Chapter 219: End-of-term exam (8)

The grade exam was ended early.

The forest was no longer a place the students could handle.

The Academy students decided to flee the area and head for the Duchy.

They could not return straight to the Academy.

Edmund said.

"We don't even know who tampered with the forest, and I can't put the students on a train and have them run for days. What if the culprit was targeting not the exam site but that train?"

So he said.

It was a reasonable judgment that left no room for objection.

Duke Erunt seemed to think the same, and the reply came back telling us to stay as long as we wished.

After that, as we scraped the medicine down to the bottom to save the poisoned students, the Valkyries returned.

"Teacher, how many nests did I find?!"

"Good job. I'll pass it on to His Highness."

"Oh yeah~"

Eri held up five fingers.

Thanks to that, the bonus boast that the Valkyries had received the top score in their grade came along too.

After that, it was a continuous series of unremarkable responses.

The practical training was officially ended.

Students who could walk boarded the train on foot,

and then the students carried on stretchers were loaded onto the train.

The train ran straight for the Duchy.

During the trip, I saw the patients again and checked the medicine stock frequently.

Spending time in such a frenzy, we arrived at the Duchy.

The long day ended well.

*

The next morning.

"Is this the last of it?"

"There's one more inside."

"Is that all?"

"Yeah. Once that's unloaded, we're done."

I watched from one side of the platform as the Department of Healing Arts students unloaded medicine boxes.

Last night, they hadn't even had the strength to unload the luggage.

Even so, the instructors had left only a single word—unload it tomorrow—and gone into their lodgings.

"This is the last one!"

A box flew from the train car window ledge.

With a cry of "Whoa," a student on the platform caught the box.

The student who had safeguarded the box cautiously checked my reaction.

Then they whipped their head toward the train car.

"Hey! Don't throw it! Do you know how expensive this medicine is?!"

I looked away from the students.

How expensive could the medicine in there possibly be?

That much is money I can refill after a single yawn.

'While doing practical training, medicine bottles can break and that sort of thing can happen.'

Besides, it was medicine I had brought with my own money.

As they worried, the school would not hold them responsible.

Perhaps they had finished unloading the boxes; the students' voices sounded much more relaxed.

"On the way here, one passenger car was completely packed with this. It all went out in a day."

"Right. I don't even remember how many boxes I opened during this practical training."

"At first I wondered why we loaded so much of this. But there was a reason to bring this much."

On departure, we had been short on cargo space and even borrowed student cabins to load it, but on the return, we couldn't even fill one cargo hold.

Honestly, even I was surprised.

Last year's graduation exam had an accident that left people isolated and forced them to endure for a week.

So this time, I had prepared enough supplies to last a week easily.

Yet most of it was used up in a single day's exam.

That must mean yesterday's forest was abnormal.

'Should I consider it fortunate instead?'

Thanks to using it so generously, no one had died.

There was no reason to regret it at all.

"Lord."

I turned at the voice from behind.

It was Edmund.

His eyes were sunken; he must not have slept a wink at the lodging last night.

"Your Highness, do you perhaps need coffee?"

"I appreciate the thought. Right now there is something more important. Do you have time?"

"My schedule is open for the time being."

"Good timing."

"Is there something you wish to ask of me?"

"Yes. Your plan arrived at the capital yesterday. They want to confirm a few things."

Edmund gestured.

It was toward the end of the platform, toward the train car whose luggage had not yet been unloaded.

"Where are we going?"

"To my train car. The crystal orb is there. There is one in the station too, but it belongs to the Ducal Family and is not connected to the Quartermaster Bureau."

I obediently followed him.

As the door to Car 9, the Imperial Prince's cabin, opened, the smell of people wafted out.

A map was spread across the table, and a cup with dried tea stains sat atop it.

The overcoat he had taken off hadn't even managed to hang on a chair and was sprawled on the floor.

As far as I knew, the Duke had provided him with a hotel.

It was clear he hadn't even seen the hotel and had stayed up all night here.

It seemed even the Hero of the South was helpless before fatigue.

"Sit."

Edmund cleared away his overcoat and offered me a seat.

Only after sitting did I notice Perisia on the other side of the table.

She was busily manipulating the crystal orb.

She seemed to be connected to the Quartermaster Bureau.

When our eyes met, she gave a slight nod.

I responded with a bow of my head as well.

Edmund picked up a few sheets of paper from the table.

"It's a simple list of questions."

What was quietly handed over was the military's list of questions.

1. Provide evidence that this plan is actually effective.

2. Provide the expected time until effects appear, by species.

3. Specify the personnel and their affiliation needed for nest management.

4. Provide the transport method for treated specimens and the release points beyond the mountain range.

5. Provide the escort force required to the release points.

......

Damn, there are a lot.

"The staff officers read your plan and stayed up all night."

"They must have worked hard."

"Half stayed up from excitement, half from worry."

Tap, tap.

Edmund laughed as he organized the papers.

"To think half still don't trust you. As Chief of Personnel, I should reconsider their postings."

"Even I would find it hard to believe such a plan right away."

Trading words back and forth, we began filling out the questionnaire.

[No. 1. Present evidence that it is effective.]

Naturally, I couldn't say it was all in my head, so I roughly attached reports on the infertility of the chimera horses.

[No. 2. Expected time until effects appear.]

"Species with fast generation turnover take half a year; slow species take three years. It varies by species within that range, so I will give you a table."

I drew a table on the questionnaire.

I hadn't memorized every insect, but I did know the representative ones.

Edmund looked over the table and asked.

"Then what about Lonomia?"

"They are on the slow side. You should probably expect three years."

"......That's regrettable."

"Instead, they will be the first to disappear. The slower a species' generations, the slower its recovery once cut off."

[3. Specify the personnel and their affiliation needed for nest management.]

"The Trading Company will supply personnel. They'll cover initial costs as well."

The Guild Master will probably accept gladly.

After making a profit with Quinine and antibiotics, he had become someone who snapped up anything called a national project.

"......All of it?"

"Yes. All of it. The military can purchase it by performance unit."

Edmund half rose from his chair.

"Lord, isn't that too much of a burden for you?"

"It is no burden at all."

The facilities and systems are already in place, after all.

It was just a matter of switching the target from horses to insects.

Rather, if I left it to another Trading Company, there was a high chance of a screw-up in the process.

"I will record it."

Perisia, who had not said a word, spoke for the first time.

Before Edmund could say anything, Perisia spoke toward the crystal orb.

"Quartermaster Bureau, item 3. Cost-bearing entity: Merkur Trading Company. Management personnel affiliation: same. Over."

The light inside the crystal orb dimmed once and returned.

[Quartermaster Bureau received. Reconfirming item 3. Cost-bearing entity: Merkur Trading Company alone. Correct?]

"Confirmed, over."

[Recorded.]

Perisia pointed at the next item on the questionnaire with her finger.

She knew I had no intention of bending, and that Edmund would reluctantly back down.

Edmund raised and lowered his eyebrows.

I probably had the same look on my face.

After that, work proceeded quickly.

Edmund read an item and I answered.

Then Edmund would push back once,

and when I tried to counter once more,

Perisia cut off the pointless argument.

Before we knew it, more than half the questionnaire was done.

"Where will you get the procedure personnel? It won't be easy to find Insect Sorcerers in the Legitimate World."

"I posted a notice. With high pay."

"When did you have time for that?"

"I posted it on the train on the way here. Their identities will be reported according to the Trading Company's procedures, and after hiring, we'll verify once more with the Order's cooperation."

Edmund moved his lips.

But the crystal orb sparkled first.

"I will record it. Quartermaster Bureau, manpower acquisition entity: Merkur Trading Company. Identity verification: Trading Company, with Order cooperation. Over."

[Recorded.]

He rolled the unfinished sentence in his mouth, then moved to the next question.

"The butterflies? Can the Trading Company raise those too?"

"Duke Keres has agreed to send one expert. With that person's advice, we will raise them on the island."

There happened to be space left on the island the Duke had given me.

Originally I'd planned to use it as a farm to raise steroid ingredients, but the location was awkward.

"Did Duke Keres agree to hand over a person so easily?"

"Quartermaster Bureau, butterfly production facility: Merkur Trading Company farm. Technical guidance: Keres Ducal Family. Over."

[Recorded.]

Edmund smacked his lips.

He looked at Perisia.

Perisia stared back without blinking an eye.

What.

So what.

It was roughly that kind of gaze.

"......She's not even military-affiliated, geez."

With a sigh, Edmund shrugged once and moved to the next item.

"Transport. They have to cross the mountain range, don't they?"

"We'll move them by train to the foothills. For the mountain range, we can load them with the Ducal Family's expedition. They cross regularly anyway."

"Will the expedition escort boxes of insects?"

"It's just placing a few boxes on the expedition's luggage. No need for a separate escort......"

"Quartermaster Bureau, transport and escort: Erunt Ducal Family expedition. No separate force required. Over."

[Recorded.]

This time, no response came back.

Edmund read the next line as if he had given up.

"What if they escape the breeding facility?"

"We'll prepare double nets. If they still escape, I'll design it so they're burned on the spot."

"If they bite someone before being burned."

"I will take responsibility."

"You?"

"Because I am the planner."

Perisia's hand paused briefly over the crystal orb.

"......Quartermaster Bureau, responsible party in case of an incident in friendly territory: Lord Yulian Nihilrit. Over."

[Recorded.]

After exchanging questions and answers for several minutes like that, the end of the questionnaire came into sight.

Tap.

The fountain pen stopped above the final question.

Edmund stared at the questionnaire silently for a while.

Then,

"Lord. Must it really be this method?"

"Are you worried?"

"......I am."

Edmund set down the fountain pen.

"I'll speak honestly. From the position of someone in the military, this method is not very desirable."

"In what sense?"

"There have been countless attempts in the past to eliminate Demonic Beasts using other Demonic Beasts or living creatures. They tried the magic of Demonic Beast Tamers, and they tried estrus inducers and hallucinogens."

Edmund let out a sigh.

"Most of the results were not good."

Certainly.

I had never heard of a success case either.

So was I taking the world's first title again this time?

I looked up and saw Edmund still hadn't taken his eyes off the questionnaire.

"Even if it isn't necessarily chimera, there may be another way."

"Why don't you just speak honestly?"

It was Perisia.

With the crystal orb turned off, she stared at Edmund.

Edmund's gaze lingered once on the darkened crystal orb, then went to Perisia.

"......If you fail, or if something goes wrong, I don't want responsibility to fall on Lord Yulian. For your reference, this is not a soldier speaking but my own selfishness talking."

"Thank you for your consideration."

If you botch playing around with Demonic Beasts using chimera magic, what is born is a Demonkin.

Of course, that wasn't something done by chimera magic alone.

But it was true that it formed the foundation.

Given such precedents, Edmund's worry could not be called an excessive fear.

"If that is the case."

I organized my thoughts for a moment, then spoke.

"We could go in the direction of making insecticides for you."

"Insecticides?"

"It is a method that does not use chimera. I can introduce new types of insecticides."

Edmund's expression became subtle.

"......If you had such things, you should have told me earlier."

"Because the chimera side was more moderate."

I wrote down candidates on the back of the questionnaire.

The mechanisms of this world's insecticides were all about the same.

Arsenic-based Mineral Poison.

Tobacco extract and pyrethrum-based Plant-based Neurotoxin.

Soap- or oil-based Asphyxiant Poison.

Just these three.

From the Demonic Beasts' perspective, it would be easy to deal with.

They only needed to express three avoidance traits.

If so, this side just needed to increase the variety.

Just then, Edmund stopped my pen for a moment.

"Wait. Moderate?"

"Yes. Originally, I wasn't speaking up because I thought a single insecticide wouldn't be enough to deal with them."

Before I thought of the Chimera Release Method,

the first candidate I thought of was DDT.

But there was a reason I hadn't chosen this insecticide.

"If their life force is enough to adapt even to mercury, one mere insecticide won't stand a chance."

If one doesn't work?

Use several.

The problem was whether the land could survive if I did that.

If I used only DDT, it was still at a manageable level.

If I soaked the earth with dozens of types, even I would worry a little.

That was why I brought out the Chimera Release Method.

Compared to insecticide cocktail therapy, I judged it was still a little better.

But......

"If you are truly worried about chimera, then I suppose we must consider the next measure."

If that doesn't work, there's no choice.

I have to bring this out at least.

More than the blue scenery beyond the mountain range that I had never seen,

even one fewer person dying inside the walls was ten times more important to me.

Environmental activists in the distant future would curse me.

If they knew they were born thanks to me, wouldn't they at least give me consideration?

I wrote down the insecticide candidates that came to mind immediately on the questionnaire.

Since these people couldn't possibly know the names, I only wrote where and how they acted.

Something that cuts off neurotransmission,

something that prevents shell formation,

something that prevents hatching from eggs......

Just the mechanisms I could think of numbered roughly eight.

Cough, cough!

Edmund, who had been watching, coughed as if he'd choked.

Barely catching his breath, he spoke.

"Why do you know these things? Were you personally researching insecticides or something?"

"There's no need for that. If you make too little medicine, it becomes poison."

That's how medicine originally is.

Suppose I am designing a drug called Neostigmine.

If this drug acts 'moderately' on the human body as designed?

It becomes a paralysis treatment.

But if its effect is a little stronger than designed?

The drug reaches the diaphragm and causes dyspnea.

And if the design slips?

It doesn't go to the muscle it's supposed to and stops the heart.

So here is the question.

Is it easier for it to arrive straight at the intended destination?

Or is it easier for failed versions to appear along the way?

Edmund seemed to have vaguely guessed the origin of these insecticides.

"......Then are these, perhaps, from your failed drugs?"

"I keep records of all the failed products made while creating medicine. If you consult them......"

I did some mental arithmetic.

This one is hard to make immediately.

That one can be made immediately.

If I narrowed it down to those that could be made by next week,

"By next week: five neurotoxins, three asphyxiant poisons, two shell-dissolving poisons, one egg-necrotizing poison, and one digestive tract-dissolving poison. That's what I have for now, but if you give me a little more time, I'll try to make more."

For now, it wasn't that I had every insecticide.

If I refined the failed products created during research, I thought I could still produce over 20 types.

Still, with this much, even Demonic Beasts wouldn't be able to adapt, right?

Of course, I was worried whether any living things besides the Demonic Beasts would survive on that land......

That wasn't important right now.

"If you tell me the form you want, I can make it to match."

Gas type? Spray type? Or solid type?

Just say the word.

It wasn't a one- or two-day matter to play with the same ingredient in different formulations.

Adjusting it to the desired form was easier.

"......"

Edmund fell silent.

He clasped his hands in front of his face.

He held that pose for a long while as if praying, then at last opened his mouth as if he had made a decision.

"We'll go with the Chimera Release Method."

Beside him, Perisia nodded.

There was a strange intensity in it that I usually didn't see.

"......Understood."

It was a little regrettable.

It had been a chance to show these people the charm of biochemistry.

If they learned that medicine components and chemical components act in this way too, that would be subtly interesting as well.

Edmund folded the paper I had written in half,

folded it in half again, and put it in his inner pocket.

He did not attach it to the questionnaire.

"Perisia. Turn on the crystal orb. Only the last item remains."

Perisia placed her hand on the crystal orb. The light returned.

"Quartermaster Bureau, alternative review complete. Release method maintained. Over."

[Quartermaster Bureau received. Contents of the alternative?]

"......No record needed. Over."

The voice beyond the crystal orb trembled slightly.

[Request retransmission. Entering alternatives is a mandatory procedure in all operations......]

At that, Edmund cut in and spoke toward the crystal orb.

"Alternative: no record needed. Security rank: Taboo rank. Over."

[......Confirmed.]

Thus the project review ended.

Tap, tap.

While Perisia neatly gathered and organized the questionnaire,

Edmund thought deeply about something, then called me.

"Lord. By any chance......have you ever thought of such things in terms of people?"

For a moment I didn't understand what he meant.

After I understood, I was dumbfounded.

"How could I possibly have such cruel ideas toward people?"

Edmund blinked.

"......You came up with those things just fine for insects, didn't you?"

"That was possible because they aren't people."

I was startled by the question just now.

How could someone have such cruel ideas?

'My, my, how barbaric.'

A cultured 21st-century person cannot come up with such things for people.

......That was a joke.

In truth, I felt a little pity.

Because I thought that to survive on the battlefield of a dark fantasy, one must become that ruthless.

"You don't need to worry. I am a healer. I will never misuse this knowledge against people."

"......I will definitely find a way for your family not to bear Military Service Duty."

I chewed over those words for a moment.

How does a noble maintain a family without fulfilling their duty?

'......Aha.'

He must be extraordinarily grateful.

Certainly, the Chimera Release Method was a tremendous accomplishment in the long term.

In medicine, 'Epidemic Prevention' is bound to be evaluated as the most effective preventive technique.

The Chimera Release Method might feel like an achievement no less great than antibiotics.

Edmund, who had survived desperately in the South, would have felt that all the more.

"Thank you."

I accepted the offer without declining.

Only then did Edmund's expression become more at ease.

"I will make sure to tell Royal Father as well. As long as the capital is not endangered, the Nihilrit family will not have to step onto the front line."