Potion Subscriptions and the Carbonation Experiment
...What in the world was that?
The moment Melo started peeling potatoes, every movement in the kitchen stopped. She anchored one with her left hand and set it spinning, and the knife danced lengthwise down the tuber, shearing the skin away in a single clean stroke. Peelings heaped up on the shelf in no time at all.
Everyone who had expected her to spend the whole morning just prepping potatoes stared, at a loss for words.
When the last potato in the basket was bare, Melo let out a long breath and looked around.
"Is the meat all set?"
"W-we're working on it!"
"And the fish?"
"I'll bring it right out!"
"What are you all doing? Snap out of it!"
They all seemed angry. Melo, reading the room, set her knife down and went out to Thuy, who was cleaning outside.
"Senior, I'm finished!"
"Already?"
"Yes..."
Did she just hack them thick and sloppy?
He went in with a worried face, took one look at the potatoes pared smooth as if they had been lathed, and his mouth fell open. He picked one up, wet his lips, and looked at Melo.
She stood with her hands neatly folded, waiting for his verdict.
Before he could speak, a fierce voice came flying in.
"Thuy! What are you doing? You planning to stop at the potatoes?"
"Ah—I'll get the rest done right away. Melo, let's go prep the other vegetables."
"Yes!"
They were crossing the kitchen together when Thuy paused and turned his head toward her.
"You did well."
It was the first praise she had ever received. Melo brightened as if she might float off the floor and answered with a radiant smile.
"Yes!"
That afternoon—the same day Melo worked her first shift and received a mana stone from Rachel—Blow was preparing for interviews with Jane and Megan.
"So the owner of Umbrella Poison just left like that?"
"He was carrying on like the world had ended. Looked like the soul had gone out of him, so I told him to come back next Wednesday. Said I'd go over the contract terms then. Whether he actually will, I don't know."
"If you tell someone you're using a high-grade mana stone for refrigeration, of course they'd take it that way."
"People do use mana stones for cold storage, don't they?"
"Usually... high-grade ones are mostly for combat, aren't they? To spend a stone of that caliber on refrigeration, you'd have to be at least a major hotel."
"Then we just have to get that big later."
Blow answered with easy confidence, and Jane gazed at him in silence. He had a way of simply making happen whatever he said he would, and she still couldn't quite get over how uncanny that was.
Megan, listening beside them, clenched her fist and declared,
"Young Master! It ought to be bigger than a hotel! As big as the manor in Blanya!"
"That would be nice."
"This Megan will assist you with everything she has until that day."
"Well. If our Head Maid says so, I feel plenty reassured."
"I will select the maids with impeccable judgment."
"And how exactly do you plan to do that?"
"I will report to you without fail before I go."
"Right. Once you're Head Maid, you'll finally be a retainer too, Megan."
"Ah—is that how it works? Then at last I may speak... comfortably to Lady Jane?"
Ambition flickered in Megan's eyes. Blow and Jane turned their heads to avoid them.
"And speaking of contracts, that reminds me. Jane, start preparing to return to the Academy next year."
"What?"
Her eyes went round at the unexpected words.
"If the sparkling water and the tomatoes do even half as well as we expect, you can go back. We've already got a bit of breathing room."
"And you, Young Master?"
"Me? I don't know. I haven't really thought about it. Maybe because I'm too busy."
"Hmm..."
"For now, let's just say you're doing it. We'll talk details when we draw up the contract."
She had turned the idea over now and then, but she had never expected to be going back so soon.
Pleasure flushed her cheeks. Watching her face, Blow felt a quiet satisfaction and added with a shrug,
"There'll be updates on the potion shop in the contract as well. Review them carefully, Manager Jane Foresti."
"That title still feels terribly awkward."
"You'd better get used to it quickly."
While the two of them talked, the restaurant door opened, and the Traffic Light Trio appeared. They were the ones who had to sit the interview, and they shuffled in, offering awkward greetings.
Radness took her seat first. After a brief exchange, Blow spoke.
"So, Radness... you said you wanted to come work at the potion shop?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I thought I would learn more at the potion shop than at the restaurant."
The answer was taut with effort and nerves, and both Blow and Jane nodded. From an Academy student's point of view, that was the better choice in more ways than one.
After that, the necessary questions went back and forth. Her answers were clear and orderly, and the bright manner suited service work perfectly. Blow quietly decided on her.
"Radness, you use potions, writing supplies, things like that."
"Yes."
"Living that kind of life—is there anything you need? Some item, some service, something you wish existed? Anything that was inconvenient at school?"
A first-year would still be deeply caught up in school life itself. Blow expected to hear something fresh from her.
"There isn't!"
"No? That's a problem."
He said it half in jest and half in earnest. Radness cleared her throat and hurried to add,
"A-actually, there is!"
"All right. What is it?"
"Drinking potions is difficult."
"True. Everyone struggles with that. Is our shop's potion—Foresti Made—hard to drink too?"
"That one is... at least drinkable!"
"Starting your professional life already, are you?"
"...Young Master?"
Jane's mouth had gone flat as she looked at him. Blow cleared his throat and smoothly changed the subject.
"Anything else?"
"When you've finished a potion, having to wash the bottle every single time is... annoying, I suppose."
Blow and Jane both nodded, entirely in sympathy. Because of the cost, glass bottles were often reused, and if they weren't washed with care, leftover residue mixed with the new potion and ruined it. So at the end of a student's day, washing potion bottles was always on the list.
He remembered Cindy grumbling—
"I seriously wonder why I even go to this school!"
The memory pulled his thoughts down deep.
If people were going to drink potions every day anyway, it would be ideal if he could make certain they bought them from Red Forest.
Bundle in a washing service and plenty of people would use it. If he turned it into a product, should he sell it by the number of uses?
While he turned the problem over, names drifted past—Neflix, Spootify, Nutube Premium. Every one of them a service you could enjoy only by subscribing.
At last, two clumps of words broke the surface of his mind.
If he bundled supply and washing and sold them by the month, or in six-month blocks, demand would be easy to read and he could adjust the supply with flexibility. He could pull the cash in up front, and once a customer got a foot in the door and grew used to it, canceling would not come easily.
"Young Master?"
"Ah, right. Jane... Manager. How about Manager Jane asks the next question?"
"Yes, then..."
While Blow set the idea that had just struck him down on paper, Jane held out to Radness a list packed tight with the potion shop's item names and brief descriptions.
"I'd like to know whether you can memorize all of this."
"Er, by when?"
"Hmm... three days?"
Blow finished his notes, checked the volume, and his brow tightened.
"How is she supposed to memorize all that in three days?"
"What? Linne memorized it in a day. If you look, you'll see it's tied to school life, so it sticks quickly..."
"That's because it's you, or Linne."
"No. You memorized it too, Young Master."
"Hey, I'm the owner. And I picked the stock with you."
While the two of them bantered, Radness, who had been hesitating, called out in a clear voice.
"I-I'll memorize it within five days!"
"Five days, hmm..."
"Why? I like that she's being honest."
Jane nodded, as if she had no choice. While Radness smiled awkwardly, Blow was already throwing the next question at her.
After the interview, Jane returned to the potion shop and, in the laboratory set up on the third floor of Red Forest, ran an experiment drawing carbonated water at different concentrations.
A little later Linne hurried in and bowed deeply.
"S-Senior! No—M-Manager! I've finished setting the potions on the second floor! All that's left is the brewing!"
"Good work. Production has gone up quite a bit. Are you all right?"
"Yes!"
"Really? The results of this should be out soon. Want to look at them together when they are?"
"Yes!"
Linne sat pressed right up against Jane's side, determined to ask what she was curious about.
"S-Senior, I'm studying herbology... could you take a look?"
Jane scanned the densely written pages, then handed them back.
"You've worked hard. But you have to get the categories right first, or you'll get confused later. You were memorizing them one by one just now, weren't you?"
"Ah... yes! You could tell right away?"
"I did the same thing at first. Look."
Jane pulled out a blank sheet and began drawing the classification of herbs the way one might sketch a tree.
"Try mapping the categories out like a picture a few times. You'll remember them much better."
"Y-yes! I'm going to keep taking the related classes at school from now on!"
"You're good at magic too, aren't you? You're not going to pursue magic?"
"Using it right away at the potion shop is f-fun, and... ah, as you know, my personality is this mess, so I think research suits me better."
"Really? Your personality, though... I'm not sure I see the problem. The Young Master hasn't said anything either, has he?"
At those words, Linne's lips trembled.
"I-I stammer so much. Th-the Young Master just doesn't... p-pay it any mind."
"Is that so? Even so, I think you're fine, Linne."
"Haha! Th-that's a relief!"
"If you're going to focus on research, that's good for me and for the Young Master. That aside... a junior is coming in this time, and I'm worried whether she'll manage."
"Ah, did you say... two of them are coming?"
"Yes. Faces you'll know quite well."
"Do you think... I can do well?"
"You will."
Jane smiled, soft and brief.
The sun was laying its last orange light through the third-floor window. Looking at Jane, Linne marveled quietly to herself.
No matter when I look at her, she really is beautiful.
But the news that a junior was coming pressed on her all the same, and she found herself breathing harder for no good reason.
A little time passed. Jane checked the hour and held out a pair of gloves.
"Time's up. Let's take a look."
After several experiments, Jane had gotten a feel for the work. This time her goal was exactly what Blow had said: dissolve as much carbonation as possible. In short, make it bite. To that end she had raised the pressure in the vessel and cast a cold spell to bring the temperature down.
She lifted the vessel with care and opened the lid as slowly as if she were stretching time itself. At the sound of bubbles surging up, Linne's eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"Whoa! I think it worked!"
"Looks like it. Shall we try about twenty milliliters first?"
"Yes!"
They poured it carefully and each took a sip. In an instant, both their eyes went wide. The carbonated water fizzed and bit with a sharpness that could not even be compared to what they had drunk in Roten.
"Linne, let's add a little lemon syrup and sugar. Don't forget to write down how much we put in."
"Y-yes!"
Sugar and lemon syrup went in at once. The drink went down smoother and more delicious than before, and they were so startled they clapped their hands together.
Only then did Jane understand why Blow had been so excited the first time he saw carbonated water—and why the carbonated-drinks section in the food notes of his notebook had twenty stars drawn beside it.
Caught up in the excitement herself, she smiled brightly at Linne.
"Let's take it to the Young Master. Right now!"
"Yes!"
They sealed the glass bottle with a cork and ran for Hills, where Blow would be.