Chapter 60 - Let's Try Making a Potion!
In this small kingdom, both the King and the citizens were easygoing, and it seemed that even commoners could join the party if invited.
Hasumi, dressed in a pale green dress, felt overwhelmed by the glittering atmosphere around her.
Faras, who did not seem to have any experience with dancing, had been led away by a noble girl and was dancing in the center, relying on instinct. He was simply spinning around, but as far as she could tell, both of them were smiling.
Surprisingly, the knight and the Healer, who claimed to have experience in social gatherings, handled their female partners flawlessly, while taking turns to ensure that one of them was always by Hasumi's side.
All the male companions were good-looking.
Although they were respected as the Hero's Party, she also noticed occasional glances of jealousy directed at Hasumi.
Hasumi looked up at Alois's profile standing next to her, then lowered her gaze.
—I want to go home.
She was extremely tired.
The one who spoke to her in that state was the country's Chancellor.
"Hero, are you enjoying yourself?"
"Yes. The food is very delicious."
She thought she had already exchanged greetings with the Chancellor as soon as the party started.
As she wondered about this, she noticed that the person standing slightly behind the Chancellor had changed. During the earlier greeting, she had been introduced to a stern-looking man with a complicated name like 'Lord Something, Count Something,' but now there was a beautiful young man with blonde hair.
The young man was wearing a white formal outfit. It resembled a three-piece suit, but it was elegantly adorned with gold and small gems. It was likely ceremonial attire. It also looked somewhat like a military uniform. Ten percent of the men in the venue were wearing the same outfit. And about fifty percent of the men were wearing the same design but in gray, which was slightly plainer. She inferred that the color was related to status.
—By the way, who is this person?
It was a bit late to be carefully observing the young man's clothes, but Hasumi thought again.
—I feel like I've seen him somewhere, or maybe not. With such a beautiful face, it seems unlikely I would forget him—.
She had a sense of déjà vu about his blonde hair.
Responding to the girl's inquiring gaze, the Chancellor answered deliberately, "Ah, that's right."
"Allow me to introduce him."
"Yes."
Smiling at the Chancellor, the young man stepped forward.
"I serve as an attendant at the court and work as a mage. You may call me Louis."
At his pleasant voice and gentle atmosphere,
"—!"
Hasumi's face flushed red.
The Chancellor hoped to have Louis accompany the Hero on her journey. It was a common scheme: by doing so, when the Hero's Party defeated the Demon Lord, the country would benefit along with Louis's name.
Elenoa watched the two of them having a conversation: "Yes, if I am acceptable, I will help," "Please take care of us!" and "You are energetic."
"...Sigh."
She was peering into the venue from outside the highest window.
Elenoa rested her hand on the glass, making a difficult face as she recalled the common route of the game.
Since this party also served to introduce the Hero, the Hero had to come forward and dance at least once. She would have to choose one of the capture targets as her partner. There was also the option of leaving the venue to dance with a fairy.
In the direction of Elenoa's gaze, Hasumi and Louis were holding hands and moving to the center. Louis's arm went around Hasumi's waist, and he smiled at the anxious girl, saying, "It's alright."
The two of them, illuminated by the spotlight, looked well-matched.
The protagonist, designed to stand beside the capture targets, looked dazzling to Elenoa's eyes.
It seemed the protagonist had taken a liking to Louis.
Elenoa could not remain calm either.
The one who noticed her state was the knight, Alois, who looked up at her outside the window with a puzzled expression.
Since there was no problem even if the knight found her, Elenoa turned her face away with a "Hmph" and flew off.
Two days after the party, Louis came to the inn where the Hero's Party was preparing to leave the country the next morning. He was wearing a black robe.
Except for Elenoa, everyone had already exchanged greetings at the party, so they lightly said things like "Oh" or "It's been a few days."
Louis looked surprised to see Elenoa on the table—of course, it was an act—and she flew toward him.
"Mr. Mage. I've heard the story."
"...You are a fairy. You were there when the Hero was summoned."
She landed on the hand Louis naturally extended.
"Yep. I'm Elenoa. I guess this means it's been since the Holy City of Kalgina. I'm supposed to be the Hero's helper, so please take care of me."
Their reunion was marked by curt acting. This was something they both understood.
However, even in their exchange pretending to be first acquaintances, they could not hide their emerging joy.
"Yes. I will be in your care starting tomorrow."
And he was the same. The palm-sized weight he felt after a long time softened his moonlight-colored eyes.
*
At noon, when the sun was directly overhead, they met Louis at the border gate.
Then, as if remembering something, he started with an "Ah, that's right," acting as if he had just recalled it.
"Although I am still inexperienced, I am a humble mage. If you have any materials such as various grasses or berries that you can give away, please let me have them. I will refine magic potions at night, so if they are simple ones, I can hand them over in the morning."
This was one of the game systems unlocked in the early stages, 'Louis's Magic Potions.' Although magic potions could be obtained at general stores in town, Louis made them for free. Many of the materials obtained during the journey that 'could not be eaten as they were' were only useful for giving to Louis.
It was a common convenient system.
Elenoa had previously informed Louis of the above information. Meeting Louis's eyes, which seemed to ask, "Is this okay?", Elenoa gave a thumbs up with a "Guh!"
They left the country and moved across the grasslands. Sometimes monsters attacked, sometimes they pitched tents, repeating days of camping outdoors and traveling.
When Louis began to participate in combat, the girls were awed by the power of his magic. Elenoa was an all-rounder focusing on speed, and while the knight, the Healer, and the girl could use simple magic, the magic of a specialist was powerful indeed.
Elenoa was always riding on the girl's shoulder or head.
She had reported Louis's status with lies and deceit.
The small town was surrounded by a forest. Although the name was not in Elenoa's memory, it was a town of the "Ah, yes, that definitely existed" variety.
It was a rest point on the journey with no events or presence.
Hasumi, looking at the roadside on the way to the town, suddenly stopped her feet.
"This..."
With the fairy on her shoulder, Hasumi reached out to the grass by the roadside.
It was a narrow leaf with parallel veins, a particularly bright green among the overgrown grass. It did not grow in clusters but stood alone, popping up, which made it stand out even more. She picked it and held it up to the fairy's eye level.
"Elenoa, please."
"Yep. ...It's a material item.
'Kronia Grass D
Good ones are very rare. It's extremely bitter but not inedible. It's an ingredient for antidotes.
Effect: Cures poison status with a 20% probability.
Selling Price: 10 Kran'... something like that."
"Thank you. Then, Louis, I'll give this to you. ...Is that okay?"
"Yes. Fortunately, it seems Elenoa can distinguish materials usable for magic potions, so if you hand over those you've separated."
Louis accepted the Kronia Grass, saying, "Thank you very much."
Watching that exchange, Elenoa finally realized that they had escaped the 'early game' within the game. Here, the protagonist would become somewhat independent, and afterwards, they would just be swept along by the story... that was the plan. They had one more job to do in the town two stops ahead.
Today, they were finally able to stay in a populated area.
The inn only had single rooms. Although it was expensive, they booked a room for five people, held a meeting to decide their future direction as usual, and night fell immediately.
Elenoa flew out of the window, telling Hasumi, "I'm going to help out a bit."
If she ran into a commoner in the hallway, there would be no escape, so she circled around to her destination from the outside, where there were many blind spots. Checking safe zones like the shadows of potted plants, she knocked on one window. It was the room three doors down from Hasumi's.
With her palm-sized form, the knock might be too quiet. Elenoa boldly hit the window with her palm.
Tap tap!
The sound was far from a proper knock.
After a short wait, the closed dark beige curtains opened smoothly. The person on the other side narrowed their eyes upon seeing Elenoa.
"What brings you here at this late hour?"
It was Louis. He was still wearing his black robe.
"Let me help."
"Help?"
"Yep. Even I am interested in magic and magic potions. Is it okay if I just observe?"
In reality, she was more than just interested. She had practiced compounding with him many times at the castle.
She had deliberately used distant language as a playful act based on the setting that the mage and the fairy were not yet on familiar terms.
Louis softened his expression, moved slightly away from the window, and welcomed her.
"...Please come in."
Elenoa flew in after him.
On the bed, about ten simple bundles wrapped in small hemp cloth and leather cords were rolling around. On the floor, instruments were lined up. Flasks, pottery for holding burning water, a thin small tripod, a mortar and pestle, all of which were familiar to Elenoa.
"Now, what shall we make?"
"Let's start with a potion. Do you remember the ingredients? Those rolling over there are the materials on hand, so can you sniff them out?"
"Yep. Can I bring them to the desk?"
On the small desk of the inn, there were five small plates, a scale, and weights. If the instruments did not fit on the table usable for compounding, Louis prioritized delicate measurement and performed it on the table.
"Yes, please. ...Isn't it difficult at that size?"
"Can I become bigger?"
"It is night, so no one will come visiting purposely."
"I see, understood."
Elenoa grew to human size, skillfully folding her wings against her back. She tied the hem of her white one-piece dress at knee length, exposing her white legs. Louis seemed to want to say something, but remembering the instruments on the floor, he closed his mouth.
Elenoa knelt beside the bed, picked up the ten bundles, and checked their scents without even untying the cords. She chose the ones that made her leak a "Ugh" as soon as she brought them to her nose, and two others, and carried them to the desk.
Louis untied the bundles on the desk, selected about four berries from within, and dropped them into Elenoa's hand, saying, "Please."
He seemed to be starting the preparation of the other two materials. He poured water into the tripod and began heating it using burning water.
Although he had prepared a scale, Louis actually rarely used it. He was accustomed to measuring materials and could measure in milligram units with his fingertips. The artisan's skill was tremendous.
Elenoa sat on the floor and dropped the four berries into the mortar. She began to grind them with familiar movements.
They were immersed in their work in silence.
"I'm done with this side. Please check."
"Oh, that was fast."
Louis, who had transferred the boiled grass to a small plate, took the mortar from Elenoa's hand.
He had apparently washed his hands thoroughly beforehand, and as they were, he picked up the powdered berries with his index finger and thumb.
He examined them, checking the texture with his fingertips. Even for the beloved Elenoa, he made no compromises with medicine.
Not too crushed, not too coarse. Whether the oil had not seeped out unnaturally, whether the scent had not flown away. Confirming these, he muttered, "Yes, perfect." This was one of the few words of praise from Louis as a mage.
"Well, all that's left is extraction. I will do that, so please prepare and measure the antidote."
"Understood. The base?"
"Twenty grams of Kronia Grass. It is what I received earlier, but since it seems to have a strong odor, I would crush iced Mint Lemon... ah, that is not here, my apologies. Pure water alone is fine."
"Can't I put in Mint Milk?"
"That is a novel combination. What is the reason?"
"Kronia Grass is extremely bitter, and Rank D seems to have an even more bitter smell. The ones in Louis's garden were all Rank A or higher, so I could manage somehow, but this is scary. The medicine will become bitter too. If it were me, I'd want to make it a little sweet."
"That is a typical answer from you, but unfortunately. Mint Milk becomes sweet and mellow, but it is toxic, so it is not suitable for an antidote. In the first place, there is no Mint Milk here, is there?"
"...Uu."
Receiving a rejection, Elenoa was depressed. Indeed, only materials obtainable in the early game were here. Mint-type materials could only be obtained from the mid-game onwards at the earliest.
Was her wings looking limp and withered due to the influence of her emotions?
Louis considered the materials and tools on hand and remembered that there were two suitable items.
His voice called out to her depressed back.
"It can't be helped, so shall we put in something you like here?"
"What?"
"Honey and apples."
Hearing that proposal, tension returned to Elenoa's wings. She was a mercenary fairy.
Smiling at the fairy who asked happily, "Is it okay? Is it safe to put in?", Louis warned, "Your hands have stopped."
"The potion's... Rank B, I suppose."
"Rank B?"
"It depends on the quality of the medicinal herbs used. If it's B, it's the highest rank for now."
"I see..."
The medicines at the castle were, after all, all Rank A or higher.
Even if Louis's skill was first-class, if the materials were poor, only something corresponding to that quality could be made. Recalling that in her previous life, D and C were common, this might be superior.
The antidote made next was Rank C.
Three Rank B potions and two antidotes.
He judged that he could not make any more with the materials on hand.
"With this, today's duty is finished," Louis breathed a sigh of relief and politely said to Elenoa, "Good work."
Elenoa looked gloomy and stared at Louis.
"Um, this is just a confirmation, but"
"Yes."
"You won't enter a route with that girl, right? Absolutely, you won't enter, right?"
"What are you saying now. If you don't believe me, just open the status."
"...Hm."
Touching Louis's shoulder, she opened the status. Looking at the affection level, it remained '--'.
"It's more convenient if Louis is liked by the Hero, right? So, without entering Louis's route, you'll drag it out to the end without entering anyone's route... The Normal End is safer, right?"
"That is the story."
The 'Normal End,' where no one's route is entered, was essentially a Bad End where no one except the Demon Lord survived.
In the final battle with the Demon Lord, when the Demon Lord's HP was reduced by a certain amount, a scene determining life and death would inevitably occur.
To survive, one needed the other character's 'feelings,' that is, 'love' for the protagonist.
"I still... can't die... for Hasumi's sake..." or "Because I promised!" The lines differed by character, but only after a miraculous awakening through the bond between the protagonist and the hero could they finally defeat the Demon Lord.
If they had not entered anyone's route, there would be no such last-ditch chance.
No one would awaken, and they would be killed as they were; that was the Normal End with no partner.
Both Louis and Elenoa were aiming for that.
It would be troublesome if the protagonist activated their protagonist correction.
In the first place, Elenoa had summoned the Hero because she was tired of the current situation where "the Hero comes to the Demon Lord's Castle and self-destructs." And Louis was tired of it too.
They expected to crush the protagonist of this world squarely on the designated route, hoping for changes in their daily life.
Elenoa hid her anxiety and smiled.
She let go of Louis's hand and gently created distance.
"Well, I'm going home. Good work."
Louis listened to those words with a puzzled look. Elenoa did not think she had said anything strange, but Louis had a face that said it was unexpected.
"Are you going home? Even though you have a private room."
He took off his black robe and hung it on the back of the chair.
Elenoa understood what he meant.
"I just came to see you for a bit..."
"Please do not hold back."
Taking off the robe meant removing the face of the mage Louis Stylus. In other words, it was a silent declaration that from now on, he would interact with her privately, not for work.
The fingers loosening his shirt collar were strangely seductive.
And smiling, he approached steadily, driving Elenoa toward the door. He, of course, understood that a fairy who kept her ability to become human-sized a secret could not go out into the hallway.
—Ah, no, I'm definitely done for.
Pinned with hands on both sides, she engaged in reality escape, acting cool with thoughts like, "Is this the rumored wall slam?" But that was also futile effort.
Her wings, hanging from her back, were traced with exquisite precision, touching or almost touching.
"Ah...!"
She was weak to being touched on the back of her wings and their base.
She covered her mouth, which had leaked a voice, with the back of one hand.
"Your wings are sensitive as always. Not limited to wings, though."
"Don't say, embarrassing, things, ...hyah, ah."
"I want to see your embarrassed face?"
"U, bad taste...!"
This was bad. Seriously bad. Feeling that she would be 'eaten' in a different sense if this continued, Elenoa twisted her body desperately.
"It has been long. To be separated this much..." Even if she made such a sorrowful voice, the light dwelling in his eyes was only the bewitching glow of a hunter.
The hand touching her wings descended to her waist. Additionally, if asked "Is it okay?", the answer would be either "Yes," "Please," or "As you wish."
Considering that this was likely an eighteen-rated worldview, she could resign herself to it.
"...If you leave, marks, don't... okay?"
Elenoa responded and grasped Louis's clothes.
"...I feel like I've heard the same thing before."
"Really?"
"Yes."
While Elenoa was pressed against the door, their couple time began quietly.
While kissing, Louis's one hand toyed with her wings, checking her body over her clothes.
"Nn, nn, ...fu, ah."
Louis liked Elenoa's clinging hands. He liked her desperate face enduring shame, grabbing the other's chest or sleeves. However, he also liked pressing those wrists against the wall or sheets. The way she surrendered to pleasure, looking anxious and unable to move, was indescribable.
Releasing her lips, he reached for the clothes of her, who was leaning against the door.
"Elie..."
Louis whispered his wife's name. Pulling her lowered waist closer, he shifted her white shoulder strap and placed a kiss on her neck—,
and, at that moment.
'Excuse me, are you already asleep?'
A voice came.
From outside the door behind Elenoa.
'Louis? Hmm, that's strange... Is he sleeping... But Elenoa hasn't returned...'
Next, a leisurely knock was heard.
The room was silent to the point of pain.
Elenoa retreated from his loosened arms. She moved away from the door, became fairy-sized, and hid inside the bed.
Louis, whose arms had lost their place holding something soft, let out a dry laugh.
"At the castle, there were no interruptions."
Really, what should he do about this Hero?