"There was only a single short line written about the Relic of Light—that it held the power of healing. But even that was enough to give me hope."
Hope enough to make her wander in search of the relic, clinging to that one line.
Hearing Lute's words, I swallowed hard.
The Relic of Light, which had already been shattered and reduced to ashes, didn't belong to the Sun God—it was the final villain's.
So could an ancient book that contained false information about the relic really be a legitimate source?
"Where is that book now?"
"It no longer exists."
I had planned to take it from Lute immediately, but an unexpected answer came.
"It doesn't exist?"
"It was so old, I suppose… As soon as I finished reading it, the pages crumbled to dust. Such a shame. If the book had remained intact, I could've studied it further."
…That's strange. No matter how old a book is, would it really disintegrate that completely?
Still, it didn't seem like Lute was lying.
And knowing the true nature of the relic made it all the more suspicious.
"Where did you find the book?"
"In the Imperial Library, which only members of the royal family can access. I had a special permit from His Majesty the Emperor."
The Imperial Family.
Hearing that made me even more uneasy.
"…The Imperial Library really has all sorts of things. Even books about our relic."
But I figured pressing further would just make Lute suspicious, so I decided to stop here for now.
After all, the book was gone, and I couldn't exactly stroll into the imperial palace at the moment—better to wait until we were closer before asking again.
"I'm glad the relic actually helped. Of course, my blessing worked hard too."
"Exactly. I was already surprised we didn't need to hire Wolfgang Schmidt, and then I heard the Saintess was going to make a potion combining alchemy and divine power. You can imagine how shocked I was."
"Not a bad plan, right?"
I gave the potion Zenrick had handed me a little shake.
"Yes. I'll be honest—I'll give you credit for that."
Surprisingly, Lute nodded without hesitation.
"Even if the Sun God feels unfamiliar, people will accept it more easily if you say it includes familiar alchemy."
…Wow. He just threw shade at the Sun Church without batting an eye.
He really can't go a sentence without being snide, can he?
"Well then, I'll bless the relic now. Hand it over."
Annoying as he was, I couldn't ignore someone who was sick, so I held out my hand.
Tap.
"…?"
Uh, I asked for the relic—why are you giving me your hand?
"I don't really want to keep this."
"I'm not asking you to admire my pretty hand. I want the potion."
Lute gestured with his chin to the potion in my other hand.
"Shouldn't we check the effects of the potion first? I am the patient, after all. Let me drink it and verify it for you."
Good grief. Is that why he didn't accept the blessing earlier?
"No matter how much divine power is in it, I doubt it'll help much with your condition."
"Well, do you have a better idea? How else do you plan to test its effects?"
At his counterquestion, I naturally glanced at my left forearm.
The same spot I'd slashed when the first sample came out.
It hurt a bit, sure—but there was no better way to test it.
"…You're not thinking of using that brute-force method—injuring yourself, are you?"
Sharp one, isn't he?
Yes, I knew it was reckless. But what else could I do? Nothing's more reliable.
When I stayed silent and grumbled under my breath, Lute let out a dry laugh.
"You really were going to do that?"
"Well, I can't exactly hurt someone else. So the only option is to use my own body."
"You sound like you've done it before, but I won't dig. Any more of this and I think I'll start feeling worse."
Lute smiled. It was a different kind of smile than his usual dazed grin—this one felt… sharp. Almost deadly.
"So give me the potion. I'll test its effects myself."
With that, Lute took off the relic he was wearing before I could stop him.
The moment he did, his eyes hardened, and the hand I was holding started to tremble.
"What are you doing…!"
Startled by the massive, growing black blotches on his body, I yanked his hand toward me.
Then I hastily shoved the potion bottle into his mouth.
"Are you insane?!"
As soon as Lute swallowed the potion, I cursed at him.
I was too shocked to even try and sound polite.
"If those black blotches, which were being held back by divine power, suddenly went wild—who knows what kind of side effects that could cause!"
And in fact, as the barrier disappeared, I could see the black blotches rejoicing and swelling with vigor.
It was an overwhelming force—chilling enough to make my chest tighten.
If things had gone even slightly wrong, Lute could have died from shock.
"You're just as reckless as I am."
I put down the half-empty potion and let out a sigh.
Honestly, it would've been better to wound myself. At least I wouldn't die from something like that.
"Let's not blame each other—we're both at fault here."
The way he smiled while wiping potion from his lips… It was so infuriating.
If he weren't sick, I would've punched him.
"Still, we did get some meaningful results."
He tapped the potion bottle with a finger stained with the orange liquid.
"Maybe it's because it contains divine power, but the pain has slightly lessened. Not quite on the level of when I wore the blessed relic, though."
"…"
"If I had to quantify it, I'd say it's less than one-tenth as effective. It's not a dramatic improvement, but considering the unique nature of my illness, it's a fairly effective potion."
"You're still in the mood to analyze this?"
Well, at least we gained something useful.
Still, I couldn't feel fully relieved in this situation.
"Oh? Were you really that worried about me?"
Is that even a question?
Lute might not know it, but he's the one whose fate I personally twisted.
He was the very first to deviate from the original story's flow—of course I wanted him to stay alive and well.
"You just looked ridiculous doing something so stupid."
But I couldn't explain all that to him, so I let it go.
Clicking my tongue, I grabbed the potion instead of smacking his smug little mouth.
It was an unexpected turn of events, but since things were already moving, I might as well make use of what I had.
[Activating skill: 'Blessing.']
My golden divine power gently flowed into the potion.
Just like before, the orange-colored potion gradually took on a reddish hue.
But this time, perhaps because the potion was more concentrated, the red glow bloomed like a burning flame.
Radiant, beautiful, and strong.
It was the kind of color that naturally captivated the eyes.
"The color is…"
"It's a potion infused with my blessing."
I handed the remaining half of the potion back to Lute.
"Drink it."
Lute stared at the potion—looking like a sunset, or a flame—and, without resistance, drank it.
Then his eyes widened in surprise.
"It works well. I feel better."
"How does it compare to when you wore the relic?"
"It's not quite as effective as the relic with the blessing."
Well, of course not. The relic he was wearing was one specialized in healing, after all.
"But compared to the potion before the blessing was applied, I'd say it's three to four times more effective."
"That's good."
That kind of effect would definitely sell well. Infusing the potion with a blessing had been the right call.
Now that the experiment was over, I cast a new blessing on the relic Lute had thrown off earlier.
"Here—this has a fresh blessing. Come back in a month."
This time, Lute obediently put the relic around his neck.
From the moment he drank the potion, the black blotches that had been swelling aggressively began to droop like powered-off machines.
I confirmed that his complexion had visibly improved and said,
"From now on, don't do anything unnecessary. Just come regularly for your blessing—at least once a month."
"Yessir."
"If something urgent comes up and you can't make it, then drink a potion like today. But the potions meant for the Duke—I'll be preparing those separately. So don't go sneaking off with any of the ones being sold."
Lute immediately drooped his eyes in a mock-wounded expression.
"What do you take me for? You think I'd do something so petty?"
"It's not that. We've just gotten a little sensitive about embezzlement lately. Just last month, we caught a few embezzlers."
The culprits, including Kento, were still locked up in the underground prison.
Since crimes within the Grand Temple were allowed to be punished according to temple law rather than imperial law, we handled it ourselves.
Even Count Kiris hadn't asked for them back, probably because he didn't want to stir up more trouble.
"The underground prison has become a cozy little room for embezzlers."
If you cause any trouble, we'll make sure you get your own room too.
"…Don't worry. If I ever urgently need a potion, I'll pay the full price for it."
Lute raised his hand in an oath, seemingly understanding exactly what I meant.