Barbara's Potion Workshop: Ceruno

(Ceruno)

Azura and Mono are the same.

They are all intelligent beings born from the Black Mud.

The only difference is that Mono resides within the Ceruno Crystal, while Azura was forcibly created by Mono by mixing it with Black Mud.

Although they were born from negative emotions, neither of them is inherently evil; they are like white lotuses that rise from the mud, untainted by its filth.

Mono likes to be mischievous from time to time, but that's just her way of seeking attention.

Azura gives me the feeling of being a blank slate, someone who knows nothing, whose concepts of good and evil haven't even formed yet.

Further reflection reveals that not all witches are evil. Witches like Alpha and Fomalhaut are often simply on different sides. If this war hadn't happened... if we could have met in a different setting...

"Ceruno, what are you thinking about?"

As I was spacing out on the sofa, Miluno patted the back of my head.

After tidying up the table, she tossed the trash bag and purse to the doorway and casually opened a teleportation portal.

"It's time to go, let's go rehearse over on stage."

"Um..."

The Dantai Society event is temporarily being handled by my uncle and aunt. Right now, we should focus on tomorrow's concert. However, the devastating battle in the Old District has caused widespread panic around the world, and we don't know if the event can still be held smoothly.

The Monster and witches sent by the "Supreme Council" were either captured or killed. In the end, we thwarted their plot to establish an outpost, but our losses were somewhat unacceptable.

Following Miluno into the teleportation tunnel, I couldn't help but sigh:

"Those Monster over there can be mass-produced, but we magical girls can't. After such a huge sacrifice, the result this time is bad no matter how you look at it..."

"We were careless this time. When SpiCa proposed the plan, no one thought fifty magical girls were too few. Some even thought it was making a mountain out of a molehill by deploying so many magical girls at once. It's clear that no one expected the Supreme Council to be so desperate as to pull out such a Shuttle Tower... Oh, right, Aldebaran calls that thing Landing Bridge. If she's not lying to me, the Supreme Council won't be able to build a second one anytime soon."

Even now, the Shuttle Tower still stands in the Old District, and it's unclear what the Association plans to do with it; most likely, they'll dismantle it and take it back for research.

"Um?"

After passing through the teleportation tunnel, Miluno stopped at the entrance.

This caused me to bump my face into Miluno's back, and Mono buried his head in my fluffy hair and hugged me.

"Miluno, what's wrong?" I asked.

"Uh, it's nothing, it's just... Barbara is missing."

"Huh?!"

I peeked out from behind her.

As the green lung of this City School, the Garden District is as vibrant as ever, with hundreds of flowers blooming in competition. However, the towering ancient cypress in the center of the flowerbed has disappeared, leaving only an empty stage in the square, and Miss Freya is nowhere to be seen.

Looking around, Mono couldn't see anyone. He even searched through the trash cans, but still couldn't find them.

"Stop rummaging through the trash can, send a message to Freya first."

Miluno that suggestion, I gave an awkward laugh.

"Hehe, I don't have her contact information..."

Since we don't speak the same language, I've never been able to get her phone number.

She sighed, then took out her phone and typed a message in English to send it out.

"They went back to Divine Tree Forest Park."

Miss Freya replied to the message quite quickly, but...

What are they going back for today?

"Because the medical facilities in Skyreach City need a lot of magical potions, and you know why, Barbara went back to work overtime."

I almost forgot that Miss Barbara was also an alchemist.

"What about the rehearsals?" I asked again in a low voice.

Miluno thought for a moment and replied:

"Let's stop practicing for now and Past see if there's anything we can do to help."

Miluno, and Mono passed through the teleportation portal back to Skyreach City.

In front of Miss Barbara's cabin, different herbs were laid out in categories, almost covering the entire pit. Miss Freya was also constantly rummaging through a burlap sack next to her to sort the herbs.

In the center of the pit stood a large medicine pot, with firewood burning underneath. Miss Barbara stood on a small stool, stirring the medicine with a serious expression.

I wonder what her opinion is on burning firewood...

Barbara put down the stirring spoon and pulled out her tablet from behind her back.

[Why are you here?]

"Let's see if there's anything we can help you with. Let's get the medicine ready quickly; we need to go back to rehearsal."

[Stirring pan]

[But don't go too fast]

Miluno scratched her cheek, took the spoon from Barbara, and jumped off the stool. She started running back and forth among the piles of herbs, occasionally grabbing a handful of herbs I couldn't even name and tossing them in...

It is worth noting that every time she does this, a puff of smoke or a beam of light will burst out of the large medicine pot.

That must be the magic she uses to concoct medicine. As for the principle behind the medicine and what effects it will have, only she herself knows.

I looked around and asked, "Um... Miss Barbara, what should I do?"

[Collecting medicine]

Does this mean I have to work for Miss Freya?

I squatted down beside Miss Freya, watching her pull handfuls of mixed herbs from a sack and run back and forth between the piles of herbs. It was rather... tiring?

"Wait a minute, Miss Freya!"

Miss Freya was still wearing her headphones; she had a portable translator, so she understood me... if I wasn't slurring my words.

Want some help?

"Yes, but doing it this way is too inefficient."

I took out my wand and arranged seven bubbles in front of her, corresponding to the seven herbs in the area.

"Please sort the herbs and put them into these bubbles. I'll put them where they belong so you don't have to run around."

I'm definitely not as fast as Miss Freya at sorting things out, so it's more reasonable for her to handle the sorting while I run the errands.

Because of the translation software's delay, Miss Freya paused for a moment before understanding what I meant. She brushed her bangs aside, smiled, and nodded.

After giving a brief reply, she lowered her head and began to work.

Neither Barbara nor Freya were people I could communicate with directly. In order not to affect our work, Miluno and I reduced the number of times we spoke. During Miluno's time, Barbara even pushed a small liquid filling machine out of the cabin so that Miluno could fill the finished potion (emerald green, gelatinous, and sweet-tasting) into the jelly-sucking bag.

They worked non-stop for four hours before all the medicinal herbs on site were finally refined.

"Call--"

Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

[This was a huge help]

Barbara had no expression, but she seemed to be in a good mood.

All the work that the four of us were doing on the field was previously done by Miss Barbara alone in the cabin, which is why her room smelled so strongly of herbs.

In the end, a total of seven large boxes of magic potions were completed.

"Finally over? I'm so bored!!"

Mono, who hadn't helped at all from beginning to end, finally came over.

Migraine + insufficient manuscript, so I'll just take a short break today.

Second update today.