Ch. 1: The Laboratory of Prince Sakia
Kingdom of Morfan in the Land of Poison, Month of Shadow…-
A silent darkness enveloped the night.
I had taken up Prince Sakia’s invitation after I’d awakened him and arrived in Morfan in the Land of Poison.
(Such a gloomy castle…I wonder if anyone is actually here.)
The invitation had the word ‘laboratory’ written on it, and I didn’t see anyone as I walked down the hall.
(The invitation said laboratory, but what does that mean?)
Following the hallway, I discovered a door wrapped in ivy. There was a nameplate on it that said ‘Sakia Laboratory’.
(This is the place?)
I knocked and heard a thin voice from inside.
Sakia: “Yes…you can come in…”
(…is it really okay?)
I entered nervously, and inside the room was a vast variety of cultivated plants.
(This is Prince Sakia’s lab? It looks kind of like a botanical garden.)
Sakia: “Ah…welcome… I have my hands full right now…so you can find somewhere to sit over there…”
OO: “O…okay”
Prince Sakia spoke without looking at me, his eyes eagerly fixated on a test tube.
OO: “Um, is this…?”
Sakia: “My work area…my laboratory… You came down…because you saw the plate…”
Looking closely, I realized the lab wasn’t filled with just plants, but also strange equipment and chemicals.
(Seems like…I’ve come to an interesting place.)
In the silence, strong scents tickled my nose, and I watched for a while as Prince Sakia joyfully continued his experiment.
Ch. 2: Poison Researcher
Time passed after I had entered Prince Sakia’s lab.
His hands moved about, busy as ever, as he continued to mix something.
(I wonder if there’s anything I can do to help…)
I began to feel uncomfortable in the silence…
Sakia: “Um…”
OO: “Y-yes!”
I leapt up from my seat when he suddenly spoke to me.
Sakia: “I have a request from the king I need to hurry on… …I have until tomorrow to mix…several varieties of poisons.”
(P-poison…!? Oh right, this is the Land of Poison…)
OO: “I-is that so…”
Sakia: “…but I don’t have…much time…I want you to help me a little… can you gather…what’s written on this note for me…?”
OO: “Y-yes…!”
He suddenly asked me to do a favor for him, and I went over to the plants.
(He asked for help but…I wonder if I can do it.)
OO: “Let’s see…”
On the note was a picture of a plant, with all its characteristics carefully written down.
(This? The red fruits look delicious…)
The plant had little clusters of large leaves, and attached to those were many small red fruits.
I reached out my hand to pick a fruit and…
OO: “…!”
Suddenly, something gripped my arm.
OO: “Prince Sakia…!”
Sakia: “…I forgot to say but…that’s highly poisonous dogwood…Touch it barehanded…you’ll get a rash……eat it…and you’ll die…”
OO: “D-die…?”
I reflexively retracted my arm and stepped back from the plant.
Sakia: “Thinking about it…it was dangerous…to ask a normal person to help……sorry…I shouldn’t ask that…of a girl…”
Prince Sakia looked at me, appearing to be a little dejected.
Sakia: “I was so absorbed…it seems I…just asked for a favor of an assistant…I’ll do it…”
Saying so, Prince Sakia used a gloved hand and carefully began to harvest the buds of the poison dogwood.
OO: “U-um…”
OO: “I’m sorry too…that I couldn’t help.”
Sakia: “Eh…?”
OO: “Nothing happened, so I’m fine. You don’t need to worry.”
OO: “Is there anything else I can do?”
Sakia: “…you don’t blame me…? …I put you in danger…”
OO: “I wouldn’t blame you…Would you tell me more about poisons? That way I can help you out properly.”
Sakia: “…”
Prince Sakia stopped harvesting and stared at me.
Sakia: “You’re a strange girl…people usually dislike…helping with poison making… But…alright…thanks…a lot. Also…you don’t need…to speak so formally…around me…”
Saying so, Prince Sakia lifted his head a little and scratched his nose.
(I wonder what’s wrong. He won’t look at me…)
OO: “Um, Prince Sakia?”
Sakia: “…just Sakia…is fine.”
Prince Sakia…Sakia continued to show me the leaves of the poison dogwood as he spoke.
Sakia: “…in some ways the plant can be used as medicine, and in other ways as poison……the poison dogwood is quite…beautiful to look at but…In this land it’s known as…one of the three most poisonous plants.”
OO: “The three most poisonous?”
Sakia: “Right, in this land…you have to be careful…because there are a lot of dangerous things…”
Sakia turned his face away as he handed me a pair of gloves.
(He’s…teaching me.)
Sakia watched closely as I put on the gloves he had given me, and this time I carefully reached out to harvest the poison dogwood.
Ch. 3: I Am Poison
In the forest overgrown with poisonous plants…
With Sakia in the lead, we went deeper into the forest.
(There are so many strange plants…)
In front of us were enormous plants growing taller than me.
Sakia: “Ah…careful…this one’s poisonous too…”
Sakia moved forward and lifted up the poisonous leaves that were hanging overhead, using his arm to protect me.
OO: “I-isn’t the poisonous plant touching your arm Sakia…?”
Sakia: “…I’m used to it…it’s fine… Seventy percent of his forest is made up of poisonous plants after all…”
OO: “S-seventy percent…!?”
Sakia: “Yeah…the climate and topography here…is suited for growing various poisonous plants. Father…the king sells the poison made from these plants…to other provinces… Until the land is peaceful and doesn’t need poisons…”
OO: “Sakia…what do you think?”
Sakia: “Hmmm…I… …
(…Sakia?)
As Sakia slipped into silence, I didn’t know what he was thinking…
OO: “Do you make all the poisons Sakia?”
Sakia: “Yeah…though at this point, everyone…knows how to make the mixtures. The method…was something I researched…so it’s like I make everything. Though for me…it’s fine…if I only do the research…”
However, Sakia’s voice seemed as if it was sinking into sadness.
The next day was beautifully clear…
I was strolling in the palace gardens, bathed in the warm sunlight, and I found Sakia standing in the shade of a tree.
(Huh…? He seems kind of unsteady…)
OO: “Good afternoon Sakia. What’s wrong? You don’t look well…”
Sakia: “Ah…morning…OO. And why is this sunlight so bright… Working through the night is difficult…”
OO: “A-all night?”
Sakia: “Yeah…I suddenly got a large commission…from Father… While I was absorbed in mixing…dawn came…”
While Sakia smiled, I saw the leaves of the poison dogwood in his hand.
OO: “Good work…ah, aren’t those the leaves of the poison dogwood?”
Sakia: “Right…you remembered…”
OO: “Because you taught it to me yesterday…and that if you’ll die if you eat it.”
Sakia: “Ahaha, right right…you’ll die…”
(When he laughs like that…)
I was a little surprised, and then I felt the stare of some of the maids.
Maid 1: “Look at that! L-lord Sakia is…having a conversation with another person!”
Maid 2: “You’re right…! To think someone would talk to that eccentric prince…”
I heard them whispering.
(Eccentric…)
I looked over my shoulder, and the maids looked a little surprised before they left in a hurry.
Sakia: “Sorry…just by talking to me…you’ll be…treated like an outcast…”
OO: “I-I don’t mind! Besides, I really like talking to you Sakia.”
Sakia: “…y-you do…!?”
OO: “Yes! I didn’t know anything…about poisons before.”
Sakia: “You’re the first person…to say…something like that…”
Sakia looked down and scratched his nose.
(Huh…Sakia’s ears are red…is he embarrassed?)
As Sakia scratched his nose, I noticed his hand was a little red and swollen.
OO: “Sakia, the back of your hand…it’s swollen. Are you okay?”
Sakia: “Yeah…I just got touched by a potent poison when I was mixing…now that you mention it, I didn’t take care of it…”
Sakia methodically picked some wild grasses growing on the bank and placed them on the back of his hand.
(It looks painful…)
OO: “Sakia…I know your work is important, but you should take better care of yourself too, ok?”
I began to worry as I looked at the swelling.
Sakia: “Important…work…”
OO: “…eh?”
Sakia: “The poisons I make…are sold to other lands around the world… The fighting continues…so we sell more poisons…My poisons…inflict pain…on the people out there. But I keep making them…even though I know that…”
(…Sakia?)
Sakia: “Even if the wounds are healed with medicine…I can’t cleanse…the doubts… in my heart. I began to feel…that I’m … like a poison.”
As Sakia spoke quietly, his profile seemed so very sad, and it made my chest tighten painfully.
(Does he…hate making poisons?)
OO: “That’s not true…Sakia, didn’t you tell me before?
You said…that plants can be used in some ways to make poisons, but in other ways to make medicine. So, if you look at it another way, it could become either a poison or a medicine, right?”
Sakia: “OO…?”
OO: “That’s why…even if the poisons you make hurt people…I don’t think you can limit it to just that.”
OO: “Sakia…then, what about trying to make medicine?”
Sakia: “OO…?”
OO: “You said it yesterday…you said…that plants can be used in some ways to make poisons, but in other ways to make medicine. So, couldn’t the plants you’re always harvesting become medicine too?”
(I’m sure Sakia could make any kind of medicine…)
I spoke in desperation, finding it too difficult to look at Sakia’s sorrowful expression.
OO: “Sorry, I said all that even though I don’t really know about poisons…”
Sakia: “…thanks…”
Sakia smiled kindly, and gently took my hand.
Sakia: “…you’re a very kind person…”
(He’s smiling…)
(His hand…is warm.)
I smiled too as I held onto that warmth.
Ch. 4: A Gentle Poison
The next day…
In the gentle sunlight that filtered through the trees, Sakia and I had gone out into the forest to pick wildflowers for research materials.
Sakia: “The poisonous plants to get today are…andromeda, sophora…and lily-of-the-valley.”
(Lily-of-the-valley?)
OO: “Lily-of-the-valley is poisonous?”
Sakia: “Yes…we have to do things with it to sell it…because it’s no good to just look at it…but it’s a beautiful poisonous plant…The root in particular…contains a lot of a component for a deadly poison. There’s a story…in a book I read…about a child who mistakenly drank the water from … the vase a lily was growing in and died…”
OO: “Oh…”
(I didn’t know something like the lily-of-the-valley was poisonous.)
Sakia: “Well…even if you have a lethal does…it doesn’t have the same potency…as poison dogwood.”
While Sakia spoke, we picked several white lilies that were growing at our feet.
Sakia: “Alright, let’s go…”
As we went back the way we came…
I saw a squirrel that looked as if it was about to eat the root of an unburried lily.
(No, don’t…)
I instantly turned towards the squirrel…
OO: “Ah…”
The grass wrapped around my feet and I fell.
OO: “…!!”
A dull pain spread through my ankle, and it began to tingle painfully.
(I twisted it…)
Sakia: “What’s wrong…?”
OO: “Nothing, I just fell…”
I was relieved as I saw the squirrel dash away in fright.
Sakia: “I wonder if it thought…the ones we dug up were nuts… Seems like you saved it…are you okay?”
Sakia gently examined my ankle.
OO: “Yeah…sorry.”
Sakia: “We should hurry and treat it…otherwise, it’ll swell…wait here…”
Sakia quickly mixed some wild plants together and rubbed the medicinal concoction on my leg.
OO: “Thanks, you’re amazing Sakia.”
Sakia: “I’m used to mixing…it’s no big deal…”
Sakia spoke so bluntly, and I saw his ears turn red. A smile escaped my lips.
Sakia: “Th-this is…a mixture of the poisonous plants…I mentioned before…andromeda and sophora… The color is kind of sinister…but it’ll work immediately…so…just…hold on…”
OO: “…okay.”
Sakia’s slender fingers gently rubbed my ankle, and it twitched.
(Ouch…)
Sakia: “Are you alright…!? Does it hurt…?”
OO: “No, I’m fine…”
(He’s treating it for me, so I have to endure…)
Sakia: “In the case of needing potent medicine…medicinal herbs…the most effective thing is…a mixture of poisonous plants…”
OO: “So poison can be turned into medicine after all.”
Sakia: “Poison…and medicine…”
His hand that was rubbing my ankle suddenly froze.
OO: “Sakia?”
Sakia: “Poison can become medicine too… I wonder…if I continue my research…if my poisons will one day be medicine… What do you think…?”
OO: “Yes, I think it’ll become medicine! I mean, you just made some medicine for me, didn’t you?”
Sakia: “Medicine…not poisons that hurt people…but medicines that save…”
OO: “Hmmm…it’s true that medicine can come from poisons…But regardless of whether or not the people working on it could properly make medicine, I wonder… if the poison wouldn’t remain as poison.”
Sakia: “Yeah…that’s true.”
Saying that, Sakia lifted me up in his arms.
OO: “S-Sakia!?”
His unexpected strength made my heart skip a beat.
Sakia: “…this was only…temporary first aid…”