"Is this… a real elixir?"
Amelia held the small bottle in her hand, looking at it from every angle before making such a conclusion. Her voice came out coloured astonished, making it clear that having an elixir presented was an unexpected outcome for Amelia.
It was just, the surprises were not over with just that.
"Oh, I still have some more."
"Eh…?
Three new bottles were placed on the counter. Each of them were filled by the same blue liquid, proving them unquestionably genuine elixirs.
"Eh… Eeeeeeh!?"
Amelia stood from her chair and let out a large voice which reverberated throughout the guild. Elixirs are greatly valued even at the best of times, so it could not be helped when four of them were lined up on the counter.
However, the one who was most surprised in that place was the S rank adventurer girl. Laffy's eyes were wide open as she stared at Leyce in astonishment.
The gaze of the adventurers present in the guild shot at Leyce. None of them could hide the colour of astonishment in their eyes.
The one exposed to such looks rounded his eyes and nervously glanced around.
"Erm…"
Leyce was confused by the unspeakable atmosphere.
Suddenly, Laffy grabbed Leyce by the hand, retrieved the four elixirs from the counter, and turned towards the guild's exit.
"Eh, wait!"
As expected of an S rank adventurer. Leyce was unable to resist Laffy's pull, and their figures quickly left the adventurer’s guild.
They swam through a crowd of people, and before long ended up at the side of an alleyway devoid of pedestrians. The pulled along Leyce turned his eyes towards Laffy and gave her a look of protest.
However, Laffy paid his look no attention and thrust the four elixirs towards Leyce.
"Explain all of these…!"
"What do you mean? They're just elixirs."
"Did you make all of these?"
"I did but…"
"Haa…"
In response to Leyce who didn't understand the situation, Laffy let out a sigh.
Unaffected by the chaos he just caused, the alchemist before her eyes seemed to have no understanding of his own abnormality.
"Listen Leyce. Your skill as an alchemist is clearly weird. Just being able to make a single elixir would be more than enough to call you a genius, however, in terms of making a multitude of them, even if we were to search the entire world I'm guessing you'd be the only one with the ability to do so."
Laffy gripped Leyce by the shoulder as she gave him her forceful words. To this Leyce made a wry smile.
"Even if you say that, elixirs are all I have that I can sell right now. At this rate my funds…"
It was an undeniable fact that Leyce did not have any money to his name. Far from even being able to afford a place to stay for the night, he wouldn't even be able to afford any dinner. If he didn't find anything to sell, he would be forced to pass through a cold night.
"Guu… but…!"
Laffy groaned to herself. She stayed that way for a while before she dropped her shoulders and sighed.
"I guess it can't be helped… you can stay at my place for tonight."
"I'd be saved if you'd let me, however… is that alright?"
"It's just me and my sister living there so don't mind it. Besides, it's my fault that you can't sell your elixir."
Leyce's heart was pained for staying at the house of a young girl whom he met for the first time that day, but it was undoubtedly a pleasant offer.
"Well then, I'm in your care."
In the end, it was an offer he could not refuse, so he accepted it.
"Since I need to explain the circumstances to my little sister, please wait here."
"I understand."
After confirming that Laffy went up the stairs, Leyce relaxed. He took his satchel off his shoulder and entrusted his weight to a chair.
After which he took another look around the house in admiration. Even though he age was similar to Leyce's, it was still a splendid house. Even though Laffy said she lived there with just her sister, it was big enough for five or six more people could live there no problem.
Compared to that, Leyce was totally broke. The difference was clear.
"… Yup, I need to find something to sell quickly so I can make some money."
He opened his bag while feeling melancholic. Inside was an array of alchemic ingredients pre-arranged into groups based on potion type.
Leyce had left his old home in a hurry due to the appearance of a monster, so he did not have the time to decide what potions or alchemic ingredients he should bring with him. He just shoved various things in his satchel from what he could see.
Therefore, there were only a limited number of potions remaining. For example, there were only ten elixirs remaining.
But for Leyce, the number of finished products was already fine. The problem was with the remaining alchemic ingredients.
"Twenty bundles of kyukuri grass, 5 red copper stones, and ten bottles worth of white water."
Kyukuri grass is the ingredient that grants the elixirs healing effect to a potion, a red copper rock is for processing weapons and accessories, and white water is for making holy water to defeat undead.
"Well, this should be fine."
It should be enough for now. If it isn't enough, just collect some more.
After finishing his check, Leyce closed his bag to wait for Laffy.
And then, with excellent timing, Laffy descended down the stairs. By her was another girl who was unknown to Leyce.
She had silver hair going down to her waist, and deep crimson pupils reminiscent of blood. Compared to Leyce, it seemed she was shorter, and her age was probably below his. A girl wearing a mature atmosphere incomparable to her age, no doubt this was the little sister Laffy had mentioned.
However, the two of them did not seem alike for sisters. Both their hair colours and their eye colours were different from each other.
"Thanks for waiting. This is my little sister, Sylvia."
"Nice to meet you."
"Hello, I'm Leyce."
Sylvia sat down in opposition to Leyce.
"I'll go make some tea. Please wait a minute."
"Sister, would you like some help?"
"No, you just stay there and rest."
Laffy said so, and once again slipped away. Remaining behind were the two meeting for the first time. Naturally, an unpleasant atmosphere followed.
Leyce struggled to think of a conversation topic but was interrupted by Sylvia lowering her head.
"Um, thank you very much, Leyce-san."
"… Um, what for?"
Not expecting to be thanked by a person he'd never met before, Leyce reflexively tilted his head.
"In regards to the elixir you gave to my sister."
"Ah, I see. Well, I also received help from your sister, so I'd say we're equal in that regard."
Towards Leyce's strained smile, Sylvia returned a kind and soft smile.
"Even then, thank you very much. Because for my sake my sister has been doing her best."
"For your sake?"
"Yes. Some time ago I had fallen ill, and my sister has always been searching for a way to cure it."
Sylvia explained so with a sad and sorrowful expression on her face. At this, Leyce understood the reason why Laffy had been seeking an elixir, and why that girl had been so frantic.
When she asked for an elixir, surely the weight of Sylvia's disease was bearing on her mind.
"I see. What a nice sister."
"Yup, she's my prided sister!"
Leyce smiled unintentionally at Sylvia's childlike actions.
"Ah, you laughed!"
"No, I'm sorry. I thought you looked really grown up, so I felt the gap."
"I'm fifteen you know."
Sylvia lightly puffed her cheeks, appealing with a pout. To Leyce, the figure of the cute fifteen-year-old girl was a sight for sore eyes.
"I hope you get better soon, from your illness."
"Yes!"
Happily, Silvia gave a wide smile.
>>