Lily

,No problem here.”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at Rotten’s words.

,The stiffness in your muscles will get better if you move around often. I’ll write down a recipe for a good medicine separately. Since you’re in the Department of Magic Engineering, you should be able to make it yourself.”

Rotten kindly wrote down the recipe for the medicine on a piece of paper and gave it to Luna.

,Thank you, Scholar Rotten-nim.”

I decided to treat Rotten, who smiled at those words, to a meal as a sign of my gratitude.

I thought about going with the club members, but Aria and Lacar said they didn’t want to burden me, and Kane, who was trying to follow along without a clue, ended up staying in the club room with Luna.

Following Aria’s recommendation, I headed to a restaurant that was said to be popular in the capital these days.

It was indeed a popular restaurant, and after eating a memorable Wellington and scallop dish, I headed to a nearby teahouse to have a conversation.

I ordered the same tea as Rotten, finished paying, and returned to my seat. I placed the cup of tea in front of Rotten and thanked him again.

,Thank you for helping Luna.”

At my words, Rotten blew on the cup of tea and said,

,I’m just glad I could help her.”

Rotten said that as if it were nothing and drank the tea.

,Ahem, do you know why I helped Luna?”

At Rotten’s words, I said in a careful voice,

,To use her legally?”

Ttak-

Fortunately, it was a teahouse, so getting hit on the head with a teaspoon didn’t hurt too much.

,This guy is often sassy. Well, that’s not entirely wrong, but the biggest reason is that I helped her because she’s in a similar situation to me.”

I tilted my head, not understanding Rotten’s words, and he smiled.

,I also have a lover like Luna, like you.”

Seeing Rotten’s bitter smile, I wondered if there was some story with his lover.

,There’s no disciple better than the master, I was afraid you’d regret it like me. That’s what I said yesterday.”

Rotten didn’t seem to want to talk more, and as he drank his tea and looked around the teahouse, I decided to change the subject and asked what I was curious about.

,Were you really thinking of taking me on as a disciple?”

At my question, Rotten looked around, turned his head to look at me, and shook his head.

,There’s no need to waste your time. Didn’t Luna say that you’ll become a hero who protects everyone… *keu keu*.”

I scratched my chin, feeling embarrassed by Rotten’s teasing laughter, and Rotten continued.

,But I have a favor to ask. If I can’t finish the research on the petrification disease… please find someone who can finish it.”

At Rotten’s serious voice, I nodded with a serious expression.

Since I had to find a cure for the petrification disease anyway, it was a natural thing to do, and I couldn’t refuse Rotten’s request, who had cured Luna.

The topic of petrification disease came up, and I suddenly became curious and asked Rotten.

,If we find a cure, can we save the people who have turned into stone statues?”

If so, could the witch who cursed me return to normal?

At my question, Rotten shook his head with a sad smile.

,Unfortunately, that’s impossible. Petrification disease is not simply freezing in an instant. The heart turns to stone and dies, and then it completely turns into a stone statue. Even if we find a cure, we can’t revive someone who has already become a stone statue.”

I felt a deep sadness from Rotten’s appearance as he looked at the ceiling of the teahouse with forlorn eyes.

Feeling awkward, I drank the tea in front of me. I realized that the tea Rotten had ordered was similar in taste to Platinan tea.

,It tastes similar to Platinan tea? You must like sweet things.”

,Is that so? Well, since I have Platinan flowers next to me, I only drink that tea.”

At Rotten’s words, I nodded with an understanding expression.

,But it’s amazing. A flower with dangerous thorns has a sweet taste.”

At my words, Rotten said with an indifferent expression,

,That’s why it has such dangerous thorns to protect itself.”

Just in case, I asked Rotten.

,Could there be a hint about the cure in the Platinan flower? The flower isn’t affected by the poison of the thorns, is it?”

At my words, Rotten smiled and answered as if he knew I would ask that.

,Of course, the first step in the research was to investigate the Platinan flower. I investigated it for about 20 years, but I failed in the end.”

I felt disappointed at Rotten’s words.

,Why does such a flower even exist?”

I couldn’t remember what I was thinking when I created such a setting. A plant that turns you into stone when you get pricked by its thorns… It was too dangerous to be a flower that exists in nature.

Rotten laughed loudly at my voice mixed with lament. People at the surrounding tables sent annoyed glances, but Rotten didn’t care.

,Is there anything useless in this world created by God? Fortunately, Platinan flowers only grow in limited areas. They mostly grow on deep cliffs where there is no sunlight. Because of that, they don’t pose a big threat to people, and only birds that pass by the cliff and touch the Platinan flower turn into stone statues and fall to the bottom of the cliff.”

At Rotten’s words, I imagined birds flying in the sky and turning into stone statues and falling to the ground, and I smiled.

,Then there must be a lot of bird sculptures at the bottom of the cliff?”

,Huh?”

Rotten made a puzzled expression at my words.

,If birds keep flying and getting pricked by the thorns and falling to the bottom of the cliff, there must be a lot of them piled up on the ground. If you sell them as bird sculptures, you could make some money, right?”

Rotten stroked his chin at my words, then suddenly stood up from his seat.

,I have something to check. I’ll be going now. Oh, and instead of coming for an hour or two on weekdays, just come on the weekends and pick a lot of flowers.”

I nodded at Rotten’s brusque voice.

,Okay. I’ll see you on the weekend.”

Rotten left the teahouse with a hurried face, and I drank the remaining tea and sorted out my thoughts about Rotten.

The cure for the petrification disease was definitely in the possession of the Green Magic Tower Master. He traded it with Bella in exchange for a huge reward…

So, Rotten’s research failed in the end? So the Green Magic Tower Master took over Rotten’s research and completed it?

If it was the Rotten I knew, he would never give up on the research.

As I drank my tea and pondered for a long time, I suddenly became curious about Rotten’s words about having a lover like Luna.

Since he cured Luna, I thought I wanted to repay him in some way.

With that thought, I left the teahouse, put on a cloak and mask in the alley, and headed to Modiste.

I was going to investigate how the cure ended up in the hands of the Green Magic Tower Master, and also investigate his lover.

After going through the familiar procedure, I entered the room.

A woman wearing a cat mask was sitting in her seat, as if she had been waiting for me.

,Welcome, customer-nim! Are you here to sell and buy again today?”

I nodded to the woman, who asked as if she had gotten used to me.

,Yeah, I’ll sell first.”

I wondered what to sell, and suddenly asked the woman who was looking at me.

,Do you have anything you particularly want?”

,…Pardon?”

She seemed a little flustered, as if she hadn’t expected me to say that.

,If there’s anything you want, I’ll think about it.”

,…Information about monsters is expensive these days.”

,Is that so?”

I couldn’t sell information that would be a variable, so I thought about what would benefit me.

,There’s a hidden cave on the east side of the Bold Snow Mountain in the north. There’s a wolf with golden fur inside. It’s not a monster, but it’s a young spirit beast.”

,A spirit beast…?”

The woman stopped writing down my words and asked again, as if she wanted to make sure she heard correctly, and I nodded.

,Yeah, it’s definitely a spirit beast. The symbol of the Northern Grand Duke’s family is a wolf. If you sell the information to them, they’ll buy it at a high price.”

Originally, Roel and Ilia, who had become third-year students, would go to Bold Snow Mountain for a vacation, get caught up in an attack by the Order, and accidentally discover the hidden cave and meet the wolf with golden fur.

It was something that would happen a year later, but I said it because I thought it was necessary to shorten the time.

That wolf, Fenrir, was a great help to Ilia’s growth.

,Oh, let me warn you, that wolf likes pretty women. Unless you have the appearance of the Northern Grand Duchess, you won’t even be allowed to approach. And unless you have the skills of the Northern Grand Duchess, it won’t be easy to tame.”

I said it to subtly tell Ilia about Fenrir, and the woman who was writing down my words nodded.

,That’s very good information. If we process this information well, we can sell it to the Northern Grand Duke several times.”

,Then my share will increase?”

,Are you kidding me? Processing and selling information is our effort.”

I didn’t expect it, but I asked just in case. As expected, a cold answer came back.

,Then what are you going to buy?”

,Investigate the Mad Scholar Rotten’s lover. And investigate the people around him, and especially focus on what kind of relationship he has with the Green Magic Tower Master. I think the price is enough for this, right?”

The woman nodded at my words.

,It will take about 4 days to confirm and investigate the information.”

,Okay, good work.”

I was about to get up and return to the academy when the woman suddenly called out to me.

,Ah, just a moment. The name is ready.”

,Name?”

I was wondering what she was talking about, and then I remembered that I was supposed to get a name from Modiste.

,What is it?”

I asked with a little expectation. The woman took out a badge that shone with gold from her bosom.

,Congratulations. Customer-nim is now ‘Lily’.”

I couldn’t help but flinch at the woman’s words.

Of all things, it had to be Lily… Aria suddenly came to my mind, and I sighed and had no choice but to receive the lily-shaped badge that the woman held out.