Chapter 38: A Potion That Makes You Feel Good – 2

Chapter 38: A Potion That Makes You Feel Good – 2

“…And to top it all off, making this is ridiculously difficult.”

*If you make it carelessly, it’ll really just turn into a useless drug, you know? Work hard!*

“……You know, if we ever meet in person, you’d better be prepared.”

Despite the System’s teasing, disguised as encouragement, I didn’t react much. More precisely, I couldn’t.

…My two arms weren’t free enough to make potions while doing something else.

No, seriously, I’ve thought more than once that this recipe was designed to make people suffer in every conceivable way.

But if I gave up on quality… the addictive side effect would become even stronger, so….

“By the way, what the hell am I going to tell Christie when I meet her…. My friend, the Defense Force Commander, making stuff like this….”

*Well, just say it came out during an experiment? Like before.*

“But I really have to sell this. Even if I process it further, if I say it’s a failure…”

*Anyway, a medicine can become a poison in an instant.*

Thinking of Christie made it feel even more hopeless, but… for now, this was the only potion I could make.

The guild was giving me a bounty for catching the grade 5 monster, but I had various expenses, including revival costs.

I needed money to buy ingredients for other potions… and to earn that money, I had the problem of having to sell this kind of potion.

“……At least it’s fortunate that it has an added pain-relieving effect.”

*Unfortunately, it’s not a narcotic painkiller, but just a drug with a pain-relieving function.*

“Won’t it be okay if I dilute it with water later?”

*I wonder? Still, remember one thing. There’s always an intention behind the rewards we give you.*

“…So, you’re saying my suffering is also intentional?”

*It must have been added to the tome because it’s useful somewhere, right? Oh, the potion’s overflowing.*

At those words, I frantically looked back at the cauldron, and indeed, the potion was on the verge of overflowing, so no further conversation took place.

It wasn’t long before I understood the System’s words.

……I honestly had no idea Christie would ask me to make drugs.

***

Heavy silence and solemnity filled the Defense Force office.

It wasn’t just because of the recent blunders.

“…This is impossible. You’re telling us to solve a problem that hasn’t been solved for decades, no, perhaps since the Empire was founded?”

“That’s right. No matter what, strengthening regulations is one thing, but eradicating a specific group is impossible!”

“Moreover, aren’t they the ones distributing illegal drugs? Even if we catch them and confront them, the Defense Force will suffer considerable damage in a violent clash!”

The order from the Imperial Family to make up for the recent blunders.

An order to crack down on organizations distributing illegal drugs, seemingly a duty the Defense Force should carry out.

However… if one were to consider how many illegal drugs the Imperial nobles, especially those in the capital, purchased secretly, well.

Regulating and catching them red-handed was something the Defense Force was already doing, but eradicating them was realistically impossible.

Since they were being hidden and supported by those in power, finding them was already difficult.

Let alone finding transaction sites, just finding where the members and executives gathered would require a massive amount of manpower.

And some of them would end up with ‘mysterious deaths’.

Even if they found the base and the organization’s executives, a small contingent of the Defense Force suppressing and arresting them, armed with high-grade equipment and personnel… was close to impossible.

Furthermore, it would be difficult even with the entire Defense Force mobilized, and with the recent blunders, an order to strengthen security in the capital had also been issued….

It was virtually impossible to produce results that would satisfy the Imperial Family.

The administrators knew this, which was why their expressions were so grim.

“No, at least if they’re entrusting us with such a serious matter, shouldn’t the Imperial Guard or the Purge Squad come to assist?”

“That’s right! Formally request…”

“……That’s impossible. Recently, ‘her’ traces were found in the Imperial Capital. The Imperial Family is pouring all its forces into that.”

At those words, the atmosphere sank even deeper.

Everyone was convinced that Imperial support would not come after the Defense Force Commander’s words.

…Because something that made it impossible had happened.

“Then, how about setting a trap instead?”

“A trap?”

In that atmosphere, everyone’s gaze gathered on an opinion put forth by one of the administrators.

However, there was no expectation in their eyes.

Setting traps had… a very illustrious history of failure before.

It always ended with the agents who went as disguised customers being thrown in front of the Defense Force office as cold corpses.

“It’s impossible to catch such drug organizations by deploying manpower. The Defense Force currently doesn’t have the manpower for that.

 So…… we release some kind of drug ourselves to lure them out.”

“Before, we set traps by disguising ourselves as customers buying drugs, but now we release new drugs ourselves…?”

“Yes. They are terribly wary of new competitors appearing, so they will probably kidnap or threaten the person selling that drug.

 To hand over either the recipe for that drug or its source. And then, we can raid them in that gap.”

The organization that had long been established in the capital, distributing illegal drugs, that is, narcotics.

That organization, naturally, would not stand idly by while some unknown individual appeared as their competitor.

Backed by the protection of several nobles, they, naturally, would coax or threaten that individual to bring them under their wing.

For this, someone related to the organization would inevitably seek out that ‘individual’.

Therefore, if a Defense Force member were to play the role of that ‘individual’… they would not only catch the organization members trying to threaten or coax that ‘individual’, but if lucky, even learn the location of their base.

At those words, the office, which had been momentarily silent, soon began to sharply oppose and support the operation, as expected.

In a way, it was a proposal for the Defense Force to distribute drugs directly, so naturally, there had to be opposition.

***

“Are you saying the Defense Force should directly distribute drugs now? You’ve completely lost your mind! You!”

“I agree! You’re saying we can’t defuse the bomb, so let’s detonate it ourselves? Are you crazy? The Defense Force, which should protect citizens, distributing drugs that threaten citizens!”

One side strongly opposed, criticizing them for forgetting their duty as the Defense Force, while……

“…It’s a plausible operation. If it succeeds, we might be able to eradicate that organization that has been entrenched in the capital for a long time.”

“And besides, if they’re healthy and law-abiding citizens, they wouldn’t even be interested in drug dealing, would they?

 We’re not legalizing drugs or weakening regulations, so your view seems too narrow.”

The other side supported it, calling it a good operation.

Both sides were equally firm, and they talked for a long time, but their opinions never converged.

Only the Defense Force Commander quietly observed the situation, as if she had something to think about.

“…Both sides, stop.”

The atmosphere, which had been heating up until the Defense Force Commander’s low, subdued voice was heard…

Instantly cooled at that voice, and everyone listened to the Defense Force Commander’s words.

Like prosecutors and lawyers awaiting a judge’s verdict.

“First, I believe there’s no problem with the operation itself.

 The Defense Force hasn’t authorized illegal drugs, and truly law-abiding citizens wouldn’t encounter drugs in the first place.”

At those words, the faces of the administrators who supported the operation brightened… conversely, those who opposed the operation sighed softly.

However, no one opposed the Defense Force Commander’s decision.

To that extent, the administrators trusted the Defense Force Commander’s judgment.

“However, I cannot help but point out that this operation has realistic problems.

 Where on earth will we get that new drug, and who will play the role of that ‘individual’?”

“It seems we’ll have to make the drug ourselves, and the person who made it would be most suitable to play the role as well……”

“How long will it take to research something new? The operation itself is good, but isn’t it realistically difficult to implement?”

As she said, the most important thing in this operation was a drug that hadn’t existed before.

Even if they tried to do something with existing drugs, the ‘organization’ was already distributing them, so there wouldn’t even be any competition in the first place.

…There was no reason for a deeply rooted and powerful organization that always dealt in such illegal transactions to deal with some unknown individual instead.

Therefore, there had to be a completely new narcotic drug… but the Defense Force would have neither the manpower nor the time to research it.

Moreover, the researcher who developed it would have to play the role of an ‘individual’ in front of a drug organization and be threatened, and there was no one willing to volunteer for that.

Thus, the Defense Force Commander’s words were a roundabout refusal, pointing out the realistic problems of the operation.

……Surely, that must have been it.

“That, the girl who came here last time. It seems she also makes special drugs… couldn’t we ask her?”

……Until a completely unexpected person was proposed as an alternative.