The Doctor Cured The Villainess And Ran Away-Chapter 29: The Princess’s Magic (4)

When I asked about potion-crafting spells, Seymour widened his eyes with interest.

“Let me guess—alchemy.”

“Correct. Impressive deduction.”

“Haha, of course. The words ‘enhance’ and ‘crafting’ tipped me off. Surely you weren’t dabbling in black magic.”

He associated enhancement with black magic?

Well, it wasn’t out of the question. You could gain power in exchange for your lifespan and the like.

I didn’t respond immediately, so Seymour narrowed his eyes and pressed again.

“...You weren’t, right?”

“Of course not. No one with that kind of talent could become a royal physician.”

Seymour nodded.

“Crafting spells, huh. What exactly are you curious about? You mentioned potions, didn’t you. What are they?”

“Think of them as supplements that temporarily improve physical condition.”

Technically, even vitamins or ginseng extract could count as potions.

Energy drinks weren’t exactly healthy, but since they produce specific effects, maybe they could be considered enhancement potions too.

What I wanted to create most right now was a potion that would enhance strength in the short term.

Not like I’d use it just for climbing stairs.

According to Asella’s schedule, there was going to be an imperial martial gathering soon.

A kind of family event where all members of the royal household would attend.

Under the pretense of a martial arts competition, it was a three-day springtime flower-viewing trip.

A vacation for the emperor, but for the princes and princesses with succession rights, it meant desperate preparation to stand out in the emperor’s eyes.

It was a chance to display the strength of your faction in front of the entire imperial family.

Last year, it had taken place somewhere off in the eastern mountains, so if it was the same location again, I’d definitely be running around all day.

Asella, who had her eyes on the throne, wouldn’t be treating the gathering lightly.

I needed to be ready—with a strength enhancement potion—for any emergency.

“Would it make more sense if I said I’m trying to use alchemy to enhance food items and increase their effects?”

Seymour snapped his fingers.

“Trying to understand the essence of ingredients through alchemy instead of minerals, huh? Fascinating. Are you perhaps struggling because identifying that essence is difficult?”

It was a surprisingly accurate observation. With my current alchemy, I couldn’t manipulate the chemical formula itself.

Using [Enhancement] and [Property Change], I could only eyeball things and create something that resembled what I wanted.

That’s how I’d made the rose candy and the pain-nullifier.

“You’re well-versed in alchemy too, Sage?”

“I’m called a sage because I’ve mastered the truths of all things! You there—lend me that.”

Seymour pulled a dagger from one of the escort knights and handed it to me.

“Can you turn this into a soft material?”

“It’s possible.”

I activated [Property Change].

The blade was made of iron.

Since it had the property of ‘hardness,’ I’d have to use Property Change until it took on the qualities of something like rubber or cloth.

“Phew.”

I drew a magic circle with mana.

Just as Asella had taught me, I made it a bit more complex this time, drawing three perfect dodecagons. I reinforced the structure by connecting every other vertex with line segments.

I inscribed the ancient word for soft within the circle. Iron required a second-tier spell to alter, so I drew a duplicate circle and connected the mana flow between them.

I rotated the circles and cast the spell.

A white light flashed—and the dagger’s nature changed.

“Ugh, what’s that stench?” freёnovelkiss.com

The dagger remained hard but now reeked with an unbearable stench.

“Yikes, please give me a moment.”

This was how [Property Change] worked—even when I wrote a formula, the result was nearly random.

It was the same problem I’d run into when creating the rose candy.

I cast the spell six more times.

Only then did the dagger blacken and soften like rubber.

“There we go.”

“Haha, not very efficient, is it?”

Seymour picked up the dagger and bent the tip.

“But the effect is undeniable. This is what happens when you cast a spell without understanding the material’s origin.”

“Origin, you say. I do know the composition, though.”

Iron is just iron. Rubber is a compound of carbon and hydrogen.

“An origin consists of a primary and a secondary. The blade’s original form had one primary and twenty-six secondary elements. To make it soft, you need a configuration of thirteen primary and thirty-eight secondary—forming a specific shape.”

I was a little shaken by Seymour’s words.

Was he referring to atomic and electron counts of iron and rubber?

There was no way he could actually observe elements... Had he instinctively understood chemistry through mana?

“You look intrigued.”

“Is there a way to apply that to spells?”

“Haha, origins aren’t the same as magical arrays. Not even archmages have grasped them. It may sound insane to you, but...”

I picked up a twig and drew a diagram on the ground.

It was a depiction of synthetic rubber’s chemical formula.

“If you structure the ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ components as you described, in this form, the result becomes a soft material.”

“...Ho.”

Seymour grinned wide, tugging at his beard.

“Well, now.”

He suddenly threw an arm around my shoulders, and I nearly lost my balance.

“Would you care to take a class from me?”

“A class?”

Seymour’s offer was certainly tempting.

Even outside of traditional magic, there were many skills that required spellcasting.

My alchemy was one of them.

And a lecture from a sage would no doubt boost my alchemical skills.

“What’s the price?”

Seymour seemed pleased by my question.

He was a court magician and a sage, so he clearly had talent.

And just like Asella, he was bound to be sensitive about the price of his abilities, so I was sure he’d appreciate the reference.

“I like someone who can take a hint. That’s why Asella accepted you.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I’ll give you a little challenge. My talent’s too easy to guess—so instead, figure out the price I paid for it.”

His talent was obviously magic, like Asella’s.

But the debuff that comes as a price for magical aptitude could vary wildly.

There was only one method available to me to find out.

Let’s see if it works.

“Diagnosis.”

I looked at Seymour and activated the skill. Instantly, text appeared in my status window.

[Injury State: Congenital Analgesia]

[Injury Location: Brain]

As I thought.

He couldn’t feel anything.

He had lost all sensation as the cost of his magical ability.

Taste, touch, pain, smell—none of it would register.

“You’ve lost your senses.”

“Oh? And why would you guess that?”

“The candy I gave you tasted quite good. There’s no way you wouldn’t have commented on it.”

“Haha! Sharp. Asella brought in a truly capable physician.”

Seymour burst into a hearty laugh—but just then, I felt a chilling presence.

The very same Asella was watching us, clearly displeased.

“Master, why are you chatting instead of watching my spell?”

Seymour winced and gave an awkward smile, wiping at the cold sweat on his forehead.

“Ah, of course, of course—I’ve been observing carefully. Just now, your third array twisted by thirty degrees. Try reversing the stacking order.”

“Will do. ...What business do you have with my physician?”

“Haha. He’s a more interesting fellow than I expected.”

“Don’t steal him.”

Asella snapped, then turned to me to add:

“Physician, did you see my spell?”

“Of course, Princess.”

“Well? What did you think?”

I didn’t understand a single thing.

“Without question, it is magic worthy of ruling the world.”

“...Hmph. Obviously.”

Asella seemed satisfied with my answer [N O V E L I G H T] and turned away sharply, refocusing on her casting.

“You’ve chosen a hard path, I see. Not just anyone, but Asella’s physician! Until now, I’d considered that the most unmanageable job in the world.”

“Are there no other members of the royal family with talent, besides the Princess?”

“Oh, there are. But none of the children with succession rights have two talents.”

“Then Princess Asella, with her magical prowess, would have a better chance at succession, wouldn’t she?”

I assumed that’s how she’d become the next empress—but Seymour shook his head.

“Quite the opposite. She’s hopelessly disadvantaged, Physician.”

“Why is that?”

“Because Asella is only good at magic.”

“Only at magic?”

That didn’t make much sense to me.

The Asella I knew was a woman who wielded schemes and strategy better than anyone to achieve her goals.

“She has only two magical talents. From the beginning, the royal family never intended her to be a successor. She was born to become a mage.”

“What does that mean?”

“Hmph. A physician who doesn’t know this yet?”

Seymour twisted his beard as he spoke.

“Well, not many in the royal household know either. But as her physician, you should.”

He glanced over at Asella. She was deeply focused, struggling to complete the task Seymour had given her.

“Camilla, the Third Consort, is a fine witch—highly capable. Her condition for entering the palace was to give birth to a powerful magical weapon for the Empire, one that would pledge loyalty to the royal family and deter foreign powers.”

“So that would be Asella.”

“Her bloodline is impeccable. As expected, Asella was born with one magical talent.”

“One? Then what about the second?”

“It was implanted. When she was five years old—along with the price.”

Implanted?

That was different from someone like me, who was born with two talents.

“Asella is a weapon. A magical war machine the next emperor can use for conquest. She bears royal blood, so she won’t betray them.”

“But no one knows who the next emperor will be. And it’s not guaranteed that foreign conquest will even be necessary.”

The current emperor was too frail to wage war.

If the next emperor opted for peace, Asella would be rendered useless.

“In that case, she’ll be discarded.”

“...I see.”

“Or worse—they could execute her for causing a scandal, using her death as a way to broadcast a new imperial direction to other nations. The more pieces you have in politics, the more options you gain. That’s how the imperial family always plays the game.”

My stomach churned a little at Seymour’s words.

Maybe I really wasn’t feeling well today.

In this place, family or not, everything was just a political tool.

The values of this world were so alien, I doubted I’d ever fully adapt.

“How exactly was the Princess’s talent implanted?”

“That, I don’t know. Only Consort Camilla knows the details. Ah, perhaps the Second Prince supporting her faction knows too.”

The Second Prince was the heir under Falkenhein’s charge.

“Enough secrets for now.”

Seymour released his spell.

At some point, he’d cast a soundproofing barrier around us. He was thorough.

“Now then. From now on, come see me on Wednesday and Friday mornings. I’ll teach you what real spellcraft is.”

“It would be an honor.”

Seymour grinned wide, tugging at his beard.