Preparing Potions

"He doesn't have a single injury. He's just unconscious?"

Aiven paid no heed to what the others thought and spotted the problem with Baron Reiser.

A sleeping state... Drawing on the knowledge he'd gained in his previous life, he made his assessment. The concept of abnormal status conditions probably didn't exist in this world yet.

If it were ordinary sleep, the problem would be easy to solve. One Lingyu Fruit would be enough.

But these apothecaries had tried all sorts of things and still hadn't woken Baron Reiser. That meant this wasn't ordinary sleep.

Perhaps he'd been hit by a hypnosis-type move. The only question was whether it had been Sleep Powder or Hypnosis.

"Young apothecary, have you figured anything out?"

Sir Bellin watched Aiven, who was deep in thought, and questioned him in front of everyone.

He planned to use the apothecaries present to test the young man in public and expose him as a fraud, so he could be sent packing as soon as possible.

Aiven glanced at Sir Bellin. He'd guessed what the man was thinking and gave a silent snort.

After a moment, he looked at the lord, who was watching him too, and said:

"Baron Reiser was probably affected by a Monster's power."

"Some Grass Monsters carry powders that have a hypnotic effect."

"Or perhaps some super... I mean, Monsters with powerful Psychic Power can use Psychic Attack to induce hypnosis."

Aiven began to explain. At this point in time, Spiritology and types existed only as vague concepts.

In the real world, a Pokémon could have one or two types. For instance, Petilil only had the Grass Attribute, while Ironclad Rhinoceros had both the Ground attribute and Rock Attribute.

Every Pokémon and move had its own type. When a move of a particular type directly damaged a Pokémon of another type, Type Compatibility could make the attack super effective, not very effective, or completely ineffective.

"The Monster's power... That's what we thought, too." Several older apothecaries nodded in agreement.

Extracting Sleep Powder from Grass Monsters wasn't particularly difficult for them.

But the baron's condition was so strange that none of their methods could wake him. It had made them question their diagnosis.

Hah, anyone could guess that... Apothecary Haren didn't think much of the answer. He chimed in, "Do you know how to treat him, then?"

They'd only asked offhandedly and hadn't expected him to answer. To their surprise, Aiven nodded.

Everyone in the room turned their attention to him, even the apothecaries preparing the Panacea.

"Actually, it's simple. You just need an Orange Fruit and a Lingyu Fruit to brew a potion that will wake the baron," Aiven said outright.

Given who he was, it would be hard to convince anyone there without a direct solution.

"You know this recipe too?" the young apothecary asked, clearly surprised. He looked Aiven up and down. It seemed the man really did know a thing or two about making potions.

Every potion recipe was precious to apothecaries. Unless someone was their own student, they would almost never pass one on to an outsider.

But they'd already tried this recipe, and it hadn't worked at all.

"It didn't work?"

Aiven fell silent for a moment, then continued, "My potion might work."

Everyone turned their gaze back to him.

They'd just told him the recipe didn't work, and he was claiming his potion would?

Wasn't he saying that his potions were better than those made by every apothecary present?

After all, nearly the best apothecaries in City of Ambition had gathered here. Even Master Olay and Master John were among them!

Could this commoner's skill as an apothecary really surpass that of a Master Apothecary?

"I hope you're not joking," Sir Bellin said in a lowered voice. He was beginning to suspect that Aiven was deliberately causing trouble.

Aiven calmly met Sir Bellin's gaze. "You seem to have a prejudice against me."

At his words, many of those present nearly laughed. Sir Bellin certainly wasn't the only one who had a prejudice against him.

"Are you sure you want to pass up this chance? Or are you really that confident in the Panacea?" Aiven glanced around at everyone and added, "A legend is still just a legend."

This time, no one argued with him. As he'd said, the Panacea was a last resort they were trying out of desperation.

Before Sir Bellin could say anything else, Aiven added calmly, "If I cure him, give Petilil back to me. How about it?"

Everyone stared at him in surprise, not quite understanding.

Wasn't Petilil Sir Bellin's? What did he mean, "give her back"?

But many of them quickly caught on. Among them was Lord Mila. Her brows drew together slightly as she looked at Sir Bellin, whose expression had turned stormy.

Damnable man. Sir Bellin was furious.

Although Aiven hadn't said so outright, his meaning was clear: Petilil didn't belong to Sir Bellin!

Sir Bellin wanted to lash out on the spot, but Aiven hadn't actually said anything explicit. And when he noticed the lord watching him, he forced his anger back down.

"You're an interesting one."

"If you can wake my father, then what does it matter if I give you Petilil?" Sir Bellin kept his expression calm, doing his best to save face.

Aiven shook his head, unconcerned by the nobleman's denial of the truth. Sir Bellin had agreed, so Aiven had gotten what he wanted.

"Little one, I'll take you home in a little while."

Everyone looked at Aiven in surprise again. Had he come here to save Petilil?

"Petilil..." Petilil stared blankly at Aiven. She hadn't expected that he had really come to save her!

Seeing the confident smile on Aiven's face, Petilil felt a little surer of herself. An emotion called hope began to stir in her heart.

He's unexpectedly kind. I hope he really can wake Uncle Reiser... Mila thought. She didn't want Petilil to die like this, either.