322 Kind offer

Starting with the liquor part by itself, it was just a juice of a specific fruit squeezed out and mixed with the pulp of a common plant otherwise used as a painkiller. From what I realised during the show, the liquor was only responsible for the initial relaxation, with the real magic happening thanks to the boiled leaves.

Surprisingly enough, it was Leicar who explained those things to me, as if it was a common knowledge instead of a state-keeping secret! 

But soon later, I got to learn the true reason why it was kept in the open.

Chrilaka Fruits, from which the liquor was squeezed out, were foreign to this island. 

Outside of a few plants in the Overlord's mansion, they all came from his travels through the neighbouring island tribes, with one of them already on the verge of forming a stable alliance with this local powerhouse through a marriage!

But the best part had yet to come as Leicar started smiling as he continued to reminiscent the great values of both the Overlord's daughter and her destined partner.

Using this time gap where I couldn't learn anything usefull, I employed Bonger to help analyze the entire process from a more scientific view. Just from the methods, those people were using to obtain the final product, it was apparent that they lacked any tools or even the basic ideas about what was really going on inside the pot.

What came out as the greatest surprise from the system analyze, was that not only those leaves that they were using were only subpar in effects when compared to some common herbs I saw while strolling through the forest earlier, but this liquor thing actually left most of the valuable parts of the fruit untouched!

Even though I could only put a single, fresh through my analytic tool, it was still more than enough to pinpoint the fact that it was its soft shell that contained the most of the anaesthetic agent!

Taking a closer look at the plump fruit the size of a small apple, I realised that it wasn't the fruit but a nut! While its shell was already soft, from what Leicar told me before, it would gradually harden, with the increase of the force trying to squeeze it out, making the process of producing the liquor quite an annoying one.

From his words alone I deducted that some people tried to get rid of the shell while it was soft to save the trouble later, but the end product wasn't nearly as good as normal, making all the attempts to fix the production process obsolete.

But that didn't mean I couldn't improve it myself!

Oh, how much I hate the fact that I don't have any storage rings! With just a single, small one, I could just snatch a single nut, move it to my private garden and regrow it there, while making sure to improve its quality! 

But that was all in the sphere of plans for the future. 

Right now, as the sun finally overcame its shyness and started peeking out from below the horizon line, it was a high time for me to pay a visit to this so-called overlord!

With the aftereffects of the drink offered by Leicar long gone, as soon as I pushed the cloth covering the entry hole to the shed aside, I couldn't help but inhale a mouthful of fresh air. 

Normally, when one was using drugs, the aftereffects were bound to be a punishment for overstepping one boundary and intentionally poisoning one own organism, but instead of headache or my stomach tormenting me, I felt like I was born anew!

I could only attribute it to the fact that instead of tilting the balance of my body with poisons like alcohols, this cultivation drink sourced its endorphin production by improving one's condition, making the slight, funny buzz in the head just a pleasant aftereffect, while realistically improving one's sensual sensitivity!

Feeling the gentle touch of breeze on my face, I took a while to contemplate the beautiful morning. The village that I used to look at with disdain, diffused the light of the early sun into groups of cascading rays dancing on the ground as the entrances of the many tents swirled under the influence of the winds, adding a toned play of shadows to this wholesome image.

I think modern civilisation lost the touch with this gentle feeling of beauty, that continued to surround everyone in this world. In place of monumental statues, praising the ingenuity of humans in aspects like building tall structures, one could gaze along the surface of the turquoise water of the sea, framed by the forest making up the greatest part of the entire island.

"I know, the view is insane here."

Going out of his spacious tent, Leicar didn't look any bit surprised upon seeing me in a daze.

"That's the most redeeming quality of this place."

Unable to shake the insane feeling of tranquillity off, I responded with the first thought that came to my mind.

"It seems that you don't really like this place… But well, it can be expected from someone who was in all kinds of places! Anyway, our lord tends to wake up with the first appearance of the sun. If you would like, I could go and introduce you."

While my intention of visiting the Overlord was rather obvious and worked for both sides, I didn't expect for the lord of this place to wake so early! From all that I learned about him, he seemed like a shady person who exploited the others for his own profit! 

Was I mistaken about him in the first place? What if he was someone striving to unite the islands and improve their wellbeing like many of the protagonists from pioneering genre of the novels?

"That would be really helpful. With no way to prove who I am and being foreign to this island in the first place, having someone to introduce me would save me a lot of trouble!"

There was no way I would refuse such a kind offer. If I were to wander on the 'streets' of this 'town' by myself, sooner or later someone would report that an unknown person was roaming the place, what in times of war could warrant a rather serious response!