Chapter : 14
I’ll Save You From the Bad Ending Route
The Potion Genius
Making potions felt like cooking or baking, so luckily it was more fun than I thought.
It also felt a bit like doing a chemistry experiment.
Even though I’d cut ties with math and science, this kind of magic potion class was something I could handle.
As long as I didn’t look at the chopped-off cross section of a lizard’s tail.
But what is Damian doing?
Right after we started making the potion, Damian’s eyes changed—and he didn’t seem to be following the formula at all.
He minced the flesh when we were only supposed to use the shell, dumped it into a pot of water boiled with Bone-Chill Leaves, and stirred like crazy.
Should I say something?
I hesitated, then kept my mouth shut.
I already knew how important potion experiments were to Damian.
A genius never follows what’s already been decided, after all.
I just looked forward to seeing the potion he made.
That’s where the problem started.
All we were supposed to do was toss the ingredients into the witch’s cauldron, boil it hard, and stir at the end—but Damian picked up a vial of Ice Crystal.
“Um, Damian, if you put that in—”
Before I could finish, he poured the entire thing into the cauldron that was already steaming with purple smoke.
The vapor began bubbling ominously.
In the next moment, white smoke exploded through the room!
Oh man, I should’ve stopped him.
Cold flooded the classroom like a bomb going off, and an icy chill wrapped around my legs.
“Kyaaa!”
“What—what is happening?!”
Kids screamed, and then a blinding light struck my eyes.
“What IS this?!”
“Who did this?!”
When I finally dropped my arms, I could see the classroom frozen solid.
He did it again.
It was like an ice rink—everything crystal white, frozen stiff.
Even Damian, who caused it, looked stunned.
His hair had frozen white and was sticking straight up.
“Haha! Look at your face—it’s totally—”
He looked at my laughing face and his eyes went wide.
“Daaamiiiaaan!!”
Professor Mikey’s furious roar made everyone jump.
The professor stormed out with his beard still covered in frost, glaring daggers at Damian.
His face was red like a boiled octopus and his beard white like a snowy mountain.
“You— AGAIN?! A-again— again you cause THIS—! Cough, cough, Cough!”
He shouted until he nearly choked.
Damian bowed his head.
“S-sorry… I-I didn’t mean to…”
“That excuse again! Didn’t mean to?! Then why are you even—cough cough—in my class?! Go home and do potion research BY YOURSELF!”
So this wasn’t his first time going rogue.
Damian’s expression was strange—somewhere between reflecting and not caring.
After hesitating, he muttered:
“B-but… a potion like this wouldn’t be strong enough to freeze a monster, Professor. If you look at this…”
He held out his notebook.
Professor Mikey immediately smacked it to the floor.
“Get out! Don’t attend my class if you’re going to be like this!”
Damian’s eyes welled, and he shrank.
“S-sorry… I won’t do it again…”
The professor shook his head violently.
“I can’t trust a word— you— say! Cough cough!”
Then he spun toward me.
“And why were you just standing there?!”
“W-what?”
His glare shut my mouth.
“If Damian doesn’t follow the formula, you STOP HIM! Partners share responsibility—cough cough! Don’t you know that?!”
I lowered my head.
Damian’s notebook lay on the floor, page after page crammed with formulas.
At that moment, I didn’t want to apologize.
I lifted my head.
“I’m sorry. But Damian’s potion looked so interesting. It was like he was making ‘The Sea of Frost.’”
Professor Mikey’s eyes went wide.
The students murmured.
From Damian’s ingredients, it really DID look like the legendary “Sea of Frost” potion… which wasn’t supposed to be officially developed until next year.
I hadn’t wanted to interrupt something that groundbreaking.
If my guess was correct.
The professor bent down and checked Damian’s notebook.
His face changed as he flipped through the pages.
Looked like I was right.
I glanced at Damian and froze.
He was staring straight at me—with his vivid red eyes glowing like rubies.
His gaze was locked on me, wide and stunned.
“Ahem!”
Professor Mikey loudly cleared his throat.
“Anyway! The fact remains you caused this by not following the formula! The two of you will redo it PROPERLY! Cough cough! This looks dangerous, so I’m confiscating it!”
He grabbed Damian’s notebook and stormed out.
Why are YOU taking that?
We couldn’t complain—it was our fault.
Class was basically over.
Students buzzed with excitement, stealing glances at us.
Everyone wanted to ask questions but was too scared of Damian.
When the dinner bell rang, everyone placed their concoctions into the submission box and left.
Soon, only Damian and I were left in the frozen classroom.
“Let’s clean up and go eat.”
“….”
He clamped his lips shut and stayed silent.
Did I say something wrong?
The silence dragged on and my nerves couldn’t handle it.
I wracked my brain.
“S-so, Damian! To reverse a potion’s effect, we should mix the—”
“How did you know?”
He cut me off in a whisper—staring into space like someone possessed.
“Huh?”
“…How did you know it was the Sea of Frost?”
I panicked.
I couldn’t exactly say I played 2,000 hours of this game.
Because if you join the protagonist’s party, you develop it next year and it helps save the world!
I forced a normal answer.
“I’m… interested in potions too. I wanted to get to know you.”
I thought it was perfect.
Damian stared at me hard—long enough to bore a hole through.
His shadow flickered red—the sign his mood was lifting.
Excited, I rushed ahead.
“Come on! Let’s undo it!”
Once a potion takes effect, you reverse it by brewing the recipe backward.
“I’ll grab ingredients!”
I took off running—on ice. Like an idiot.
“WUAAH—!”
And down I went, flailing.
My knees throbbed and my tailbone screamed.
“Ow…”
“…Hah.”
Damian slid toward me effortlessly, school shoes gliding like skates.
Of course—the son of a northern count.
He could skate in his sleep.
“…Take my hand.”
He mumbled, reaching out.
My heart squeezed.
“Thanks.”
The moment our hands touched, I flinched.
For a boy twenty centimeters taller than me, his hand was shockingly thin and ice cold—like grabbing metal.
How much stress must he be under, not even eating properly…
Still, he held me up, collected ingredients, and glided back to the cauldron.
We worked side by side, quietly.
He instructed, I followed.
He really made all those formulas himself?
Every measurement was perfect.
He really was a potion genius.
When we finished brewing it backward, white sparkles burst around us.
The frozen ice shimmered like a mirage, melted into mist, and was sucked into the cauldron.
It was magic more spectacular than any grand illusion.
“Wow… it’s beautiful…”
The classroom returned to normal—even the icicles vanished.
I turned to praise Damian—
But he’d turned away, profile cold as an ice statue.
His shadow, however, flickered an even deeper red.
I stepped closer.
“How did you develop something like that?”
“…J-just… while researching.”
His tone had softened.
I pounced.
“Research? How? From books in the library? That’s amazing!”
I wasn’t flattering him for nothing—I really meant it.
My first potion in this world was his creation—how could I NOT admire it?
His shadow roiled happily.
Flustered, he began packing up.
“L-let’s go eat.”
“Hey—teach me about potions sometime?”
He froze.
“M-me? Why?”
“I think your potions are incredible. Actually, I…”
Now or never.
“I’m really interested in potion-making, and I wanted to get close to you. Asking you to be my Orion exam partner might’ve been too sudden… but I swear I wasn’t making fun of you. I… don’t have many friends either.”
My heart pounded. I stared at the floor.
Did he get it?
Damian turned away.
“N-no… I’m the one who overreacted. Sorry.”
I seized the moment.
“Then—want to talk potions tomorrow?”
He flinched and stared at the floor—like he had no idea how to respond.
After a long pause, he murmured:
“…F-for a little while…”
YES!!!
Success! I did it!!
“Great! Let’s meet here tomorrow, five o’clock, since there’s no class!”
Damian hugged his notebook tightly and slowly nodded.
His first real yes.
I grinned so hard my cheeks hurt.
