Chapter 61 – I Received the Potion

I Received the Potion

“…Is this the right way?”
Of course, no one answered my self-directed question.
…Ariel, who was always by my side, isn’t here now.

As it was an urgent situation, I ran towards where the scent was coming from, and soon a shabby potion shop greeted me.
At first glance, I wondered if it was really open for business, but the dim light of the magic lamp leaking from the window and the strong herbal scent indicated that the shop was still operating.

I caught my breath for a moment, then opened the old wooden door and entered the shop.
“It’s a bit dark…”
Inside the shop, dimly lit by magic lamps. Seeing the colorful potions and various herbs on the shelves, it seems I’ve come to the right place.

“There’s a reason the shop is dark. I’m sorry. Some potions change their properties if exposed to bright light for too long.”
As I was looking around the shop, the woman who seemed to be the owner spoke to me, apparently having heard my muttering.
Although I couldn’t see her face clearly as she was wearing a deeply pulled hood, judging by her voice, she didn’t seem very old.

The hair slightly visible outside the hood wasn’t dry and brittle, and it was a brilliant golden color.
“I see. I didn’t know that.”
“Hehe. It’s been a while, little elf miss. No, you’re not little anymore.”

“…You know me?”
The shop owner seemed to know me. Perhaps she had seen me when I was a child?
“Of course I do. It’s rare for an elf to come to our shop. I still remember. When you were little, you came to the shop a few times holding your mother’s hand.”

“…My mother?”
“Hmm. Come to think of it, it seems like it’s been quite a while since I last saw you… Did you move?”
Mother. It seems my mother and I, now a fading memory, had visited this shop before.
The vague memory that briefly flashed through my mind when I entered the alley must have been from that time.

It’s not really a memory I want to recall now. I’m a bit curious about how my mother might be living, but it’s not really relevant to who I am now.
“Yes. There were various circumstances.”
I gave a vague answer to the owner’s question about whether I had moved.

There’s no time to explain the situation, and the fact that my mother abandoned me isn’t something I want to broadcast.
“Anyway, um, I’d like to buy a vitality potion…”
“A vitality potion? You see that yellow one there? That’s the vitality potion. Is someone sick?”

“…Yes. Um, how much does it cost?”
I hope I have enough money. I brought all the pocket money Ariel has given me so far…
“Well, I can’t charge the little miss who’s come after so long. Just take it. Vitality potions aren’t worth much anyway.”

“But at least let me…”
“I said it’s fine. Oh, and take this too.”
The shop owner rummaged through her pocket for a moment, then handed me a potion containing a red liquid.

“It’s a health potion. You said someone was sick. A vitality potion alone might not be enough.”
“I can’t accept such things for free…”
“Shh. Your big sister is giving it to you. Just take it.”

Not only giving me the vitality potion for free, but a health potion too.
Just as I was hesitating to leave, feeling too grateful, the shop owner’s words snapped me back to reality.

“You said someone was sick. Seeing how you’ve run to the point of sweating, it must be someone precious? Go quickly.”
“…Yes!”
I carefully placed the potions in my pocket so they wouldn’t break and headed out of the shop.

“…Don’t cry, Pfel.”
Thinking of Ariel, who must still be in pain, I feel like I could burst into tears at any moment. If Ariel were to die…
“That won’t happen.”
I pushed away the thoughts that had briefly surfaced in my mind and ran towards where the carriage was.

‘…Ariel, please wait just a little longer.’

“It’s been a while since I met one of my own kind…”
It’s been 20 years since I left the stifling forest and settled in the human world.
The shop owner, Elleore, who was happy to meet one of her kind after so long, was blankly staring at the door through which Pfel had left.

The little elf miss who had once opened the shop door holding the hand of a human presumed to be her mother.
They probably brought her here reluctantly, crying, because they didn’t have money to go to the temple.
I remember the mother’s face looked displeased, probably because she found it a waste of money, and the little elf miss kept watching her parents’ expressions.

‘…I think I gave it for free back then too.’
The little elf miss who occasionally visited our shop afterward suddenly stopped coming at some point.
I thought they might have moved somewhere… but it seems she’s returned recently.

Or maybe she just grew up healthy and had no reason to come here.
Unless you’re an adventurer, there’s not much reason to visit a potion shop.

‘Indeed, young ones grow up fast… Oh? We’re out of vitality potion stock. That was the last one.’
…The little elf miss had good timing. Ah, I guess she’s not little anymore.
“Ugh. What a bother. Do I have to go to the herb merchant again? I went just last week.”

Elleore grumbled, feeling annoyed at the inconvenience.
Actually, vitality potions are relatively easy to make. That’s why they’re cheap too.
It’s a potion that works well even for mild colds or body aches, so it’s popular among ordinary people. Despite making a lot last time, they’ve already run out.

“…Let’s go tomorrow. I want to rest today.”
Just as Elleore, succumbing to laziness, was about to close the shop…
“Um, is anyone here…?”

…The old wooden door opened with a creak. Talk about timing. I was just about to close up shop.
“I don’t know why you’re here… but we’re out of vitality potions.”
“I-I’m not here to buy potions.”

“Then?”
If you’re not here to buy potions at a potion shop, what are you here for? Did you come to smell them?
Feeling a bit irritated, Elleore looked at the face of the woman in front of her.

‘Huh?’
The face of the woman who had entered the shop looked somewhat familiar. Not like a regular customer or someone who had visited recently, but a face resembling the elf girl who had just been here.
‘That’s right. That woman.’

It’s the woman who used to come to our shop holding the little elf miss’s hand, wearing an annoyed expression.
For mother and daughter to visit our shop one after another. If they were both going to come, couldn’t they have come together?

But after hearing the woman’s next words, Elleore could understand why the woman, who was the mother of the elf girl, hadn’t come together.
“I’m looking for my daughter… Some men on the street said they guided my daughter here. I was wondering if you might know something…”

“…Huh?”
Now that she looked closely, the woman’s condition seemed a bit off. Sunken cheeks, dry and brittle hair, and half-dead eyes.
Compared to when she saw her before, she looked quite haggard. It’s surprising she even recognized her.

Although she had looked half-tearful when she visited the shop before, she had appeared lively and beautiful, a stark contrast to now.
“By any chance, is the daughter you’re talking about that elf you brought here before?”
The woman asked Elleore with a brightened expression.

“Y-Yes! Have you seen her?!”
“…”
Her appearance was undoubtedly that of a parent desperately searching for their child, but Elleore sensed something odd.

“Before that, why are you looking for that child?”
“Th-That’s, you don’t need to know that! She’s my daughter! It’s natural for a parent to look for their child, isn’t it?
…I’m sorry for raising my voice. Due to circumstances, we lived apart for a few years, and my daughter went missing. That’s why I’m looking for her.”

“…”
After listening to the woman’s words and thinking for a moment, Elleore said to the woman in front of her,
“I’m sorry, but I haven’t seen her.”

“Y-You’re lying! You just spoke as if you had seen her…”
“I never said I saw her. I’m sorry if I gave you that impression.”
It was a situation where anyone could tell Elleore was lying. The woman naturally questioned her, but Elleore maintained her facade to the end.

“Sigh.”
The woman, letting out a long sigh at this response, took out a small piece of paper from her bosom, wrote something on it, and handed it to Elleore.
“…If you see that child, please give her this. Without fail.”

“Alright. I hope you find her.”
The woman left the shop without responding to Elleore’s words.
“…Maybe I meddled too much.”

The woman who had just visited certainly looked like a distressed parent searching for a lost child. The part about living apart from the elf girl for a few years was probably true.
Yet, the reason Elleore lied to the woman about not seeing the elf girl was…

“By any chance, is the daughter you’re talking about that elf you brought here before?”
“Y-Yes! Have you seen her?!”
…Because of the emotion that flashed in the woman’s eyes for a moment when I mentioned the elf girl. It was greed. And a deep, viscous kind at that.

“Sigh. I hope I saw it wrong.”
Elleore muttered with mixed feelings, looking at the note the woman had left.