Chapter 81

The next day. A class with the master after a week's break.

This time, I was to learn whether the Rhodora, which I had obtained from the Border Mountains at the master's request, could enhance the efficacy of a potion or improve an existing one.

It seems that there are not many potions that use Rhodora, and the master does not use this material either.

The initial purpose was to use the Rhodora's property of storing water in its fleshy leaves to contain the potion's effects while it remains hydrated, thereby extending the time it takes for the effects to manifest. Additionally, it is expected to enhance abilities, increase MP/SP, and have analgesic and improvement effects.

Although the alchemical reagent has been created, making it unnecessary to delay the effect's onset, it seemed like a good topic to explore, so we decided to try it.

First, we were to determine if the Rhodora could be added to the "Poison Herb Tea" and check its compatibility with other materials. This became today's lesson.

Moreover, the master had prepared some alternative materials, so we planned to try various combinations.

It is an excellent material, but it is difficult to collect and cannot be obtained in large quantities. However, since the potion was made for one person and there were no plans for mass production, the master decided to use it.

Thus, after several hours of continuous experimentation...

"Hey, kid? What's wrong?"

"Master, please stay in this room. I think there's a visitor... I'll go check."

Following the master's instructions, I received an explanation about the components, ground them, boiled them, and combined various materials while using "Appraisal" to experiment. However, a loud noise came from the upper room, which was the large room where materials were stored, not the shop area.

Although "Intuition" was not activated, it didn't seem dangerous, but it was a bit concerning.

I cautiously headed to the upper room.

"Who are you?"

"......You......You......You......!!"

In the upper room was a man around 60 years old. Despite his expressionless face, his eyes darted around. He had severe dark circles under his eyes, drool dripped from his mouth, and he muttered something. He had a scruffy beard, messy hair, and his clothes were unclean.

It was clear that he was a dangerous person, someone I didn't want to get close to. Looking at the entrance, the door had been forcibly broken...

This is a rented house... I have to apologize to the landlord! What have you done! I wanted to complain, but before I could, he attacked me as soon as he recognized me, and I had to fend him off.

Considering his build... he was stronger than expected.

"Master! Absolutely don't come up here!"

His eyes were unfocused, and he was clearly not in his right mind. Moreover, the strength he exerted did not match that of an elderly, thin man.

I managed to fend him off, but I was definitely weaker in terms of STR. His thin arms... I couldn't imagine where such strength came from... perhaps he had some kind of physical enhancement?

I tried "Appraisal," but it only showed that he was in a "Confusion State," with no further details.

Casting offensive magic in this room was out of the question.

Moreover, I didn't have the strength to subdue him.

I dodged his grab and countered, but he didn't seem to feel the pain and didn't flinch. Initially, he recognized me, but gradually he lost that awareness, wandering around with a vacant gaze, occasionally attacking me.

His behavior became increasingly strange, and it was clear that my attacks were not affecting him.

"Hehe... Die... Pamela... You... You..."

I couldn't tell if he was targeting me or the master, but the hatred was clear even in his confused state.

I couldn't let him go to the basement where the master was.

"Dispel!"

To return him to his normal state, I cast "Dispel."

I wasn't sure if confusion was a status effect, but I had to try. If I could restore his sanity, whether by magic or drugs, it would be enough.

I had to try! But it seemed to work.

He lost his strength and knelt on the spot, looking up at the ceiling... he became calm.

"......Chris......Pamela......Chris......Why......"

With a vacant gaze, he knelt and bowed his head, muttering.

His state was very abnormal... it was clear that he was mentally unstable.

"Kid, what happened?"

"Master, please don't come any closer."

The master entered because the noise upstairs had stopped, so I stood between the master and the man, on guard.

"...Frank?"

When the master recognized his face and whispered his name, a light returned to the man's eyes for a moment, and he stood up.

Thinking it was dangerous, I braced myself, but he didn't attack.

"Hah... Haha... Ahahaha, so! ...So, sooo!!"

He recognized the faces of the master and me, laughed mockingly, and shouted as he ran out of the house, heading towards the back gate of the town where the carriages were.

"...Master, do you know him?"

"Phew... He was in a terrible state, but I recognized him. The house was quite ransacked, so it would be best to report it to the watch. I'll go with you. It will be faster with both of us than just you."

"Thank you."

The master's lesson was interrupted. As we were about to leave the house to go to the watch, Momo clung to my face. Even when I told her to stay, she resisted, so I had to take her along.

At the watch, I gave the explanation first. I said that I heard a loud noise upstairs, went to check, and was suddenly attacked. The man was mentally unstable, and I managed to calm him down when the master arrived. When the man saw the master, he seemed to understand something and briefly returned to his senses before leaving.

I showed my adventurer's license as identification and explained what happened.

The guard's attitude was indifferent, as if he found it troublesome. He didn't seem to take me seriously, thinking I was making it up.

Well, since the culprit had escaped, the only evidence was the ransacked large room...

"Ha... Any idea why you were attacked?"

"I don't have any. But the man seemed to hate me, saying 'You...' and mentioned the master's name... Do you know him, Master?"

"Yes. I'm Pamela. I'm a pharmacist, but I belong to the Merchant Guild."

The master showed a merchant's license from the Merchant Guild. I remembered that the master didn't belong to the Pharmacist Guild but to the Merchant Guild.

When the guard confirmed the master's identification, his hand trembled, and he bowed deeply, saying, "I apologize!"

The other guards present did the same.

"Ms. Pamela... I apologize. Yes, I have confirmed. Thank you. I didn't realize it was Ms. Pamela Medicia. I apologize."

"No need to apologize. To continue, this child is my disciple and adopted daughter. I was at her house today for a lesson. When I heard a noise, I went to check, and I found a suspicious man. Since I couldn't help in a fight, I waited until it was quiet and then went to the room... and the man left when he saw me."

"I see, your disciple... an adventurer, I see."

He still seemed skeptical about me, but he treated me more politely than before.

The master was definitely a well-known figure. If I had gone to the watch alone, I probably wouldn't have been taken seriously.

"Well, I also entrust part of the material collection to her. She is also an adventurer. The man who attacked us was Frank, the guild master of the Pharmacist Guild. He was in a terrible state, but I recognized him. Should I explain the history between us?"

"...Understood. We will investigate, but we consider that your disciple was involved in a dispute between you and the Pharmacist Guild?"

"There's no other reason for him to attack her."

"Understood. We will investigate. May I ask a few more questions?"

"Yes, of course."

The guard left to confirm with the master. It seemed he had no more questions for me...

Momo followed the master. The master doesn't seem to dislike animals, and Momo is attached to her... well, Momo seems to be attached to everyone.

I thought she would come with me, but since the master nodded, I left Momo with her.

I was the one who was attacked, but I didn't have much information to share... I thought it was a pervert at first, but it turned out to be the master's old enemy.

"May I check the room?"

"Yes, I'll show you."

Another guard offered to check the scene, so I led him back to my house and showed him the ransacked large room. There was no specific evidence, so we just confirmed the damage. I also explained the man's confused state and abnormal strength, but without him in custody, there was nothing more they could do.

I was released, but the master was told it would take some time... so I headed to the Adventurer's Guild.

"Ah,克莱因小姐。有什么事吗？"

"嗯……能帮我给会长传个话吗？"

"啊，没问题。会长昨晚很晚才回来……请稍等一下。"

我向玛丽小姐求助，她微笑着回应，并在确认后带我去了会长的房间。嗯……本来传个话就好了，结果变成了直接传达。而且，房间里还有莱奥尼斯先生。

"有传话吗？发生了什么事？"

"嗯……本来想让玛丽小姐转达，不过，如果能直接向会长报告的话……"

"嗯，可以转达，但你为什么不直接说呢？"

"我并没有直接的联系方式？所以我想交给莱奥尼斯先生或会长。"

不管怎样，我觉得这是合同上的疏漏。即使与冒险者公会长的合同结束了，也需要通过冒险者公会。不过，考虑到我受到的照顾，以及即使被知道也没有问题的内容……甚至我觉得应该报告，所以还是报告一下吧。

"嗯，是这样。那么，我会转达的。"

"大约两小时前，在我居住的房屋的店铺区域，疑似药剂师公会长弗兰克的人袭击了我的家。击退后，我的老师帕梅拉看到了他的脸，证实了他的身份。对方看到老师后逃跑。之后，我们去了警卫所，说明了情况。考虑到犯罪动机是老师与公会的纠纷，对老师的询问仍在继续。关于我，确认了房屋的状态后，我被释放了。警卫所的人告诉我，他们会在一段时间内加强房屋周围的巡逻。请转告拉兹大人。"

"……小姐，你也真是不平静啊。"

我确实有些自知之明，觉得自己容易卷入事端。

来到这个世界后，周围发生了许多事情。但这些并不是我所希望的……不，我的意愿也有些影响。

我自己希望……能平稳地度过每一天。

"新的队伍申请最终还是没有吗？"

"他们似乎想三个人一起组队……老实说，我觉得一个人冒险已经有些危险了……但要说和他们深入交往……"

虽然我带他们回来并帮助了他们，但要对他们负责，照顾他们的冒险活动……这让我很纠结。

此外，如果接受了他们，将来遇到异乡人时，如果都去帮助，会更加麻烦。

"你的哥哥们似乎没有多想就接受了。"

"……是有一些人把我们逼到了极限。如果当时没有遇到哥哥们，没有可以依靠的人……我的精神可能无法保持，现在的状况也不会出现。在不熟悉的土地上，突然面临死亡或奴隶的选择，我甚至觉得能正常对话已经很不容易了。"

"呵呵……不过，我希望和小姐好好相处，以后还有很多事情需要拜托你。"

会长笑着带过，但问题的根源是拉兹大人和会长。

我正在把刚才说的内容写在纸上，估计会交给拉兹大人。剩下的就交给他们了。

拉兹大人可能不想引起太多注意，所以一段时间内可能不会来家里。把情况传达给他们就好。

"克莱因……老夫人没事吧？"

"……虽然说是审问，但我不清楚被攻击的原因……我报告了被攻击时的情况。老师更了解情况，所以我交给了她。老师报出名字后，态度变得非常礼貌，所以我认为没有危险。……另外，宠物也跟着老师。"

"嗯……小姐。不过，弗兰克失去理智并逃跑，这样可以吗？"

"嗯，我没有目击者……而且，他的样子非常可疑，还叫我帕梅拉，错乱得很严重……我认为不会放任不管。"

他处于错乱状态，行为异常。虽然我没有告诉警卫所我用“解除”让他平静下来，只是说他在暴动后平静下来……魔法的信息还是保密为好。

不过……他们都很关心老师。即使我有些危险，他们也不太在意，但听说老师还在警卫所时，他们的反应很明显。

告诉他们弗兰克逃跑的消息后，他们说会去接他，如果可能的话，希望我们能在一起。这是希望我们保护他。我理解，但……

让老师住在我家是可以的……但店和大房间之间的门被破坏了，防犯上不太理想。我会尽快修理。

几小时后，我去了警卫所，但Momo睡在老师的怀里，一个可能是比警卫所的警卫更高职位的人在送老师。

只是，老师的表情并不好。“那个孩子……”她低声说的话还在我耳边回响。

被驱逐的，老师的前弟子。现任药剂师公会长的妻子。……前子爵小姐克里斯蒂娜。不仅需要警惕逃跑的药剂师公会长弗兰克，还需要警惕她。

不过……有些不对劲。那次袭击……至少需要考虑是否是非法入侵者……真不想这样……