Good Medicine Tastes Bitter
And so, Basil and CocoNenne met.
The two stared at each other and began a silent war of words.
And a moment later.
“...Greetings.”
“Uh, hi.”
Basil was the first to speak.
CocoNenne, as if waiting for that moment, finally opened her mouth.
It seemed CocoNenne had won the battle of nerves between the two.
“So, what should I call you?”
“...Call me Coco.”
It seemed she didn't want to reveal her real name.
Or perhaps she didn't want Basil to know she was a traveler.
The latter was probably more likely.
Thinking that, I approached Basil and spoke.
“Make sure you hand over everything properly.”
Now CocoNenne had to work with Basil in the basement.
So it was necessary for them to get along.
‘..By the way, the basement seems a bit cramped now.’
Perhaps because the number of people had increased, the basement felt a bit small.
It used to feel just right, but now it felt cramped.
Thinking that it felt different from when I first bought the house, I went up to the first floor.
I figured they'd need some time to talk.
*
“Attention.”
“...Are you talking to me?”
Basil gave her an order.
The moment Eugene disappeared, no less.
The way she immediately gave the order as if she had been waiting for this made Coco laugh in disbelief.
“...No, you're doing this to me now? You're kidding, right?”
She stood up like that and stared at Basil.
And then-
- Child, stand properly.
The Griffin, who had been silent until now, spoke.
How utterly ridiculous.
‘..There are several Griffin corpses in my residence alone.’
Of course, there weren't any now, but in the past, there were so many Griffin corpses that she had to throw them away.
But for it to speak so rudely.
It seemed like a good idea to teach it a lesson here.
“You should kneel.”
As she said those words and tried to use magic.
A thought occurred to her.
‘..My mana is blocked.’
She couldn't use mana yet.
*
Bang-!!
There was a sound of something being smashed in the basement, but I decided not to pay much attention to it.
Basil would take care of it.
A Necromancer who couldn't even use mana wouldn't be able to defeat Basil.
Thinking that, I returned to the bed on the first floor and went to sleep.
I was sleepy.
I had been moving around too much.
It seemed like I needed some time to rest.
And so, a week passed.
Nothing special happened during that week.
The only thing that could be considered special was that Coco flinched whenever she saw Basil.
It seemed Basil had disciplined her properly.
I decided not to ask about the method of discipline.
Basil must have done a good job.
Anyway…
“I should get rid of the corpses soon.”
It was time to organize the corpses in her subspace pouch.
Amelia hadn't come out of her shop lately, as if something had happened.
According to the notice on the door, she was supposed to be here today, but…
‘It can't be helped if she's not here.’
I'd have to sell them somewhere else.
Thinking that, I got up from my seat and headed towards Amelia's general store.
Thump, thump.
The weather was getting hotter these days.
It was hot before, but it was even hotter now.
It seemed like summer was in full swing.
‘..Actually, it doesn't matter much to me.’
This kind of weather was a problem for knights.
Not the cheap knights, but the knights in plate armor.
Those knights were probably leaning against something somewhere, resting.
Wearing iron armor in this weather was nothing short of torture.
But they couldn't take off their armor, because plate armor was a symbol of a knight.
It was also a means of protecting themselves from others.
Therefore, it was an environment where they could not take it off.
‘Poor things.’
But that was the end of my sympathy.
Who made them become knights in the first place?
Being a mage was so much more comfortable.
Thinking that there was no need to suffer like that by being a knight, I arrived in front of Amelia's general store and knocked on the door.
Knock, knock.
Unlike last time, the door opened immediately.
I thought it wouldn't open this time, but it seemed Amelia had arrived at the store on time.
Feeling relieved, I entered the store and-
“Hellooo…”
I saw Amelia slumped over in the store.
Her usually shiny pink hair was now dull and lifeless.
I was a little taken aback.
It was the first time I had ever seen Amelia this tired.
So, I cautiously approached and spoke to her.
“..Are you very tired?”
“Yeees… I haven't slept for three days…”
Amelia said, getting up.
But I couldn't just leave Amelia like this.
So, I approached Amelia and asked for her understanding.
“If you don't mind, may I relieve your fatigue?”
Amelia's condition had to be normal for her to properly evaluate the monster byproducts I had brought.
I also felt uncomfortable seeing Amelia, whom I often saw, so exhausted.
When I asked-
“Ah… Yes…!”
Amelia replied and took off the gown she was wearing.
Her bare skin was revealed.
Perhaps because of the heat, she was wearing short clothes.
But without panicking, I channeled lightning and examined her body.
Crackle-
After confirming her body structure, I treated the stiff areas with [Heal].
However, I couldn't resolve her mental fatigue.
If I could do that, I would be a god.
As I finished using all of her Heal, Amelia stretched and gave a silly grin.
“Thank youuu…”
She said and sat down at the counter, returning to her usual self.
This was the Amelia she knew.
Feeling satisfied, I began to take out the corpses from my subspace pouch.
Amelia's general store was quite spacious, so it was suitable for laying out the corpses.
As I took out the corpses from her subspace pouch-
“Oh…!”
Amelia's eyes sparkled.
Then, she began to touch and examine the corpses I had placed on the floor.
And a moment later.
“I'm curious where you got all these amazing things, but… I won't ask…”
This was the part I liked about Amelia.
If it were anyone else, they would have asked where I got the Legion commander's corpse.
Thinking that, I watched as Amelia wrote things down on a piece of paper.
How long had she been writing?
“Done…!”
Amelia handed me the paper she had been diligently writing on.
The paper listed the price of each part of the corpse lying on the floor.
“..It's really expensive, isn't it?”
“Yes. As expected of an Legion commander's corpse…”
I had thought it would be expensive because it was an Legion commander's corpse, but I didn't expect it to be this expensive.
I could make enough money to go to the academy six times over.
Now I was curious about something.
“Then, do you think it would be better to sell everything here, or use it to make my equipment?”
This might not seem important, but it was actually a very important matter.
Experts were good at these kinds of things.
As she looked at Amelia, Amelia seemed to ponder for a moment and then-
“Hmm… I think it would be better to make a potion with some parts and drink it…!”
A potion?
I had never drunk a potion in her life.
Personally, I didn't like things that disappeared after being consumed, so I wasn't fond of potions.
As I carefully voiced my thoughts-
“Ah… It's not like that. It's an elixir that permanently increases your mana regeneration rate…!”
An elixir that permanently increases mana regeneration rate?
That piqued my interest.
My mana regeneration rate was already high, but there were times when it felt insufficient.
It might be a good idea to make a potion and drink it.
“Then which parts should I use?”
“Hmm… First, the Legion commander's vital points… and this, and this.”
Looking at the ingredients, my desire to make a potion vanished.
To think I had to drink a potion made with those things.
They didn't look like edible ingredients.
“Are you sure it's safe for human consumption?”
“Yes!”
Amelia answered brightly.
It seemed pointless to question her further, so I nodded and disposed of the remaining byproducts.
It was difficult to handle the Legion commander's byproducts in the first place.
If Amelia hadn't taken care of them, they would have been nothing but a nuisance.
That's why I was trying to sell as many byproducts as possible to Amelia.
She even introduced me to a good blacksmith.
“Okay…! Then I'll start making the potion now, so please sit down and rest for a while…!”
It seemed she was going to start making the potion right away.
Taking a short break didn't sound bad.
So, I sat down on a chair in the corner and decided to take a nap.
It would probably be done by the time I woke up.
With that thought, I gradually drifted off to sleep.
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