When I asked about the potion-making spell, Seymour's eyes widened with interest.
"Let me guess. Alchemy."
"Correct. How perceptive of you."
"Haha, of course. I thought of it when I heard the words 'enhancement' and 'production.' Surely it's not black magic."
He associated enhancement with black magic?
Well, that made sense. Some forms do trade lifespan for power.
When I remained silent for a moment, Seymour narrowed his eyes and asked again.
"It's not, right?"
"Of course not. One couldn't become a court physician with such talents."
Seymour nodded.
"Production spells, eh? What are you curious about? You used the term 'potion.' What exactly is that?"
"Think of it as a supplementary food that temporarily improves physical health."
Come to think of it, vitamins or red ginseng extract could be considered potions.
Even energy drinks, while not exactly healthy, could be called enhancement potions since they produce specific effects.
What I most want to create now is a potion that temporarily enhances physical strength.
Not really for climbing stairs, of course.
'Looking at Asella's schedule, there's an Imperial Martial Tournament coming up soon.'
It's like a family gathering attended by all imperial family members.
Using the tournament as a pretext, it's actually a three-day flower-viewing excursion held during the pleasant spring weather.
While it's a vacation for the Emperor, the factions of princes and princesses with succession rights prepare desperately to catch the Emperor's eye.
It's an opportunity to showcase their strength in front of all imperial family members, demonstrating how powerful their faction is.
Last year, they apparently went to a mountain region in the east. If it's the same location this year, I'll certainly be running around all day.
Asella, who aims for the imperial throne, wouldn't participate halfheartedly in the martial tournament.
I want to prepare strength enhancement potions for emergencies.
"Would it help if I explained it as using alchemy to enhance food ingredients and increase their efficacy?"
Seymour snapped his fingers.
"Using alchemy to identify the essence of ingredients rather than minerals! Interesting. Perhaps you're struggling because identifying that essence is difficult?"
That was quite an accurate observation. With my current alchemy skills, I can't manipulate exact chemical formulas.
I can only create rough approximations of what I want using [Enhancement] and [Property Change], estimating by eye.
That's how I made the rose candy and painkillers.
"Do you have expertise in alchemy as well, Sage?"
"As one called a Sage, I've mastered the principles of all things! You there, lend me that for a moment."
Seymour drew a defensive dagger from one of the guard knights and handed it to me.
"Can you change this to a soft material?"
"I can."
I cast [Property Change].
The blade material is iron with a 'hard' property. To make it soft, I need to use property change until it has the characteristics of rubber or cloth.
"Hmm."
I use mana to draw a spell circle.
As Asella taught me, I tried something more difficult this time, drawing three regular dodecagons.
I reinforced it by connecting every other vertex with lines.
I wrote the ancient word meaning 'soft.' Since iron material requires approximately a 2nd-tier spell, I created another identical circle and connected them so mana could flow between them.
I rotated it and cast the spell.
A white light flashed as the dagger's properties changed.
"Oh my, what is that smell?"
The dagger remained hard but now emitted a terrible stench.
"Ugh, please wait a moment."
Even when writing the formula, [Property Change] produced nearly random property changes.
That's why I had such difficulty making new rose candy.
I cast the spell six more times.
Finally, the dagger became covered in black soot and changed to a rubbery, soft material.
"Done."
"Haha, not very efficient, is it?"
Seymour picked up the dagger and bent the tip.
"But the effect is excellent. This happens when you cast spells without understanding the essence of matter."
"The essence? I know the components."
Iron is iron. Rubber is a synthetic resin of carbon and hydrogen.
"Essence consists of fundamentals and auxiliaries. The blade originally had one fundamental and twenty-six auxiliaries. If you want to make it soft, you need to create a specific pattern with thirteen fundamentals and thirty-eight auxiliaries."
I was somewhat shocked by Seymour's words.
Was he talking about the number of atoms and electrons in iron and rubber?
He couldn't possibly have observed elements, so perhaps he intuitively understood chemistry through mana.
"You look intrigued."
"Is there a way to apply this to spells?"
"Haha, it's different from spell circles. Even great mages don't understand essence. This might sound crazy to you, but..."
I picked up a twig and drew a figure on the ground.
It was a diagram representing the chemical formula of synthetic rubber.
"If I arrange the fundamentals and auxiliaries you mentioned in this form, I can transform it into a soft material."
"Oho."
Seymour grinned widely and flicked his beard.
"Oh my."
Suddenly he threw his arm around my shoulders, nearly making me fall.
"Would you like to take lessons from me?"
"Lessons?"
Seymour's offer was quite interesting.
Many skills require spell casting, not just magic.
My alchemy skill is precisely such a case.
Lessons from the Sage would certainly be a great help in enhancing my alchemy.
"What would be the price?"
Seymour seemed pleased with my question.
As a court magician and sage, he surely has talent.
I was confident he would appreciate this mention, being sensitive about compensation like Asella.
"I like perceptive people. That's why I accepted Asella too."
"What do you mean?"
"I'll pose one question. My talent is too obvious, so guess what my price is."
His talent is obviously magic, like Asella's.
But the debuffs taken as payment vary tremendously.
There's only one way for me to find out.
Will it work?
'Diagnosis.'
I used the skill while looking at Seymour.
Immediately, text appeared in my status window.
[Injury Status: Analgesia]
[Injury Location: Brain]
As I thought.
He's in a state where he can't feel sensations.
As payment for his magical talent, he lost all sensations.
He probably can't feel taste, pain, touch, smell—nothing at all.
"You've lost your senses."
"Oh! How did you deduce that?"
"The candy I gave you is quite delicious. You wouldn't have failed to comment on it."
"Haha, sharp indeed. Asella brought a capable physician."
While Seymour was laughing heartily, I sensed an ominous presence nearby.
It was none other than Asella, watching us with disapproval.
"Master, what are you doing instead of watching my casting?"
Seymour, realizing his mistake, broke into an awkward smile while sweating.
"Oh my, I was watching properly. Your third circle just twisted 30 degrees. Try stacking them in reverse order."
"I will... What business do you have with my physician?"
"Haha. He's more interesting than I expected."
"Don't steal him."
Asella snapped, then added a comment directed at me.
"Young Lord, did you see my magic?"
"Of course, Princess."
"What did you think?"
I had no idea what was happening.
"It's undoubtedly magic that could command the world."
"Hmm, naturally."
Asella seemed pleased with my answer and turned away sharply, focusing again on her spell casting.
"You've chosen a difficult path. Court physician to Asella of all people! I've always considered it a position no one could fill."
"Are there no other talented individuals in the imperial family besides the Princess?"
"There are. But none of the children with succession rights have two talents."
"Then Asella must have an advantage in succession, being so skilled in magic."
I was speculating that this might be why Asella became the next emperor, but Seymour shook his head.
"It's the opposite. She's at a severe disadvantage, physician."
"Why is that?"
"Because Asella excels only in magic."
"Only in magic?"
That was a confusing statement.
The Asella I knew was a woman who employed all manner of schemes and strategies better than anyone to achieve her goals.
"Two talents in magic alone. From the beginning, the imperial family intended to raise Asella as a magician, not a successor."
"What does that mean?"
"Hmm, you're her physician and you haven't heard yet?"
Seymour said, twirling his beard.
"Well, few in the imperial family know this fact. As her physician, you should know."
He glanced briefly at Asella, who was concentrating on solving the task Seymour had given her.
"Camilla, the Third Empress, is a decent witch. Quite skilled. Her condition for entering the palace was to bear a powerful magical weapon that would remain loyal to the imperial family while keeping other countries in check."
"That would be Asella."
"Bloodlines are most reliable. As expected, Asella was born with one magical talent."
"One? Then the second?"
"It was injected. At age five, along with the price."
Injected?
Is that different from being born with two talents like me?
"Asella is a weapon. A magical weapon for the next emperor to use in foreign invasions. Having imperial blood, she won't betray them."
"But we don't know who will be the next emperor. Foreign invasion isn't necessarily a given."
The current emperor is too weak to wage war.
If the next emperor adopts a peaceful stance, Asella would be useless everywhere.
"Then she'll simply be discarded."
"I see."
"They might even execute Asella for causing problems, using it to signal the empire's stance to other countries. The more cards you have for politics, the better. The imperial family has always operated that way."
Seymour's story made my stomach churn a bit.
My physical condition seems poor today.
Is the imperial court a place where everything, even family, is merely a political tool?
The common sense here is so alien that I doubt I could ever adapt.
"How was the talent injected into the Princess?"
"That I don't know. Only Empress Camilla knows the details. Ah, perhaps the Second Prince who supports her faction might know as well."
The Second Prince is the successor candidate managed by Falkenhain.
"Let's end the secret talk here."
Seymour dispelled his magic.
He had cast a soundproofing spell around us at some point. Quite thorough.
"Now then, come visit me on Wednesday and Friday mornings. I'll teach you what real spells are."
"It would be my honor."
Seymour grinned, showing his teeth, and flicked his beard.