Chapter 29
When I left Bordeaux's forge, the midday sunlight stabbed at my eyes.
As I entered the alley, the sunlight became hidden by the buildings' shadows, and farther in, a section was blocked by a wall to restrict passage.
After passing through that path and entering Alchemist Street, I went looking for Dorea's shop.
Dorea's shop was filled with the strong scent of traditional medicinal herbs, entirely different from the outside.
The smell was different from my last visit.
Inside the shop, softly lit by magic lamps, the sound of something being ground—grrrk, grrrk—echoed from the direction of the counter.
"Old man."
Dorea, who had been utterly absorbed in something, finally turned to look at me.
"Ah, Eck. Wait, just wait a moment. I'm almost done."
Dorea looked a mess.
He had always looked like a beggar because he rarely washed, but now his hair, face, and robe were all stained with powders and liquids that reeked of medicinal herbs.
The dark circles under his eyes were so heavy that they were visible even in the dim room.
He clearly hadn't slept a wink since Elena delivered the troll materials.
Inside the mortar cradled in his arms, some powder was being ground finely.
"I'm grinding dried troll entrails into a fine powder. This is the core of the regeneration potion. With this much, I can regenerate one finger."
A regeneration potion that concentrated a troll's regenerative ability could even restore missing body parts.
"You'll collapse at this rate. You worked hard researching after obtaining something valuable for the first time in a while, but shouldn't you get some sleep now?"
"Who has time to sleep? The enzyme separated from the troll's bile is about to react. If I stop now, it'll all be ruined."
Dorea returned to the U-shaped workbench in the back, talking nonstop. Even as he answered my questions, his hands never stopped moving.
"Troll materials have countless uses. The bile alone can serve as a potion base for three different categories. I'm trying to make a regeneration potion, but until now, I've only been able to delve into the theory because I had no materials. But now..."
I only half-listened to the alchemist's impassioned lecture as he vented his frustration.
Even if I delved into the theory, I lacked the knowledge and background to understand it anyway.
But I possessed knowledge in other fields.
"Old man."
"What? Shall I make something for you, too? Being a male adventurer can't be easy. I heard rumors that some monsters even tear off men's penises. If that happens, this alone will solve the problem."
"I don't know what you're making, but can you really make it with just that?"
Dorea's hands stopped.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean exactly what I said. Do you really expect to make it with just a single troll ingredient? I understand that troll materials have been highly prized since ancient times, but surely countless alchemists have tried and failed to make it."
"....."
Dorea knew this too, but he had become obsessed anyway.
He wanted to quench his thirst for knowledge, but with the materials' expiration date looming over him, he couldn't reach for a more certain method.
"Then what should I do? I agreed to make potions for the child you sent me in exchange for receiving the troll materials, taking only the cost of the ingredients. Even if I dry the troll materials for storage, they'll last six months at most."
Dorea shook his head.
He knew his own situation better than anyone.
"If you know that so well, why can't you think of another method?"
"Is there another method? What can I do while holed up in this backwater? Are you telling me to go hunting for materials? Me, an old man?"
"If you're desperate, you should at least do that much."
I shrugged and continued.
"But there is a better way."
"What way?"
Though interest showed in Dorea's eyes, his hands did not stop working.
With practiced movements, he removed something from a solution, filtered it, and moved on to the next stage.
"You can accept commissions. Couldn't you take one from me or Elena?"
"Don't you lack the money to pay me?"
"Money isn't the only form of payment. If you don't know that simple fact after already offering your skills as payment, then you really are a foolishly clever alchemist."
"Hmph. I can't say you're wrong."
Dorea flipped through the notebook on his workbench and muttered.
"So your goal was my skills. Did you come looking for me knowing who I am?"
"Who are you, old man?"
Dorea glared at me.
"Then what do you want? An advanced potion recipe? A super-regeneration potion? Or perhaps a super-aphrodisiac? I had some expertise with aphrodisiacs, too."
"I'd like you to become my exclusive alchemist."
".....That's not what I expected to hear. What do you plan to do with an old geezer like me?"
"As I understand it, an alchemist's accumulated knowledge is their skill. The fact that you've lived so long means you must be highly skilled as an alchemist. When something valuable is being sold cheaply, you buy at the low point, don't you?"
"Hmm..."
Dorea finished his work, pressed his lips together, and fell into thought.
That was enough for now.
"You don't have to decide right away. For now, tell me what materials you need, and grant my request. Let's start with that kind of relationship."
"Meat Slime mucus."
Dorea suddenly spoke.
"Will that be enough?"
"That's what I need at the moment, but can you get it?"
"If you grant my request, there's nothing I can't do for you."
"What is your request?"
I smiled faintly.
"I'd like you to make potions."
"Is that all?"
"It's a rather large quantity."
I took the contract I had prepared in advance from inside my clothes and held it out to Dorea.
Dorea looked over the contents of the contract, then his eyes went round.
"L-low-grade potions—thirty thousand? Are you trying to kill me?"
"You'll have to make them nonstop for a month."
I also took out a money pouch.
Thud.
It landed heavily on the workbench.
It was filled with gold coins.
"This is an advance payment. If you need materials and labor, use this to take care of them."
"Gasp..."
"Is it too little? I'll be placing regular orders from now on, so that's unfortunate."
"N-no, it's nothing. ...With this much, I could bring in some other people, too. You were richer than you looked. But what will you do if I run away with it?"
"You don't have much time left to live, so where do you plan to spend all that money? Well, I won't stop you if you want to buy a whole lot of women and realize your dream of a life of debauchery. At that point, though, I'll have grounds to drag you away by force."
"....."
The old man's gaze fixed on the pouch of gold coins.
The weight of the gold pouch was added to the scales of his deliberation.
"Thirty thousand potions. You're going to work an old man to death. Fine. I'll do it. Living a busy life at the end of my years might not be so bad."
Dorea let out a bitter laugh.
"I look forward to it."
I left the shop.
I had commissioned equipment from Bordeaux.
I had placed an order for potions with Dorea.
'That takes care of the alchemist side.'
The apothecaries' guild would be able to establish its production line with Dorea handling things.
Potion demand would surge immediately after the dungeon appeared. Mass-producing enough to meet that demand would take several days, and people would suffer during that gap.
Female adventurers would be less likely to struggle with potion shortages and be captured by monsters.
'I can reduce the chance of the monsters' forces being reinforced.'
The more of the city's fighting strength that remained intact, the longer it could withstand the monster wave.
But this was not enough.
"That leaves Fila today."
I went looking for Fila's workshop.
***
When I knocked on the door of Fila's workshop, a clattering sound rang out from inside.
"Wait! Just a moment! I-I'm opening it now!"
Along with hurried footsteps came the sound of something collapsing. A scream. Then the sound of something else being knocked over.
The door opened.
"E-Eck?"
Fila was startled when she saw me through the gap in the door.
The robe she seemed to have thrown on in a hurry was stained with splatters from experiments. Her pink hair, which had glittered like a chandelier, was dull too, as though something had been spilled over it.
When she realized that I was the visitor, she closed the door again.
"J-just a moment."
Tap, tap. Tap-tap-tap.
The door opened again.
Fila brushed the powder from her robe and hair and straightened her crooked glasses.
"P-please, come in."
The workshop was even messier than during my last visit.
Red materials filled one corner of the room, placed atop a magic circle and being preserved so their red power would not escape.
The demonic sword Vitalia lay beside them.
Hanging from a hook in midair, the blade of the demonic sword was coated in red dye and had turned bright scarlet. It repeatedly emitted a red glow that then faded, as though it had a pulse.
I had brought the demonic sword here on the day the Red Moon rose and entrusted its sealing to Fila.
The demonic sword enthralled whoever held it.
A boss monster that satisfied the host's desires in its place would take over the host's body.
Since the soul had entered the sword afterward, one could avoid being enthralled by following the proper procedure, and it could be sealed as it was now.
Fila was in the process of sealing the demonic sword.
"How is the sealing going?"
"Huh? Well..."
Fila read the parchment she had placed in front of the demonic sword.
She brushed back the bangs covering her eyes.
"I've forcibly stopped the demonic sword's functions. Now it's time to separate the soul. The soul attached to the demonic sword is sustained by a power separate from the sword itself, so once the sword's functions are shut down, it becomes like this."
Fila pointed at the demonic sword's red, pulsing light.
"Only the power contained in the soul remains. Now I just have to extract it separately and transfer it to another medium, and the process will be completely finished."
The parchment I had handed her contained the work procedure.
She was methodically following each step, marking a check beside every stage she had completed.
"This is the medium that will contain the sealed soul."
"A doll."
"Yes."
She took out the doll that would serve as the sealing medium.
A wooden doll made by simply tying together wooden sticks.
I had seen it in the game, too.
The boss monster sealed in the wooden doll reshaped it into the form of its soul and became a pet.
It was a fairly useful item.
If thrown at a monster, it served as bait.
"The soul's original form is humanoid, so it takes the form of a doll?"
"Yes! That's right. How did you know?"
"I've seen something similar before."
I handed the wooden doll back to her.
"How much longer will the process take?"
"I think it'll take about ten more days to separate it completely."
The timing was rather tight.
"Can't you speed it up a little?"
"I-I'll do my best. If I work under a tighter schedule, I might be able to cut a day off it...?"
Since I didn't know when the dungeon would appear, it was better to proceed quickly even at some risk.
At that moment, Fila hovered restlessly around the workbench, then suddenly clapped her hands.
She picked up a potion filled with purple liquid from among the potions haphazardly piled on the workbench.
"A virility potion! It's finished!"
"Already? What's different about it this time?"
For the record, this was only the second time.
"It... makes it bigger. Bigger than its original size."
With her face flushed red, Fila held up both index fingers. The two fingers, which had been curled inward, spread apart to the left and right.
"A-and..."
She went farther into the workshop, drew back a curtain, and revealed a bed.
"I-I was disappointed that I couldn't check the experimental results last time. A-are you free today? Please stay the night this time."
".....Is that all right?"
"Yes!"
Fila bounced in place. Her ample breasts leaped with her. Seeing them jostle made me shudder despite myself.
I felt I might be fooled by Fila's appearance into reacting.
'Calm down. This isn't the one.'
I reminded myself of Fila's true identity.
"I'm all right with you, Eck. I've never met a man who makes me feel as safe as you do. I never dreamed that a day would come when I could talk normally with a man this close to me. Hehehe."
"I-is that so?"
She smiled shyly, as beautiful as Elena.
Her breasts, seemingly ready to burst, could not be concealed even by the robe, and whenever I imagined what might be inside it, I shuddered.
My fist clenched before I realized it.
"I also want to hear your impressions after you drank the virility potion last time. Was it helpful?"
"That..."
I squeezed my eyes shut.
"I'll tell you all about it slowly."
I sat on the bed and drank the new virility potion.
Then, as the test subject for the previous virility potion, I told her my impressions and physical changes, while Fila brought food from the kitchen and wrote them down in her notebook.
The scratch of Fila's quill across the parchment notebook grew louder as the night gradually deepened.
***
Not long after Eck left the guild dining hall.
Elena returned to the guild.
There, she learned some news.