Ch.22: Body Enhancement Potion
Hadiya reaches the riverbank faster than anyone else. The traces left by the warhorse were so clear that tracking posed virtually no difficulty.
In front of the riverbank.
She spots Calix lying on the muddy ground and finally lets out a sigh of relief.
"Calix! Are you okay?"
"...Yeah."
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
"I'm fine."
Despite the reassuring answer, the youth from the desert feels around her companion's body, checking once more for injuries.
"I told you I'm fine. Just a little tired."
"Hold still. Right after combat, you might be too excited to notice if you're hurt."
For Calix, this is quite an awkward moment.
[Reality Acceleration 1.0x]
[Physical condition is stable]
He learned from the neural accelerator that he hadn't suffered any serious injuries. Even so, figuring that it's better to be safe than sorry, he doesn't push away the hands examining his body.
Just then, Captain Royce appears with Gregor.
"Hadiya. How is Calix?"
"No major injuries."
"Hmm... Did you confirm the knight's whereabouts?"
Only one person knows the answer to that last question.
"He's in the water."
"In the water, you say..."
"About fifteen steps in a straight line. The current isn't fast, so he couldn't have drifted far. Plus, there's the weight of his armor."
"Hmm..."
"Captain, I'll go check."
At this, Hadiya taps her chest as if ready to dive, but the mercenary captain shakes his head and steps forward himself.
"Calix is tired too, and someone needs to look after Gregor. You stay here and guard them both. I'll go in."
"Uh... You'd be better at guarding than me, Captain."
"True. But someone who can swim needs to go in, don't you think?"
"Ah, yes."
Thud!
Splash, splash-
As Royce throws off his leather armor and heads into the center of the river, Hadiya finally shows a mischievous expression as if she can breathe easy.
"Just like the perfect partners we are. What am I supposed to do if you two handle everything together?"
"I didn't handle it. If the Captain and you hadn't arrived in time, things would have gotten complicated. The knight... He was strong."
"Strong indeed. And you cleanly killed that strong opponent. Gregor, you must be proud, right? You really chose your partner well, didn't you?"
At Hadiya's praise, the old mercenary, who had been staring at the river, slowly turns his head to respond.
"Ah, my partner? You mean my sturdy plate?"
"...Gregor, I was talking about Calix."
"The cook comrade?"
"..."
Sadly, it seemed that Indomitable Gregor had already lost his memory.
***
After dozens of dives, mercenary Captain Royce discovers the Baron's corpse and emerges near the riverbank.
Splash!
"...Hadiya. Help me pull him out."
"Yes, Captain! Calix, you just stay put!"
Since the iron armor wasn't light enough for one person to pull up, they tied a rope to the corpse and pulled from land.
Scrape, scrape scrape-
The Baron's corpse no longer retained any trace of noble dignity.
The helmet that had once been decorated with hawk feathers was now covered with tangled water plants, and water seeped out from various joints in the armor with drip drip sounds.
The four mercenaries looked down at it with serious expressions.
"Captain, now... What do we do?"
"Nothing changes. Capturing him alive would have been best, but the choice was his. He chose death over the path to life."
"Aha, you're copying what my cook comrade said! 'The choice isn't ours to make~ They chose first~' You were quite impressive back then, comrade!"
"..."
Is it just imagination that Calix and the Captain's faces seem slightly flushed?
At this, Hadiya desperately holds back laughter while searching through the corpse's belongings. As expected, no evidence remained.
"There's a command letter, but it got wet and smeared. There are some readable parts, but... Even those don't contain anything significant."
"That's fine. No matter what we show, we can't escape responsibility."
"But-"
"We only have one choice anyway. We must inform the Marquis Hoover family of the facts and put them at the forefront. That's the only way we can survive."
"Can't we inform the Mercenary Guild?"
It was a foolish question.
"Mouse comrade, unless the Mercenary Guild is braindead, would they side with the rabbit? They'd just stick to the predator's neck and wag their tail."
"I suppose so... But Gregor, I told you not to call me Mouse. I asked you to call me Mountain Rabbit, too!"
"But didn't you come from the desert anyway?"
"Well, that's true, but..."
"Then Mouse is correct. The forest belongs to rabbits, and the desert is the land of mice. Yes, absolutely. One mustn't forget what they were born as."
"..."
Anyway, the cleanup is quickly finished. The horse was buried under the river water, but one corpse of noble blood remained intact.
"All the cleanup is done. We can load the body onto the cart and take it with us. It's getting warmer, so we'll need to think of ways to prevent decay."
"Good work. So we've gathered everything worth taking?"
"Yes."
"No."
"...?"
And right then, Calix suddenly interrupted the conversation. In his outstretched hand was a glass bottle.
***
For Calix, trust and faith were values that couldn't be exchanged for anything. However, there was another reason why he readily handed over the treasure called the body enhancement potion.
He still didn't know the world.
He didn't know how precious this was, how to use it, or what price he would have to pay for keeping it hidden alone.
'It's better to reveal the truth and earn the Captain's trust.'
And this was a very wise decision.
"...Captain, this is going to cause an uproar. Judging by the color, it's definitely a high-grade enhancement potion. Only nobles can obtain something like this. Mercenaries like us never get to see such a thing in our entire lives."
"..."
"Damn... Sorry for swearing. But this definitely seems to be genuine."
Hadiya searches through the baron's corpse again as if realizing something, and soon pulls out broken glass fragments from his inner pocket.
The Baron had prepared two body enhancement potions.
One lost its value when the glass bottle broke during combat, and the other was the one Calix had retrieved.
"Now that it's come to this, how about we stop by a city and dispose of it-"
"Impossible."
Captain Royce shakes his head firmly. He knew well that 'treasures beyond one's station are worse than not having them at all'.
"Just revealing its existence would create countless enemies. It would be tantamount to suicide."
"That's probably true. Then how about secretly handing it over to the Marquis Hoover family and receiving compensation?"
"They're a family renowned for their fairness."
"Right?"
"But I don't trust them. They're not family. Friendship and trust are different things. I can't put the entire mercenary company at risk for money."
"...Then what do you intend to do? Destroy it here?"
"No, it might be worth presenting as a bargaining chip when we face a crisis someday. For now, let's hide the fact that we have a body enhancement potion. It must be kept secret even within the mercenary company. Is that possible?"
At this, Hadiya responds by looking at someone.
The memory-lost old man, Gregor, was passionately lecturing Calix about body enhancement potions, who looked clearly exhausted.
"Cook comrade, this is truly the essence of mana. While neural accelerators could be crudely copied, enhancement potions could only follow the exact formulation methods of mages. The ingredients that go into this are so precious."
"I see."
"Of course! This is so precious that it's divided into high, medium, and low grades depending on the degree of dilution. Since they don't know the method, they have no choice but to dilute it like adding water to alcohol!"
"Have you ever tried it, Gregor? I'm curious."
At Calix's question, the old man laughs heartily enough to make his shield rattle, then approaches Royce and naturally takes the glass bottle from his grasp.
"Comrade, this isn't something you drink. In fact, even this glass bottle has magi-tech engineering applied to it. Look here. If you press the top with your thumb-"
Click!
"A needle comes out from the bottom. If you stick this into the neck vein like this-"
Prick!
Gurgle~gurgle~
"The essence of mana flows in through the needle. Then explosive chain reactions occur within the body. It strengthens the flesh and increases the flow and rotation speed of mana, enabling higher levels of neural responses. There's a similar item called 'Bone Enhancement Potion' that magi-tech engineers like to use, but this has effects on a completely different dimension. How's that, do you understand now?"
"Ah..."
It was far too sudden.
The old man stuck the needle into Calix's neck and kept babbling until all the liquid inside was emptied.
What on earth just happened? The confusion was brief,
Looking around, it seemed Calix wasn't the only one shocked.
Hadiya's mouth was hanging open as if her jaw had disappeared, and the Captain stood frozen with one arm extended forward.
His trembling fingertips were a bonus.
"Gre, Gregor-! You crazy old man... No, sir! Do you know what that was that you just injected!"
"A body enhancement potion. Does Mouse comrade think I don't even know that?"
"No, no... Oh my goodness, Kriya!"
"Do you believe in the Kriya faith? The priest's wife would be pleased. Her name is..."
"She's not a wife, she's Lady Ella! Ah, ahhhhh! What do we do about this! How are we going to handle this... You heard everything the Captain and I were discussing!"
"I did it because I heard."
"What? What do you mean-"
"You said we had to hide it, right? Ta-da! Look here. I hid it tightly inside cook comrade's body~! We're family after all!"
"..."
Hadiya opens her mouth once more, which seemed like it couldn't open any further, then lies face down and pounds the muddy ground thud thud thud.
She couldn't bring himself to utter harsh words.
Thunk.
Then, a little later.
When the completely empty glass bottle fell to the ground, Captain Royce raised the corners of his mouth and suddenly began laughing snicker snicker.
"...Captain? Why are you even acting like this? Get a hold of yourself!"
"Kehehehe. Thank you, Gregor. I showed an unsightly side of myself. I was so busy calculating this and that that I couldn't think of something so simple. I owe you again."
"Don't mention it. This is why I like my leader comrade. Anyone can be stubborn, but not everyone can acknowledge things!"
Subsequently, he passes by Hadiya, who is holding her head with both hands, and approaches Calix, who has a somewhat dazed expression.
"Sit down comfortably. Turbulent waves are probably raging inside your body right now. Don't panic and keep your mind calm. There's plenty of time. Just wait."
The reward for his achievement was confirmed, so now it was Calix's turn.
***
Calix had already begun experiencing strange phenomena.
[Foreign substance injected into body, analyzing]
[Analysis complete. Mana essence, confirmed as Grade 2]
[High-concentration mana detected]
[Please rest]
Though he couldn't fully understand everything the neural accelerator conveyed, he could immediately feel that the body enhancement potion Gregor had injected had extraordinary effects.
Thud!
Thump, thump, thump thump thump thump thump.
When he sat down in place as the Captain instructed, his heart already felt like it would burst.
[Blood flow increased]
[Physical recovery rate increased]
[Additional bone and muscle tissue generation in progress]
Meanwhile, the high-concentration mana spread throughout his body through his blood vessels.
Despite consuming various foods since joining the mercenary company, the accumulated damage from his mine slave days was significant, and cells throughout his body voraciously devoured this thing called 'mana'.
Using the high-concentration energy source as fuel, they divided, multiplied, healed wounds, and filled deficient areas to make them stronger and more robust.
It was an act close to reconstruction.
Hisssss-
[Blocking all five senses due to internal heat generation]
[Neural network and brain protection necessity recognized]
[Discharging heat through a magic stone]
Due to injecting an excessively high-level body enhancement potion, Calix, who was nearly exposed to great danger, closes his eyes and falls into the abyss.
However, even the neural accelerator of the hero Ashapel Raimund couldn't fully process all the high-concentration mana, and soon, warning sounds rang out.
[Heart rate has reached dangerous levels]
[Determined that the user's body has exceeded manageable levels]
[Recalculating mana distribution method]
Messages that the unconscious Calix could neither hear nor see.
Fortunately, the means to overcome the crisis had been inherited from the woman who was Ashapel's partner.
[External discharge of mana is determined inefficient]
[Activating bloodline ability, 'Lanita's Heart/Source of Mana']
[Accumulating mana in the heart]
Whoooosh.
And thus.
By having compressed mana gather near his heart, Calix was reborn anew without even knowing it.
This was different from his diving days, when drinking mana-rich muddy water had healed his sickly body.
For the first time since his life began, his 'physical condition' had surpassed his 'mental condition'.