Morning… turned into noon. We didn't quite manage to get up right away. Sure, we were both to blame, but… who told her to arch her back… like that?!
"Time to get up. Our level won't rise on its own... Nadi..."
"Sadeena," she threw at me lazily.
"Hm?"
"My name is Sadeena. I started going by Nadia after I moved to Zeltoble."
Wait a second… wasn't that the name of someone from Raphtalia's village in the original? For some reason, the name Sadeena sounds way too familiar...
"Raphtalia," I said just a single word. But the effect it had…
"!"
The half-human orca girl, who'd just been lazily lying on her side, instantly jumped up and grabbed my shoulders, staring at me with wide, anxious eyes.
"How do you know that name?!"
"So I wasn't mistaken after all. Raphtalia — raccoon-type. Reddish-brown hair, red eyes, raccoon tail and ears..."
"Nott-chan, how do you know her?"
"She's with the Shield Hero now." Sadeena's eyes went wide. "A slave, technically, but the only thing slave-like about her is the mark. The Shield doesn't really treat her like one. That mark gives some pretty nice bonuses to the Hero's slaves."
"A slave… but to the Shield Hero…" From the sound of it, Nadia clearly had no idea whether she should be happy or not. "Wait, Nott-chan, but how do you know all this?"
"Well... Since we're being honest, I'm a Hero too. The Scythe Hero."
With those words, I opened my palm — and a second later, a dark violet orb of light flew into it, instantly transforming into the Scythe I'd thoughtfully tucked between the bed and the nightstand before our lovely night.
"..."
The girl stared at me blankly for about ten seconds. Then her eyebrows suddenly shot up.
"A Hero? I mean… I have heard about the fifth one being summoned, but…"
"Yeah, well. Let's just say Melromarc and I had a bit of a… disagreement. The 'Three Heroes' policy doesn't really welcome outsiders."
"Ooooh… Well, whatever. More importantly, tell me—"
And off she went. Sadeena wanted to know absolutely everything about Raphtalia's current life. How she was living, how she'd changed, what she ate, what she did, how the Shield Guy treated her, how she treated him… Everything. Literally everything.
"Incredible… I never would've imagined Raphtalia-chan would end up as the Shield Hero's companion. But the things she had to go through…"
"Life's shitty sometimes. The fact that she's alive, and that nothing irreversible happened — that's what matters."
"Yeah. You're right." Sadeena gave me a gentle smile.
Raphtalia had actually talked about Sadeena back when I was with them. She'd described her as a strong protector of their village, who also kept them supplied with fish she'd caught herself. She was the main fisherwoman in their village.
"By the way, Nott-chan, you mentioned leveling up, didn't you?" I nodded. "And as a Hero, you're not bound by the level one hundred cap?" I nodded again, still not sure where she was going with this. "In that case, I have the perfect solution!"
"And what would that be?"
"Did you know that sea monsters give way more experience than land ones?"
"No... first I've heard of it," I muttered thoughtfully.
If I remembered right, there's a place in this world called Cal Mira Island, where the EXP from killing monsters occasionally multiplies for a limited time. Classic game-like event with bonus XP. I had some long-term Resurrection plans tied to that, but… if sea monsters really do give significantly more experience, then I might be able to get a decent power boost right now.
The only question is — how much more exactly?
"If Nott-chan, as a Hero, has some way to stay underwater longer, then your big sis wouldn't mind helping out," Sadeena said, adding a playful lilt to her voice — and began crawling toward me on all fours. Worth noting: she still hadn't put on any clothes since last night...
"You do realize it's already almost noon? I'm sure you've got things to do too," I added, putting on my most judgmental face for effect.
"Ooh... Could there really be anything more important than pleasing the Hero who protects our world? And who, it turns out, also looked after someone I care about? No. Definitely not."
After finally reaching me, Sadeena climbed back into my lap, smiling as she looked me straight in the eyes.
"Insatiable orca," I muttered, shaking my head in defeat.
"Hehe."
…
In the end, I only returned to the Pelgue estate two hours later — part of that time spent washing up and making myself presentable. After all, I'd had direct contact with a fox-girl and a bird-girl, both of whom naturally had much sharper senses of smell than humans… and in Night's case, it was borderline supernatural.
It's not like I was planning to hide my little spontaneous fling — but walking around with a metaphorical sign over my head that said 'I had a wild night' would've been idiotic. I prefer to avoid unnecessary conversations whenever possible.
Although… seeing Wyndia's reaction might've been fun.
But I'm not that cruel.
Night, as usual, met me with an emotionless gaze. Though she did run up right away, she didn't actually do anything. Just stayed close, like she always did. Wyndia, on the other hand, was a bit of a surprise. Instead of the usual scowl she gave me whenever I disappeared for a day or two… this time she looked at me with a confused expression.
It looked… strange. And kind of cute, in a way. As if she suddenly didn't know how to feel about me anymore. Is this her adolescent phase kicking in? Just watch — next thing you know, she'll fall in love…
By the way, for some reason, she was still walking around the mansion in that maid outfit… Damn. I totally forgot to ask Sadeena about it. But it had to be her doing! And now, after last night, I was even more certain of it.
"Ohh, Hero-sama, you've returned," came Remus's voice just then, as he descended the stairs like he'd sensed my arrival.
Although… why "sensed"? More likely someone simply reported it the moment I got close to the estate. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he already knew exactly how I spent my time — that smile he gave me said more than enough.
"Yeah. I've got a request for you right away."
"Whatever your heart desires, Hero-sama. If it is within my power — consider it done," the merchant nodded with a reassuring tone.
"I need mixing equipment. Everything related to potion-making, medicine, all that stuff."
It was about time I took this area a little more seriously. I made that decision the moment I discovered the Stat Potions. At first, I'd dismissed this entire field — but those changed everything. I was sure those potions weren't even close to the best the system could produce, but to create anything better, I'd need higher-quality ingredients — the kind the system couldn't generate, but could be crafted manually.
Sure, I could've just left it all to someone else, but sometimes it's way easier to just do things myself than try to explain my vague ideas to a third party. Not to mention, items crafted through a Hero's hands could lead to unexpected — and very welcome — results. And beyond that, actually understanding the process myself is a hell of a lot more efficient than relying on someone else.
It didn't take the ever-efficient merchant long to arrange everything. By evening (which meant about three hours later), I'd already been given a room in the mansion's basement, where I could carry out my research.
For starters, they also hired an apprentice of some pharmacist — his job was to explain how each piece of equipment worked and to walk me through the basics of the craft. I didn't really need anyone more experienced than an apprentice, and pharmacists were far more expensive than blacksmiths anyway, so I didn't see much point in putting more strain on the Pelgue family's wallet — large though it was, it wasn't bottomless.
Thanks to my Mixing skill being at level 8, I picked things up quickly, and the intro course was over before it even began. After that came the time for experimentation. Unfortunately, I couldn't actually use most of the equipment yet. In Blacksmithing, theory was important, sure — but not to the same extent, and there wasn't as much of it. Mixing, on the other hand, was a completely different story.
Tons of literature and encyclopedias on this world's flora, their effects and potential uses… honestly, it was overwhelming. But I had a goal, and I intended to reach it. Especially since grinding levels had taken a backseat ever since Sadeena showed up. I'd definitely take her up on her offer — just a bit later.
As a starting point, I decided to go with a potion I'd been thinking about for a while, but hadn't gotten around to making. I could still clearly picture Raphtalia — barely conscious — stepping out of the carriage Filo had been pulling. That moment made me think it'd be nice to help her out somehow, maybe make something to ease motion sickness. She's a good kid, so why not? Besides, I had to start with something — and nothing else was coming to mind.
So: motion sickness (aka "seasickness") — a condition usually caused by disruption of the inner ear's balance system. In my previous world, there were plenty of medications designed to suppress it in one way or another, but I wasn't a doctor, so obviously I didn't know the formulas. What I did know was that one of those medications was a sedative. And the general idea behind how to make that — I did know. After all, valerian was pretty common.
The reference book, also part of the inventory Pelgue had managed to procure, was actually quite convenient — and its layout reminded me of the ones from my own world. A clear table of contents with topics and subtopics at the beginning made it easy not to get lost among the hundreds of pages and allowed me to jump straight to the relevant sections.
The Appraisal skill, which I'd acquired from some monster way back at the very start of my journey, also proved useful. It poured into my head all the information about any plant I laid eyes on. There were even a couple of herbs whose properties weren't listed in the book — which meant the skill was definitely a good one to have.
In the end, I didn't even think about sleep that first night. Or the next. Or the one after that. Or the one after that. The only thing that helped me keep some sense of time was Wyndia constantly dropping by with food I didn't really need. Night, for her part, did sometimes leave me alone. No idea what she was up to, but she no longer seemed glued to my side. In a way, that was a good thing — but the not knowing was still a little unsettling...
By the second day of study, I'd managed to make my own version of the infamous valerian — a weird-colored, foul-smelling calming sludge. Yes, this world already had its own version of a sedative, and I based mine on it, though I did tweak the composition a bit.
By the end of the third day, after diving deep into analyzing every herb and remedy that affected coordination in some way, I managed to identify a counteracting compound — a medicine that heightened perception and essentially canceled out most coordination disorders.
The problem was, both of my creations contained an ingredient that neutralized the effect of the other. That left me stuck. Obviously, I'd need to come up with a unified formula that combined the effects of both potions, but even at this early stage of experimentation, I'd already hit my first obstacle. Sure, all I could do was keep experimenting, hoping I'd eventually find something to let me fuse them together — but still, the situation was frustrating.
Next on the list were potions for nausea, fatigue, headaches, and other symptoms of motion sickness. Studying them all and their individual ingredients would, sooner or later, lead me to the key for combining everything into one complete anti-sickness remedy.
Honestly, I could've stopped at the sedative stage. But in that case, whoever took it would end up incredibly chill — and completely useless in combat. Besides, further experiments had already given me tons of hands-on experience in pharmacology, and by now I had all kinds of ideas for drugs I hadn't found anywhere in the system. The knowledge from my previous world gave me the basic concepts, and I searched for ways to bring them to life using the resources of this one.
And I probably would've kept holed up in that basement for a long, long time… but nothing lasts forever. It was the fourth day of my self-imposed isolation. That morning, I was already subconsciously expecting Wyndia to show up with breakfast — the cute little maid outfit and all — when instead of her… the one who burst into my basement with a loud crash was Remus.
He was soaked in sweat, eyes wide open, and his face was twisted in a mixture of fear, panic, and raw urgency. And the reason for that expression…
"Lord Nott! We… I… I beg for your help!"
"What happened?" I asked, stunned by the state of my usually composed acquaintance.
"The situation… has spiraled out of control. The negotiations… the ones Her Majesty Mirellia of Melromarc went to… They've failed." My eyes widened involuntarily. "She's now on the run, near the border between Faubrey and the country neighboring Zeltoble, but… I fear she won't make it…"
Failed? But how? Wasn't Mirellia one of the most skilled diplomats in the entire title? She even managed to resolve the crisis in the canon and helped Naofumi during the battle… Or could it be…
"The Fifth Hero…" I muttered under my breath.
"Yes…" Remus hesitated. "The fact that Melromarc not only summoned the original Four, but somehow brought forth a Fifth Hero as well — that information leaked beyond the borders. It caused an uproar… and became the decisive factor…"
I had nothing to say. Clearly, this wasn't my fault — but still… The Queen was important to me. But… was it worth it now, in a situation where war was all but declared?
"That is why, Hero-sama, I… I beg you." Remus finally pulled himself together, straightened up, then bowed his head low… "Please… save our Queen."