CH 253

Artaba Was Affected By Magic Energy

“Indeed, Artaba is good for you… At least, that’s what they say. And so it should be effective if you put it in wine.”

“However…this taste…it will ruin the wine.”

“Indeed… We will have to do something about the smell and the bitterness first.”

The smell and bitterness that spread through the mouth the instant after biting it… It was so strong that there was no way that it wouldn’t ruin the taste of the wine.

“But as you said, Mr. Takumi, it should be quite potent as a restorative.”

“Yes. Maybe not as much as the recovery herbs, but it will definitely work. After all, we only took a little bit, and I can already feel it… This is quite wonderful.”

Ms. Helena, Sebastian and even the other cooks all felt the effects of the herb.

Though, I was pretty sure that something like a restorative should not be felt so strongly this soon… However, even as I was thinking this, I thought that I felt something as well.

Was it the placebo effect…? But then again, everything in this world seemed to be more effective than similar herbs from my world.

As Sebastian said, it wasn’t as sudden and strong as the recovery herb, but it was still a good result.

“Mr. Takumi. Do you have any more of it?”

“After sharing it with everyone…there is just one left. As this was just for a test, I didn’t make that much…”

“I see… Can I have that one then? I want to try and remove the taste and smell.”

“Very well.”

“So you are testing…to see if it will still have an effect after being processed?”

“Yes.”

I handed over the remaining Artaba to Ms. Helena.

She had talked about the yellow juices before. And she wanted to see if the restorative effect would still be there after it was removed.

If it was the yellow liquid that was potent, then removing it would make the leaves worthless. 

And so Sebastian and I silently watched Ms. Helena work.

“…There we go.”

“Yes, the yellowness is gone. It is just a leaf now.”

“It all depends on this next part…”

After washing the leaf with water, she had soaked it in hot water and then pared it down with a knife until it was quite a bit smaller.

The yellowness was gone completely, and what remained looks like a brown, dead leaf.

It did not look like it would be effective to me…

“As there is only one, it cannot be shared with everyone.”

“Yes. So I will eat it with Mr. Takumi and you, Sebastian.”

“No, I do not need any more. You and Sebastian should do it… That way, you will be able to eat more and it will be easier to see if it has an effect.”

“Very well. Here you go, Sebastian.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Besides, I wasn’t confident in my ability to analyze or even feel the effect.

In that case, it would be better to let Ms. Helena and Sebastian do it, as they were far more knowledgeable.

And so they split the leaf and hesitantly put it in their mouths.

…It was probably because they were dreading that horrible taste.

And this portion was larger than the first…

“Hmm… It is…”

“How is it?”

“The smell and bitterness is gone. Yes, the yellow part was the cause after all.”

“No, there is some bitterness left… But it is probably from the leaf itself.”

“But it is mild. Unless you are incredibly sensitive to it, it should be fine to mix in the wine.”

Apparently, she had succeeded in removing the smell and bitterness from the wine.

So that was one problem solved.

But now…there was the effect.

“Can you feel anything?”

“It is weaker than before, but I do feel a change.”

“It must be the magic energy. The magic energy that courses through your whole body is reacting to the restorative effect.”

“Magic energy…”

“Magic energy is something that all humans require. In other words, it is like a nutrient.”

Now that I thought of it, when I had eaten the herb, I did feel as if my magic energy was reacting to it.

If magic energy and nutrients were similar, then perhaps it was going to places in the body where it was deficient, and energizing it…

“Hmm…”

“What is it?”

Sebastian closed his eyes as if troubled over something.

Well, he was probably just concentrating. But why?

“…Yes, the magic energy seems to be more active than usual. An increase…no, maybe not that far…”

“It is?”

“Yes. It is moving as if to give energy to the body. …I tried checking the magic energy throughout my body, and can see that it is having an effect.”

“Magic energy… When eating and absorbing nutrients, magic energy often becomes active. I see, this is a good herb.”

After eating the herb in both states, he was able to clearly feel the effect and how it worked.

In other words, even after the smell and bitterness was removed, the herb was just as potent.

“So, if you put it in the wine…you will be able to make something quite healthy.”

“Yes. The yellow part merely enhanced the effects, but the actual restorative effect is in the leaf. Now, we just need to test to see if it will remain potent when added to wine…”

“Indeed. We will have to test it with a few batches.”

“Very well. I will make more of them today.”

Now that there was no problem with the taste or effect, we just needed to test it.

See it if it still worked with wine. And if it did, we would then have a restorative wine.

And so I decided to make more when I had some free time.