“I just thought… maybe the land would appreciate having something planted in it, you know? Like I was hearing the voice of nature or something. Haha…”
It was a plot of land that looked like it had been neglected for years.
So she naturally assumed no one owned it.
Of all places, it had to be Professor Winslet’s greenhouse. And of all days, he had to show up today!
This was exactly what people meant when they said “when it rains, it pours.”
The greenhouse was already sweltering.
Jacqueline, who had been sweating from digging just moments earlier, now felt a cold sweat breaking out on her back.
I’m done for. I should’ve written a will or something.
As Jacqueline was busy lamenting her fate, Professor Winslet looked over the soil she had dug up and asked,
“Did you till this soil?”
“Yes. The ground has to be soft if you want to plant anything…”
“You’ve got some stamina.”
“Well, my family’s from a long line of farmers.”
Every time Professor Winslet went silent, Jacqueline could feel her mouth going dry.
Say something. Anything, please.
With an unreadable, indifferent gaze, Professor Winslet looked between the turned soil and Jacqueline.
After a moment, he finally said,
“Look forward to the next class.”
Jacqueline’s face went pale.
Am I on his blacklist now?
***
It’s better to get the punishment over with.
And it truly was.
He should’ve just scolded me right away. But telling me to “look forward to the next class”…
Since hearing that ominous and maybe threatening remark from Professor Winslet at the botanical garden yesterday, Jacqueline had barely slept and dragged herself into the classroom looking like death.
Seeing Jacqueline’s haggard face, Rita asked with concern,
“Is something wrong? What’s with your face?”
“Well, yesterday, Professor Winslet…”
“What about the professor?”
Shannon suddenly cut in.
Jacqueline began to explain what had happened at the botanical garden, but then closed her mouth again.
“No, ha… it’s nothing.”
How could she possibly tell her friends something so embarrassing about potatoes and Professor Winslet?
Why did it have to be potatoes? I should’ve at least made up some fancy magical plant name.
Jacqueline sighed in regret.
Just then, the classroom door opened and Professor Winslet entered.
As always, his gaze swept over the seated students, and Jacqueline felt like she couldn’t breathe.
Fortunately, he didn’t immediately call out her name in front of everyone.
Placing a potted plant on the podium, he began the lesson without delay.
“Today’s topic is alchemy.”
Jacqueline let out a sigh of relief.
Did he maybe forget about yesterday?
The moment she had that thought, Professor Winslet spoke.
“Jacqueline Dogwood.”
“Yes?”
“When you think of alchemy, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?”
Jacqueline, feeling a cold sweat forming, answered,
“Well… maybe the red potion that heals your wounds when you drink it…?”
Professor Winslet nodded.
“Today, you’ll be learning the essence of alchemy. The method of crafting elixirs.”
A brief silence fell over the classroom at his words.
Jacqueline quietly turned to Rita and Shannon, swallowing nervously.
“What’s an elixir? Is it a big deal?”
Shannon let out a sigh.
Regardless, Professor Winslet continued the lecture.
“Alchemy is a declining art. In this day and age, a mage in Karaf who still studies alchemy would no doubt be seen as old-fashioned.”
“The downfall of alchemy is closely tied to religion. Starting about half a century ago, the spread of healers from the Church began. Alchemists, whose main livelihood was brewing and selling potions, suddenly found themselves with powerful competition.”
“Healing from clergy isn’t inconsistent like potions crafted by alchemists. It doesn’t depend on the recipient’s constitution, has no side effects, and doesn’t require expensive ingredients.”
“Because of its economic efficiency, many nations embraced the Church. That’s when the Eternal Church of Aeon spread across the continent. And alchemists gradually lost their place.”
“In an attempt to reverse that disadvantageous trend, alchemists created the elixir.”
“Elixirs are the culmination of alchemy’s dawn. The product of the wisdom and determination that alchemists poured into surviving. Calling them the essence of alchemy would be no exaggeration.”
“Though their economic viability was abysmal and internal conflict over recipe ownership caused discord, ultimately failing to revive the field of alchemy, elixirs remain potions of truly mysterious power. Even in this modern era of advanced magic.”
“And today, I will teach you the method of crafting an elixir.”
***
Shannon was experiencing mild cognitive dissonance.
He’s going to teach us how to make an elixir?
Even in Karaf, only a select few mages were permitted to handle elixirs.
They were extremely scarce and not handed out to just anyone.
Elixirs were the last remaining pride of fallen alchemists—
And so, alchemists guarded their distribution with fierce tenacity.
It was practically an obsession.
In fact, disputes over elixir recipes were so intense that a few mages died every year because of them.
That’s how rare and powerful these treasures were.
They were the secret legacy of alchemy…
And Professor Winslet knows how to make one?
And he’s just going to teach us?
As casually as if he were sharing a stew recipe from home?
Next to her, Jacqueline whispered,
“Rita, do you think learning this will help us get a job later?”
“Of course. I mean, it’s Professor Winslet teaching us. At the very least, it’d be something to put on your portfolio.”
Shannon rubbed her face furiously in disbelief.
It seemed Shannon was the only one in the room who truly understood just how significant an elixir was.
Even the two senior students attending the lecture appeared no different.
That’s how little-known elixirs were to the public. It was like a secret weapon of the alchemists.
Professor Winslet continued the lesson by showing the students the flowerpot he had brought with him into the classroom.
“Anyone know what this plant is?”
From the front row, Rita shot her hand up.
“It’s a mandrake, Professor.”
“Correct. The most basic ingredient used in elixirs is this mandrake.”
With that, Professor Winslet gripped the bottom of the pot with one hand and pulled on the mandrake’s stem with the other.
The mandrake came cleanly out of the pot.
Immediately, everyone except Jacqueline and Shannon flinched and covered their ears.
Startled by the others’ reaction, Jacqueline asked in confusion,
“Why? Why is everyone covering their ears?”
Rita slowly lowered her hands from her ears and replied with a wary face.
“Jacqueline, if you hear a mandrake’s cry, you go mad.”
“Just hearing that makes me feel like I’m going to lose it. Did you really yank that thing out right in front of me? Without saying anything? Are you even allowed to do that?”
Just as Jacqueline was about to explode with frustration, Professor Winslet’s voice reached her ears.
“This mandrake doesn’t scream.”
“There are mandrakes that don’t scream?”
The question came from Stephanie, a third-year student sitting in the back.
“They’re rare, but they do exist. Can anyone explain why a mandrake might not scream?”
Shannon glanced at Rita.
The model student who usually loved answering the professor’s questions only bit her lip this time, not raising her hand.
It must’ve been a tough question.
Naturally, Professor Winslet’s gaze shifted to Shannon, and she decided to rise to the occasion.
Shannon raised her hand and answered,
“Because it’s depressed.”
“Correct. A mandrake suffering from depression doesn’t scream. Do you also understand what that implies?”
Shannon nodded.
“A non-screaming mandrake is of higher quality than a regular one.”
“That’s right. Because it doesn’t scream, it retains all the magical energy it would normally release to ward off predators, making its medicinal properties far more potent. But that also means it requires extra care. Can you explain why?”
Professor Winslet spoke as though he fully expected Shannon to know the answer, and she found that assumption quietly satisfying.
She replied,
“A depressed mandrake’s roots will rot with even the slightest neglect. Once it dies that way, it turns into a deadly poisonous herb. One that no antidote can neutralize.”
“Correct. Excellent.”
Shannon accepted the praise with a calm expression.
But under the desk, her fists were fidgeting ever so slightly.
She’d been praised—
By none other than Winter Winslet, a mage she truly respected.
This… actually feels kind of nice.
Professor Winslet returned the depressed mandrake to its pot, then addressed the students.
“Starting today, I’ll be giving each of you a mandrake seedling and teaching you how to raise it. You’ll use the mandrake you’ve nurtured to create the most basic elixir: the elixir of health. That will be your assignment.”
At that moment, a male student sitting in the back raised a question.
It was Luke Rousseau, a senior who had been at the academy for more than four years.
“But Professor, where are we supposed to grow the mandrakes? Even if you give us the seedlings, mandrakes are classified as high-risk plants. Students don’t have permission to use the conservatory. And we obviously can’t just grow them anywhere.”
“I’ll grant you all access to my private cultivation room in the botanical garden. You may use it freely.”
“When you say ‘freely’, does that mean we can grow plants other than mandrakes? There’s something I’ve been wanting to research, and if you allow it, I’d like to take this opportunity to try.”
“Do as you like.”
Professor Winslet then added,
“As long as it’s not potatoes.”
The students tilted their heads and grew puzzled.
Potatoes?
What do potatoes have to do with anything?
Only Jacqueline broke into a cold sweat, quietly, and all on her own.
Wait… am I being targeted?
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