The students’ excitement spread as quickly as the poison.
Kunon wondered why he was always so eager at the beginning of experiments.
It was probably because he still had all his stamina. His excitement always waned over time, and it was common for him to begin to pass out from fatigue and lack of sleep if a project stretched on for a week or longer. However, when they were just starting out, he only ever felt energized.
✦ ✦ ✦
“The sorcerers are coming tomorrow,” said the father to his children. “Be careful not to cause any trouble.”
It was the night before Kunon and the others arrived.
In Keym Village, sorcerers from the magic school were guests of honor. Contaminated plants and animals were nothing but danger to ordinary people, but for some reason, the sorcerers were happy to purchase them for high prices.
Keym looked like a small rural village, but it was surprisingly wealthy. Its financial situation was good enough that the villagers didn’t have to spend all their time tilling fields and growing vegetables. That was because of how handsomely the sorcerers paid. In fact, they sent quite a lot of money just to maintain the building they used in town.
That was why the village welcomed them. The adults all understood their importance and gave the children clear instructions before every visit.
If you see a sorcerer, politely greet them.
Don’t interfere with their work.
Listen attentively to any requests they might have. Even if it sounds impossible to fulfill, consult an adult about it, no matter how trivial it may seem.
Sorcerers were only interested in magic anyway. As long as the villagers didn’t interfere with them too much, there were never any problems. That had always been the case, and it was unlikely to change.
At least, that was what all the villagers had thought, including a certain seven-year-old girl. She’d fully believed this visit would be just as uneventful as all the ones before it.
“Ah!”
She had been playing with a friend in the street when she tripped on a stone and tumbled to the ground.
“Oww…”
She’d scraped up her palms and knees pretty badly. She’d also dirtied her clothes and made a mess of her hair.
Her friend said she would get medicine and hurried off, so the girl decided to stay where she was and wait. She was a tough and lively village girl. Falling was nothing new to her, and this injury hardly hurt enough to cry.
Besides, she knew nothing would hap—
“Are you okay?” someone said.
The girl was startled by the sudden, unfamiliar voice. It was calm and sounded like it belonged to a boy.
“Uhh…”
She turned around and looked up to see a strange young man wearing some kind of belt over his eyes. She had never seen him before. His clothes were very fancy.
He’s definitely a sorcerer, she thought.
“I-I’m okay. Umm, I just— Ah!”
Before she knew it, water rushed toward her and enveloped her body from the neck down. Many small bubbles fizzed to the surface of the liquid.
“Close your eyes and hold your breath for a moment— Yeah, just like that.”
Without thinking, the girl did as she was told and closed her eyes and mouth. She felt the water cover her head and then quickly disappear.
“You can open your eyes now.”
“…Huh? What happened?”
The girl opened her eyes.
Her whole body should have been soaking wet. She’d definitely felt water cover her while her eyes were closed. Yet somehow, her body, clothes, and even hair were already dry.
That wasn’t all—the dirt stains on her clothes she’d thought would anger her parents, as well as those on her scraped palms and knees, were gone. Her disheveled hair had been cleaned as well. It seemed shinier than before and had a nice smell to it.
“Can you walk?” the boy asked.
“Y-yes…”
He held out his hand. Still dumbfounded, the girl took it and let him help her up.
Her heart fluttered at the touch of his delicate white hands. She could clearly feel the gaze of his unseen eyes. They made her feel shy.
“Hello, pretty little miss. Would you let me escort you to your home?”
“…Y-yes…”
The girl was bewildered. She had no idea what to say. Her heart was pounding way too loudly.
Something about this moment felt unreal. Time seemed to pass slowly and swiftly at the same time.
Before she knew it, she was at her house.
“…Mr. Sorcerer…”
Afterward, she couldn’t get her mind off the boy with the eyepatch.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Wow. Hmm. Interesting.”
It had already been a couple days since the experiment had begun.
Kunon, who was flying to Keym from Dirashik every day, observed how the water tanks had changed overnight. Clear variations began to emerge on the third day. That was when the experiment became very interesting indeed.
Each water tank had a slightly different environment. Kunon studied the growth and change of the water-dancing bugs in each tank, as well as variations caused by differences in water quality. There were visible changes in the tanks, but he’d expected that.
What especially interested him were the foul odors that rose from each.
“They all smell really different.”
On the first day, the strong, toxic odor of the poison had been overpowering, but now the smells had begun to differentiate. This was likely a result of the various factors working on the poison in each tank. That said, the changes to the odors didn’t make them any less harmful, so the sorcerers couldn’t spend much time sniffing them. They might damage their noses and get sick.
“Yeah, they do,” Zaricks said, as if he had been waiting to talk about just that. He spoke as he recorded his observations. “It seems like changes in odor are only occurring in the water we injected with magic potions. Either the potions are increasing the insects’ efficacy, or it’s the other way around. I don’t have the answer yet, but—”
“That’s something we’ll want to determine through careful observation,” Kunon said.
Were the magic potions enhancing the insects’ detoxifying abilities or not?
If so, would that increase the speed at which the poison was purified, or would it have a different, unexpected effect?
Those were the kinds of questions they needed to answer.
Magic potions sometimes caused inexplicable mutations. There were still many mysteries left to be solved regarding magic power. And as long as that was true, changes brought about by magical elements would remain unpredictable.
“On another note, these insects are tough little guys,” Kunon said.
At the bottom of each tank was soil laced with toxic substances. The poison had dirtied the water to the point it was obviously unsafe for human consumption. And yet the water-dancing bugs floated on the water in each tank, camouflaged as blades of grass. The poison wasn’t killing them. In fact, they seemed completely unaffected.
The insects in every tank were in perfect health. Even though from a human’s perspective, they were each floating in a sea of poison.
“That’s apparently what caught Professor Satori’s interest,” said Saiha as she recorded her own observations. “I honestly had no idea there were any creatures so resistant to poison. These insects are fascinating.”
“I agree,” said Kunon. “I’m just as taken by them as I am by you, Saiha.”
He’d just said he found her as appealing as an insect. Not many girls would be happy to hear such a thing. However…
“Really? I’m honored.”
…miraculously, Saiha blushed. Apparently, she was among the tiny minority who considered that a compliment. She was a researcher to the core, just like the rest of them.
Shortly afterward, Satori returned from her trip outside.
“Hey, Kunon. Are you interested in plants?” she said as soon as she entered the building.
“Yes,” Kunon said without hesitation.
“I just collected some grass and seeds from the swamp. I’m considering tossing them into the tanks as the water purifies to see what happens. I want to record the poison content of the fully grown grass.”
“Understood. Should I make more of the magic potion we put in the tanks?”
“Go ahead. I’ll prepare a new water tank.”
The researchers were all on the same wavelength.