Glimpses of the Pharmacy

"Today is December 30th. I need to take transportation heading to the Aijin Continent on January 1st. The official exam date is January 7th. After arriving on the Aijin Continent, I'll also need time to find the exam venue..."

"So the maximum time I can spend on the road is no more than five days. In this world, ships and airships... which is faster?"

The white-haired, blue-eyed boy walked all the way to the center of the fountain plaza, sat down by the fountain's edge, and tilted his head slightly to watch the seagulls flying overhead.

The gray-white seagulls streaked across the sky like traces left behind by dispersing clouds.

It seems flying is faster.

He had never ridden a ship or an airship in this world. Ships were nothing special, but airships...

Back when he watched the original anime, he had always wanted to try one! He even tinkered with making one himself and eventually managed to build a decent airship model.

It could take off like a remote-controlled plane.

But there was no finished full-scale product, because making a large-scale model was expensive, there wasn't much market demand, and all the parts and facilities needed custom orders—doubling the cost.

And back then, even though he was an elementary school student who never lacked money, he couldn't come up with that kind of cash.

Later, that first-generation airship model he made sat in his figurine cabinet, never flying again.

"It should be the airship." Su Wu tossed away the skewer he had just finished eating and noticed the red, swollen marks on his arm.

As time passed, the swelling was spreading.

"Pharmacy... come to think of it, I think I saw one earlier..." With a calm heart and an expressionless face, he stood up.

"How do you say 'allergy medicine' in this world? They probably don't have Ebastine, Loratadine, or Acrivastine..." He rubbed his chin as he walked toward the pharmacy he remembered.

It was a shop tucked away in the most remote corner of the street, with a cramped storefront, dim interior, and a door so small and low that you could easily miss it if you weren't paying attention.

It looked like a shop run by dwarves—though, in Snow White, the dwarves were all about 1.6 meters tall.

But on the door of that shop, there was a tiny... mark.

A trace so faint you'd miss it if you didn't look closely—something like two X's sandwiching a diamond shape.

To Su Wu, it looked very familiar. It was exactly the symbol on the Hunter License.

And the Six Eyes detected that inside the pharmacy, there was an individual with life energy far stronger than an ordinary person.

He decisively stepped forward, pushed the door open, and walked straight in without hesitation.

The first thing he saw was a strangely dressed figure in a black hooded robe, standing in front of a cauldron, waving his hands like he was performing some kind of ritual.

Inside the cauldron was a thick, black-purple liquid emitting dense black smoke. Under Su Wu's gaze, it even bubbled up.

It looked exactly like... a wizard hiding in a dark corner, brewing poison or casting curses.

"...Voldemort?" Su Wu stopped in his tracks, standing a short distance away, his tone skeptical.

Does the Hunter World have wizards too?

"What's that? A new type of magical beast?" The figure in the black robe spoke slowly, turning his head as he did.

The oversized hood covered most of his face, but the exposed half was deathly pale, even his lips a grayish white.

Perfect. That pale complexion made him look even more like Voldemort—if only he had no nose or hair.

But he did have hair. Long black hair tied into a single side braid hanging out, making it hard to tell his gender at a glance.

"Sort of," Su Wu replied to the question about whether Voldemort was a magical beast.

"Never seen one. I wonder if it has any valuable parts that could be used as medicine." The dark figure's voice was gloomy and carried a hint of weakness from insufficient vitality.

"Welcome, dear customer. What medicine are you looking to buy?" He finally seemed to remember he should greet a customer, asking in a somber tone.

"It's a seafood allergy. Do you have medicine?" Su Wu felt a faint curiosity about this shop and this Voldemort... ahem, shopkeeper.

It was like running into a strangely dressed, mysterious NPC in a game—any player would guess this NPC had hidden storylines or quests.

"Food allergy? That's a minor issue..." The gloomy wizard shopkeeper extinguished the fire, letting the black-purple liquid in the cauldron cool on its own, and walked over to Su Wu.

He reached out, grabbed Su Wu's arm, lifted it while lowering his own head, observed for three seconds, then let go.

Su Wu uncomfortably patted the spot the other had touched.

He almost used [Dismantle] on him right then. Good thing he held back.

"That'll be 10,000 Geni." The all-black-clad shopkeeper turned around, rummaging through cabinets for medicine as he spoke.

Geni was roughly equivalent to Japanese yen in value. 10,000 Geni was about 500 RMB. The medicine seemed a bit expensive.

As if he had been questioned about the price of his medicine more than once, the gloomy shopkeeper spoke slowly: "All the ingredients come from magic plants. Genuine goods."

"This guest isn't an ordinary person, is he? You should understand their value." He said calmly.

The moment the white-haired boy stepped into the shop, he had sensed the other's Nen. The boy didn't seem to be hiding it either, flaunting his extraordinariness openly. This made it easy for him to realize that the seemingly young child before him was actually stronger than him.

"I'll take one." Su Wu nodded slightly, not directly answering whether he understood the value.

He just tossed down the money and began observing the medicinal ingredients in the shop.

The wooden shelves were filled with all sorts of bizarre items: animal horns, pitch-black sand, milky jelly-like solids, faintly glowing red powder, and even things that looked like fruits or vegetables.

"All from magic plants and magical beasts. What's this?" Su Wu pointed at a red strawberry in the cabinet.

It looks exactly like a strawberry! And not just any strawberry—plump, full, and definitely delicious to eat.

"The Strawberry Turtle from the Mishiru Wetland bears these strawberries on its shell. They taste sweet, have a mild medicinal nature, and strengthen the body. They can be added to most medicines to balance the flavor." The gloomy shopkeeper answered questions very seriously, responding to every inquiry.

Got it. Adding it would give you a strawberry-flavored medicine.

"And this?" Su Wu pointed to a red powder nearby.

It glowed faintly in the dim light, quite beautiful.

"Scales from the wings of the Vampire Butterfly. Effective for replenishing bodily deficiencies. It can also be used to make a certain kind of drug..."

"A certain kind of drug?" The white-haired, blue-eyed youth seemed a bit curious.

"A drug occasionally used by adults during nighttime activities. Of course, it can also be used for crime. The scales of the Vampire Butterfly are also the main ingredient in sedatives." The shopkeeper's tone was utterly flat as he discussed topics unsuitable for minors.

"I see." Su Wu nodded thoughtfully.

But as for replenishing bodily deficiencies... he'd lost so much nosebleed blood, he probably needed that, right?