Management of a Novice Alchemist: Volume 3 E-Book

Mizuho Itsuki

• Herausgeber: J-Novel Club
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: Management of a Novice Alchemist
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 325

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

While Sarasa continues working hard to master the fourth volume of the Complete Alchemy Works, she and her small gang of adventurers are called upon by the mayor’s daughter to investigate the cause of the hellflame grizzly attack that came from deep within the Gelba Rohha Foothills Forest. Soon after, Iris’s father appears, and he comes with shocking news. It looks like Iris is going to be forced into a political marriage unless she can find another way to help her debt-mired father. Quick to act, Sarasa and the gang head to the great forest to make some fast cash off materials from the fearsome monsters they found during their investigation...

Between boots and gloves, they’ve got the equipment for the job! And ice stones and ice arrows will be the perfect weapons for attacking their fiery foes!

Let the debt repayment operation commence!

Leseprobe

Prologue

It was some time after we’d run a certain troublesome merchant out of Yok Village. Between massively lowering my purchase price for frostbite bat fangs and the number of bats in the cave decreasing, the economic bubble that we’d been experiencing in the village had started to subside.

There had been some gatherers who’d complained, but once I had explained that I was doing it to protect the bat population in order to preserve them as a resource for future years, pretty much all of them had backed down without a fuss.

Most had already made good money, and there wasn’t much for them to spend it on in this village beyond some slightly expensive alcohol anyway. In the end, they had been able to save up a bit, with their living expenses covered for the time being.

“It still feels like I did a lot of work for little reward, though,” I said, shaking my head in dismay as I thought back on all my recent troubles.

Lorea-chan cocked her head to the side and blinked repeatedly. “Really?” she asked. “You didn’t make it look that tough...”

“Huh? You think so?”

Despite being an alchemist, I’d had to go hunting in a cave, go back and forth to South Strag for meetings, negotiate with the merchant... It was a decent amount of work, okay?

I looked to Iris-san and Kate-san for support, but they nodded in agreement with Lorea-chan.

“I’m not going to deny that you did a lot, Shopkeeper-dono, but you made a considerable profit, right?”

“You don’t have much cash left on hand, Shopkeeper-san, but you’ve become quite the little loan shark...erm, I mean investor, haven’t you?”

“Well, yes, that’s all true, but...”

My profits from speculating in the frostbite fang market had largely gone into a joint venture with Leonora-san to buy up the debt of all the alchemists ensnared by that unscrupulous merchant, Yoku Bahru. We’d been able to buy that debt for fairly cheap because he’d needed fast cash, but it wasn’t an investment that was going to be profitable immediately...

“It’s going to be some time before I see any profit from that. In fact, I’m actually worried whether I’ll be able to collect at all. Those alchemists weren’t exactly business savvy in the first place.”

Normally, even if an alchemist was a little bad at business, they could take the slow and steady approach, build capital through repetitive, boring labor, and never have to worry about being plunged into debt.

And yet here I am, acting as their new creditor.

Leonora-san had looked into each of their situations, saying, “Due diligence is important!” But from what she’d told me...they ran the gamut, from people I had to genuinely feel bad for to those who just exasperated me. Because of that, the plan was for Leonora-san to handle the collection, being harsh to the ones who were just hopeless and easier on those who weren’t.

Distance is kind of an issue, so I have to leave it totally up to her.

“Still, Sarasa-san, I’m amazed you lent money to people like that.”

“Well, I bought their debt, so it’s a little different from loaning them money...”

She told me the inspections will be harsh and frequent for anybody who’s “just exasperating,” so I’d like to think it will work out. Because, while the investment is a bit speculative, it was made with money I worked hard to earn and all.

And these are people who managed to become licensed alchemists, so if they work diligently, they should be able to turn a profit.

“Well, even if I get burned a little on the investment, I got a lot of materials, so maybe it’s not such a problem? I ought to be able to focus on alchemy for a while, thankfully.”

The massive hoard of frostbite bat fangs that I had bought off of Yoku Bahru at the end had obviously been more than I could ever use myself, so I had used Master’s connections to trade them for all sorts of other materials.

Thanks to those materials, my progress through the Complete Alchemy Works had gone from intermittent to constant. That alone was enough to make all of my hard work worth it.

And Yoku Bahru spent lots of money here, so it was a plus for the whole village too.

“Is the thing you’re making now part of that, Shopkeeper-dono?” asked Iris-san.

“This is an artifact called a Shared Sound Box. But the materials for it came from Leonora-san.”

“Oh? How does it work?”

“Just a moment. It’s almost done... There, all finished.”

The completed product was a wooden box that fit in my palm.

It may look like just a box, but there’s obviously more to it.

“I put my hand on it like this and... Testing, testing. Leonora-san, can you hear me?”

“I hear you. It’s a success. Feel free to get in touch any time you need me.”

Iris-san’s and the others’ eyes widened at the sudden voice from the box.

“It’s a success. Okay, thanks. Talk to you later. And that’s how it works.”

“You use it...to talk to people in distant towns?”

“Yes. But it eats an awful lot of magical power, so it’s hard to use it for lengthy, long-distance calls.”

Iris-san was staring intently at the box, so I passed it to her. “Oh, it’s light,” she remarked.

“You can do that with such a little box... Wow. You’d think they’d be more ubiquitous, though...” Kate-san remarked.

“Yeah, it’s a really impressive artifact,” Lorea-chan agreed. “Even if it just looks like an ordinary wooden box.”

They passed the Shared Sound Box around, each of them curiously turning it around and examining it.

“It’s a bit expensive, just so you know. The standard retail price is five hundred thousand rhea.”

“Huh?! Wh-Whaaa!”

Hearing this, Lorea-chan started shaking. The box slipped from her hands.

“Look out!” Iris-san shouted, acting fast.

Sliding across the floor, she caught the box, holding it tight to her chest. It was saved from the drop.

“Oh my gosh... I-I’m so sorry!” Lorea-chan blubbered, crouching down next to her.

“No, it’s fine. I caught it,” Iris-san reassured her with a handsome smile, offering Lorea-chan a hand and helping her to her feet. But...

“There was no need to worry. It’s not going to break from an ordinary drop. Not unless you get extraordinarily unlucky.”

“Which means if we get unlucky, it could, right?” Kate-san noted. “Shopkeeper-san, if you’re handing someone something valuable, you need to do it in a way that conveys that. Or you’ll startle them.”

“Oh, that makes sense. Gotcha.”

I still don’t know how to do it, though. I mean, if I’d gotten all antsy every time I handled something a little pricey, I could never have worked at Master’s place. It’s actually more dangerous if you do know, I think.

“Also, the other reason they aren’t more commonplace is that they’re a bit hard for ordinary people to use.”

The Shared Sound Box was low-energy compared to the transporter, but most people weren’t able to use it unless they spent magic crystals, and even those who had some magic capacity would struggle with distances as close as the next town over.

That meant if they wanted to use a Shared Sound Box, there was either the cost of preparing magic crystals for it, or of having someone handy who was able to supply a lot of magic power.

With the high cost of purchase and usage, it was perhaps inevitable that the artifact hadn’t seen wide adoption.

A large part of why I had made one came down to it being a necessary step for me to level up, and using it with Leonora-san cost so little I could more or less ignore it. In light of that, the Shared Sound Box was a fairly useful item for maintaining our current system of cooperation. When Leonora-san had provided the materials and suggested I create one, she didn’t have to ask me twice.

“There are reasons it hasn’t taken off, then,” Iris-san concluded. “By the way, Shopkeeper-dono. There was something that I was hoping to consult with you about. Would you mind?”

“Sure, that’s fine with me. What is it?”

Seeing how hesitant Iris-san looked with her eyes lowered, I gave her an encouraging smile and nodded. With some trepidation, she continued.

“Well... We’re done with collecting frostbite bat fangs now, right? So I wanted to ask, are there any materials you could recommend gathering that would be an effective use of our time, even if they aren’t quite as profitable as the fangs?”

“We’re still indebted to you, Shopkeeper-san,” Kate-san added. “So if there are any materials you’d specifically like to acquire and we can get them for you efficiently, then it would be good to know. I do feel bad for always relying on you like this, though.”

“You’re looking for something that would be efficient for you to gather? Let’s see...”

There wasn’t any need for them to be in a rush to pay me back, but I could understand why the two of them would want to hurry.

It’s hard to feel relaxed when you’re in debt.

“This is the great forest, so there are obviously things you could gather which would pay off your entire debt all at once, but—”

Once I’d said that much, Iris-san suddenly got a panicked look on her face, and she cut me off to clarify, “Ah! O-Of course, we’re asking about things that we’ll be able to come back from gathering in one piece.”

“Y-Yeah,” Kate-san agreed. “It would defeat the whole purpose of it if we got hurt so bad that we only increased our debt as a result.”

“Of course, I understand that. So, taking your abilities into consideration...”

They can carry back a lot of spiteworms in one trip, and I tend to be low on stock, but it’d feel like such a waste to have the two of them gather those.

If there’s a spot nearby, even Lorea-chan could gather them, and it’s pretty tough to find them in large numbers. The time-to-value ratio won’t be that high.

Flame stones are one material that there’s rising demand for heading into winter, and they have a high purchase price, but the only place they could gather them around here would be in hellflame grizzly territory. It’d be dangerous for them to go there when we still don’t know what caused the recent frenzy.

Jofeh fruit should be in season, but they’re so rare that a single one is worth tens of thousands of rhea. Going hunting for them would be a real gamble. It’s better to think of them as a bonus item you find when gathering something else.

Which leaves...

“Well, how about fruitrot-bee honey? This is the right season for it, and it’s also an ingredient used to make an expensive processed honey, so I could pay you quite a lot. It will take some preparation, but if you find a large hive, you’ll be making bank in no time.”

After considering the various materials that came to mind, I proposed one that fit their current skills, but the two of them just looked at me funny.

“Fruitrot bees? Kate, have you ever heard of those?”

“No. Never. I’m sorry, Shopkeeper-san, but could you fill us in on the details?”

“Sure, I don’t mind. Hrm...”

Fruitrot bees, as the name implied, were bees that primarily fed on fruits that had spoiled. They were most active during the fall, but started working in the summer in regions where there were frostbite bats, going after the rotting fruit that the bats had cached.

Normally, since they were going after another species’ food stores, you would expect them to be enemies, but the bees only consumed the fruits that the bats couldn’t. The bats weren’t losing anything. What was more, the bees eliminated other intruders in their caves, so the two species had formed something of a symbiotic relationship.

In the end, the honey made from frostbite bats’ cached fruit was a highly valued delicacy and commanded a price far in excess of ordinary honey.

“By the way, nests near a frostbite bat cave tend to get really big. Because there’s lots of food for them.”

“I see... Hmm? So, if we were to enter the frostbite bat cave now, we’d be attacked by those bees?”

Iris-san had picked up on the part of the explanation about fruitrot bees eliminating other intruders. I nodded. “There is the danger of that, yes. If you have an insect repellent artifact, I think you should be fine. Oh, but when you’re collecting their honey, I recommend using insect repellent veils instead.”

“Is ordinary repellent not enough?” Iris-san asked. “The veils are more expensive, right?”

“No, it’s not enough. That artifact creates an area that insects want to avoid, but when their homes are under attack, do you really think them wanting to avoid the area is going to be good enough?”

“I see your point...” Iris-san conceded. “Is there anything else that we need?”

“The antidote to the bees’ venom, for sure. It can be lethal.”

As I stressed the importance of this, Kate-san’s eyes widened.

“Lethal?! Are the bees that dangerous?”

“If just anyone could gather from them, their honey wouldn’t be so expensive.”

“Ngh...” Iris-san groaned. “Point taken. Maybe we should invite Andre and the guys instead of going by ourselves...?”

“I leave that up to you. It will depend on where in the forest the nest is, but if you want to put safety first, then inviting them along would be a good idea. But not if you want to prioritize your profit...”

Even if the bees were not much of a threat themselves, there were other monsters out there in the woods.

If they went deep inside the forest chasing after bees, I wasn’t so confident in their ability to take care of themselves there. But that was something they needed to think about for themselves.

They’re pro gatherers, after all.

“Thank you, Shopkeeper-dono. We’ll consider our options.”

“Yes. Please do be careful.”

Episode 1: Honey Gathering and the Payoff

“Now then, what should I make today?”

After seeing off Iris-san and Kate-san as they headed to work, I got back to working on my main line of business.

Opportunities and investments could be profitable and all, but my own growth as an alchemist had to come first. I only had a little more of volume 4 of the Complete Alchemy Works to get through.

That meant I’d be on volume 5 soon enough, and according to Master, that was where “things start to get tough.”

Tough or not, so long as I was working hard on improving my skills, the issue was more financial than technical, since I had to make items I had no way of selling just in order to level up. Unless I had a fair amount of breathing room in my budget, it was pretty rough holding a large amount of unmovable stock.

If you need an indication of just how rough...well, remember the potion I used when Iris-san was dying? That potion happens to be in volume 4.

As you might be able to infer from how much trouble Iris-san and Kate-san were having paying for it, the materials to make it were pretty expensive. Expensive enough that, even during the time when the floor of my warehouse was creaking under the weight of all the gold in it, I was still hesitant to buy them.

With my current cash on hand, I was...still short of affording them? But only just? Something like that.

In any event, if I pushed myself to make the attempt regardless and then failed, I’d go broke. But even if I succeeded, I’d be left without enough liquid assets, and that would be the end of me.

There were a number of artifacts like this in volume 4 onward, so it was reasonable for Master to say things got tough here.

If I hadn’t had my parting gifts from Master, I would have taken even longer to get this far. But those materials were running dry. From now on, I would have to earn money myself to pay for the high-priced materials necessary to continue my training.

“Well, I won’t have any more problems with volume 4, though. I was able to buy everything I need.”

Now I just need to work through it one thing at a time.

“For today...how about I make a floating tent?”

True to its name, it was a camping tent that floated in the air. That probably made it sound pretty amazing, but it only hovered maybe ten centimeters off the ground, so it looked more plain than you might initially imagine.

But don’t go underestimating the tent. By floating, it was able to avoid the bumpy, damp, cold ground, and all the critters that lived there, promising restful sleep to those inside.

For gatherers who didn’t go on just one- or two-day trips but on longer expeditions, this was the kind of artifact they’d drool over.

“As for the size...I guess I’ll make it big enough for four or five people?”

If I was just making it to check off the requirement, it only needed to be big enough for one, but then I’d really have dead stock on my hands.

It needs to be at least big enough for three so we can use it if I go out gathering with Iris-san and Kate-san.

I don’t know if that’ll ever happen, but I’ve got to make one anyway.

“I start by cutting the leather...”

The first step was to make a tent. At this stage, it was really just an ordinary tent, so all I was doing was stitching the cut pieces of leather together.

But it’s still pretty hard work. I mean, this is leather I’m stitching.

Being able to use magic to physically enhance my strength gave me a leg up over your average leatherworker, so it wasn’t as bad as it might have been, but it still took a lot of time. This was a tent that was supposed to sleep four or five people, which meant there was a large area I needed to sew together.

Honestly, I wish I could just hire a leatherworker to do it for me, but there isn’t one in the village.

“Isn’t there an artifact that makes stitching leather easy?” I grumbled, among similar complaints, during the days it took to complete the tent.

Now, once I draw a circuit on the floor of the tent and add another thick layer of leather, the whole laborious process will be over.

“That said, since I’m doing this anyway, I want to add one more innovation. After all, it’s not like I’m going to be selling this one.”

It’s for personal use, so cost doesn’t matter. Plus, just floating on its own is a little bland, isn’t it?

“I’ll add in the functions of environmental tuning fabric and...insect repellent, maybe? What else...?”

Naturally, this raised the difficulty compared to making a normal one. But I liked it that way—okay, not really, but it would be good practice and make it easier to use, so it wasn’t a problem.

Well, it increases the magical power cost while using it, so it’s not all upside, but...these are luxuries I can afford because I’m the one using it.

“Okay, that’s good. That just leaves...”

After I finished putting a layer of leather over the circuit I’d drawn to cover it, I stuffed the tent into my alchemic cauldron. I then poured in the various materials along with some water and heated the whole thing up.

“Stir, stir, stir. Yep, big projects definitely call for a big cauldron.”

While I could make potions in a small cauldron, there were many artifacts, like this tent and the sheets I’d made before, that just weren’t possible without a large one.

But large cauldrons cost a lot of money.

Yet you can’t level up without one. Being an alchemist sure is expensive. It’s thoroughly betrayed my expectation from before I became one that “if I can just get qualified, I’ll be able to make money easily!”

Of course, because it was so hard to qualify, I was still doing way better for myself than the average commoner.

“Now then. Is that about it?”

I pulled the cauldron off the heat, took out the tent, and gave it a good rinse.

Now I just dry it off, then...

“It’s all done! Or should be... I’ll check if it actually works.”

I threw the folded tent over my shoulder and poked my head out into the shop. Lorea-chan was there, resting her elbows on the counter and looking a bit sleepy.

The locals dropped in more often now than they used to, but during this time of afternoon, they were busy with work. Almost nobody would be coming in.

“I see you’ve been working hard, Lorea-chan.”

“Oh, Sarasa-san. Are you done with your alchemy work for the day? Want me to put on some tea?”

Grateful for something to do, Lorea-chan hopped to her feet. I showed her the tent.

“You could say I’m done, I guess? I was thinking of testing what I made.”

“Testing... Do you think I could go with you?” she asked.

“Sure, I don’t mind. I’m going to set it up in the yard. Let’s go.”

The shop had a bit of a front yard. As I laid the tent down there and then sent magical power through it, the tent deployed itself and lifted gently into the air.

“Wow! It floats... And it doesn’t need any tent poles to hold it up?” Lorea-chan marveled.

“Yep. Which makes it easier to carry too. How convenient does that sound?”

“Very! It’s amazing!”

That said, it was still a fairly large tent. And made of thick, sturdy leather. Because of its considerable mass, it wasn’t exactly light to carry around.

“And once you’ve been inside, you’ll see just how great it is,” I prompted. “Come on, let’s go.”

“Okay, pardon my intrusion... Oh, it’s cool inside! And it has this airy feeling to it!”

“Heh heh heh. Want to try sleeping here?”

“Whoa, this is more comfortable than my bed. It’s incredible! Ah ha ha!”

Lorea-chan lay down and rolled around with glee.

Yeah, it’s like sleeping in midair. Or rather, that’s exactly what you do with it.

And with the added temperature adjustment, it guarantees sound sleep. It’d even be a good bed replacement—if you just ignored the cost.

“How much is it, Sarasa-san? Will you be selling them in the shop?”

“At this size, over a hundred thousand rhea. So even if I tried, they wouldn’t sell. Not in this village.”

When I explained that ordinary folks had no need for one and that the gatherers in the village didn’t buy many expensive artifacts, Lorea-chan thought for a moment, then shook her head.

“I disagree. They might just sell. One thing I’ve found while interacting with our customers is that gatherers don’t have much knowledge of what artifacts exist. If you were to put it on display here and appeal to its convenience, wouldn’t that attract interest? Many of them have extra room in their budgets right now, so I think targeting them might work.”

“You know...that actually makes some sense.”

This wasn’t a nice thing to say, but the gatherers lacked education. They didn’t really know much about artifacts, and surprisingly few of them were interested in changing their tools and methods to make their work more efficient.

On rare occasions, I got requests along the lines of “I want that thing that this other gatherer was using that seemed convenient,” but it was unheard of for them to ask, “Is there an artifact that can do this for me?”

The sign I’d made saying “accepting orders” was gathering dust as a result.

Though, don’t misunderstand. I keep it clean. That was just a figure of speech.

“And if it’s just sewing tents, I can help, you know? I have a lot of free time while minding the shop, so if we get an order, I’ll do my best to lend a hand!”

Lorea-chan clenched her hands into fists, looking at me with her eyes full of motivation, but...

“I’d appreciate that, but it’s hard work, you realize? Sewing leather.”

In my case, I had used physical enhancement and relied on pure force.

But that wasn’t something an ordinary person could do. The boring work of using a punch to make holes and then passing the thread through them was waiting for her. It was a lot of hassle, so I’d feel bad making Lorea-chan do it.

“No, really, I’m asking you to let me. I have so much free time that it actually hurts a little when I think how much you’re paying me... If there’s anything else I can do, just tell me, okay?”

“Really? I’m grateful enough just to have you making meals, but...okay. If there’s something I think I can ask you to handle, I will.”

“Please do. I’ll keep a close eye on the tent so nobody steals it too!”

“Sure. But there’s an anti-crime system, so you don’t need to worry too much.”

I was more worried about an enraged robber attacking Lorea-chan than I was about them making off with the tent.

Incidentally, I had already added a function meant for driving off any unwanted nighttime visitors, which was important when camping.

I’ll tinker with the settings a bit to make it go off if anyone tries to take the tent out of the yard.

It could result in life-threatening consequences if they’re unlucky, but...it’s fine as long as they’re a thief, right?

◇ ◇ ◇

The next day, the floating tent was put out in front of the shop with a sign that explained what it was.

Oh—and a warning: “Try to take it, and I make no promises that you will survive.”

I have faith in the strength of the product, but given the price...I shouldn’t get my hopes up.

Or so I’d thought, but according to Lorea-chan, we had already received multiple queries about it by noon.

No one’s gone as far as placing an order yet, but maybe I can get my hopes up a little?

Many of them had expressed that they’d never known such a convenient artifact existed, so if I kept putting products on display like this, maybe that would lead to more sales.

I think Andre-san and the guys are probably making the most out of all the gatherers in the village, but I don’t see them splurging much.

If they’re seen using it, that might drive demand, so maybe I should pitch all sorts of different artifacts to them?

“Oh, that reminds me,” said Lorea-chan. “Iris-san said that they were going to head out and collect the fruitrot-bee honey today...”

“Yep,” I replied. “They finally found a nest yesterday.”

Based on what they’d told me last night, they were able to find the bees easily enough by staking out the frostbite bat cave, but they’d had some trouble tracing them back to their nests.

Fruitrot bees flew fairly quickly, which meant they were active over a wide area, sometimes several kilometers wide.

The forest didn’t have any proper roads through it, so it wasn’t hard to imagine why it might have been difficult chasing the bees around.

Fortunately, the bees made regular trips between the cave and their nests, so with Andre-san and the guys helping them, they were able to place people along the path between the two and work out how to get there over the course of several days.

“Their hard work paid off, though,” I said, explaining, “it sounds like the nest they found was a pretty big one, so we can expect good results.”

“Sounds like it,” Lorea-chan agreed. “But Sarasa-san, don’t monsters go after the bees’ nests too?”

“Oh, that won’t be a problem. Because—”

Just as I was about to explain why, the door swung open somewhat hastily, and the pair we had just been talking about raced inside.

“Welcome ba—”

“Shopkeeper-san! I’m going to use the toilet!”

“E-Erm, go right ahead—”

Kate-san raced into the back of the shop without even waiting for me to finish.

Was she holding it? I can see why she wouldn’t want to go in the woods.

I cocked my head to the side and turned to look at Iris-san, who had a strained smile on her face.

“Let’s try this again. Welcome back, Iris-san.”

“Welcome back.” Lorea-chan joined me in greeting her. “Were you able to collect the honey?”

“Hey, we’re back. As for the honey, well... See for yourself.”

Iris-san laid her backpack down on the counter, opening the mouth of it. Lorea-chan’s eyes widened at the impressive pieces of honeycomb inside.

“Wow, it was a pretty big nest, huh? This is just half?” she asked.

“Of course. Shopkeeper-dono cautioned us against taking any more. And as gatherers, it’s only proper manners that we abide by that.”

“We wouldn’t want you to end up wiping them out. It would be a problem if there were none left next year, or the years after that,” I explained.

While it was true that they could have gotten a lot of honey if they took everything, without food, most of the fruitrot bees would die off. The result would be less honey to harvest in future years, which was a nuisance to the other gatherers.

That was why they had harvested only half the nest. As with other gatherables, it was important for gatherers to protect the source.

“Can I assume you’re selling all of this? I don’t see Andre-san and the guys.”

“Yeah, if you don’t mind. The guys—and Kate for that matter—seem to have upset their stomachs. They rushed straight back to the inn. I was completely fine, but maybe the food we took with us had gone off...?”

“Oh, is that what happened? Things tend to spoil quicker in the summer, so you need to be careful what you...huh?”

Upset stomachs?

“Andre-san and the guys...didn’t happen to lick the fruitrot-bee honey, did they?”

“Yes, we did sample a bit. It was every bit as good as you would expect expensive honey to be!”

Iris-san grinned as she recalled the flavor, but...

“They ate it?! And you did too, Iris-san?!”

“Y-Yeah. Should we not have? Was it wrong of me to partake of such a luxurious honey when I’m so mired in debt?”

Iris-san looked around uneasily. I shot to my feet without even meaning to.

“Don’t be silly, you dummy! That’s not important! You can’t eat raw fruitrot-bee honey! It’s toxic!”

This was the reason that no monsters went after the fruitrot bees’ nests. There were animals that fed on poisonous plants that only they could eat, and these bees were the same way.

“Huh...? But Shopkeeper-dono, you said it was expensive honey...”

“The main ingredient of an expensive processed honey! Augh! Who ate it, and how much?!”

“I-I think...we each had about a spoonful. No, Andre-san and the guys had more than that.”

Seeing the amount she indicated using her fingers, I let out a sigh of relief.

“If that’s all you had, then nobody should die. You’ll be signing a long-term partnership agreement with the toilet, though. Are you sure you’re okay, Iris-san? You had some too, right?”

“Y-Yeah, but fortunately it doesn’t seem to have affected— Murgh!”

Before she could say “me,” Iris-san got a very serious expression on her face. Her brow furrowed.

There was then a low, heavy rumbling sound.

To protect her honor, I won’t say from where.

“Shopkeeper-dono...would you mind if I went and sat down a moment?”

“That’s fine with me, but...Kate-san is already in there, isn’t she?”

Was the euphemism because of her good upbringing? Whatever the case, she couldn’t keep her composure for long. I watched as she raced across to the residential part of the shop, from which I then heard frantic banging and desperate cries.

“Kate! Hurry up and come out already!”

“I can’t. I’m going to be in here for a while.”

“Don’t say that! Please! I’ll only take a bit! Just a bit, really!”

I snuck over to steal a peek. Iris-san was holding her belly with one hand as she pounded on the door with the other. That was about what I’d expected.

“Sorry. Hold on just a little longer.”

“I can’t! I’m at my limit!”

“I don’t have it any easier. If I move right now... Urkh!”

“Kate! I’m practically begging you here!”

“Iris, when we left the house, you said we were equal partners now, right? If we’re equal, then I’m going to put my own dignity first! Ungh!”

“Grr... Can’t you budge on that?!”

“Th-There’s nothing I can do!”

“Fine, let’s compromise! You take half, and I’ll take half! We’ll share! We’re friends, aren’t we?!”

“Friends or not, this is one thing we can’t share!”

Iris-san looked like she was in dire straits. Her knocks on the door were getting harder, and she stood with her toes turned in, crouching down half way.

“Isn’t there anything you can do, Sarasa-san...? I feel bad for Iris-san.” Lorea-chan was right beside me, sneaking a peek too.

I slowly shook my head. “Lorea-chan... I get where you’re coming from, but I can’t whip up another toilet on the fly, and it sounds like Kate-san is having a bad time too.”

After hearing how much she was suffering, I couldn’t order Kate-san out of the bathroom immediately. But at the same time, I didn’t want Iris-san doing her business right where she was...

“This is the best I can manage right now, I guess?”

I went and fetched something from the warehouse. I then went and subtly handed it to Iris-san, who was at the point where she couldn’t even knock anymore.

“Sh-Shopkeeper-dono...”

Iris-san was on the verge of tears. I smiled and opened the back door.

“Please take care of it in the corner of the yard.”

“Guhhh! Kate! I’ll remember this humiliation!”

With that parting comment, Iris-san headed for the backyard using the hoe I’d just given her as a crutch.

Her legs were unsteady, and I was worried she’d collapse at any second...

Feeling it was the least that I could do, I closed my eyes and quietly shut the door so that none of us would see her.

But Kate-san did nothing wrong, right?

◇ ◇ ◇

“Now then, Lorea-chan. I know we just witnessed a minor tragedy, but we have to move on.”

“Yes, it was very sad.”

I could see the pain in Lorea-chan’s expression.

But y’know, that “tragedy” is continuing in the backyard as we speak.

If I’d created the portable toilet before the floating tent, these sad events might have been averted. But I hadn’t seen this coming, so...what can you do, really?

“I think Andre-san and the guys are probably having a miserable time too, so maybe we should deliver them some medicine? It can be lethal if untreated.”

Lorea-chan’s eyes bugged out at how casually I said this. “Huh?! It can? Sarasa-san, you just said they wouldn’t die...”

“Not of poisoning, no. But without treatment, they’ll be like that for a couple weeks. It’s manageable if they keep themselves hydrated and nourished, but it’s a miserable experience, and if they’re unlucky...”

“Th-That’s awful! Erm, potions fix it, right?” Lorea-chan hurriedly got up and was ready to rush off to the warehouse.

“There are potions that could fix it in one go,” I said, trying to reassure her. “But it’s a struggle to decide whether to use them or not.”

“Huh?! Why is that?!”

“They’re expensive.”

“Ohh... That makes sense. Money is important.”

“Yep. And if we’re not careful, they’ll end up in the red even after all the trouble of going out and collecting the honey.”

I hadn’t checked the quality of the honey yet, but affording potions for the five of them wasn’t going to be easy even with the profits from it.

If the alternative was them dying, then there was no choice, but the thing was that they could manage their condition without them.

“For that reason, I’m going to make them a specific antidote. That’ll be cheaper. And to get started...I’ll have to go harvest the raw materials. Will you come along and help, Lorea-chan?”

“Yes! I’ll do anything I can!” she agreed in an instant.

I went and got my harvesting tools and we headed out the back door toward the forest—only to do an about-face and leave through the shop-side door instead.

Then, closing our ears to Iris-san’s “suffering,” we walked along the side of the house and into the forest out back.

“The ingredients for this medicine are actually pretty easy to find. You just dig up the rotting leaves in the woods, and... Oh, look. They’re a bit small, but these are the bugs that we’re looking for. Can you help me search?”

The caterpillar that I’d dug up had a yellow-green color and was about a centimeter long. I tossed it into the box.

They weren’t rare, but we needed to make enough for five people, so it was going to take a bit of effort to find enough.

“Got it. How many would you say we need?”

“If they were all around this size, I’d want ten for each, so...since I’d like to make sure we comfortably have enough, let’s say sixty or so.”

Immediately putting the bugs we’d found into the box, Lorea-chan had the most indescribable expression as she asked, “These...are going to become medicine, right?”

I nodded in the affirmative. “This medicine is cheap, but it’s a pain to make... How about we cut some corners?”

“Cut corners? Is that okay? It won’t make it less effective...or anything like that?”

“No, no, as an alchemist, I’d never cut corners that way. It’ll just taste awful. The shelf life will be shorter too, but they’re drinking it right away, so that’s not all that relevant.”

They’ll be drinking them the same day I make them, so it’s no problem.

The taste will be wretched, though—probably.

I’ve never drunk it myself, so I wouldn’t know.

“Well, if that’s all, who cares, then? They all ignored your warning, right?”

“Hrmm, I never said, ‘Don’t eat it!’ so that’s not quite true... If anything, it comes down to a lack of knowledge, I guess? This is part of taking responsibility for yourself that comes with being a gatherer, but I do feel sorry for them, you know?”

I glanced back in the direction of the house. Lorea-chan nodded in agreement.

Besides, as the one who’d recommended it, I did feel a little responsible for this. That was part of why I’d started making medicine for them on my own initiative.

Lorea-chan chatted about it as we worked for the next half hour or so.