“Miss, one Blood Poison, please!”

In the end, Ethan obediently took a seat at the front desk and made his request to the receptionist. Blood Poison was a distinctive cocktail popular in this area. It was made by adding a little liquid squeezed from red chilies to wine, then garnishing it with a few rose petals. The result was a spicy drink with a touch of gentlemanly floral fragrance, and it was very popular around here.

But the receptionist, dressed rather revealingly, only smiled at Ethan. “Sorry, but if you’d like a drink, please show me your ID or Adventurer’s Card. You have to be at least sixteen to drink.”

Ethan furrowed his brow. “What, I don’t look old enough?”

“Looking old enough doesn’t count. This is the new Third Young Master’s rule. The boss specifically told us to enforce it strictly. He might even come in person to test us.”

Tori rolled her eyes at Ethan, who’d suddenly become awkward. “That’s not how it works, sis~”

She was suddenly glad the owner of the clothing shop had altered her outfit, making her look a little cuter. In a sugary, coaxing voice, she said, “Actually, my brother’s hoping to work here and earn a little extra money.”

Ethan stared at Tori, completely dumbfounded. All he wanted to ask was, “Where did that come from?”

The young woman looked at Ethan, then suddenly smiled. “That could work. We can offer you a job here. It depends on whether you’re hardworking enough, though. The boss has been saying we’re short-staffed. I can explain the general duties first. If you’re interested, I’ll take you to talk pay with the boss. If not, no worries.”

Ethan was about to say something when he felt Tori tug at his sleeve. So he could only force an awkward smile and listen as the woman went on explaining the job.

Tori really was something else. She knew he was the lord’s third son, but she’d never acted especially familiar with him from the start. She must have heard about him, yet she’d never shown even a trace of contempt. What an incredible kid. Was it because she was still so young?

But watching Tori chat so smoothly with the clerk and keep acting cute to coax information out of her, Ethan couldn’t help thinking that this was far beyond what a child could do.

“So, what do you think?”

“Huh?!”

Ethan instinctively looked at Tori. She gave a subtle shake of her head, and he immediately understood. “Ah, well, I don’t think this is quite right for me. Sorry to have bothered you.”

Then he left the tavern with Tori.

Tori asked, “What were you spacing out about just now?”

“I was thinking about something related to magic.” Ethan made up an excuse without so much as blushing.

“Oh! That reminds me. A couple of days ago, when I was drinking moongrass juice by myself, I sensed a message coming through from the Demon Realm. It sounded like a woman’s voice. Was that a Witch?”

Ethan furrowed his brow. “What message did you get?”

Seeing his expression, Tori sensed something was wrong. “I think it was a Potion recipe. I didn’t recognize some of the ingredients, but if they were right in front of me, I feel like I’d know how to mix them. I haven’t actually tried, though. Maybe my brain knows how, but my hands don’t.”

“I’ve heard of this phenomenon.” Ethan spoke to Tori with a note of warning. “I told you before that magic power points toward the Demon Realm. It’s called the Demon Realm because it’s an actual, physical world. Just as matter and elements make up our world, magic power makes up that one. Witches became rulers of the world because they became the actual masters of the Demon Realm. And because of that, powerful Mages can use the Demon Realm to send messages to weaker Mages.”

Tori froze for a moment. “You mean…”

“This is exactly the sort of thing you Potion Makers love to do. Books say the Demon Realm and the real world have corresponding locations, so if someone sends a message through the Demon Realm, Mages in the matching area might receive it. The ones best at this—and the only ones who can send messages that clearly—are people like you, Potion Makers, who can naturally separate magic power from the elements. Other people might receive a corresponding message now and then, but it won’t be clear or precise.”

Tori thought of the unpleasant possibility. “Then why would powerful Potion Makers do this…?”

“Potion Makers of lower ranks used to think it was a blessing. But once this trick spread, it only fooled the inexperienced. Of course, plenty of Potion Makers are willing to take the risk anyway. They spread their Potion recipes through the corresponding areas, then let lower-ranked Potion Makers try to brew them. After that, they use their influence in the real world to track down the relevant Potions—or the people who might’ve taken them. Just like the rats you use to test your drugs.

“There’s probably a powerful Potion Maker near Dais City who wants to test a new Potion, but their status is too high for them to experiment on people themselves. So they spread the recipe around, and naturally, someone will want to try making it. Someone like you.”

Tori swallowed. “That’s messed up.”

Ethan smiled, though there was no warmth in it. “The shadiest group in this world is probably Potion Makers. A lot of the things you Potion Makers do aren’t for the advancement of magic in this world. You do them to make a profit. And when you spread recipes this way, no one knows who sent them. We don’t even know what counts as a powerful Potion Maker. The high-ranking ones probably understand each other without needing to say a word. But you lower-ranked Potion Makers—or people who can’t even call themselves Potion Makers—would surely want to try a recipe if they got their hands on one, right?”

All right, Tori had to admit he was right.

“A Potion Maker can usually judge what effects their Potion might have. They only need to gather information about who might react to it—or find out who’s buying up the ingredients in bulk. After all, even if you know the recipe, brewing a Potion often takes repeated attempts. You know how it is: Potion recipes are pretty vague. And not every Potion Maker can receive the information clearly. If you’re confident you can make it, that means the message you got was unusually complete. Still, I wouldn’t recommend making it. Though you might not be able to afford the ingredients anyway.”

Ouch. You really know how to hit a guy where it hurts. At this rate, you’ll never get a girlfriend.

Tori grumbled to herself. She couldn’t help feeling a little dejected. She’d thought her cheat ability had finally arrived. Wasn’t this sort of mysterious Potion supposed to lead to all kinds of adventures, with her conveniently finding every ingredient, drinking it, and becoming invincible on the spot?!

What was wrong with this world?! The Potion Makers here had no shame!

But just as Ethan had said, for low-ranked Potion Makers—or people who weren’t Potion Makers at all—this kind of recipe was impossible to resist. Even if they knew it might be a trap, plenty of people would still want to try.

After all—what if it was an incredible Potion? A powerful recipe?

Seeing how disappointed she looked, Ethan smiled. “Weren’t you supposed to investigate how drinks are sold? Potions aren’t the priority, are they? You should be focusing on Miniature Meditation Potions. When will you be able to make one?”

“Soon! Very soon! I just need to wait for my bone worm to grow, and then I can try brewing it!” She assured her boss that she was working as fast as she could, making it clear that the delay wasn’t because she wasn’t trying hard enough, but because the bone worm was growing too slowly. “As for the drinks, I’ve pretty much figured things out. We just need to check a few other restaurants and inns for information. That should be enough.”

“Huh? Did you ask them anything just now?”

Tori walked ahead of him without looking back. “Asking questions isn’t the point. The point is to observe—and to notice the things she lets slip without realizing it. Besides, you can get a rough idea of what kind of drinks the owner sells just by looking at what the customers in the bar are drinking. Supply and demand go both ways.”

Ethan and Tori spent the whole day wandering around town. At the end of it, Ethan took her to one of his properties. It was a huge building—certainly much bigger than Tori’s house—and it was a shop.

“My father sent me here because he wants to develop this area of Blackwater Town. Otherwise, even though I’ve fallen on hard times, I wouldn’t have needed to come here. There are properties in the city I could’ve inherited. Making a lot of money isn’t the point. What matters is gaining real control over this area. He wants Blackwater Town’s tax revenue to double within five years without changing the tax policy. That means the local economy needs to flourish, and that takes talented people like you. Your previous businesses were small-scale, so it’d have been hard to collect taxes from you. But if you officially register as a merchant and run this shop in town, you’ll have to pay taxes. I’ll be upfront with you: the tax on alcoholic drinks is thirty percent.”

“Th-this much?”

“It’s much better than what weapon shops pay. Weapons and armor are taxed at fifty percent. As for Potions—if you’re just selling them, the tax is sixty percent. But if you provide someone with an advancement Potion, it’s actually hard to collect taxes from you. That’s one of the perks of being a Potion Maker. No wonder Potion Makers make so much money!”

That was shady. Seriously shady!

No wonder Potions were so expensive. With taxes that high, and the production costs not exactly low either, what was this country even doing? Or was this just the lord’s personal choice?

What a heartless lord!

Tori’s expression changed as she looked at Ethan. But she didn’t dare complain to his face. Ethan could kill those giant rats, after all!

Her air-conditioning magic could only keep going for about ten minutes at most. Next to Ethan, it was nothing but a child’s game.

And this was Ethan’s turf. What if his beastly blood got the better of him and he did all sorts of things to an innocent girl like her? What would she do then?