My shoulders slumped, and without saying another word, I silently picked up the big bag.
...That's enough. I was dedicated to creating a cure.
"Sariella, could you help me make a cure?" (Fia)
When I called out to her, Sariella replied in a sincere voice, "Of course," and clung closely to me.
...I'll give you some guidance the first time, but from the second time onwards Sariella will have to make it by herself, so I'll need to make sure she learns how to make it properly.
With that thought in mind, I walked to the inner exit that was said to be connected to the sea.
"Normally we would use spring water, but since the people here are most familiar with the sea, shall we use seawater?" (Fia)
As I spoke, I scooped up some seawater into the container I was handed.
Sariella looked at me in surprise.
"Great Saint. Is it okay to change the materials so freely? Aren't the materials used determined by the condition of the illness?" (Sariella)
"Yes, well, there is probably a basic form, but it's not strange to change the ingredients depending on who you're using it on. Some ingredients work better on some people than others. If you can use the ingredients that the people of this area are most familiar with, that will be the kindest to their bodies." (Fia)
"...This is the first time I've heard of it. It's the first time I've heard of it. ...It suits the patient's body and is easy to get used to... I'd never even thought about it." (Sariella)
Seeing Sariella muttering in shock, I became wary and thought, "Ah, I'll stop now."
Come to think of it, this was a method only I used in my previous life. Everyone understood the concept, but they complained that they couldn't put it into practice. I blinked rapidly and looked at Sariella with an innocent expression.
"Yes, or rather, I read somewhere that seawater goes well with the 'yellow wind flower petals.' Yes, that's right." (Fia)
Let's change direction and talk about the compatibility of the ingredients.
...Ah, but I'm glad I noticed it early. If I were to just go ahead and create a miracle cure like this, the question would arise as to why I even knew how to make it.
The answer is that when I halted the progression of the disease in three seriously ill patients, I ran healing magic through their bodies and analyzed the mechanism of the disease, but, hmm...
Deep in thought, I returned to my original room and glanced over at Captain Curtis.
...I'm truly sorry, but I will have to sacrifice Captain Curtis. Yeah, that seems the most peaceful to me.
"Well, Curtis. Thank you for gathering the materials. Now, how do we use these materials?" (Fia)
I put on a pure-hearted expression and stared at Captain Curtis, blinking rapidly. However, the former guardian knight, whose intuition was worse than I had expected, tilted his head as if he didn't understand what I was saying.
"Yes? Well, if you ask me... I was told to collect flower petals, so I picked them near the calyx so as not to waste anything..." (Curtis)
"Oh, I see! You use the petals and the calyx! That's dangerous, if you hadn't told me, I would have thrown away the sepals! As expected of Curtis!" (Fia)
I praised Captain Curtis's answer in an exaggeratedly loud voice, and when he finally understood what I meant, he looked at me with half-closed eyes and muttered in a very quiet voice.
"...Ah, I see. Your specialty, the errant theatre, is still alive and well in this world. Lady Fi's poor acting... excuse me, even a child could tell it was an act, and I hope everyone will pretend to believe it." (Curtis)
"Hey, Curtis!" (Fia)
No matter how quietly you mutter, I can hear you! I have good ears! And while Captain Curtis might not seem credible, he had a proven track record when it comes to his acting skills! For example, in my previous life, all the knights except Canopus believed the story that I visited this place on a sudden whim to see the sea, and that while I was there, I happened to cure an epidemic that was occurring at the time.
I recalled the expressions of the knights in my previous life who were overly shocked and said, "I never would have imagined such a vicious disease would be spreading," and chuckled. Yes, I thought my acting was impressive for the usually calm knights to be so surprised.
Canopus has always been close to me so he can see through the act, but it's impossible for anyone else to see through this advanced acting!
Muttering to myself, I picked up the container of seawater and went with SARIERA into a place called the blending room.
It was quite small compared to the spacious space where the sick person lay, but it had the appearance of a proper medicine room, with various kinds of medicinal herbs hanging high up and dried herbs piled up in baskets.
"Hehe, the unique scent of this herb really calms me down." (Fia)
As I spoke, I looked around.
"For now, we'll only need enough for 52 people, so we won't need that much. Well, I think the basics of medicine should be as simple as possible. First, we'll add plenty of seawater, and some frill grass...we don't usually use frill grass, but the kids went to the trouble of picking it for us, so let's use it. Then, some snake and rabbit fruit..." (Fia)
I picked up the necessary ingredients, saying each one out loud so that Sariella could remember them.
"...And finally, 'Yellow Wind Flower Petals'..." (Fia)
As I said this, I picked up both hands full of Yellow Wind Flower petals and threw them into the container of seawater.
I looked over at Sariella to see if she had remembered the ingredients, but she just stared back at me with a blank look on her face.
"S-Sariella?" (Fia)
I tried to explain things slowly, picking up each item one by one, but I was worried that maybe I was too fast and she couldn't remember.
However, it seemed that Sariella was concerned about something else, as she muttered in a dumbfounded tone.
"...Why don't you measure out the ingredients? Even the slightest mistake in the mixture can make the medicine ineffective. So shouldn't you measure out the ingredients in milligrams?" (Sariella)
"Oh, if you like to measure things precisely, that's fine. But you can get by without measuring things precisely. Even if the amounts are a little different, you can just change the degree to which each ingredient brings out its effectiveness." (Fia)
"………………" (Sariella)
Sariella stared at me in silence, so I explained that maybe that was hard to understand.
"It's all a matter of ratios. For example, say you needed 10 parts seawater and 1 part frilly grass. But if you mixed 10 parts seawater and 3 parts frilly grass, you only needed to reduce the efficacy of the frilly grass to one third of the usual amount. That way, the ratio would be 10 parts seawater to 1 part frilly grass." (Fia)
"...I'm sorry, Great Saint. I don't seem to understand what you're saying. In the first place, how can you return something to the correct ratio when you don't know the ratio in which it was mixed?" (Sariella)
"Ah, you have to think about it in reverse. In other words, you have to think about the ratio starting from the correct form... Well, for example, if you cast recovery magic while you're making a potion, you can grasp the current state of the potion's effectiveness. Then you can tell, 'Oh, this isn't enough of a fever-reducing effect,' right? Then, you can just cast magic in a way that will extract as much effectiveness as possible from the frilly grass." (Fia)
"...Great Saint, that is probably something that not a single person could do. In order to put into practice what you have said, an extremely difficult formula would be necessary. And that formula is not fixed; it will differ depending on the actual ratio, the number of materials mixed in... due to various factors. To construct such a complex formula while practicing it... is roughly impossible for a human to do." (Sariella)
"Huh——??" (Fia)
I tilted my head and opened my mouth to express my disapproval.
"If it were something like resuscitation magic, it would be impossible for a human to do it, but the enemy is a type of illness, you know? With training, I don't think it's impossible." (Sariella)
In fact, that's what I could do. ...Hmm, but now that you mention it, it took a lot of training to get to that point, huh? It would certainly be cruel to force Sariella to undergo the same amount of training as I did in my previous life.
Hmmm? Maybe what Sariella says is right? But if you don't practice, you'll never be able to put it into practice. I guess I'll just give it a try and think about it.
With that in mind, I looked at Sariella with the intention of doing my best, but she just looked back at me with a timid expression.
"Well, if we try it and it doesn't work, should we reconsider how we do it?" (Fia)
As I said this, I placed the bowl containing all the ingredients in front of Sariella.
"Well then, is that okay? I'll have them make it now." (Fia)
Since I was not supposed to be a saint, I had arranged for Sariella to create it.
"Now, dip both hands in seawater, and think about all the people here whom you have cared for. They have fevers and look like they are in pain. Once they start coughing, they can't stop. The fever continues, and they feel increasingly fatigued, and their consciousness becomes duller and duller. Oh, it's so hard on their body, but I wonder how much better they will feel when these symptoms go away." (Fia)
As I said this, I also dipped both my hands into the seawater and held Sariella's hand.
"Next, think about the ingredients you've added here. First, seawater. This is the seawater of Sutherland, so it's the water that has protected you since you were born. Ah, this water will become a part of your body right away. ...Then, frill grass. It slowly, slowly seeps into your body and helps reduce fever. This is..." (Fia)
As I explained each ingredient, I encouraged her to be aware of the amount of each ingredient, consider their properties, and vary the way she casts recovery magic—but, um, what should I do? Sariella, you're not doing it.
"………………" (Fia)
I remained silent as I adjusted my own healing magic and let it flow.
…Ah, well, if I think about it objectively, this miracle cure requires several times the skill compared to the last one …Even if the correct dosage is given.
Hmm, I wonder if this would be difficult for a Saint other than me to make?
But, after taking into consideration both the effort required to gather materials and the skill required to turn them into medicine, I chose the easiest method. In other words, if we were to rely on a method that would be possible even if the Saint's skill was a little lower, the materials would be difficult to obtain.
Ah, what should I do?
Author's Note (Preface)
It's a new year.
Thank you for your continued support this year.