Chapter 108: Small Change – 1

Chapter 108: Small Change – 1

“The Saintess’s path still has a long way to go, but it’s mostly done, and Melini’s Branch Point is also finished, so…”

*That’s right. It’s time for reward settlement and a break.*

“……I distinctly remember being blindsided like this a few times before, under the guise of a ‘break’?”

*No. This time it’s real. The next Branch Point’s main characters are the Hero-nim and the Demon King.*

My footsteps, which had been lightly heading home after successfully persuading Melini, stopped dead.

…Something about the next Branch Point members seems a bit off?

“The Hero-nim and the Demon King? Are you seriously telling me I’m going to directly invade the Holy Kingdom and the Demon King’s Castle now?”

*No? If the previous Branch Points generally involved intense combat and took place outside… this one will be a bit different.*

“What, am I supposed to reconcile the two with words? Or tell them this is all Elena’s dark scheme and to quit, thus preventing war?”

*……Oh.*

“What, what is it? What’s with that ominous message?”

If there had been no message at all, I would have just assumed it was nothing.

But… what on earth could that ‘Oh’ at the end mean…?

……Honestly, by now, being with the system, I should know, but I tried my best to deny reality.

Reality is meant to be denied, not to be created anew, isn’t it…?

*Exactly. This Branch Point isn’t a Branch Point of a day, or a few hours, like before. And it’s certainly not a Branch Point for a single individual.*

“…Haa.”

*You need to naturally gain the favor of the Demon King and the Hero-nim, who will seek you out, and make them realize that they don’t need this war.

“Tsk. It seems the scale is getting bigger and bigger? At first, it was saving the lives of the main character and her family… then with the Saintess, it affected the future of the Holy Kingdom, and now it’s world-class?”

*……From the moment you created those potions, your influence was already world-class. Don’t you secretly know that?*

……Indeed, at Christie’s request, I agreed to supply potions to the Imperial Army.

I had planned to research and supply new protective potions rather than lethal magic.

It was a proposal I accepted with the thought of minimizing damage as much as possible if war broke out.

…And, I distinctly remember asking at that time if the Demon King, being a separate main character, would have a separate Branch Point, and I was told that when the time came, I would know even if I didn’t want to……

If it was going to be like this, it would have been better not to know.

“How on earth am I supposed to deal with the Demon King and the Hero-nim…? The one openly favored by God, and the one who reigns over all monsters on the continent……”

*Well, the answer is always in potions, isn’t it? Honestly, lately, you’ve been relying only on your greatsword and not using potions much when you fight, and I’m a bit disappointed, you know? It’s power I specially gave you?*

“Then strengthen the performance of the potions. Attack potions are useless except for the one I extorted from the Inquisitor Captain this time.”

*I knew you’d say that… so I prepared Branch Point rewards!*

And below that, a stream of text appeared, almost too much to read.

…It was a list of potions and their descriptions.

But what caught my eye the most, of course, was the last sentence.

“…Until the above potions are crafted, the ‘Alchemist’s Treasury’ is sealed…?”

*It’s to give you some motivation, and also for you to practice making potions.*

“Who gives motivation by imposing restrictions?! And by taking back what was already given?!”

*I thought you’d work harder that way? You rushed to make them this time because you needed them for the Branch Point, didn’t you?*

“……Is this, a reward…?”

Of course, reading through the contents of the potions on the list, they were truly good.

It gave me three crafting methods each for potions with much superior power in ice, fire, and lightning, which I’m currently using.

Not only that, but a truly versatile potion called ‘All-Purpose Solution Potion’ was also given, which provides the necessary effects to a certain extent when used in difficult situations.

Furthermore, the ‘Portal Potion’ that I used well this time was added to the ‘Alchemist’s Treasury,’ and in conjunction with it, a ‘Spatial Manipulation Potion’ that literally manipulates space was also added.

……The problem was that the ‘Alchemist’s Treasury,’ which could be called everything for my combat, would be sealed until all these things were made.

*Oh, by the way, the ice, fire, and lightning magic potions can be sold in stores, but the others cannot. Not that mass production would be possible anyway.*

“…Well, that’s a grateful piece of advice, isn’t it?”

*Actually, I’ve given you a lot with this. Each one is a great reward…*

“So if you had no choice but to add a penalty, are you going to stop making excuses? …I’ve already gone through hell recently trying to make ‘Miracle Potions’……”

Actually, even now, heading home, my condition wasn’t that great.

I was in a good mood because the conversation with Melini went well, so I had some energy, but in reality, my body was tattered from facing a formidable opponent, as always.

My mana was completely depleted, and I only had enough stamina left to walk slowly.

…In such a situation, more work. Good heavens.

“If only I had someone to handle other annoying tasks like ingredients or meals……”

Making potions required immense concentration. So much so that I couldn’t focus on anything else besides crafting the potions.

If it was a potion I had made to some extent, I could make it quickly due to practice, but otherwise, it really ate up time.

……And due to the fatigue from that process, even though I constantly wanted to sleep, ‘trivial’ things like hunger tended to be forgotten.

Because, when you’re ridiculously sleepy, you don’t feel hungry.

The problem was that, as a human, I still needed to eat to live, but because of this, I was skipping meals day in and day out while making potions.

Thanks to that, my already delicate and thin body had been steadily, but surely, losing weight recently.

I wondered if there was even any fat left to lose, but it was definitely gone.

……Clearly, my initial goal was to eat well and live peacefully in a place untouched by the dangers of war,

My goal was to earn a lot of money for that.

At some point, I found myself not saving money to go to a place untouched by the dangers of war, but rather meeting the main characters to prevent that war from happening in the first place.

I was planning to eat well and live well with potions, regardless of the dark schemer Elena, the Hero-nim, or the Demon King!

Not getting entangled with people like the Defense Captain who was supposed to die, or the Mercenary King who wanted to fight the dark schemer until his death!!

…Come to think of it, this is all Elena’s fault.

Because I was scared of her in the first place, I thought about getting a little closer to Christie.

……Of course, there was also personal loneliness and the need for a friend, but anyway.

‘Is it your fault again, Elena?’

If there hadn’t been a dark schemer in this world in the first place, and if I could have just healed and enjoyed the daily life that others considered normal, as I wished.

Then…… what would I have been like?

*Excuse me? What on earth are you thinking about, standing like that in front of your house door?*

“Hmm, ah. I was just thinking about something.”

*I don’t know what you’re thinking so deeply about, but regarding the assistant problem… you already have an assistant, don’t you?*

“What, are you going to help me directly?”

*…I feel like I’d get beaten to death if I did that. And not me, Lily. You can’t even run the store while you’re making potions anyway.*

“……Let’s go inside and think about it.”

Creeeak.

With a small sound, the door opened, and after a short but long time, I reached home.

***

“First, I’ll ask Lily……”

“Were you looking for me?”

“Huh, huh? Why are you at my house again?”

“You kept not coming to the store, so I came to check on you!”

“……No, I locked the door, didn’t I? Wait a minute, no wonder the door just opened without a key?!”

“The Knight Captain-nim lent me the key! She said it was an emergency key.”

“…Ah.”

Indeed, it was a house Christie gifted me, so it wasn’t particularly strange for her to have a key.

…No, it wasn’t, but what was this subtle discomfort?

Unfortunately, before I could dwell on that subtle discomfort, Lily spoke first.

“But, why am I suddenly…?”

“Oh, it’s nothing else, but I’m planning to research potions for a while… and I need an assistant to help with various chores during that time.”

“An assistant?”

“Yeah. So I was thinking of having you do it… but, well, you can just pretend I didn’t say anything.”

“Ah… I see? Oh, by the way, Boss-nim! I made something for you to eat when you arrived, would you like some?”

“Huh? I’d love to. Thank you.”

…And so, at the dining table I arrived at without a second thought, there were dishes I had never imagined, clearly looking delicious.

……But, did we even have ingredients to make something like this in our house…?

“……What on earth is this made of?”

“I rummaged through the pantry and found a lot of useful ingredients!”

“Ingredients? …In my house?”

“Yes!”

It was an entirely unexpected appearance and meal from Lily… but I was tired, and I hadn’t eaten anything for a long time due to making potions and fighting, so I just decided to eat.

And…… Christie was certainly capable of bringing Lily to my house.

And the moment I took the first bite, I thought.

“Lily.”

“Yes? Does it not suit your taste……”

“You, live with me for a while. No, why don’t we just live together for a long time?”

This is ridiculously delicious.