Chapter 45: Half for You
"Rhodes, time to drink your medicine!"
"Please don't use such a strange line. It's a little creepy."
Looking at Serie, who was holding a bowl of medicine with a smile on her face, Rhodes's eyebrow twitched. He was just sitting here; he wasn't bedridden. How had he ended up in this particular scene? He had no idea where she had come up with that line, but it had left him completely at a loss.
After the dragon fight, Rhodes had used up all his mana and was now in a temporary state of mana exhaustion. It wasn't as severe as Serie's had been; he would probably recover in a day or two. The diminutive elf, however, had seized the opportunity to brew him a mana recovery potion.
And the green-colored herbal concoction she had made could hardly be called a soup; it was as thick as porridge. He could only imagine how many herbs she had packed into it to get it so thick.
She's getting back at me, isn't she?
Rhodes had good reason to suspect her, especially with that malicious grin on her face. To think, his little Grand Master could hold such a grudge.
He took the potion. Though he knew it would be bitter, it was still a kind gesture, and it would help him recover his mana faster. But I'll remember this! he thought. For now, I'll let her have her fun. But she'll get what's coming to her.
Seeing him down the potion, Serie eagerly awaited his reaction. To her surprise, even after he had drunk half the bowl, his expression hadn't changed at all.
Impossible! She remembered the taste of the herb clearly; it was a bitterness so intense it could numb her tongue. If Rhodes hadn't always given her a sweet fruit to chase it down with, she would have never drunk the vile stuff.
"Why don't you find it bitter?" she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"Bitter? I think it's quite sweet. Not bitter at all," Rhodes said with a smile.
Serie was skeptical. Did he use magic to change the taste? Rhodes was always surprising her with little spells she had never seen before, so it was a reasonable suspicion. But she hadn't noticed the cunning glint in his eye.
"Why don't you try some? I recall you used a lot of mana today as well," he said, offering her the bowl.
She took it, still hesitant as she looked at the impossibly green liquid. She knew how bitter it was, and this one was a double dose. But Rhodes had acted as if it were nothing. He must have invented some new spell, one that could turn bitterness into sweetness. Convinced by her own reasoning, she took a sip.
In the next second, she spat it all out. "Pfft—!"
Rhodes, who had been expecting this, quickly dodged to the side. Norne, who was preparing dinner nearby, was less fortunate. A spray of green liquid hit the cuff of his trousers, leaving a large stain.
"Hey, that stuff is precious. Please don't waste it," he sighed. It was a good thing he hadn't been standing closer.
"Sorry, sorry." Rhodes walked over and cast a small cleaning spell, and the stain on Norne's trousers vanished.
Across from him, Serie's face was contorted in a grimace. "So bitter!" she said, glaring at him angrily. She was no fool; she knew he had tricked her. That fleeting, cunning human!
"You... you lied to me!" she said, the tips of her ears turning red with anger. She raised her hand to throw the rest of the potion at him.
"Wait! Didn't you hear Norne? That stuff is precious," Rhodes quickly interjected.
Serie lowered the bowl. He was right. It was precious. They had only brought a small amount of the herb with them. And though Rhodes could use his rapid-growth spell, this particular herb, unlike the wild fruit, required a great deal more mana to grow, sometimes even more than the potion itself would restore. It couldn't be wasted.
"Then you drink all of it!" she said through gritted teeth, shoving the bowl back into his hands.
Rhodes didn't mind. He had drunk plenty of bitter Chinese medicine in his past life. This was nothing. But then, an idea came to him. He took the bowl and went back to her. "Then let's share it. You used a lot of mana today too, after all."
Serie took a cautious step back. "Trying to trick me again?"
"No, for real this time." A faint glow appeared at his fingertip, and the green liquid in the bowl neatly split in two. He took out another bowl and poured half of the potion into it. She had used a lot of mana; she deserved her share. He did have a small, selfish motive as well, though.
Serie took the bowl. She wanted to refuse, but she did need to recover her mana as quickly as possible. When she saw him wince as he drank his half, she knew for sure that he had been pretending before.
"Hmph. How boring." Though her words were dismissive, she began to take small sips of her own potion. It was clear Serie didn't know the trick to drinking Chinese medicine was to down it in one go; small sips only prolonged the bitterness. But this time, she didn't spit it out, though her brow was deeply furrowed.
Seeing this, Rhodes pulled a bright red berry from his pocket.
Serie took it instinctively, a gesture that had become a habit between them. The sweet and sour juice washed away the bitterness in her mouth. But then, as if realizing something, she looked down at the berries left in her hand, then held a few out to him.
"...For you." The elven girl looked at him, a rare softness in her golden eyes.
Rhodes was stunned. For some reason, he was deeply touched. It was like the feeling of your grumpy little kitten growing up and finally bringing you a mouse it had caught.
"If you don't want it, fine," she said, about to retract her hand. She didn't know why she was sharing her berries with him. Perhaps it was because he had also drunk the bitter medicine.
"Of course I want it."
Rhodes quickly took the berries. For some reason, neither of them spoke after that, just ate their berries in silence.
Nearby, Eirik, who had been watching them, leaned over to Norne and whispered, "Don't you think there's something going on between those two?"
Norne looked up and glanced at them. "They're just good partners."
"Then you can share your soup with me later. We're partners too, after all!"
"In your dreams!"
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yo guys trying something new for Every 150 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter