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"What about these?" He asked the girl as he walked to the table and put the flasks carefully on top of it
"Th-Those are… Failures."
'This visit was so sudden that I forgot to store these… How embarrassing.'
"Failures? But they look pretty okay to me… Although very diluted, they show how efficient you are with using your materials, so how can this be considered a failure?"
"Ye-yes! Thank you for the praise. But…"
'He realized what they were just by looking? And not only that but he also did a comprehensive analysis of their effects? So much for knowing little about alchemy…'
'But if it's like that, he will understand me…'
She dropped her head and said:
"The side effects are too much…"
But to her surprise, Dale only said with a frown:
"Really? Is that all?" He asked with a disappointed remark
"Eh?"
'How come?! These are unacceptable!'
"..."
'Is this really all there is to it? I know that the reason behind her not sharing the potions is because she wanted to make them perfect, but I thought she would have some decency as to how potions… Well, work.'
'Everything has a side effect, and these ones are more than bearable, they are incredible for what these potions can do already.'
'Even if a potion has no obvious side effect, it always has some sort of detrimental effect, be it an upset stomach to something more subtle like an increase in a specific substance in your bloodstream.'
"All?! These are detrimental products! And…"
She tried to argue in panic but Dale wasn't buying any of it.
Dale interrupted her again and turned his head to ask Testros and Misgurd:
"Look at it and tell me if you two agree with me." He said as he grabbed one of the bottles
"This first potion side effect is nothing but a bit of dried skin after prolonged use while this one is an upset stomach after heavy use… Does this look like a heavy side effect to you two?"
"..."
"..."
They looked at each other and shook their heads.
"Miss, I don't want to sound arrogant and overstep my boundaries since I am only an outsider, but your work is already incredible."
"The village needs these but you simply keep them here, depriving them from the villages and cursing them to rot, wasting valuable materials and items."
"B-But I can't!" She said with a rare firm tone
"I can't risk their well-being just like that…"
Dale just smiled, saying:
"Miss Yumi, there is no one out there that aces from the start…"
But Dale shook his head as he knew they wouldn't understand the term.
"I mean, there is no one out there that is capable enough to start a new career as a master, making everything perfectly from the start."
"And potion-making of a'll things… There is no potion with great effects without some sort of side effect, even a simple healing potion needs a few hours between each intake else it may end with its effects reduced and an upset stomach."
"There can be no perfect potion… Just like there is no perfect person."
"What you are doing right now, trying to reduce material consumption and side effects for the well-being of the villagers is an extremely honorable action, but simply contradictory at its very core."
"Since you are already risking their very well-being by doing nothing but consuming materials every day, making them put hope into something that may not even happen at all."
"When from the beginning, you could've just distributed your products, even these so-called 'failed ones' could be distributed while giving the instructions of the possible dangers of it."
"Have you ever thought that you are doing more bad than actually good?" He said with a frown
'This is a quest is more about the alchemist than about the materials, so all of my attention should go to her.'
'Even if I didn't have that many materials, the quest is still completable if I simply talk my way through all of it...'
"?!"
Her face twisted a little as she heard what Dale said.
It was something she feared, something she knew was happening, but something she kept quiet about.
She knew that she did nothing for the village in the past decade, only consuming, but she put faith in herself that she would eventually manage to complete her work and make a line of products that are easy and cheap to make while being very effective.
But here is the hard truth that no one ever told her…
It made her antagonize Dale a little, even if she knew he was right.
Misgurd knew things were going badly, so he quickly opened his mouth to say:
"Yumi… In these past 13 years since Dudencell passed away, what did you do?" He asked as he looked at her with serene eyes
"I…"
But he did not let her continue.
"All this time, you've been practicing and trying to improve the formulas so they can work with lesser materials and tools, simplifying things so we can still enjoy potions and medicine despite our poverty."
"However, your excessive kindness and selflessness have reached a critical point… I simply can't let you continue like this."
"Uncle I…"
"Listen to me first."
"It doesn't matter what recipes you make, it doesn't matter how much you've progressed… Just look at yourself, you look like a bag of bones!"
Yumi bit her lips hard as she tried to hold her cries.
She herself knew how hard it was, all of these years, she tried her best to continue her family's legacy and improve the conditions of the village.
And even though she loved alchemy, she herself wanted to take a rest, a break.
But with the eyes of hope and encouragement from the people of the village, she held it in and continued.
She locked herself because she couldn't withstand the gazes of the people, and she didn't want them to see her condition that often.
And it was all crashing down now…
"Yumi! We aren't as heartless as to receive your goodwill and potions at the detriment of your own life!"
"For over a decade you have tried very hard, but not once had you ever contact us… We are here for you just as much as you are here for us, so what happened?!"
"Not once… Have you ever shared one of your creations with us?"
"And we. No, I have decided that it's enough."
Misgurd got up from the table and approached her, raising his hand as if to slap her.
"Yumi! From now…"
But he only hugged her slightly.
"Take care of yourself, and remember that we are here for you, we aren't flowers in a greenhouse, so we can take a bit of a rough potion, much less these ones with such simple side effects."
"We need them, you are needed, and we can't go on without you… So please, stop being so rough with yourself over this."
/Sniff…/
Yumi had already started to cry a bit, making Dale even more uncomfortable, he looked at Testros and the latter nodded, guiding him to another room and giving the two some time.
When they were in another room, Testros gave Dale a simple summary of their relationship, and how Misgurd raised that girl as if she was his daughter ever since her father died.
Her mother died at a very young age, not from monsters or hunger, but from a terminal disease.
Her father tried his best to cure her but without access to a large number of materials, there was no way he could cure her.
So he tried his best to prevent the same from happening to his daughter, only to ironically die to what he loved the most… Alchemy.
All it took was a failed experiment.
After inhaling a large number of poisonous gasses, his agonizing body was found a few minutes later by Misgurd himself.
But since there was no one capable enough to help him, and he himself could barely even talk…
Knowing very well his fate, Dudencell asked Misgurd to guide his daughter and create a false testimony of how he died as he didn't want his daughter to hate alchemy.
And even though she already knows what happened, instead of hate, she fully understands the good and bad of alchemy, although she seems to have some misunderstandings caused by her lack of guidance and own twisted moral sense.
Not in a bad way of course, but still twisted enough to cause damage to those around her despite her wanting to do good.
But all of it ends today…
…
/A few minutes later…/
"I… I'm sorry everyone, for doing something so unsightly." She said with a smile as she looked at Testros, Misgurd, and Dale
She turned her attention to Dale, where she stared at him for a few moments before she said:
"I'll do it… I… I don't know if I can get rid of this habit of mine, but I will try my best to help this village and its people."
Dale smiled, he opened his inventory and dropped all of the remaining materials and several potions he had.
He even dropped some alchemy tools he had bought just for the sake of it. And luckily for him, they soon found themselves in need.
"This is… A lot." Said Misgurd as he scratched his bald head
"It's everything I have left though, so make good use of it." Dale said with a small smile
Yumi smiled and replied:
"Yes, I had no other plans…"
But Testros interrupted:
"But first we need to fix this place, it's all dirty and simply not sanitary at all. And also, you need a bath… Really fast."
"?!"
Yumi's face suddenly turned ashen as she started to get conscious of herself again.
She started sniffing around and quickly understood the main problem.
Her gaze turned to Testros, she had a conflicted expression but he wasn't done reprimanding her yet.
"Not only that, expect some basic exercises from now on, how can you expect an alchemist from doing his job if he can barely even lift a cup?"
Yumi seemed offended as she replied:
"I can lift a cup!"
"Of course, you can, but how much effort do you have to put in it?"
"N-Not much…" She said as she thought deeply
"And that is the problem, as a human being, you should use 0 effort to raise a cup." He said as he shrugged
"Testros, we can take it slow… Let's start with night training since she can't stand being in the sun for long… Perhaps just a few walks around the village." Said Misgurd
But Yumi herself seemed down, and Dale soon understood why.
"I have a rather potent healing potion with me, it should be enough to bring you back to a presentable state." He said bluntly
"Eh?"
'Is there such a potion?'
Dale took out a dark potion from his inventory.
[Low-Grade Body Elixir
Effects:
Full body overhaul, healing and repairing minor irregularities and aligning them to the body's optimal condition.
Permanent +4 to Constitution /Only applicable when the value is below 30/
Can cause discomfort and Nutrient deficiency due to the quick consumption of energy and nutrients in the system to repair the damage.
Each subsequent consumption reduces its total effects due to the body's natural adaptation to it. It also slowly deposited a toxic mineral in the bloodstream, so a minimum of a year between uses is advised.
After consumption, you may feel tired, sore, and weak. So caution is advised.
Description:
…
]
"Here, this should be enough, just make sure to eat a lot since you are going to put up some weight soon after drinking it."
Misgurd looked at it for a while before he recognized what it was.
"Is this… An actual Elixir? I've never seen one before but there were many times where such items were sold here within Resko, they are all documented and I didn't expect to see one again." He said with a smile
"I am surprised you know about it, this makes things easier, this will make everything faster."
"Indeed, I will stay behind and…"
"No, you won't." Said an elderly voice from outside the room!
/Creak!/
The door started to open…
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Notes