"Huh? Is it dangerous?" (Fia)
Priscilla and the Saints appeared to be in conflict, which made me wonder what was going on.
Since there were only a few saints among us, I thought they would have a strong sense of camaraderie and get along well, but I guessed I was wrong.
Over the past 300 years, not only had the number of saints decreased, but a lot of knowledge and techniques related to saints had been lost, so rather than fighting each other, it would be better if they shared the knowledge and techniques they had and learned from each other.
Above all, it's no fun if people were at odds with each other, I was thinking when Priscilla asked me in a sharp voice.
"'Yellow Wind Flowers', 'Red Sweet Berry', and 'Sea Perilla' are materials that are hard to find, even in the Cathedral! And you say you got all of them? Is that even possible? How on earth did you get them all?"
"Huh, that's, well..."
Perhaps because Priscilla had approached her as if it was a big deal, Charlotte was at a loss for words and looked down, perhaps finding it difficult to mention my name.
Priscilla seemed to sense something suspicious about this and raised her eyebrows even higher.
"Can you tell me how to get it?"
"Charlotte said she received it as a souvenir from the knight."
The other Saintess seemed uncomfortable about being doubted, and when she answered nonchalantly, Lloyd looked at me with an incredulous expression.
Huh, I wonder why he's staring at me reflexively here.
Yes, I am a knight, but there are plenty of other knights out there.
However, please stop looking at me as if I were a criminal without any basis.
As a result, it hit, so it's bad.
Realizing that this was not a good situation, I tried to brush it off by speaking in a casual tone.
"Ah, that's right! The knights brought back a beautiful yellow, red, and green plant as a souvenir for little Charlotte! The knights were surprised to find out that it was a rare medicinal herb! They thought it was a weed, but Charlotte's keen insight in recognizing it as a medicinal herb must have been amazing!" (Fia)
In a sense, it's not a lie.
I harvested the Red Sweet Berries myself, but the Sea Leaf was collected by the people of Sutherland from the depths of the ocean, and the Yellow Wind Flowers were left over from the large quantities that Curtis had harvested to use as ingredients for a cure for Yellow Spot Disease.
I chose them as souvenirs for Charlotte because of their beautiful colors, and she actually realized that the three were rare medicinal herbs.
In other words, the souvenirs I brought home because I thought they had beautiful colors happened to be rare medicinal herbs, and it was true that Charlotte realized that they were medicinal herbs.
So maybe I should just praise Charlotte for her knowledge.
As I thought this, I explained in a very cheerful voice, but for some reason an oppressive silence fell over the room.
Meanwhile, Lloyd raised a suspicious voice.
"Is such a surprising coincidence possible?" (Lloyd)
What on earth is Lloyd trying to do by asking a question when all he needed to do was simply nod?
Feeling dissatisfied, I glared at him with a fierce look in my eyes, wanting to tell him to just stay quiet.
"Of course there are! In reality, there are probably many more medicinal herbs in the world than the 82 designated species, so it's not uncommon to pick a random herb and find that it's a new herb!" (Fia)
Even 300 years ago, when over 400 types of medicinal herbs had already been recognized, new herbs were being discovered one after another.
In comparison, picking medicinal herbs from an illustrated guide wasn't that unusual at all.
Perhaps intimidated by the force of my firm statement, Lloyd's large body began to tremble.
"...I see. I've never experienced such a frightening daily life, so I can't even agree. It seems that Fia's daily life and my daily life are completely different." (Lloyd)
I wondered what Lloyd was talking about.
My everyday life was peaceful and ordinary.
Seeing as the Saints had gone silent, I somehow felt like I'd managed to fool them, so I stroked Charlotte's head, who was looking down.
"So, Charlotte is the one who’s amazing. You memorized all the medicinal herbs in the encyclopedia, and the moment you saw the souvenirs, you knew which ones they were." (Fia)
"Fia, that's... all thanks to the other Saints who taught me." (Charlotte)
Charlotte replied as she raised her head and looked around at the Saints standing around her.
The Saints then showed expressions that did not seem entirely opposed.
Well, little Charlotte really does liven up the atmosphere here.
The atmosphere suddenly became softer, so I wondered if now was a good time to ask Dorothee the question that had been on my mind for a while.
"By the way, in our previous conversation, you said that there are periods when you don't use magic because you lack magical power. In those cases, don't you use magic recovery potions?" (Fia)
I asked purely out of curiosity, but for some reason Dorothee glared at me.
"I won't use it unless I absolutely have to!"
Hmm, I wondered if I'd asked a strange question, and looked up at Lloyd, who had a funny look on his face.
"Hehehe, Fia really doesn't know anything. Most saints don't use magic potions. That's because drinking a potion causes intense pain, and magic potions make the saint feel pain many times greater than that." (Lloyd)
"What?! It hurts several times more than the healing potion!" (Fia)
I remembered once trying out a healing potion to see how much pain it would cause, and it was much more painful than I'd imagined.
At that time, I made up my mind that if the pain was that bad, I would never use a healing potion again.
And yet it hurts several times more?
"I definitely don't want to use that!!"
I agreed with Dorothee with a frown, and Lloyd continued speaking in a funny tone.
"That's right. To begin with, it's not exactly an immediate effect, and even if you drink a magic recovery potion, it takes about a day for the effects to appear. Furthermore, it only restores about half of your magic, so the actual effect isn't that great. Even if I were a Saint, I'd choose to go three days without using magic and conserve my strength." (Lloyd)
"I totally understand! If it were me, I'd eat the food." (Fia)
I agreed enthusiastically, earning a wry smile from Lloyd.
"Food... magic exhaustion and hunger are completely different things." (Lloyd)
For Lloyd though, it's the same for me.
Either way, I definitely don't want to have to use that dreaded magic potion!
Although I muttered to myself, on the other hand, I was disappointed that the magic recovery potion had deteriorated just like the recovery potion.
But, if you thought about it, it might be natural.
Even the recovery potions that many people used every day were made incorrectly, with failed products being sold, so it wouldn't be surprising if the same thing had happened to magic recovery potions.
"Uugh, but the pain is several times more intense than a healing potion... I don't really feel like trying it." (Fia)
Normally, I would try it out on my own body to see what kind of adverse effects it would have, but when I heard that it causes several times more pain than a healing potion, I didn't have the courage to try it.
Without a doubt, it would be best to eat a lot and recover your magical powers.
Hmm, but Charlotte and the other saints might need a magic recovery potion, so I guess I should make the right one.
No, but I can't keep making them by myself forever, so it's better for them to make them themselves...Hmm.
"Fia, what are you thinking?" (Lloyd)
As I was thinking deeply with my arms folded, Lloyd asked me a question with an interested look on his face.
"How to make a painless magic potion." (Fia)
He was so engrossed in my thoughts that I answered casually, but he was surprised and asked me to repeat myself.
"What, you can do that?" (Lloyd)
Yes, I can. Actually, it just occurred to me.
Hahaha, I had an idea in such a short time, I might be a genius.
Even though I was frightened by my own talent, I lowered my voice and whispered to Lloyd.
"It's that rose. If I can find some pain-relieving petals from that rose and mix them together, I should be able to make a painless magic potion." (Fia)
Ah, I wonder if this can also be applied to regular recovery potions.
I looked up at him with sparkling eyes, delighted at this stroke of genius, but Lloyd frowned.
"Can a rose with such convenient effects really bloom? Isn't Fia being a bit too optimistic?" (Lloyd)
"Hahaha, that's easier than making water from ice!" (Fia)
Because I was the one processing it.
Lloyd looked at me with a suspicious look, but then he seemed to give up and sighed.
"I stopped thinking about it. Fia always goes way beyond my imagination, so it's pointless to think about it. Ah, but there are people like Fia who bring good fortune to others." (Lloyd)
I knew that I felt lucky that Lloyd didn't know anything about it, because there were many things I was hiding, but I acted with sound evidence and reason.
That's what I thought, but it's true that in the end it all comes down to momentum, so maybe it's more like it's all down to luck.
Either way, I was in a good mood, having had a stroke of genius.
Author's Note
Thank you for always reading!
...