Chapter 86 – Kathryn's Secret Potion

“Welcome.”

As I stepped through the doorway, the shopkeeper greeted me in her usual manner.

…The strange, pungent odor that stung the nostrils still filled the shop as always. The source of the smell remained unknown.

The shopkeeper was also unchanged. She welcomed me with the same languid posture, resting her cheek on her hand at the counter.

Beatrice the alchemist. I’d met her shortly after arriving in Termwills through an introduction from the Adventurer Guild. She’d been the one who created Caduceus, my familiar, during my previous request.

“I wanted to ask about the results of my previous request.”

“Ah—that one.”

Beatrice brought out a small glass vial and a thick book. Inside the vial, I could see a pale pink powder.

That was it—the drug Kathryn had been trying to administer to Father.

As expected, we couldn’t make progress without an expert’s help. I’d first requested an investigation to identify the drug. Well, it’s not like I had any other connections anyway.

Since everyone else had their own business today and my schedule was free, I came to check on Beatrice’s progress.

“This isn’t an ordinary drug—it’s a magic potion. I had to rummage through my storage and do research for the first time in ages, even having to dig through some quite ancient texts.”

…So it was a special enough drug that even a skilled alchemist had to conduct research.

“Thank you. It seems I’ve caused you quite some trouble.”

“I don’t consider it trouble since it was educational,” Beatrice replied.

Somehow her expression seemed brighter—so could I expect good results?

“When judging by characteristics like scent and color, you can usually narrow it down to a few candidates… but I couldn’t find anything that seemed quite right. I ended up having to search through secret texts passed down from my master’s master’s generation before I finally found it.”

The thick book had a quite musty smell… Secret texts from two generations back, huh? I imagined it was quite a valuable text.

“…Will there be additional charges?”

If the information came from an alchemist’s secret texts, it seemed like the amount I’d paid when making the request wouldn’t be sufficient.

“Hmm? It’s only proper to charge the amount we agreed upon during negotiations, right? If I misjudged the charging amount, that just means my studies were insufficient. This time I gained plenty of new knowledge too.”

She pushed the book forward.

…I see. As expected from someone introduced through the Adventurer Guild, Beatrice seemed trustworthy not just in skill but also in professional ethics.

Or perhaps… her comment about misjudging the charge was related to her pride as an alchemist.

“In that case, I’ll gratefully take a look.”

Opening to the bookmarked page, I found descriptions of a magic potion called “Alraune’s Kiss.”

As befitting something that gave the drug its name, it seemed to use alraune root as its main ingredient…

Even reading it, many parts were incomprehensible. As expected of an alchemist’s secret text, it seemed to be filled with metaphors, coded language, and encryption.

Beatrice, apparently familiar with it, began by explaining the drug’s effects, which was what concerned me most.

“It says it’s a magic potion that steals the free will of whoever consumes it, allowing the first person who calls their name to control them as they wish. The controlled person retains no memory of that period.”

Hearing this, I couldn’t help but frown. I see. For Kathryn to bring this out in that situation, it seemed more appropriate than poison or sleeping drugs.

“Alraune’s Kiss. This isn’t a drug that would ever be used for proper purposes, I’d say.”

I agreed. I’d told her it was for appraisal, having found it in a labyrinth treasure chest as insurance.

The effects seemed temporary, but… given its nature, as long as you had inventory, you could probably keep administering it within the effective time frame.

Back on Earth, I’d heard about things like zombie powder in voodoo that could turn people into zombies—this might be something similar.

If this was the drug, it would have been perfect for Kathryn to get through that emergency situation. Either by controlling Father to solve the problem, or by casting subjugation magic on him while his free will was stolen.

“This is quite a valuable drug. Or rather, it feels like something that shouldn’t be passed down to future generations? It’s only natural it would be kept secret.”

“…I’d say so.”

“The ingredients include many quite rare items, and the production method is time-consuming and labor-intensive.”

The production method was also written, but this section was also encrypted and concealed. Of course, the manufacturing process would be secret too.

“That section there means you have to dry the alraune root, powder it, then expose it to the light of the full moon multiple times.”

Just that one step alone would clearly take months… If the full moon was cloudy or rainy, things wouldn’t go according to plan, and it might need to be measured in years.

She also told me about the ingredients—excluding the alraune, they were technically obtainable in labyrinths. But even to gather them, you’d probably need at least mid-level strength by BFO standards.

Trying to control someone continuously with this drug would be tough in terms of cost and supply volume. It’s probably something you could only use for crucial moments.

“For the alraune, you need to make a mandragora drink human blood. This is why they say they bloom in execution grounds.”

Would you call it a variant species of mandragora?

Well, either way… I understood this wasn’t something you could just obtain anywhere. Naturally, it was also hard to imagine Kathryn had been routinely misusing this.

That raised the question… where did Kathryn get something like this? Since her actions toward me had been exposed and her position was in danger, maybe she had prepared it as a last resort for when things finally turned suspicious.

More fundamentally… the fact that Kathryn, who wasn’t knowledgeable about magic, knew about such a secret drug…

Considering her connections, the likely source would be… House Broderick after all.

Whether the Marquis was involved in servant personnel matters or not, if Byron became head of household, his influence would increase.

If Kathryn felt threatened because of me, it wouldn’t be strange for the Marquis to consider this worth providing.

Kathryn could have sent a letter ahead, then had it prepared for handover when she visited Termwills.

If we investigated the pharmacists, alchemists, and other professionals employed by or doing business with House Broderick, or noble families close to the Marquis… we could probably narrow down the source of this drug.

In that case, from here on it would be Sheila’s connections. It seemed we could have the Thieves Guild’s information network investigate.

“Was I able to help?”

“Yes. It was very informative.”

I said this and paid the success reward. Beatrice, receiving it, furrowed her brows with a puzzled expression.

“…This seems quite generous?”

“I believe it’s only proper for a client to pay generously when they receive good work.”

“I see. In that case, I’ll gratefully accept it. Please continue to favor me with your patronage.”

Beatrice grinned. Well, this included hush money, so to speak.

I’d been hoarding the money given to me when leaving the county territory, intending to possibly return it unused depending on the situation.

I’d expected that if Kathryn interfered, she would definitely try to use the money to put me in her debt.

But the situation had changed. I had the feeling Father would actually be disappointed if I returned it, so the money had kind of been left hanging.

Leaving Beatrice’s shop, I walked through town lost in thought.

Not just about the drug’s source—there was something that hadn’t sat right with me these past few days.

Namely, who—provided Byron with information about my home? Would the servants, who wouldn’t even give information to Kathryn, give such information to that guy?

If he had immediately followed after Father left the house, he should have confronted Father who was waiting with the carriage. If that were the case, then Byron must have learned my home’s location at a later timing.

It seemed unlikely that House Broderick provided the information. If it were the Marquis’s house, even if they did convey information, they would surely first inform him of my title to urge restraint.

Some days had passed since then, but the commotion at the Count’s household seemed successfully contained, as there were no rumors about it. If there were, I would have heard through Alfred.

Who would do such a thing, and for what purpose?

I didn’t think the goal was to cause a commotion using Byron.

To consider him immediately acting rashly upon hearing the information and rushing to my home as “part of the plan” seemed a bit…

Hmm. Maybe someone tried to draw Byron in to create connections?

In that case, it failed because he immediately acted rashly. They probably operated under the assumption he knew my title, but that’s just foolish.

I still couldn’t quite see who did it and with what intention… But if we follow the interests involved, we should be able to narrow it down eventually.

If they did it because they had business with me rather than the Count’s household, they would surely take action again on some occasion.

My family home had settled down for now—but I should probably return the favor for someone rummaging through my house.