Chapter 41

Everyone’s expressions suddenly turned serious.

Before I knew it, they had all stepped closer, almost surrounding Tinte.

I looked at the group of men in front of me and waved my hand.

“Sit down. It’s too distracting like this.”

“Are you saying Tinte has been poisoned?”

“I’ll explain. Just sit first.”

In a hospital, doctors and nurses give the orders. In my lab, I make the rules. Cedric and I had already agreed on that.

After hesitating, they brought chairs and sat down.

“Any other symptoms? Especially ones that started in the last two years? Please tell me anything, no matter how small.”

“Nothing major. Sometimes my legs feel weak, or I lose some feeling in them. I also get colds more easily when the seasons change.”

“Alright. That’s helpful.”

Tinte was cooperating well.
Ongoing symptoms could be checked through my status window, but occasional or short-term symptoms were harder to track.

Of course, those symptoms would go away once the cause was removed — but removing the cause wouldn’t be easy.

That’s why I needed to record all these symptoms and make a potion that could treat them too.

“What about Miss Lietta? Is she having the same symptoms?”

Tinte’s face grew more serious at the mention of his family.
He really loved and cared for them.

That was great, but people needed to remember that taking care of your own health is part of loving your family too.

After a short pause, Tinte answered.

“Lietta’s condition is worse. Her stamina has dropped, and her immune system is weak now. I’ve been using healing herbs to help manage her symptoms.”

“I thought so. But you know that’s not a real cure, right?”

Tinte gave a heavy nod. It seemed he had already tried different treatments, but nothing really worked.

I expected as much.

“It’s just a matter of degree. In the end, it’s not that different from what Lucas is going through.”

At my words, Tinte’s eyes opened wide.

Everyone looked shocked and tense. I looked at them and spoke casually.

“Relax your faces. I’m not saying someone poisoned him on purpose.”

Their stiff expressions softened a little. I continued.

“The original purpose of Lucas’s potion was to warm the body and give energy. Since he had a weak constitution, it should have acted as a health booster if it had been made properly.”

“But?”

I took a deep breath before answering.

“…Too much of anything becomes poison.”

The potion Lucas drank was originally something I carefully designed.
But someone had tried to “improve” it — and that ruined the balance.

Potion-making is all about harmony. There’s a reason people talk about the butterfly effect.

“Whether they expected this result or not, the ones who changed the potion caused this mess.”

My anger returned.

I had never made a potion that could hurt someone. Not until I was locked away in that hut.

The only time I ever made a poison was that one moment — crying, desperate — when I drank it in front of my old friends.

And now someone had messed with my potion?

Crack!
The pen I was holding made a sharp noise.

Great. I broke something on my first day in the new lab. Damn it.

As I grumbled and put the pen down, Tinte kindly pointed out that there were extra pens in the third drawer.

He acted like a grumpy old man, but he was full of warmth.
Even though he knew I was the one who made the potion that almost killed his son, he never once blamed me.

That made me feel even guiltier.

“When something’s already finished, you need to be careful changing it. If some clueless idiot messes with it, thinking they can ‘improve’ it, this is what happens. I knew they were dumb, but I didn’t know they were this dumb.”

“Thanks for the explanation. But what does that have to do with Lietta’s condition?”

“Oh. Right.”

Tinte’s reminder snapped me out of my thoughts, and I clapped my hands. He gave me a strange look.

“Lucas’s condition is caused by energy that’s too strong and unbalanced inside his body. That messed up the flow of his aether. Things that should affect the body in a small way are now running wild.”

“You’re saying it’s affecting people around him too?”

“Yes. Imagine your son is like a bowl holding a tornado. The bowl is cracked. The out-of-control aether is affecting everything around it.”

Inside Lucas, there was still power left from the original healing potion.
Even though it had become too strong and unbalanced, it was now the only thing keeping him alive.

But that healing power only worked on Lucas.

The people around him — who didn’t get the potion’s effects — were different.
Because Tinte and Lietta had been with him the longest, their health was likely the worst among all the caregivers.

They probably thought it was just aging.

Anyway, those foolish and greedy people had caused harm to many others. That made me even angrier.

“Can you cure it?”

“Of course. Don’t you know I’m a genius?”

Well, I’m here now.
A genius alchemist and potion master has arrived — that’s all that matters.

Hehe.

I mentally hyped myself up and charged my confidence.

“They say empty wagons make the most noise.”

“Harun, you’re very chatty today. But right now, you’re the noisiest one here.”

“….”

Harun went completely quiet after Cedric scolded him.

I pulled out my glasses and put them on — the words on the paper became clearer.

Now, what herbs should I use for Tinte and Lietta?

There’s no Runtea, right? That’s a key ingredient. Well, let’s skip that for now. Maybe some Taul tree sap…

I started writing down ingredients — adding some, crossing others out — to create a recipe.

“This is hard.”

It wasn’t going to be easy. The treatment was basically the same as Lucas’s — they also needed their twisted aether healed.

And I didn’t have Runtea. That made it even worse.

…But that doesn’t mean I’ll give up.

I reviewed what I wrote, checked a few things, and stood up. Everyone turned to look at me.

“Hmm. First—”

“First?”

“I need to go buy some ingredients. Tinte, come back tomorrow. Okay?”

“…Alright.”

Tinte looked a little awkward being treated like a patient.

I made eye contact with Cedric, who had been staring at me this whole time.
He raised one eyebrow.

For some reason, I felt nervous. I swallowed and opened my mouth.

“Lord Cedric…”

“Yes?”

“Go do your work.”

“…”

“Quickly.”

Cedric burst out laughing.