Chapter 75.1

Haran’s Curse (1)

The current state of the witches was different from when Arina’s core had been destroyed in the past.

At that time, although Arina’s core was shattered, the mana within her body remained. In fact, the problem had been that the mana inside her body had backflowed.

But now, the witches didn’t have a single speck of mana left in their bodies.

‘The heart engraved with the circle is intact.’

It was a textbook case of mana exhaustion.

‘How could this happen?’

Even I, with max-level mastery in magical engineering, alchemy, and healing arts, couldn’t understand this phenomenon.

Of course, magic and sorcery often strayed far from logic and reason.

With an open mind, I carefully examined the condition of the witches.

‘It seems to be related to that…’

I recalled a particular restriction that bound Isabelle and the witches.

That restriction that prevented them from freely learning or teaching anything related to magic.

‘This pandemic, the witch of the bells suspected of spreading it, the curse that has lingered within the northern witches for so long, and now, the witches collapsing before my eyes from collective mana exhaustion…’

The pieces of the puzzle connected one after another.

‘The most urgent issue is the pandemic.’

Regardless, the immediate problem had to be resolved first.

‘But to stop the pandemic, I need the witches!’

I decided to get the witches back on their feet first.

“Seriously, I can’t stand the sight of money piling up.”

Furrowing my brow, I called out to the staff nearby.

“Bring me a list of all the medicinal herbs, alchemy materials, potions, intermediate or higher-grade magic stones, and gold and silver coins we have in the company! Right now!”

“Yes, sir!”

At my command, an employee from the Management Office — a second son from a noble family — dashed into the office.

“Chief Teo!”

“Yes, sir!”

While hastily drafting a letter, I called for Theo.

“Deliver this letter immediately to Bishop Entir in the Empire. You can use a winter hawk via the Frost Knights.”

The letter I wrote was a purchase request.

No matter how much it cost, I asked him to procure the materials listed as quickly as possible.

“Sir Carrot is on duty today, so I’ll deliver it to him right away.”

“I’m counting on you.”

I had just finished writing the letter and was about to hand it to Theo when—

“I’ll deliver it myself.”

A hand suddenly intervened and snatched the letter.

“Sir Balzac?”

“Count Arad Jin, you need to head to the palace hall immediately.”

The old knight, looking graver and more serious than ever, gazed at me as he spoke.

“Is it the same with the Great Witch of Spring?”

Sensing the situation, I asked, and Balzac nodded in reply.

“Mary! What about Mary?”

“Mary…?”

“Yes! I sent her as my proxy during the palace conference earlier.”

“Ah… Mary? Don’t worry. She’s fine. She’s doing something else right now.”

“She’s fine?”

“Yes, she’s fine. Why do you ask?”

“No reason. It’s nothing.”

‘It seems that Mary is more of a female magician than a typical witch right now.’

As expected, Mary was different from the usual witches.

“In any case, that’s a relief.”

Feeling genuine relief, I shot to my feet.

“I need to stop by the First Factory for a moment.”

“What for?”

“I need to make a remedy.”

“A remedy? For the plague?”

“That plague has traces of black magic mixed in, so I can’t handle it alone. The remedy I’m making is for the witches.”

“You’ve already figured out a method!?”

The urgency that had been radiating from Balzac eased in an instant.

“Chief Teo! Tell the staff to clear one of the production lines at the First Factory for medicinal production!”

Before responding to Balzac, I called out to Chief Teo.

“Yes, sir! I’ll have the staff prepare it right away!”

I had mastered every magical technology of the arcane-punk era 100 years into the future.

With the infrastructure I had now, I could make at least a low-grade mana potion.

The only problem was the cost — it was absurdly expensive.

“If your mana is drained, then just drink a mana potion.”

After instructing Theo, I finally answered Balzac’s earlier question.

“A mana potion?”

“Yes, a potion that replenishes mana.”

“Such a thing actually exists!?”

“It’s a field of study that alchemists have discussed in theory for a long time.”

“Like gold itself… And you can make it?”

“It’ll be my first time attempting it as well.”

“I hope you succeed.”

“I will.”

“Ha! If it’s Arad Jin doing it, then it’ll definitely succeed!”

The Elixir and Golden Carriage from before were technologies that were also difficult to replicate with the current infrastructure.

It required enormous amounts of money and luck.

Recreating them was akin to the U.S. lunar mission of the 1960s — you had to pour in astronomical amounts of money to barely pull it off.

The mana potion I was about to create now was no different.

“Then, I’m off to the First Factory.”

“Let’s go together! I’ll escort you.”

“Sir Balzac, you should send the letter first…”

“Ah! Don’t worry about that!”

Whiiiiiiistlee!

Balzac whistled sharply to summon a winter hawk.

Piiiiiieeek!

A clear cry echoed as the winter hawk appeared from the sky.

“Deliver it properly, understood?”

The old knight secured the letter to the winter hawk’s leg and sent it flying.

“All done. Now let’s go!”

“Yes, sir.”

With that, Balzac and I hurried toward the First Factory.

Upon entering, the staff had already begun setting up the necessary equipment in accordance with my instructions.

Like a chef preparing to cook in a kitchen where all the ingredients had been prepped, I began crafting the potion with alchemy.

“Uhm… Sir Arad?”

“It’s fine. Ask your question.”

How much time has passed since I began?

Suddenly, Balzac called out to me with a peculiar look in his eyes.

“If you can make something like a mana potion, does that mean you can also make gold?”

“Gold? I can make that even now.”

“!!”

“The problem is that it costs ten gold coins to produce just one gold coin’s worth of gold.”

“Ah…”

The old knight’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, only to fall flat again just as quickly.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“From here on, I’ll need to concentrate.”

“Ah, of course!”

Even as this brief conversation passed, I continued to produce the mana potion without a pause.