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Chapter 8 …
Back then, I spent a lot of time following real estate agents around, picking up all kinds of useful tips.
After taking every possible factor into consideration, this was the house I had finally managed to find.
Now, everyone had moved away, leaving the building almost completely abandoned. It was tucked away in a back alley…
Whoooosh!
The neighborhood wasn’t exactly safe, and it was far from the city center, but the interior was spacious enough to install research equipment, and it had excellent natural lighting…
Whoooosh!
Which meant there was no laboratory better suited for me than this one…
Whoooooosh!
“Ugh, the wind keeps leaking in.”
I’d have to replace the windows with double-glazed ones as soon as possible.
After unpacking my belongings in the only room that was still in decent condition, I slowly walked through the house.
It had been a long time since my hands had felt this itchy.
At the Mage Tower, I had been so busy cleaning up after my professor that I never had the chance to rest properly.
But not anymore.
From now on, I could spend my time doing only the things I wanted.
Unable to suppress the instincts of a researcher bubbling inside me, I spread the blueprint for my prototype model across the workbench.
Then I smiled in satisfaction.
“Hehe.”
At the Mage Tower, this idea had been rejected over and over because they claimed it was unrealistic.
But I was absolutely certain.
This was going to be an incredible invention!
Contrary to my ambitious determination, however, the very first thing I did after moving was…
Go outside.
“Hmm… I should buy some clothes.”
Normally, I only wore the research robes provided by the Mage Tower, so I rarely had any reason to shop for clothes.
But after looking through my wardrobe, I realized the situation was dire.
I slowly examined my shabby robe in the mirror.
“This is seriously the only outfit I own for going out?”
If I wanted to become a successful business owner, I couldn’t keep dressing like this.
Appearances mattered.
“I’ll have to make time to go shopping soon.”
But there was something far more important to do first.
I needed to create the bargaining chip I’d use when negotiating with Heon.
“Calling it a negotiation sounds nice. Calling it half blackmail would probably be more accurate.”
Heon was the young duke’s son, but these days he was practically treated like an old relic shoved into storage.
All because of the illness he suffered from.
That was why, in the original story, the very first thing he did after regressing was search for a cure to this disease before trying to save the world.
Which meant that, as someone who had read the novel, I knew everything.
I knew what disease he had.
I knew how to make the cure.
And I even knew how to take it.
I planned to use that information as bait and offer Heon a conditional deal.
In exchange for curing him, I’d ask him to invest in my business…
Or, if things went terribly wrong and the world headed toward destruction, I could ask him to help me.
“Which means the most important thing I need right now is the ingredients to make the medicine!”
With a cheerful spring in my step, I left the house.
Mm.
This temperature.
This humidity.
This air.
Absolutely flawless.
No wonder everyone keeps talking about quitting their jobs.
“Miss, how long are you just going to keep looking?”
“Ah, just a moment.”
I was currently standing on the outskirts of the village marketplace.
More specifically, in a narrow alley packed with merchants selling herbs and various ores.
After I’d wandered around for over ten minutes, one elderly merchant finally started getting annoyed.
Looking over the list I’d prepared in advance, I carefully compared the goods in front of me.
“Hmmmm.”
Unlike the Mage Tower, where research equipment and refined materials were everywhere, I was now starting completely from scratch.
Fortunately, this medicine could be made without any expensive equipment.
“Is this crystal ore really from the southern Unix Mountains?”
Apparently irritated by all my questions, the merchant gave a lazy nod and asked for just one Seling.
“Whoa… this is an absolute steal.”
“Yes! Sounds good. Here you go.”
I handed over the money and completed the transaction without hesitation.
Of course, the object now sitting in my hand looked like nothing more than a dull grayish-brown rock.
Unlike mana stones, this stone depleted mana, poisoning the land instead of nourishing it.
Its only practical use was absorbing contaminated mana inside laboratories.
That was why it sold for next to nothing.
But I knew this stone’s true value.
“Under the right conditions, this stone becomes an important medicinal ingredient.”
After checking the money remaining in my pocket one more time, I headed off to buy the rest of the ingredients.
* * *
As soon as I got home, I spread all the materials I’d purchased across my workbench.
The ore gave off a peculiar smell.
Mm.
I’d smelled this countless times while experimenting.
It was wonderful.
“Let’s begin.”
First, I crushed the stone into tiny pieces before washing it thoroughly.
Then I placed it inside a distillation apparatus and slowly began boiling it.
Meanwhile, I chopped, steamed, and roasted the herbs I’d purchased.
Absorbing the ore’s properties directly would be dangerous, so the herbs were meant to reduce its side effects.
After a while, I mixed the distilled extract with the herbal compounds and began brewing the medicine.
Before long, the liquid began glowing with a clear blue light.
“Oh, success!”
The original story had said that if the solution turned blue, it meant the medicine had been made correctly.
Thrilled that I’d succeeded on my first attempt, I quickly poured the potion into several small bottles.
Because this potion inherited the mana-absorbing properties of the stone, it was especially effective against illnesses caused by mana.
The disease Heon currently suffered from was a congenital condition in which excessive mana gradually destroyed the body’s nerves and caused him to lose sensation.
Once Heon drank this potion, the mana accumulated inside his body would slowly be absorbed over the course of several months before being expelled.
In other words, if he drank just one bottle every day, the root cause of his illness would be completely eliminated.
At this point in the original story, his illness hadn’t progressed very far.
But it wouldn’t be long before even Heon realized just how serious it was.
The pain caused by the mana pressing against his nerves would become unbearable.
“When that time comes, he won’t have any choice but to take my medicine.”
Hehehe.
A devious smile spread across my face as I quickly packed the medicine into my bag.
“Perfect. Now I’m fully prepared for the negotiation.”
It was time to go meet Heon Leonar.
* * *
Today, as usual, Heon remained shut inside his room, quietly letting time pass.
The Duke had visited him only a short while ago.
“How are you feeling? Don’t overexert yourself…”
The same empty words as always.
Yet none of the people who claimed to worry about him truly believed the illness that had appeared only recently could actually be cured.
Heon slowly drew the sword hanging at his waist.
He had felt fine just moments ago.
But suddenly, a sharp pain shot through the back of his elbow.
“Damn it…”
Clang!
The sword slipped from his weakening grip and crashed onto the floor with a sharp metallic ring.
No matter how hard he tried to tighten his grasp, his hand refused to obey.
It felt as though all sensation was gradually disappearing from the tips of his fingers, leaving everything dull and numb.
Sometimes the trembling became so severe that he couldn’t control it at all.
It was a truly bizarre disease.
Most of the time he felt perfectly normal.
Then, without warning, pain would strike, or parts of his body would suddenly go numb.
One day his legs would tingle.
Another day, all strength would leave his arms.
It felt as though his own body no longer belonged to him.
He had searched throughout the Empire for a cure.
Yet no one knew the cause of the disease.
Perhaps because of that…
The man once praised above all others for his extraordinary talent with the sword had gradually been pushed aside.
“What’s the point of having talent?”
The sentence that always followed was the same.
“The problem is his illness…”
People had even begun whispering that the Duke should hurry and adopt another heir.
Trying to shake off the depression creeping back into his mind, Heon shook his head.
“Ha… Here it comes again.”
Just as he silently rubbed his gaunt face, there was a hurried knock on the door.
A servant entered and reported the news.
“Young Master. You have a visitor.”
Heon looked puzzled.
“…Me?”
Since when had anyone come looking for someone who hardly even left the estate anymore?
“It’s a lady. She says she’s a researcher from the Mage Tower. We’ve already verified her identification.”
“A researcher from the Mage Tower…?”
His brow furrowed at the unexpected visitor.
Why would someone from the Mage Tower come to see me?
He didn’t know anyone there.
Had his father perhaps contacted the Mage Tower because of his only son’s illness?
Though filled with questions, Heon still headed obediently toward the reception room after hearing that a visitor had arrived.
If they were truly from the Mage Tower, then at the very least they wouldn’t be some quack or charlatan.
