Chapter 736

I Had No Idea!
No matter how much the court apothecary wants to meet with me, I'm still a minor, so meeting some adult I don't know is a pretty big hurdle for me.

Besides, since I already knew exactly what they wanted from the start, I don't think I'm wrong for wanting to refuse even more strongly.

I have to insist that this time, at least, I absolutely did not screw up... that's okay, right?

"Umm... what happened this time was simply the result of me working hard for my mother and Her Majesty, and I'll be satisfied as long as the two of them recover and give birth to healthy babies. So, as for things like telling you how to cultivate it or how to prepare it, I'll quickly compile the records I've been keeping since we started cultivating it and give them to you, so I'd like you to use those as a reference... wouldn't that be enough?"

"No, umm, how should I put this... "

Leon-sama hesitated.

"Ah! I'll get permission from Ruby, the original provider, and give you the mushrooms for cultivating on the mushroom beds, too!"

(I'm fine with it, you know? Here, take this. You can have it, so just take it with you!)

Ruby poked his face out from Mariel-chan's shadow and teleported the Mana Amplification Grass over to Leon-sama's hands, giving it to him.

"Th-thanks. Much appreciated... so, what do you say? Would you be willing to meet him just once?"

"No, if possible, I'd like to decline."

He's being awfully persistent...

"I figured as much... well, he's been going on and on about how anyone who could discover this, establish a cultivation method, and even figure out how to administer it in such a short period must be a natural-born apothecary, and that we have to persuade you to become a court apothecary after you graduate from the academy... "

Yikes, a recruitment offer!?

"Th-that might be a little... "

"Haha, Ojou likes cooking better, after all. But at this rate, he’s looking like he's about ready to barge right into the academy."

"That would be a problem! I had kept the cultivation of the Mana Amplification Grass secret from the academy, so if they found out about this, it could become extremely troublesome."

"Ahh, like telling you to hand over the special dormitory, or ordering you to cultivate enough for everyone else, too?"

"Yes, exactly."

Given the conditions, this place should have the best environment for cultivation within the academy.

Besides, it would be pretty much impossible for ordinary students or staff to prepare high-ranked monsters, so in the end, the ones they'd choose would be us, who already have the results to prove it, and the special dormitory, right?

"Hmm... If it were the royal palace, I'm there, and there's no need to search for a damp place when we can just make one, so it shouldn't be a problem, but within the academy, it'd be difficult anywhere other than the special dormitory protected by the barrier, since the mana concentration is uneven. Yeah, that'd be a pain."

Indeed, if it were the royal palace, things would probably work out with Leon-sama there.

"My Lord, may I say something?"

"Eh?"

Kurogane, who had been watching my exchange with Leon-sama, cut in.

"Your father was also concerned that this might happen. That is why he instructed me to consult Master Marlen about it discreetly for the time being."

"Master Marlen?"

Would consulting Master Marlen really solve this?
Ah, perhaps the current court apothecary had been Master Marlen’s student, so he could pull some strings?

"Ah, Marlen knows about it, then. In that case, have Marlen directly refuse His Majesty on your behalf."

"Huh?"

To His Majesty? Even if Master Marlen is an authority on magic and all sorts of other things, wouldn't it be difficult for him to directly object to His Majesty!?

"He used to be the King's younger brother, but he renounced his right to the throne and spent all his time researching. We have to put him to use in situations like this."

"Fwah?"

He used to be His Majesty’s younger brother?
Master Marlen!?

"Hm? You didn't know? Long ago, the princess who married into the Ellisfeed Ducal Family was Marlen’s great-aunt. Through that connection, Marlen should have been quite close with the Ellisfeed Ducal Family."

"I-I had no idea... "

Yikes... I thought he was just an old man who knew an absurd amount about magic and magic tools, and that he'd come to our house as a private tutor because he had taught Otousama when he was a student!

Master Marlen was a really important person!
I had no idea!

"Eh... Cristea-san. That's a fairly well-known story, you know? Since the two of you are so close, I just assumed you knew... I remember thinking that the ducal family really was something else."

Mariel-chan looked at me like I'd completely lost it...

It's just that I'd never cared about Master Marlen’s background, and I'd always thought of him as someone who was a great authority on magic and was just really important.

When he was tutoring me at the estate in our territory, he would even fool around with us sometimes, so he'd always seemed like a mischievous, playful old man to me!

Ugh, not paying much attention to things like this about people is a bad habit of mine.

But now that I know, I'm probably going to feel awkward around him the next time I see him.

"Well, Marlen probably knew Ojou didn't know and deliberately never mentioned it, so isn't it fine? Anyway, I'll put a stop to those court apothecaries running wild for the time being, so go talk to Marlen."

"Yes, understood... "

Leon-sama said, "See ya," and returned by teleportation magic.

"... For now, let's consult Master Marlen tomorrow."

"Y-yes. That's right, let's do that!"

We put away our tools and then each returned to our own rooms.