Chapter 30
Allen spent a good while turning his head this way and that, taking in the farm. Then, as if he’d finally remembered that Lycian and I were standing there, he flashed us an awkward smile.
“Haha, hello. We meet again.”
I smiled back and returned the greeting.
“Hello, Mr. Allen. What brings you all the way out here…?”
A sharp, dangerous aura emanated from Lycian, who was standing pressed close at my side.
If Allen showed even the slightest hint of bad intentions, he looked ready to leap forward and cut him down on the spot.
“Well, you see, actually….”
What Allen hesitantly explained went something like this.
As someone in a rear-support role, he’d always been weighed down by the thought that his mediocre abilities weren’t much help to his guildmates.
So, wanting to contribute in any way he could, he’d started searching far and wide for an apothecary who could supply the guild with potions.
“Not long ago, a dungeon appeared in the Winterberg territory. And of all times, our guild’s elderly apothecary decided to retire right then….”
That apothecary was seventy years old this year, so even if the guild wanted to stop him, they couldn’t.
If a man says he wants to spend the rest of his life in peace, how could anyone ask him to keep working a little longer? It would be completely shameless.
In the end, there was only one option left: find a new, skilled apothecary.
“But these days, finding an apothecary who’s both competent and trustworthy is like plucking a star from the sky….”
The last time a dungeon had appeared was three years ago.
The mana stones, gold, silver, copper, iron ore, and other resources mined from already-cleared dungeons were all running dry.
So the emergence of a new dungeon was an opportunity adventurers—who made their living raiding them—couldn’t afford to miss.
Naturally, competition to recruit talent exploded.
“The really skilled apothecaries were all snatched up by other guilds, and even the one person we thought we could rely on got hired away by the Duke of Winterberg…. All that’s left are people who can’t really do the job—or outright swindlers. You know how hard it is to find apothecaries to begin with, right? Ahh, if I’d known this would happen, I would’ve built up some connections ahead of time. But everyone in our guild is so socially inept….”
Unable to find a suitable apothecary, Allen suddenly remembered me and Lycian—the two he’d run into in the forest a few days earlier.
Seeing Lycian collecting monster cores, he’d guessed we might be an apothecary duo, and in a desperate, grasping-at-straws move, he’d come all the way out here….
‘I hate to say it, but… you’ve come to the wrong people….’
I’d only just started reading Introduction to Apothecary. A complete newbie.
The odds of someone like me becoming a skilled apothecary in just a few days… were vanishingly small, weren’t they? Sure, I did have the system—a cheat code—but still.
‘So a dungeon really did appear.’
And not just anywhere—on the eastern coast within the Winterberg territory. It was about a two-day walk from here.
By now, the nearby village would be in the middle of turning into a hub city, and adventurers from all over the continent would be swarming in like bees.
If that happened, there was a high chance my farm would be exposed—not just to Allen, but to any number of people.
‘With Lycian around—someone who can take down dozens of monsters alone—I’m not too worried….’
The real problem was that it’d become harder and harder to hide my own abilities.
‘What should I do….’
I rested my chin in my hand, lost in thought, when Allen continued speaking.
“Finding this farm was pure coincidence. You know how it goes—if you follow the main road, you eventually come to a fork, and one of the paths is a narrow little trail. Most people don’t take that one. But I… I was so discouraged from failing to find an apothecary that I was walking absentmindedly and took the wrong turn. Straight onto that trail.”
“…….”
“And would you believe it? The path I chose ended up being the right answer! I got to meet the two of you again!”
Allen looked at us with sparkling eyes, as if he’d just reunited with his long lost partners.
I gave an awkward smile, realizing I needed to clear up his misunderstanding as soon as possible.
So I stepped closer, gently set one hand on his shoulder, and spoke calmly.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Allen…. But we’re not apothecaries. As you can see… we just run a small farm here.”
“Huh…? Then the monster cores….”
“Well, about that…. My main job is farming, but I am an aspiring apothecary. I collected the cores because I need them to practice making potions.”
“W-Wait, an aspiring apothecary?”
“Yes. Aspiring.”
Kuk-kung. It was like a bolt of lightning had struck right over Allen’s head. He stared blankly, lips moving soundlessly, before finally muttering after a long pause,
“So… an aspiring apothecary….”
“Yes. Unfortunately… that’s right.”
An aspiring apothecary wasn’t going to be any help to an adventurer’s guild. With a look of resignation, Allen’s shoulders slumped.
Feeling sorry for him, I patted his shoulder a couple of times and made a generous offer.
“You must be exhausted from all that traveling. Why don’t you come inside and at least have a meal before you go? We’ve got plenty of food.”
“Wow… your house is really beautiful!”
The moment Allen stepped into the entryway, he burst out in admiration.
I thought to myself, Is it really that impressive?—but praise always feels nice, so I smiled and nodded.
“Please wait here for a bit. Lycian will keep you company. Right?”
“…….”
Lycian gave a faint, unreadable smile but didn’t answer.
In any case, I left entertaining the guest to him and headed into the kitchen alone—well, not quite alone. Ninabel came with me.
She popped out of my skirt pocket and immediately started chattering nonstop.
“Master! If you ever need clean water, just say the word! Nini is a 24-hour automatic water supply system dedicated solely to Master—”
It was practically rap at that point. I clapped a hand over the talkative spirit’s mouth and warned her,
“Quiet. They’ll hear you outside.”
“Oops…!”
Only then did Ninabel lower her voice and continue whispering.
“Master, what are you cooking today? Nini likes tomato soup~ Oh, right! How about growing onions? Onion soup would be delicious. Or carrots! You could make carrot cake and—”
For the record, our kitchen had a small oven bestowed upon us by the system god.
It ran on mana stones, making it a kind of magical tool… though, honestly, I had no idea how it actually worked.
Anyway, since we had flour and sugar… if I just got a few more ingredients, making a cake wouldn’t be impossible.
‘I should check the General Shop later.’
Grateful once again for the surreal perks of being an isekai’d soul, I washed the vegetables thoroughly in clean water.
Eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini.
Next, I took out the cutting board, set it on the counter, and gripped a very sharp kitchen knife.
‘If I don’t focus, I might slice off a finger.’
Carefully, I cut the vegetables into neat, round slices.
Then I layered them nicely in three rows on an oven tray, drizzled them with olive oil and salt, and slid them into the preheated oven.
While the vegetables roasted, I poured oil into a pan and made some simple scrambled eggs. Naturally, they were made from wild bird eggs I’d borrowed from the forest….
Birds, I’m sorry…. I took a brief moment of silence.
On top of that, I made potato soup using milk and butter I’d bought from the General Shop with coins.
Slowly stirring the pale, thick soup with a wooden ladle, I hummed to myself. A rich, savory aroma filled the kitchen.
Beside me, the dewdrop rice cake, which had been watching and occasionally helping, swayed its body side to side in a little dance.
Forty minutes later, everything was done.
“Looks delicious!”
“Looks delicious~!”
Ninabel echoed my cheerful voice perfectly.
I pinched the cheek of the round little droplet once, then plated the food neatly and set it out on the table.
I had Ninabel fill a glass bottle with water, and just in case, I wiped down the chairs as well.
The food on the table, steam rising gently, looked colorful and appetizing.
‘It’s a simple meal, but it should be more than enough to serve a guest.’
“Oh, right—strawberries!”
After washing and trimming strawberries for dessert and plating them to look like a large blooming flower, the table looked even more vibrant.
With a satisfied smile, I took off my apron and hung it to the side.
Ninabel slipped back into my skirt pocket, and I confidently stepped into the living room to call our guest and Lycian to eat.
…But then.
‘Why does it feel like this…?’
This wasn’t just a mood.
This was a crisis.