A woman hurriedly headed to the apothecary after receiving a message from Bernard.
Her excited heart refused to calm down no matter how hard she tried.
Could it be… that they’ve finally found a cure? Or… what if it’s the opposite…
On her way rushing to the apothecary, joy and sorrow repeated dozens of times inside her head.
Before she knew it, the herbal shop came into view, and she quickened her steps even more.
She stopped short.
Yet in the end, she halted right in front of the apothecary door.
Please…
With her eyes tightly shut, she firmly grasped the hand of the child standing beside her and prayed once more in her heart.
Jingle.
The bell ringing through the apothecary echoed.
“Excuse me, I came after receiving your message.”
“You must have had a hard time coming all this way. Please come here and catch your breath first.”
Bernard guided the woman to a chair and handed her a glass of water.
“You must have rushed here; please wet your throat first.”
“Th-thank you.”
The hand that received the water was trembling violently.
Her lips were parched, yet she couldn’t bring herself to drink and gently set the glass back down.
She couldn’t wait any longer.
“Why did you call for me so urgently? Could it be… you’ve found a treatment?”
She felt as though her insides were burning. All her nerves were focused on Bernard’s lips.
“It seems… that might be the case.”
“R-really?”
For a moment, the woman’s heart sank.
Her already pounding heart began to race even more wildly.
“You can hear the details directly. They’ll be here soon.”
“Ah, yes…”
Her joy lasted only a moment before worry took over again.
Countless alchemists who had confidently boasted that she should trust only them.
Yet contrary to her inflated hopes, every medicine they produced had no effect at all.
Each time, disappointment and despair followed.
If even she felt this way, how must the child feel?
The woman tightly held the child’s hand.
Suppressing her excitement with effort, she calmly waited for them to arrive.
Jingle.
The apothecary door opened, and Fabir and Elenia entered.
Unconsciously, the woman’s hips lifted slightly from the chair.
“You’ve arrived at the perfect time.”
Step, step.
To her, the moment Fabir approached felt like an eternity.
“Have you been waiting long?”
“No, the customer has only just arrived as well.”
Fabir gave her a small eye greeting.
She could not hide her nervousness.
“I heard you found a way to cure atopic dermatitis?”
“I think we’ve found something, but it’s still too early to guarantee success.”
The woman nodded calmly.
“It’s all right. I’m used to this kind of thing…”
She had come prepared for the worst anyway. This place was her last hope.
“Elenia, please explain.”
“Eh? M-me?”
“Wouldn’t it be better for the creator, Elenia, to explain directly rather than me?”
“Ah, yes. So…”
Elenia began explaining to the woman.
“Fabir told me about ‘food poisoning.’”
“Food poisoning?”
At the sudden mention, the woman tilted her head. What did atopic dermatitis have to do with food poisoning?
“As soon as I heard that, something clicked. Isn’t atopic dermatitis also the body reacting because of toxins, just like food poisoning?”
“Toxins?”
“So I thought, what if we tried ‘detoxification’?”
The woman’s ears perked up. Until now, no other alchemist had presented a clear cause.
It was an extremely slim possibility, but it felt like a faint ray of hope.
“But the problem was that we couldn’t identify the exact toxin. There might even be more than one.”
The woman wilted again.
The brief hope seemed to crumble once more.
Her emotions swung wildly with every word from Elenia.
“But Fabir was carrying a lot of very fresh vegetables!”
“Yes?”
Was this another random leap?
Why vegetables all of a sudden?
“I had a feeling Fabir’s vegetables were brimming with life energy! If we could extract that, I thought the life energy might neutralize the toxins!”
Elenia grew more excited, her words speeding up.
“The vegetables Fabir grew are truly amazing! When I concentrated them with alchemy, they were overflowing with life energy. It far exceeded my expectations! Now I understand why eating them makes you feel so full of vitality! There was one time I extracted life energy from ginseng before—”
Mumble mumble mumble mumble.
At some point, the woman could only blink in confusion, unable to follow. Her head spun as much as the conversation.
“Elenia.”
Fabir raised his hand.
“I think the customer has heard more than enough by now.”
“Ah! I’m sorry!”
Elenia’s face flushed bright red as she quickly covered it with both hands.
“I’ll take over the explanation from here.”
Fabir placed a glass bottle on the table.
“This is a detox juice made from the life energy extracted from the vegetables I grew.”
The woman swallowed dryly at the sight of the deep green liquid.
This might become her child’s final hope.
“It’s also concentrated with excellent nutrients.”
“If… if the child drinks this…?”
“In theory, it should neutralize some of the toxins in the body, but I still can’t guarantee the effect.”
With trembling hands, the woman carefully picked up the glass bottle.
Her mouth was so dry that her voice was beginning to sound hoarse.
“May I have the child drink it right now?”
Fabir nodded.
Pop—
The woman opened the lid and handed it to the child.
The child who received the bottle stared blankly inside.
The deep green liquid sparkled like waves of light.
“Go ahead and drink, sweetheart.”
To the hesitant child, the woman forced a smile and cheered.
With a pounding heart, the child brought the bottle to their lips.
A fresh, invigorating scent poured from the bottle. It smelled like grass and like flowers.
Gulp—
The liquid slid smoothly down the throat.
At that instant.
Whoosh—
A refreshing wind seemed to blow from somewhere, sweeping through the body.
The breeze that started in the mouth spread through the esophagus and throughout the whole body.
The child couldn’t stop drinking.
Captivated by the ecstatic taste on the tip of the tongue and once again enchanted by the vigorous life energy.
Glug glug.
Only after drinking every last drop was the child finally able to pull the bottle away.
“How is it?”
The woman asked cautiously.
She knew the effect wouldn’t appear immediately, yet she couldn’t help asking.
Even if it was just a passing feeling.
Even the slightest subtle change.
With all her wish for the child to be all right.
That was when it happened.
Flash!
The child’s body was enveloped in an unknown light.
“Oh, oh my goodness! The skin!”
The woman jumped in shock.
The cracked and oozing skin was gradually sprouting new flesh and healing.
“Mom! Look at this! My skin is getting clean! It doesn’t itch anymore!”
The woman pulled the child into a tight embrace.
“Thank goodness! I’m so glad…”
“Mom… are you crying?”
“It’s because I’m happy. I’m just so happy.”
The apothecary family was just as shocked.
Bernard, eyes wide like a rabbit, spoke.
“Alchemy truly is an amazing art.”
“Huh? Calling this alchemy… wouldn’t it actually be Fabir’s magic?”
“Elenia, I told you earlier, I can’t use anything like magic.”
After hugging the child tightly for a long while, the woman bowed deeply to the apothecary staff many times.
“Thank you so, so much. I don’t know how to ever repay this grace. You too, quickly say thank you.”
“Thank you! I will never forget this kindness for the rest of my life!”
The child smiled brighter than ever.
***
While tidying the display shelf, Bernard said,
“I never imagined the lady would pay such an enormous sum.”
“If it meant curing her child, any parent would give away their entire fortune.”
For some reason, my heart felt warm. What would it have been like if I had parents too?
Today was a day filled with such thoughts.
“By the way, what on earth was that light bursting from the child?”
“Who knows. There are things in this world that sometimes can’t be explained, right?”
That’s what people call a miracle.
I attached a label to a glass bottle. Bernard approached and read the label aloud.
“Witch’s Juice? Why name it like this? Wouldn’t Elenia Juice or Detox Juice have been fine?”
“She said that with this name, people would immediately know she comes from a witch family.”
“Huh?”
I chuckled.
Elenia had chosen not to hide her background but to break through head-on.
It couldn’t have been an easy decision; I should cheer for her.
“I’ve been meaning to ask, did you once sell something called kimbap in front of the dungeon?”
“Yes, I did. Why?”
“Adventurers swarmed here looking for kimbap. They even asked me to definitely check if Fabir planned to sell kimbap again when he came.”
“Really? They must have liked it quite a lot.”
“Liked it? I heard some fainted from how delicious it was.”
Is fainting from eating food a good thing?
“Are you going to continue the kimbap business?”
“Kimbap takes quite a lot of work. I’ll think about it later when the conditions are right.”
“The adventurers will be very disappointed.”
Jingle—
“Excuse me.”
Suddenly, a neatly dressed middle-aged man in a suit entered the apothecary.
“I heard there’s someone named Fabir here, so I came looking.”
“That would be me. What brings you here?”
“Nice to meet you. My name is Welper. May I have a brief word?”
“Please, have a seat here.”
I guided him to the chair in front of me.
“First, allow me to introduce myself. I run the Blue Horse Company.”
“Gasp!”
Bernard, listening from behind, flinched and covered his mouth.
Just from his reaction, I could tell the company was quite large in Alburton.
“What business does the company have with me?”
“I would like to do business together with Fabir.”
“Business?”
“I heard you sold a food called kimbap in front of the dungeon this time.”
“Yes, that’s true…”
“Those who tried it said it fits perfectly in one bite yet contains rice and vegetables evenly, making it perfectly nutritious. And the taste, they say, rivals the signature dishes of any restaurant.”
At those words, Bernard, who had been listening from afar, broke into a wide smile.
He already seemed to have guessed what kind of business proposal was coming and looked full of anticipation.