Chapter 40 : Chapter 40
Chapter 40. A Failed Product?
“Boss, well? How is it?” Lilith asked impatiently.
Logaris gently shook the crystal vial in his hand.
The emerald liquid inside swayed softly with his movement.
“It does not possess the effect of preserving eternal youth.”
Disappointment immediately appeared on Lilith’s face.
“However,” Logaris continued, changing his tone, “it possesses a restorative capability that no healing potion in existence today can match.”
He paused for a moment and added in the calm tone of someone stating a simple fact.
“As long as the soul has not been completely annihilated and consciousness has not entirely vanished, drinking it will allow a complete body to regrow within a few minutes.”
“It can be described as… reviving the dead and restoring flesh to bare bones.”
Lilith’s mouth opened into a perfect “O.”
That kind of effect was practically a second life.
“However, it has a small side effect,” Logaris said as he rubbed his chin.
“What side effect?” Lilith asked nervously.
She felt that such a heaven-defying divine medicine must carry a terrifying drawback, perhaps shortening one’s lifespan or turning the drinker into some sort of monster.
Logaris slipped the crystal vial into his coat and spoke slowly.
“After the user’s body fully recovers, their physical form will temporarily regress to childhood.”
“Approximately between six and sixteen years old.”
“The exact age depends on the drinker’s current age.”
“The total amount of Mana and the strength of the soul will remain unchanged.”
“Only the body becomes smaller.”
“Ah?” Lilith froze.
“This state will last for roughly three days.”
After Logaris finished speaking, Lilith remained standing in place with her mind in chaos.
A divine medicine that could bring someone back from the brink of death, but would turn them into a little child for three days afterward?
What kind of side effect was that?
It was simply… too strange.
She could not help imagining it.
What if one day that boss of hers, who always kept a straight face and looked like a refined scoundrel, were beaten half to death?
Then he drank this potion and suddenly turned into a six- or seven-year-old boy, still wearing that oversized black research robe and those huge glasses…
“Pfft.”
Lilith could no longer hold it in.
She clutched her stomach and squatted on the floor, shaking with laughter before finally letting out a loud pig-like snort.
“Boss… I cannot… hahaha… let me laugh for a moment…”
The mental image was simply too vivid.
What kind of side effect was this?
This was the ultimate entertainment.
A cold gaze landed on her.
Logaris stared expressionlessly at the half-elf rolling on the floor and pushed up his glasses.
“My experimental notes happen to be missing a page of data concerning ‘the physiological and Mana reactions of a half-elf under extreme terror.’”
His voice was completely calm.
“I would not mind allowing you to become the next experimental specimen.”
Lilith’s laughter stopped instantly.
She sprang up from the ground in one smooth motion like a carp leaping from water.
Her legs snapped together, her hands pressed along the seams of her trousers, and her expression turned so serious that it looked as if she were about to attend a Holy Church tribunal.
“Report, Boss!”
“I was not thinking about anything!”
“My brain simply suffered from oxygen deprivation because I was overwhelmed by your magnificent alchemical achievement!”
Her survival instinct had instantly reached maximum level.
Logaris could not be bothered to deal with her any longer.
He sealed the emerald potion carefully and affixed a label to the crystal vial.
Using Elvish’s script, he wrote a neat line of words.
“Fountain of Unfading Youth — Failed Product No.1.”
From the perspective of a scholar’s rigor, since the finished result did not match the description in the ancient tome, it was naturally considered a failed product.
However…
The effect of this failed product was rather interesting.
Logaris rubbed his chin and decided to show this curious “failed product” to Sylvia.
After all, as the chief sponsor, she had the right to be the first to learn about the results of his work.
...
At the same time, inside the council chamber of the Duke’s Manor.
The atmosphere was heavy enough to drip with tension.
Grayson, the newly appointed Chief Financial Officer of the Northern Territory, stood before the long table delivering his report with a solemn expression.
He was a traditional bureaucrat well past fifty, with hair already streaked with gray.
“Your Highness, this is the financial report up to today.”
His voice was hoarse, and his exhaustion was impossible to conceal.
The wide table was covered with parchment sheets filled with numbers.
On every sheet, the red ink representing deficits looked especially glaring.
The construction of the Heart of Winter Industrial Park was a bottomless pit.
The costs of replacing and maintaining Magitech armaments were astronomical.
The operation of the new government, officials’ salaries, and even the scholarships for the Northern Territory Enlightenment School…
Every single item was one of the grand promises drawn up by Logaris.
And they were the ones responsible for turning those promises into reality.
Money.
Money.
Money!
There were holes everywhere.
The Northern Territory was like a starving giant.
Sylvia and her new administration were desperately stuffing things into its mouth, yet they still could not fill its stomach.
Even Sylvia’s silver-gray eyes revealed deep exhaustion.
She knew Logaris' plan was correct.
It was a magnificent blueprint capable of completely transforming the Northern Territory.
But the enormous mountain called “money” was pressing down on her shoulders so heavily that she could hardly breathe.
At that moment, the door to the council chamber creaked open.
Logaris walked in with a faint smile that suggested he was about to enjoy a good show.
He had not noticed the heavy atmosphere in the room at all.
Or perhaps he simply did not care.
“Sylvia, come take a look at my new invention.”
“It is a very interesting failed product.”
Sylvia slowly raised her head.
She looked at Logaris, who appeared completely relaxed as though he had just returned from a leisurely walk.
Then she compared that with the towering pile of financial documents in front of her, every one of them soaked in red deficits.
A surge of nameless anger rushed straight to her head.
She spoke coldly.
“Logaris, if you came here to boast about which warehouse you blew up this time, or to tell me another scheme for tormenting the Holy Church, then I am in no mood to entertain you right now.”
The smile on Logaris' face froze.
He blinked in surprise.
Then that cursed childish competitiveness flared up again.
I came here with good intentions to share my latest research results, and this is your attitude?
He walked to the table and deliberately placed the crystal vial in his hand onto the pile of financial reports with a loud snap.
The crisp sound made Grayson’s heart tremble.
“I simply thought that, as my chief sponsor, you have the right to know the results of my research as soon as possible.”
Logaris pushed up his glasses.
His tone was calm, but the words carried hidden barbs.
“Even if it is only a failed product.”
Sylvia took a deep breath and forced down the anger rising in her chest.
She reminded herself to remain calm.
Arguing with a research fanatic like him was completely pointless.
“Go ahead.”
She leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms, and examined the bottle of green liquid with a scrutinizing gaze.
“So tell me.”
“What ‘remarkable’ effect does this green thing have?”
“Can it turn stones into bread?”
“Or double our iron ore production?”