The Choice Between Honesty and Safety

Sitting alone in his chair and staring at the cauldron before him, Manus pondered a question.

For now, the theory he had just summarized was undoubtedly correct, but that raised another issue.

The theory he had arrived at applied to all of Potions. In other words, it worked for both ordinary potion brewing and advanced potion brewing, rather than being the difference between ordinary and advanced potions that Aunt Eileen had described.

Of course, Manus knew this was the answer he had been looking for.

The reason it differed from Aunt Eileen's description was probably that the changes in those characteristic symbols during the brewing of ordinary potions were too simple. Even if one rigidly followed the steps, it would only make the potion less perfect rather than cause the brew to fail outright.

Thus, in the eyes of wizards, ordinary potions did not follow this rule. Only when brewing advanced potions did one need to grasp it.

So the question he truly needed to consider was this: since the core theory of Potions actually applied to all of Potions, only manifesting in such a way that advanced potions were the only ones that required mastery of this core principle...

What about Charms?

Aunt Eileen had once tried to use Charms Core Theory to help him understand Potions Core Theory. Could the reverse be true as well?

After all, the core theory of Potions he had summarized was, at its root, connected to the Emotion Theory of Charms.

Both drew upon the power of the mind. They could be considered a defining feature and commonality of this world's magical system.

Then the core theory of Charms should likewise apply to all spells.

Yet Charms Core Theory was not nearly as complicated to perceive. Wizards might be unable to sense the characteristic symbols activated and fused within a potion, but could they really fail to notice their own emotions?

If this core theory also worked on ordinary spells, there was no reason for the wizards who had summarized the rule to overlook ordinary spells.

"Are the required emotions too faint for the difference to be obvious, or is there some other reason?"

Manus made a note of it, intending to verify it when he studied Charms later. Then he returned to considering how he should respond to Aunt Eileen.

As for Potions Core Theory, he had indeed figured it out. But should he tell Aunt Eileen?

If he told her, the benefit would be making him seem even more of a genius. The downside was that such a display would be too genius, too conspicuous. It would be easy for others to take notice of him.

After all, according to Aunt Eileen, so many Potions masters had failed to summarize this point.

Manus was somewhat doubtful of that. From what he could see so far, Potions Core Theory was not particularly difficult to deduce. There was no reason that so many Potions masters could not see it.

If he had not deduced it incorrectly, then there had to be another reason why other Potions masters had failed to formulate this theory.

Perhaps they simply did not want anyone to know?

After all, collective perception could, strictly speaking, be altered. Once the perception of the ingredients in certain precious potions was changed, those recipes would become useless.

There might of course be some other reason, but there was no doubt that making this theory public would put many precious potion recipes at risk. Whoever did it would definitely earn a great deal of resentment.

On top of that, being too conspicuous might invite an attack from the Death Eaters. That would clearly make Manus's hopes of safely getting through this period of growth increasingly precarious.

It could be said that doing so had countless drawbacks, while the benefits could not even be considered wholly beneficial.

And if he concealed it...

He could preserve a stable life, but that raised the question of whether concealing this theory would cost him his qualifications as a protagonist by violating "honesty."

After thinking for a moment, Manus shook his head.

The fate of a protagonist was certainly tempting, tempting enough that he was willing to give up complete future stability to face the trials a protagonist had to confront. But that was contingent on him having developed first—at the very least, he needed sufficient ability to protect himself.

This world's magical rules favored him greatly. His magic was enhanced not only by his physical body and bloodline, but also by the spirit strengthened through meditation.

It would not take too long. So long as he could openly access Charms, three years would be enough for him to complete the testing and adjustments for the differences in spellcasting between worlds.

And counting from now, the magic he would accumulate over at least three years would also be enough to ensure his own safety.

But right now... even if the trials facing a protagonist were not certain death, it was not worth truly entrusting his safety to fate for their sake.

I hope this doesn't violate "honesty." After all, this counts as a white lie, right?

Besides, the fact that this world's rules conformed to the rules of Fairy-Tale Magic was merely one of his highly probable conjectures, one that had yet to be disproven.

At that thought, Manus's gaze slowly turned resolute. He stepped forward and reached for the remaining portion of potion ingredients before Aunt Eileen.

"Manus? What are you doing?!"

Mrs. Eileen, who had been teaching Severus nearby, immediately noticed Manus's actions. Strictly speaking, Severus's progress mostly consisted of memorizing the effects of those potion ingredients.

The reason Severus had been brought in to attend lessons with Manus was, as Eileen had said, merely to create an atmosphere for studying.

With your good friend actively taking lessons beside you and your mother watching from the front, you couldn't exactly refuse to study, could you? Even if you just sat there staring at the book, you still had to make it through the lesson!

"Aunt Eileen, I want to try."

Mrs. Eileen froze for a moment, then nodded hesitantly.

"All right. You do it. I'll watch."

So Manus had... made progress?

With both doubt and anticipation, Mrs. Eileen watched Manus work. Every step at the beginning was almost identical to her own, and even his timing was extraordinarily similar.

Seeing this, Mrs. Eileen frowned slightly. If this was all he did... he would not be able to brew a Draught of Living Death.

Just as Mrs. Eileen expected, the brewing sequence was the same, and so were the operations. By the time Sopophorous Bean Juice was added to the cauldron, the potion had still not completely turned pale lilac.

Mrs. Eileen watched throughout, but she did not intervene. Unless something directly ruined the potion—such as violent boiling, splashing, or an explosion—only the final product could determine whether a potion had been successfully brewed.

Still, despite that being true, Mrs. Eileen no longer held much hope for Manus's batch of Draught of Living Death, because...

Hm?!

Under Mrs. Eileen's gaze, after stirring the cauldron counterclockwise seven times, Manus suddenly changed direction and stirred clockwise. After making one full turn, he switched back to counterclockwise...

Following Manus's movements, the Draught of Living Death in the cauldron not only showed none of the signs of failure, but instead became a cauldron of pure pale lilac liquid!

At last, once the clear, transparent liquid in the cauldron, as limpid as water, had been bottled, Manus looked at Mrs. Eileen.

"You... succeeded?"

Mrs. Eileen looked dazed.