"Compression, enhancement, synthesis."
After returning to the mansion, I made a large quantity of rose candy.
Since it's for my own body, I can never have too many prepared.
Thanks to repeating the process, my [Compression] skill rank had risen from E to D.
"Now I'm running low on candy. I should tell Sivers to place an order."
They're not just intensely sweet but have a rich flavor that makes them enjoyable to eat for extended periods.
"Five days left until the court physician exam."
The Gotberg family knights and healers from the training center were scheduled to venture into the northern forest to subjugate magical beasts.
The northern part of the marquisate is surrounded by high walls. The northern Empire is largely unexplored territory, home to many magical beasts.
The fact that the marquis's mansion is positioned at the very front line demonstrates confidence in the territory's safety.
In fact, they say the walls haven't been breached even once during the 200 years since the Gotberg family was established.
"There aren't any particularly dangerous magical beasts in the forest anyway."
Still, I shouldn't let my guard down.
With my current stats, even a low-level magical beast could kill me with a single hit.
―――――――――――
Strength: 6
Vitality: 6
Magic Power: 1
Mana: 14 (UP)
Divine Power: 22
Faith: 100
―――――――――――
"My mana increased from casting spells."
Practice makes perfect, as they say.
However, since I have no talent for magic, my magic power growth is hopelessly slow.
"My divine power will keep increasing steadily, but I won't be using it."
It's thanks to my good bloodline, but even that will max out around 50.
Ten years later, growth beyond that point was sluggish.
Without talent, both stats and skills eventually hit a ceiling.
My current talents are alchemy and medicine.
"Which means my mana has no upper limit."
Alchemy is a spell skill based on knowledge as its source and mana as its foundation.
But I'm not sure about the exact mechanism of medicine. Is it just the medical knowledge I already know?
"With this strength and vitality, I won't be able to keep up with the knights during the exam."
I need to develop them a bit more.
Having someone to train me would make it much more efficient.
"Fortunately, there's a suitable talent in the family."
I should ask that knight tomorrow.
"And I'll need a healing performance to score high on the exam..."
The weapons at my disposal now are the rose candy with its healing effect and the first aid skill.
"Not enough."
The candy's healing is gradual, so you don't immediately feel a dramatic effect when you put it in your mouth.
First aid is similar. It can prevent injuries from worsening, but it doesn't heal them on the spot.
In contrast, healing magic, despite being less efficient, has visible effects that people in this world clearly understand.
That difference is significant.
"A healing technique with strong impact. It would be nice to have such a medical skill, but there's no guarantee my rank will increase within five days."
Above all, I can't predict what new skills might emerge.
"Even if I compete with healing spells, I don't think I can beat the training center's ace with these stats, and I don't particularly want to use them anyway."
That leaves one option.
"Let's make a medicine with strong impact."
I thought using alchemy would be faster.
"Now, where can I find suitable ingredients..."
Being in the mansion limits my available materials.
I open the window. The yellow rose garden in the backyard is nearly bald now. Of course, I'm the culprit.
But I feel reassured by the mountain of candy I've accumulated.
―Rustle...
The gentle breeze makes the leaves rustle.
It was the sound of willow leaves swaying near the annex.
"Willow?"
An idea came to mind.
I grabbed a dagger and rushed down to the yard.
I made an incision at the base of a nearby willow tree and carefully peeled off the bark.
"This is it."
Willow bark has pain-relieving properties.
It might not be common knowledge in this world, but it was traditionally wrapped around wounds.
"If I extract the beta-glucoside and use compression and enhancement, I should get salicin."
In simple terms, I can make a painkiller.
I brought it to my room and immediately began experimenting.
I piled up the willow bark and evenly distributed my mana over it.
"Compression."
The bark made a creaking sound as it transformed into a pill form.
I check the status window.
―――――――――――
Willow Painkiller (Crafted)
Effect: Slightly reduces pain for 5 minutes.
―――――――――――
Success.
Now I draw a spell circle.
According to what Asella taught me, the more vertices a geometric shape has, the better the spell's effect.
The shape needs to be a regular polygon. If the sides have different lengths, it actually has the opposite effect.
That's why circles are best, apparently.
Since a circle has no vertices, it's equivalent to having an infinite number—though I'm not entirely sure about that.
Since I'm still practicing, I'll use a square.
"Enhancement."
Light emerges.
The spell circle slowly begins to rotate.
"...This is taking a while?"
Unlike the rose medicine, the casting time is quite long.
The mana crawls along the outer edge of the spell circle at a snail's pace.
It's like loading a poorly optimized game.
"This is taking forever."
It seems that investing time is necessary to create something of quality.
When my concentration wavers, the speed slows even more.
Circles are such a pain.
After two hours of concentration, I finally completed the first casting.
―――――――――――
Enhanced Willow Pain Reliever (Crafted)
Effect: Greatly reduces pain for 5 minutes.
―――――――――――
"The wording changed?"
That must mean it's much more effective.
Without hesitation, I put the pill in my mouth and swallowed it.
"Hmm."
I bite my finger to test it.
"Oh."
It feels like partial anesthesia at the dentist. There's just a slight tingling sensation, but almost no pain.
"Good. This will have impact."
Healing magic doesn't eliminate pain.
In fact, during healing, the regeneration process can actually intensify pain, sometimes causing death from shock.
Well, a painkiller made from willow probably wouldn't have this level of efficacy normally.
"Alchemy is quite useful."
The enhanced efficacy from the Enhancement skill showed results beyond common sense.
Just then, an alert appeared in my status window.
―――――――――――
· Skill rank has increased.
· Synthesis E → Synthesis D
· Property Alteration E has been unlocked.
―――――――――――
"The next skill in the alchemy skill tree has been unlocked."
This is what I'm talking about.
There's satisfaction in working hard.
After reading the skill description for Property Alteration, another idea came to mind.
When it comes to medicine, there's one that's particularly representative.
A medicine very familiar to men.
"It would be a shame not to have that."
***
The next day, I woke up early and moved before sunrise.
That knight is known for being diligent, so she would be busy if I didn't catch her now.
'This should be it. The guard knights' barracks.'
I locate the knights' barracks behind the mansion.
Befitting a unit directly under the marquis, it was quite substantial in scale.
The accommodations were fairly luxurious, and the training facilities were equipped with modern amenities.
However, the actual force isn't large.
The Gotberg Marquisate primarily focuses on training healers, and the Imperial Court prohibits local nobles from maintaining large knightly orders to prevent rebellion.
During seasons when magical beasts appear in large numbers, they typically collaborate with guilds to hire adventurers.
'It's quite a coincidence that such talent emerged from this land.'
As I was about to enter the knights' training ground, the sentry knight on duty saluted me.
"Young lord? What brings you here so early in the morning?"
He made no effort to hide his annoyed expression.
It was a natural reaction since nothing good had ever come from my appearances.
"I want to exercise inside. Open the door."
"Exercise? You should do that at your mansion, young lord. It's not yet time for the knights' activities."
"This is also my mansion. I won't behave inappropriately, so don't worry."
As I tried to move forward, the knight blocked me with his arm.
"Oh, come on. You've been drinking all night again, haven't you? This will reach the family head's ears again."
"I told you, that's not it. I got plenty of sleep. Ah, I almost forgot."
I took out a lollipop from my pocket and unwrapped it. I popped it into my mouth, and sweetness spread immediately.
"Ugh, this is driving me crazy."
"You wouldn't be crazy if you just moved aside. Step back."
"No..."
"What's going on here?"
A composed voice interjected between me and the sentry.
'She's here.'
A familiar face, though obviously much younger than when I last saw her.
Fiery red hair.
In contrast, her eyes are calm.
With her lithe body, she appeared to have been jogging, as a drop of sweat fell from her cheek.
"Good morning, Captain Tanya."
"Young lord."
Tanya, the captain of the Gotberg knights, acknowledged my greeting with a slight nod.
Though only twenty years old, she's already a sword prodigy who has reached the level of Sword Expert.
She will soon be scouted by the Imperial Army and continue to rise, eventually reaching the level of Sword Master.
'It's a bit strange seeing her with both eyes intact.'
Tanya will be implicated in the false accusations against our family when we're exterminated.
At that time, although she belonged to the Imperial Knights rather than our family, she chose to resist out of loyalty to old ties and was maimed as a result.
She has a character that cannot tolerate injustice. Perhaps she knew our family was falsely accused.
Ten years later, she was a reclusive master who helped the hero.
Since she's going to be successful in the future, it wouldn't hurt to become friendly with her now.
"What business do you have? The knights' operational hours begin at nine in the morning."
"Sweat tastes best when shed at dawn. Isn't that why you, as captain, were running before sunrise?"
"...You make a valid point."
Tanya looks at me with suspicious eyes.
"The thing is, my physical condition is quite poor these days. I might die if this continues. I'm also going on the magical beast subjugation in five days."
"I've heard. You're taking the court physician exam."
"In preparation for that, could you train me a little? Teaching me swordsmanship would be nice too."
"Did you say swordsmanship?"
Tanya's expression turned cold.
She's always serious about swords, so one shouldn't bring up the subject carelessly.
But now is the time to be assertive for the sake of my own body.
"Yes. I won't blame the captain."
"That's not the issue."
"What is the issue, then?"
Tanya responds coldly.
"You lack the basic physical preparation, young lord. Before picking up a sword, you need to start with running."
"I can't turn my back and run away from magical beasts during the exam."
"You should run. If you value your life."
If only she knew that running away from the court physician exam would be like jumping straight into hell.
There's no way I could make her understand that.
I need to tempt her with something she wants.
"Captain Tanya, you're well aware of who I'm engaged to, right?"
"I am, but why bring that up suddenly...?"
Warriors are certainly weak when it comes to political calculations.
I decided to explain point by point what she hadn't realized.
"Let's say I become the court physician of Asella, the Third Princess, and enter the imperial palace. This is a rather special situation."
"Special?"
"When nobles of count rank or higher obtain an official position and enter the imperial palace, they can bring their own guard knights. Up to two."
At my words, Tanya's eyes widened slightly.
Tanya is ambitious about reaching higher levels of swordsmanship.
That's why she accepted the scout offer from the Imperial Knights, aiming to improve her skills.
"Naturally, you, as the most skilled in our marquisate, should be my guard. What do you think?"
"...I have my duties as captain of the Gotberg knights."
"Even a captain needs to experience how things work in the bigger arena, don't you think? Who knows, my fiancée might scout you, and by interacting with the master swordsmen of the Imperial Knights, you might reach the level of Sword Master."
I whispered provocatively to her.
"If you're so confident in your swordsmanship, that is."
After pondering my words, Tanya finally ordered the sentry.
"Bring out the wooden swords."