As soon as they arrived at the apothecary, they moved the bag containing the assassin to the basement.
Lycaon casually dragged the bag along the floor, and each time they went down the stairs, a strange “thump, thump” sound echoed.
“What’s going on, Resa?” he asked.
“Miss! What exactly happened to you?”
Reese and Loren, surprised, tried to follow him down to the basement, but Fresa stopped them.
“Wait a moment; I’ll explain everything soon. Can you wait?” she said, addressing Loren but also speaking to Reese, who was invisible to others.
“If you need help, just say the word.”
Reese obediently responded and fluttered up, perching on top of Loren’s head.
Loren, who had become a soft sofa for the World Tree Spirit, looked worried and asked, “Yes, I understand. It’s not something dangerous, right?”
“Of course, Loren. It’ll be over quickly,” Fresa replied kindly with a smile before locking the basement door.
Before long, Lycaon, who had taken the assassin out of the large bag and sat him in a chair, looked around at Fresa.
“Do you have a thick rope or something?” he asked.
“Yes, just a moment.”
Fresa quickly opened a drawer, found a thick rope, and handed it to him.
Lycaon carefully tied the assassin from shoulders to feet with the rope, then brushed his hands off.
He then pulled out black gloves from his outer pocket and put them on, saying, “Shall we begin?”
“Wait, Mr. Lycaon. Are you planning to torture him?”
Fresa stepped between Lycaon and the assassin.
Lycaon nodded with a look of understanding, showing no particular surprise.
“Yes, technically it’s a magical interrogation, butā”
“There’s an easier way for me,” Fresa interrupted.
“An easier way?”
Lycaon looked at her with a puzzled expression.
Fresa had already been thinking of a method even before arriving at the apothecary. She briefly exchanged looks with Lycaon, then prepared a small jar for boiling herbs and various ingredients, saying,
“I have a potion that makes only the truth come out.”
“Can we make that potion now?”
“Of course. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have brought it up,” she replied, opening a recipe book to find the intructions for a potion called ‘The Mouth of Truth.’
Lycaon glanced at the book curiously and said, “I’ve never seen these characters before. Do you know how to read them?”
“…They’re the common language of the continent,” Fresa replied.
Her words took her by surprise, and she paused, glancing up at Lycaon.
But Lycaon, instead of seeming surprised, muttered with a hint of curiosity, “No way. Itās more like… close to the fairy language.”
Fairy language?
Fresa was stunned. The characters she had always thought were in the common language of the continent actually looked like fairy script.
She had never studied the fairy language, nor could she, since fairy scripts are passed down only to fairies.
Moreover, the characters she was looking at clearly resembled the continent’s common language.
Sensing her confusion, Lycaon added quietly, “Half-bloods are said to naturally understand the fairy language.”
“I’m a member of the Thorpe family. I’m human, after all. My parents are human,” Fresa replied.
“Hmm, perhaps among your distant ancestors, there might be some fairy blood,” he murmured.
“…That might be possible,” she admitted.
If the fairy blood was inherited from ancestors she hardly knew, and this ability was passed down to her by chance, then it made sense.
‘Come to think of it, from the moment I contracted with Reese, that was already strange,’ Fresa thought.
Perhaps her innate plant manipulation ability was a result of that as well.
She was overwhelmed with a strange feeling, realizing that things she hadn’t questioned until now were unfolding in this way.
Lycaon then tapped the book.
“First of all, that’s not the most urgent matter. We need to find out who tried to hurt you.”
“Ah, right,” Fresa quickly prepared the ingredients in the order of the recipe, doing some simple prep, then threw them into the jar.
The last ingredient was herbs, but unfortunately, they were all out.
“One ingredient is missing. I need to grow it quickly. Lycaon, could you give me a pot with just soil?”
She asked as the jar began to boil, stirring with a ladle.
Lycaon brought her a pot filled with moist soil, just as she requested.
“Are you planning to grow herbs now?”
“Yes.”
She realized she hadn’t shown him this ability before.
“Don’t be surprised,” she whispered, planting the seeds in the pot and pressing them with her finger.
Soon, green shoots sprouted, growing quickly enough to harvest.
Lycaon watched her with a strange expression, alternating between her and the herbs, saying nothing.
Fresa washed her dirt-stained hands in a bowl of clean water and asked, “Are you surprised?”
“…I suspected you had some kind of ability, but seeing it firsthand is astonishing. I’ve never seen such magic before.”
“Itās probably not magic. I donāt have magical power or anything,” Fresa replied lightly.
“But I do feel the spirit’s energy,” she added.
She responded casually, then dug up the herb’s roots, washed them, and chopped them into suitable pieces.
She threw them into the boiling jar, stirring with a ladle, and said, “Well, I do have a contracted spirit.”
“The thing that looks like dust?”
Lycaon asked casually, almost causing her to drop the ladle.
She grasped the ladle tightly with both hands, widened her eyes, and asked back, “Did you know?”
“Yes. Though others probably can’t see it,” he replied.
“But why didn’t you tell me?” she asked.
“I waited until you told me. It could be a secret,” he said.
“It was a secret… but now, itās no longer a secret,” she said ambiguously, glancing at the potion inside the jar.
The violet potion had turned into a dark, thick, suspicious-looking liquid.
She double-checked the recipe’s final step, which said to turn off the fire and let it cool for about ten minutes once it reached the perfect consistency.
She turned off the heat and fully faced Lycaon.
“If I just had some strange ability, or contracted with a fairy, it would make things complicated in many ways. Back then… I just wanted to run the apothecary and make money,” she reflected.
“But you can keep it secret from now on, right? Do I look like someone who gossips?”
“Well, not exactly… but I think I can tell the apothecary staff,” she said softly with a smile.
In any case, they decided it was better to keep quiet; their relationship was based on not burdening each other unnecessarilyāa relationship of mutual understanding.
Feeling that it was pointless to push further, she scooped the potion with the ladle to check its temperature.
“Looks like it’s cooled down. Shall I give it to him?”
Lycaon removed the assassin’s mask.
His face behind the mask was more youthful than expected.
He looked like an ordinary man.
But scars decorated his face, the largest one stretching from above the left eye downwards.
He had a rugged, honest appearance, suggesting he was involved in rough work.
Lycaon gently poured a little of the potion into the assassin’s mouth.
Then, he lightly tapped the assassinās cheek.
The assassin shivered, his whole body trembling, and lifted his eyelids.
He looked around, still dazed, as if he was still waking up, then when his eyes met Fresa’s, they widened.
It seemed he had understood the situation.
“…!”
“Assassin, can we have a little talk?” Fresa approached him kindly and asked.
“Who hired you to kill Fresa Thorpe?” she asked softly.
The assassin, intending not to speak, pursed his lips, but the potion’s effect must have worn off, as his lips turned pale and he finally opened his mouth to answer, “Guilespiee…”
Rowan?
It was someone she had suspected, so she wasn’t surprised.
But his words didn’t stop thereāthey slowly continued.
“Countess…”
Ah, Alicia, then.
That was also among her suspected culprits, so it didn’t surprise her anymore.
“Thank you,” she said softly, exchanging a glance with Lycaon, then giving a gentle smile.
~Ā·~Ā·*Ā· . Ā·**##^^##**Ā· . Ā·*Ā·~Ā·~
Hey there, Itās Green Rose š
Since I human I might have make some mistakes while translating so please if you find them let me know here in the comments or in the Discord group so I can correct them and be careful in the future so they do not repeat.
Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
~~~Next Chapter~~~
Next chapter will be released Tomorrow.
See you then!!
