Chapter 69
Envy
“Ellie, I need you to help brew some low-level wound healing herbs. These are in high demand right now. Meanwhile, I have other duties to attend to,” Celey instructed Ellie. Her tent and those of the other apothecaries had suffered some minor damage, making it impossible to concoct potions inside.
Many apothecaries were injured, and there weren’t enough people to assist in concocting. Thus, Celey had called Ellie to help in this special circumstance. Naturally, all classes were suspended. Many students were injured, and so were the soldiers.
The current situation required them to restore everyone’s condition as best as possible. With the protective barrier gone, they might need to hold off and attack the beasts for another 2-3 days before the request for a new special barrier would be considered. It might take an additional 2 days to arrive at the camp, totaling 5 days, and that was the minimum time frame.
“Yes,” Ellie responded obediently.
Over the past 3 days, Celey sensed that Ellie was smart and had a real talent for potion concocting. Thus, she had previously taught Ellie how to concoct low-level wound healing potions. This was the same potion that the institute would teach after advancing to higher years, meaning it required only a few herbs. It was an emergency potion, providing minor relief, but for proper healing, a more potent potion would be needed.
In a situation with many injured people, this low-level wound healing potion was essential. Initial treatment was crucial to at least stop the bleeding.
As soon as Ellie received her task, she immediately set to work. While she was occupied with a task similar to that of high-level apothecaries, the students could only watch the situation helplessly.
They were mostly useless at the moment, many injured and awaiting treatment. Some were lucky enough to have brought potions with them, but others had already used theirs during the battle and now had to wait for help from the apothecaries and priests.
“Lady Celey, if you need help with concocting low-level potions, there are third and fourth-year students who have learned some potion-concocting techniques. Perhaps you could have them assist,” Professor Gwen came to suggest to the head apothecary respectfully. She believed that third and fourth-year students should perform better than a first-year who had yet to receive formal training from the institution.
Additionally, Professor Gwen was the advisor for the third-year students. While she always aimed to be neutral, she did have a slight bias towards her own students. Helping with potion concocting, they could earn more points than those who waited for help. So, she wanted to give her students, who were struggling to pass the third year, a chance to contribute.
Celey, who had also been a student at the institution, looked at Professor Gwen, who wasn’t much older than herself. When Celey was a student, Professor Gwen had been a senior at the institution. Now, Gwen was a successful professor there. Given their small age difference, Celey felt little respect for Gwen. Gwen’s sudden involvement in her decisions annoyed Celey even more.
“I’m sorry, Professor from the institution. The wound healing potion recipe I taught Ellie is different from the one the institution teaches. We use my own recipe here to prevent various issues. Therefore, I chose to work with Ellie alone. I hope you understand.” Hearing Celey’s reply, Professor Gwen was slightly displeased but couldn’t openly interfere with Celey’s decision.
After all, Celey was the one directly tasked with this job, while the institution’s role was merely to assist.
Ellie didn’t get involved in these conversations. To avoid wasting time, she immediately began preparing the herbs for the first potion cauldron. Ellie’s herb inspection was always impeccable. Celey had also taught her how to concoct potions for maximum efficacy.
Celey’s secret method involved selecting herbs of similar ages for the same pot. For example, if using Prims blossom pollen herbs harvested about 3 months ago, it should be paired with Duren root herbs that had been stored for approximately 2-3 months as well. If 3-month-old Prims blossom pollen was used along with Duren root and Larffle herbs that were no older than 3 months, the compatibility of the herbs would result in the wound healing potion achieving the highest possible efficacy for a low-level potion.
While herb inspection might be challenging for others, it wasn’t a problem for Ellie. Even though the information didn’t appear in clear text, she could still examine the herbs with her eyes.
The life force in herbs varied in intensity. Ellie had spent the last 3 days observing this. Previously, she noticed the different colors in the herbs but didn’t understand what they indicated until she saw Lady Celey sorting them. She realized that the intensity of the life force indicated how long the herbs had been harvested.
The longer an herb had been stored, the more its life force diminished gradually. However...some herbs provided better medicinal properties if stored for a longer period. For the details regarding medicinal properties, Ellie could rely on her ability to inspect the information instead of just looking at the life force.
While Celey had to inspect the stems, leaf patterns, root nodes, and other characteristics to determine the herbs’ ages, Ellie could simply glance over them and sort them quickly. Her speed was considered miraculous.
“Mmm, the properties of this batch are correct. You did very well.” Celey looked at Ellie’s work for the first time with admiration. Of course, everyone heard the praise. As previously mentioned, Celey’s tent had been damaged, so the apothecaries were now working in the open. This meant that every action and word of praise was audible to all students and soldiers present.
"This cauldron should be enough for about 10 injured people. So, I need you to speed up a bit. If you think you can manage the time well, go ahead and concoct 2 cauldrons at once. I believe you can do it," Celey said before leaving. The high expectations of the head apothecary made even the 1-star level apothecaries look at Ellie with new eyes.
Initially, they thought Lady Celey had Ellie helping with minor tasks. They were surprised to hear she was asked to concoct wound healing potions. But now, they were even more shocked! Despite having been Lady Celey’s assistants for a long time, they had never received such trust. Yet, a student who had known Celey for only 3 days was receiving this level of praise... Many 1-star apothecaries became very interested in Ellie.
Some pretended to walk around, hoping to see what the girl was doing differently. However, they saw nothing special. It seemed to them that Ellie was just tossing herbs together and throwing them into the cauldron. Could such a careless method really deserve praise?
"Student Ellie, if you need any help, just let us know," one of the 1-star level apothecaries offered to which Ellie responded warmly, but she didn’t need any assistance.
As Ellie became the focus of the apothecaries, she also became the topic of conversation among the students.
"Lady Ellie is being recognized by a 4-star level apothecary!"
"That’s right, Lady Ellie is amazing. She’s even been tasked with managing the potion cauldrons herself."
"Usually, only 1-star level apothecaries and above handle concocting in this unit. But this time, the 4-star level head apothecary assigned it to Lady Ellie. Doesn’t that show she has talent similar to Professor Medik?"
"Look at those 1-star level apothecaries. Aren’t they just trying to curry favor with Lady Ellie?"
Many students gossiped about the situation, but it was mostly because Ellie’s status had changed from being a scholarship student to "Lady Ellie" of the Setter family. If she were still just an ordinary scholarship student, she might have received some attention, but the high-class students wouldn’t care about someone who was only good at concocting low-level potions.
“It’s just concocting low-level potions. Everyone will learn this in the third year, won’t they? Why make such a fuss?” Nara couldn’t help but sneer as she overheard the conversations that almost elevated Ellie to the status of a goddess just for concocting low-level potions.
She sat close to Wint because she had no other friends, and Wint, wanting to maintain his gentlemanly image, couldn’t tell her to go away.
Meanwhile, Aman and Koross quickly reported the situation to the Setter family. They didn’t trust the current circumstances and believed that if Steven, the head of the family, knew Ellie was in such danger, he would immediately take action to help her.
Wint glanced at Nara, who openly showed her jealousy. He noticed that her legs were still bleeding. If Wint were kind-hearted, he might have given her the healing potion he had with him. However, he didn’t want to waste his resources on someone as useless as her.
The future was uncertain. Another intense battle could erupt, and the healing potion might be crucial then. He couldn’t use it now because he didn’t know what would happen next, no matter how much he wanted to maintain his gentlemanly image...
Wint believed many students here, enduring their minor wounds, felt the same. Many probably had healing potions but were hesitant to use them now. Well...Those with extensive battle experience would do the same. Thus, many awaited healing potions from the apothecaries because low-level wound healing potions would suffice for minor injuries.
“Wint...Nara’s wounds hurt so much.” After Nara inadvertently complained about the scene she saw, she realized she had made a mistake. Seeing Wint’s suspicious gaze, she quickly changed her demeanor, becoming a pitiable girl in need of comfort.
“Mmm, hang in there a bit longer. Ellie will finish concocting the potion soon.” However, who would have thought that Wint would say something that would undermine Nara once again?
Just moments ago, Nara had said that Ellie was only concocting low-level potions and didn’t deserve so much praise... Less than 10 seconds later, Wint told Nara to wait for Ellie’s low-level potion. If this wasn’t an indirect criticism, what could it be called?
Nara’s face fell slightly, but she tried to maintain her composure. She knew that Wint was infatuated with Ellie after seeing her fight bravely without fear. Nara also knew how much Wint admired fighting prowess. Therefore, it wasn’t surprising that he was displeased when someone criticized Ellie.
“That’s true. Ellie is really talented. She can even concoct potions she hasn’t been formally taught yet.”
“Yes, Ellie is very skilled,” Wint replied with sparkling eyes, making Nara feel even more uncomfortable.
Unbeknownst to her, while she thought Wint was being foolish, she was being played by him to the point of wanting to explode! In this situation...it was unclear who was more foolish.
“Lady Vida, I feel like Wint is just playing around,” Aria, observing the situation from a distance, remarked. Vida glanced at the two people nearby before sighing.
“Nara is too confident in her own opinions,” the noblewoman analyzed, making Aria smile wryly.
“The foolish Nara thinks everything is under her control. She is no match for Ellie...” When she mentioned another scholarship student, who was now being admired by her peers, the expression in Aria’s eyes changed slightly.
“This is someone who shouldn’t be made an enemy.”
“Yes, I agree with you, Lady Vida. It’s not just because she will become part of the Setter family. I also feel that there is something mysteriously intriguing about her.”
“Mmm.”
“But many times I’ve noticed it seems like Ellie isn’t that interested in the Setter family. It’s more like the Setter family is interested in her.”
"............." Vida didn’t respond to her close friend, only listening quietly to this statement.
"I’ve noticed many times that Lord Aman is more concerned about Ellie than just as a partner. Even Senior Koross’ gaze is similar. It’s as if...Ellie isn’t just Lord Aman’s fiancée but holds an even more significant status. I think..." Aria was about to continue with her thoughts, but Vida raised her hand to stop her.
"You shouldn’t analyze the Setter family if you want to stay alive." Hearing this warning, Aria quickly closed her mouth.
There were many secrets within the Setter family, and they were very decisive. If they knew someone else was aware of their secrets, they might swiftly eliminate them. So, if they didn’t want to become victims of their curiosity, it was best to think only as much as the Setter family wanted them to think...
"I understand," Aria nodded in agreement. The two girls then silently observed the small girl who had originally not seemed remarkable at all.
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