Russell's POV
We remained in the snowy mountains until a bit later, when we both stood up, grabbed our stuff, and went down the mountain and back to the village. There we saw some men questioning some villagers. Curious we secretly eavesdropped their conversations. Then, the men mentioned a person who manned a 'metal carriage of death' and asked the villagers if they knew that person. Hearing that, I was a bit taken aback by their topic because that person was me. Then, that villager responded, "Yes, I do, sir."
"Okay, then what was that person's name?" one of the men asked her.
But the villager probably didn't know my name, so she replied, "I don't know. All I know is that he saved our village with his strange-looking carriage."
To that Azalea and I fled the area before they would spot us eavesdropping them.
Behind a wall of a random village house, we were relieved that they didn't spot us.
"That was so close…"
"Yes, it was. Those men are from the royal palace."
"Wait, what?" I asked her while being surprised.
"Yes, those hooded people…" Azalea nodded. "…they worked for the royal family."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Alright then. Well, I don't want to attract unwanted attention, so let's stay low."
Azalea then agreed with me. "You're right. That would be bad if we stand out."
And so, we went back to her house.
Upon arriving there, we entered the house after we shook off the snow off our clothes. "We're back…" Azalea greeted.
"Welcome back home," a voice responded to us.
It was Azalea's mother who said that.
"Hi there, Mrs. Barwon," responded I, before me and Azalea took off our footwear.
We then entered the small living room and rested on the couch.
"How's the hike, you two?" Azalea's mother asked us.
"It was really good," I replied back positively.
"He loves it, Mom," Azalea added.
"That was good," her mother happily responded back.
Then, Azalea asked me if I want to see her making some potions at the potion room in the house.
"Sure, why not!" I answered readily with enthusiasm.
And so, we stood up, and Azalea led me to the potion room on the first floor. There potions are waiting to be mixed and made into synthetic and mixed ones. "This is it," Azalea said to me.
"So, this is where you make potions?" I asked.
She then nodded. "Yes, my father is a potion maker, too, and so is my paternal grandfather."
"Wow, nice."
With that, Azalea went to the table and started making and brewing potion by mixing some potion bottles.
I then sat down on a wooden chair and watched her doing her thing, curious what kind of potion she would be making.
She mixed and shook the concoction a few times while referring to a book that is probably a recipe book for potions.
Luckily, in this world, I suddenly and somehow managed to gain the ability to read and write this world's writing system. How that happened is still a mystery to me.
As Azalea did her potion-making work, my mind drifted to the thoughts about my first friend in this world, Adrian. Why? Because I began to think thoughts like: What if he was mistreated by his party? Or worse, what if he was betrayed by them? Those scenarios took over my mind, and so, just in case any of those would happen in the future, I began to prepare my responses to those scenarios. And at the same time, I was determined to bring that group of wrongdoers to justice for what they did to a decent and nice adventurer like Adrian.
And then, a bit later, Azalea was done making her potion and showed it to me. "Ta-dah!" she exclaimed to me happily. Upon seeing that, I asked, "What is that?"
"This is a basic healing potion," she responded as she put it down.
"Basic?"
"Yes, it can heal most basic illnesses and injuries. There are stronger ones that can heal poison and poison-related injuries and effects."
"Okay, did you follow the recipe for it?"
"Yes, I did. I had been making these for some time now."
"Okay then. Nice."
Azalea then smiled. "Thanks."
"Yeah, no problem."