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A stunned middle-aged man is looking at a young man with his probing eyes. Then suddenly he burst into a cacophony of laughter as if hearing the biggest joke of his entire life.
"Hahaha… Curt, this is the first time I heard you tell a joke. That was a good one… You being able to help me with my health condition is something hilarious… I thought you were serious…" the middle-aged man chuckled while patting Curt's shoulder.
Curt had a dumbfounded look in his eyes, as if he didn't know what the man was talking about.
"I'm serious, you know… I mean… I really want to help you." Curt thought, but didn't say it out loud as he knew it would just cause his boss to mock him.
However, he is going to have a problem now. This is because his heart was really pushing him to help his boss, but he didn't know what to say or do.
"Damn it… Wait a minute… Maybe that will work." He thought of an idea.
"Boss, do you… drink tea?" he suddenly said, as if asking randomly.
"Yeah, I have a lot of different types of tea at home… why? Are you going to give me tea for my medicine?" his boss suddenly burst out laughing while teasing him.
"Ugh… No, I, I just wanted to brew some tea for you. Wait here, okay?" he said as he suddenly ran out of the store.
"Wait! You… Damn it, that kid is running all over the place. What's wrong with him today?"
Curt Nilfiem didn't bother with his boss as he truly wanted to try the recipe inside his mind. Actually, he didn't need any intricate or rare herbs just to brew this kind of tea. The concoction in his mind is just a combination of grasses and some herbs. Plus, he knew that in this era, people had already synthesized medicines, hence he could get whatever he lacked from those.
And so, his figure dashed outside and began running towards an area which he knew had tall grass the size of a regular person.
"Damn… these things are a treasure and yet, these people didn't bother with them…" he muttered upon touching one of the blades of grass.
He can actually feel a strong presence of that so-called LEP energy coursing through its leaves. And this made him feel elated. He thought that the grass inside the dome did not contain that much LEP. However, his conjecture was wrong.
When he was about to get a stalk of grass, a voice interrupted him.
It was an old man sitting in a corner where a large boulder was. He is wearing old and ragged clothes and hanging on his waist is a machete with a wooden sheath.
"Young man, I wouldn't do that if I were you… You need a very sharp knife to cut one of those. Except if you are an Esper, then maybe you can cut it by hand…" the man chuckled.
Hearing the man's words with a hint of mocking in them, Curt just frowns. He looks around and picks up a small stick.
"If this blade of grass is as strong as this old man says, then I would just cut it using a technique…" Curt began writing something on the ground where he stood, then suddenly closes his eyes.
When he opens his eyes, he can now feel the LEP energy around him being absorbed into the circle. Then he channeled everything towards the stick he was holding.
"Let's try this then…" he muttered as he slashed the stick across the palm-sized blade of grass.
As if a hot knife slicing through butter, the stick easily cut the blade of grass with ease. This scene almost made the old man fall from his seat at the top of the boulder.
Curt immediately sliced the blade of grass into tiny portions and carried them. Then he carefully savors the nectar that is seeping out of the cut portion of the leaf, to try its efficacy.
"Damn… this tastes good. The energy on this planet is far denser than in the previous world of the person in my memory." He thought he could feel the energy from the nectar entering inside his body.
He didn't dwindle and just went back to the store and put everything inside a basin. He then runs outside once again.
Not long later, Curt came back with a bunch of capsules and tablets in hand.
His boss just looked at him with curiosity but shook his head in resignation, as he didn't know what his employee was doing.
After 30 minutes, a strange yet sweet smell suddenly wafted out from the back room of the store. This made the middle-aged boss of the store turn his eyes towards the room.
"What is that fool doing?" he muttered as he felt curious and at the same time felt weird about Curt's actions.
Then he saw Curt walking out of the room with two cups of steaming tea on a tray.
"Boss, I brewed two cups, one for you and one for me," Curt said with a broad grin on his face.
His heart at that moment felt really excited. Not only was he able to perfectly create the medicine that was in his mind, but he was also able to make it more efficient.
After tasting the tea, he knew that he was successful on his first try, hence he truly felt excited that he wanted to laugh. But he is trying to control himself in doing so; else his boss and the people in the convenience store would think that he is a weirdo.
He handed one of the cups to his boss, who immediately frowned.
"Wait, let's change cups." His boss said as he saw Curt taking a sip of the tea.
"But… I… I have already tasted it."
"Who cares… let's exchange now."
"Alright… here."
After getting the cup that Curt had already tasted, the middle-aged man smiled and slowly savors the tea. When he took a small sip, his eyes immediately lit up.
"What's this? This… this is… this tastes like the one I had before. But that tea costs more than 1,000 credits per pack. How can you afford one?" he said in shock.
"Boss, you jest… I didn't buy this tea… I just brewed it back there." Curt said while pointing at the room at the back of the shop.
Curt then didn't bother with his boss and just drank the tea in his cup.
Curt's middle-aged boss has a look of disbelief in his eyes as Curt just drank the tea like it was nothing. He was crying in his heart… "1,000 credits… that's 1,000 credits you fool."
But then he looks at the tea in his cup and decided not to mind the naive young employee and slowly savors the tea as if it was the best thing in the world for him.
Lan Cuibing, who is the boss of Curt, is someone who likes to drink tea at home. He truly enjoys drinking it as he felt calm while having tea. And one time, he was invited by his rich friend to a rare tea party and tasted different kinds of expensive teas.
And right now, one of those tastes that linger in his taste bud is the one he is currently drinking. He could not forget the taste of that tea back then, especially its price.
Hence, right now, he truly just wanted to enjoy the tea in his cup.
After some time, he reluctantly finished everything.
"That was satisfying." He expressed his satisfaction and smiled.
"I guess it's rare for me to have this day. I wish I could still have another cup… Oh, how I wish I could. But how could such a rare thing happen?" He chuckled to himself and shook his head.
"Boss, that took you so long… I still have a teapot full of tea inside the room… do you still want more?"
Lan Cuibing's head suddenly turned blank upon hearing the words from Curt, and his head slowly turned towards him as if with a creaking sound.
Then his eyes darted towards the room at the back.
"Boss, I will get it for you, just stay here," Curt said as he suddenly turned around.
"No!" shouted Lan Cuibing as his figure suddenly dashed like a comet towards the room.
Curt was flabbergasted at his action and didn't know how to react. Even those customers lining up at the counter were all dumbfounded when they saw the middle-aged man darting towards the back room.
"Oh, sorry about that." Curt apologizes to the people lining up and went to the counter and began assisting the customers.
Inside the room, Lan Cuibing is currently holding the large pot filled with tea like it was the most precious thing in the world.
"(*Chuckle)It's mine, it's all mine…" he chuckled like a crazy person.
His mind began to churn as he suddenly thought of a way to make money out of the teapot in his hand.
"If I sell this tea to my friend, how many cups will it produce?" he muttered.
Meanwhile, Curt finished serving the customers and stood up from the counter. He then walked towards the room at the back.
"Boss… Are you okay?"
Curt asked as he opened the door and was stunned at what he saw. His middle-aged boss is smiling like a crazy old fool while looking at the ceiling.
"Damn… I can't believe that tea has this effect…" he thought as he suddenly felt shivers running down his spine.
He didn't want to turn into a fool just like his boss.
Suddenly, his boss turns his gaze towards his knee as if realizing something. Then a disbelief look at the middle-aged man's face slowly became apparent.
"I… How did I manage to get here? And why are my knees not hurting anymore?" he suddenly asked in confusion.