Wreath of Lilies, Cauldron of Poison

Chapter 57

Your Dream for a Price!

“…So…hungry…”

Martell was not used to being so hungry. When he was young, he often experienced eating only a meal a day. Only after he became a pet for the rich did he begin to have a good diet. Unlike then, however, the hunger this time was absolutely unbearable. His body desired nourishment. It hungered for food. His ears were limp and laid flat on his head and his tail moved listlessly.

Sen and Bertus who were on break watched him while offering some snacks. But he refused, knowing that Connie would punish him worse if he ate something.

When he heard Connie and Illumca returning, his eyes shone and he ran to his Mistress like a dog with his ears straight up while wagging his tail.

“Mistress! I want to eat!”

“Not yet. Let me have a look at you.”

Connie felt his body, poking here and there before nodding a few times.

“Excellent,” Connie went to the kitchen and removed a big pot sealed with a thick layer of clay. She bumped the sides of the dried-out clay with the sides of her palm and removed it. A “wondrous” smell filled the room, causing everyone but Connie to close their noses. “The Marrow Cleansing Broth.”

At the mention of that name, Illumca shuddered and clenched her butt cheeks. She could still feel the extreme bowel movement that resulted from drinking that vile thing. The result was undeniably wonderful. The process, however, was excruciating.

“B-but you made it more than a week ago. Wouldn’t it have spoiled?” Illumca said.

“Nope. When stored properly and mixed with some milk, it would ferment and become stronger.”

“Eep…!” A small squeal of surprise came out of Illumca’s mouth, which she quickly clasped shut with her hands.

Connie then ladled the liquid to a small earthen bowl. The broth that used to be green had now gained a milky color and a distinct smell of yeast. She heated the broth up until it started to bubble and gave it to Martell.

“Drink up. It will cleanse your body. Anything chewy? Just swallow it down.”

“I, uh…” his ears went down when he smelled the broth. He had never seen or smelled something so dubious.

“I’ve had it before. It’s good for you,” Illumca reassured her. Her face the image of cold aloofness.

“Okay, here goes.”

The boy proceeded to drink the whole bowl. His hunger made him unable to put it down. Sour, sweet, milky, yeasty. All kinds of tastes overwhelmed his sensed. After he was finished, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“That wasn’t so bad. Thick and a bit sour, but very refreshing.”

“It is?” Illumca asked, slightly uncomprehending.

“When fermented, the harsh tastes will mellow out,” Connie commented with a smile. “And the effect will be more…rewarding.”

Ethel walked in from the store side of the house and closed her nose the moment she smelled the indescribable aroma. “What the hell is this smell? Are you making something weird again, Connie?”

“Marrow Cleansing Broth.”

“O-oh. I see,” Ethel blinked after seeing the bowl near Martell. “Connie, the Herbalists are here.”

“They are? Good. Can they be trusted?”

“I’ve known them for a very long time. There are some young ones too.”

“Hmm…let them wait for a few minutes. The cleansing process will take a bit long, I suspect.”

Martell noticed that Illumca was smiling eerily.

Ethel made a stern face and handed Martell a bundle of scraps of paper. “I haven’t stocked up on the good stuff yet. Make do with this for now.”

“Eh, what is this?” he asked with a bewildered look.

At that moment, a sound like the groan of a starved beast came from Martell’s stomach. The dog-like ears on his head rose straight to the sky, along with his tail.

The boy’s eye widened at the sudden feeling that overwhelmed his senses, as if a ball of iron just fell to the pit of his stomach.

“It begins,” Connie said with a smile.

Watching the reactions of Illumca and Ethel and the innocent smile of his Mistress, he finally understood what cleansing the body means.

“Run, Martell. Run!” Connie said with a laugh.

After hearing the first scream coming from the bathroom, the blonde-haired girl decided to meet the Herbalists while waiting for the boy to finish being cleansed.

When Connie stepped out of the kitchen, she saw 15 people. More than half of them were old. Some of them had clean fingers while some had deeply stained fingers of brown and green persuasion.

Their eyes fell onto Connie who had just entered the room. One of them asked.

“Is it you? The one who told us that she could help us become Alchemists?

“Yes,” Connie confirmed with a leisure nod. “I am the one that can help you achieve this dream.”

They began to speak among themselves after her confirmation, but Connie spoke with a commanding tone and stopped them. “However! This process will come at a price.”

At the word ‘price’, all the Herbalists focus turned to her. She then showed two fingers. “20%. The price of this gift is that 20% of your stores’ income will be mine.”

Hearing the outrageous numbers, all the Herbalists went into a rage.

“That’s too much!!” one of them said.

“This is a robbery! You are trying to trick us!” Another one added.

“Yeah! Let’s go! This is a waste of time.”

“Those who want to go may go. But this offer will only be here today,” Connie said, not caring about what the naysayers were trying to say. “Those who are here are those who dreamed of becoming Alchemists. And 20% of your income is the price for that dream,” Connie said nonchalantly. “Ethel has paid it and more.”

They all turned towards the elderly woman who had been watching the process with mild interest while yawning. “What are y’all loking at me for?”

“I-is there a possibility of negotiation?” one of them glanced at her then asked the blonde-haired girl with dubious looks.

“No,” Connie said with finality. “20 % is my price. Even this is kind enough. If you don’t want to pay, then leave.”

After those words, she sat down on the chair and waited. The Herbalists Ethel invited argued and yelled at each other before finally breaking up. 5 out of 12 had left, leaving only 7 people. 6 of them were old and only one man was young.

“Is this all? Good. Young man, would you help Ethel to close the door? What’s your name?”

“Locke, miss.”

“Help her please, Locke,” the words were polite, but it carried with it an unmistakable authority which pressured the young man to assist the old woman.

They then closed the door and barred it with a block of wood. Ethel used to struggle a bit when she did this but after starting cultivation she could do this without losing breath.

While she was doing so, Connie spread out 7 contracts out of the 10 which she had prepared a few days before. “Here is the contract. Each one is the same. Read it well and sign on it if you agree to my price.”

“Miss…”

“Steelheart,” she said with a brisk tone.

“Will signing this really…allow us to become Alchemists?”

“Stuff it, Greg. I invited you here because I know this is what you guys dreamed of,” Ethel said sourly. Then again, she was always sour.

“But you too understand, Ethel dear. It’s a bit hard to believe that you can simply gain the ability to become Alchemists just like that,” an elderly lady with a plump face said. She looked the kind that would feed you if you visit her even if you were already full. “We are just not blessed by the Goddess.”

“Not blessed by the Goddess?” Connie raised an eyebrow.

“Aye. Some jobs can be obtained through the blessing of the gods or joining an order. Some of you must be born with the gift. Alchemist is one of them. In the Capital, even with more than 7000 people in it, you can count those with the job as Alchemists with your two hands,” Ethel quickly explained. “Without the Skill, ‘Alchemy’ in your status, you will never become one.”

This world’s Alchemists were born to privilege? No wonder they could afford to impose such high prices for their items.

“I see.” What a world, Grea is. Connie gave them a slight nod. “Don’t worry, you lot. If you follow my words, hard work will not betray you.”

Simple words. But for the Herbalists standing awkwardly in front of her, those words were like magic.

In a world where their fates are bound by the blessing of skills and talents, no matter how hard they work, these people could never become an Alchemist. Only those who were born with the gift could become one. For them, the most they could become were Herbalists.

It might sound nonsensical and stupid for others. Yet to these people, even just one step closer to their dream meant the world to them. And that was why they were skeptical. The hope she offered them was something that goes against common sense. Something that goes against what they knew of the world’s rules. Its law.

Yes. It sounded too good. Almost too good.

“But I understand your apprehension. Ethel, concoct for me the usual pills,” Connie ordered. “If I’m the one doing it, you’ll just think that I’m tricking you. But you all know her far longer than I have. See if she can convince you of my skill.”

Without saying a thing, Ethel stood before the cauldron that had been kept warm from the low fire. “See, there is nothing inside,” she said to the Herbalists. She then grabbed the ingredients for a Low-Grade Rejuvenating Pill. She threw them into the cauldron and closed it with a cast-iron lid.

The old woman then focused her energy into it, guiding the various ingredients until they became one. After a few minutes, she opened the cauldron and pulled out a still-smoking pill. It was black and shiny, the result of a well-done process.

“Is that…the pill that you’ve been selling these few days?” the young Locke asked. He had tried one of those pills and found that it did indeed have the strength and effect of a potion. It was the reason why he even thought of coming there.

“Aye. Go ahead and try it if you still don’t believe me.”

As she handed the pill to the Herbalists to inspect, Connie explained a little more about her plan. “I will give you all the recipe for this pill after you sign the contract. After which, the 3 most successful Alchemists between the 7 of you will be given another recipe.”

“Another recipe?”

“You think I only have just one? I have thousands!! And there are still more to discover. Who knows, one of you might be able to create an entirely new recipe if you practice enough! And that recipe will be yours. I will not take it from you. This, I promise,” Connie said out loud. “Hard work will not betray you! If you fail, try again! If you succeed, make it a habit! That’s what it means to be an Alchemist in my service!”

At this point, they were all already in thrall of the magic in her words. Coupled with the fact that after seeing Ethel alchemize using the cauldron, they could not help but believe in the dream. All of them signed the contract without needing to think twice. Only Locke, the youngest one made a show of reading it.

“Then. We begin the process. Who will go first? Oh, and Ethel? Get me a bucket and place it here.”

An elderly man came forward. Connie told him to open his shirt and faced her back towards her. Though he was apprehensive, after all Connie was still an unmarried woman who was very attractive. Connie opened half of his Energy Points and started to stimulate his Energy. As she did so, she sent over a sliver of her will. A negligible amount of it.

Suddenly, the man coughed up a black colored phlegm straight into the bucket. This earned a yelp from the others.

“W-what did you do?! Did you kill him?!”

“Relax. That blood he spat out is dirty blood,” Connie said authoritatively. “Now take a deep breath and stand up, old man.”

The man did so. He took a deep breath and looked around. He felt for his body with a puzzled expression.

“H-how does it feel, Matt?” one of the Herbalists asked.

The old man started jumping up and down, eyes wide. “W-what is this? This is incredible! I feel like I’m 30 again! Is this what it’s like to be an Alchemist?”

“No. This is what it’s like to be a Cultivator. Now. Who’s next?”

Seeing the result of the awakening of the man’s Energy, those Herbalists immediately started buzzing about who came next. The process took no more than half an hour and they had recipes in their hands, ready to try Pill Concocting. Connie warned them to only start selling when they became able to concoct with at least 70 percent success rate.

“Needless to say. The knowledge is to stay a secret, as said in the contract,” Connie said. “Any attempt to spread the knowledge without my knowing will destroy your cultivation. However, you are free to recommend others that you can trust.”

“We swear it!” They said with expectant eyes.

These people, who prized their dreams over money understood the consequences of not being thorough.

The seed of disruption has been sown. All that’s left is to wait for them to bloom like fireworks.

“Look at them, those old bastards,” the old grandma said with a satisfied smile that did not fit her harsh language. “If they manage to learn to concoct pills, I’m gonna have some trouble, heh heh.”

“Now, Ethel. Is that any way to treat your juniors? If you don’t want to be surpassed then you have to work harder,” the crafty young lady smirked. “In that case, I’ll have to give you some recipes for some very lucrative pills before I leave tomorrow. I want you to have at least 80% success with them by the time I get back.”

Ethel sniffed loudly. “Eh, you are pushing these old bones too hard. I’d croak one of these days if I don’t get more sleep.”

“You? Croaking so soon? I don’t believe a bit of that!” Connie rubbed her chin appreciatively. “Anyway. I don’t hear his screams anymore. So it’s time to start cooking!”

When they returned to the kitchen, the two of them saw that Illumca was snacking on some nuts while leaning on a chair, apparently quite enjoying herself while watching Martell lying face down on the floor. Bertus was fanning the boy’s exposed red butt with a cloth while Sen was poking at him with a stick. Martell made small groans between pokes.

“That was…very intense,” Nick awkwardly commented. “Did you also – Okay, shutting up now.”

Illumca’s deadly glare made Nick think twice about finishing his train of thought.

Only after more than an hour later did Martell managed to recover enough strength to sit.