Tori returned to her village. She wasn’t particularly interested in what had happened last night. It wouldn’t earn her any extra money; it would only make things more troublesome.
It was already the end of July. The Magic Academy would be recruiting new students again in August. Tori wouldn’t be applying until the following year, but she couldn’t help feeling there might be an opportunity here. After all, you could make a little money selling school supplies before the students went back to class.
Unfortunately, she still hadn’t been able to get her shop properly up and running. There were still preparations to make. She and Lydia alone weren’t enough; she needed to hire people, and hiring people took money. In the end, it all came back to the same problem—the Miniature Meditation Potion.
She continued extracting the essence.
Early August. No bone worms had grown in Tori’s oil toad, and she’d more or less figured out what Moongrass essence was. She’d also gathered quite a bit of ice mint. Now all she needed was bone worm powder, and she could finally start experimenting with the mixture.
And just then, Ethan appeared in Lusaka Village.
Tori was practically overjoyed. According to the arrangement she and Ethan had made, he was supposed to head into the forest this time. Last time, he’d said he’d take her to a place where a lot of rats had died and help her look for bone worms.
If he didn’t show up soon, Tori would really have no choice but to buy bone worms. That wouldn’t be good. At least from her point of view, she couldn’t afford to pour too much money into this experiment right now. Bone worms were expensive to begin with, so gathering them herself would be a much better deal.
Besides, Tori was a lot stronger in a fight than she’d been before. She’d been spending more time meditating lately. A lot of things were finally falling into place, and Lydia was helping with the drinks. Her mother, meanwhile, was busy with the red peppers, which were a rather finicky crop to grow.
The only quiet time was right after the harvest.
She hurried to get ready to leave.
Just then, the old village chief arrived.
He leaned on a cane, though Tori had suspected from the start that it was actually a wand. She didn’t know for sure, but the old village chief seemed like he could afford one.
“You are…” The old village chief stared at Ethan for a moment.
“My name’s Ethan. I’m an adventurer. I bought some rat poison from Tori before to deal with rat-type monsters.” Ethan introduced himself.
The old village chief hesitated. “Sorry. You look a bit like someone I know, so I stared for a moment. My apologies.” He glanced at Tori. “Have you been studying the notes I gave you?”
“Of course I have!” Tori replied, full of confidence.
The village chief frowned. “But I see you selling all sorts of things everywhere. You should know it’s not easy for people in the village to earn money. They ought to be moderate about buying luxuries like alcohol.”
Ethan frowned.
Tori, on the other hand, sincerely apologized to the village chief and promised she’d move the drink production elsewhere soon. It wouldn’t bother everyone in the village too much.
The village chief quizzed Tori on a few more things from his notes. She answered every question smoothly, and only then did he leave, satisfied.
“That doesn’t sound like you, Miss Tori.” Ethan was a little surprised by her reaction. From what little he knew of her, this girl wouldn’t pass up a single chance to make money.
As she packed her things, Tori answered him. “Do you want the truth or a lie?”
“Huh?” The truth or a lie?
That was an interesting way to put it. “What if I said I wanted to hear a lie?”
“The lie is: ‘The village chief has taught me so much, and I respect him a great deal. I believe he’s right, so I should listen to him and stay on the straight and narrow.’”
“…” I thought that was supposed to be the truth, Ethan thought in silence.
He thought for a while, but couldn’t figure out what Tori’s truth might be.
So he asked, “Then what’s the truth?”
“The truth is, there are some things the village chief can’t stop just because he wants to. If I move to town, does that mean people in the village will stop buying alcohol? And if they buy my drinks in town and bring them all the way back, that’ll only add to the cost. In the end, I’ll definitely have to raise my prices once I move to town. If they’re too cheap, the townspeople won’t be interested. They’ll think it’s just some country liquor. So I’ll make more money. Why would I offend the village chief?”
You’re really practical!
Was that really something a girl her age should be saying? Ethan thought he ought to be wary of this girl. She was far too calm about most things. Maybe the girl from that night—the one whose heart wouldn’t stop racing no matter what, and who ended up crawling into his covers—was the real Tori. The rest of the time, she was putting on an act, choosing the “right” answers to get richer.
Tori slung a small cloth bag over her shoulder and called into the house, “Lydia! Remember to do what I asked. I’ll make you something delicious when I get back! And tell my mother not to worry! There’s no point worrying!”
Then she turned to Ethan and watched him expectantly.
She looked eager to get going.
After all, they were heading into the mountains! Into the forest! Plains were always good places for people to live because they were suited to large-scale farming—but that put the diversity of species in a precarious position.
The forest was different. Small ecosystems linked together, one after another, until they formed a vast ecosystem. The precious materials hidden inside made Tori’s eyes light up.
Potion Makers might not be good fighters, but they were definitely rich.
Potion Makers usually gathered their own ingredients and materials, so they often hired adventurer parties—or were adventurers themselves. In return, they’d brew Potions for the party members. The rest of the time, they didn’t have to do anything but stay under their protection.
Today, Tori was getting to enjoy that sort of treatment.
“By the way, Young Master Ethan, where’s your butler? Uncle Yabu, I mean.”
Ethan drove the carriage himself. “Uncle Yabu’s gone back. There are some things I need him to take care of in the city, and I don’t trust anyone else with them.”
“Ooh~” Tori drew out the sound. But Ethan didn’t seem inclined to explain what those things were. She sat in the carriage, watching his back as he drove. “You said before that your father wanted to use Blackwater Town as a base to achieve some results—to double tax revenue without changing the tax policy. Is that right?”
“That’s right.”
Tori studied Ethan. “Do you think you can do it?”
Ethan guided the carriage as he answered her. “I can’t do it on my own. I’ve been staying at an inn these past few days, listening to the other guests talk, and talking to merchants the way you do. It seems incredibly difficult. If it were just me, there’s no way I could complete this task, no matter what. My father says he’ll support me, but it still won’t be easy.”
“Have you thought about using other money to make up the tax revenue?”
Tori asked him that.
Ethan glanced back at her, then immediately turned to face the road again. “Is that question the truth or a lie?”
Tori blinked. “You’re learning fast!”
“All right, I admit I do have a few ideas. But I don’t think you’d invest much in them. After all, I’m only an eight-year-old girl. I’d have to prove myself to you first, just like you tested me before.”
“Then you’ll have to work at it. Proving you have that kind of ability won’t be easy.”
Tori thought for a moment. “Have you considered another possibility? What does your father think, assigning such an incredibly difficult task to you? Does he really believe you can do it?”
Ethan fell silent.
Tori had known this wasn’t a pleasant subject before she brought it up. But what could she say? Maybe she was feeling too much sympathy, or maybe she just couldn’t bear to see a boy of thirteen or fourteen carry so much without knowing—or deliberately ignoring—the truth. So she’d brought it up anyway.
How stupid of me!
I should do less of the selling myself and find someone smooth-tongued who knows how to say all the right things. I’m not very good at this. It’s just that, in the early stages of starting a business, I have no choice but to do it myself…
She was evaluating her own behavior. Saying hurtful things like that to a client wasn’t a good way to make money—and he might not even appreciate the favor.
People’s hearts were complicated, after all. Who knew what Ethan’s relationship with his father was like? Who knew what Ethan himself thought?
She sighed, wanting to find out whether Ethan was angry. They were about to go into the forest to look for bone worms, and him being angry would definitely be bad. If he was, she’d have to think of a way to appease him. She wasn’t about to let the Meditation Potion get this close to completion only to hit a snag and lose her employer’s support.
“Um… Young Master Ethan, what’s the adventurer quest you’re taking on this time?”
“Green Lake Cranes.” He answered Tori’s question, and she breathed a sigh of relief. “A Potion Maker wants the bodies of Green Lake Cranes. They seem to be planning to brew a Potion that lets The Mediocre fly. That kind of Potion is extremely rare and hard to come by.”
The first three stages for Mages had previously been divided by Tori into levels one, two, and three. In reality, the terms used to describe them were “The Weak,” “The Fluctuator,” and “The Mediocre.” She didn’t know much about the stages beyond that. Neither Ethan nor the village chief had ever mentioned them. The divisions were based on how much magical power a Mage radiated.
“So if it works, there’ll be a new flying Potion?”
“That kind of Potion already exists. Someone’s demonstrated that ability before. But, as I said, every Potion Maker has their own recipes for advancement Potions. No one knows how that Potion Maker brewed it, or whether anyone else can reproduce it. You’re hoping one or two Green Lake Cranes will be enough to make it work… Of course, I don’t know much about Potion Makers, so I can’t really judge. I don’t care whether they succeed. I only care about the reward and the Adventurers’ Guild ranking points.”
