episode_0047

The purple fog filled the narrow attic. The purple fog made my nose sting and my eyes sting, causing me to spit out a series of dry coughs from my throat.

Elisias and I couldn’t get used to the smell, so we frowned and plugged our noses.

“Sorry, sorry, I forgot to vent.”

The store owner quickly opened the window of the small attic with an apologetic look on his face. When the window was opened, the cool breeze drove the fog out of the attic.

When the fog that made it difficult to see disappeared, what caught my eye was a workshop in a small attic, which looked similar to the witch’s house I had only seen in old cartoons.

There was a large cast-iron cauldron in the center, utensils I had never seen before hanging on the wall, and glass jars filled with the remains of monsters on the shelves.

Among the dogs, there are bottles containing medicinal insects, as well as the monster’s eyeballs, severed ears, and tongue.

Elisias, who was looking at them, could not hide his displeasure, and the same was true for me.

The table that looked like a workbench was lined with glass pipe tools and all kinds of materials that you would see in a movie, showing that work had been in progress until just a moment ago.

“But it will get better in a little while. It’s not harmful to the human body, so don’t worry.”

After the store owner spoke, I definitely feel a little better.

As I got used to the smoke that stung my nose and eyes, I also sensed something like a fragrant lavender scent. I walked towards the cauldron that was making a bubbling sound.

Inside the cauldron, a purple liquid that suppressed appetite was boiling and emitting smoke.

“What were you making?”

The texture of the liquid looked similar to soup that had failed to adjust its water content. Or, to be more precise, it felt like a polluted swamp was seething.

“Ah, I was making a recovery potion.”

“Hmm…but isn’t the recovery potion red?”

Elisias, who followed behind me and was looking at the cauldron, asked as if it were strange.

“The work is not finished yet.”

As if he had shown what he had to show, the store owner headed to the table across from him, placed the pump on it, and unfolded the parchment he had received from me a moment ago.

“These are the ingredients for that all-purpose antidote…”

The store owner crossed his arms, pursed his lips, and tapped the floor with his foot in interest.

“I tried applying the recipes in my own way…but I don’t know what the problem is…”

At my words, the store owner looked at the parchment for a while, made a shocked expression, and moved around noisily, taking out various equipment.

“I don’t think the recipe theory you wrote down is correct. However, if there is a problem…”

The store owner displayed the bizarre equipment he had brought one by one on the table.

“It must be the difference in equipment.”

“Difference in equipment?”

I asked again, but the store owner didn’t even look at me, as if he was possessed by a ghost, and just kept moving around busily.

“The equipment I gave you is equipment I used in the past, but it is really just basic equipment for beginners.”

Certainly, compared to the various bizarre-looking equipment on display here, the equipment I received from the store owner was shabby.

It feels like a children’s science experiment set that I played with as a child.

“There must have been limitations with that basic equipment. But…”

“A craftsman never blames his tools…”

When the store owner spoke in surprise, Elisias responded in agreement.

“Yeah, I just felt that too…Are you seriously interested in learning how to make potions? With this level of ability, you can quickly become a royal manufacturer…”

The store owner looked at me as if he had discovered an interesting graduate student, so I quickly shook my head.

“Too bad! Still, if you want to make something different, come to the store at any time… Now then, shall we start working properly?”

The store owner swung his shoulders and craned his neck back and forth and took out ingredients from next to the work table.

After trimming the herb with a sharp-looking dagger, carefully dismantle the medicinal bug.

When the medicinal bug’s head was removed, a dark green liquid gushed out from the cross section of the head and stuck to the store owner’s finger.

Afterwards, unnecessary shells, wings, legs, etc. are removed, and the completely dismantled insects are placed in a stone mortar to resemble them.

Compared to my clumsy and clunky hand gestures, the store owner’s hand gestures seemed smooth and seamless.

I looked at the shop owner who was busy moving around with the intention of not losing sight of his hand movements, wondering if I might have something more to learn.

The appearance of the shop owner, who continued his work without hesitation, was literally the same as that of a craftsman.

The work continued.

Grind the ingredients with a mortar, put them in a cauldron, boil them, and filter out the by-products with a scoop.

As work using new equipment that I had never seen before began to be completed, the store owner’s forehead was already covered in sweat.

“Phew…”

When the last task was finished, the store owner let out the breath he had been holding.

“It is complete…”

A green liquid contained in a small bottle. Compared to the sample antidote I made earlier, this antidote seemed a little darker in color.

“I just need to check if this works properly…”

“If that’s the case… just wait a moment.”

When the store owner opened the attic door and went downstairs, a crunching sound rang out from downstairs. And a few seconds later, the attic door opened again with silence.

“Let’s check with this guy.”

With that said, the store owner placed a small wooden cage on the workbench table.

“Isn’t this…just a rat?”

The rat trapped in the cage was not a white rat like an experimental guinea pig, but a gray rat that looked like it would literally crawl through a sewer.

Elisias looked dirty and impure and distanced himself from us, not wanting to get any closer.

“Actually, the reason I was organizing the store was because it was infested with rats these days, and I guess there were ingredients that the animals liked.”

I can understand that statement to some extent. Since various ingredients needed for potion combinations are stored, there are bound to be small thieves targeting them.

However, the condition of these rats was so strange that it could be seen at a glance, as if they were weak or weak.

“Something seems strange?”

When I asked, the store owner smiled awkwardly.

“Ah~ I put a little poison in the mousetrap, so maybe that’s why.”

Only then did I understand the man’s intentions.

“Sure…if the universal antidote is properly developed, the addiction will be resolved quickly.”

The store owner nodded in response to my answer, and I walked over to the table in front of us, holding the antidote I had just made.

“You never know, so it’s better to be careful not to get bitten.”

Rats that roam the streets and sewers are full of all kinds of germs, so if you get bitten, you could spread other diseases.

“Then…with this…”

I poured the antidote into a glass large enough to fit through the narrow bars on the workbench table and carefully pushed it through the gaps in the bars.

The rat, which was wandering around the cage helplessly, twitched its mustache as if it had smelled the antidote.

The rat approached the glass as if on guard and then took a step back. However, as if confirming that there is no threat within, he approaches the glass again.

The rat in the cage began to sniff and slowly nibbled at the antidote in the glass.

“Good…”

In the narrow workshop, the three of us held our breath and waited for the results.

“Squid!”

The rat that was licking the antidote screamed in pain, ran around inside the cage, and hit the iron cage. At the same time, the store owner chewed his lips.

“Could it be a side effect?”

The rat did not sit still and repeated strange behavior, then opened its mouth wide and made a disgusting sound as if it were nauseated.

Green vomit spewed out from its small mouth, staining the floor of the cage, and the rat fell to the ground and writhed.

“This…is ruined?”

The store owner broke into a cold sweat at my question. I tried to smile.

“Well, what was the problem? I did what was written, but…”

“Wait a minute, Harry Rat’s state has changed again.”

While the store owner and I were dry washing our faces, Elisias urgently called to me.

“Snap?”

The rat, which was lying helpless in the cage, must have come to its senses and was looking at us with eyes full of life instead of blurry eyes.

“Okay, that’s it!”

When the store owner got excited and tried to hug me, I twisted my body to avoid it and walked over to the cage to check the condition of the rat.

Unlike its helpless trembling appearance, it now moves around us actively.

Before I had time to rejoice that the antidote had been successfully created, I began to think that something was strange. This is because the game clearly did not show such a violent detox reaction.

I thought it might be because of the game’s production limitations, but if it shows such a strong detox reaction, there will be obvious problems when using it as a filter.

It is a given that a lot of vomit gets on the smoke hood gas mask that covers the mouth. And there would be nothing more ridiculous than unintentionally dancing during battle.

“Could it be possible to reduce or reduce this detoxification reaction?”

“Hmm… I’m not sure, but I think it’s possible?”

“Then…please do me a favor.”

If it’s possible, it’s okay. I quickly prepared to return to Illisha and turned my head to the store owner.

“Uncle, I will take care of this for now. I think you can mass-produce the antidote now.”

As I spoke while taking the antidote, the man grinned and gave a thumbs up.

“Don’t worry and come back quickly.”