Chapter 95: Life of the earth
"... I see."
I looked at Henry, who was amazed and was lost in thought for a moment.
It was understandable what Henry meant when he said, "The flow of war would change".
"The war was more trouble with wounded soldiers, I suppose."
"Yes. We need more men to care for the wounded and treat them."
"Fuu, death in battle would have been much better."[TN: Don't wanna say bad about MC, but wtf man]
Henry silently bowed his head.
Of course, the fewer the deaths, the better.
However, in the short term, the dead are less of a burden on the army than wounded soldiers.
"As expected of Your Majesty. I only realized this a month after I entered the Ministry of War."
"If this potion that can heal minor wounds in an instant could be mass-produced,..., how much would it increase our military strength?"
"... even estimating lightly, three times as much."
Henry thought about it for a moment and stated simply.
I wonder if it will go up that much.... No, I guess it will.
So Henry was not joking when he said "The flow of the war will change.".
I thought for a moment and turned to Jessica first.
"Jessica."
"Yes."
"Take it with you, and keep it. Empire law states that front-line generals may not be transferred for personal reasons under any circumstances. The Empire is a 'nation of warriors,' and that must not change under any circumstances.
"... yes."
Jessica looked even more serious as she realized I was 'about to say something'.
"You are my concubine, and whatever pretense you make, it will be for private reasons. It can only be seen as such. In other words,"
"Y-Yes."
"The next time you return, it will either be in triumph or in defeat."
Another possibility is to return as a corpse— but I left it out.
"Obviously, I want a triumphant return."
"—Yes!"
"Do you get it?"
"Eh?"
Jessica nodded enthusiastically, but then she paused.
"The Empire is a nation of warriors, so changing the system to appoint you, a concubine, as a general will be acceptable. But, normally, it would not be so. But it did—-why,"
"..."
Jessica looked at me with a serious expression and held her breath.
"I changed it for you because I thought you can do it."
"—-!"
Jessica's demeanor changed as I looked at her.
She was already a fantastic woman, but now she was even more so.
My eyes were not mistaken.
☆
Jessica left the room once to form her immediate unit, leaving just Henry and me there.
Henry stared at the door she had left and exhaled, "Oh, ....
"That's amazing."
"Hmm?"
"In just that moment when she received His Majesty's words, she became stronger that I felt as if she had been training somewhere for a year. No ordinary human being can have that kind of fighting spirit."
"She had it right from the start. As I told her, that is why I changed the system."
"Your Majesty's grasp of people's hearts and minds is indeed impressive."
"That said, ... going back to our conversation, we need to find a way to mass produce the potions."
"Yes."
Henry nodded with a serious look.
"I wish I had remained completely ignorant of it, but now that I know it exists, ..."
"Umu."
I stroked my chin and thought for a moment.
"You are certain that potions have existed throughout history, correct?"
"Yes."
Henry nodded profoundly.
I had known about recovery magic, but I had never heard of potions until Henry told me.
But since Henry was so sure, he must have read about it in a book.
"Any clues as to how to make it?"
Henry shook his head.
"Maybe. If there were, one would have tried to reproduce it by now."
"Yes. It is worth studying, even with the Empire's annual budget. If only we had a clue."
"It's truly that much worth."
Henry said, "even estimating lightly, three times as much".
For the Empire, land of warriors and constant conquerors, this was more important than anything else.
Henry mentioned the annual budget, but it is worth having the research done even if it means tilting the whole nation.
In history, there have been countless Emperors who have ruined themselves and their nations in the pursuit of immortality.
The potion is something that the Empire needs as much as, if not more than, that.
"But if there are no clues at all, there's no way to do it."
"Yes. ..."
"Even though the royal library numbers in the tens of thousands. ..."
"...."
Henry quietly shook his head.
I see.
Speaking of the royal library, it has the most important collection of knowledge that exists in this land.
But it is still not there.
.... Well, if there were, we would have reproduced it by now.
There is no clue.
That's the usual case.
I had one thing in mind.
"Henry, you know about Livyathan, right?"
"Huh ... His Majesty's magic sword?"
Henry asked cautiously.
Livyathan – originally Leviathan.
Henry was there when the Crown Prince brought it.
Come to think of it, we've known each other for a long time.
Knowing that Leviathan had become Livyahtan led to a discreet response.
"No, not that way. Do you know anything else?"
"...,–!"
After tilting his head in thought, Henry hastened to ask,
"The Silver Age?"
"Yes, Livyathan, one of the Four Sages from the Silver Age."
"Don't tell me!?
I gave a small nod.
I have not heard it directly, but I am sure of it.
The mysterious voice –that I heard before in a dream-like place.
Luthiya is Bahamut.
And Leviathan is Livyathan.
After being convinced of each, I became more and more certain.
Livyathan, one of the Four Sages, is this Livyathan.
This led to another fact.
"Livyathan."
I raised my hand and called out Livyathan.
The humanoid, non-human Livyathan appeared and knelt down before me.
"You wished to see me, my Lord?"
"Answer me, were you around when recovery magic existed?"
"Yes, I was aiding the Emperor of the time."
"Ohh, ...."
Henry marveled.
He was smart and understood immediately.
There wasn't any information on recovery magic and potions in any books.
I instantly understood that it existed in the mind of the 'living witness' in front of me.
"Amazing ...."
Henry looked at me with a look of deep respect as I retrieved the lost knowledge.
"You know about potions, too."
"Yes."
"Tell me."
"There is a magic channel in the earth called the 'Dragon Vein'."
"Dragon veins."
I mumbled in return and rolled it on my tongue.
It's a word I've never heard before.
I look at Henry and ask, "You got something"
Henry comes back to himself and shakes his head.
Then I asked Livyathan again.
"What is this dragon vein?"
"A river of magic power, so to speak. Starting as a small stream, it becomes a tributary and joins the mainstream, which eventually leads to the great ocean."
"... is the magic power that gathers and condenses and materializes?"
"As expected of my Lord. That is as you say."
I carefully considered what Livyathan had said.
"In short, the dragon veins no longer exist?"
"Yes. All but one of the veins have been cut off and exhausted."
"One? You mean it's still there?
"It's more like it's regenerated."
"Where?"
"Almeria, capital Nisir."
"…..Eh?"
It was completely unexpected.
I had expected to see the names of more remote and sacred places, but unexpectedly, I found familiar names.
I had lived and ruled there for a time.
"Dragon veins are the lifeline of the earth. Life is water."
"Water."
"That land was also ruined, but it has been regenerating in recent years."
"Water ... regeneration ...?"
I stroked my chin and thought.
Then, Henry came up from the side.
"Maybe it's because His Majesty has built a special waterway?"
"That is so."
Livyathan nodded quietly.
"..."
I was surprised by something unusual and completely unexpected.
"Amazing, as expected of His Majesty."
Meanwhile, Henry was marveling even more.
TN grumble: Ah yes, why not, everything fall on the place... sasuga Noah-sa….. my foot!