Act 2:
Tidings from Abroad
AFTER SUCH A FUN DAY OFF, I was full of enthusiasm for work the next day. I was on my way to the institute, thinking about how to start tackling my to-do list, when Johan called me over. That in itself wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.
What could he need? Maybe he’s going to ask me to deliver some document or something to the knights or the mages? I thought as I headed over to him. He made his way over to me as well.
“Do you need something?”
Johan’s answer to my question was brief. “You’ve been summoned.”
“I have?”
The palace had requested my presence, so a carriage was waiting for me at the entrance to the institute. As it turned out, there was an official waiting as well, whom I assumed had been sent to fetch me. It seemed important, if he had been told to bring me to the palace at once.
Had something pressing come up? The official seemed kind of tense. But when I asked, he claimed that he had only been told to escort me to the palace and that he didn’t know why.
At any rate, I knew I was going to see the king.
“I apologize for summoning you on such short notice,” the king said.
“It’s all right.”
“Please, have a seat.”
At the king’s suggestion, Johan and I settled on the sofas. We were in the king’s office, as we had been so many times before.
Curiously, the prime minister sat down as well, which led me to believe that this was going to be a long conversation—and on a topic that required absolute secrecy, at that.
After the four chamberlains had served our tea, they were ordered to leave the room. Usually, the guards were permitted to remain, but even they were asked to exit.
I glanced at Johan, and even he looked unusually tense.
Once it was just the four of us, the king told us, “We have received an urgent letter from Zaidera.”
An urgent letter? The first thing that popped into my head was Prince Ten’yuu’s mother. But hadn’t they told us that the panacea had healed her? I held my tongue for now; I had no idea what else this letter might be about.
The king continued, “It said that a member of the delegation sent to Zaidera has fallen ill.”
Did he mean the team that had been dispatched to Zaidera as a cultural exchange kind of thing? The one that came about after Prince Ten’yuu came to Salutania to study abroad? If I remembered correctly, the crown prince was part of that delegation.
“Fallen ill? Is there an epidemic or something?” Johan asked as he furrowed his brow.
“It is as yet unclear. At the time when the letter was written, only one member had fallen ill.”
So we had no idea yet if anyone else had contracted this disease, whatever it might be.
“Just the one? But if a letter was sent regardless… Does the illness come with peculiar symptoms?”
“At first it was a high fever, headache, and nausea. However, a few days after the first signs of illness, they fell unconscious and have remained so ever since.”
“And that’s why they sent the letter?”
“Indeed. However, though the symptoms are troubling, it is but a single patient—hardly what we would consider an emergency. Unfortunately, the patient is of high rank, and as such they have submitted a request that we dispatch someone able to treat him.”
Johan’s frown deepened.
It was just as the king said; I found it hard to believe that a single sick person who’d caught what sounded like a bad cold would be considered a crisis worthy of sending an urgent summons abroad. This world’s means of communication were quite limited compared to my old one, and correspondence took time.
The most concerning parts of this were the facts that the patient was still unconscious, that they were worried the illness might spread, and that the patient was of high status.
A person of high status… Did they mean Prince Kyle? But surely they would have made that clear if that was the case. So maybe the patient was from the house of a marquis or someone of even higher standing? Since the delegation had gone abroad, I doubted any families would have sent their heirs, but they could have sent other children of notable skill. I could see how someone who was both of high rank and exceptional skill falling unconscious would be a reason to send an urgent letter…
“If you’re going to send someone who can cure this illness, then does that mean your candidate will need to be capable of using Holy Magic?” Johan asked in a somewhat accusatory tone.
With a sigh, the king nodded. “Yes.”
Common practice in this world was to either wait for a sickness to pass on its own or to drink a concoction of boiled herbs. It was also common to drink status cure potions. They weren’t so dissimilar from the kinds of medicines that were prescribed back in my old world.
However, these potions were all of high grade. The herbs used to make them were expensive, and very few people could actually make them—meaning that the potions themselves were incredibly expensive. Furthermore, each type of potion used a recipe specific to the ailment it was meant to cure, so you couldn’t exactly become an expert overnight.
Because of this, when trying to aid someone far away, it would make more sense to send a mage who could use Holy Magic rather than someone who needed to rely on specific potions. But mages were even more expensive to hire than the cost of any given potion. What’s more, even Holy Magic had its limits—it couldn’t just cure everything. While it was simpler to deploy than complicated potions, a mage’s healing capability depended on their level in Holy Magic. All that being said, I could assume that the king was planning to send someone who fit exactly that bill.
As it so happened, I was, beyond a doubt, the person with the highest Holy Magic level in the entire kingdom: Despite the fact that Level 10 was thought to be the highest level in elemental magics, I was Level ∞.
No one had any idea that I possessed this specifically absurd level, but they did know my level was high, because I had mistakenly let it show on multiple occasions. As such, I could pretty much guess that they were planning to send me.
Considering they had summoned me here, Johan had likely come to the same conclusion. That was the reason that Johan was practically interrogating the king.
However, it seemed we were wrong.
“As it so happens, this time, we’re considering just sending a potion.”
“One for curing status abnormalities?”
“No, actually. The panacea that Sei made.”
At this, both Johan and I stared at the king in shock.
It was true that with a panacea, the ill delegate would be cured, no matter their ailment. The grand magus himself had determined as much with his Appraise spell, and we had moreover heard that Prince Ten’yuu’s mother had made a complete recovery thanks to it.
The prime minister then stepped in to explain that they had indeed decided to send a mage to Zaidera, but as they didn’t know if the mage would be able to heal the patient, they were thinking of sending a panacea along with them—just in case.
I had entrusted the king and prime minister with all the panaceas I had made, so it seemed they just wanted to have my permission as a show of good faith.
“You don’t mind, do you?”
“Of course not. Please, feel free to use it as you see fit.”
But didn’t we decide that the fact of the panacea’s very existence was supposed to be a carefully guarded secret? Although I guess if the king and prime minister decide that this is fort the best, then I have no reason to object. I did make them to cure illnesses, after all. They should be used for their intended purpose.
With that sentiment in mind, I gave my permission, at which the king and prime minister both smiled.
Johan also looked relieved; he was just glad that this meant that I didn’t need to go.
That was thankfully the end of our discussion, so we said our goodbyes and left the office.