Moly Herb ⑧
The Witch placed the canteen down.
“First off, this canteen is called the ‘Crescent Vessel,’ you see.”
“The Crescent Vessel… you say?”
There’s a crescent moon in the center of the round canteen.
At first, I thought it was just a mark, but it’s made of metal.
Hm? Crescent Vessel?
I feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere before.
“Now then, first is the Water Purification Function, you see. Any liquid you put inside becomes pure, no matter its state.”
Just that alone feels incredible.
“Are there other functions?”
“Yup, yup. Next is the temperature control function, you see.”
“Temperature control!? You mean it can make things cold and warm?!”
Th-That’s too amazing.
“Yup, yup. But I’ve been thinking this for a while now, you see.”
“What is it?”
“For quite some time, Wof-shounen. You catch on way too quickly, you see. A child your age wouldn’t understand the meaning of ‘temperature control,’ let alone grasp the concept of a ‘function.’ Kon thinks it would all be gobbledygook to them, you see.”
“W-Well, it’s because I study.”
This is bad. She’s suspicious of me.
It’s because my memories from my past life let me understand instantly.
“Mhm, mhm. Being diligent isn’t a bad thing, you see.”
“Because I’m going to become a Seeker.”
“I see, I see. That’s right, you see. Well, with you, Wof-shounen, you could probably become a Seeker even now, you see.”
“Eh? But I’m still only thirteen.”
You can’t become a Seeker until you’re fourteen.
But The Witch said something shocking.
“Hm, hm. Don’t you know, Wof-shounen? Not around here, but there’s a child who became a Seeker at age nine, you see.”
“Huh?! Nine years old!?”
I’m dumbfounded.
“Well, well, Kon doesn’t know the details either, but apparently, they were approved under special circumstances, you see.”
“So there are special exceptions. I didn’t know.”
“I believe they’re ten now and heard they’re a Tier III Seeker, you see.”
“…Tier III…!?”
“Yup, yup. A genius, you see.”
“I’m surprised.”
“Heh heh, maybe you could become one too, Wof-shounen?”
“I’m fine without that sort of thing.”
“Oh my, oh my, aren’t you going to take the challenge, Wof-shounen?”
“Standing out like that isn’t my way of life.”
If I went back to town and asked around a bit, I could probably find out more details.
There’s nothing that stands out more than that.
I don’t want to stand out. That’s why I won’t take on challenges like that.
I want to become a Seeker to make a living. That’s probably true for most people.
Of course. If I could become one sooner, I’d want to.
However. I don’t want it badly enough to be exposed to the curious gazes of many people.
That’s far too high-risk.
Still, a Seeker at nine years old…
A genius or a prodigy.
Well, it’s not like I’ll ever meet them, though.
“I see, I see. Well then, let’s get back to explaining the temperature control function, you see.”
“Yes. Please do.”
“First off, into this canteen… Ah, this is just right, you see.”
“?”
The Witch poured a blue liquid into the Crescent Vessel.
“What is…?”
“Now, now, if you just leave it in, let’s see. This has gotten lukewarm, so it stays lukewarm, you see. But, you see. If you move this here…”
The Witch pinches the metal crescent moon decoration in the middle of the canteen.
It tilted with a click.
“It moved?”
“Alright, alright. Wof-shounen. Try drinking it, you see.”
“Eh?”
No way, telling me to drink it so suddenly… I look uneasy.
“It’s fine, it’s fine.”
“What… is this?”
“That, that, you’ll know once you drink it, you see.”
“…………”
“Oh my, oh my, don’t you want to know? The secret of the Crescent Vessel.”
Now that she mentions it, I am curious.
I hesitated, but then gulped it down with a ‘Here goes!’
“Gulp, it’s cold!? Ah, delicious.”
Surprisingly, it’s tasty. It has a refreshing sweetness.
“Fufu, fufu, it’s a Potion, you know.”
“A Potion?”
It’s just like juice.
But wait, aren’t the Potions I’ve heard about supposed to taste bad?
“Now, see here, above the crescent moon, there are blue, white, and red gems, right?”
“Y-Yes. There are.”
The Crescent Vessel. Above the crescent moon on the round canteen, blue, white, and red gems were embedded.
I hadn’t noticed.
“So, so, you adjust the temperature here, you see. The white gem is normal. The blue gem is cold. The red gem is warm. That’s how it is, you see.”
“So, right now, the crescent moon is tilted towards the blue gem, which means the Potion inside is cold?”
“Yup, yup. That’s right, you see.”
Then, something occurs to me.
“How long does the temperature change take when switching from cold to warm?”
“Oh my, oh my, what an interesting question, you see. It takes no time at all, you see.”
“Instantly?”
“Yup, yup. That’s right, you see.”
“Is the liquid inside okay with that?”
A sudden temperature change should have a significant effect on the liquid’s components.
“Hm, hm. You really are interesting, Wof-shounen. No need to worry about that, you see.”
“So there’s no change. Also, is the temperature constant?”
“Ho ho. You noticed that too, did you?”
The Witch narrows her eyes, looking amused.
“I’m just at that age where I get curious about various things.”
“Yup, yup. Kon is still like that even now, you see. As for the temperature, it’s constant, you see.”
“I see.”
I guess you can’t adjust that aspect, huh.
Just the temperature control function alone is more than enough. Just when I thought that was all…
“Now, now, next up, you see. This is the main function, you see.”
“There’s still more?”
“There is, there is. That would be, drumroll please… Compounding, you see!”
“…?”
“This, this. Can you see the small round knob and the numbers on the side of the canteen?”
“…This?”
On the right side of the canteen. A round knob and numbers were lined up vertically.
‘0’, ‘2’, ‘4’, and ‘6’.
The round knob was set to 0.
“First off, since there’s still some left, Kon will drink it up, you see.”
Saying that, The Witch drains the contents of the canteen.
“Ah.”
“Oh my, oh my, what is it?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
“Well then, well then, try setting this knob to 2, you see.”
I do as she says and set it to 2.
“Is this right?”
“Mhm, mhm. That’s right, you see. Wof-shounen. I’m going to show you something good now, you see.”
“Something good?”
The Witch nods, says “Yup, yup. Wait here just a moment, you see,” and leaves the room.
After waiting truly just a moment, she returned.
In her hands were two leaves.
“First off, I’ll turn these two into liquids, you see.”
She puts each into an empty flask and adds a red liquid.
“What’s that?”
“This, this, it’s a catalyst solution, you see. By the way, the two leaves are medicinal herbs, and you could just chop them up and put them in water instead of using the catalyst solution, you see.”
When she adds the red liquid, the empty flasks now contain blue and green liquids.
She pours approximate amounts of these into the Crescent Vessel, closes the lid, and returns the crescent moon to the white gem.
“Like this, like this, you turn the knob from ‘0’ to ‘2,’ you see.”
The Witch sets the knob to ‘2’ and presses a switch on the lid.
“!?”
It makes a tick-tock sound.
“Now, now, when you hear the chime, it’ll be ready, you see.”
“What will be ready?”
“Yup, yup. A Potion, you see.”
“The Potion I just drank?”
“Mhm, mhm. That’s right, you see.”
It went ding.
Just like a kitchen timer.
“It’s ready, you see.”
“A Potion…”
“Now, now. Let me explain, you see. The number the round knob is set to is the number of ingredients for Compounding. ‘0’ means 0 ingredients, so no Compounding. ‘2’ means 2 ingredients for Compounding. ‘4’ means four, and so on, you see.”
“I see. So you can Compound a maximum of six ingredients.”
“Yup, yup. That’s right, you see. And that’s all the functions, you see.”
“…”
Water Purification Function.
Temperature Control Function.
Compounding Function.
Too many functions. Is this… what it means to be Legendary…?
Then she said, “Alright, alright. Go on and drink it, you see.”
The same thing twice? I tilt my head, wondering, as I drink.
This time, it tasted bad.
The Witch laughs, and my eyes go wide.