Lord: Starting from a Goblin Nest

”Salt-making... gathering ash...”

Lavinia had generously lent Ron her lab journal and the standard recipe for brewing Healing Potions. This was Ron’s first direct contact with the world of Magic since he’d crossed over.

’It doesn’t seem... like that big of a deal, does it?’

Although Ron was unfamiliar with most of the ingredients, he could still roughly classify them by their physical properties to determine their likely effects—just as he had done when he treated the large white rat belonging to Aive and Delaford.

The experimental techniques, however, were much more familiar. Ron could even suggest better solutions for some parts right away.

In his previous life, there was no such thing as Magic—a convenience that was practically cheating. His predecessors had been forced to apply the laws of nature with incredible precision, and the rigorous standards for experimental procedures were far beyond this world’s comprehension.

Ordinarily, this knowledge might not have mattered—it might even have been far less convenient than Magic. But when facing experimental difficulties in this world, the details could often mean the difference between success and failure.

For instance...

”Why don’t you try lowering the temperature a bit and using a water bath instead of direct heating?” Ron said, pointing to Lavinia’s lab notes. ”In your last few attempts, you kept raising the temperature, but that will only destroy the internal structure and cause you to lose the intermediate compounds.”

”Plus, since you’re heating it directly, the temperature inside becomes uneven. Parts of the reaction get too volatile, and the temperature is uncontrollable. See? The standard brewing method includes this step here precisely to prevent that from happening.”

”If you want to simplify the process, this is where you need to make a change...”

Ron’s so-called ”suggestions” were essentially alternative solutions that replaced the magical procedures. Using Magic generally required preparing additional materials. While this made the actual process much simpler and even lowered the required skill level for the alchemist, it also subtly increased the time and cost of the experiment.

If Lavinia’s goal was to lower costs and simplify the process, she just had to do the exact opposite.

As Ron spoke, he began working with the equipment himself, leaving the Half-Elf girl staring in a daze. She had never imagined that this human, whom she had previously dismissed as a mere dabbler, could be so insightful.

Time ticked by. About two hours later, Ron handed Lavinia a flask containing the crude product.

”I can’t do the last step.”

The final step required a special Alchemy cantrip to transform the solution into a proper Healing Potion—a true Magic Item. There was genuinely no way for Ron to bypass this part.

’What’s the principle behind it? I have no idea!’

But after he watched Lavinia skillfully perform the Casting—transforming the initially bright-yellow solution into a vibrant red that emitted a faint glow when shaken—Ron became certain of one thing:

’I really have to find a chance to learn Magic.’

”This... it worked?”

While Ron was amazed by the Magic, Lavinia was so shocked her jaw nearly hit the floor. Still in disbelief, she took out another set of equipment to test the Healing Potion Ron had created.

”It works... it really works! But... how is this possible?” Lavinia felt like she was either going crazy or was just an idiot. She had been researching this for two or three years with almost no progress!

’And today, a human who doesn’t even know Magic solved everything for me? How is that possible!’

’Then what does that make me?’

’Two hours! Before, it took a full eight hours just to brew a single Healing Potion!’

”I’m just standing on the shoulders of giants,” Ron said with a shrug, an innocent look on his face. ”Without your prior experiments, and those of all the Alchemists before you, I never could have succeeded.”

Of course, the experiments of the scholars from Ron’s previous life had to be included as well.

He wasn’t just standing on the shoulders of giants; he was standing on the shoulders of giants from two different worlds!

”You...” Lavinia started, then hesitated. ”These are all my notes, but I never thought of any of this. How did you figure it all out?”

”I just looked at it from a different angle, I guess. You see, I can’t use Magic, and those magical rituals of yours consume a lot of time and materials.”

Of the eight-hour brewing process, preparing and performing the magical rituals alone took six hours.

”This is incredible...” Lavinia checked her lab journal again, including the notes from their recent session, and had no choice but to accept Ron’s explanation. ”You’re right. Sometimes, Magic can actually make you take the long way around.”

”You’re a true genius!” Aive, who had been watching from the sidelines, couldn’t help but exclaim in amazement. ”I’ve never seen Alchemy performed so quickly!”

”And it lowered the cost,” Lavinia added. ”This experiment only used about sixteen Gold Coins’ worth of materials, which is nearly a forty percent reduction compared to the standard method.”

”The only minor flaw is that the Healing Potion’s effect is slightly weaker, but even so, it’s still a massive breakthrough.”

(Note: The effect of Ron’s Healing Potion was reduced from 2d4+2 to 1d4+2.)

It might not be as useful in actual combat, but in daily life, this Weak Healing Potion would clearly be more popular than the regular version—it was cheap and easy to obtain!

”I don’t know how to thank you,” Lavinia said, bowing slightly to Ron. ”You’ve helped me out tremendously!”

”I know! Follow me. I’m taking you to the church!”

Although this world had a great many Deities, the town of Fromm had only one church, which was dedicated to Taimola, the Lady of Luck.

Probably because everyone, regardless of who they were, needed a bit of her favor.

”I’m not a follower of Taimola, but a little good luck never hurts,” Lavinia said as she led Ron and his two companions out of the shop. The church was just around the corner. ”I mean, look at the good fortune that just came my way!”

”Interesting,” Aive said, eyeing the rather tall building with curiosity. ”Lady Taimola doesn’t usually emphasize having intermediaries. This is the first time I’ve seen a church this large dedicated to her.”

”There’s an exception to every rule,” Lavinia said with a smile, her previous coldness completely gone. ”Especially in a remote place like this, people need the blessing of luck all the more, don’t you think?”

With that, Lavinia led the way into the church.

The sound of their footsteps startled the Priest inside. An equally short Priestess stood up from before the Divine Statue and turned to look at Lavinia.

”Hey! Lavinia, you’re a rare sight! Have you finally decided to devote yourself to the Lady?”

”Don’t be ridiculous! Buni, stop talking nonsense. I just came to ask for your help—this Half-Elf young lady’s wound has gotten infected.”