Chapter 105: Alchemy Shop
Soon they arrived at the new place.
Just as Gerald was before, the young ladies were shocked at the sight of their new home.
"This…" Xilia was speechless for a moment, "I can't possibly accept living in such a grand mansion! It's too much!"
She grabbed her little sister by the hand and bowed, "Gerald, you have helped us so much, but I cannot accept your invitation. We don't want to be a burden on you! I will find work in the city, so if fate allows it, let's meet again sometime. Farewell!"
Gerald almost panicked when he saw her trying to leave. He quickly grabbed her by the hand and gently pulled her back, smiling, "Hey don't be so quick to decide! We can't live in such a big mansion all by ourselves."
"Besides, I already told you I'm opening a potion-making business, we could use a few helping hands…" he quickly voiced his thoughts.
"Come, stay here for a few days, and if you want, you can work under me so you won't have to feel guilty. Then again, if it's really too much for you and you don't like it, I won't stop you from leaving," Gerald beckoned them to stay with his enchanting and rational words.
Xilia was unsure of what to say. Her pride told her to leave and take care of herself, but then again, the place was so enchanting and Gerald's offer also wasn't bad.
"Big sister," Qiona pulled at her sleeve, "I want to look at the pretty flowers." She pointed with her finger at the flowers along the gravel path to the mansion.
"Sigh!" Coming to a decision Xilia exhaled loudly, "Okay, we will stay for a few days, but then we will leave!"
Gerald smiled, "That's great! Then I officially welcome you to my humble abode!" With those words, he unlocked the front gate with swift movements and led them inside.
Letting them slowly settle themselves in, he went on a grand shopping spree across the city.
He bought a whole bunch of glassware, metal tools of all shapes and sizes, wooden containers and devices, and had them delivered to his new home.
At first, the merchants and shop owners were skeptical of a young man buying so many things at once, but since he paid full price on the spot, they did their best to do everything according to his wishes.
Lastly, Gerald brought home a cart with two boxes full of herbs and medicinal plants. The whole purchase set him back more than half of his personal savings, which was over sixty gold coins!
His heart bled when he was forced to separate from those small shiny metal circles, but it had to be done. Considering he was starting a small business from scratch, his expenses could be considered quite cheap.
Luckily he found the bandit's treasure, otherwise, he would be completely broke right now.
"It's all investment for the future! Even if I have to make some small sacrifices now, it will all be worth it!"
Gerald spent a few hours rearranging his stuff. He took one of the bedrooms and reorganized it into some sort of laboratory.
Colorful curtains, fancy carpets, soft bedding, and other such crap, were all thrown out and stuffed in a remote closet where they wouldn't be in the way.
"What is this?" The girls came to check out what Gerald was doing and Sera was curious as to what was the purpose of all these contraptions. "Is this a winepress? Are you going to be making wine?" she asked doubtfully.
'Didn't he say he was going to be making potions?' Xilia thought in her heart. But no matter how she looked, what Sera was referring to was a commonly used screw wine press.
"Yes and no," Gerald casually replied. "It is a wine press, except it's not for grapes, but for Healing Roots."
"Qiona, come, help me peel these bad boys," Gerald invited with a smile as he patted the chubby Healing Roots.
"Okay!" She quickly responded and sat at the table near Gerald. Then they both took a small knife and started peeling the hard skin.
"Would you like to give us a hand? I got a few more knives here," Gerald beckoned them.
Qiona waved her tiny hand, full of red juices from the plant, "Sister come, try it! It's fun!"
"Fun? Err, alright," Xilia took a knife and went to work. It was not fun.
The juices dripped everywhere and it made the place look like a crime scene, full of blood. But Qiona seemed to be enjoying herself, so her sister didn't complain.
Not wanting to be left out, Sera also took a few tubers and started peeling. With four pairs of hands, the work went by like a breeze. Two full crates of Healing Roots were cleaned up in less than an hour.
"Alright, we are almost finished. Now comes the easy part!" Gerald dumped the roots in the winepress and started turning the lever and the blood-red juices started flowing out at the bottom.
Then, after a full vat was filled with the liquid, Gerald took a big metal ladle and slowly poured the juices through many layers of cheesecloth to remove any small chunks.
Soon, only a pristine red liquid was left in the bucket and the rest was swiftly discarded.
"What are you going to do with all of this? It's going to go bad before you can make it into potions!" Xilia voiced her doubts.
"Go bad?" Gerald looked at her with a lifted brow, "Why would I let it go bad? This thing here is enough to make at least fifty Healing Potions! I spent almost twenty gold just for the ingredients!"
Both Xilia and Sera gasped. "Twenty gold coins!" They felt like crying.
"How are you going to make fifty potions before the stuff is going to lose its medicinal properties?" Xilia asked, flabbergasted.
Nobody, not a single person in this world could make fifty potions at once. In her mind, she imagined Gerald simply dumping it all in a big vat and trying to cook it.
'Like hell that would work! The bigger the container, the harder it was to keep the temperature equal at all places! It must not start boiling at any cost!' she screamed in her heart.
At the bottom, the temperature would be too high and the medical properties would soon be lost, but if it was just right, then depending on the amount of water that had to slowly evaporate, the liquid on top that came in contact with air would go bad in a few hours.
She really couldn't figure out what this guy was thinking.
"Tsk," Gerald clicked his tongue in displeasure, "Just shut up and watch!"
He sat down before the bucket and closed his eyes. He took a big breath and then slowly exhaled, calming his mind.
Qiona was watching by the side with eyes wide open and full of expectation. 'What is big brother doing?' She held her breath as she observed motionlessly.
Suddenly, Gerald lifted his hands above the bucket and started making a pulling motion with his fingers. They moved oh so gently, like a dancer on ice, they moved so elegantly the girls were mesmerized.
Soon, the liquid inside started moving and droplets of pristine clear water started rising from the blood-red mess.
"Ah!" A sound escaped from Xilia and she quickly covered her mouth, afraid to disrupt this elegant rhythm.
The process was slow and difficult on the mind, but Gerald preserved until the end.
After a good twenty minutes, he finally relaxed and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. "Phew! That was way harder than I imagined!" he complained, "Luckily I succeeded on the first try!"
"What? First, try?" Xilia was shocked. To keep such concentration for more than twenty minutes, and on the first try nonetheless? Now she really felt like fainting.
'Who is this monster? Is he even human?' Thoughts like this went through her head when she heard Gerald speak again.
"Okay, I'll have to rest for a few minutes and then we can bottle these Healing Potions."
Pfft!
Xilia felt like spiting blood. Since when was potion-making so fast and easy?
After a short rest, Gerald slowly dumped a whole bag of Ether Dust in the bucket and mixed it with his mind. While injecting his own Mana to guide the process, the two substances combined and the potion was complete.
"Alright, it's done! Qiona dear, wanna help me pack these potions?"
"Mmh," the little girl nodded her head enthusiastically and brought a few vials closer for them to be filled.
"Big brother Gerald, can you teach me how to do that magic?" She asked after the bucket was empty and the vials were filled to the brim.
The little Dark Elf's watery eyes shined like stars as she looked at Gerald in admiration.
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