Chapter 101
Chapter 101
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: Build Muscles Instead of Babies!
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Something I'd vaguely heard from Saskia came to mind, and as I looked around, passersby were eyeing the lion puppet with curious gazes too.
The lion puppet spun gracefully in a full circle before crying out "Ta-da!" and lifting a small glass vial.
A pale pink liquid tinged with strawberry milk hues sloshed gently inside the bottle.
"If I may introduce! The famous Marcio Potion that keeps your figure beautiful no matter how much you eat!"
"Marcio Potion?"
Why's it named like that? Who came up with it?
"That's right. Just drink one bottle after your meal, and you'll never have to worry about gaining any flab!"
I eyed the lion puppet with a dubious expression.
Anyone could see it was exaggerated advertising.
People gain weight from what they eat. They lose it from what they burn.
That was an absolute truth.
Could one measly suspicious potion overturn that basic fact?
Sensing my skeptical attitude, the lion puppet lowered its voice a notch from before, drawing me in like it was sharing a secret.
"Alright. Since you don't seem to trust me, it's normally one silver per bottle, but I'll give it to you for half price. Try it and judge for yourself."
Hmm.
I took a step back with a displeased look, and the lion puppet let out a deep sigh.
"What a suspicious young lady!"
"I can't just buy and swallow some mystery drug without knowing what's in it."
"It's packed with precious ingredients! It's a potion that makes you lose weight just sitting in your room embroidering!"
That only made it less trustworthy.
I'm a trainer, you know.
It was my firm belief that no amount of tricks could change your body.
You had to overhaul your entire lifestyle toward health and stick with exercise, even when it got boring.
Only then could you witness gradual but certain change.
A potion that shed pounds while sitting? Probably just a laxative.
The kind that ramps up excretion and dehydration, tricking you into thinking you're losing fat.
"I don't need something like th—"
"Buy me the Marcio Potion! Buy it for me! It's only one silver a bottle—why won't you?!"
A young girl's frantic wail pierced my ears just as I tried to politely back away.
Whipping around on reflex, I saw a child clinging to her parents' arms, screaming her head off.
A kid who looks about my age is crying for diet pills right now?
As eyes turned on them, the presumed parents' faces flushed beet red.
Dad reached out to soothe her somehow, but skinny as she was, the girl shook off his hand with surprising force.
That scrawny little thing...
"Come on, Nina, don't do this. Let's talk about it at home."
"It's all thanks to that potion that I got this slim! Do you want me fat like before?!"
Her frame was far slimmer than average, bordering on underweight.
Called Nina, the girl shoved her twig-thin arm at her dad before latching onto her mom.
"Mom, you'll buy me the Marcio Potion like before, right? Say you will!"
"Calm down, Nina. What more can you even lose? Look how skinny you are already."
"Just let me have it! Buy it! Aaaah!"
"Nina!"
"See? I can feel myself getting fat right now! Look at my hands! The fat's piling up here!"
"Good grief! Where's this fat you're talking about?!"
The mom scowled, clearly angry at her daughter's sudden outburst.
That instant, Nina—who'd been gnashing her teeth like she might bite—rolled her eyes back and collapsed limply.
Thankfully, her parents caught her in time, sparing her a tumble to the ground.
But after all that thrashing and screaming, her arms dangled powerlessly.
Nina's dad hurriedly hoisted her onto his back and bolted.
"Ahem. She must've gotten overly excited."
The lion puppet stepped forward amid the murmurs, coughing awkwardly to deflect.
"That Nina girl's one of our regulars. She used to be twice as plump as she is now."
Clearly used to this, his explanation flowed smoothly.
"She got bullied a lot for it. Then she started our Marcio Potion and slimmed down just like that in a month."
"Is that really true?"
"The Morten Merchant Guild never lies!"
Morten Merchant Guild—the one Erich had come down to investigate with the d'Vayer count family.
Mention of one of the North's three great guilds had people exchanging glances.
Emboldened, the lion puppet pressed on with more vigor.
"Just for you folks today, half-price special. But one caveat."
"What's that?"
"Don't go home and yell at your parents. It's got nothing to do with our potion, but we all know getting too mad's bad for your health."
People cracked faint smiles at the half-joking remark.
A ten-ish-year-old collapsing and getting carted to the hospital, and it's a punchline?
The Marcio Potion looked plenty suspicious to me, but apparently not to them.
Side effects must not be well-known in this era.
Commoners here climbed mountains for herbs if they fell ill.
Temples ran pricey clinics, out of reach for most.
If they could even forage for herbs, that was lucky.
Some flat-out rejected treatment, just praying to the gods.
So it was no surprise people ignored side effects for half-price deals, rummaging for coins.
No surprise, yet...
It pisses me off anyway.
People banking on luck to slim down, kid collapsing or not.
The Morten Merchant Guild peddling dubious wares off that.
Standing closest, I pulled out coins before anyone else and pressed them into the puppet's hand.
"I'll take some too. That potion."
"I said half of one silver..."
"Two bottles. No change, it's a hassle."
"Excellent choice."
With that, the lion puppet handed over two round glass vials designed like Liwish chocolates.
"May you become as beautiful as the legendary beauties of Liwish."
I gripped the vials tight, tuning out the rhythmic sales pitch.
I'd bought them in a huff—what now?
I scratched my cheek, staring down at the Marcio Potions.
I wanted to analyze the ingredients, but I wasn't a doctor.
And I sure couldn't just chug them to experiment on myself.
Ask the Morten Guild for the recipe...?
As if they'd share.
As I mulled it over endlessly, a vigorous knock sounded. Opening the door revealed Lavinia clutching a pillow.
What, this late with all the maids asleep?
"Ta-da! Pajama party!"
Just her and me—does that even count as a party?
And we're not even in pajamas.
Lavinia, in a lacy dress, brazenly shoved into my room.
"I challenge you to a duel, Mariella."
"Sorry. I don't wanna hit my big sis."
"Cocky, huh? I may not know much else, but I've trained hard in swordsmanship."
"Oh? Really?"
She'll regret it.
Shelving my worries, I grabbed my pillow as Lavinia directed.
Soft and plump—it'd make for great impact.
The pillow fight kicked off after a glance exchanged.
"Ow! Ow! You got my bones! Time out!"
"No timeouts in battle!"
No matter how hard Lavinia trained her swordplay, she couldn't match someone personally taught by our dad!