A Bear Light shined above us, and a discussion took place in the cave. Zect-san and Lydia-san looked at the Bear Light with indescribable expressions on their faces.
I wonder if a bear-shaped light is that rare.
"Do you really work for the Ministry, girl?" (Zect)
Since Marne-san looked like a child, Zect-san checked her suspiciously.
"I'm a half-elf. I've been alive longer than your parents, you know." (Marne)
Marne-san pushed the hair out of the way so they could get a better view of her cute, slightly long ears.
"I see. Sorry." (Zect)
"Sorry" (Lydia)
They both had an indescribable look on their faces. Marne-san, who they thought was a younger girl, was actually older than their parents.
"Even for a half-elf, you seem small"
It's a small voice, but I could hear it. Marne-san must have heard it too, but she ignored it, perhaps because she didn't want to bother explaining.
"So should I call you Marne-san?"
"Yes. That would be helpful." (Marne)
It seems that using "chan" was not a good idea after all. It seemed I was right in calling her Marne-san.
"By the way, how about you?" (Lydia)
Lydia-san asked, looking at me.
"I'm a normal person, you know." (Yuna)
Those words brought relief.
"Just to confirm. That young lady... Marne-san is affiliated with the Ministry of Magic, right?" (Zect)
"Yes, I am" (Marne)
"I've heard that the Ministry of Magic does magical research, including potions." (Zect)
"Yes, magic, magic circles, magical tools, and even medicine research." (Marne)
When you heard the term Ministry of Magic, you might think it's just about magic, but it had a broad scope. This might also be because there were medicinal herbs that contained mana.
"Then, do you know any pharmacists?" (Zect)
"Yes, I do. Because we're using medicinal herbs." (Marne)
Zect-san thinks deeply and looks at Lydia-san.
"Nii-san..." (Lydia)
"...If it's the Ministry of Magic in the Royal Capital, she has influence too." (Zect)
"But this child, Marne-san too..." (Lydia)
"If this keeps up, they'll just take advantage of me. And you, too." (Zect)
"I know, but..." (Lydia)
It seemed like there's some kind of problem.
"Oh come on, speak up now. You guys have something to say to me!" (Marne)
Marne-san shouted at the two unclear people. Her voice echoed through the cave and bats flew around.
"Marne-san, be more quiet." (Yuna)
"Because these kids..." (Marne)
I understand what you're saying. They were just asking and then don't tell us why.
"Um, would you mind making a deal with us?" (Zect)
"Deal?" (Marne)
"I want you to buy the herbs we collect at a fair price. And introduce me to a pharmacist. I know where the rare herbs that can be collected in this forest grow, so I can collect them if you ask. That’s why." (Zect)
Zect-san said what he wanted to say quickly.
"Wait a minute, I can't understand if you tell me all of that at once." (Marne)
"Sorry." (Zect)
Zect-san apologized again.
"So, putting aside the matter of purchasing medicinal herbs, would you like to introduce me to an apothecary?" (Marne)
"I'm looking for someone who can compound medicines." (Zect)
"Medicine compounding? Well, I do." (Marne)
When it came to medicine, Marne-san herself knew a lot about it.
She could also create magic circles and magical tools. She was also a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Magic.
"Really?! Please introduce me. Please."
Zect-san bowed his head.
That's why, we shouldn't shout in the cave because bats would fly around.
I didn't like bats.
"Calm down. First, tell me the reason. Even if you want me to introduce them to you, I can't do that you if I don't know the reason. Also, each pharmacist has their own specialty medicines. I won't know if there is a pharmacist you want until I hear what you have to say." (Marne)
"Sorry. I have another sister besides Lydia." (Zect)
In other words, there were three siblings.
"Well... my sister is sick." (Zect)
"So, you want a medicine to cure that illness? You don't have to ask me. There are pharmacists in town." (Marne)
"There are pharmacists in the city, but they take advantage of us and ask for high prices." (Zect)
A corrupt pharmacist, perhaps. However, his sister's illness was serious, and the medicine might really be expensive. It's hard to say just from Zect-san's story.
"The ingredients for the medicine are expensive." (Marne)
If some materials were hard to obtain, it was inevitable that the price would be high.
"The pharmacist said the same thing. But, we collected the ingredients to make medicine and they took them away." (Zect)
"Also, the other medicinal herbs we collected were also taken away for nothing." (Lydia)
The two of them talked with regret. If the ingredients were free, all that's left for the pharmacist to do was compound them into medicine. I couldn't judge how much that would cost.
"What kind of illness does your sister have?" (Marne)
"Her whole body is covered in red bumps and her face is also in bad shape..." (Zect)
"She sometimes gets a fever and a cough." (Lydia)
The two of them explained.
"Red bumps and a cough... Any medicine?" (Marne)
"I don't know the details. But the pharmacist said we need Veltora Grass." (Zect)
"It's true, Veltora Grass does have the effect of relieving coughs, right." (Marne)
Being able to tell the effects of a medicinal herb just by hearing its name was truly impressive.
"It stops the cough temporarily, but the red bumps don't go away. The pharmacist says that if I keep taking it, they'll go away." (Zect)
"It hasn't had much effect." (Lydia)
"Hmm, I won't know until I see it. It may be separate illnesses. There could be complications." (Marne)
"By the way, you say a large amount of money, but how much do the drugs cost?" (Marne)
Different people had different ideas about money. While it might not be a huge amount of money for nobles or those with money, it was a huge amount of money for ordinary citizens and children in orphanages. Zect-san seemed a little reluctant, but he told us the amount.
"The Veltora Grass isn't cheap though. It's more than ten times the normal price." (Zect)
...10 times. It was about the same as Tilmina-san's month's salary. This meant that Tilmina-san's entire month's salary would be used up on medicine. This wasn't enough money to live on. People need food, clothing, and shelter to survive.
"The pharmacist said that the price includes the compounding fee." (Zect)
"Knowledge is necessary to make medicines"
It's the same as cooking. Ingredients, water, oil, heat, seasonings. If you don't use the right amounts, it won't taste good. The same goes for medicine. It's not like a game. Even if you get a medicinal herb, it doesn't mean you can compound it with one click. It could not be made without proper knowledge of which parts of the herbs to use and how much to use. Conversely, the medicine might become a poison. It's not like a game, where you just mix A and B and it's complete.
"It's normal for a pharmacist to add a skill fee to the cost of ingredients. The more difficult the concoction, the more expensive it will be." (Marne)
"By the way, is it difficult to compound medicine using that Veltora Grass?"
"It depends on the pharmacist, but it's generally considered an intermediate level potion." (Marne)
"Is that difficult? Is it easy?"
Please explain it in a way that an amateur like me can understand.
"As I said before, each pharmacist has their own strengths and weaknesses, so I can't really explain it. I'm just talking about general pharmacists." (Marne)
"Well then, why don't you just ask another potion master?" (Yuna)
So you knew the price. There couldn't be just one pharmacist. A comparison would tell you the difference. If it's the same amount, it's a fair price. If not, then there's a good chance he's a corrupt pharmacist.
"No. That pharmacist is a powerful one in the city, so no one can defy him." (Zect)
"That's the worst thing you can do as a pharmacist, huh?"
"And in exchange for the pharmacist making the medicine, other medicinal herbs are also purchased cheaply." (Zect)
"Yeah, that's really shit, right?" (Lydia)
Please don't say shit because of Marne-san's appearance.
I would be shocked if Fina or Noa said something like "shit".
"But if the pharmacist in town won't do it, why not just buy it from the one in the royal capital?" (Yuna)
I would ask Marne-san. You could buy it from the pharmacist in the royal capital.
"I can't take my sick sister to the royal capital. So, I can't ask for medicine." (Zect)
Of course, if you didn't know the symptoms, you couldn't prescribe medicine.
"So, I'd like the pharmacist to come to town at least once." (Zect)
"Okay. Once I've finished my mission, I'll stop by the town on my way back and look after your sister. Then, I, Marne-sama, will make you some medicine." (Marne)
"…………"
The two of them were shocked by Marne-san's words and their mouths remained open. That's why I explained it in a supplementary manner.
"Marne-san is a senior figure in the Ministry of Magic and is knowledgeable about magic circles, magical items, and medicinal herbs." (Yuna)
"Really?" (Zect)
They looked at Marne-san in disbelief. In this case, which is more credible: me saying I can make it, or Marne-san saying she can make it? It looked like medicine made by children. Medicine made by a girl dressed as a bear. Both seemed to be unreliable.
"I'll make you a medicine that's extremely effective. If you bring your own Veltora Grass, I'll give you a discount." (Marne)
"Can you really make it?" (Zect)
"You're free to believe me or not. If you don't believe me, I can introduce you to other pharmacists." (Marne)
"No, please. Please make us some medicine." (Zect)
"And tell me the name of the pharmacist, and I'll deal with it." (Marne)
Though small, her words were reassuring. Even Ellelaura-san was refer her by a title. Maybe she's a more amazing person than I thought.
"You also said that you wanted the medicinal herbs purchased at a fair price. I will have the Commercial Guild in the royal capital make the arrangements. When you come to the royal capital, visit the Commercial Guild." (Marne)
"I appreciate it" (Zect)
"Thank you" (Lydia)
Zect-san and Lydia-san each thanked many times.
Author's Note
They were looking for medicinal herbs for their family.
*For the time being, the posting date will be Sunday at midnight.
[Book release schedule]
...
Thank you to everyone who reports typos.
Some of the kanji have been corrected to match the book, so please understand that there are some parts that have not been corrected.
Translator's Note
I tried a new style. Because in the raw, the paragraphs are very short, I tried to merge some sentences that have no gap between them and without dialogue into a paragraph. Should I continue like this?
By (my) definition, a paragraph is a text inside <p>...</p> tag. And a gap is <p></p> tag without text inside (empty).
In the raw, there are several paragraph, closely each other without gap, and each of them is only contains one sentence. So, maybe it's quite different with what the author thinks.