Chapter 178 (1/2)
Territory Pioneering 2
[Sophia-chan’s point of view]
Two days had passed since the meeting with Fahren-sama.
Just like I had done several days ago, I was currently seated in Fahren-sama’s VIP box. Previously, I had been here with the Dragon-san and the Elf-san. Today, however, I was completely alone. The Princess wasn’t here either.
I was wearing my usual maid outfit which made the situation all the more strange. A maid was seated in a chair reserved for important people with several other maids waiting to serve her. The situation is far away from the normal life I’ve grown used to.
“…ah, it’s starting.”
I could see the Elf-san on stage after the curtains opened.
Today is the final day of the conference and the Elf-san was invited as a last minute special guest speaker by Fahren-sama. Her claim of being the alchemist that created the medicine that cured the Princess was enough to quell any who wanted to deny her the chance to speak.
The Elf-san walked onto the stage from the right side and Nannuzzi-sama entered the stage from the opposite side.
They walked towards the centre of the stage where they each took their respective seats around a table.
Fahren-sama was already there waiting for them.
They exchanged a few words as they took their seats.
“….”
No matter how little I know, I must pay attention to everything being said.
This presentation will decide whether or not I have to flee the country. Even if it goes well, there’s still a chance I’ll have to flee. Honestly, I don’t like my odds.
“Today, we all have the honour to hear from the alchemist that created the splendid medicine that healed our great Princess and we also have the privilege of hearing once more from the star of this conference, the researcher Nannuzzi.”
“N-N-No, it’s my pleasure to be here….”
Nannuzzi-sama managed to get out a brief greeting.
The Elf-san just remained silent staring off into the crowd.
“I’m sure you all remember Nannuzzi. Could you introduce yourself as well?”
“I’m E-Edida….Edita!”
Is she nervous?
She looks like she’s about to burst into tears at any moment, she’s visibly trembling, and I can see the sweat on her face from here. When she and Ester-sama were forming the plan before, she sounded really mature and reliable, but now her behaviour is actually matching her young appearance. She’s even sitting down but her knees are still shaking violently.
“Thank you all for your interest in my research. I’m sorry I’ve been unable to answer any of your questions prior to this, but I’m thankful that I’ve been granted time to do this interview.”
“Y-Y-Yeah, that’s right! Me too!”
Even though it was the final day, the venue was still packed and some people were even forced to stand. It’s natural she’d be nervous with everyone’s eyes directed at her. I’m sure I’d be in worse shape if I were in her position.
The Elf-san is a bit of a scatterbrain.
Thank you so much for helping this useless maid.
“The main focus of today’s discussion will be on the pigment of pessari grass. Does that sound okay?”
“O-Oaf course!”
It’s such a sad sight.
I don’t even think I can watch anymore.
I’m so sorry, Elf-san.
“The research these two alchemists have been conducting actually has a surprising amount of overlap.”
“….”
The more Fahren-sama spoke, the more nervous Nannuzzi-sama appeared to become. She was visibly nervous from the start, but, gradually, I started to notice her knees start to shake then her hips and now her entire body is shaking.
Fahren-sama was unable to avoid mentioning the obvious duress the two women were in.
“Are you feeling unwell Miss Edita? Would you like to take a short break?”
“N-N-No, it’s okay! I’m fine!”
“…that’s good to hear.”
“….”
She might actually be more nervous than me.
The fact that she’s putting herself through this for my sake caused a slight pain to run through my chest. Almost every audience member is a member of the nobility. If, by some chance, this were to end badly, would my punishment be even worse? And since I involved the Elf-san, there’s a chance she’d be punished as well.
Please, God, I beg of you, help the Elf-san.
“Haa~ hoo~, haa~ hoo~”
She took a few big breaths before finally speaking in a manner more appropriate for a respected alchemist.
“First of all, I wanted to say how impressed I am with your discovery regarding turning the distilled pessari grass pigment into powder. I mentioned this to you earlier in private, but adding heat actually lowers the quality of the potion.”
“I’m so grateful for your praise. And yes, you are right about the heat. I simply misspoke during the presentation. I will give an updated report after I conduct some further research.”
Unsurprisingly, Nannuzzi-sama came prepared. Fahren-sama would have informed her of what was to take place here.
“Furthermore, in your presentation, you described adding the powder to a normal mana solution to create the finished product. How did you come by this discovery?”
“Well, if I were to be completely honest, that was all by accident. I just happened to knock the leftover dregs into the mana potion I was working on and it had an extraordinary effect.”
“…I see.”
“Even though it was an accident, my experience as a skilled alchemist allowed me to notice the effect and refine the technique further.”
“Then, a self-described skilled alchemist such as yourself would know that the pessari grass pigment would not be capable of possessing that much magical power on its own; even in its refined powdered form. It would then be easy for you to extrapolate based on this data that the true source of the magical power were the dregs themselves. Yet, you seem to have attributed it to the powder during your presentation.”
“I-In regards to that, I’ll need to conduct further research.”
“Of course….”
A slight glimmer ran through the Elf-san’s eyes.