Chapter 68
After ending the simulation and returning to reality, it was already well past midnight.
On a normal day, we would have long been asleep by now—but today we’d trained until this hour, and not just any training, but a live-combat simulation.
Exhausted, everyone staggered toward the dorm building.
“Then… I’ll sort out the items we got from the dungeon and settle the shares soon…”
There were six of us in the battle party today, so… should I divide everything by one-sixth?
The numbers weren’t looking clean at all, and I was getting a headache thinking about it when—
“Ah, I’m good. I don’t need anything. Just having that fun experience with you all was enough.”
Craig—finally freed from his sloth-like state after his poison was fully neutralized—declared first.
Then Johanna followed.
“I don’t need it either, dear. What would I even do with pocket money stolen from babies? Just come by sometimes and cook for me. You’re quite good.”
She didn’t tell me to cook for her—she told me to cook and offer it up to her.
Well, either way, I’d been wracking my brain about how to split the rewards, so hearing those two remove themselves from the settlement made me think I could just divide it by four like before.
But then—
“…Same here. I’m fine. I even got clothes, so that’s enough.”
Darren mumbled.
He’d thrown a fit earlier saying he could never wear clothes like those, but apparently that had nothing to do with the payout.
I hadn’t expected everyone to refuse their share like this, so when I looked at Leo and Rena in confusion, Rena tossed her hair back and lifted her chin haughtily.
“Hmph! Do you think my family is so poor that we need to take scraps like that? Just keep everything.”
Her tone was sharp, but the meaning was simply that she was opting out as well.
“Yes, Lady Elaine. Strictly speaking, the combat simulation can’t even be run without the Goddess’s Hero, right? We only got to participate today because of you. Don’t you think the rewards should belong to the person who made it possible?”
And with Leo removing himself too, the entire dungeon reward became mine alone.
…Was I supposed to be happy about this?
It didn’t sit comfortably with me.
We fought together—me taking everything felt wrong.
“Uh, even so…”
I was just about to say ‘I can’t accept that’ when Darren loudly cut in.
“Leo said it right. Who’s our captain? Elaine. Without the captain we couldn’t have done anything. We were only able to fight so easily inside because of her.”
“Are you really all okay with this?”
“We don’t need it.”
“…All right then.”
They were insisting so firmly that pushing money on them felt like betraying their goodwill.
So, with gratitude, I tucked the dungeon rewards into my pocket.
Now we had finally reached the recommended level for the next region.
The mana-consumption issue with maintaining secret techniques was also largely resolved.
Thankfully, the next region still hadn’t opened.
Even so, I couldn’t relax—there was still one more problem I needed to solve.
To deal with that, I headed once again to the library.
At this point I was visiting so often—like a mouse scurrying in and out of a rice basket—that I felt embarrassed just seeing Adrian’s face.
“…You’re here again? You’re practically a regular now.”
Sure enough, as soon as I stepped inside, Adrian acknowledged me.
Honestly, it felt like I was single-handedly eating up the Hero Squad’s library budget.
“Haha, seems that way. Uh, today I’ll look things up slowly on my own, so you don’t have to worry about me!”
Scratching the back of my head, I awkwardly greeted him and side-stepped past toward the shelves.
The potion section… was around there, I think.
To avoid disturbing him while he worked, I kept my footsteps quiet and headed to the shelves where potion-related books were kept.
I began pulling out books, searching for the potion I needed.
Thick hardcover tomes—reminding me of the textbooks I used in university—filled the shelves.
But the information I needed wasn’t appearing.
Not this one either…
I had no idea how many books I’d gone through already.
“Introduction to Herbology,” “Foundations of Alchemy,” “Pharmacology Made Easy”—all sorts of books were now stacked precariously on my desk.
With a deep sigh, I ran my hands through my hair in frustration.
Ugh… seriously. Which book even talks about the potion I need?
“What on earth are you looking for to make you this way? You said you didn’t need help.”
Drawn by my sigh, Adrian appeared in front of me, arms crossed.
His timing was so perfect that it always made me suspect he’d been designed specifically to show up whenever I had a problem.
“No, no, it’s fine! Really, you don’t have to help. Everything is going perfectly well. Ha ha…”
I forced an awkward laugh and waved my hands.
Today of all days, I absolutely could not accept his help.
“…Is it really going well? I don’t know why you’re being stubborn, but… fine.”
He frowned slightly, clearly dissatisfied, then returned to his desk.
I really can’t let him help with this… If I do, he’ll figure out I know the future.
His slightly sulky attitude made my heart waver for a moment, but there was a good reason for refusing him.
I was currently trying to prevent an incident that would occur in the next region.
In the Aither Desert, all party members would fall into a deep sleep due to a certain event—
all except me, blessed by the Goddess, and Adrian, who stabbed himself in the thigh to stay awake.
Stabbing his own leg—something I could never imagine doing—but he actually did it.
Then he had to walk around on crutches afterward.
He was always nagging me not to sacrifice myself, not to be reckless—
and then he was the first one to sacrifice himself.
Anyway, that was why I needed a potion that could repel sleep.
A potion strong enough to withstand the terrifying sleep curse cast by a dream demon.
Technically, I didn’t have to work this hard.
Following the main storyline, an alchemist in the desert city would eventually make it for us.
We’d drink it and fight the Dream Demon—simple.
But if I waited and followed the flow of the story… Adrian would definitely stab his leg again.
I refuse to watch that happen!
I wasn’t going to stand by and watch such nonsense unfold while fully conscious.
It seemed I needed a new approach.
Looking through every potion recipe with zero hints would take forever—possibly longer than it took for the next region to open.
So I tried recalling the game.
Right—the ingredients. I had to go get the ingredients myself.
Piece by piece, I remembered.
I went to the desert to gather ingredients.
I fought a monster called Catterci.
In true Edaphosia fashion (a world with pathetically lazy naming sense), “Catterci” was just “cactus” turned into a monster—a cactus-type beast.
I brought its fruit back to the Aither alchemist, who used it to make the anti-sleep potion.
So I should search for a potion that uses Catterci fruit as an ingredient.
With that clue, I dove back into the books.
Some time later—
Found it… finally!
It made sense that it took so long—
it wasn’t a common potion but a rare Aither-region specialty.
It was buried deep within a book on Aither Desert alchemy, shoved in a corner of the shelves.
I pulled out my more-than-half-filled notebook and copied the recipe diligently—only to hit a problem.
Catterci fruit… where am I even supposed to get this?
The Aither Desert region wasn’t open yet.
I couldn’t just go there alone and beat up Catterci.
I’d have to ask Dioscorides.
Having found what I was looking for, I cheerfully went to say goodbye to Adrian.
“I’ll get going now, Adrian!”
“Yes, take care. I don’t know what you’re hiding, but… seems you found what you wanted.”
His reply made me avert my gaze without thinking.
“Haha… hiding? Me? No, no, I’m not hiding anything.”
Walking sideways past his desk like a crab, I hurried out of the library.
Great, now I look even more suspicious!
My inner voice screamed, but it was too late. Water spilled can’t be scooped back up.
At the apothecary, Dioscorides greeted me with a sleepy yawn.
“Welcome. What do you need today?”
“Well… um…”
I steadied my breathing first.
The soothing scent of herbs helped bring my mind into focus.
“Do you happen to have Catterci fruit?”
“Catterci? You always ask for rare stuff. Strange customer.”
He scratched his messy hair lazily.
Something about that response made a flare of unfairness rise in me.
I want to live a normal life—how did things get so complicated?
“…You’re lucky. I’ve got exactly one.”
“What—really?”
If even the apothecary didn’t have it, I had no idea what I’d do.
Hearing that he had a single one left filled me with joy—briefly.
“How much is it?”
“…One million vine.”
I wondered for a moment if something was wrong with my hearing.
I cleaned my ear with my pinkie and asked again.
“How much?”
“One million.”
The price that came back had absolutely no shame.
