Chapter 458: Science and Magic

"It’s not that much grunt work. This isn’t a factory assembly line," Ron said, shaking his head as he placed test tubes filled with various bodily fluids back into another box in order. "I need your help to replicate the effects of certain instruments. If you can, the work will be much easier and more efficient."

Jilannis didn’t answer immediately. Only after she, Ron, and the Half-Elf arrived at her laboratory did she slowly speak:

"I don’t understand the theories from your world."

"You two get started, I’ll go to my place and bring my tools over!" Lavinia assumed Ron wanted the Alchemy Equipment from her workshop.

"Those are useful, but not precise enough," Ron said, glancing at the departing Lavinia. "It’s okay if you don’t understand. I’ll explain it to you."

"The principles don’t have to be exactly the same, so long as it achieves the intended effect. As for the most convenient way to do so, that’s for you to decide."

Pharmacy wasn’t just about medicinal ingredients and chemical formulas. The various instruments were equally important—perhaps even more so. After all, they were a constant throughout the entire process.

But Ron wasn’t about to demand identical equipment. There was no time to just whip up a power plant, after all. Any part Magic could handle, he’d let Magic handle—it would be an absolute waste of resources not to use a top-tier Grand Mage.

And what’s more, this Grand Mage could... perform mitosis on herself.

Almost at the same moment Ron prepared to explain, the face on the Moon Elf’s shoulder began to squirm. As illusory threads connecting the two Jilannises snapped one by one, the face on the armored gauntlet quickly morphed into another, complete Jilannis. This one wore a Mage Robe instead of Warrior Clothing. She stood before Ron, the life in her eyes proving she was no puppet, but a separate, individual being.

"You can start talking now," the new Jilannis said. She wore no armored gauntlet, but as she beckoned with her hand, the Weaving Introduction immediately returned to her side, temporarily serving as her medium for Casting. "I’ll have an easier time understanding you than she will."

Ron nodded. "You aren’t complete novices, so I won’t start with the basic theory. The first instrument I need has to be able to perform a specific type of chromatography: high-pressure liquid chromatography, or as it’s also known, high-performance liquid chromatography..."

"Using a liquid as the mobile phase, a high-pressure delivery system pumps a mobile phase—which can be a single solvent with varying polarity, a mixture of solvents in different ratios, or a buffer solution—into a chromatographic column packed with a stationary phase..."

As Ron spoke the words, the hands of the two Jilannises immediately began sketching a model of the instrument. Its shape was vastly different from the HPLC machine Ron knew, but to an expert eye, the principles were what mattered. By observing the operating patterns of the model demonstrated by the two—or rather, the *one*—Moon Elf, Ron could immediately tell that this instrument would achieve the desired effect!

This was something only the current and future versions of him could accomplish. The Ron of the past, despite possessing the same theoretical knowledge, had lacked proficiency in the Magic Domain. In that situation, even if Jilannis could have chosen the most effective method of implementation, it would have been all for naught if Ron couldn’t understand it.

Interdisciplinary studies, indeed. Two "specialists" who knew too little about each other’s fields couldn’t create any synergy at all. Only by having a decent understanding of multiple fields could one truly maximize the advantages of an interdisciplinary approach.

The Ron of the past couldn’t have managed it, but the Ron of today was a perfect fit for the job!

"Would it be better to alter that pathway slightly? Because later, we’ll need to..." As a Grand Mage, Jilannis had no need to search for materials to build the instruments. As her two selves cast their spells, all sorts of suitable materials were created out of thin air. They were then processed and modified according to Ron’s suggestions and requests, as if the materials had a life of their own.

Returning with an armful of basic instruments, Lavinia stood wide-eyed at the door, watching this amazing scene, utterly entranced.

These instruments were unlike any Ron knew; Magic surged within them as a power source, and projections of words and numbers danced above them. When Ron took a small sample to run a test, the long string of digits after the decimal point made even his eyes widen in shock!

"This... Can it really be this precise?" Ron raised his head somewhat stiffly, looking at the Moon Elf. He immediately had Jilannis help him create several more different, but equally necessary, instruments. After testing them, the results once again left Ron parched with excitement!

He had gone into this with an "as long as it works" mentality. Although with his current understanding he was fully aware of Jilannis’s power, he was still utterly astonished to see this equipment brought to life before him.

Instruments with this level of precision were no cheap items in his world. For some, it wasn’t even a question of money!

"My being here to help isn’t about money, either."

Perceiving Ron’s thoughts, the Jilannis wearing the armored gauntlet said nothing, but her other self rolled her eyes. "Putting other things aside, the cost of creating materials with a single use of Prayer Magic isn’t something just anyone can afford!"

"But this is also thanks to you," the first Jilannis said with a slight smile, ignoring her other self. "Your knowledge is part of a complete, systematic framework. It only needs minor adjustments to work here. If it were just so-called ’rules of thumb’ or a craft like that of a Ghost Witch, I would be powerless to help."

"My apologies, I misspoke. My fault." Ron hadn’t really been paying attention to what Jilannis was saying; he’d only caught a hint of complaint in her tone and offered a reflexive apology. He could barely contain his excitement. Ron licked his dry lips, ready to move on to the next phase. "Miss Lavinia, could you please put the Alchemy Equipment over here!"

"Everything is in place! Time to get to work!"

"Coming!" The Half-Elf shook herself from the awe Jilannis’s Magic had instilled in her and hurried closer. "Ron, I have to remind you, it’s already night. There are only two or three hours left before the seven-day countdown begins."

From her perspective, seven days was far too short a time to develop a brand-new remedy.

This remedy didn’t just need to cure the plague; it also had to prevent patients from relapsing for a period of time. That was the true crux of the problem. On her way to get her things, Lavinia had run through potential formulas in her head time and again, but had yet to find a single lead.

"It’s fine." Ron was practically vibrating with excitement, his eyes glued to the magical instruments whirring to life. "Seven days... is more than enough!"

Knowledge of Pharmacy and the theories of Magic were constantly being sorted, segmented, blended, and reassembled in his mind, eventually forming a vague outline. But when the data from the instruments was factored in, it was as if a fog had been lifted from that outline, allowing the details to come into sharp focus.

"Based on our current resources, to neutralize the plague component of this so-called ’Demon Plague,’ I have three possible solutions... And as for dispelling the magical component, I have six!" Ron raised a hand, grabbing a medicinal ingredient. After a quick preparation, he fed it into the first instrument!