Chapter One Hundred and One: The Master’s Teaching 2
Tim clearly had something he wanted to say to Yuluyana, but Yuluyana completely ignored him. Rather, it seemed possible that he didn’t even realize Tim was there. After all, Yuluyana’s gaze was fixed solely on Karen.
Though Karen had seen nobles ignore servants as if they were thin air before, this was different—it truly seemed as if Tim wasn’t even within Yuluyana’s field of vision.
“It’s an old one I used in the past, but it still works just fine, so please take it!”
“Wah!?”
What Yuluyana presented to Karen was an alchemical cauldron. It was made of jet-black material, so heavy that Karen couldn’t hold it and had to set it down on the spot. Alchemical cauldrons were heavy to begin with, but this weight was exceptional. Karen recognized the pitch-black heavy metal and let out a small shriek.
“Could this possibly be adamantite…? I couldn’t possibly accept something like this!”
Also known as black steel, it was an alchemical cauldron made of an incredibly expensive magical mineral. Although Yuluyana practically lived at the Alchemists’ Guild, he had returned home briefly before beginning Karen’s training, making her wait. Karen had wondered why he needed to go home, turned out, it was to bring her a secondhand alchemy cauldron as a gift.
As Karen hesitated, Yuluyana smiled even more warmly and said:
“I understand. Let me rephrase—accept this, Ms. Karen. As your master, I cannot overlook a situation where my apprentice continues to make potions using a household iron pot.”
Karen was indeed still using an ordinary cooking pot to make potions.
She well understood that this was probably terribly inefficient in terms of magical power.
“I’ve been saving money to buy a proper alchemical cauldron…!”
“What were you planning to buy? Probably a gold cauldron with magic-resistant coating, I suppose?”
“Gold is too expensive, so iron… no, I was thinking of splurging on silver?”
“Absolutely not.”
With a smile, Yuluyana firmly rejected Karen’s shopping plan.
“At a minimum, you need adamantite, Ms. Karen. Making potions with anything other than magical mineral cauldrons is a waste of magical power and ingredients. As my apprentice, you should gratefully accept your master’s hand-me-downs and devote yourself to your training above all else.”
“I’ll accept it with gratitude…”
Karen resigned herself and accepted the gift.
She clearly understood that Yuluyana wasn’t offering it out of kindness, but as a measure to improve the efficiency of her training. Refusing at this point would only be self-indulgent on Karen’s part and would needlessly waste Yuluyana’s time.
“If you’ve been saving money for a cauldron, save a hundred times more and purchase a mithril cauldron. Though I’m not sure if even a hundred times would be enough.”
“Eek! Is it that expensive!?”
“Magical minerals are precious. Even nobles have difficulty obtaining them.”
“To give me something so valuable…! Thank you so much!”
“Please repay me with new potions!”
“I’ll do my best…!”
Karen was nearly in tears from the pressure, but then suddenly realized something and spoke up:
“Come to think of it, the potion I’m currently making is a fever-reducing potion that I didn’t include in my thesis.”
“Why didn’t you include it!?”
“I thought people would think I was making fun of them if I mentioned honey lemon…”
It was Natalia’s advice that even though a honey lemon mixture truly could become a fever-reducing potion, no one would believe it since they couldn’t reproduce the potion themselves.
Karen agreed, so in her thesis, she included a recipe for a fever-reducing potion made with herbal tea blends that were barely known even as food in this world.
“A new recipe… ah.”
Karen gave a wry smile at her master’s syrupy, almost heart-mark-worthy whisper, and steadily infused the honey lemon with magical power.
When she held the appraisal mirror to the honey lemon infused with magical power, it showed a potion with exactly the fever-reducing effect Karen had envisioned.
“Hmm. It still doesn’t transform, I see.”
“You mean the same kind of transform that happens when magical ingredient potions dissolve?”
“Yes. Mechanistically, I believe it should be possible. Ms. Karen, please try once more.”
“Eh? Y-Yes!”
Karen prepared a fresh honey lemon and listened carefully to Yuluyana’s words.
“I suspect that when making non-magical ingredient potions, you’re imagining it as cooking. But this time, be conscious that you’re performing alchemy, just like when making healing potions.”
“You’re right, I was thinking of it as cooking… I need to approach it as alchemy instead…”
“Infuse the honey lemon with magical power. Mobilize all your knowledge about the ingredient, understand it, and wish for it to transform into a potion.”
“Got it…!”
Karen held her hand over it, closed her eyes, and imagined as Yuluyana instructed.
Honey lemon. Using this as the ingredient, infuse it with magical power.
Wish for transformation just as if making a healing potion—
“You’ve succeeded, Ms. Karen!”
“…Wow, it really turned into liquid!?”
Though it retained a honey-like color, there was no trace of the lemon that had been in it. The liquid lacked the viscosity of honey and flowed freely like water when swirled. When she held up the appraisal mirror, its effect was confirmed as a fever-reducing potion.
“Master! I did it! I’m going to try drinking some!”
“Please do. But save some for me as well.”
Karen took a sip of the honey lemon potion and looked disappointed.
“It tastes like honey lemon… but… something’s a bit off.”
“It’s not very delicious, is it?”
It wasn’t like the honey lemon flavor found in sweets from her previous life. It had an indescribable taste, with the rough flavors of the lemon peel and seeds smoothly incorporated. The flavors had been completely homogenized in the liquid.
“Well, realizing that potions made from non-magical materials also become liquid just like regular ones is quite the discovery. That could mean potions made from magical materials might remain solid under the right conditions.”
“So a healing potion could potentially stay as a herb and still function as a potion?”
“Ah! You really are interesting, Ms. Karen! I must quickly master the secrets of non-magical ingredient potions by learning from you!”
“Aren’t I the one who’s supposed to be learning from you?”
“Of course, I understand that perfectly.”
It seemed Yuluyana planned to learn alongside Karen while teaching her.
“Master, can you really not make non-magical ingredient potions? Even with the recipes I’ve published?”
“I went home and tried making potions using your recipes with all my might and magical power, but they still wouldn’t become potions. I wonder what exactly is the difference between you and me?”
“You still can’t make them…”
“Would you prefer that I remain unable to make them, Ms. Karen?”
Yuluyana smiled mischievously, but Karen just looked puzzled.
“Not at all! I want you to be able to make them soon! Natalia told me that if everyone could make some of my recipes, I might be able to skip grades!”
Though she had the princess’s letter of recommendation as one card to play, the more trump cards, the better.
Karen wasn’t aiming for a D-rank or C-rank. She was aiming for an S-rank.
Faced with Karen’s enthusiasm, Yuluyana blinked behind his glasses, then smiled brightly and nodded.
“I understand! As soon as I can make them, I’ll report to you first thing!”
“Please do! I’m rooting for you!”
“You’re even cheering me on! I’ll do my best!”
Yuluyana smiled with narrowed eyes, looking somewhat embarrassed, and then promptly left Karen’s alchemy workshop.
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