Episode 10
I walked around more leisurely to get acquainted with the road and arrived at the store I was aiming for.
“Fortunately, it’s in place.”
The signage is the same as in the game.
A studio with the mark of a cat with two heads.
‘Carrot’s Alchemy Workshop’
“Is this the alchemist’s workshop?”
“As an alchemist, you can trade potions as long as you get a permit.”
Although each shop is different, they will also buy it here.
Let’s sell it right away.
As I opened the door and entered, I took a sneak peek inside the store to check.
Items made with alchemy and various potions. As if to prove that the owner of the store is a skilled alchemist, the display stands are full.
“welcome! customer!”
And there was a woman who was afraid to enter and greeted her warmly.
This woman in a gown that smells like medicine is the owner of this workshop.
Carrot Cherente.
“hmm! hmm! Are you a student at the academy? And the companions… … .”
I was wearing a school uniform, so it was easy to identify, but I could clearly see her thinking about Emily’s existence with her.
“… … lover?”
“Maybe a slave? Which do you think?”
When Emily responded in a playful way, she seemed to somehow understand, “Ah… … .” and admire a little.
Why do you understand
There’s no reason to make unnecessary noise, so let’s pass it.
“What product are you looking for? We also sell potions and ingredients. Or else… … They also handle good medicine for that, right?”
“Hey. What do you recommend?”
I wanted to ask, ‘What kind of medicine?’, but I shook my head.
The thing is simple.
And about that drug sometime later.
“I’m here to sell, not to buy.”
“yes?”
“I hope to purchase the self-made potion. Are you buying?”
At that moment I saw
“… … Chit.”
From a smile filled with all the kindness in the world, it changed to a cold gaze, as if looking at a drunkard who had stumbled into the store.
Aha, this is the difference between a guest and a grandson.
Somehow, I realized it.
“It’s good.”
With a limp gait, she returns to the counter, sits violently in a chair, opens a drawer under the counter, and retrieves a smoke pipe.
Even openly smoked.
No, do you have guests?
“Hey.”
“Kid, our store doesn’t handle items brought by kids.”
He waved his hand as if to turn it off.
what? Where did the kind alchemist sister go? did you shift?
I’m liking the blatant attitude.
I really like this person
“I don’t know who came after listening to it, but at my store, they don’t handle things that kids made with practice.”
I bet you do.
When dealing with places other than the academy, if the quality of an item is below a certain level, the price will go down.
“Why?”
“You have to buy clumsy things to end up throwing them away. You know what would happen if you bought something like that?”
The world never goes smoothly.
It is said that medicine is precious, but it cannot be traded so poorly that a guy who does not know where it is made carelessly makes it.
“I don’t know which kid heard it, but to do business with a store in the commercial district, you have to bring a proper letter of introduction.”
“I guess so.”
I know.
As I’ve mentioned before, delivery trades are opened in-game as well, from the moment I was properly introduced to the seniors at the academy.
“But it is not a written rule. If you have to argue, it doesn’t mean that you should take care of yourself because there is no point in bringing it unless you are good enough to be introduced anyway.”
“You speak well. In short, are you confident in your skills?”
“At least I think it’s worth the money. of course… … It’s at the student’s level.”
He speaks confidently, yet quietly and humbly, without being intimidated in the slightest.
“More than anything else, I was convinced when I saw this store.”
“ok?”
“Are all the items displayed here made by Mr. Carrot?”
“What about that?”
“Just by looking at these, I could tell how much you care about the things you handle.”
It’s a lie.
I can’t see it How do I know if this is a good thing or a bad thing?
“I’ve been to a few stores, and even the crude ones are overpriced.”
“Oh~! Is it Hans’ shop?”
I don’t know. it’s a lie
“I don’t even know the name. But Mr. Carrot tends to care about this, don’t you?”
Of course, I had figured out her tendencies through the game.
I didn’t choose this store for nothing.
‘Because in the game, if you raise your affinity through communication or gifts, the conversation flow will change or a secret shop will be opened.’
Well, even if that’s not the case, people get embarrassed when they receive compliments.
Carrot, in particular, is weak in that respect.
“Even the professors at the academy think this part is lax, but it really feels like I’ve met a proper technician.”
“… … Is that so?”
In addition to praising, the content that criticizes the professors of the academy is mainly a favored command.
Just praise the important things, but be careful not to mention the past.
“… … wow.”
Meanwhile, Emily, who had noticed my inner thoughts behind my back, was stunned and suppressed a laugh.
What does that look mean?
“Yes, it seems that the little boy has eyes to see. I guess there is a future.”
Because there is no such thing as eyes to see.
Okay, buy my potion quickly.
“You seem like a bit of a budding guy… … Please take a look at the smallest things.”
“If you don’t like it, you can throw it away, no complaints.”
I took out the potion bottle I brought and put it on the counter.
“Is it a mana potion… … . Right. that hair color. It was a black magic class. Guy Daniel, after making a fuss about wanting some new students to come in, he finally got his wish.”
While I understood the meaning of the self-talk, I deliberately tilted my head to pretend I didn’t know. Carrot shook her head as if it was nothing and slowly began examining the potion.
“Hmm… … . huh? Oh, that’s right. Treat it like this… … . Eh? wait for a sec?”
At first, the casual reaction gradually changed to doubt, and then suddenly he made a strange noise.
“what? What is this? what? Does this make sense?!”
He glared at the potion bottle with a series of screaming questions as if he had completely forgotten that he had to maintain a threatening atmosphere.
“… … kid.”
“This is Xi’an.”
“Okay, tell me the right way. You really made this?”
Is it difficult? Why is the atmosphere suddenly interrogated?
“Are there any problems?”
Well, even though I know it, I deliberately ask it smirkingly.
“… … Let me be honest. There’s nothing wrong with it.”
She alternated between looking at my face and the potion bottle several times before honestly expressing her impressions.
“Then there should be no problem.”
“You wouldn’t know. I’m a pretty salty person for compliments, right?”
I know.
“Although it is a basic recovery potion, the preparation itself is ideal. It’s as if the textbook was copied verbatim.”
Well, it must be thanks to skill.
“The combination of materials, neutralization of toxicity, everything is ideal.”
Maybe it’s because of the skill?
“Do you know just by looking at it?”
“I’ve been doing this for years! In any case, no one would believe that this was made by a single student. … … Well, that’s it, but that’s not what surprised me.”
She was astonished for a completely different reason.
“draft… … did you say What did you do during the extraction process?”
“You mean extraction?”
“In making potions, dividing the degree of potency depends on the extraction purity of the recovery solution… … . Well, you know.”
Only by setting.
“As you may have learned, the purity cannot exceed 60 percent. Even that happened when I mobilized the Empire’s latest alchemy extractor.”
I guess so.
At this point, the extraction purity of the undiluted solution, which is a key ingredient of the potion, is limited to 60%.
It is a story that is mentioned several times in the scenario when the player selects an alchemist class and trains.
From noble mtl dot com
But our protagonist will go beyond that limit.
Why? Because that’s the main character.
“I don’t know what you did, but from the looks of it, the purity of this extract appears to be over 90 percent.”
And I am the one who transcends the main character. I’m a go-go-go-go user.
“and? Is that great?”
“Why the hell did the academy send you to the black magic department and not the alchemy department? Are you saying all the kids there are like this? what?”
Maybe they don’t know.
‘The response is better than expected.’
But isn’t that making too much of a fuss? Carrot grumbled as if he noticed that he was making such an expression.
“It usually takes 10 years to increase that purity by 1 percent.”
“… … Wow, I’m kind of amazing.”
“Really what… … . Kids these days are like this, is this guy weird?”
“Excuse me.”
To put it bluntly, it would be our demon sister who makes us sick.
The key to the recipe for that extract is a succubus.
For some reason, Emily is smiling triumphantly from behind.
“In order to increase its purity, alchemists must have been grinding their teeth for hundreds of years, wanting to make a deal with the devil.”
“… … You are sharp.”
“ok?”
“no.”
That’s right, it was really extracted by the devil.
“Anyway, can I understand this to mean that there is no defect in the product?”
“If there’s a problem with this, I’ll have to turn everything over there on the shelf right away.”
means you can sell it.
“… … So, how about one silver coin per bottle? How much do you have?”
“I have 50 more bottles in my workshop.”
70 bottles were produced, but it is better to have 20 bottles ready for my use just in case.
The 50 bottles to be sold are currently stored in the studio because they are heavy to carry.
‘If I sell everything.’
50 imperial silver coins.
Meanwhile, Emily, dark at the water’s edge, asked me softly in my ear.
“… … Is that good enough?”
“You got it well enough.”
Basic mana potions cost about 2 silver coins when purchased at the academy’s shop.
If the selling price is that much, it’s a good deal for the delivery price.
When I first made a basic potion in the game, the purchase price was less than 50 copper coins.
“How are you?”
“I will sell it.”
There was no need to refuse.
“Then, if something useful is made, will you buy it?”
“… … See and decide.”
I mean okay.
For the time being, I will be able to do business with this place forever.
“Come often. Not only buying, but if you’re not familiar with annuity theory, I’ll give you some advice.”
Because that line from Carrot took roughly 20 transactions in the game to be heard.
I wouldn’t say such a thing unless it looked extremely promising.
It must mean that the impression of me has been sufficiently memorable.
More than that, this older sister is very easy to deal with, right?
I nodded with a friendly, pretentious smile.
* * *
“Big uh… … . With this, for the time being, I can make money just by raking grass in the forest.”
The transaction is successful.
Sooner or later, if you bring the remaining 50 potions from the workshop, you will receive money right away.
“But Xian? If you make a deal like that, won’t that woman someday figure out the trick?”
“The secret to making potions?”
“I think that woman will realize it sooner or later.”
The devil has eyes that see people.
Above all, demons seem to have a special ability to detect lies due to their racial characteristics.
Even if it wasn’t her, I noticed.
Carrot strangely showed interest in the potion I made, and the extract that became its ingredient.
“Ah, that? doesn’t care. You will notice someday.”
Half a year at the latest, maybe sooner than that, you’ll find out what kind of trick I’ve been playing.
Having played the game, I know her skills much better than Emily can.
“Anyway, this is nothing more than making a pittance.”
You don’t have to keep doing these deals after a few months.
“Originally, technology or secrets will lose their value someday. There is no need to regret it.”
“Hmm? I heard that some people cherish the secret and cut the throats of their own children.”
“It’s such an outdated way of thinking to me.”
No matter how ingenious a secret is, it eventually loses its value as it evolves and gets buried in another alternative.
It’s not worth a single penny at all.
“Anyway, since my wallet is thicker, I can eat properly starting today!”
Now you can confidently buy and eat expensive menus at the academy’s cafeteria.
You no longer have to eat the cheapest crusty bread.
That alone is enough to satisfy.