"……I see."
Looking at the awestruck Henry, I sank into thought for a moment.
I now understood what he meant when he said that "the nature of war will change."
"In warfare, wounded soldiers are far more troublesome, aren't they?"
"Yes. Personnel must be diverted to tend to and treat them."
"Heh, it's far more convenient when they're simply killed in action."
Henry bowed his head in silence.
Of course, the fewer casualties there were, the better.
However, from a short-term perspective, soldiers killed in action placed a lighter burden on the military than the wounded.
"As expected of Your Majesty. It took me an entire month after joining the Ministry of Military Affairs to realize that."
"If it becomes possible to mass-produce this potion that instantly heals minor wounds……how much will our combat strength increase?"
"……At a conservative estimate, threefold."
Henry pondered briefly before answering with absolute certainty.
That much of an increase…… No, he was probably right.
When Henry said "the nature of war will change," he was not exaggerating in the slightest.
After giving it some thought, I first turned to face Jessica.
"Jessica."
"Yes."
"Keep that on you at all times. Under imperial law, frontline officers and soldiers may not be transferred for personal reasons under any circumstances. The Empire is a 'nation of warriors'; that is a principle that must never be altered, no matter what happens."
"……Yes."
Sensing that I was leading up to something significant, Jessica's expression grew even more solemn.
"You are my consort. No matter what pretext we fabricate, any special treatment will ultimately be viewed as a personal favor. It cannot be seen as anything else. In other words..."
"Y-Yes."
"The next time you return, it will either be in triumph or in defeat."
There was also the possibility of returning as a corpse, but I left that unsaid.
"Naturally, I expect a triumphant return."
"—Yes, Your Majesty!"
"Do you truly understand?"
"Huh?"
Jessica, who had nodded with fierce resolve, suddenly blinked in bewilderment.
"The Empire is a nation of warriors. That is why an institutional reform to appoint you, a consort, as a commander could pass. However, ordinarily, there was no need to do so. Yet I did it—do you know why?"
"……"
Staring at me with an earnest gaze, Jessica swallowed hard.
"Because I believed in you. I changed the rules for your sake."
"――――!"
The atmosphere around Jessica visibly shifted right before my eyes.
She had carried an intense edge from the start, but now it sharpened to a razor point.
My instincts had not led me astray.
☆
Jessica temporarily excused herself to organize her direct unit, leaving just Henry and me in the room.
Watching the door through which she had departed, Henry exhaled a breath of admiration.
"Incredible."
"Hm?"
"In that single moment after receiving Your Majesty's words, she grew so much stronger that it felt as though she had spent an entire year training in seclusion. Ordinary humans cannot project such fighting spirit."
"She was a woman who possessed that potential from the very beginning. As I told her, that is precisely why I changed the system."
"To bring that out of her... Your Majesty's grasp of the human heart is truly remarkable."
"Be that as it may... Returning to the matter at hand, we need to find a way to mass-produce the potion."
"Yes."
Henry nodded, his expression turning deadly serious.
"It would have been fine if we had remained completely ignorant of it, but now that we know it exists……"
"Indeed."
I stroked my chin, turning it over in my mind.
"Historically speaking, it is certain that potions existed, correct?"
"Yes."
Henry gave a firm nod.
I had known about recovery magic, but I had never heard of potions until Henry brought them up.
For him to state it with such certainty meant he must have read about it in some ancient text.
"Any clues on how to brew them?"
Henry quietly shook his head.
"I suppose not. If there were, people would have tried to recreate them long ago."
"Indeed. It would be worth researching even if it drained the Empire's entire annual budget. If only we had a single clue."
"It really is that valuable, after all."
Henry had said, "At a conservative estimate, a threefold increase in combat strength."
For an empire defined as a nation of warriors, continually waging campaigns of conquest, nothing was more vital.
Henry had spoken of the annual budget, but it was worth throwing the entire nation's wealth into uncovering it.
Throughout history, countless emperors had brought ruin upon their lands and themselves in pursuit of immortality.
A potion was an essential asset for the Empire that rivaled—no, far surpassed—such foolish pursuits.
"Even so, without a single clue to go on, there is nothing we can do."
"Yes……"
"There are tens of thousands of volumes in the imperial palace library, but……"
"……"
Henry quietly shook his head.
I figured as much.
The imperial palace library held a collection of the finest, most vital knowledge in existence across the world.
Even with all that, it wasn't there.
...Well, if it were, someone would have reproduced it ages ago.
There were no clues to be found.
At least, that was the case under normal circumstances.
However, one possibility crossed my mind.
"Henry, do you know of Leviathan?"
"Pardon……? Are you referring to Your Majesty's magic sword?"
Henry asked cautiously.
Leviathan—originally Leviathan.
When the Crown Prince first presented it, Henry had been present as well.
Come to think of it, we have known each other for a long time.
Because he was aware that the original Leviathan had evolved into its current Leviathan form, he gave a measured response.
"No, not that one. Do you know of anything else by that name?"
"…………—!"
After tilting his head in thought, realization struck Henry like a bolt of lightning.
"The Silver Age!?"
"Correct. Leviathan, one of the Four Sages from the Silver Age."
"Could it be!?"
I gave a small nod.
I hadn't asked her directly, but I was certain of it.
That mysterious voice I had heard before in that dreamlike realm.
Lutye becoming Bahamut.
And Leviathan awakening into her true form.
With each confirmation, my conviction had only deepened.
Leviathan, one of the Four Sages, was this very Leviathan.
And that led directly to another truth.
"Leviathan."
I raised my hand and summoned her.
The humanoid, otherworldly figure of Leviathan manifested and knelt before me.
"Did you summon me, my lord?"
"Answer me. Were you present during the era when recovery magic still existed?"
"Yes. I lent my strength to the Emperor of that era."
"Ohh……"
Henry gasped in admiration.
Being as sharp as he was, he caught on immediately.
Knowledge of recovery magic and potions, completely lost to history and absent from every book in existence—
He instantly realized that it resided right inside the mind of the living witness kneeling before us.
"Incredible……"
Henry looked at me with profound reverence as I prepared to draw out that lost lore.
"You know about potions as well, don't you?"
"Yes."
"Tell me."
"Within the earth, there exist pathways of magical power known as 'dragon veins.'"
"Dragon veins."
I echoed the words under my breath, rolling them across my tongue.
It was a term I had never heard in my life.
I glanced at Henry, asking him with a look if he recognized it.
Snapping back to his senses, Henry shook his head.
Turning back to Leviathan, I pressed further.
"What are these dragon veins?"
"They are, in a manner of speaking, rivers of magical power. Beginning as faint trickles, they merge into tributaries, flow into the main current, and eventually empty into the great ocean."
"……So as that gathered magical power condenses, it takes physical form?"
"As expected of my lord. Precisely so."
I carefully turned Leviathan's words over in my mind.
"In other words, do these dragon veins no longer exist today?"
"Yes. With a single exception, every dragon vein has been severed and run dry."
"A single exception? One still remains?"
"It would be more accurate to say it has been revived."
"Where is it?"
"Almeria, the provincial capital of Nisir."
"……What?"
It caught me completely off guard.
I had expected the name of some remote frontier or a sacred, forgotten land, but contrary to all expectations, she named a place intimately familiar to me.
It was my former fief from my days as an imperial prince; I had even lived there and governed it for a time.
"Dragon veins are the lifeblood of the earth. And life is water."
"Water."
"That land had withered as well, but in recent years, it has begun to revive."
"Water…… Revive……?"
I pinched my chin, deep in thought.
Then, Henry chimed in from the side.
"Could it be because Your Majesty developed the special-grade waterways?"
"That is correct."
Leviathan nodded serenely.
"……"
For once, I was left completely speechless by something so entirely unforeseen.
"Incredible... Truly, Your Majesty never ceases to amaze."
Meanwhile, Henry's awe only continued to deepen.