“Hehehe… What a day this turned out to be.”

The middle-aged pharmacist let out a pleased chuckle.

For decades, he had run his pharmacy in the Sack District. Dealing with poor customers brought little profit, so he had maintained side businesses throughout the years.

Perhaps because he had taught himself the necessary skills for these side ventures…

Among the “medicines” the pharmacist created were some with unique effects not found elsewhere.

Yet the pharmacist’s name never became well-known.

This was because he had accidentally created many of his concoctions. Since he couldn’t reproduce most of them when asked, he never established steady clients.

So he had always struggled financially, until now.

‘To think such an incredible request would come my way!’

The visitor was a boy in his mid-teens, but clearly had nobility backing him.

Fortunately, the pharmacist had exactly what the boy wanted.

It was a medicine created for a previous request, but had been shelved as leftover stock because it only produced side effects rather than the intended results.

That very medicine just sold for an enormous sum.

“With this much money, I can finally escape this wretched district.”

Having navigated this world for years, the pharmacist wasn’t a fool.

He needed to quickly pack his belongings and relocate, as he might unfortunately become entangled in noble affairs.

He planned to retire from everything and spend his remaining years in peaceful seclusion.

“Let me get rid of these unnecessary things.”

He tossed his accumulated herbs and magical materials into the furnace.

While disposing of a considerable amount of his possessions…

Creeeeak.

The sound of the old door opening. The pharmacist didn’t even look up as he responded curtly.

“We’re closed. Get lost.”

“Perfect. We’re not here as customers anyway.”

“Huh?”

He quickly lifted his head from the furnace to see two mismatched figures.

A well-built man wearing a sharply tailored black uniform, and a little girl in a bright dress.

The man closed the door and slowly clicked the lock shut, almost like sealing off any escape route.

The pharmacist, feeling a chill run down his spine, raised his voice.

“W-who are you people?”

Was this unnecessarily handsome man here to make a request?

Surprisingly, the answer came from the little girl.

“Old man.”

Despite her adorable face, the girl wore an arrogant expression with one corner of her mouth raised.

She stepped forward and crossed her arms.

“I hear you sell unsavory items through the back door. Is that right?”

“W-what are you saying! You can’t accuse an innocent person of being a criminal!”

“If you’re so innocent, why are you so diligently preparing to flee?”

“It’s not fleeing, it’s cleaning! I’m just cleaning!”

“Whatever.”

The girl cut him off like his answers didn’t matter anyway.

“I know a big guy came by earlier. You need to tell me what medicine you sold him.”

“…!”

I knew this would happen! I’ve gotten tangled up in noble affairs after all!

The pharmacist tried to deny everything.

“It was just ordinary medicine. This is a pharmacy. People come here when they’re sick.”

“Sigh. You’re making this difficult.”

The girl frowned and looked at her male companion.

In response, the man tightened his black leather gloves and muttered.

“Finally, an ordinary criminal.”

“An ordinary criminal?”

“The criminals around you have always been too complicated to deal with. I’ve had to restrain myself until now.”

What’s with this bizarre conversation?

The confused pharmacist flinched as the man’s shadow loomed over him.

“W-what are you trying to do?!”

“It’s painful when unused muscles are stimulated. Especially for someone like you who hasn’t left his desk for years.”

“Huh?”

The man placed his hand on the pharmacist’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry. There’s a child present, so I won’t draw blood.”

“I’m not a child!”

The girl protested, but the man ignored her.

Then he began mercilessly twisting the pharmacist’s limbs.

“Aaaaargh!”

* * *

I peeked through my fingers at Lynen torturing the pharmacist.

‘Lynen’s t*rture… it’s terrifying.’

Pressing hard on tense spots and forcefully bending limbs at unusual angles—this frightening t*rture was actually…

‘Traditional Thai massage?’

Except it was a massage where “Please be gentle!” and “Stop, stop!” had no effect—a massage with broken brakes.

Crack. Pop. Savage sounds continued to emerge from the pharmacist’s joints.

“Aaaack! Stooooop!”

The pharmacist wailed. He was genuinely in pain, tears streaming down his face.

“I’ll talk! I’ll tell you everything! Please!”

Lynen released the pharmacist. He looked more refreshed than I’d seen him in a while.

‘He must really want to beat up Dietrich and Dovion these days.’

Anyway, since the pharmacist had been sufficiently softened up(?), I questioned him again.

“The item you sold to your previous customer—what effect does it have?”

“Sob, ugh… that’s…”

His legs seemingly unresponsive, the pharmacist collapsed to the floor and barely managed to speak.

“B-bee.”

“Bee?”

“He bought honey from the Flameli bee…”

“Huh…?”

I expected something with terrifying effects, but just honey?

“Are you sure?”

“Y-yes! I remember clearly! I even remember him asking about the honey jar on the shelf. He asked if applying Flameli honey would make one recognized as part of their species.”

“Flameli?”

As I muttered in confusion, Lynen provided an explanation.

“It’s a type of magical creature. A low-level monster very similar to ordinary bees except for its larger size.”

“So he took the honey to disguise himself as one of these magical creatures? That sounds like a defensive measure, not an offensive one.”

I knew there had to be some scheme.

‘In the Mirror of Truth, Noah was completely red and swollen. He must have been attacked by these Flameli creatures.’

Good. I’d discovered the cause of Noah’s physical condition.

But it didn’t seem to have any connection to the aura Noah had displayed.

‘When the officials assessed the situation, the audience condemned Noah. The real reason for Noah’s disqualification must have been that aura.’

This meant… the plot against Noah wasn’t just one thing.

“Old timer. You’re still hiding something. Are you going to keep disappointing me?”

I clicked my tongue lightly, and Lynen once again massaged the pharmacist’s shoulders.

The pharmacist screamed with rapture.

“There’s nothing else I’m hid— AAAAARGHHHH! You demon!”

Lynen seemed inspired by this five-star review and added more dedication to his touch. AAAACK! The pharmacist’s shouting continued.

‘He’s going to reach vocal enlightenment at this rate.’

Even if his pharmacy fails, he could make a living as a singer, so that’s fortunate. Lynen and I are truly such kind people.

After completing his vocal training course, the pharmacist cried out for his parents. Then, before I could ask again, he started spilling everything.

“Sob. A-actually… he also bought a medicine that hadn’t been selling due to side effects.”

“What kind of medicine?”

“It stores aura and allows it to be released at will, sob.”

Is that even possible?

“And the side effects?”

“Th-the stored aura can’t be controlled when released.”

That was it.

I extracted more information about the medicine from the pharmacist. Now I could guess what Dillen was plotting.

‘He plans to frame Noah for using illegal medicine to manipulate his aura.’

Seemingly reaching the same conclusion, Lynen spoke with a voice full of disgust.

“Is there a way to prevent this?”

“What? P-prevent it?”

“You created the medicine, so only you would know how to neutralize it. Make it.”

“I c-could try, but…”

The pharmacist’s gaze slowly turned toward the furnace. Many ingredients had already turned to ash.

“It would take about four weeks.”

“Thai massage time.”

Lynen looked confused about what Thai massage meant, but promptly began working on the pharmacist again.

“AAAAGH! Three weeks!”

Pat pat.

“GAAAAH! Two weeks! That’s really the limit! I swear! There are ingredients I need to prepare in advance!”

I frowned.

‘This is problematic.’

By then, the martial arts tournament participants would already be isolated from the outside world.