I’ve already got a full plate.
“I’m already in music club and alchemy club, so I’ll have to decline your offer,” I replied. Of course, I didn’t even need to think before also refusing Russell’s invitation to join riding club. “Unfortunately I’m not fond of riding.”
“It isn’t her fault,” Philips said, trying to back me up. “She’s a graceful noble lady.”
Russell just burst into laughter.
“I don’t think graceful noble ladies usually join alchemy club.”
How rude!
“I’m surprised you’re recruiting people for riding club, Sir Russell,” I said. “I would have expected there to be no need for recruiting, given that you have so many members.”
A sour look washed across Russell’s face.
“A lot of people left during that stuff with the knight club. Your cousin and his friends returned, but we failed to recruit new students at the beginning of the year. If things don’t improve, our budget is going to be slashed.”
“Budget, you say?” Philips responded with envy. “Our club gets a mere pittance.”
“Well, you barely have any members to begin with. For riding club, we need to buy feed for our horses, and we need to pay for maintenance and stable hands. If we don’t get more people, we might have to raise our club dues.”
Russell’s words made my heart stop.
I’m not paying anything for music club. Is Princess Margaret paying my dues? Also, if there are dues for alchemy club, I won’t be able to stay in it.
I was starting to get nervous. I felt as if I’d racked up debt without knowing it.
Diplomacy and world history were both necessary subjects when it came to studying to become a diplomat, but my mind was so occupied with these potential debts that I wasn’t able to absorb anything in either class.
I really failed today. Money issues are a big weakness of mine.
I wanted to ask Princess Margaret about club dues during lunch, but I didn’t feel comfortable discussing money.
I can definitely ask the members of alchemy club!
After lunch, I rushed to alchemy club. Well, it was my intention to rush, but Patience walked quite slowly, so I didn’t get there particularly quickly.
“How do you do?” I greeted President Caesar and Benjamin as I walked into alchemy club. They seemed to already be putting their heads together to solve some issue.
“Hey there, Patience!” Caesar greeted me. “You weren’t here on Friday, but we went ahead and worked a bit on the washing machine. I hope that was all right.”
Yeah, you can go make it all on your own if you want.
“President Caesar, there’s actually something I’d like to discuss with you,” I said.
I wanted to ask about club dues, preferably privately.
“Don’t worry, Patience. I understand. You’re concerned about how we’re going to split the ownership when we finish the washing machine and get a patent. The alchemy club actually has rules about how to handle this sort of thing, because we’ve had arguments over it in the past. Go ahead and read them! If there’s anything you don’t agree with, we can discuss it.” Caesar rustled around a bookshelf and pulled out a manual. “I almost forgot, but after you read these rules, if you don’t have a problem with any of them, I’d like your signature.”
He handed me the alchemy club’s handbook, so I read through the club guidelines. There was a breakdown of how ownership was split for the patent of a magical instrument developed in alchemy club. First, the club itself would own ten percent of the patent. That seemed like quite a lot. Second was the student who came up with the idea, who would own thirty percent of the rights.
Ooh, you get that much just for having the idea?
Third was the student who developed the magic circle to operate the instrument; that person would receive another thirty percent. This sounded fair, considering magical instruments all required a magic circle to do anything. The remaining thirty percent of patent ownership would be split equally among all club members.
“The alchemy club has successfully funded its operations through this ten percent ownership of patents,” President Caesar explained. “That’s why I’d love for you to keep contributing through your fascinating ideas.”
I don’t mind that at all.
“All I can provide are ideas; I can’t even come up with my own magic circles,” I replied. “I’m also not very good at designing the mechanical parts of magical instruments. Is it really all right for me to benefit both as a contributor and a regular club member? Also, how much are the club dues?” Without thinking, I blurted out my questions all at once.
I wonder if I’m bothering President Caesar.
“I’m sorry to have gotten your hopes up Patience, but getting a patent doesn’t always lead to making a fortune. There’s a lot of people out there who believe it’s cheaper to hire someone to do a job than to buy a magical instrument. All this stuff is just insurance, so that we won’t argue if we ever do make a fortune.”
I was a bit disappointed by this news, but I wasn’t surprised. The cost of labor in this world was quite low, so it could be cheaper for someone to hire a maid than to buy a washing machine.
“In that case, perhaps there is no point in building a washing machine,” I mumbled.
I hung my head, but President Caesar and Benjamin immediately shook my disappointment away with overwhelming and passionate words.
“How could you say that?!” Caesar exclaimed. “Even if washing machines aren’t practical now, they will be one day!”
“That’s right!” Benjamin chimed in. “One day, alchemy will make the world better!”
“Uh, sure...” I agreed. “So what about club dues?”
“We’re able to fund the club’s operations through donations from previous members,” Caesar revealed. “You don’t have to pay any dues.”
Wait, that means that they’ve successfully profited from inventions in the past! I’m starting to get motivated again!
“President Caesar, would it be all right to create something that doesn’t use a magic stone?” I asked while quickly signing my name to show that I agreed with the club’s rules. I then pulled out my diagram of a hot water bottle.
“What’s this used for?” Caesar asked.
“I know!” Benjamin exclaimed. “It’s a toy that you throw, right? That would make it pretty similar to ryffle.”
Bzzzt! You’re wrong!
“This is a hot water bottle. Before you go to bed, you put hot water inside it, and put a cover on it. Then, you place it under your blanket, and it will keep you warm all night, which will allow you to sleep deeply.”
They seemed...underwhelmed.
“That isn’t all!” I continued. “The hot water inside can be used in the morning to wash your face! It’s a revolutionary invention that allows you to use the same batch of hot water twice!”
I seemed to be the only one excited by my idea. The others were excited, but not by my hot water bottle—they’d gone through my list of ideas without my permission, and found things they were more interested in.
“Who cares about that weird doodad!” Caesar exclaimed. “What is this diagram for?!” He was just like President Albert in his excitement over something new.
“May I make this hot water bottle, President Caesar?”
First I got his permission to proceed, but then I had to go through my list and explain the rest of the items on it. Before I knew it, third period was over.
This sucks! I’m itching to make my hot water bottle!
My next class was herbology, which I had with Benjamin in the greenhouse.
“Whoa, are these dead?” Benjamin said, checking on his plants.
Yeah, saying they’re withered would be an understatement.
“That’s because you slacked off on watering them,” Ms. Makias chided. “Once it’s that bad, there’s no hope for saving your plants. Pull ’em out and add some more fertilizer already!”
Not only were Benjamin’s herbs dead, but Bryce’s and Andrew’s were also hopelessly withered. To my surprise, the other ridges with minor herbs planted were also not looking well.
“Do you want some greater herb seeds too, Patience?” Ms. Makias turned to me and asked. “Your minor herb seeds should be ready soon.”
The entire class turned their attention to me and looked at my plants with envy. My greater herbs were growing vigorously, and the minor herbs I’d left to collect seeds from had now sprouted small yellow flowers. The plant reminded me of ragweeds from my previous life.
“Yes, I would like some greater herb seeds as well.”
I left two of the greater shrubs and harvested the rest. The leaves of the greater herbs were prickly, similar to thistle.
“These are also good enough to sell,” Ms. Makias remarked. “You should become an apothecary. You pass Herbology II. Do you want to continue on to Herbology III?”
I could become an apothecary?! Of course I’d like to take Herbology III!
“Yes, please,” I replied.
Ms. Makias cackled.
“You’re an ambitious one, aren’t you? Just so you know, during the lecture portion of the class, you’ll have to take the tests for all three classes: Herbology I, II, and III. You’d better read the textbook thoroughly.”
I’d nearly forgotten that we would be switching to classroom lectures in May.
After that I retilled my soil with fertilizer and began planting seeds for antidotal herbs.
“The antidotal herb is a finicky plant,” Ms. Makias warned. “An antidote made out of this herb will cure an upset stomach and mild poisons, so they sell well. But, they aren’t very profitable if you have to get an adventurer to forage the herb for you. If you can grow antidotal herbs, you can become a novice apothecary.”
The seeds of the antidotal herb came wrapped in paper, and they were incredibly small and thin. If there had been a breeze, they would’ve been blown away.
“Each seed should be encased in soil before being planted. Well, you could do two at a time. Make sure to purify both the soil and water you use to encase the seeds.”
I collected some soil in a beaker and did the usual chant of “Become clean.” Then, I slowly mixed in some purified water.
“Don’t let the mixture get too runny,” Ms. Makias cautioned. “It needs to form a solid casing over the seeds.”
The process was similar to making a dorodango, a compact sphere of mud that Japanese children often made for fun. I’d made plenty of them as a child during my previous life.
I started by making twenty of these mud spheres, then I washed my hands. After that, I began burying the small seeds in each mud sphere. I figured that if I hadn’t split the process up like this, I would lose track of those tiny seeds. Also, if my hands were all gloppy from working with the mud, it would’ve been much more difficult to handle the tiny seeds.
“You’re pretty smart, Patience,” Ms. Makias remarked. “Go ahead and plant them.”