Ch.348Chapter 348 – This Person Is Not Ordinary?

“Excuse me, could you please identify what substance remains in this potion bottle?”

I handed the potion bottle, which appeared to have been used by the bushy-haired male student, to Professor Emelda Carmen who had agreed to my request.

Professor Carmen took the potion bottle I gave her, examined it from various angles, then brought the bottle’s opening to her nose and began sniffing it.

If what I learned in school as a child was correct, one should never bring a reagent bottle directly to the nose, but rather wave the hand over it to indirectly smell it for safety…

Though I’m not an expert, seeing Professor Carmen do this makes me rather concerned.

“Um, is it safe to smell it like that?”

“Oh, this? It’s fine. Alchemists like us aren’t affected by the mere smell of reagents. More importantly, you wanted to know what kind of potion was in here, right?”

As she spoke, Professor Carmen looked at the bushy-haired student who had been restrained by the disciplinary committee members.

“Student Noel? What wrong has Noel committed?”

“You know this student?”

“Yes. He’s a student who studied alchemy diligently, but seeing him restrained by the disciplinary committee, I wonder if he’s done something terribly wrong?”

“Well, about that…”

I explained to Professor Carmen what the bushy-haired student, Noel, had done.

“So, you’re saying that student Noel manufactured a substance powerful enough to distort a female student’s face and used it on her?”

Professor Carmen was clearly angered that Noel had used alchemy with malicious intent to harm someone.

“So, what is the potion that student made? I mean, what substance was in that bottle?”

“It is indeed a potion with a Dispel effect. Student Noel, you know who I am, right?”

Noel, restrained by the disciplinary committee, nodded at Professor Carmen’s words.

“Good. What ingredients went into making this potion?”

“Primrose and… windflower… ma’am.”

Professor Carmen nodded at Noel’s answer.

But at the same time, she sighed, suggesting there was some problem.

“Is there an issue?”

“What Noel made is indeed a Dispel potion. But there’s one problem.”

The professor looked at student Noel again.

“Student Noel. When I taught alchemy, what did I say was the most important thing?”

“…Harmony.”

“That’s right. Harmony. The foundation and core of all alchemy is harmony. You remember well what I taught you.”

Professor Carmen smiled at the fact that student Noel remembered what she had taught him.

But soon her smile disappeared, replaced by an expression full of displeasure.

“However, I can’t find any harmony in this Dispel potion that student Noel appears to have made.”

“…”

“Harmony is the foundation and core of all alchemy. Everything created through alchemy must have ‘harmony’ established within it. So, student Noel, does the Dispel potion you made contain harmony?”

Student Noel couldn’t answer Professor Carmen’s question.

“A Dispel potion by itself cannot harm people. It simply has the effect of blocking the flow of mana that influences magical operations.”

From Professor Carmen’s explanation, it sounded like the Dispel potion used by student Noel shouldn’t be able to harm people.

But the phrase “by itself” made me wonder.

If the Dispel potion itself couldn’t cause harm, how exactly did Noel injure the female student?

“However, a Dispel potion made by skipping the harmonization process between ingredients during manufacturing causes terrible reactions. For example, it might affect not the mana constituting the magic I want to dispel, but the mana constituting the body of the person it contacts.”

“Wait a moment.”

Hearing Professor Carmen’s explanation, the missing pieces of the puzzle in my mind seemed to fall into place.

A Dispel potion without harmony.

And the female student’s face, distorted and collapsing.

“Are you saying that if someone is hit with a Dispel potion that has lost its harmony, their body will collapse?”

“Not quite collapse. For the body to completely collapse, you’d need to spray someone with a potion from a beer keg. But it can cause semi-permanent damage to the body part it hits. That’s because it affects not the mana that activates magic, but the mana that maintains the body.”

At Professor Carmen’s words, student Noel hung his head.

“People who don’t know much about alchemy might hear ‘Dispel potion’ and investigate in the wrong direction. That’s because all potions sold on the market must go through a harmonization process during manufacturing to produce only the desired effect. If you skip the harmonization process during manufacturing, even if not immediately, it will eventually cause a major accident for the alchemist who made the potion.”

Professor Carmen was still glaring at student Noel, and Noel remained silent.

The disciplinary committee students restraining him seemed to tighten their grip after hearing Professor Carmen’s words.

“Student Noel. Why did you spray that female student with a Dispel potion that hadn’t gone through the harmonization process?”

“Ha, I guess there’s no helping it now. You want to know why I sprayed that Dispel potion on that female student? It’s because everyone is being deceived by her.”

“What?”

Being deceived?

“Everyone is being deceived by that female student! She approaches vulnerable male students with her looks, seduces them, takes what she wants, and then discards them mercilessly.”

Hmm, so she was leading guys on. Is that why he got angry?

“So I made the Dispel potion. Side effects? I deliberately made it to cause side effects. To eliminate the poor victims who act like they’ll give everything away, enchanted by her beautiful appearance.”

Huh, that’s interesting.

Earlier he was claiming innocence, but now he’s confessing to his crime?

“That seems different from what you said earlier. Did you commit this act thinking the disciplinary committee wouldn’t be connected to the alchemy department?”

Student Noel flinched slightly at my observation, which I took as a silent admission.

“To be honest, yes. The alchemy department hardly has any connection with the disciplinary committee. Besides, the distortion caused by the Dispel potion’s effect can’t be fixed by ordinary blessings. Because it completely smashed the foundation itself. I feel relieved that I’ve prevented her from using her face to seduce and exploit people again, though I do have one regret.”

“What regret?”

“I stopped one person, but I couldn’t stop others who might do the same thing. I should have thoroughly prevented others from doing such things too.”

Hmm. With that answer, my evaluation of student Noel was complete in my mind.

This guy is dangerous.

If we let him loose in society, he might casually kill one or two people.

He committed a crime but doesn’t think what he did was wrong?

So this is why criminals think differently from ordinary people.

Considering how serious the matter was, I decided to use my authority as the head of the disciplinary committee.

“You two.”

“Yes, Head of Disciplinary Committee.”

“Hand student Noel over to the academy guards. I will request the principal to convene a disciplinary committee for student Noel.”

“Understood.”

Student Noel quietly stood up and began walking, being led away by the disciplinary committee members.

His steps, bound by two disciplinary committee members, seemed soulless.

“Sigh, what is all this about?”

“It’s exactly as you see, Professor.”

What a mess because of one deranged student.

He’s no different from the fox who called the grapes sour because he couldn’t reach them.

It’s pitiful that he was rejected after confessing to a girl he liked, but we can’t just ignore a student who violated school rules and harmed another student.

‘Still, he certainly has determination.’

If he had directed that determination elsewhere, he might have done great things for the empire later. What a shame.

“By the way, being hit with a Dispel potion without harmony. That poor female student. She must be seriously injured.”

“Is it that bad?”

If Professor Carmen is using the word “pitiful,” it must be quite serious.

“Yes. The Dispel potion without harmony would have distorted the mana arrangement forming her body. Even if her face is treated, it can never return to its original state. Because it will regenerate according to the distorted arrangement.”

“Isn’t that extremely dangerous?”

“If things go wrong, that female student could die.”

Wow, I almost ruined my reputation by trying to rehabilitate someone whose abilities I thought were being wasted.

More importantly, the female student could die? Then I can’t just stand here.

“You there. Where did the female student who was attacked by student Noel go?”

“Sir! I believe she was taken directly to the infirmary.”

“Guide me there. This is an urgent situation.”

“Yes! Follow me! I’ll guide you right away!”

I followed the disciplinary committee member to the infirmary along with Professor Carmen.

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

As we approached the infirmary, we heard a scream that was close to a shriek.

It must be the female student who was attacked.

Judging by her screaming, she must have seen her grotesquely distorted face.

Professor Carmen and I opened the infirmary door and entered, and what we saw was a female student sitting on the infirmary bed, crying as if the world was ending.

Her face was grotesquely melted, like someone who had suffered an acid attack.

“Hmm.”

It seems I’ll need to use my ability to fix her face…

“Excuse me…”

“Huuuuuuuh, what am I going to do now… how can I ever get married with this face, waaah…”

…It seems dialogue will be difficult until she calms down.

In the end, I had no choice but to stand quietly and wait about 30 minutes for her to calm down.