episode_0064

As the guild master, Phileston was the worst kind of person.

He seemed to be quite skilled in potion making.

The Kubele Refinery, run by Phileston, supplied potions to all Kubele stores that dealt with potions.

Furthermore, they were exporting to other cities through the port, so his absence was greatly felt.

After Phileston was arrested for the incident involving creating mutants and the Kubele Refinery burned down, many refiners gathered at Kubele upon hearing the rumors.

Phileston, who originally held a monopoly in the potion manufacturing industry, never sold potions at the refinery.

But now, Kubele was in a situation where they were competing to see who could dominate the potion market faster.

New refineries popping up around Kubele were going as far as directly selling potions to win the competition.

“Excuse me! Here’s a hemostatic potion that stops bleeding instantly when consumed!”

“We have an animal lure that can attract herbivores with just a drop!”

As Algot said, there were many new refineries near Kubele.

Due to the intense herbal scent characteristic of refineries, they couldn’t be seen in the central area.

Some of the new refineries completely left Kubele and set up makeshift buildings or tents in the nearby forest to do business.

Approaching closer, there were refineries that engaged in hawking.

It seemed like the competition was getting a bit excessive.

“I never imagined something like this would happen.”

I said, looking at the makeshift refineries lined up like a street market with amazement.

Following behind, Sylphy covered her nose with one hand.

“Ugh… the smell is overwhelming.”

“People are gathering like this just to eat the leftover pie Phileston left behind.”

Potions must be worth a lot of money.

With so many people gathered, there seemed to be a lot of shady characters as well.

As time passed and some refineries began to dominate the market, the rest would likely go bankrupt.

“As Unoah thought, among the refiners gathered at Kubele, there were many scammers.

With the supply of high-quality potions suddenly cut off, goods imported from other cities were too expensive.

At least half of the refiners gathered here didn’t even know what side effects their potions had.”

Isn’t that incredibly dangerous?

Buying potions from the wrong place in a situation like this could lead to serious consequences.

“Hey, adventurer? We’re currently offering a powerful healing potion that’s stronger than divine magic at half price!”

A suspicious-looking man approached me, shaking a bottle of red liquid in front of me.

He clearly reeked of a scam.

I needed a reputable refiner to trust right now.

“Sylphy, don’t be tempted by them, come here.”

Seeing Sylphy also being lured into hawking a little further away, I called out to her.

She seemed almost about to take out money from her pocket.

It’s dangerous, it’s risky.

I now understood why Algot mentioned that there were many strange places.

In a situation like this, buying potions seemed like a gamble.

I needed to set my own standards to find a proper potion in this situation.

First, I would avoid potions sold in makeshift tents or street stalls.

I would also avoid places where people on the street were being lured into buying.

Having seen Phileston’s refinery multiple times, I roughly knew what proper refining tools looked like.

I would filter out any strange places, whether they were refiners or peddlers, and find a refinery equipped with proper refining tools.

Since everyone in the forest area seemed like scammers or peddlers, I returned inside Kubele.

Algot deleted all the refining lists in the forest area and selected only the places that operated properly by renting a proper building.

“Hmm, about three places….”

As a result, there were exactly three places worth visiting.

All of them were recently opened refining shops that rented buildings on the outskirts of Kubele.

The first place visited felt more like a general store than a refining shop.

Perhaps it had taken on this feeling to combine sales in order not to fall behind in competition.

The owner was a young man, and although he did not engage in any deceptive behavior like the people in the forest, the potion refining tools seemed inadequate.

Without hesitation, I moved on to the next refining shop.

The second refining shop had its door closed.

Peeking through the window, the inside was well organized.

Looks like this one’s a bust.

Sighing, I headed towards the last refining shop.

And so, I arrived at the third refining shop.

“Oh….”

It feels familiar.

Although it didn’t have as many herbs as Philstone’s refining shop, the structure was similar.

Boxes of neatly organized herbs, complex refining tools whose purpose I couldn’t even guess, were spread out on the desk.

Above all, the owner, who didn’t even glance at me when I approached, seemed trustworthy as he kept his eyes fixed on the refining machine.

You could feel the aura of a master, slightly obsessed with potion refining.

Well, if I’m wrong, there’s nothing I can do about it.

The only thing that caught my attention was that the owner seemed a bit too young.

The owner of the refining shop was a boy who couldn’t have been more than twenty years old.

But you can’t judge a book by its cover.

For now, among the refining shops I’ve seen so far, this one was the most well-equipped.

Shall I have a little conversation and see if he’s trustworthy enough for consultation?

“Excuse me.”

Carefully calling out to the distracted boy in front of the refining machine.

Unlike Philstone, who seemed to ignore me as if he had blocked his ears until he finished his business, the owner of the refining shop with a serious face immediately approached me when I spoke.

“Oh, are you a customer? I’m sorry. I’m in the middle of refining right now. I didn’t see you coming in.”

“It’s okay. I’m just looking around the nearby refining shops. Do you also sell here?”

“Yes, we have ready-made products and also accept custom orders. Oh, I’m sorry for the late introduction. My name is Ryan.”

The boy who introduced himself as Ryan slightly bowed his head and greeted me politely.

Not a bad first impression.

“You have quite a well-equipped shop here. It feels more professional than other places, so I came to check it out.”

I pretended to know a little while looking at the complex refining machines and neatly classified herbs inside the shop.

Ryan chuckled coolly in response.

“Haha… Actually, I helped my master with his refining shop in another city before opening this one. My master insisted that I should establish myself in Kubele this time and supported me in various ways….”

“Uh… Senpai… I… I’ve reached my limit.”

At that moment, Failpe, who was standing next to me, twisted slightly with his hand covering his nose and mouth.

“What’s wrong, Failpe? Are you okay?”

“My head hurts….”

Seeing Failpe like that, Ryan, with a surprised expression, looked at him and then took out a small vial from the back cabinet.

He then opened the vial and handed it to Failpe, saying.

“Don’t drink it, just smell it a couple of inches away from the vial. Your headache should improve a bit.”

Following Ryan’s instructions, Failpe took the vial and sniffed it from a proper distance.

After a while, Failpe’s visibly improved expression caught my eye.

“Oh… It’s much better now. Thank you.”

“If you smell too many different herbal scents at once, that can happen. You need to have such measures if you want to run a refining shop. I also smell this often.”

Watching that figure quietly, I was convinced.

This purification expert named Lian, he’s the real deal.

At least he seemed to have more skill than those who set up stalls and tents outside the Kubel Forest, selling potions of unknown origin.

“Lian, I urgently need a potion.”

With a firm resolve, I got straight to the point.

“Yes, please tell me what you need. If it’s possible, I’ll do my best to help.”

“Is there a potion that maximizes the sense of smell?”

“You’re looking for a very unique effect.”

“It’s absolutely necessary.”

In response to my words, Lian spoke seriously.

“Amplifying a specific sense can be dangerous. If you enhance your sense of smell, you might be able to smell things better, but a sudden strong stimulus to the human brain can cause damage. How much enhancement of smell are you looking for?”

“To be able to follow the scent of a missing person’s belongings….”

“No, that’s not possible. It’s too risky. Unless you belong to a species with a naturally sensitive sense of smell, artificially enhancing your sense of smell can lead to fainting in humans. Look at the woman next to you. Even with a normal sense of smell, the smell of medicinal herbs can cause headaches and dizziness. What do you think will happen if you artificially enhance your sense of smell?”

Listening to Lian’s words, it seemed more dangerous than I had thought.

I simply thought that if there was a potion that enhanced the sense of smell, it would help in searching for Meruru’s scent.

By the way, he’s really conscientious here.

If he wanted to make money, he could have just sold the potion without giving such warnings.

My trust in Lian is gradually increasing.

“In fact, we are currently looking for a missing person. Among the items left by the missing person, there is one with a strong scent, so we were looking for a potion that could enhance the sense of smell to follow that scent. Is there any way?”

I explained the situation to Lian in detail once again.

When it comes to potions, Lian is a definite expert.

If I explain the situation, he might suggest a new solution that I am not aware of.

“I see….”

Lian pondered for a moment.

I hope there is a good solution.

I heard that the longer it takes to find a missing person, the more dangerous it becomes.

If it was certain that the person left on their own, that would be one thing, but for now, we can only assume that they are missing.

“What about transforming the senses? Seeing smells with your eyes.”

After much deliberation, Lian came up with a solution that I hadn’t even considered.