Experiment Time

「All right. So if a place with tons of belladonna grew, enough to produce a thousand healing medicines a year, won’t Cardinal Georgis’s power weaken then?」

「No one’s ever discovered a place like that.」

「For argument’s sake, let’s say there’s one.」

Count Meigis pondered about it for a bit.

「…Yes. Georgis is overbearing and has a lot of enemies. But he manages to make them keep their mouths shut since he almost has a monopoly on the production of healing medicines. But if someone else could supply healing medicine in large quantity, he won’t be able to maintain the power he has.」

「I see. If such a place is discovered by someone from the anti-Georgis faction, like for example, you… your force will quickly grow. Is that right?」

「If that happens, nobles who didn’t think highly of the Cardinal will gladly join us. There would be a chance of winning.」

「There you have it, that’s Georgis’s weakness.」

Count Meigis looked puzzled.

「Are you seriously thinking of finding a place where belladonnas grow in masse? If it were that easy to find, it would’ve been discovered a long time ago!」

「Even I know such a place doesn’t exist.」

In the first place, belladonnas don’t grow naturally. I’m sure the place that’s under control of the church doesn’t have much either. I don’t care about those.

「Then we don’t have anything to use against the Cardinal Georgis.」

「You’re wrong. If such a place doesn’t exist, we just have to create one.」

「Don’t tell me… You mean artificial cultivation?」

「That’s right.」

Count Meigis simply shook his head.

「That’s impossible. Researchers have been studying how to cultivate belladonnas for centuries to no avail. 」

「Their methods were probably not that good.」

In BBO, potions were not valuable at all. Not because belladonnas grew in abundance naturally, but because they could be grown artificially. With a huge farm, you could make a hundred thousand or even a million potions.

But there’s a trick to it. If one doesn’t know it, they wouldn’t be able to grow any belladonna no matter how many times they try. If you know how, things are easy. Since they grow fast, you can guarantee a great production output.

Count Meigis looked like he didn’t believe it. I can understand though. If I were in his shoes and an adventurer suddenly said “I can grow precious medicinal plants that no one else could!” I’d probably think he was just talking big. The quickest way to make him believe me is to just show him.

「I just need a week. As for the plantation, I can just make one deep in the mountains. I want to try it out. Can I have some seeds? You do have leftovers from producing potions, right?」

Count Meigis thought about it for a bit then nodded.

But it wasn’t like he believed I could really grow belladonnas. The seeds don’t really have any value, so it was more like him giving it a shot since there was nothing to lose.

That’s more than enough for now. He’ll understand once I brought the belladonnas I grew.

「Thanks. I’ll be back after a week.」I said, leaving the reception room.

All right. Time to have some fun growing medicinal plants.