madnovel Chapter 17 The Smell of the Alchemy Potion
Chapter 17 The Smell of the Alchemy Potion
"One shilling!?" Zag exclaimed in surprise, picking up the "Blessing of the Sea God" and examining it from all angles. "This probably doesn't even cover the price of the bottle and the tin screw cap!"
Half of all the glass bottles and tin screw caps in the entire kingdom were produced in the port of Haywinmouth in Haywin territory and then shipped to the eastern port by sea.
By the time it reaches Cabbage Town, the transportation costs and the cost of the potion itself would probably be several pence, not to mention the magical ingredients needed to make the potion—
Magical materials are never cheap!
"Not really. A bottle of ink at the general store only costs 2 pence, and this potion was provided by a foreign alchemist who recently stayed at the tavern. I think he's probably trying to steal business from the church... But whatever! It has nothing to do with me!"
"However, he's very tight-lipped about the formula. He only agrees to let me provide the packaging. He'll refine and bottle it before supplying me with the goods. The price per bottle is very low, and I suspect he's not using anything of high quality. He just refuses to reveal the formula no matter what... Tsk, I offered him 100 gold pounds and he still wouldn't sell me the formula! Who cares! This kind of potion of dubious origin can't compare to Lady Weyland's 'Helping Hand'!"
"But you only have burns, this should be enough for you!"
Matthew said sourly.
"Then take one of these," Zag also felt that there was no need to buy [Healing Hand] for just burns, but when he took out the money, he hesitated for a moment and finally said, "Add another bottle of [Healing Hand], and we'll call it even."
"Buying this week's medicine today?" Matthew assumed Zag was buying it for Mrs. Marsh, and while wrapping the two bottles of medicine in a wooden box, he asked, "How is Mrs. Marsh? Is she feeling any better?"
Zag sighed, offering no explanation and letting Matthew misunderstand, replying, "It's the same as always. As long as the Healing Hand is there, the situation won't worsen."
"It's good that it won't get worse; anyway, your weekly salary can easily cover [Healing Hand]'s costs."
"Hopefully the price won't go up in the future."
"This is Weyland's flagship potion, and its price hasn't changed in over a decade, so don't worry!"
"That's great."
After exchanging a few casual words, Zag left with two bottles of potions.
Snowball wasn't feeling well. During the long time that Zag was buying medicine, it remained curled up in the corner of the bed, its furry body rolled up in a ball, looking rather pitiful.
Zag, carrying the brown paper bag, raised it slightly, shook it, and spoke up, "I bought you [Healing Hand], it should help you?"
But Snowball's stinginess seems to extend to how it treats itself: "That'll cost 12 shillings! You're insane!"
"As the servant of the great Snowball, it is my honor to solve troubles for Lord Snowball," Zag said, placing one hand on his chest and giving an exaggerated bow that only nobles would do. "Besides, half of the 200 shillings I earned yesterday were yours."
As he spoke, he placed the bag on the side cabinet by the door, took out the wooden box inside, and took out the "Hand of Healing".
The 12-shilling alchemical potion is exquisitely crafted, with an engraved glass bottle. The bottom features an embossed Weyland family crest and the inscription "Lady Weyland's Aromatic Potions," along with the phrase "Since 1209," representing the brand's history. The bottle is affixed with a label featuring a bust of Lady Weyland, along with information on the main ingredients and their functions and effects.
As for the other bottle, "Blessing of the Sea God"...
To be honest, Zag even thought that the potion used to hold the "Blessing of the Sea God" was just a glass bottle used for ink, because the design was very simple and the label only had the words "Blessing of the Sea God". If it weren't for the fact that the concepts of production date and shelf life did not exist in this era, this thing would definitely be a black-market, unlicensed product.
But all these drawbacks become insignificant when faced with a price of 1 shilling.
One shilling! That's more than the cost of hiring a monk at a church for a congregational ceremony!
"What is that?"
Snowball flew to the side table, stared at the "Blessing of the Sea God" for a long time, and paced around it with a somewhat uneasy look.
Zag replied, "It's a new kind of healing potion called 'Blessing of the Sea God,' and it only costs 1 shilling."
"One shilling? What good could that be? You've already earned 200 shillings today, and you still can't bear to buy two bottles of [Healing Hand]?"
As he spoke, Snowball stopped, crouched down, and looked warily at the glass bottle in front of him containing a thick, dark blue liquid.
Zag argued, "I just felt that it wasn't worth wasting money on burns."
Snowball gritted its teeth and said angrily, "Foolish Modo! That's not ordinary fire! It's dragonfire! Do you understand dragonfire?! If it weren't for the fact that our fairy fur can block some magic, you would have been a corpse by now!"
Snowball's words startled Zag: "Fur... Snowball, how exactly did you put out those fires?"
"none of your business!"
Snowball cursed irritably, then hugged [Blessing of the Sea God], unscrewed the tin cap, and solemnly sniffed the liquid inside the bottle.
In an instant, its fur stood on end: "Something's wrong! Something's very wrong! There's something disgusting in here! Something from another demon race!"
Zag trusted Hakimi a great deal in this regard, and he frowned as well: "Is there contamination?"
Snowball shook his head: "No, no, I don't know its effects either, but at least it's not polluted. It just has a demonic smell. Maybe the raw materials contain demon urine, who knows? At least that's much easier to obtain than a demon's heart!"
Zag shuddered with disgust: "You might as well say you have demon blood!"
Snowball glanced at Zag expressionlessly: "Maybe it's chest hair."
"That's disgusting, stop talking!"
Zag rubbed his arms, feeling so nauseous he almost gagged, and looked at the glass bottle with some hesitation.
"What are you afraid of? Your spirituality is so stable anyway, as long as it doesn't affect your soul, it's not a big problem!" Snowball sneered. "Or you could go back and buy another bottle of [Healing Hand]. That's like putting butter on smoked meat! It's incredibly stupid!"
"Okay, okay, Matthew wouldn't go so far as to murder me just because I bothered him this morning..."
Zag shrugged, decisively closed his eyes, and poured the [Blessing of the Sea God] into his mouth.
The taste was hard to describe—slightly bitter, with a salty, fishy, and slightly foul odor—but what he found even more unacceptable was the overall texture of the potion.
The liquid, like a fluid, is all condensed together. When you take it, it's less like "drinking" and more like "swallowing," like eating a giant slug or slime—it's disgusting.
Only after swallowing the potion completely did Zag unable to stop himself from dry heaving several times: "Ugh—I never want to drink alchemical potions again!"
On the other side, Snowball had already drunk the Healing Hand. In just a few seconds, its condition was visibly much better. For example, its mottled fur was being repaired at an extremely fast speed. In the blink of an eye, this Hakimi was back to being a fluffy Hakimi.
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【Eastern Frontier Port】: Located on the eastern coast of the Eastern Frontier Territory of the Eternal High Kingdom, it is the most prosperous city in the Eastern Frontier Territory.
As a port city, Dongchui Port bears the heavy responsibility of economic exchange and material exchange with other territories. After all, Dongchui Territory is in a very bad location. To the north, the Eastern Great Swamp blocks the way, and to the west, the Gooseberry Forest and Fairy Lake are obstacles. If you want to communicate with the Royal Court, there is almost only one way: to go by sea through the port.