Just Eat It!!!

No matter how capable an alchemist I am, I can’t create something from nothing. What I’m doing right now is closer to a combination for making money, but originally, it’s a bit different from that.

When I transmuted Cecil… wasn’t it the same? My own disappeared and attached itself to Cecil… it was, so to speak, Equivalent Exchange.

…Of course, to say that, Cecil’s was far too large, though.

Anyway.

I wasn’t trying to start some grand story. I just wanted to say that I came to see the harpies.

With Cecil and Claudia, the Harpy Farm…? It’s not really a farm, but I can’t find another word to describe it. Whatever it’s called, it won’t matter if I don’t say it out loud.

It’s not like chickens… I mean, it’s not like a Poultry Farm… it just feels like a place where harpies gather and live.

They say they supply eggs to the restaurant where I ate with Claudia. I understood today, after coming here, what they meant by not being able to eat them if the timing wasn’t right, as they didn’t know when they’d be laid. It was actually not far from the restaurant.

“So that’s why you asked if they could lay eggs whenever we wanted?”

“Yeah. Harpies are different from chickens. You could even say they’re closer to humans. They say they have a more delicate side than one might generally think.”

…You can see those creatures lay eggs if you pay extra? That seemed a bit far from what I considered ‘delicate’.

“Shaa-nim! There are so many people with wing-like arms!”

I stroked Cecil’s head as she looked around with curious eyes, and told her they were harpies.

Just then, a few harpies flapped their wings and flew towards us. I unconsciously busily picked up the colorful feathers fluttering here and there. Claudia scratched her cheek awkwardly and said to me,

“Shaa, those are legitimate products, so you shouldn’t just take them.”

“…No. I, I just picked them up because they were lying around.”

“Then that’s good. I don’t want Shaa to become a criminal.”

“…”

Would I become a criminal just for picking up some feathers…? That thought crossed my mind, but then I remembered the price of mattresses made from harpy feathers and nodded my head.

Looking around, I saw a woman with a tired face picking up feathers. I handed the feathers to her, and when I returned to Claudia, she stroked my head and smiled.

That impertinent gesture made me sigh. I waved her hand away.

“There’s no need to be embarrassed.”

“That’s not it at all?”

Cecil was happily chatting with the harpies who had flown over at some point. Noticing my gaze, Cecil waved her hand excitedly, and the harpies also flapped their wings. With a soft smile, I waved back at the heartwarming sight, then asked Claudia,

“But then, can’t I see them laying eggs? I feel like seeing that would be helpful.”

“Perhaps I should have watched last time when we had a meal?”

“…That’s a bit much.”

That would still be… a sight I couldn’t comprehend with my sensibilities. No, if I saw something human-like laying an egg right before my eyes… I feel like I’d lose my appetite… and to pay extra to see that….

Claudia chuckled, told me to wait a moment, then walked towards a house in the distance.

While waiting for her, the harpies who had been playing with Cecil, flapping their wings, approached.

“Hello!”

“Oh… yeah. Hello.”

As three harpies surrounded me… I smelled the scent of sun-dried blankets, along with their unique fragrance. It felt like they were getting closer and closer.

It wasn’t my imagination; the harpies pressed against me, burying their noses and sniffing. Their inhaled breaths and feathers tickled me.

“Ahaha, why are you so tense? Are you afraid we’ll eat you?”

“The pink-haired human is quite timid, aren’t they?”

“But you… you really smell sweet, don’t you?”

I grabbed Cecil’s hand, who had followed them, and replied,

“…No, well… if someone suddenly flies over and sniffs you, anyone would….”

“The human next to you isn’t like that, though?”

“…That’s a personal difference from person to person.”

The harpies giggled at my words and pressed their bodies against me once more. Then they sniffed.

“But… your human scent is so nice. By any chance… did you come here looking for a job? If so, you’re welcome.”

I shook my head and told them to back off a little. It was embarrassing to have them sniffing me, but also… their appearance itself was a bit stimulating….

Perhaps they disliked feeling constricted, as they were dressed somewhat… loosely, so even a slight brush of their bodies offered me a soft plushness from those squishy masses.

“Oh? That’s a shame.”

After saying that, the harpies seemed to lose interest when I didn’t let them get closer, and flew up into the trees.

I saw Cecil looking at them with a regretful expression. Perhaps… she needed friends? Was I too indifferent?

“Did you want to play more?”

When I asked Cecil that, she shook her head and spoke in a regretful voice.

“I heard from a Beastfolk that harpy eggs are delicious. I thought it would be nice to eat them with Shaa-nim and wondered if I could get some… but I couldn’t.”

“…I see.”

It wasn’t what I was thinking. Still, I was pleased by her sentiment, so I decided to ask if I could get just a little after this work was done.

Anyway. This definitely seemed like it would be profitable. The place that commissioned me through Claudia was probably either the restaurant or this place.

I hadn’t set a price yet because I hadn’t calculated the unit cost for the potion to be made… but they would need it regularly, and they’d want a stable supply through the potion, not something that would decrease in value.

…Actually, I did receive a decent down payment. *Ahem*. But that’s separate from the regular cost of the potions, isn’t it? And with that money, I’ll have to buy potion ingredients anyway.

While I was calculating in my head, Claudia returned.

“What were you thinking about?”

“…Hmm, thoughts about the potion to be made?”

A suspicious gaze, as if asking if I was telling the truth, stared at me. When I subtly looked away, Claudia chuckled and handed me a notebook.

“As expected, seeing them lay eggs right now is a bit difficult… but I brought back some materials that should contain helpful information.”

Scanning the notebook Claudia handed me, there was indeed a lot of information I needed, just as she said.

“This much is enough.”

“Really? As expected, you’re capable, aren’t you?”

“…Even if you praise me, I won’t give you a discount.”

“Then who do you think you take after, to be like that?”

…Sometimes, I wonder if Claudia already knows who I am. At that thought, the embarrassing antics I’d shown in front of her came to mind, and my face grew hot.

I quickly moved my feet to hide my flushed face, but Cecil and Claudia quickly caught up.

Before returning to the Workshop, I asked Claudia to procure ingredients that I probably couldn’t get myself, then Cecil and I set off to do some shopping.

Holding hands with Cecil, I walked around the village, found the place selling ingredients cheapest, and bought the ones I could get. While we were out, I also bought groceries for a while.

While we were at it, I bought a few clean clothes for Cecil to wear in the Workshop. Master-nim had bought some for her before… but it wouldn’t hurt to have plenty, would it?

Cecil was usually fine, but because she often made things large, she preferred skirts or dresses rather than tight pants.

I picked out a few outfits for her, and I also bought a few for myself. This time, I didn’t succumb to capital and chose pants and well-fitting shirts.

It was thanks to the leeway I had from being able to sell the Aphrodisiac at a rather high price. Even though tears welled up when I bought milk… it couldn’t be helped.

For a while, nothing special happened. My breasts returned to a size similar to before I took the medicine, and potion manufacturing was smooth. Aside from the fact that I had to go on a date with Claudia soon, there was nothing else I needed to go out for.

Since my breasts had returned to normal, I wondered if I should test them again… but then my Master-nim, who was still out of contact, weighed on my mind. I felt a little uneasy about it… but I waited calmly.

However, a little later, Claudia came to find me with an embarrassed expression. She asked if I could go to the harpies for a moment, saying there was a minor problem with the prototype she had given them.

…There shouldn’t have been any problematic ingredients or effects, though? I tilted my head and asked Claudia, and she smiled with an embarrassed look.

“It’s nothing serious… but it’s something Shaa absolutely needs to do, so there’s no helping it. Just cooperate a little.”

When the three of us arrived at the place where the harpies lived, a loud voice assaulted my eardrums.

“How am I supposed to eat this when I don’t even know what it is?! I can’t eat something made by someone whose face I don’t even know!”

“No, well… I’m telling you, it was made by a truly skilled person!”

“I don’t care! I’m not eating it! This is Harpy Rights discrimination!”

The flapping sounds were noisy.

I looked at Claudia with a wry face, and she smiled as if troubled.

“That saved me the trouble of explaining.”

“…”

I felt a little dizzy.

Suddenly, the phrase I saw when I went to buy a bed came to mind: ‘Only naturally shed harpy feathers are used.’

…It seemed that was indeed the case.

With a sigh, I entered the building from which the noisy flapping sounds were coming.

Along with the thought, ‘Can’t I earn money a bit more easily?’