"Master, give me another bottle!"
"I'll do anything!"
"I feel like ants are crawling all over me!"
"One sip! Just one sip!"
Mia clung to Veylin's thigh, her whole body dangling from him as she smeared tears and snot all over his trouser leg.
Veylin looked helpless.
He had only wanted her to take a sip to test how well his recreated recipe worked.
Who knew she would down the entire bottle in one go, then end up like this?
It was just a bottle of homemade soda. Was all this really necessary?
He himself hadn't had a proper drink of it in almost a year. If he hadn't been brainstorming "off-board tactics" against Fabian, he would have all but forgotten it existed.
Seeing Mia's tearful, snot-covered face, he knew the conversation wasn't going anywhere unless he made another bottle.
Veylin grabbed Mia by the back of her collar and peeled her off his leg.
"To the lab."
With Mia still sniffling behind him, he headed to his private laboratory in the Origin Society.
Inside, all sorts of oddly shaped glassware and clay jars were neatly arranged.
Mia watched him take a clay jar labeled "maple syrup" from a shelf, scoop out some thick, dark brown syrup, pour it into a copper pot, and set it on a small stove nearby to simmer.
A cloyingly sweet aroma drifted out, making her swallow instinctively.
Then her master walked over to another shelf.
Veylin approached another shelf, where a row of earthenware jars stood with damp cloths covering their mouths.
A row of earthenware jars stood there with damp cloths covering their mouths.
He uncovered one, and a sharp, sour smell unlike anything Mia had ever smelled hit her in the face.
She leaned closer for a curious look. Inside the jar,