Ch.69Can Depression Be Cured? (3)

I suddenly doubted my own ears.

Did that pharmacist just use the word “setting”?

She said if it was originally set that way, it couldn’t be fixed?

Wait, does that mean this NPC pharmacist knows this world is inside a game?!

What’s going on? Is she another transmigrator like me?

“What do you mean by that? Setting?”

When I asked, the pharmacist exhaled a cloud of smoke with a suggestive smile.

“Don’t you know what the word ‘setting’ means?”

“No, I know what it means. But depression is a disease, not that kind of thing.”

“Ah, right. It must be difficult to understand. Let me explain. First, take off your clothes. Seeing such a handsome young man is making me hot.”

The pharmacist smiled while removing her white coat.

I could see her exposed side-bosom and armpits, but I was too distracted to notice.

“I’m the most skilled pharmacist in the kingdom. You’d probably struggle to find anyone more competent than me in the entire empire.”

This wasn’t just terrible self-love—this NPC actually deals with items that high-level players need.

“But you know, there are things even I can’t fix. Not rare diseases or anything like that. Simple things like sneezing that don’t respond to any medicine.”

I think I understand what she means.

In games, some NPCs repeat certain actions for immersion—stuttering, sneezing, things like that.

Those are hard-coded behaviors that can’t be fixed by medicine from another NPC.

So, is this woman simply calling these strange phenomena “settings,” or does she truly understand their hidden meaning?

“How fascinating. I came all the way from the Starting Village because I heard you were the best pharmacist in the kingdom. Do such things really happen?”

“Well, it could be the mischief of the god who created this world. We can’t know everything.”

The pharmacist shrugged and took a deep drag from her pipe. It seems she doesn’t fully grasp the true nature of this world.

“I don’t know exactly if this depression is a ‘setting’ or whatever.”

“I see. When did you start suffering from depression? What are your symptoms? How many suicide attempts have you made?”

The pharmacist began her examination with blunt questions.

Bellamy pressed close to my side and mumbled her answers in a timid voice.

“So you started feeling depressed while preparing for the imperial exam, and that developed into an illness.”

The pharmacist tapped her pipe against the table as she spoke.

“Depression from exams usually disappears when the exams end. And you ranked first, didn’t you? Strange, very strange.”

The pharmacist muttered to herself while scribbling wildly on a piece of paper.

“Make this prescription!”

When the pharmacist shouted, footsteps approached from outside, and a small woman scurried in.

Why would she have such a tiny child as an assistant?

“She may look like that, but she’s older than you.”

“Is she a gnome or something?”

“That’s right. She’s an unusual gnome who chose pharmacy instead of engineering.”

A gnome specializing in pharmacy? That’s unusual.

“What kind of medicine is it? It would be helpful if you could tell me about the ingredients.”

“Would you understand if I told you?”

“I’m a certified potion merchant. I know most ingredients.”

“Oh? Really? You run a potion shop?”

The pharmacist seemed somewhat surprised and told me the ingredients for the medicine.

Moonlight herb, glowing moss, bluebird feather, goblin tears, wolf’s-foot flower petals.

I know all these items. But something seems off.

“Wouldn’t that combination make a stimulant rather than a depression treatment?”

“So you really are a potion shop owner.”

The pharmacist gave me a sticky smile.

“To be precise, it’s not a stimulant but something that properly regulates the flow of energy in the body. It prevents feelings of depression. Depression isn’t something you can escape through willpower alone.”

It’s similar to hormone regulation in modern terms, I suppose.

“Will taking this cure her?”

“How would I know? It might not work. I told you, didn’t I? Some people can’t be cured even if they die.”

“Then I can only hope our mayor’s depression isn’t a ‘setting.'”

“Speaking of mayors, what kind of place is this Starting City you mentioned?”

“Do you know of the Starting Village?”

“I know about the Starting Village. Adventurers who stop by here occasionally tell me about it. Isn’t it that unremarkable place in the corner?”

“It recently became a city.”

“Oh?”

The pharmacist asked with a very curious expression.

“How? The medicine will take some time to prepare, so why don’t you tell me about it?”

I briefly explained our village’s development history to the pharmacist, and Bellamy cautiously chimed in.

“It was all thanks to Jack…”

“This man did it? Even though he’s not an administrator?”

“I, as the village administrator, was completely useless… It’s all thanks to Jack who stepped up…”

“Hmm… So a mere potion shop owner elevated a village to city status…”

Hearing this, the pharmacist put down her pipe and folded her arms silently.

She didn’t say another word until the medicine was ready.

As the silence grew uncomfortable, Bellamy fidgeted and kept clinging to me, which was quite troublesome.

“As if she knows everything…”

Meanwhile, the pharmacist kept muttering incomprehensible things to herself while staring intently at the table.

“Pharmacist! The medicine is ready!”

The gnome assistant came running and placed a glass bottle on the table.

Inside was… a pink pill? Why does it have such a suspicious appearance and color?

“Take one pill first.”

The pharmacist took out a pill from the bottle and handed it to Bellamy.

Bellamy hesitated and looked at me.

“Is it… safe to take…?”

“You can trust her. She’s not someone who plays around with medicine.”

I already knew everything about the pharmacist’s characteristics through the in-game information.

She’s a proud genius pharmacist who never messes around with her medicines.

Hearing my words, Bellamy swallowed the pill with a determined expression.

Immediately, her cheeks flushed red and she let out a trembling sigh.

“Jack… My body feels strange…”

“Are you okay? You seem to have a fever.”

“Hnngh?!”

When I touched her forehead, Bellamy’s waist arched as she let out an intense moan.

“It seems there was some problem with the medicine preparation?”

I turned around in confusion, and the pharmacist also looked at her gnome assistant with surprise.

“Did you add exactly what I wrote?”

“Yes! Moonlight herb, glowing moss, bluebird feather, goblin tears, wolf’s-hand flower petals!”

“I said wolf’s-foot, not wolf’s-hand!”

“What?!”

The gnome was startled and pulled out the prescription from her pocket to read it again.

“Pharmacist! It clearly says wolf’s-hand here!”

“How can this be wolf’s-hand? How?”

“I’ve told you so many times! When writing prescriptions, don’t scribble—write clearly!”

The gnome argued back pointedly and showed me the prescription.

“How could this possibly be read as wolf’s-foot?!”

The handwriting on the prescription was atrocious.

I’ve heard that some professionals use illegible handwriting that only they can understand to show off their knowledge and authority. Is this such a case?

But it really does look like “wolf’s-hand” was written.

Only if you assume it says “wolf’s-foot” and look at it from different angles can you barely make out the shape.

When I said nothing, the pharmacist waved her hand and sighed.

“Make it again. And bring a sedative for that woman.”

“Yes! Right away!”

The gnome assistant ran off and returned with a potion shimmering with strange colors.

I immediately recognized it. It’s a rare item called Escrone’s Cold Sweat.

“Here, drink this. Oh my.”

The pharmacist gave an embarrassed smile as she noticed the puddle that had formed under Bellamy’s chair.

* * * * *

While Bellamy changed into clothes borrowed from the pharmacist, the gnome assistant prepared the correct medicine.

The pharmacist scolded the gnome assistant, and the small gnome stood on her tiptoes as she argued back strongly.

“These medical accidents happen because of your terrible handwriting!”

“It doesn’t make sense that I would prescribe a stimulant!”

“Why is that common sense?! In my common sense, a stimulant was appropriate!”

“What nonsense are you talking about?! What’s your basis?!”

“Didn’t a couple with marital problems come to see you?!”

The pharmacist was about to respond but seemed to give up, rubbing her forehead with a sigh.

“Fine. Fine. I was wrong.”

“Please write prescriptions properly from now on.”

“Yes, yes. I’m sorry.”

After the gnome assistant left the room, the pharmacist smiled and shook her head.

“Gnomes are smart and diligent, but sometimes they can be stubborn like that.”

“Still, I think you should write prescriptions more clearly. You could end up making poison by accident.”

“If that were the case, she would have made a huge fuss. But you, potion shop owner.”

The pharmacist pointed at me with her pipe.

“What are you really?”

“Excuse me? You just called me a potion shop owner. That’s who I am.”

“Not that. Your real identity.”

Not understanding what she meant, I stared at her silently, and she continued.

“A certified potion shop owner only needs the ability to make potions. How could such a person elevate a rural backwater called the Starting Village to city status? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Well, I don’t know…”

“You reacted very sensitively to the word ‘setting’ earlier. Is there something to that?”

“There’s nothing. I just thought the word didn’t fit the situation.”

“A long time ago, a magician came to see me.”

The pharmacist said while puffing on her pipe.

“A magician living in seclusion in some forest came looking for medicine because his mother had dementia.”

Could she be talking about the Witch of Sighs?

“I heard a certain story from that magician.”

“What kind of story?”

“That this world was created by someone. And that we are artificial beings with specific ‘settings,’ all moving for a single purpose.”

“That’s absurd. Magicians are often mentally unstable.”

Just then, Bellamy came out after changing clothes, interrupting our conversation.

“Well, thank you for the medicine. Here’s the payment.”

I placed the pouch of gold coins on the table and collected the medicine.

“Whether the depression is a ‘setting’ or not will be clear after taking the medicine for a few weeks. If there’s no improvement, come back.”

“We will.”

I grabbed Bellamy’s wrist and hurriedly left.