Maydare Volume 1 Chapter 8 - Potions Class Field Training I (Part 2)
This took way too long to update, sorry
As we walked upstream, we finally came across the waterfall we were looking for.
“Look. The steep rock cliffs around the waterfall are covered with ponsidas.”
The place right where the water came down and there was a scattered mist of water droplets.
The verdant moss and other plants also stood out, but the ponsidas could be spotted here and there.
They were a vivid yellow-green color. The feathery leaves were jagged, and there were sacs of magical power clinging to their undersides. They were called the magical sori.*
(TN: Sori is the plural form of sorus, which is a spore-producing receptacle on the underside of a fern frond.)
“Look. These magical sori on the underside of this leaf are big and sparkly, right? These are the characteristics of a high-quality ponsida. The sori make a ‘pon’ sound when you pop them, so that’s why they’re called ponsidas.”
With good timing, the magical sori of the ponsida growing above my head popped.
After the light “pon” sound, sparkly spores of magical power scattered, forming bands and drifting in the air.
To the side of the waterfall, fresh water and the magical power of the atmosphere accumulated, allowing for the growth of high-quality ponsidas.
“Now, let’s go find the most high quality ponsidas!”
“Yeah!”
We started searching for the most high quality ponsidas, using our surroundings as a base, at once.
Our rivals haven’t found this place yet, and we took as much as we could before they did.
For our task, the “Pon eye drops,” we needed about ten ponsidas. I want to gather the most high quality ones…!
“Oi, I found some.”
“...They’re more splendid than the ones I found. As expected of Nero...I’m a bit frustrated.”
“What about these?”
“Aah, sorry, Lapis. Those are ‘pensidas,’ they’re fakes. They look exactly like ponsidas, but their leaf shapes are different when you look closely. Here, look.”
It then happened when I was working hard with my team members to collect ponsidas.
“Oi, there’s a bunch of them growing over here!”
The next thing I knew, Frey was walking on the rock cliffs and peeking into the other side of the waterfall. Apparently there was a cavern on the other side.
Although, since we couldn’t easily walk on rock cliffs like Frey, we stepped into the shallow water near the cliffs and advanced while following the cliff until the water went over our knees.
“L-Lapis, um, would your feet be alright if they get wet?”
“Yes, there’s no issue. Are you alright, Makia? You’re shivering furiously.”
Yes. I was, after all, blessed by【Fire】, and people with this constitution were extremely weak against water and completely hopeless at swimming. One time, Thor had to save me because I nearly drowned in the pond in front of our mansion.
“B-b-be careful not to fall into the waterfall lake! Watch your step!”
”Makia, you’re the one in most danger here…”
While Nero, who was leading the way, quipped in a low voice, we managed to finally reach the other side of the waterfall. I sighed a deep breath of relief.
It seemed to be a large cavern, and there were good and sturdy footholds. And it was quite cool.
First, I used a hot wind magic, which I was good at, and dried my soaked teammates and I. Mm, we’re good as new.
“This place is amazing…”
The cavern was hidden by the waterfall curtain. The rock face was always wet, and even our hair and robes that were finally dried would become damp immediately if we stood close to the waterfall.
However, this certainly was a treasure trove of magical plants.
There were high quality plants and moss densely growing on the rock face.
”Look at this! There are so many high quality ponsidas. And precious dew grass and firefly moss!”
While recalling the excitement of the times when I was collecting treasure in the Salt Forest, I started picking them.
“There are ten ponsidas right here.”
“Yes. With this, we should be able to make the best Pon eye drops.”
“Ahem. I was the one who found this place, wasn’t I? Feel free to fall in love with me. Oh, but I’m not interested in younger women, though.”
“...”
As Lapis and I beheld Frey with expressionless gazes,
“Okay. We collected the ingredients, and now let’s make the ‘Pon eye drops’ here.”
“I’m good with that, but I’m starving, Leader.”
“While we boil the ingredients, let’s have lunch. We’ll be able to make good use of our time that way.”
We settled down in a dry part of the cavern.
I took out a large picnic blanket from my basket and spread it out.
Then, I took out a pot I have been using for a long time, a base for lighting the pot, and a ladle, and then I drew water from the river there and immediately started boiling the ponsidas. We had to thoroughly boil them for an hour. During that time, we would be having lunch.
For lunch, we were told to eat canned food, crackers, and cheese prepared by the school.
The canned food was clam chowder, but…
“Wouldn’t you all like to make this clam chowder taste better?”
“What do you mean?”
“We came all this way, so let’s boil some pasta. Pasta in a pot outdoors is the best.”
And then I slowly pulled out a pack of dried noodles from my basket…
Pasta was the soul food of Ruschians. No one who disliked it, and everyone approved.
“How do you plan on cooking with canned clam chowder?” Nero asked.
”We have the lemons I picked earlier and the cheese they gave us, don’t we? Once the pasta is completely boiled, we can mix it with clam chowder and cheese in the pot. And lastly, we’ll squeeze the lemons. White sauce and lemon is the best combination, so it will definitely be delicious.”
My teammates gulped down their saliva. Even I was getting more and more hungry as I explained.
Originally, Miladriede had a dish called lemon pasta, which is pasta with cheese as well as lemon juice squeezed over it. This was an application of that.
I intentionally didn’t use magic and drew clean water from the waterfall and boiled the noodles.
Then, I heated up the canned clam chowder and cheese in the pot, added the al dente noodles to it, and dressed it. When the cheese melted and the clam chowder was well mixed, I divided it among individual plates…
“Mmm, it’s full of clams. It looks delicious.”
Miladriede was a seaside capital. Although it was canned, the clam chowder was high quality, and just mixing it with the pasta like this was a feast.
Finally, I grinded some pepper and lavishly squeezed one half of a fresh lemon over them...let’s eat!
“Aah...pasta is just right after a good workout. It’s revitalizing on top of being delicious.”
“When it comes to Miladriedeans, it’s lemons for sure.”
“Miladriedeans…? But you’re right, this is refreshing and delicious.”
We moved around a lot, but everyone was digging in heartily.
I was the same. The creamy soup, soaked with a seafood flavor, had a rich and deep taste. The lemon juice was lavishly poured onto it. The sourness complemented the mildness of the clam chowder and cheese, creating a pasta that was sour but easy to eat and very early summer-like.
Lemons were also good for recovering from exhaustion. It was a yellow, tasty, and all around useful fruit.
“Oh, that reminds me! I brought the elderflower cordials with me. If we dilute it with cold carbonated water, it’ll definitely taste good. I think it’ll go well with the pasta too.”
“Oh, that thing from before?”
“Frey, I believe I asked you to give them to Big Sis Nagi, but did you give them to her without any incident?”
“Of course. I asked her out on a date.”
Frey said proudly. I hope that date goes well…
I rummaged through my basket, took out the herb cordials that were in small vials as well as the cold carbonated water, and prepared four glasses. This basket had everything.
But I was startled. I never expected two hamsters to jump out the basket.
“Popotarou, Donsuke!?”
The yellow and white dwarf hamster spirits. When the two spotted half-eaten crackers, they jumped at them and munched on them single-mindedly, stuffing their cheeks pouches with them.
“W-w-w-what should I do…? We were told to leave our spirits behind and come here, but they slipped into my basket.”
“It wouldn’t be a problem if you don’t use them. There were students bringing their spirits with them in the other teams.”
“Yes, yes, you’re right, Nero. ...Hey, don’t go looking for crackers!”
I tried to scold them, but they looked like they were laughing at me…
“W-well, it’s fine. Let’s pull ourselves together and have a toast with the herb cordials.”
I poured the elderflower herb cordials into the glasses and diluted them with the cold carbonated water. It was a pretty light yellow drink. I passed them out to my team members.
“Let’s celebrate the debut outing of Garnet Team 9…”
“What’s that?”
“Cheers!”
We raised our glasses, clinked them together, and gulped the contents down.
The feeling of the cold carbonated water bouncing down my throat felt so pleasant…
“Haa...I’m revived.”
“Ooh, this is pretty good! I thought it smelled like medicine, but it’s easy to drink.”
The boys seemed pleased as well. Lapis and I sideyed each other and giggled.
“Elderflowers are an all-purpose herb. They can help prevent colds and remove toxins from the body. And it has a skin whitening effect. But it has a rich muscat-like aroma, and it’s easy to drink with its acidity.”
Well, its efficacy was incredible, but it was generally chilled and delicious, so we drank it down in large gulps.
“In any case, Makia. That basket isn’t something that is sold on the market, isn’t it. It has an extraordinarily advanced spatial magic applied to it.”
“Oh, this? It belonged to my ancestor, the ‘Scarlet Witch.’ It’s old but sturdy, light and convenient. I use it a lot.”
“...the ‘Scarlet Witch’s’?”
When I put my basket before me, Lapis put a finger to her chin and thought about it for a moment.
“If that is the case, then it’s from five hundred years ago… That was a time when spatial magic hadn’t yet been established. And yet, such an advanced piece of spatial magic…”
Now that she said it, it was true. In addition, if the Scarlet Witch was using spatial magic, that anecdote and magic would have been passed down in our family, but that wasn’t the case at all.
“There is only one magician who could use spatial magic at will in that era. It’s…”
“The ‘Black Demon King’, right?”
The perceptive Nero said. “Yes,” Lapis nodded.
“Wait, wait a minute. Are you saying that this basket was the Black Demon King’s?”
That was the common name for one of the three great magicians from five hundred years ago.
Nero glanced at Lapis.
“I’ve been thinking about this for a while. Twilight is...probably the name of the clan that is descended from the ‘Black Demon King.’ Lapis, are you the descendant of that ‘Black Demon King’?”
“What!?”
Frey and I exclaimed in shock without waiting for Lapis’s answer. I wasn’t happy about having the same reaction as that man, though.
“You’re very knowledgeable, Mr. Nero. It is a clan that is thought to have died out already.”
Lapis said, while gazing at the glass in her hand somewhat somberly.
“That is the reason why I know that this basket was made by the Black Demon King. In the past, the ‘Scarlet Witch’ and ‘Black Demon King’ were bitter enemies. However, perhaps the Black Demon King had the opportunity to make and present this basket to the Scarlet Witch.”
“Oh, I don’t know. She might have swiped it from somewhere...Or she might have stolen it.”
I worshipped the Scarlet Witch, but she was infamous for being an evil witch.
She might have thought that this basket was convenient and wanted it.
You always get what you want, just like the way of the Scarlet Witch. It was because that was passed down through the O’Drielle family.
“No, this is surely a gift.”
Lapis said while checking the clasp of the basket.
“The Black Demon King always engraved his token on his gifts. Here is the...black dragon’s claw emblem.”
“Oh...it’s true.”
There certainly was a mark that looked like a dragon’s claw there. So this meant that it was a demon who served the Black Demon King?
It was a little surprising to think that the “Scarlet Witch” and “Black Demon King” from five hundred years ago, who were thought to be quarrelling, had an exchange of giving and receiving gifts…
“Ah, the Pon eye drops!”
We must not forget about the potion from our important task.
When the ponsidas were properly boiled down to a broth for one hour, we used the natural sea salt the school provided for us. The eye drops were mainly water, so all we had to do was dissolve a few drops of this ponsida broth and a little bit of salt into a bottle of water, and then mix. Professor Medite’s recommended incantation was this.
“Fre i noa——settle the eye drops with a pon! ...What’s with this lameass incantation?”
Frey, who lost the rock-paper-scissors game, cast the final spell.
“It is a shame that after all that hard work gathering the ponsidas, all we needed was a few drops.”
“It can’t be helped, Lapis. We only need a few drops, but the content of those drops is important. Simmering multiple ponsidas doubles the effect. That’s what potions are.”
However, since it would be a waste, I decided to pour the leftover broth into a preservation bottle I had in my basket and take it back. Ah, thank you, magic basket!
Nero cast a final cooling spell on the eye drops bottle as he shook it. And then,
“Do you mind if I test the results of this on myself?”
“Oh, Quiet Kid’s pretty fired up.”
“...No. Well, you’re not wrong. It’s just that I’ll probably be the one most likely to feel the effects.”
As Nero brushed Frey’s hand on his shoulder away like it was trash, he dropped the freshly made Pon eye drops into his eyes.
“How is it?”
“Mm. ...It’s pretty good. It refreshes the back of my eyes and washes away the magical dust and lens fatigue.”
Nero said as he blinked repeatedly.
“Those aren’t the only effects of Pon eye drops. They say that the more high quality it is, the more your vision improves.”
“Vision…”
The rest of us ended up dropping the Pon eye drops into our eyes as well.
In the midst of this, Nero suddenly stood up and walked around the cave, and then started rubbing a part of the rock wall with his hand.
“What’s wrong, Nero?”
“There’s a strange magical power...flowing from here. It’s very rare, like silver stardust…”
It was hidden by thick vegetation, but there was a kind of narrow secret path through which a single person could pass.
“Are you saying there’s something on the other side?”
“Yeah. I can see more clearly thanks to the eye drops. It definitely seems to be coming from over there.”
“I wonder if it’s the professors’ trap?”
Nero and I were a bit wary, but,
“Well, then that just means there’s something great at the back. Let’s go there.”
Indeed, Frey had a point. There might be something on the other side.
We hurriedly put away the tools. The two ham-chans had eaten too many crackers and fallen asleep, so I put them in my robe’s pocket.
And so we proceeded through the cave, following our curiosity.
Thanks to the mint-colored light of the firefly moss, we could see deeper into the cave even though it was narrow.
I was fantasizing about how there might be herbs never seen before, or materials that could be used for magic, or unknown creatures, but on the other hand, I was calmly thinking that it would be impossible for those things to be on a medicinal herb garden island managed by the school.
“It’s a dead end.”
There was a circle-shaped space at the end of the narrow path. This was probably the end of the cave.
As expected, there were no unknown plants or animals, but there seemed to be something protruding from the ground, and we peered into it.
“I wonder what this is.”
It was a metal pillar with a small lacrima magic crystal fitted into the center.
“It might be an ancient relic.”
“No, this is still new. I wonder what it’s used for.”
In spite of everything, we were still magicians in training. Everyone was immensely curious, but we didn’t carelessly touch it.
Yes, even though we didn’t touch it, the lacrima suddenly flashed, as though it had detected something, and the pillar itself began to operate like it was some sort of device.
“Everyone, please move back! This is…!”
Lapis instantly shouted. However in the middle of her sentence, a magical formula emerged on the surface of the stone, and there was a brilliant light.
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to resist the magic that enveloped my body, but I still didn’t have that kind of strength yet.
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