291 - Mustaine Medicine 1
As for Ulrich, it was decided that the evidence was insufficient. Indeed, aside from the preconception that he was a suspicious person, he had merely been at the very edge of the detached palace grounds with a black hood hidden in his pocket, so it could not be helped. The theory that he intended to stage a self-committed incident was, after all, merely Rebecca's speculation, and there was insufficient evidence. Perhaps understanding this as well, Ulrich reportedly never opened his mouth about why he had the black hood. Ulrika suggested that a White Knight with no spine would easily crack under a single interrogation, but we naturally stopped that. If I interrogated someone who wasn't even a suspect, I would become the same breed as Bertrand. I, who told Bertrand, who had interrogated Jean-Jacques, to settle things with words, could not permit the same interrogation.
...If it had been a flagrant arrest, I wouldn't hesitate, though.
For now, he is merely a suspicious person who had hidden an excessively suspicious black hood in his pocket, its purpose unknown. If I forced a confession through interrogation on this, even white would turn black.
...Well, since he admitted to everything I said, he probably won't be out of the cell for a while, though.
Lurking around the detached palace with a black hood and its usage method is neither here nor there as a crime, but Felicia converted the insults toward me from being an insult to a Merit Peerage's daughter into an insult to the master of the detached palace. The master of a detached palace is originally a princess or prince. Felicia argued that I, who had been granted that detached palace, was to be treated as equal to or higher than royalty, and Ulrich was placed in the custody of the Silver-White Knights for the crime of insulting royalty. Once things reached this point, it was no longer something I could intervene in, so I did not know what would become of my wish for them to please refrain from interrogation. Incidentally, it was also not something I needed to concern myself with.
...If he truly had nothing to hide, he would be released eventually, I suppose.
I could not imagine he had nothing to hide, so I felt I would likely never see him again. I felt a little sorry for his wife and children, but he should regret his own lack of discernment in choosing Ulrich over Leonardo.
...Right, and the invitation letter to Barbara-san is good like this.
Having secured her cooperation with the compounding of medicines, I wrote an invitation to Barbara for the detached palace. This invitation was not in the form of inviting a friend, but rather a summons for work-related purposes, handled similarly to when summoning a merchant. When summoning someone for work, it is also necessary to notify the gatekeepers that a certain person plans to visit the detached palace at a certain date and time, and to request they be guided to the detached palace, but that is the work of the maids and servants.
"...As expected of a detached palace within the royal castle. There are more furnishings than in a noble district mansion, and I find it a little unsettling."
"They apparently arranged it to resemble the Grenore residence, though."
Although it was a building within the royal castle grounds, the furnishings of the detached palace had been arranged to resemble those of the Grenore residence. The quality was top-grade, but compared to the guest room Felicia was using, the furnishings in my living space were on the quieter side. Barbara, who I had invited to the detached palace as my guest, was naturally guided to the reception room within my living space. The furnishings that Barbara described as unsettling were actually on the fewer side for royal castle furnishings.
"If the detached palace is unsettling, shall we move to the annex?"
"There is even an annex?"
"There is a compact annex in the garden compared to the detached palace."
However, the center of the annex had full glass walls, and there was a fountain of Leonardo holding a jar in full nudity. Leonardo's nudity might be concerning, but in the end, it was just a statue. Barbara would probably stop minding it after seeing it once.
"Is the annex that building beyond the hedge?"
"Is there some problem with that building?"
I suggested we change locations since Barbara was unsettled, but Aaron made a difficult face at this. The furniture grade in the annex was indeed lower than the detached palace, but that building was originally used by the Eighth Princess. It was likely higher grade than the detached palace furniture deliberately made to resemble the Grenore residence, he said. If she could not settle with the detached palace furnishings, there was no way she could settle with the annex furnishings.
"Then what shall we do? When we actually carry out the medicine compounding work, people from the Sedovara Church will be coming besides Barbara-san, and those people will naturally also feel uncomfortable... right?"
Honestly, I understood her unsettled feeling of thinking the surrounding furniture was too expensive and that damaging it by accident would be a big deal. I had thought similarly and had difficulty using my room in Grenore. That was also why the slightly worn-out furniture in the attic room was easier to use.
"Should we just rent a house somewhere in the inner city and do the work there?"
Regarding the rent, I would need to consult Alfred and the others, who were supposed to provide funds for reviving the secret arts, but if it came down to it, I could also put up five thousand gold coins myself, so it did not matter. Just as I did not want to be surrounded by people I barely knew, if Barbara and the others felt uncomfortable and unsettled, I wanted to avoid working at the detached palace.
"Moving the workplace to the inner city is opposed from a security standpoint."
Now that the Silver-White Knights had returned from the city of Grenore, the number of guards had been somewhat increased, but it apparently was still insufficient for guarding me and the research materials of Saint Yuuta Hiraga. That was why, despite concerns about their competence and the occasional mixing in of harmful individuals, the White Knight guard could not be removed.
"In that case, I shall offer the annex at my home."
The one who said this was Siegwald, who had returned from the city of Grenore along with the research materials. Siegwald served as the Vice Commander of the Silver-White Knights, and ever since the research materials had returned, he had been stationed at the detached palace as a guard for me and the research materials.
"My home is in the noble district, with stricter security than the inner city. And as for the annex, you need not worry about the furnishings either."
At the Fortress Lord's Residence in Grenore, the annex had been used as a residence for servants like Bart and Tabitha. The annex at Aurelia's home was living space for her apprentices, and at Jemian's main residence in Lagarette, Basilia had lived in the annex. Though the usage of an annex differed by household, at Siegwald's home it had apparently been used as a children's room. There were no children of an age to use a children's room anymore, and it was currently unused.
"Siegwald-sama's residence would be a noble's mansion, but... Barbara-san, would that be all right?"
"Pharmacists are sometimes called to noble mansions, so the noble district is fine."
"Then let us accept Siegwald-sama's kind offer."
At Siegwald's residence, many Silver-White Knights came and went. In that sense as well, it was more reassuring security-wise than an ordinary mansion.
The cleaning of the annex, which had reportedly been unused for a while, was to be done by Siegwald's household servants, while the transporting of equipment was to be done by the Sedovara Church personnel. I wanted to help too, but it seemed there was little equipment an eleven-year-old child could transport safely, and I was told not to come until called, as I would be in the way. Having no choice, I decided to do what I could, and went to pay my respects to Siegwald, who had provided the venue, and Mikaela, who had kindly accepted her husband's proposal.
"Thank you very much for granting my impertinent wish this time."
Performing the lady's courtesy that Hermine had drilled back into me after the rampage at the last tea party, I conveyed my gratitude to Mikaela. Today, the trigger (Bertrand) that would cause me to go on a rampage was not present, so I was able to greet her properly as a lady should.
"Supporting my husband (Sieg)'s decisions is the duty of his wife (myself). We can do little more than provide a venue, but Tina-san must have a great responsibility entrusted to her. If there is anything else you require, please do not hesitate to let us know."
"Thank you, Mikaela-sama. Sieg-sama truly has a wonderful wife."
"She is my pride and joy (wife), after all."
I had intended to lightly tease by saying he had a good wife, but Siegwald accepted this with a straight face. From there, the conversation shifted to him boasting about his wife, then to talk of his son (Timon), then to talk of his other siblings, and so on. Siegwald's family was large and also a harmonious household.
...Come to think of it, was this only the second time I had spoken with Sieg-sama when he was not acting as a knight?
He had stayed at the Grenore residence for over a year just like Jasper, but the only time Siegwald had spoken with me personally was last summer, when he had a big fight with Leonardo. As a knight guarding the research materials of Saint Yuuta Hiraga, Siegwald never let his guard down as a knight twenty-four hours a day. Siegwald, speaking as a private individual and a family man, gave a stronger impression of being a good father rather than a stern knight. I heard there had once even been talk of adopting Leonardo, so if that had gone through, he would likely have become a good father to Leonardo.
...But because Ulrich dealt the finishing blow, Leonyaldo-san became distrustful of people, and it seems he turned down the adoption offer.
Thinking about it that way, if only Ulrich had not existed, Siegwald might have been my adoptive father. No, if Leonardo, disgusted with the capital, had not come to the city of Grenore, I would have died in Mey Village, so that was not the case. Let us stop this pointless resentment of Ulrich, I thought, pushing Ulrich's existence to the corner of my mind, when Kalisa came to inform me that the cleaning and equipment transport were finished.
Since it involved the secret arts, Mikaela's attendance was declined. Instead, since Siegwald was the homeowner and was also guarding me and the research materials themselves, I confirmed the equipment brought into the annex and the ingredients for the Mustaine Medicine together with him.
"...Huh? These blue sand grains... um, Azure Star Sand? It looks different from the shape in the research materials..."
The name for the ingredient was 'Azure Star Sand,' but it was not actually azure or anything. They were azure-colored sand grains, but the 'Azure Star Sand' packed in a jar looked, no matter how I looked at it, more like roughly crushed fragments of small stones rather than sand. Their size was far too large to be called 'sand.'
"The shortcut work during medicine compounding was being corrected by Barbara-san in the capital, right?"
"This Azure Star Sand seems to have been prepared by the Western Branch. The shortcut work that started at some point is indeed being corrected, but... even at the Central Branch where I am stationed, it is difficult to thoroughly enforce."
Once shortcuts were learned, it was difficult to return to the original standards, Barbara said with a shrug. This was only speculation, but these detailed tasks were likely part of the reason many apprentices had fled from under Aurelia. In other words, thoroughly enforcing these tasks would be an unavoidable challenge in reviving the secret arts.
"...It has not even been a year since Aurelia-san passed away, after all. It will probably take a little more time to thoroughly re-establish the standards."
I did not know over how much time the techniques had been lost, but shortcuts must have taken years to develop. Reversing that would also take time.
"Shall we revive the process starting from turning the raw materials into proper ingredients, and thoroughly enforce the standards from the compounding of the secret arts?"
Rather than raising the currently relaxed standards, we would enforce from now on that materials used in the secret arts must meet this standard. If we thoroughly enforced material precision from now for the secret arts we were about to revive, it might be easier than raising the fallen standards.
"That might be a good idea. From the Sedovara Church, we will be borrowing two experienced pharmacists and two young pharmacists."
We will start by thoroughly drilling those four in delicate work, from material preparation, Barbara said with a pleasant smile. She must have had some feelings about instructing at the Sedovara Church.
"Four people... Have they been properly informed?"
"Of course. We solicited volunteers under the same conditions as becoming Aurelia's disciple, and selected one person from each branch in the capital."
The same conditions as becoming Aurelia's disciple meant that running away midway was not permitted. The secret arts we were about to revive would become medicine to save people's lives, but a slight mistake in the manufacturing method would turn them into poison. We could not simply hand the prescriptions to current pharmacists, who had learned shortcuts in preparing raw materials, and say "here you go, now that the recipe is known." Since it would also be problematic if incomplete knowledge of the methods was taken outside, those who gave up would meet the same fate as in Waiyakku Valley.
"I would rather not increase the number of people too much."
Ideally, I would have liked to be able to do the work alone. However, no matter how detailed the prescriptions written like a diary might be, there was no way an amateur like me could do the compounding work. Medicine made with shortcut materials and medicine compounded by an amateur. Both were equally dangerous.
"Since we solicited volunteers with the conditions stated from the beginning, Christina-sama need not worry about contingencies. Even if they give up and run away, that will be their responsibility."
Rather than thinking about not increasing personnel, let us think about how not to produce deserters, Barbara said. Those who felt wronged would inevitably appear if explanations and words were insufficient, just as she herself had once been. We were reviving the secret arts from scratch after all. We could build up the words and explanations one by one, she said.
"...You are right. Worrying from now will get us nowhere. If someone tries to escape, we can have Oscar and Kokumaro catch them, tie them up with rope, and drag them back."
First, let us start from turning the raw materials into proper ingredients, I said, placing the jar containing the Azure Star Sand imitation on the table. What was needed to turn this 'Star Sand', which looked only like stone fragments, into sand was a mortar and a grinding mortar. I had helped Aurelia a little with material preparation before, so even I could do this.
...A grinding mortar. That brings back memories.
Recalling the days in Waiyakku Valley with nostalgia, I reached for the transcription I had made for my own use. Opening the page about Azure Star Sand, I confirmed the description that it must be crushed to grain size, then reached for the jar of Azure Star Sand once again.
Time is up. That is all for today.
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.