Bubble, bubble.
"......."
Oscar, wearing goggles and a gas mask, glared at the flask before abruptly extinguishing the lamp.
Then he transferred the contents to a reagent bottle without a single wasted motion or second.
"Mm, not bad."
Wasn't it said that form was temporary, but class was permanent?
The successful practice brew eased his mind considerably.
'I was worried that changing bodies would make everything feel wrong. I'm glad it didn't.'
In a case like this, perhaps it was his mind rather than his body that remembered.
It was also fortunate that the tools had remained unchanged even after twenty years.
If there had been magitech tools or some such thing, he would have floundered without knowing how to use them.
"Huff, huff!"
Just then, Fran entered the production room carrying a sack larger than his own body on his back.
THUD!
The moment he dropped the sack, he sprawled across the floor.
"Hrk, huff, my precious back......."
"Did you miss any ingredients?"
"Not a single one. I did well, didn't I?"
Fran asked as he handed over a crumpled receipt from his pocket.
Oscar checked the list and nodded.
"You bought everything properly."
"Heh, of course. I'm thirsty. Do you have anything I can drink?"
"I have one fatigue recovery potion."
"Huh? Those are expensive. I'll drink it."
The moment Fran drained the potion Oscar handed him, energy returned to his face.
"Ahh! It's nice and warm. Did you make it yourself?"
"Yeah."
"Where did you get the ingredients this time?"
Oscar pointed behind him.
"There were some ingredients left in the cupboard."
"......Those ingredients were purchased at least ten years ago?"
"It's fine. You won't die."
When you were young, you were supposed to pick things like that up and eat them to build resistance.
Leaving the rapidly paling Fran behind, Oscar opened the sack and marveled.
"The ingredients are in good condition, aren't they? I'll have to thank the shopkeeper later."
"You should thank me. The shopkeeper got angry and said I was only taking the choicest stock."
"If you have that kind of eye, why don't you quit being a mage and become a merchant?"
He could become a great merchant without a doubt.
"Actually, if the White Tower collapses, I was going to...... Ow!"
Fran suddenly cried out and clutched his head.
His eyes, round as doorknobs, turned toward Oscar.
"Why? Why did you hit me?"
"Sorry. The moment you said the White Tower would collapse, my hand moved on its own."
He had reflexively rapped Fran on the head with his knuckles.
"......This bastard doesn't seem like he lost his memory."
Fran gave him a deeply suspicious look, then pouted and asked a question.
"Anyway, what do I do now?"
"You're going to help?"
"Yeah. Elder Fidelina told me to help you after I finished delivering the ingredients, you know? She said it would be hard to do alone."
She had acted as though she could hardly wait to tear him apart, but was she worried after all?
He did not particularly need an assistant, but having one would do no harm.
'This works out even better. I was curious about this guy anyway.'
Little Oscar's journals said that the current White Tower had several 'problem children' in its ranks.
They possessed outstanding talent, but every one of them had a screw loose somewhere.
One of those problem children was Fran Sirius, standing right before him.
'He wrote that if those problem children simply got their acts together, they would provide the magic tower with a tremendous boost in strength.'
That was Little Oscar's assessment, and his insight had been exceptional, so it could not have been baseless.
Oscar could find out the details while making potions and examining one thing after another.
"Let's sort the ingredients first."
The two of them bustled around for a while.
Soon, a heap of ingredients had formed on one side of the production room.
Looking at them, Fran put on his goggles and gas mask and spoke.
"I noticed when I bought them, but aren't these all dangerous poisonous herbs?"
"Being poisonous doesn't mean they can't be used as medicine."
Black lilies of the valley, red hydrangeas, ghost mushrooms, and Mirva leaves.
The ingredients before them had been used to make poisons and medicines since ancient times.
"Now, Fran. What's the first thing we need to do before we can use these poisonous herbs?"
"Put them in water and boil them. We need to draw the poison out first."
Correct.
They had to be boiled for at least twelve hours while replacing the water to draw out all the poison they contained.
"But that method has one fatal flaw. The poison isn't the only thing that escapes."
The medicinal effects of the ingredients did too.
The beneficial components one sought were drained along with the poison.
"With these poisonous herbs, only about sixteen percent of their medicinal effect remains on average once all the poison has been removed."
"What? Only that much?"
Fran smacked his lips with a startled expression.
"That does sound wasteful, but there's nothing we can do. We can't use them at all without removing the poison."
"What if there were a way to extract only the medicinal effect at ninety-eight percent, without worrying about the poison?"
"Come on, that's impossible. If something like that were possible, you could monopolize the potion market......."
"It would be possible. Just as the White Tower did in the past."
There was no need to look far. When Oscar had been Tower Master, the White Tower monopolized the potion market.
Fran's eyes trembled as he remembered that fact.
"No way...... You restored it? That method?"
"Something like that."
Oscar gave a brief answer, picked up the four ingredients, and approached the cauldron.
Then he placed a finely perforated iron plate above the violently boiling water.
"Fran. Do you know what dumplings are? They're food from Yeon."
"I know. I've even eaten them."
"Good. To make those dumplings, you need something called a steamer."
Steaming was a method of cooking ingredients with hot vapor rising from boiling water.
Oscar placed the ingredients one by one on the iron plate as hot steam began to gather.
"Just like this. It cooks the ingredients while minimizing damage to them."
Of course, if he left them this way, the ingredients would eventually sustain just as much damage.
So after counting one minute and twenty seconds in his head, Oscar immediately removed them.
"There. Now the ingredients have been prepared."
"But wouldn't the poison still remain if you do it this way?"
"That's right. We remove it now."
Oscar glanced at him and asked a question.
"You know how to use basic magic, right?"
"......I'm not incredibly good at it, but I can manage the basics."
"That's enough."
Oscar nodded and drew up his mana in one breath.
"Air Drain."
WHOOOOSH!
At the same time as the spell activated, dense vapor was extracted from the perfectly cooked ingredients.
Oscar used mana to suspend each cloud of vapor in midair.
"Now you separately draw out only the toxins floating in the vapor."
"......How?"
"Like this."
WHOOSH!
A gust of wind completely swept the toxic components out of the vapor.
It was like washing a shirt stained with dirt.
"The vapor that remains is free of poison, so all you have to do is mix it in the exact proportions. 23% red hydrangea, 47% Mirva leaf......."
Each rough sweep of his finger divided the vapors into their respective proportions and sent them slipping into the reagent bottle.
Click! Once every step was complete, Oscar sealed the reagent bottle and turned his head.
"There, the treatment for Cadenna influenza is complete. What do you think? Easy, isn't it?"
"......You don't know what the word easy means, do you?"
"Stop whining and try making it yourself."
Fran's complexion darkened instantly.
Standing before the enormous cauldron like an ox being led to the slaughterhouse, he closed his eyes and searched his memory.
'Damn, how did he do it? I'm sure he started with.......'
Air Drain.
WHOOOOSH!
Fran quickly suspended the vapor released by each ingredient in midair.
'Oh.'
Oscar let out a quiet sound of admiration at the sight.
In truth, this was not a task a Level 3 mage could easily replicate after watching it only once.
'His mana control is a little unstable, but it's not bad.'
On the surface, at least, it did not look greatly different from Oscar's work.
'But is that his limit?'
After suspending the vapor, Fran could do nothing but struggle.
He kept glancing at Oscar like a puppy desperate to poop, as if asking for help.......
Unable to keep watching, Oscar asked a question.
"Why are you just standing there?"
"That's really cruel. You know I can't use Dual Casting, don't you?"
Dual Casting was a technique that allowed the user to cast two different spells simultaneously.
Ordinarily, a mage only grasped its principles upon reaching Level 4 or 5.
"Well, I'm sure a genius like you figured it out early."
"I didn't figure it out because I'm a genius. It's an easy technique once you know the trick."
As an analogy, it was much like learning how to ride a bicycle.
Once learned, it could never be forgotten.
Oscar asked quietly.
"Whenever you try to use Dual Casting, your mana tangles and flows backward, making you fail, doesn't it?"
"How did you know......?!"
Before the startled Fran could add anything else, Oscar spoke.
"I'll teach you. Dual Casting."
Fran's ears twitched at the offer.
That was understandable. Dual Casting was a secret art (a secret weapon) that no one shared readily.
Unless one was born into a family of mages or had a high-level mage as a master, the only option was to realize it independently.
"......Really? You aren't lying, are you?"
"Really. I told you, it's easy once you understand the principle."
Oscar raised both fists, extending one finger on one hand and two on the other.
"Now, there are two hands in front of you. Which shape is better suited to using Dual Casting?"
"That would be...... the right hand."
"Why do you think so?"
"Your index and middle fingers are raised. There are two fingers, so it feels like it would be better at Dual Casting too, right?"
"Correct. Then what do these fingers represent?"
"Don't they represent the number of spells? Since it's Dual Casting."
"Wrong."
Oscar gave a slight smile.
"This is the most common misconception among mages who fail at Dual Casting. All their attention is consumed by the need to complete two spells simultaneously."
"......Isn't that obviously what you're supposed to do?"
"No. You can't possibly reach the right destination when you set off in the wrong direction."
After finishing, Oscar gently waved his right hand, its fingers forming a V.
"What these two fingers represent is mana."
"......Huh? Mana? Not spells?"
Fran asked again with a bewildered expression at the unexpected answer.
"That's right. Think about it. A guy who can't even use Dual Casting draws up mana as usual, then suddenly splits it in two just before manifesting the spell. How could the flow of mana not become tangled? That is an advanced process only someone already accustomed to Dual Casting should attempt."
"So a guy who couldn't even walk was trying to run?"
"Exactly. The proper way to practice Dual Casting is to prepare two separate flows of mana from the start. This mana is for Spell A, and this mana is for Spell B. Decide that from the beginning, and the flow of mana won't become tangled."
"Uh......."
Fran's pupils trembled slightly.
Once he heard it, the explanation was both extremely simple and obvious.
"Why didn't I think of this sooner? Every failure happened because my mana flow became tangled."
"Because you were impatient."
Oscar answered the question.
"You want to use Dual Casting as soon as possible and get ahead of everyone else. But when would you have time to look back and examine every mistake in detail? You just charge in without thinking until it works. Then, when you reach Level 4 or 5 and calm down a little, you realize this method. It isn't just you. Almost everyone does the same."
That was probably why people said that the greater the hurry, the more reason to take the long way around.
Oscar shrugged.
"Now, I've taught you the entire method, so give it a try."
Fran closed his eyes and concentrated for a long time before slowly opening them.
'Prepare two flows of mana from the start, then draw them up one after another.......'
And complete each spell.
It was a deeply unfamiliar concept, yet Fran instinctively controlled both flows of mana.
Naturally, unlike before, the flow of mana did not tangle at all.
As a result, Fran stared blankly at the two magic circles before him and muttered.
"......What? It was this easy?"
"That's how magic always is. Once you succeed, it always looks easy."
Looking somewhat deflated, Fran asked in bewilderment.
"Then why do people keep this hidden and refuse to teach it as if it's some incredible technique?"
"Because they're bitter."
They did not want to teach their juniors for free a technique they had only realized after reaching Level 4 or 5.
That had hardened into a kind of custom.
To Oscar, who had already lived one life, such things seemed merely childish.
'It's all useless obstinacy and stubbornness.'
Customs of that sort had no place on a battlefield reeking of blood.
To survive until the next day, they had to share their secret arts and put their heads together every day.
'That's the culture the White Tower needs now too.'
Not useless customs or empty formalities, but proactive teaching and the exchange of knowledge.
Oscar looked proudly at Fran, who had taken the first step so well.
"Good job. You definitely have talent. Honestly, I didn't expect you to succeed on your first try."
"Well...... that's because you explained it so well......."
He was embarrassed, yet clearly delighted and unsure what to do with himself.
Was this guy that susceptible to praise?
Oscar chuckled and looked at the clock.
"Now that you can use Dual Casting, let's get back to making the treatment."
Fran learned far faster than expected, so they burned through the ingredients in no time.
"......Huff, huff. I'm dying. I did well, didn't I?"
"Yeah. Good work."
Fran, who had squeezed out his mana all day long, sprawled across the floor the instant the work was done.
Oscar, who had worked alongside him, merely examined the reagents one last time with tired eyes.
'514 bottles in total? Not bad.'
That should be more than enough to negotiate with Archbishop Baldwin.
A pleased smile was rising to his lips when it happened.
"Oscar!"
BANG!
Maxim threw the production room door open as if he meant to break it and spoke with a grave expression.
"We have a serious problem."
"What happened?"
Instead of answering, Maxim handed him a report he had brought.
[Blue Tower and pharmaceutical company Newtech confirmed to have arrived in Sirin one hour ago. Their purpose is believed to be a meeting with Archbishop Baldwin.]
"It seems...... we're one step too late."
"......."
That made sense.
Someone as important as an archbishop would not have stalled for time without preparing any countermeasures.
'The Blue Tower and Newtech. So were these Archbishop Baldwin's countermeasures?'
Oscar looked away from the report and spoke.
"It certainly isn't welcome news."
"This is no time to speak so calmly. If they've already signed some kind of contract with Archbishop Baldwin for a treatment......."
"Then the treatment we made will be useless."
Even if the White Tower's treatment was more effective, there was no reason for the archbishop to antagonize the prosperous Blue Tower just to sign with the White Tower.
Maxim patted Oscar, whose head had sunk, on the shoulder to comfort him.
"Cheer up. Sometimes life simply deals you bad luck. We can earn money some other way."
"......No. It's not over yet."
"But there's nothing we can do......."
"There's exactly one thing worth trying."
Oscar slowly raised his head, his eyes shining as if he did not know the meaning of surrender.
Overwhelmed for a moment by that gaze, Maxim asked a question.
"A method? What do you mean?"
"A race against time."
"......A race against time?"
"Yes."
With a more serious expression than ever, Oscar asked an utterly unexpected question.
"Your Flight speed. It's faster than most carriages, isn't it?"