Aperria promised that when she next went underground, she would collect crystals for the blacksmith Gamelia. In exchange, she commissioned the blacksmith to forge a set of armor for each of the two Chosen Ones.
Then, she took off her own armor and asked Gamelia to maintain it before leaving the village blacksmith shop amid Gamelia's complaints.
As she walked home, Aperria smiled and shook her head slightly, silently cheering the blacksmith on.
The Gamelia she knew was the most impatient person in the world.
For her to praise Chosen Ones as "quick learners," they had to be truly impressive.
She wondered whether these Chosen Ones were exceptionally gifted, or whether they had originally been master smiths.
After all, the Lord had told her that these Chosen Ones came from the future and knew everything.
As for that strange-haired man Gamelia was willing to patiently teach... Gamelia was already twenty-eight, and there were rarely any outsiders in the village. His hairstyle was a little ugly, but he was actually fairly handsome. Aperria could tell he was a good person.
She hoped Gamelia would win him over.
When she arrived at her little house, Aperria, freed from her full plate armor, felt utterly relaxed. She went inside and changed into a nun's habit, preparing to head to the church in the center of the village and make up for the prayers she had missed lately.
Crystal Seal Village was only a small village. One could see its end at a glance.
Yet only after leaving her house did Aperria suddenly realize that she seemed not to have seen any other villagers.
A bad feeling rose in her heart, and she quickened her pace.
The modest church was already packed with people. Seeing that everyone in the village was here, Aperria breathed a small sigh of relief.
She silently entered the church and looked over the crowd. Suddenly, her expression stiffened, and only after a long while did she dare ask:
"Where are Uncle Enli and the others?"
In the crowd, the village chief, leaning on a cane, looked at Aperria. He let out a long sigh and tapped the crystal coffin beneath the statue.
"They're all here."
Aperria walked to the village chief's side and saw five human figures lying inside the transparent crystal coffin. Three men and two women—they were the ones who had left the Knight Order with her.
"What... happened to them?" Aperria's pupils contracted slightly.
"Their souls suffered severe damage. They need to recuperate within the crystal for a while. If we cannot find a cure, I fear they may lose their memories even after waking up," the village chief said without concealing anything.
"Then how did I..." Aperria took half a step back, suddenly understanding the whole picture.
So I was the same?
It was "Sister." She did it to me again...
He Who Seeks His Own Demise, mixed in among the villagers, nudged Three Stages of Fighting Spirit, the stranger he had only recently become acquainted with through mutual insults, and asked:
"How did she win the revival round?"
"Isn't that a good thing? If the saint responsible for leveling up died, would we have to run all the way back to Iron Wall City, six hundred kilometers away, every time we leveled up?"
"But the online guides say NPCs can't be revived after they die."
"Then that means she didn't die." Fire Elemental explained impatiently, "The people in those coffins are the same. Once I level up my apothecary profession, I can casually make a couple Soul Repair Potions and save them."
The quiet exchange between the two players did not escape Aperria's ears.
She took a deep breath, walked over to the two Chosen Ones of fire and shadow, and asked:
"Could you two tell me what a Soul Repair Potion is?"
When the two players did not react, Aperria bit her lip and held out her hand.
"If you are willing to answer, I can offer one thousand Experience Points for every question."
She only had a little over twenty thousand Experience Points. She did not know whether it would be enough to get the answers she wanted.
The two silent players were not dissatisfied with the amount of Experience Points.
They simply had not reacted yet.
Who could have imagined that a cutscene meant purely for watching would be derailed by player chatter, causing the NPC protagonist to abandon her role and come directly to them, the player characters, to ask how to resolve the crisis?
Their level of involvement was completely maxed out!
Three Stages of Fighting Spirit reacted first. He had originally wanted to consider his words and explain it to the NPC while staying in character.
But after running through the lines in his head, he felt it was too troublesome and simply gave up trying.
"It's one of the potions made by the apothecary side profession. It can instantly dispel mind-related control effects and put a shield around the soul. It specifically counters all kinds of hypnosis apps. Basically, only Magical Girls buy it."
Aperria's eyes lit up at those words.
Although she could not understand what this Fire Elemental was saying, she understood that these all-knowing Chosen Ones truly had a way to heal Uncle Enli and the others.
The village chief on the platform had also heard their conversation. He slowly walked down and asked the Chosen Ones, "Honored Chosen Ones, how might we obtain the divine medicine you speak of?"
"At the very least, we need a high-level apothecary, probably the equivalent of a Gold Rank side profession. I have the recipe in my head, and the materials should not be hard to get. We can prepare it directly when the time comes," Fire Elemental answered instantly.
When facing the elderly village chief, Three Stages of Fighting Spirit became much more proactive.
It was not because he respected the elderly, but because two of the five knights lying in the coffins had been brought back by the two of them.
The reason they had stayed in the church instead of leaving was that they were waiting for their reward.
"An apothecary..." The village chief shook his head, the wrinkles on his face clearly visible. "Our village has no apothecary."
"A chef would work too."
He Who Seeks His Own Demise, who had been standing beside them in a daze for quite some time, suddenly spoke.
After hearing Three Stages of Fighting Spirit brag, he had switched to the encyclopedia in the backend and looked it up.
There really were potions that could heal the soul, but the tiny resistance they provided was practically a joke. No wonder only Magical Girls bought them. Besides, apothecaries were not the only side profession capable of making products with the same effect.
Crystal Seal Village had two side professions: blacksmith and chef.
As one of the most popular and one of the least popular side professions, blacksmithing could produce armor that resisted soul-attribute attacks, while the chef's menu contained seven dishes capable of healing soul injuries.
In the first playthrough, dishes made by chefs were actually no worse than apothecary potions in terms of effect.
Unfortunately, dishes could only be used after leaving combat and required a casting time, which was why no one cared about the chef side profession.
Take the current situation, for example. Among the players who had reached the village, several had sought out NPCs to unlock the blacksmith side profession, yet not a single one had gone to learn cooking.
He Who Seeks His Own Demise suddenly realized something. This game's taste system was basically no different from reality.
Then perhaps chefs would reverse their decline and become one of the most popular side professions in the future. After all, not everyone was focused on combat. Trading high-rarity dishes for Soft Girl Currency might even earn more than being a chef in reality.
But that was beside the point. Right now, he needed to solve the NPC's problem.
The shadowkin put on a thoughtful act, then cleared his throat and said to the two of them:
"Chef-made dishes can also heal damaged souls. I know three viable recipes—Spicy Soul Chicken, Vitality Soup, and Dream Healing Broth."
"These dishes only require a Master Chef-level cook. The problem is that the ingredients are rather troublesome, and some of the spices are not even produced on the Bountiful Continent."
"However, I can help gather those ingredients. After all, those knights were brought back by me—me—so I have every reason to take responsibility for them to the end."