text: Read at Watashi Wa Sugoi Desu!
  Chapter 097 – A New Item While I Wait
  Vidello-san said he had to report Raymond’s deed, and he headed off. I was left behind and decided to ask Crash for the details.
  “My mom blew up part of that guy’s mansion, and Vidello looked pretty relieved that he had a legitimate reason to report it.”
  So that’s why the ground was shaking and rumbling. Thank you Emily-san.
  “Mom was more pissed off than I’d ever seen her before. She said there would be no mercy this time. The guards came and tried to grab her, so I came here to have Vidello report to them.”
  “What’d Vidello do to make you cry, Mac?”
  “What? I’m not crying!”
  He looked into my face and I hurriedly wiped my face with my sleeve. He saw my face earlier. But I held back and didn’t cry. I was safe.
  I shook my head, and Crash looked at me with narrowed eyes before sighing and saying, “Well, that’s okay.”
  “Mac, just stay here. Don’t go out. Someone will come back later and explain everything. And, uh, my mom sent a message that if you are asked to come out to talk to someone, don’t do it. It’s fine to talk with someone inside, but if Mac goes off on his own, it could be twisted to your disadvantage. In that case, maybe it’s better if you don’t go with Vidello either. It gets complicated when Vidello argues with the higher-ups. I think you should stay with the farm owner here. You shouldn’t let anyone take you to the royal palace especially. The king is not on our side.”
  “There’s no way I’d go to the royal palace like that.”
  When I shrugged my shoulders, thinking that Crash’s words were an exaggeration, he shook his head with a serious face and said, “The other party is an aristocrat, so there’s a good chance the royal palace has been informed.”
  I mean, had it really become such a big deal?
  “But still, Vidello has [ Good Luck ]? I’d heard rumors of someone like that.”
  “Crash, you didn’t know?”
  “Yeah. I wasn’t really interested in it. I didn’t want to get into it and have it come back to haunt me later on. That’s why I avoided giving them any information. I see, as expected from Vidello. The flow of [ Good Luck ] takes into account Mac’s carelessness. That made me laugh a little. You are indeed loved.”
  I hung my head in shame at Crash’s words, which were not meant to be malicious.
  Surely. It was true, though.
  If I hadn’t done all the things I did, maybe Raymond would still be alive and well and planning something, and it would be dangerous for Crash to walk alone, and Emily-san wouldn’t be able to get revenge. It was kind of frustrating.
  Vidello-san’s [ Good Luck ] knew me too well… It was a little depressing.
  “So what are you going to do now, Crash?”
  “Can I stay here with you? If I stick around, the higher-ups would know my face, so my mom and Sage-san said I shouldn’t do that.”
  “I’m pretty sure it’ll be okay. I wonder where Monto-san went?”
  It wasn’t my decision to make, so I looked around and saw Monto-san through the window. He had gone to the field.
  I went to the window and called out to Monto-san, and he came right away.
  “When the guards come, we’ll talk to them together then? I really don’t give a shit. Anyways, Mac, do you want me to split the Taruar grass one more time? He seems to like that entrance there so much that I can’t move him again.”
  “I’d like that.”
  I liked that Taruar grass. I saw him spreading out his leaves like he was satisfied with his work.
  “Taruar grass, that weird tangled stuff? Isn’t that thing dangerous?”
  I chuckled at Crash, who suddenly turned blue in the face. Come to think of it, Crash was used as bait, too. I was the one who used him as bait.
  “It’s all right. Just don’t touch it. It’s a plant that grows using magic, so the Taruar grass that took root next to the gate was technically grown by Crash. You’re its parent, so to speak.”
  “Eh— I don’t think I like the idea of being that thing’s parent…”
  I saw Crash frown in genuine disgust, so I made peace with it.
  Monto-san stopped working and came inside.
  As I was taking a break with the tea that Monto-san had brewed for me, the bell rang a high-pitched sound. But why was that bell so loud and high? I wondered.
  Monto-san grinned and headed for the front door, saying, “Here we go.”
  “Excuse me. Are you the owner of this plantation, Monto-san? I heard that you are hiding a boy named Mac here. We need to investigate the Marquis de Raymond’s abduction of the boy, and we are here to extradite him.”
  The voice I heard startled me.
  Demanding extradition? It sounded like they didn’t think I was the victim in this.
  Crash also looked stunned.
  I was a little on edge, wondering if Monto-san would be okay but, as expected, he was just fine.
  “What do you mean, extradite? What did the boy do? If you want to talk to him, you can do it here. I’ll lend you the place, and you can listen to what he’s gotta say here. I’ll be your witness. Come on in.”
  “No, I was told to bring the boy into custody. It’s our job to carry out the mission. Is there someone else we can talk to?”
  I heard Monto-san let out a sigh.
  “Get outta here! You knights of the royal court, you’re all incompetent! Bring me someone who will listen to me! Bring me that [ Good Luck ] guy I told you about!”
  “Make it quick!”
  I knew it was coming, but I still had to struggle to hold back my laughter.
  But the royal palace knights were different from the gatekeepers, weren’t they?
  “Thank you very much, Monto-san.”
  “What’s that? It’s refreshing to be able to yell so loud. But, it’s been a series of disasters for Mac, hasn’t it?
  “Hah~ I didn’t do anything wrong. I just don’t understand why they would go to such lengths.”
  “I wonder, if the boy Raymond was obsessed with making or possessing a potion of such incredible power, the royal court might want to get Mac too, right?”
  “But I’m just a pharmacist.”
  I’d hate to be stuck in the palace making potions all the time.
  Then I wouldn’t be able to see Vidello-san, have a good time with Crash, or go out to the field to collect materials. That would defeat the purpose of playing this game.
  There was still so much I wanted to do. Impossible.
  I sipped my nearly cold tea and swallowed a sigh.
  I mean, I hadn’t been doing any alchemy, potion making, or materials gathering for a while now, right?
  When I thought about it, I gradually wanted to do some work.
  I had a certain amount of materials and tools for making things in my inventory.
  Then, I guess there was only one thing to do.
  “Monto-san, do you have any plants that are unique to this area? I’d like to prepare some potions.”
  I asked Monto-san while checking my inventory with a sideways glance, and his eyes widened in surprise.
  “Hey, hey, aren’t those things supposed to be kept secret?”
  “I don’t want to make anything that I have to hide. But it seems that my skills have slowed down recently, so while I’m waiting, I want to make something.”
  I dared to go past the two people, who looked at me as if they were dumbfounded, and I took the dispensing kit out of my inventory.
  I put some herbs in the mortar and started grinding. I enjoyed this feeling after such a long time.
  I prepared the ingredients for a High Potion one after another to get started.
  After packing all the ingredients, I took out the spring water from the Quattro Forest.
  Pour it in last, and bring it to a boil while stirring. Ah, this herbal smell, so soothing.
  I strained the contents and poured it into a bottle. It was a more beautiful pale yellow color than usual. It smelled good. It was done well.
  I put the cork-like lid on the bottle, and the High Potion was ready to drink. I wondered how high the rank was.
  I appraised it.
  I look at the finished potion and frown a bit. It looked like I could make something new. As expected of the forest spring water.
  [ Repair High Potion: Rank A. When consumed, it gradually recovers HP for a while. The effect depends on the rank. ]
  “A [ Repair High Potion ]… I’ve never made one of these before.”
  As I muttered to myself, Crash and Monto-san came very close to me.
  They snatched the bottle from me and exhaled.
  “Well, damn… Mac, how’d you make that?”
  Monto-san asked me with a grim look on his face. I wondered why he was looking at me like that, and when I told him that I had used spring water from the Quattro Forest instead of the usual water, he muttered, “…Ain’t no way.”
  “Mac. Listen. Usually, the apothecaries here use old recipes for compounding medicines. That way, they can produce a stable grade of medicine. That’s why none of them ever think of mixing in something different. Most of the time, they apprentice themselves somewhere and become medicine men according to the style of the master. Most of them think it is sacrilege to change the recipe and, in fact, if you try to do so under their supervision, you will be excommunicated by the master, who respects tradition. So, there is no one like Mac, who improves his skills on his own, modifies the recipe without permission, and makes something with completely different effects. If this gets out to someone with big money, they will take notice. They would want to monopolize the profits. If they distribute the recipe, they get paid for it, so if they keep Mac around and have him keep making it, they get a monopoly on the drug, and all that money, too. You should know that… I didn’t know you foreigners were so out of touch. I thought there were a lot of crazy people out there. In a different way, I guess Mac is kinda crazy, too.”
  Hearing what Monto-san said, I was really glad I didn’t become someone’s apprentice. I would have been excommunicated in an instant.
  I wonder if all the apothecaries here are as hard-headed as craftsmen. It’s a little scary.
  “Mac, you can’t take these anywhere but my place.”
  Even Crash, holding the finished [ Repair High Potion ] in his hand, said with a grim look on his face.
  I made a new potion. I did it! But it can’t just end there. It’s a hard world, isn’t it?
  Those two were already aware of that! My back curved and I was getting smaller and smaller when the bell on the gate rang again.