"Okay, then I'll have to trouble you, Mr. Aiven."
Just then, a calm voice suddenly rang out in the room, leaving everyone stunned.
It was Phyllis who had spoken. Her face showed no expression, as if the words hadn't come from her at all.
She actually agreed... Master John's mouth hung open so wide an egg could have fit inside.
"Big sister..." Sir Enzo said, his voice trembling.
Phyllis shot him a cold look, then turned to the other apothecaries. "The apothecaries present can all vouch for what I said."
Apothecary Aulai and Master John exchanged a glance, then nodded silently. They were just as curious to see how Aiven would cure the poisoning.
Aiven was also surprised by how decisively Phyllis had agreed. A complete Ironclad Rhinoceros Carriage—including the Ironclad Rhinoceros, its Beast Gear, and the carriage itself—was worth several hundred gold coins.
"These are the ingredients needed for the Antidote Potion. Please go prepare them." Though surprised, he kept his expression neutral as he handed her a slip of paper.
He'd prepared this in advance... Phyllis took the slip, but a chill ran through her. Had Apothecary Aiven known they would come to him?
Then she looked over the ingredients listed on the paper and frowned slightly. There were far too many.
Still, aside from a few kinds of monster venom, they could get things like Orange Fruit and Mago Berry.
But Aiven was clearly making an Antidote Potion, so why were there venoms among the ingredients? She realized that many of them weren't actually ingredients for an antidote.
Was an Ironclad Rhinoceros Carriage not enough...? Phyllis bit her lip. Still, her viscount family could afford that much.
"Mr. Aiven, I'm afraid we'll need the apothecaries here to help with some of the ingredients in the formula," Phyllis said after a moment's thought.
Aiven gave a slight nod, indicating that the other apothecaries could see the formula.
Just as Phyllis had guessed, only a small portion of the ingredients in his formula were for an antidote.
He had prepared the slip in advance, but this poisoning had been unexpected. He had originally planned to give the list to Link and ask him to buy the ingredients.
Master John and Master Olay's eyes lit up. They took the slip from Phyllis and spread it on the table to examine.
Orange Fruit, Mago Berry, Peach Fruit, Lingyu Fruit, Sakura Fruit... Tongtong Fruit.
As they studied the list of berries, the two masters' eyes soon settled on the Peach Fruit and Tongtong Fruit.
Peach Fruit was a very common antidote berry. It could easily neutralize ordinary poisons.
As experienced masters, they also knew a little about Tongtong Fruit, a fairly rare berry. It could indeed be used to counter poison!
But Tongtong Fruit alone couldn't cure the poisoning. It had to be made into a special antidote. Even they didn't know that potion formula!
Did Aiven even know the formula for making an antidote with Tongtong Fruit...? The two masters were stunned once again.
When they thought of the poison that no one had been able to cure, they felt that only a special, powerful antidote like this could neutralize the poison in Luxray's body.
"I didn't realize Mr. Aiven knew that antidote formula."
Master John reluctantly tore his gaze away from the formula and nodded to Phyllis.
Phyllis let out a breath of relief. She had another copy of the formula made and gave it to her somewhat dejected little brother.
While Sir Enzo went to gather the ingredients, the two masters studied the formula again, trying to identify the actual antidote recipe.
Link came over to take a look. After one glance, he was certain the formula also contained the recipe for a poison potion.
"Mr. Aiven, why does this formula call for monster venom?"
Master John, unaware of the situation, asked. He could tell that something was off about the formula, but writing monster venom right into it seemed a little too...
"Master John... have you heard of fighting poison with poison?" Aiven smiled slightly, suddenly feeling a little mischievous.
The apothecaries were all stunned. They turned the phrase over in their minds and felt as if they had almost grasped something.
But when they thought it over, they realized they hadn't grasped anything at all. Could fighting poison with poison really work?
Ignoring the apothecaries as they resumed studying the formula, Aiven crouched down and continued examining Luxray.
This Luxray was at the elite level. In his world, it would already have qualified to compete in the Alliance Tournament.
Converted to the power levels of this world, it should be equivalent to an early-stage Monster.
According to the knights' ranking system, Monsters in this world were divided into early, middle, and advanced stages—a straightforward system.
Yet this early-stage Monster had been reduced to a dying state so quickly by the poison move of little newbie Petilil. That showed just how powerful the Deadly Poison Technique was.
Even a middle- or advanced-stage Monster would probably be badly affected if hit by the Deadly Poison Technique. If left untreated for too long, it could still be fatal.
"Petilil."
Petilil came closer too. Seeing Luxray in such a sorry state, it felt a sense of satisfaction.
Am I... pretty strong now?
The Deadly Poison Technique was so useful. It wondered how powerful Leech Seed would be. Status conditions really were amazing!
And so, time passed quickly.
Before long, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door.
Perhaps because he'd been prepared in advance, Sir Enzo soon returned with the ingredients from Aiven's formula.
"Good, we have the ingredients." Aiven glanced over what he had been given.
A few ingredients were still missing, but he had the monster venom and Tongtong Fruit he needed.
Sir Enzo let out a breath of relief. He had also sent people to gather the other ingredients, but that would take more time—and time was what they lacked most right now.
After checking the ingredients, Aiven had Sir Enzo take him straight to a quiet room.
The other apothecaries looked on with some disappointment, but potion-making was a very private matter. They couldn't make an unreasonable demand to watch.
Once inside, Aiven inspected the room, then placed Petilil on the table.
The little one blinked its big eyes as Aiven laid out the ingredients one by one, sorting them into categories.
These ingredients were enough for Aiven to make several different potions, which pleased him.
Before you continue