Chapter 60 – The Underlying Circumstances of the Greg Faction

While I planned to keep observing the friction between the Knight Order and the adventurer groups for a bit longer…

After leaving the Adventurer Guild and organizing the equipment and loot for dungeon diving, I was relaxing at home when we had a visitor.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Viola. Is this Theodore Gartner-san’s residence?” asked a Dwarf woman with a bright smile. Though she stood at about my eye level, she was clearly a full-grown adult.

“Yes. I’m Theodore.”

“Well. I’ve come as a messenger from Alfred-sama. He’d like you to come see his workshop at your earliest convenience.”

“Oh? Is the workshop already finished?”

“It’s still being renovated, but we’ve already set up the facilities for potion mixing.”

“Hmm, well then, I suppose I’ll go take a look.”

I had gathered the necessary raw materials. I’d been planning to buy mixing equipment on days when I wasn’t dungeon diving, but Alfred had mentioned he would prepare what I needed at his workshop.

“So I’ll be heading out. What about everyone else?” I asked everyone in the house.

“I need to prepare dinner. Um—will you be back by then?” Grace asked, tilting her head slightly.

Well, that went without saying. Grace’s cooking was delicious. It would be utterly tasteless to settle for skewers or grilled shellfish from street stalls instead.

“Yeah. I’ll definitely be back.”

“Okay.”

At my response, Grace smiled happily.

“What about you, Ashley?”

“Since Rosetta-sensei will be coming later, I promised Sheila-san I’d train with her in the garden until then.”

“Even after diving the dungeon, you’re working hard…”

“Thanks to Theodore-sama, I’m feeling well.”

Whether it was due to the effects of Circulating Ki or the leveling up in the dungeon, Ashley’s physical condition was excellent. Combined with her ability to use healing magic herself, she seemed to be studying and training with remarkable energy.

The training consisted of practical sparring matches. Though it was just fighting with cloth-wrapped wooden sticks while wearing armor, since her opponents were Rosetta and Sheila, the content was likely quite intense.

As for Grace—she seemed a bit sad that she couldn’t participate in such sparring matches because controlling her strength was too difficult.

“Lately, it’s been quite interesting and I can’t let my guard down. She’s started reading my movements and timing her attacks to match,” said Sheila, who had been listening to Irmhild’s lute while cooling off by a bucket containing Ice Pillars I’d made for that purpose. If Ashley could keep up with Sheila’s movements to some extent, that was quite impressive.

So, since Sheila had training with Ashley, she would likely stay at the house for a while longer before returning to the Western District with Irmhild.

In that case, I should probably head out. It also seemed like a good idea to tell Alfred about the situation with the Knight Order and the adventurers.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

After loading the necessary luggage onto the carriage, I headed to Alfred’s workshop with Viola.

“Viola-san, what will you be doing at the workshop?”

“Me? I do all sorts of things—blacksmithing, sewing, and such. I was just about to strike out on my own from my master’s place when Alfred-bocchan asked me if I’d like to work at a Magic Engineer’s workshop.”

Viola rolled up her sleeves as she spoke.

I see. So she’s the workshop’s in-house blacksmith. And if she can work with both metal and leather, she’ll be able to handle quite a variety of tasks. It seemed Prince Albert had been making steady preparations.

“In that case, I guess we’re colleagues, huh?”

“Exactly! Looking forward to working with you!”

In my case, I’m more like a test pilot who also gets involved in adjustments.

Alfred’s workshop was in the Eastern District. It was quite close to both the academy and my house.

It was a fairly large property, but it still appeared to be under renovation, with construction materials piled in the garden.

Alfred was in the garden with a young girl, enthusiastically explaining various things to her. When he noticed Viola and me getting down from the carriage, his face broke into a smile.

“Hey, I’ve been waiting for you. Welcome to the Brightwelt Workshop.”

“Thanks.”

“This lady here is my friend, Fira.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Alfred welcomed us cheerfully and introduced the girl beside him. The girl called Fira picked up the hem of her skirt and curtsied. …Well, to cut to the chase, she was Ophelia in disguise. She was wearing a Disguise Ring that matched Alfred’s.

So the surname Brightwelt comes into play here, huh.

“Well, my personal life has been a bit messy too. I’ve been busy lately, so I couldn’t make much progress on preparing the workshop, but I’ve finally got things moving. Some facilities are still under renovation, but I’ve had the forge and the equipment for mixing potions prepared. Would you mind trying them out and giving me your impressions?”

The Royal Castle must have been extremely busy with excavating and translating the Ancient Documents, and being forced to mark time probably stressed Alfred out as well.

Guided by Alfred, I was shown to a room inside the mansion.

Scales, mortars, glass bottles, glass tubes, a stove with a large pot, display shelves… It seemed most of the necessary equipment was already in place.

“Well then, I’ll start using them right away. Will you be watching the process?”

“Is that alright? Aren’t things like that supposed to be secrets?”

“No. Even if someone knows the production method, they still need to secure a stable supply of materials, and some steps in the process are somewhat difficult to imitate just by watching.”

Since the magical processing part of the potions is done using a Magic Circle, there’s no worry about someone overhearing incantations and copying them. As for raw material procurement, I can gather potion materials myself while exploring the dungeon, and for sales, I just need to bring them to the Adventurer Guild. If they don’t sell, I can just use them myself. It’s quite carefree.

Now, about potions… They come in a wide variety, led by Heal Potions that heal wounds and Magic Potions that restore Magical Power, along with Physical Potions that restore Vitality, Resist types that produce effects similar to other Magic, and so on.

Some types require laborious processing, and trying to improve quality involves considerable effort, but the biggest challenges are probably acquiring the Recipe for mixing and gathering the required Materials.

In that regard, I already knew a fair number of potion recipes from the start, and I could make several types of potions using just the Herbs gathered in the Dusk Forest.

Although I’m not a production class, being able to mix potions myself allows for local procurement and such, so memorizing recipes and acquiring at least the basic skills is quite convenient.

Now, among the many potions, which one should I make… I think the most profitable would be the Magic Potion.

Based on my prior research, they don’t circulate much in the Market. It might not be due to the recipe itself, but because the number of people capable of performing the process is limited.

I toss the gathered Herbs and purchased Materials into the mortar in the specified ratios and begin grinding them.

At this time, it’s necessary to knead a sufficient amount of Magical Power into the materials while using a mixing Spell Formula. If one can’t do this, the process involves preparing a considerable quantity of tiny Magic Stone fragments and grinding them together… but doing that increases material costs and thus lowers profit margins.

Therefore, Magic Potions, relative to their demand and Price, aren’t very profitable for the producer.

“At his age, he can use a Magic Circle…?”

“Ah, he’s the rumored Demon Slayer.”

“Whaaat?”

Viola’s eyes widened in surprise.

While this was going on, the preliminary preparations were completed. All that remained was to put this into Cleansing water and boil it down on the stove until its appearance changes, and then it would be finished.

Since this was more of a trial run today, I didn’t need to make a large batch in the big pot. I placed a small pot on the fire and waited. During this time, I just needed to watch it to prevent boiling over, so there wasn’t much else to do. I thought I’d tell Alfred about the Knight Order situation.

“…I see. So friction has developed after all.”

Alfred scratched his head with a troubled expression.

“Although the adventurer who caused the trouble was also at fault, there was already a underlying tendency not to view things favorably overall due to Greg’s faction. Dame Mercedia mentioned she would propose measures to prevent recurrence, but I think if Greg’s faction is left to their own devices, some other problem might occur. It seemed beyond her capabilities to go that far.”

Even if Greg is rotten, he’s still the vice-commander. Mercedia is probably lower in rank.

“That might indeed be the case. Can the adventurers be restrained?”

“If the Adventurer Guild issues some kind of notice, I think they’ll exercise some self-restraint. Regardless of their feelings toward the Knight Order, I don’t think anyone wants to actively pick a fight with them.”

Listening to her, Mercedia seemed like a fairly reasonable person.

The fact that she deliberately went back to the Adventurer Guild to discuss things was probably because she thought it was easier to reach a calm resolution in a visible place like the Guild rather than inside the dungeon where trouble could easily escalate.

The troublesome thing about that Jasper fellow was that he tried to use the adventurers’ resentment to forcefully push through his own mistakes. So, I figure he made a big fuss about pride and whatnot, and then retreated as soon as he saw the wind turning against him.

“Greg is panicking because Sir Chester left him.”

“Was Sir Chester that important? No matter how skilled he is, Sir Chester is just a single knight, right?”

“In this case, Sir Chester’s personal connections were what mattered. He’s a favorite of Her Highness Rosemary, you see.”

“…Um, the Second Princess’s.”

“Yes, that Princess Rosemary. He was getting close to her through Sir Chester, but since Chester went to the dungeon… It seems the Princess has no use for Greg by himself. Lately, it’s like he’s being turned away at the gate. The hanger-on nobles are basically weathervanes, after all.”

Hah. That’s a matter of life and death then. It was about vested interests that made him use Chester to target me, but with Chester himself defecting, the foundation is shaking.

“So, he wants to achieve merits in the dungeon and make his presence felt, is that it?”

“Well, yeah. He himself lacks charisma, so maybe he’s thinking of grooming another young knight under his wing into some kind of hero?”

Alfred said this with a laugh, but then suddenly his smile vanished and his expression turned serious.

“…Hmm. I want to apologize to you in advance.”

“For what?”

“I’ll try to mention it to His Highness Albert, but… Her Highness Rosemary and Greg don’t get along very well with His Highness Albert.”

“Ah.”

In other words, the relationship between Rosemary and Prince Albert isn’t good.

Prince Albert himself has little influence in the royal palace. Since no direct sparks are flying his way, and since I’m not a direct associate of the Prince himself, it’s probably difficult for him to engage in direct confrontation.

“This time, I just shared some information. Even if the Guild just issues a warning to the adventurer side, wouldn’t that significantly change the situation?”

While we were talking, it seemed to have reached the right point. Removing the pot from the heat revealed a finished medicinal liquid glowing with a pale purple light. Once this cooled and was divided into small bottles, it should be a product no different from commercially available Magic Potions.

“Looks good. I’m thinking of mass-producing this and the Heal Potion for stockpiling and sale.”

Heal Potions have high supply and demand, so it’s not like jumping in later would be profitable, but stockpiling them… could be useful in an emergency.