Chapter 64

In the end, the discussion with that clan was quickly resolved. It was a relief.

I was able to make advanced potions, and the Adventurer's Guild explained that my purpose as an adventurer was to gather materials myself. They reviewed whether the current treatment and financial conditions could be maintained. However, since there was no basis for payment, the negotiations broke down. The guild apparently demanded a fine for assault and threats, as well as my medical expenses, even though it was outside the town.

Additionally, it seems that the other branches were notified of the incident, and it was confirmed that I wouldn't be able to become an S-rank adventurer for a while. Serves me right.

Furthermore, due to the criticism from the town's adventurers, I left the town early. Despite few people seeing me in a terrible state, somehow almost all the adventurers knew about it...

A few people patted my head and gave me sweets, saying, "You must have had a tough time." I'm not that young, you know. Rather, I get irritated when Jude and a few other adventurers laugh at this. By the way, the "little one" nickname is spreading and increasing. Well, I'm happy they care, but there are limits, I think...

I reported this outcome to my brothers in a letter. I hesitated but decided to inform them just in case.

And then... the content of the letter sent by my brothers.

The letter from Naga mentioned that my brother had collapsed and was recuperating in a larger city than this one, known as the capital.

In the letter from my brother, it was written, "Don't worry." It also said, "I'll be back to normal in a day." And... the tea leaves that came with it.

Appraisal Result:

Herbal Tea: A blend of herbs to prevent magical hardening.

Contains poison, and a healthy person will be bedridden for a full day if they drink it.

My brother can use <Appraisal>, so he knew what this tea was and drank it.

I don't know why he drank it, but he wrote in the letter that he might need to drink it in the future or that he wants to mitigate its effects.

It says not to drink it if you're healthy, right? Why would he drink it in the future? There are things I'm curious about... but my brother must have some thoughts.

For now, I decided to investigate what I could understand.

I used <Analysis> to check the components of the tea.

It looks like a blend of tea, but the main ingredients are <Sage Leaves>, <Poison Chrysanthemum>, <Spotted Wheat>, <Sweet Kudzu>, and <Deer Antler>... There seem to be other ingredients, but I can't confirm them. It might be because my <Analysis> level is low.

I want to prepare the materials before they are made into tea to do further <Appraisal>... but I don't have anything except <Sage Leaves>, so I'll consult my master. Depending on the situation, I might have to go gather them.

Magical hardening is when magic power solidifies and accumulates in a part of the body. If it gets severe, the magic power becomes like stone... Is it like kidney stones?

Anyway, it's a disease in this world, and if it turns into a magic stone, the basic treatment is to remove it from the body? Hmm? Does that mean surgery? However, there are also records that it can occur regularly... I don't understand it well.

Honestly, I couldn't understand much from the medical books at home.

So, I decided to take it to my master's class and ask him to explain.

"Hmm... Well, I can guess the situation. So, what do you want to do?"

"Huh? What do I want to do?"

"Yes. This tea was blended for a specific purpose. It's to prevent magical hardening, but it's also a poison with a cost. If you take it for a long time, your body will weaken."

"Understood."

My master apparently knew what the small bottle of tea sent by my brother was as soon as he saw it. He didn't even use <Appraisal> and asked where I got it with a bitter expression. When I told him it was sent with a letter from my brother, he seemed to understand the situation.

"Medicine is not omnipotent. To gain a certain effect, there are often costs. It can be both a poison and a medicine... This was a poison for Gura, but for someone else, it's a medicine. If they don't drink it regularly, they will have a seizure and die."

"..."

"If you want to investigate, only the person who blended it will know the detailed ingredients. It's that complex a medicine."

"Master... Do you know who it's for?"

"Yes... A patient I gave up on in the past."

My master was asked to create a medicine to cure this disease. However, he couldn't create a medicine to improve the symptoms.

Medicine is broad. My master is skilled at making inexpensive medicines for ordinary people and potions to cure monsters' poisons and paralysis for adventurers. On the other hand, he is not good at making medicines for people with congenital serious illnesses.

"Why? Master, can't you make it...?"

"If I have the recipe, I can make the same thing. But, to develop a medicine from scratch without a recipe for a specific disease requires a tremendous amount of time. The noble families' employed pharmacists inherit the massive research and improve the completed recipes to make medicines. I made medicines for the masses, not for a single patient. The foundation of knowledge is different."

"...Understood."

"Of course, I do make medicines for noble families when they request a recipe to be created for their family. But this is different. It's a medicine made for one person, for a special disease."

"...The recipe is kept secret, and this medicine hasn't been widely distributed?"

"That's right. I made a special medicine for an epidemic and made it public without keeping it secret. As a result, it was effective, but it didn't help everyone in severe conditions. The recipe for this medicine was made to keep one person alive, and it's a poison to others. ...As a pharmacist, it's not about which is greater. Each pharmacist has their own thoughts and beliefs, and they blend medicines accordingly. That's all."

It's difficult to completely cure a disease. There is a medicine that cures all diseases... However, even if you drink it and get better, it doesn't mean you won't get sick again.

People with chronic diseases who regularly take medicine to alleviate symptoms may experience the same symptoms again after a while, even if they drink a medicine that cures all diseases. If you consider the ingredients of a medicine that cures all diseases, even a king would go bankrupt if they drank it regularly.

My master asked, "What do you want to do?"

What kind of pharmacist do you want to become? What is your goal? What do you think? Do you have a belief?

I felt like he was asking me that.

I still can't imagine what I will achieve when I become a full-fledged pharmacist.

"Gura must have had some thoughts when he sent this medicine. But, this is your homework. Chick. Think about it and come up with your own answer. I can't tell you what to do."

"...Understood. Master... Can I borrow some materials?"

"Yes... Do as you like. I can give you some of the ingredients for this medicine. However, I don't have <Poison Chrysanthemum> right now, so I was thinking of having you go gather it. It blooms all year round in the <Green Swamp>. Check with the guild and go gather it. Also, there's a place with more extensive materials on diseases."

"Huh?"

Then, he told me about three places.

The first is the lord's mansion. It's impossible, so I gave up.

The second is the town library. If you have a recommendation from a noble, you can see valuable books. By the way, since it's under the jurisdiction of the pharmacist guild, my master can't recommend me. Maybe I can ask Lady Laz if I get the chance.

The third is the church. They apparently have unique materials on diseases and injuries. The perspective of healing with magic is different from that of a pharmacist, but they have rich records.

The church... Come to think of it, I had a little doubt when I received treatment. I'll go and listen to the story to confirm. I might learn something.

"Well, I don't mind showing you... I'm glad you asked."

When I went to the church and asked to see the medical materials, I was easily given permission.

From a room deep in the church to the basement. After passing through two locked doors, I entered a small room of about 4 tatami mats with a desk, chair, and bookshelves.

When I pulled out a book, it was very old... 200 years ago?

When I flipped through it, the text was readable. It seemed to be knowledge necessary for recovery from bruises and fractures.

When casting recovery magic, imagining what's happening inside the body saves MP and increases recovery effects.

"There are a lot of old books, but is it okay to show them to an outsider?"

"On the contrary, it's better for you to know the contents of these books. If an excellent holy magic user doesn't know the contents of these books, it's like saying they are a foreigner."

"Doesn't it work if I've lived independently of the church?"

"It doesn't. Say you were taught by a rogue preacher who left the church. That would be a reason why you don't want to go to the Holy Kingdom."

Hmm...

Somehow, this person understands me and is protecting me.

I haven't said I'm a foreigner. But, I feel like they've understood and supported me from the beginning. Well, there's a possibility that Naga said something...

"Feel free to read... but, I have a warning. Don't read the new books near the entrance."

"Why?"

"Because they are the latest content. Pretend you were only taught old knowledge. You don't need the new techniques anyway."

"Don't need them?"

"......I investigated excessive recovery as you suggested... You were right, it was excessive. It seems that you need to slightly surpass the previous magic, but the knowledge that you need more powerful magic to heal is from the last 50 years or so."

"Wow..."

There were various materials scattered in the room, so he must have investigated on his own.

The reason for the changes might be to get donations... If you recover with more advanced techniques, you can get more money. They might have added it to the doctrine for that reason.

The priest found that the doctrine had changed to get more money over the last 50 to 30 years. It seems to be based on an announcement by the previous pope...

It sounds like a lot of trouble... Is it okay? It seems like he's only finding faults with his own organization...

"I have no intention of getting involved with the Holy Kingdom. Don't you think I might misuse this knowledge?"

"Yeah. Someone who wants to misuse it won't have such a serious face. You want the knowledge of diseases, right? What do you want to investigate?"

"...Magical hardening, magic stones."

"You've chosen a tough one again."

According to the priest, there are nobles who are born with the chronic disease of magical hardening. It's not that there are no commoners, but nobles have more magic power, and the larger amount is why they get the disease.

By the way, he said there are almost no materials on this topic.

Magical hardening is known to be caused by poor circulation of magic power, but recovery magic from others causes the magic power to stagnate in the body and worsen the symptoms. It's a representative disease that can't be cured by magic.

"The church knows it can't do anything, so there are few materials. The pharmacists might have more detailed information... Is there a reason?"

"A little... I need to think about what kind of pharmacist I want to be..."

I explained that it was given as homework.

What kind of pharmacist do you want to become... I thought it was necessary as a guideline...

"Listen, it's 20 years too early."

"Huh?"

"Look, I don't know if Pamela spent 60 years to reach the truth of being a pharmacist, but it's too early for a beginner to decide. You're limiting your possibilities. Now, try various things to broaden your possibilities."

20 years too early...?

But, as a pharmacist, it's important to know what kind of people you will make and sell medicine to, right?

Currently, I'm supplying to the adventurer's guild on a limited basis. After that, I need to think about what kind of medicine to make and sell, or my income will suddenly stop.

There's no income guarantee while broadening possibilities. Well, my savings have increased a lot, but they are expected to decrease significantly... In some cases, I might have to use the party's money, so I wrote to my brothers... I don't want to fall into debt, but it's unstable...

"......If I don't focus, the field will be too broad and I'll end up mediocre..."

"It's fine to specialize after broadening other possibilities. Basically, with the two abilities of a pharmacist and a healer, more advanced treatment is possible. It's a waste to give up on that from the start. Also, if you teach the knowledge you've gained to adventurers, more proper treatment will be possible."

According to the priest, the recovery of adventurer healers is inefficient. Well, they use recovery magic without thinking. I do the same.

From the book I picked up just now, it seems that recovery can be more efficient with knowledge.

But... why do I have to be the one to teach it? Shouldn't the church teach it?

"Anyway, you should read these three books. They are about disease treatment, stopping bleeding from cuts, and treating fractures. I'll give you the key, so feel free to use it. But, don't take them out without permission."

I was handed three books that seem to be the foundation. I appreciate it because I think they contain necessary knowledge... but, nothing is really resolved...

What I want to do... I want to stop my brother from drinking poison... If that's not possible, I want to prepare an antidote. At this point... I'm not really thinking about the patient.

My brother is important... but just giving him an antidote won't solve anything.

As my master said, I need to think. But, I shouldn't limit my options... It's difficult. There might not be a clear answer... but I have to move forward.