focus back on her spellcasting.

“You’ve chosen a difficult path. Not just anyone, but Acella’s physician! I’ve always thought it was a role no one could take on.”

“Is there no one in the imperial family besides the princess with any talent?”

“There are some. But none of the children with succession rights possess more than one.”

“Then, Princess Acella, who uses magic so well, may have an advantage for the succession.”

So, is that why Acella became the next empress? As I pondered, Seymour shook his head.

“Quite the opposite. It’s exceedingly disadvantageous, physician.”

“Why’s that?”

“Acella only excels in magic.”

“Only magic?”

That was a bit of an incomprehensible statement.

From what I know, Acella is a woman who utilizes all sorts of strategies for her objectives.

“Only two talents in magic. From the beginning, the royal family raised Acella to be a sorceress, not a successor.”

“What does that mean?”

“Sigh, are you still unaware, physician?”

Seymour twirled his beard.

“Hardly anyone in the royal family knows this. You, as a physician, ought to be aware.”

He casually glanced at Acella, who was intensely focusing on solving Seymour’s presented challenge.

“Empress Camilla, the Third Empress, is quite a skilled sorceress. She was strong. The condition for her entering the palace was to bear a powerful magical weapon while remaining loyal to the empire and keeping foreign powers in check.”

“That would be Acella.”

“Bloodline is what matters most. As expected, Acella inherited one magical talent.”

“One? Then what about the second?”

“It was injected. At five years old, together with the price.”

Injected?

Is that different from being born with two talents like I was?

“Acella is a weapon. A magical weapon the next emperor will use for foreign invasions. Since she has the royal bloodline, she won’t betray us.”

“But the next emperor might not necessarily lead a foreign invasion. It’s not an essential premise.”

The current emperor is too weak to instigate a war.

If the next emperor establishes a peaceful stance, Acella would become useless.

“Then she would be discarded.”

“…I see.”

“Instead, they could use her as a declaration of the empire’s stance against foreign nations to execute the problem-causing Acella. The more cards you have for political use, the better. The royal family always operates that way.”

Seymour’s words made me feel a bit sick.

It seems my body isn’t feeling well today.

Is the royal family merely a political tool for family or whatever else?

The common sense in this place feels like a vastly different world, one I could never adapt to in my lifetime.

“How was the talent injected into the princess?”

“I don’t know about that. Only Empress Camilla knows the details. Ah, the second prince supporting her faction might be aware too.”

The second prince is the succession heir handled by Falkenhayn.

“Let’s leave the secret talks here.”

Seymour dispelled the magic.

Unbeknownst to me, he had cast a soundproof spell around us. Quite thorough.

“Now, moving forward, come see me on Wednesday and Friday mornings. I will teach you what real spells are.”

“It’ll be an honor.”

Seymour grinned broadly, revealing his teeth while flicking his beard.

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