CH 70

Episode 70 – Questions for the Grandma 

TL Note: I decided to have the names in parentheses after dialogue reflect what Lewin refers to them as. The readers already know the real identity of the grandma from Elf’s Tears from Chapter 41, but Lewin doesn’t know yet. So, since he’s been referring to her as “grandma”, I’ll be keeping it like that for now.

“Sorry to make you wait. I finished the assessment.” (Grandma)

“Thanks!” (Lewin)

Taking my eyes off the display case where the Immunity Herb was stored, I returned to the counter. Just like last time, she had subdivided the plants into even finer categories by price, and their appraised values were written on a small piece of paper.

“Here is the calculated value of the goods this time. Just like last time, there were a lot of high quality items. The medium-quality ones were already separated, so it was easy to assess. Thanks for doing that; it helped save a lot of time.” (Grandma)

Taking the paper with the appraisal estimates written on it, I confirmed that the transaction price came out to exactly 3 gold coins. The High-grade Medical Herbs and the All-Herbs were of medium quality, but they were priced at a higher value than I expected. Of course, it was still cheap in comparison to the high-quality plants and herbs, but the evaluated price was still plenty high.

“Umm… is it okay for you to be buying it at such a high price?” (Lewin)

“Well this is about the same pricing as last time though, isn’t it?” (Grandma)

“That may be true, but… no matter how many times I look at it, it’s a surprisingly high transaction amount.” (Lewin)

“Selling it to me at this price would already be a great deal for me. In fact, I’d be grateful.” (Grandma)

“Then by all means, let’s proceed with this price!” (Lewin)

“Alright, it’s a deal then. I look forward to working with you next time, too.” (Grandma)

“Thank you! Also… I have something else I want to buy, is that okay?” (Lewin)

“Something you want to buy? Of course there’s no problem, but I won’t be able to give you a special deal, is that alright with you?” (Grandma)

“I’ll definitely buy it at the listed price! I wanted to buy a Low-Grade Magic Potion; would you be able to sell that to me?” (Lewin)

“Oho. A Magic Power Potion, is it? Of course I can sell it to you. I’ll bring some over, so wait just a moment. How many did you want?” (Grandma)

“Err… 3 is good for now!” (Lewin)

“Okay, 3 it is.” (Grandma)

From the shelf behind the counter, the grandma pulled out three blue-colored Magic Potions and placed them in front of me. As expected of a Low-grade Magic Potion, it lacked the brilliant luster that the Top-grade Magic Potion had.

“This is a Low-grade Magic Potion. One bottle is worth 4 silver coins, which is fairly expensive… are you sure about it?” (Grandma)

Hmm, it was pretty expensive alright. The market price for Low-grade Magic Potions was about 2 silver coins, so this price was about twice as high. I wasn’t sure if they were different from the ones regularly on the market, but, since this grandma was the one who made them, there was probably some kind of secret about it. I was a little reluctant about it, but… swallowing my words of refusal, I decided to go ahead and buy it.

“Yes, it’s fine! Here is 1 gold coin and 2 silver coins.” (Lewin)

“Then, come visit me anytime you want to sell me some plants. See you nex–” (Grandma)

“U-Umm…! Actually, can I ask you a question?” (Lewin)

“Huh? Another question? It’s fine, I guess… but I’ll only be able to reply if I know the answer to the question.” (Grandma)

I cut off the grandma as she was getting ready to close up our conversation and got her permission to ask some questions. It might have come across as a bit pushy, but there were several things I really wanted to ask her.

“To be honest, I’ve been looking for a method to counteract bitterness… Do you know of any methods to do so?” (Lewin)

“Bitterness? As in, a method to eat bitter things?” (Grandma)

“Yes, exactly!” (Lewin)

“Yet another strange question, huh? Hmm… I wonder if that would do the trick…?” (Grandma)

Stroking her chin in thought, the grandma had a serious expression on her face. It would be amazing if she had a method, but I wondered if she would come up with anything in the end.

“Hmm… Sorry, but I can’t come up with a method to completely counteract the bitterness of plants and herbs.” (Grandma)

…As I thought, there was nothing, huh? If even this grandma didn’t know, then I had a feeling that the chance that something like that existed was exceedingly small.

“Although this is just a possibility, ‘spiciness’ might be able to counteract it to some extent. I may have heard of some dishes that used multiple spices in their recipes. How about you look for a recipe and try it?” (Grandma)

“‘Spiciness’, you say? And… a dish that uses multiple spices. Thank you so much! I’ll try to search for that dish.” (Lewin)

Using multiple spices in a dish… perhaps Lyra and Nina would know of such a dish. Since I had plans to meet with them later so they could introduce me to the spice shop, that would be a good time to ask if they knew anything about it.

“Sorry for giving you such a vague answer. Well, the easiest thing to do would be to make it into a potion. I don’t know exactly what bitter food you were referring to, otherwise I could teach you a dish using multiple spices… But, if it’s something about as bitter as Magical Grass, the best way to counteract its bitterness would be to mix it into a potion.” (Grandma)

“Potions…? Can anyone brew a potion?” (Lewin)

“Well, it would probably be impossible for any random person to brew a potion. But if they knew the proper manufacturing method and formula, they would be able to brew it. If you were to become my apprentice, I could teach you the methods of potion brewing, but… would you be willing to become my apprentice?” the grandma said to me, a little jokingly.

Grandma’s apprentice…?

Making potions together, appraising plants and herbs, buying and selling ingredients… Even just imagining such a future sounded extremely interesting and fun… If I had encountered this situation before I met Ahmed, I would have accepted it without much further thought.

“Grandma, I’m sorry. I really want to become your apprentice and learn how to make potions from you, but right now, it’s a bit difficult for me…” (Lewin)

“…I see. That’s unfortunate. I really—” (Grandma)

“To be honest, I have a dream of seeing the world with a certain person. After that dream comes true, if you haven’t changed your mind, could I become your apprentice at that time?” (Lewin)

After achieving the strength to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ahmed and exploring the world with them, if I could return to Elf’s Tears, become her apprentice, and then spend my days making potions with her in a relaxed, carefree manner…

For a while, I leisurely chatted with the grandma while dreaming of such a happy future.

“Oh? It’s already gotten this late.” (Grandma)

“Sorry, it ended up becoming another long talk, huh?” (Lewin)

Before we noticed, it was already late in the afternoon. From here, I still had to go to Bee House, so I decided it was time to wrap things up here for the day.

“Well, it’s about time for me to head out then! Thanks for everything today as always!” (Lewin)

I headed for the door after saying my goodbyes when, unexpectedly, the grandma told me to wait.

“Lewin. One last thing? I totally forgot to tell you about the Healer’s Guild.” (Grandma)

“The Healer’s Guild…?” (Lewin)

After I got fired from there, I didn’t want to be involved with them anymore, and I didn’t hear anything about them either… But judging by what she said, something must have happened.