Fresa blinked slowly.
Perhaps due to the lingering aftereffects of the light, her vision was momentarily blurred, but it soon returned to normal.
She immediately checked the spot where little Clo was standing.
“…Mr. Clo?”
When Fresa called his name in a daze, Clo tilted his head.
“…Waal?”
Unfortunately, Clo was still a puppy.
However, something subtle had changed somewhere.
Fresa squinted and observed Clo, catching on to the change.
“I think he’s grown a little taller than before.”
Certainly, Clo was a bit bigger than when he was a puppy just a few minutes ago.
His fur had grown quite a bit, and his gaze had become sharper, indicating that he was no longer just a puppy but perhaps a wolf.
“Kiiing…”
But his voice remained the same, making him look only like a large puppy wolf.
‘In fact, even in human form, he had that same impression.’
In the end, Clo couldn’t become human after all.
“…It seems this is still the limit. Sorry. The forest is getting sick, and I can only do so much.”
Reese muttered with a dejected tone.
He was probably the one who had the highest hopes among all this, so Fresa couldn’t help but understand his feelings.
‘Since showing him the dark soil of the forest, he’s been very thoughtful.’
Reese had always felt responsible for all these events, so it was natural.
She worried he might dig into the ground again, like last time.
Fresa quickly looked at him and shook her head.
“But since he’s grown, we can probably restore him to his original state soon, right? It’s not like there was no progress at all, so don’t be too disappointed, Lord Reese. We might find another way before long.”
“…I see. Well, I think I need to rest a little first…”
Despite Fresa’s reassurance, Reese seemed unable to shake off his mood and suddenly flew off toward the potted World Tree.
Fresa watched him slump as if soaked by rain until his fluffy fur disappeared, then let out a soft sigh.
‘I hope he gets better soon.’
Reese, despite being an immortal transcendent, was surprisingly delicate.
Of course, that was a good thing, but at the same time, she was worried he might be hurt too deeply.
Still, when he wanted to spend time alone, it was better to let him.
No matter how much others tried to comfort him, it only made things harder for both of them.
As always, Reese would regain his strength eventually.
Fresa trusted him and didn’t say anything more.
Instead, she lowered herself to sit and spoke to Clo.
“Mr. Clo, you’ve grown a little. How do you feel? Today didn’t go well, but I promise I’ll find a way.”
“King…!”
“That probably means you understand again, right? I seem to have a talent for animal speech after all.”
“…”
Clo only perked up his ears without replying.
It was frustrating that he clearly understood everything but responded selectively.
Fresa gently tapped his moist black nose.
“What’s with that expression?”
“King!”
Clo immediately flapped his ears and started running around the room.
Reese had lost quite a bit of confidence over this, but Clo didn’t seem to care what happened.
It was hard to tell whether it was good that he was optimistic or sad.
Fresa took out some dried sweet potato treats from her drawer, gave one to Clo, and also grabbed a small glass bottle containing some dark soil.
It was soil collected from the forest near Paro Village.
‘Today, I should finish studying this.’
She had already done some initial research at the apothecary, but wanted to learn more detailed things.
Even if her body was a bit tired, working on research was always welcome.
‘To explain it to His Majesty the Emperor, it’s better if I have more detailed data.’
Fresa yawned quietly and left the room.
Today, she planned to stay in the apothecary until dinner again.
If only those sudden visitors hadn’t appeared…
~·~·*· . ·*· . ·*· . ·*·~·~
What’s going on?
Fresa was bewildered.
She was deeply engrossed in her research when someone knocked on the door, and she naturally thought it was Lycaon, Loren, or Jerome, and she opened the door.
But the people standing in front of the alchemy lab were strangers she had never seen before.
When her eyes met theirs, she hesitated for a moment, caught off guard, then asked,
“…Who are you?”
The man in front, wearing glasses, coughed and replied,
“Hmm, hmm. Are you the alchemist? I am Rain, a mage of Artium.”
“Yes, but what brings you here…?”
“Do you know what happened while you were away from the Magic Tower?”
“…What?”
What kind of trouble are they talking about?
Fresa asked confused, but one of the people waiting behind suddenly shouted loudly, so she couldn’t hear Rain’s words.
“Please, sell me that mysterious potion more!”
“I was in line first!”
“The deadline for my next paper is tomorrow! I’m the most urgent!”
They came out of nowhere, and they were mages to an extent that it was overwhelming for Fresa to handle.
The “mysterious potion” they were pleading for was probably the peppermint water she had briefly sold last time.
Now she finally understood why the mages were so desperate.
She quickly erased her surprise and smiled calmly.
“Could you please line up in order?”
The mages nodded all at once, as if they were sheep.
“Yes, yes!”
“I was here first, step aside!”
“Let’s stick to the basics! Okay?”
They were quarreling among themselves, but Fresa ignored it easily and entered the alchemy lab.
She gathered all the remaining peppermint water she had sent to Isaac.
“Oh, I forgot to mention the most important thing… Today, I’ll give it for free. Since you waited. But I don’t have much, so only one per person.”
“Free…?”
“They’re not going to charge us?”
The mages looked up in surprise this time.
But nobody disliked free stuff.
Soon, they nodded in agreement and quietly took one peppermint water each.
‘Was peppermint water that effective?’
The reaction was much more intense than when she sold it in Paro Village or in the kingdom, and Fresa was genuinely stunned.
Luckily, only two bottles remained, and the mages left quietly without asking for more.
She had intended to say they’d come again, but…
Just as she was about to go back inside, Rain suddenly popped out from behind a pillar.
“I will explain why this happened.”
Rain appeared as if he had just been pushed to the end of the corridor by the crowd and was now returning.
His long sky-blue hair, which was smooth earlier, was now standing up in places as if an electrostatic shock had occurred.
And his glasses, which he had been wearing straight, were crooked.
Fresa looked at him with pity.
“…Are you okay?”
“Yes. I am perfectly fine. First of all, your potion! That was really strange. I don’t usually trust the cunning humans of the kingdom, but I had no choice but to trust your potion!”
She didn’t want to say such things to a stranger, but Rain seemed a bit odd.
His tone was very dramatic, like a stage actor, and his expression looked very sorrowful, as if he had just experienced something tragic.
In short, there was nothing else to say but that he was strange.
Fresa kept her mouth shut, then after interpreting Rain’s words for a moment, she spoke.
“There’s a reason your peppermint water is popular, right?”
“Because all mages are exhausted!”
Rain raised both arms high and shouted.
Fresa noticed burn scars on his arm that was visible outside his robe.
‘Did he get burned?’
The scars didn’t seem old.
As she naturally looked at Rain’s scars, he suddenly looked startled and quickly lowered his arm.
Then he quickly continued speaking.
“Your potion… It wasn’t just a regular potion. It… kept me going through the day without sleep! What on earth did you put in that liquid?”
Fresa looked back into Rain’s eyes.
Seeing the dark circles under his eyes, it seemed he was also quite exhausted.
‘They talk about papers, but everyone seems to be working by cutting back on sleep.’
Wherever you go, workers have it tough.
Feeling a strange sense of kinship, she handed him the remaining two bottles of peppermint water and replied.
“Just a fatigue recovery tonic.”
Rain took the peppermint water politely with both hands, despite not seeming to fit his usual demeanor, and stared at Fresa with unfocused eyes.
“Thank you. Then…”
Rain suddenly coughed.
It seemed he had strained his throat from talking too much.
Fresa clicked her tongue inwardly, then took one peppermint water, opened the lid, and handed it to him.
He quickly drank it all and then said again.
“You must accept me as your disciple! I am the genius of this Magic Tower!”
~·~·*· . ·**##^^##**· . ·*·~·~
Hey there, It’s Green Rose 😉
Since I human I might have make some mistakes while translating so please if you find them let me know here in the comments or in the Discord group so I can correct them and be careful in the future so they do not repeat.
Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
~~~Next Chapter~~~
Next chapter will be released Tomorrow.
See you then!!
