Layata Town was different from other towns. It mainly sold things people might need after entering the forest, including all kinds of weapons and provisions. It even had stables.

In other towns, you might not be able to find a place to tether an earth dragon. In Layata Town, you definitely could. The town also had a military regiment stationed there to prevent monsters from the forest from wreaking havoc on the surrounding area. All in all, it was doing quite well.

The atmosphere here was livelier, and the pace much faster, but security was surprisingly good.

After settling the carriage, Ethan set off for the forest with Tori.

The forest they were heading to was called the Demonmist Forest. A faint mist lingered deep within it and was difficult to dispel. But aside from obstructing visibility, it didn’t affect people much, making it a remarkably friendly forest.

That said, the forest was full of shrubs, and most of its plants were small—which made it ideal for Potion Makers. Many Potion ingredients didn’t come from towering trees, but from tiny plants, or even obscure materials few people knew about.

For now, though, they’d only just entered the forest’s outer reaches.

“Let me give you a quick rundown. In a forest like the Demonmist Forest, the main dangers are the monsters—and all the poisonous things you Potion Makers are so fond of.” Since Ethan had brought Tori into the forest, he thought he ought to explain a few things, even if the girl always seemed far more mature than her age.

Tori listened closely as Ethan explained.

“You’ll need to be careful in other forests. The Demonmist Forest lies entirely within our kingdom’s borders, but that’s not true of every forest. Some aren’t part of any country at all. They’re territories ruled by the monsters living there, and they’re much more dangerous. The kingdom hasn’t cleared a place like the Demonmist Forest and turned it into farmland because it’s rich in resources. In a way, it’s also a place to train the troops. The kingdom sends people to cull the stronger monsters here every so often, too. That makes it a good place for low-ranking adventurers like us. So you can basically think of knowledge as the same thing as survival here. It’s also hard for people to turn on each other. Usually, unless something’s particularly valuable—and there’s nothing especially valuable in this forest…”

Hearing that, Tori felt her interest drain away. If there was nothing particularly valuable here, did that mean all she could get out of this trip was a few Bone Bugs? Though Bone Bugs were important, too.

“You’re looking for Greenlake Cranes, right? Are those monsters strong?”

Ethan thought for a moment. “According to the mission details, they’re usually at the Mediocre level, though some individuals are Extraordinary. As long as it isn’t one of those, we’ll be fine. And if we really can’t handle it, there must be weaker ones than the Mediocre—like Fluctuators or the Weak.”

Tori’s face darkened. “There’s someone here who isn’t even Weak. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t hurt her.”

“That’s a minor issue. A Mediocre-level individual isn’t necessarily a match for me, since I’ve taken an advancement Potion. That makes me a bit stronger in combat than a monster at that level. Of course, monsters are physically strong, too, so at worst we’d be evenly matched. If we put in a little extra effort, we should be able to handle it.”

What could Tori say? Ethan was the one with the strength. All she could do was obediently cling to him.

She looked around. “It feels like there’s nothing but weeds everywhere. I haven’t seen a single ingredient that caught my eye! Ice Mint and stuff like that—after coming all this way, I’d be embarrassed to take something like that home!”

“Don’t rush. Do you think you’ll find good ingredients this close to the edge of the forest? People would’ve picked them all already. We’ll have to go deeper. We’ve got plenty of time.”

Tori wore her little cloth pack on her back. Honestly, this whole thing felt like an adventure to her—and it really was one!

Where was she? In a forest! Who was the person in front of her? An adventurer!

If this wasn’t an adventure, what was?

Just think about her life in her previous world! She’d been a good kid from start to finish, doing nothing but studying. She’d done well enough to get into a decent university, only to major in civil engineering and spend more than a decade eating dust on construction sites. The worst thing she’d ever done was look at lewd pictures online. A life so ordinary, and yet so utterly miserable.

She felt her blood start to boil, and her excitement soared.

She even picked up her pace. “By the way, do you know about Whitehorse Mushrooms, Mr. Ethan?”

“Ah, those mushrooms. Because of their shape and color, I guess. They aren’t used to make mushroom sauce. People steam them whole and eat them with dipping sauce. They’re pretty good food, actually—the texture and flavor are both quite nice.”

So they could be sold.

Come to think of it, mushroom sauce—mushroom sauce could be a way to make money, too.

Tori was curious about what kinds of mushrooms were mass-produced in this world.

“Still, Whitehorse Mushrooms are also a favorite of a fairly famous Potion Maker. Many of the Potions he makes use mushrooms as ingredients. They usually enhance life magic, and those who take them often gain magic related to things like parasitism. It’s a pretty good Potion series.”

“Potion series!”

She’d heard another new term. Lusaka Village really was just a small village, after all. There was so much it didn’t know. Even the well-traveled village chief seemed unclear about a lot of things, though maybe they just didn’t want to tell her because she was too young.

“Hmm—the more famous ones are the Fire-type Beast series, the Water-type Fish series, the Earth-type Shell series, the Life-type Mushroom series, the Wind-type Flying Bird series, the Lightning-type Weapon series, and the Light- and Dark-type Fantasy series. Those are just the best-known ones, of course. The Fire type also has Potions like Firecloud Potion.”

The thing was, for a Potion to count as a series, I’d heard it had to include every rank from the lowest to the highest, forming a complete line. Potions that built up to a rather terrifying effect were called Potion series. Take the Beast series, for example: it started with Fire Hound Potion for the Weak, followed by Fire Wolf, Fire Tiger, and even Fire Dragon. At the end, they say that by simply channeling magic power, you can conjure a whole kingdom of flame beasts to attack your enemies. The efficiency and power are absurd. That’s why Potion series are so popular—but they also really test a Potion Maker’s skill. I’ve heard that every Potion Maker worthy of being called top-tier has a series of their own.

So there really was something to it!

Ethan, you really know your stuff—but how do you know so much? Do they teach this at the Magic Academy? Somehow…I doubt it. Information was so tightly controlled in this world, though it seemed like quite a few things had changed since the Witch came to power. But Tori thought—

You’ve got a wise old mentor in your head, don’t you?!

Wait, considering what’s fashionable these days, could it be a pretty young lady instead? What a lucky guy! Tori wasn’t convinced Ethan had learned all this on his own.

Just think back to the first time they met, when Ethan had judged her. He’d suspected that a powerful Mage had possessed her. You’re the one accusing others of what you’re doing yourself, huh?!

At that moment, Tori felt like she’d finally figured it out. Her gaze toward Ethan turned a little strange.

Ethan, completely unaware, continued, “So, Tori, if you want to make big money, why not start thinking about your own Potion series now? It’ll save you a lot of work later.”

You really are just repeating someone else’s words, aren’t you? And from the sound of it, that old man—or pretty young lady—of yours knows a lot about Potion Makers…

So that recipe for Miniature Meditation Potion your father gave you was actually from that person, wasn’t it? No wonder you weren’t worried at all. You were confident that no matter what happened, as long as you gave me the recipe, I’d never betray you or anything like that. So all those instructions about using the right amount weren’t your test—they were that person’s test, right?

Tori had come fully to her senses. What a guy Ethan was: a sunny, handsome face, and such a rotten heart underneath. He didn’t even blush when he lied.

She kept her expression neutral and listened carefully to Ethan’s explanation. Every so often, she asked a question or two, slipping in a few about ingredients along the way.

Ethan answered them.

Just as I thought! How would a Magic Swordsman know about ingredients? She didn’t call him out on it. Instead, she seriously began collecting all the ingredients she recognized along the way.

“Oh! So this is Stargrass. No wonder the village chief’s notes say you’ll recognize it the moment you see it—the leaves are covered in white spots!” Tori excitedly snipped the Stargrass in half and took the upper half with her.

“What are you planning to do with that Stargrass?”

Tori shook her head. “I’m not planning to do anything with it. I just want to learn what it looks like and keep it as a specimen. There isn’t enough here to do anything with anyway. You can’t make a Potion with just this little. I want to turn it into a specimen and put together a hands-on textbook so Lydia can study it. She works for me, after all, so she needs to learn this stuff.”

Lydia was the young girl Tori had hired herself. Ethan could understand why Tori might worry that an employee she’d hired wouldn’t follow her instructions, so she’d hired a girl around her own age. But as for her ability to do the job—

Still, if Tori was putting this much effort into it, Lydia could probably be trained.

“Stargrass sells for 15 copper coins, you know~”

Tori froze for a moment, then glared at Ethan and clenched her teeth in anguish. “Don’t tell me the prices of these things from now on! I don’t want to know! Not right now!”

The pained look on her face was genuinely funny. It was also kind of cute.

“All right, I know where to find some other things that are worth more. It’s not like I can’t help you gather a few this time. I can put them in my ring for you. How about it?”

Tori’s eyes lit up. “Really?!” Then she quickly composed herself. “Um, if the returns are good, I—I’ll pay you a transport fee of ten percent of the revenue.”

“Hm?”

“We have a purely professional business relationship!” Tori explained, clearing up Ethan’s confusion.