48 – Business #1
Late at night, the workshop lights turned on. In the moment when Anna felt slightly sorry for waking someone up, she quickly made the potion and brought it over.
A thick white potion.
“We have the ingredients. We just need to mix them.”
Anna cleared her throat a few times and spoke.
“But I want you to know that it’s not an easy task. Now that we’re partners.”
“…I understand now.”
The color is truly unpleasant. The texture is unsettling.
It’s like a surge of resistance.
“What did you make it from?”
“Have you learned about herbs?”
“No.”
“It wouldn’t matter if I told you anyway.”
Claiming that the ingredients aren’t important, Anna briefly explained the effects of the potion.
“It doesn’t completely suppress the werewolf’s mating season. It just alleviates the immediate urge to attack. I can’t guarantee what will happen when the mating season resurfaces.”
“That should be enough. I trust Sue.”
“You trust a werewolf?”
Anna stared at me intently. Judging by her gaze, it didn’t seem like she was asking out of curiosity.
“Most werewolves go through mating cycles. They uncontrollably attack males. The potion is useless during that time. Except for relieving their own desires. But that’s what the mating season is.”
“….”
“I made it for you because you asked, but honestly, I don’t think it will be much help.”
“No, it helped. It had an effect.”
There was definitely an effect.
Anna nodded slightly. She showed a vague sense of affirmation.
“It’s not nonexistent. It just feels almost meaningless. Like reducing 100 to 95?”
Assuming that forcibly tearing off a male werewolf’s clothes in a complete state of mating frenzy is rated as 50, Anna added as an afterthought.
“Is that the only way?”
“There’s also a way to make it stronger. But it’s difficult to make. It’s really hard to find the ingredients.”
“…It’ll be fine. This will do.”
“It’s mating season. It’ll be fine.”
Anna chuckled softly.
“Don’t underestimate werewolves. People have a reason to fear them.”
“…Soo isn’t like that. He’s holding onto his reason. Even in difficult situations…”
“Holding onto his reason? A werewolf in mating season? That’s impossible.”
Anna stated firmly.
“If that were possible, werewolves wouldn’t be persecuted to this extent in this city.”
“He did it. Soo did.”
“He’s enduring it. I guess he really doesn’t want to be hated by you.”
“…”
Anna let out a wry laugh.
“I actually like it. It means my business partners are tightly connected. You can expect a stable supply, right?”
“…We’ll talk about that later. Let’s talk during the day.”
I firmly pushed away Anna’s teasing and turned my back, urging my steps forward.
To give Soo the medicine.
As soon as we arrived at the inn, I quickly climbed the stairs.
I roughly opened the door and handed the potion to Soo. He trembled as he held the bottle with shaky hands and swallowed it.
“What is this?”
As soon as the lid of the potion was opened, a strange smell filled the air. A familiar smell. My brows furrowed involuntarily.
The viscous liquid flowed down Suu’s throat.
I didn’t notice it when I first fed him the potion.
Suu drinking the potion looked strangely alluring. Did my eyes fall upon an obscene demon?
“Suu, are you okay?”
“…A little. It feels like the fever is subsiding.”
Suu placed the glass bottle down and took a deep breath. His breathing was still rough, but there was rationality in his eyes.
He could look at me.
“The smell. It’s that.”
The scent of night-blooming flowers.
“…No way.”
A faint liquid trickled down the corner of Suu’s mouth.
Instead of wiping it away, I withdrew my hand. I was wary of how any contact with Suu could have a negative impact, so I acted cautiously.
Suu wiped his mouth with his hand and spoke.
“…I think it would be better for me to sleep in a separate room today. I can’t guarantee what I might do…”
“Let’s find a solution tomorrow when you’re calmer.”
“….”
Without even responding, Suu left the room. He fled as if he was running away.
I woke up early in the morning.
Maybe it’s because Suu is not here. Even if I sleep, I don’t feel refreshed.
“…It wasn’t like this yesterday, right?”
Fubuki was protecting me just like the first day. Even though no one would invade my room separately.
“It’s only natural to do what I have to in order to protect Lord Rei.”
Fubuki spoke confidently. He didn’t show any signs of tiredness, but I still worry about him.
I hope he doesn’t collapse.
“You don’t have to do that. It’s safe because we’re in the city…. Just sleep well and wake up from tomorrow.”
“I understand.”
From his response, I felt that he wouldn’t follow my words. Ninja stubbornness was no joke.
I left the room and went to find Suu. His condition was serious today as well.
His gaze was unsettling.
It’s impossible for the ovulation period to end in just one morning. I understood why Suu was growling.
“Do the medicine work?”
“…I don’t know. It was somewhat effective when I drank it. Maybe it’s because time has passed, my chest feels hot again.”
Suu held his chest and let out a groan. His breathing sounded strange.
“Should I go to Anna noona? Is there a stronger medicine?”
Anna said that yesterday. There might be a way to enhance the effectiveness of the medicine.
“I don’t know if there are any ingredients… But it’s probably better than not going.”
Heat period is not an illness. Hospitals, churches, and Mooreah won’t know the solution.
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But just in case, I stopped by. The treatment was over quickly.
“If you don’t want to, report it to the police station. Then they’ll arrest Suin and protect you safely.”
“……”
All we had to rely on was Anna’s medicine.
“Come in.”
Anna opened the door as if she had been waiting.
“Did it work?”
“A little.”
“You made it through last night safely.”
Anna smirked as if she had expected that.
“But the heat cycle isn’t over. The medicine I made will just slightly ease that desire.”
“…What should I do?”
“Should Su bear it or relieve the desire? The former is practically impossible, so Su’s nature will choose the latter.”
Anna stared at Su fiercely. How long could she endure such provocative gaze?
Su clenched his fists. His shaking arm reached towards me, but he grabbed it with his other hand and straightened up.
It felt like watching a drug addict going through withdrawal symptoms.
“Anna Nuna, we didn’t come here to play. And it’s not like we talked about business matters.”
“Do you want a potent medicine?”
“Not 5, but 10. Something that can suppress the mating season even more.”
Anna is an alchemist. Not an alchemist who deals with gold, but an alchemist who deals with medicine.
She might as well have been a pharmacist.
“Hospitals are meaningless. There’s nowhere else to rely on.”
It’s not like she hadn’t considered contraception.
“If I use rubber… it’ll just tear.”
The mating season of werewolves is when they can’t control their reproductive instincts. But contraception?
In the end, the conclusion is that the mating season itself must be suppressed.
“There is a way.”
“…Really?”
“I haven’t proven it yet, but it’s an experimental recipe.”
Anna’s eyes sparkled as she spoke.
* * *
Anna is not an ancient alchemist who explores origins, but a modern alchemist driven by greed for wealth. She hones the study of alchemy from a materialistic capitalist perspective.
To put it nicely, you could call her a new generation.
Just because she is Anna, it doesn’t mean she doesn’t feel the thirst for exploration. Every alchemist has the desire to discover new recipes.
Anna was no exception.
“Knowledge turns into money after all!”
A medicine that can suppress the werewolf’s mating season has already been revealed. Its effectiveness is minimal, but the nature of the medicine itself has been proven.
Anna took a step further in it.
Anna led Ray into the workshop and asked.
“The medicine I made yesterday. Did anything come to mind when you saw the contents?”
“……”
Ray didn’t answer.
But I understand. From Ray’s expression, he knew what Anna was talking about.
Anna chattered on and on about the history of the medicine. She thought she could convince Ray if she explained it, so her words became long-winded.
“That medicine is called ‘Spera’s Affection.’ Spera, an alchemist, felt sorry for werewolves suffering from heat…. So, based on the logic that it deceives the senses of a werewolf in heat, Spera added a small amount of nightflower extract to make the medicine….”
“……”
“But I don’t think the recipe was originally written for that purpose. I think there was a strange motive. It smells similar to what is emitted from a boy’s body…. It’s clear. The purpose was different.”
“…Please summarize.”
I’m not demanding out of personal greed or with ill intentions. I’m asking for ingredients because you want a highly effective medicine.
Anna continued to lay the groundwork.
“Do you know what I’m talking about?”
“…Has the effect been proven?”
“I haven’t proven it. Who would dare to try to control a werewolf’s heat?”
“……”
“I just came up with a hypothesis. If the medicine made with nightflower extract had an effect when given to a werewolf, what kind of efficacy would it have if it was added directly? That’s what I thought.”
Anna glanced at Ray’s liver for a moment.
“I’m not forcing you. It’s your decision. We don’t know if it’ll have any effect.”