LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 108.1
This Is A Deliciously Improved Healing Potion
“…It’s not delicious.”
Yuuri muttered softly after taking a sip of the liquid in a small tasting cup. That was his honest opinion. It really wasn’t delicious at all. No, he shouldn’t say it’s not delicious. It’s bad. He should be clear and say it’s bad, Yuuri thought to himself.
Although he made it himself, following the existing recipe, it didn’t turn out delicious at all. In fact, it was so bad that it made him not want to drink it. Despite being something that wouldn’t work unless you drank it, the taste was so unappealing that he wondered how that could be acceptable, Yuuri truly thought. He was rather serious about it.
“Good medicine is said to be bitter, but this is just… not it.”
Yuuri slumped his shoulders. What he had been drinking was a healing potion made by the alchemy cauldron, a magical item capable of creating anything. Usually, he only used it to make seasonings, but today he decided to review what he had learned and bought the ingredients for the healing potion to give it a try. Thanks to the recipe and other factors, Yuuri had enough income to easily buy the ingredients. He didn’t need to use it, so his savings were just growing.
He had made healing potions before, but since he had no use for them, he kept them in his magically transformed school bag, which doubled as a magic bag, or gave them as gifts to apprentices and trainees. After all, he never got injured, so there was no need for a healing potion. But today, he got curious about what a potion, like the ones in games, would taste like. It looked like a pale blue liquid, which seemed appetizing.
…However, when he actually drank it, it tasted like toothpaste.
It wasn’t just minty, but more like a strong, adult-level toothpaste flavor. The moment he took a sip, he thought, “I can’t handle this! This is just wrong!” He could handle the bitterness of medicine. He had endured cold medicine before, and as you grew older, it tended to be more bitter.
However, the toothpaste-like taste was unacceptable. Toothpaste is supposed to freshen your mouth, not something you’d want to drink. It felt like torture. Yuuri was sure something was wrong with it.
After all, a healing potion is supposed to be something you drink during a battle, when you’re injured and need to heal in a pinch. But the taste made him hesitate to drink it. How could that be acceptable? Yuuri couldn’t understand it at all. He felt it needed improvement, and he was determined to fix it.
…Apparently, the taste of the healing potion didn’t agree with him at all.
“…Alright, let’s add something that gives it a good flavor into the cauldron!”
He was making a decision that was probably wrong. No one was there to question why he was doing this. Yuuri was alone in the kitchen, playing with the alchemy cauldron. There was no one around… It was always the case that there was no one to stop him when he needed it.
By the way, Rooks, who usually stays by Yuuri’s side, was also drinking some of the healing potion he had received. However, as a slime, he didn’t really care. He could tell the difference between tasty and bad, but at least he didn’t seem to mind the taste of this healing potion. Well, since slimes are incredibly omnivorous, you shouldn’t expect much reaction from them. Yuuri, on the other hand, was a picky eater, especially as a Japanese person.
After rummaging through the fridge, Yuuri found some fruits. He took out an apple, a banana, and a mandarin. The seasonality was completely ignored, but since the ingredients were from a dungeon’s harvest box, he figured it was pointless to care.
He threw the ingredients into the alchemy cauldron, then tossed the whole apple in as well. Like the other ingredients, he just dropped it in whole. Then, he pressed the switch, and now all he had to do was wait for the cauldron to do its job.
“I wonder if it will turn out well?”
Yuuri envisioned a children’s medicine. Medicine that children could easily drink, flavored so it wouldn’t be too sweet, just a pleasant, easy-to-drink flavor. If he could add that kind of taste to it with fruit, he’d be satisfied… Let’s not imagine the taste of adult medicine, which can sometimes taste like toothpaste mixed with honey or juice. That would be a real torturous experience.
After a while, he heard the sound of the cauldron lid popping open. Yuuri excitedly peeked inside. What he saw was a potion that looked just like the usual healing potion. However, the bottle had been modified to reflect Yuuri’s imagination and looked like a bottle of juice. The lid was like a jam jar lid, with a resealable feature.
…At least he didn’t imagine a plastic bottle, so he deserved some praise for that.
“Looks the same, but did I make it right?”
To make sure, Yuuri decided to check it using [God’s Eye]. He didn’t need to drink it, just using the appraising skill would be fine. It might be the wrong way to use a cheat skill, but since he was appraising an unknown object, he could say he was doing his job properly. Specifically, this was more like an appraising skill than using it to judge ingredients.
Healing Potion, Apple Flavor (Highest Quality)
A healing potion made by adding apple to the usual healing potion ingredients. The basic ingredients are the same as a standard healing potion, but the craftsmanship has greatly enhanced its effectiveness.
To be specific, it surpasses the standard quality of a mid-tier healing potion.
Also, the apple’s sweetness has been concentrated, turning it into apple juice.
“Yay, I did it!”
[God’s Eye] was being playful. Perhaps it was responding to Yuuri, but it gave a very playful reaction. However, Yuuri didn’t care about that and poured the apple juice version of the healing potion into a tasting cup. Though he trusted the appraisal results, he still wanted to taste it for himself.
Yuuri tasted the potion (now apple juice). It still looked like the pale blue liquid, but the taste was undeniably apple. It was delicious. He had done a great job.
As a result, Yuuri tried the same thing with bananas and mandarins. Then, on a whim, he added some tea leaves, and although it was still the same pale blue liquid, he ended up with a tea-flavored healing potion. Whether this was a miracle from the alchemy cauldron or due to Yuuri’s Seeker job or his ∞ luck, only the gods knew.