Ding!
[Task Complete: Craft the Best Healing Potion]
Progress Update: Impress the Spirit Folk +20%
Current Status: Rosalie's Retainment Progress: 10%
A soft chime echoed in my mind, and the system's notification flickered before my eyes.
As the notification faded, I turned back to the workshop, my gaze lingering on the simmering potions and scattered tools. The success of the healing potion marked a small victory, but the challenges ahead loomed large.
Miku approached me, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Master, did you see how the potion worked? It was amazing! I knew we could pull it off!"
I chuckled, patting her on the head. "We? You mean me, don't you?"
She pouted, crossing her arms. "Hey! I helped too! Who do you think fetched all those ingredients and followed your weird instructions?"
"You mean the instructions you claimed were 'too vague'?" I teased, raising an eyebrow.
She huffed but quickly broke into a grin. "Fine, you win this round. But next time, I'm making the whole thing myself!"
Before I could respond, the door creaked open. Treyni and Kaela entered, their expressions a mix of relief and wariness. Treyni's usual charm was subdued, and Kaela seemed particularly tense, her eyes darting around the room as if expecting an ambush.
Treyni spoke first, her voice soft but firm. "The council has reviewed your work. They're impressed… somewhat. But their distrust still lingers."
Kaela added, her tone sharp, "Don't think this means they like you now. They're just grudgingly acknowledging your skill."
I smirked, leaning casually against the worktable. "Acknowledgment is a start. I didn't come here to win a popularity contest, after all."
Treyni sighed, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "The healing potion you created has bought you some time, but Elder Faelar and Sylven are still convinced you're a threat. They think you're lying about the Baki."
"Of course, they do," I replied, my voice tinged with sarcasm. "Why believe a fifteen year old kid who's been nothing but straightforward since arriving? It's not like I could have ulterior motives or anything."
Kaela glared at me. "Sarcasm won't help you here, Vendel. If you want to survive, you need to prove yourself again and again."
I nodded, my expression turning serious. "I expected as much. But they'll see what I mean when the monster come."
Treyni frowned. "You sound so certain. How can you be sure this monster is real?"
I met Treyni's questioning gaze, her doubt mirrored in the tense set of Kaela's jaw. The question hung in the air, heavy and expectant.
"I just am," I replied, my voice quieter now but no less resolute.
Kaela scoffed. "You keep talking about it like you're some all-knowing oracle. For all we know, it could you could feeding us lies just to drain our resources."
I arched an eyebrow at her. "And yet, here you are, benefiting from the very potion that same 'oracle' helped create. Convenient skepticism, isn't it?"
Her glare could've pierced stone, but Treyni placed a hand on her sister's arm, silently urging calm. "It's not just that," Treyni said softly. "The council doubts the monster's existence because… well, nothing like it has been seen for centuries. It's hard to believe in something you've only read about in myths."
I sighed, pushing off the worktable and pacing the room. "Do you think I'd waste my time weaving elaborate fairy tales just to worm my way into your good graces? Believe me, there are easier ways to get what I want. If the Baki wasn't real, I wouldn't be standing here arguing with you about it."
Treyni hesitated, her eyes searching mine as though trying to gauge my sincerity. Kaela, however, wasn't so easily swayed.
"Even if you're telling the truth," Kaela said, "how do we know you aren't just using this to manipulate us? Maybe you plan to unleash the Baki yourself and play the hero to gain our trust."
I stopped pacing and turned to face her directly. "That's an interesting theory, Kaela," I said evenly. "But if that were the case, don't you think I'd have waited until you were all completely unprepared? Instead, I've given you the tools to fight back. What kind of saboteur does that?"
Kaela opened her mouth to retort but fell silent, her lips pressing into a thin line. Treyni glanced at her sister, then back at me.
""Even if we believe you," Treyni said cautiously, "it doesn't change the fact that the council won't. You'll need more than words to change their minds."
I hesitated for a moment, then said with more conviction, "Then I'll give them something they can't ignore. If they won't listen, I– I'll just stop trying to save your village altogether."
Treyni's eyes widened, her expression softening into one of concern. "You can't just give up," she said, her voice almost pleading. "If you walk away, then what happens to us?"
I shrugged, trying to mask the weight of my words. "What's the point if they don't take me seriously? I won't keep wasting my time."
Kaela, standing off to the side, crossed her arms with a smug look on her face. "I knew it," she said with a hint of amusement in her voice. "You were always going to pull back when it got tough."
I glared at her, but she only raised an eyebrow, clearly enjoying the fact that she'd seen right through me.
Miku, noticing the tension, quickly interrupted. "Well, if the council doesn't believe you, we'll just have to make something so impressive that they can't ignore it! Maybe another potion or even a weapon—something they've never seen before!"
Her enthusiasm was almost contagious, and I couldn't help but smirk. "You're full of ideas, aren't you?"
"Of course!" she said, puffing out her chest proudly. "I'm your apprentice now!"
Treyni smiled faintly, her earlier worry replaced by a small spark of hope. Even Kaela's smug expression softened slightly, as if the tension between us had lifted, replaced by a quiet but shared determination to prove ourselves.