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A few days later, the alchemy academic conference took place in Saikorea. Since Tinaris couldn’t leave Deshmel, I took her mana restorative recipe and announced it at the conference. But the only feedback I got was this:
“The developer of the recipe reports they were able to repeatedly produce this recipe. But since, despite multiple attempts, no one other than they have been able to replicate the results, we request the recipe be reexamined.”
After the announcement, the question of who developed the recipe came up. To that I responded, “The creator of this recipe wishes to remain anonymous. Since no one but them can recreate it, I believe revealing their identity at this point would not be appropriate.”
Anyone who knew Tinaris created this recipe would be clamoring to meet her and I knew full well just how shaky the Holy Woman’s position was, given the political climate. I had to keep any danger that might be directed at her to a minimum. However, due to that, there wasn’t anything new or interesting to discover at the conference.
“Huh? Lico…is that you?”
“Marcus…? Fancy meeting you here…”
I had no idea what Marcus would be doing at a conference like this. Then I remembered he was currently traveling the human continent to spread the word about the Holy Woman: his own daughter. That must’ve been what brought him to Saikorea!
“Uhhh…what brings you here?” he stuttered.
“There’s an alchemy academic conference going on. Once every four years, alchemists announce their findings…”
“Oh yeah, I heard about that. They announce anything interesting?” he asked.
“Not much. The research Tinaris asked me to have inspected didn’t yield anything, either.”
“Tina asked you to do that?”
A mana restorative could be a revolutionary discovery that’d turn the lives of all adventurers on their heads. Many people use techniques but aren’t proficient with mana restoration. This would allow them to recover their mana easily. And this was doubly useful nowadays, with the Sugula impeding the effectiveness of mana restoration. That made magic difficult to use which, of course, impacted alchemy. So, if people other than Tinaris could make mana restoratives, it could resolve this problem.
And yet…a recipe as simple as adding mana to water is much too simple! My only conclusion is that there’s something…special about Tinaris that allowed her to make it. Or maybe there’s some other trick to it… Either way, there’s something missing in this recipe.
“It’s strange. Tinaris has been able to make it multiple times…” I mused.
“True… Well, she makes it with water we draw out from Mount Rofola’s underwater reservoir. Maybe it’s just the water quality,” Marcus supposed.
“The water, huh… I did hear Mount Rofola’s reservoir is linked with a leyline. So it must be charged with Air that reacted to Tinaris’ mana. We should investigate Rofola’s water, then. I guess we can have her try it with water from elsewhere next time…”
Would just changing the water work, though? I guess I’ll have to draw water from Rofola and see…
“If you want to go see Tina,” Marcus said brightly, “I’m on my way to Deshmel right now. Want to come with?”
“Oh! Perfect! Sure, I’ll come along.”
Since I had more questions to ask now, and since that meant taking a ride with a Mythical’s teleportation magic to instantaneously travel there, why not? Marcus asked the Mythical he was traveling with, Shinsen, if I could come along.
Shinsen didn’t mind. He was currently in human form, and it was so convincing I couldn’t imagine what his beast form was.
“I’ll be teleporting us over,” Shinsen said abruptly, “so please hold hands.”
“H-Hold h-hands?!” Marcus recoiled.
“Huh?! D-D-Do we have to?!” I asked, taken aback.
“Humans fundamentally don’t have enough mana,” Shinsen replied simply. “I have to keep the spell under control if I’m going to take you there safely.”
We both fidgeted uncomfortably. Holding hands at our age? It felt embarrassing. Even if it was just Marcus, we were still man and woman. Surprisingly, Marcus looked just as embarrassed as I was.
“Well, if we have to… Here,” I said, extending a hand.
“Ah… S-Sure!”
Marcus was flustered by me reaching out my hand. Why’s he so embarrassed over me? I had no idea what his deal was as he, Shinsen, and I held hands. It must’ve made for an odd picture.
This is weird…!
“Th-Thank you…” I murmured.
“Yeah… Aaahhhh!” Before Marcus could finish that sentence, the scenery changed around us. A moment later, we found ourselves in Deshmel.
Mythicals really have amazing magic…
Wearily, Marcus thanked Shinsen. We’d appeared in front of Deshmel’s front gates just as a carriage was rolling out. Shinsen entered the fortress to report to Renge, yet a few moments later, I saw Renge walk out along with a carriage.
Oh, he just missed him…
And as it turned out, that carriage was being guarded by Lysteinn.
“Oh, It’s Lico! Weren’t you in Saikorea for the conference?” he asked me.
“I ran into Marcus, who brought me here. There wasn’t anything worth mentioning at the conference, though.”
“Figures. It’s not the kind of alchemy we usually use, either.”
“True.”
“So, you’ll be spending the night here in Deshmel?” Lys asked me.
“Yes, that’s the plan. I need to tell Tinaris about the conference.”
At least that was the plan. But I ended up drinking into the night in the second-floor dining hall. At first, it’d been a normal dinner. But when the merchant Giyaga and his escorts—Lysteinn’s unit—joined in, we all ended up drinking together. They pestered me and Marcus for war stories and asked about my research.
“Phew…” I heard Marcus sigh at one point.
“What’s wrong, Marcus? Booze not giving you much of a buzz tonight?”
“If anything, it’s giving you too much buzz…” he grinned a little sadly.
To Marcus, the days he spent at war were days invested in the name of surviving. All his martial stories weren’t something to brag about but experiences he didn’t want to revisit. The Azure Demon Wolf of De Marl, who rose to glory in conflict, ended up losing everything in the war.
When I told my war stories, he always made a point to say that no matter how much you try to embellish them, there is no glory in war. And I tended to agree. Comrades who ate and slept beside you could be gone without a trace the next day. That was the nature of war. One fought because that was the only way to protect what they held dear. That was why invaders were not to be forgiven.