The carrots were being slaughtered by Yumina and Leafa on a cutting board, making a delightful noise.
I look at it with my eyes like that of a dead fish.
Talking carrots.
In this world, it seems to be normal.
Both Yumina and Leafa said that they were not good with it, but they were chopping the carrots without any hesitation.
No well, in games, a mandrake is common, and in short, it might be just a problem of getting used to it.
“Just a minute, Katou, you do one of these materials.”
“Eh!?”
Then Leafa, said such a thing to me.
Leafa hands me, a kitchen knife and a carrot.
I wonder if this is something I can handle.
I’m a beginner.
Thinking about such a thing, I stared at the carrot.
Then.
“It looks like you’re confused. Nii-chan.”
The carrot started to talk.
Scary scary.
It’s a complete horror.
By the way, the carrots have hands, feet, and a dark face.
“He,hello.”
Even though I was puzzled, I greeted carrot in return.
Then the carrot laughed a little, and continued to say:
“Niichan. Don’t get worked up too much. The world is for the strong, strong eat the weak. Weak guys are eaten by strong guys. That’s fate. It is the same in human society. If that is so, do it all at once.”
“…………”
I don’t know what this carrot knows about human society, but apparently, this guy is already ready.
It is said that human beings live by killing something, but now, I actually realize it.
Chicken, pork, and some of the casual food I ate in Japan, were also killed and eaten this way.
I put a lot of strength into my hand, that’s holding a knife.
“…………”
However, I couldn’t move.
Holding the knife, I just keep shivering.
Yes, I’m feeling nervous.
“No! I can’t do it!”
I put the knife on the cutting board.
I wonder if this is, what it means to take away the life of a creature.
I couldn’t, bear the weight.
Then the carrot stood up, and knocked my hand with a *pechin*.
“Don’t talk shit, you son of a bitch! Then what!? You can’t eat me, and are you saying that I’m rotten! Even if heaven allows such a thing, I won’t pardon you! …… But thank you. It’s the first time, someone been so kind to me.”
“Ca,carrot-san!”
What a manly thing!
When Carrot-san showed me his back, it waves its hands fleetingly.
Then, he climbed up into the boiling pot of scorching heat, with his own hands.
“Bye boy. I’m delicious, so please have me……! It’s my purpooooooooooooooseeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!!!!”
On this day, Katou swore to his heart that he would no longer treat food poorly.
◇
“Ah, Lord. You’re making potions right away huh. Umu. Well done, well done.”
After the preparation of material is completed, I put an appropriate amount of it in the alchemy pot, and as I was about compound it, at that timing, Frey came into the room.
It seems that her stomach has recovered and is completely in tune.
Yumina and Leafa said, that they were going out to buy lunch.
So, the potion making was temporarily suspended until the two returned, but Frey might have some knowledge about potions.
Let’s ask her.
“Umu. If its potion making, I, too, have experience of it.”
Then, Frey seems to have the knowledge of potion making.
Promptly, Frey teaches me how to make potions.
“Master! Please!”
“Umu. First of all, let me tell you the secret to the success of making potions. The secret to a successful potion is to keep your wave of magic power constant. Don’t be impatient and identify the waves of magic power.”
“Oh! As expected of Frey! So, it’s kind of like that!”
“Umu. First of all, put an appropriate amount of ingredients in the alchemy pot. You can put it in after boiling. After that, put the most important material there, salt –––– that is it.”
“Salt?”
It was salt.
There was no word such as salt in the ingredients of the potion making list on my skill card, but well, since Frey said so, maybe it’s necessary.
“Umu, salt. The timing to put it in is actually the most important. The timing to put it in, is when the magic power rises above a certain level, but it is better for me to show it rather than say it.”
When Frey said so, she puts the ingredients in a boiling alchemy pot.
I looked into the alchemy kettle, while going down a little so that I wouldn’t get in the way.
“Is there anything wrong with the magical power rising above a certain level?”
“Umu. If the magic power in the alchemy pot increases too much, then the magic power of the material will escape to the outside. I’m going to put salt in to lower it.”
“Hee, is that so.”
Frey said so to me, that if the magic power rises a little, add salt.
If the magic power goes down, it likely needs to repeat stirring again.
However, I didn’t quite understand it.
Even if I was told that it was a wave of magic power, I couldn’t see it.
When I told Frey honestly about it, she mysteriously says.
“Lord, you haven’t acquired the magic power detection?”
Magic power detection.
I know it’s a kind of skill, but can I learn it with the skill points I possess?
Let’s check it for the time being.
Then, there it was.
Magic power detection –––– Consumed skill points 5.
Since the skill points I own is ten, It will consume half of it.
But well, without this, I wouldn’t even be talking about it.
As far as Frey’s story is concerned, magic detection seems to be indispensable for making potions, so I take the plunge and consume the skill points, to acquire the magic detection skill.
With this, I too, have come to be able to use the magic detection skill?
I don’t feel any change in particular, but as a test, I took a closer look at the alchemy pot.
Then, the change was seen in the color of the potion in some way.
There was a faint purple color in the blue potion.
Perhaps, this is Frey’s magic power.
No, maybe that’s probably the case.
When I lightly loosened the force I exerted in my eyes, the purple color I had seen before disappeared suddenly.
As I thought, this purple thing is probably the magic power.
Apparently this, magic detection is activated using your eyes when you’re in doubt.
It was said that it is a skill, but it does not seem to be activated all the time.
“Alright, that’s perfect.”
Then, at the right timing, Frey told me so.
It seems that the potion has already been completed.
Frey scoops the potion in the alchemy pot using a bottle and drinks it.
It’s probably to confirm the effect of the potion.
“Well, it’s something like this. The result was a low-grade potion. Since the material used is just this, it can’t be helped …… Alright, Lord will do it next.”
As one would expect, if the material is poor, no matter how much Frey does it, it seems that only low-grade potions can be made.
Frey tells me, to make a potion next.
I put in an appropriate amount of potion ingredients, and stir it with a stick while checking the waves of magic power.
If the purple magic power gets stronger, salt it.
When it becomes lighter, repeat stirring.
While using magic power detection, I considerably use my nerves.
I focused on the potion while sharpening my nerves.
And finally, perhaps the magic power was fixed, the color did not change anymore.
“Looking good milord, you can stop now.”
“A,ah”
Frey tells me that, and she scoops the potion into a bottle the same as before.
When I was nervous and watching the situation, Frey smiled broadly.
“Umu. It’s good. It’s a nice potion.”
Frey’s words made me feel somehow embarrass.
◇
“Even so, you made a lot.”
The next day, I and Leafa were on our way to the market first thing in the morning to sell the potions I made.
As Leafa said, the cart we were pulling is loaded with a large number of potions wrapped in blankets.
We might be handling it pretty roughly, but since the vials has been applied with hardening magic, Frey says it’s okay to handle it roughly.
“Honestly, I’m reflecting on it.”
After Frey praised me for making my first potion, I continued to make potions like an idiot until I got exhausted.
However, there is a good reason for this.
That’s because, an intermediate potion could be made only once in a while from the materials of a low-grade potion.
Frey says that even if the materials are the same, the amount of magic power contained in it is not uniform.
In other words, if a material with a lot of magic power was used, you can also make an intermediate potion, which is one rank higher.
Perhaps because my level of magic detection is still low, I still can’t detect people, monsters, and the amount of magic power hidden in a material.
However, the magic power that has assimilated with water due to overheating of the alchemy pot, was already clearly visible.
I enjoyed the process, and when I noticed it, I had continued making potions all day long.
That’s how I was able to make a lot of potions, but we didn’t have a place to put it, so we came to the market in the morning.
As of yesterday, I knew I needed to be qualified to sell potions, so this time I’ll sell the potions to an intermediary.
The point is to have an intermediary buy the potion, and have that intermediary sell it to an alchemist in the royal capital.
Of course, I think that this will significantly reduce the potion’s original price, but it is unavoidable.
I spoke to the director who manages the market.
“Excuse me. I’m here to sell potions, but where is the appraiser?”
According to Yumina, there is at least one appraiser in the market, so I presumed to ask that person to decide the value then sell it to an intermediary.
“Did you come to sell potion? That’s good! The orcs, have been rampaging lately. I at least want even one potion. Alright, then immediately give me the potion and your alchemy association certificate of qualification.”
Then, the director of the market said such a thing to me.
“Ce,certificate of qualification?”
“Nn? You came to sell a potion to an intermediary, didn’t you? Then you need a certificate of qualification from the Alchemy Association. I asked you to show it, but …… you wouldn’t say that you didn’t have one, would you?”
The tone of the director has changed from a gentle tone to a rougher tone.
Maybe Leafa also thought this was dangerous, she pulled my sleeve strongly.
“I,I’m sorry! As I thought, let’s leave now! E,excuse our rudeness!”
“Ah! Hey! You guys! Wait!”
Pulling the cart in a hurry, we hasten away from the market.
After a few minutes of the escape drama, we sank in the spot, breathing on our shoulders.
It seems that we managed to escape.
“…… Needing a qualification to sell potions, I haven’t heard that……”
Certainly yesterday, I heard that you need a qualification to handle the Ryuugyoku grass, and I heard that qualifications are also necessary for handling potions.
However, I thought that selling was different.
Nevertheless, as far as I heard from that director, it seems that it is even required to have a qualification of the Alchemy Association to buy potions.
And that’s the tone when we learned that we weren’t qualified.
For the most part, there might be some kind of penalty, if you trade potions without qualifications.
It was a dangerous and troublesome place.
Let’s go back to the inn quietly today.
When I was thinking of something like that, Leafa stood up quickly.
“What was that! We were just there for them to buy our potions! Qualifications this, qualifications that, qualifications! In the end, isn’t that just about the common thing called monopoly! Katou! Don’t lose to such a thing! I have a good idea! Follow me!”
“……Eh?”
Leafa forcibly grabbed my arm and pulled me into the back alley.
◇
“O,oi. Are you sure it’s okay to be in here?”
The place where I was brought by Leafa, was a narrow space in a back alley.
A man in black, is standing there.
When Leafa gave that guy money to pass through, we were guided to the door behind the man.
It seems that the cart and potions can be left to the man at the entrance.
“It’s fine, it’s fine! I was once brought to the black market by my dad to study the society! Well, it was not the black market in this town, but the mechanism is the same everywhere. Leave it all to me!”
Leafa struck her chest with full of confidence, which caused her breast to shake tremendously.
––––Black market.
That’s what Leafa called this place.
It is where illegal items are handled, the black market.
Or rather, Leafa’s father brought his daughter to such a place for her social studies hah.
As I thought, both the parent and child seem to be a little strange.
When I go down the stairs while reckoning about that, we arrived in a dimly lit small room.
In the small room, a man in black, who looks like the man who was at the entrance, is sitting on a chair.
However, this one has a staggering body build.
I think he’s twice as tall as I am, but it’s actually different, still, he was so big that I fell into such an illusion.
“…… What can I do for you?”
When I was flinching between our gap as men, Leafa answers brimming with confidence.
“We want to sell potions! A lot of it!”
Somehow, I’m starting to see Leafa as a great reliable guy.
“…… Understood. How much do you want to sell it?”
“…… Eh? How much? …… Ju,just a little Katou! How much is your potion! I, don’t know!”
Yeah. As I thought, it was just in my imagination.
Leafa was still Leafa.
No, rather, it was stopped.
Come to think of it, I didn’t check the market price of potions properly.
I thought I should just ask at the time they’ll buy the potion, so I hadn’t investigated anything at this stage.
That’s because, nobody would expect that it’ll be taken to the black market.
…… Hmm.
Is it better for me to ask honestly here?
“…………”
No, this man is a black market guy.
At most, they’ll overcharge me as the outcome.
Let’s check the market price once, and sell the potions again.
That’s what I thought, but.
“N,no, Katou! If you don’t sell the potions here and now, today’s dinner might be Yumina’s home cooking!?”
“Tha,that’s right ……!”
I completely forgot.
Indeed, as Leafa said, if I go home without selling the potions, today’s supper is likely to be Yumina’s home cook food.
In addition, the material for the potion was comparatively easy to obtain.
Those carrots aren’t popular, so there’s no way it’ll run out of stock today or tomorrow.
Anyway, right now, I want money for dinner.
Well, for the time being, it would be good if the price is a plus.
Considering the cost of the material and the time it took to make it, I thought about the price for each potion.
One mythic fruit is a hundred garde.
The small bottle is about the same price.
Fresh water is practically free because Frey and the others just casted magic on normal water.
The time it took was about 5 minutes to 10 minutes at the earliest to make it.
And I can make about 5 to 10 potions with a single mythic fruit.
In this regard, I don’t know whether the number that I can make varies depending on the level of my alchemy, but it’s like this for now.
So, what will be the price for it?
“…………”
Not good, I don’t know at all.
I should have studied in Japan a little more if this was the case.