Chapter 5 – Going to the forest

Taisetsuna swallowed and answered with a slight smile while showing him her fingernails, sharp as claws, "The first one that tries anything pervert against me, will lose both eyes. These are not only for show, you know?"

"Ok, as long as you are aware that you are too sexy and tempting for a hot-blooded male. Now, do you mind putting away those things? They are scary and I need to concentrate on this book."

Taisetsuna grabbed her book and buried her face in it, hiding her redness and embarrassment. She said in a low voice, and Nozomu almost didn’t hear her, "Thanks for saying that I am cute and sexy, I really appreciate that."

"No need to thank me, I only said the truth."

She hid her smile behind the book, and for the next two hours, she read her book and answered some of Nozomu’s doubts, mostly about the society and the way of life of everyone that lived in Cities.

...

In the morning, Nozomu was looking at the stove and watching every move of the Priest that was making their breakfast.

Taisetsuna entered the kitchen while rubbing her eyes, and asked as she sat on a chair, "What are you doing, Nozo? You have a stupid look on your face."

"I am just surprised. This stove uses wood at the bottom, and the flames come from a small opening on the top to eat the pan while a small chimney at the back takes the fumes to the outside. This is so archaic! I suppose it’s useful, because instead of using gas bottles, you can just go to the forest and fetch dry wood, but it’s a little difficult to maintain the same temperature inside the burning chamber of the stove, to cook. I know there are plenty of dishes that would be ruined if the cooking temperature variates even slightly!"

Taisetsuna asked with a puzzled look on her face, "What is he talking about, Priest? I didn’t understand half of what he said!"

"Yes, me neither. He has been like this ever since he saw me using the flint to light the fire. I told him I couldn't use Fire Magic like you, so I had to make a fire with a flint, but then he looked at where I was putting the wood inside the stove, and he's been mumbling non-stop ever since! I don’t know if he is really surprised, or if he is mocking me!"

Taisetsuna answered while staring at Nozomu, who was lifting the pan to check the flames, "Yes, he has been kind of weird since yesterday. I was with him in his room last night, and he was reading the books you gave him and asking me a million questions. Have you ever seen Nozomu reading so much? Or asking about so many things? Not that I mind, because he used to be a pain, always joking and pulling pranks on us, but he was also funny. Now, he is always serious, or amazed about everything!"

Nozomu Shinchaku sat on a chair near her, and asked with a slight frown, "What’s the problem with making questions? I want to know, is that so wrong?"

Taisetsuna pointed at him while facing the Priest, "See what I am talking about? The old Nozomu would have called me stupid by now, or would be laughing like a dumb, but he now looks dead serious!"

Nozomu wrinkled his nose, annoyed by his past self, "It seems I used to be a real piece of work. A total brat, one that I would for sure slap his butt for being so annoying. Well, if you want, I can tone down my seriousness and try to be a little more bratish."

Taisetsuna almost shouted, "No! You were a pain in the neck! You were funny, but most of the time I wanted to squeeze your neck, especially after another of your pranks! If it wasn’t for your strange ability, I would have roasted you already, but I couldn’t! No, you are just fine as you are. I only need to get used to it, that’s all. Unless you are going to change again, one of these days!"

Nozomu slowly shook his head while staring at his intertwined fingers on the table, "I don’t think I will change again. I am stuck here, and you have to put up with me just like I am now."

Taisetsuna glanced at the Priest, and when she looked at Nozomu again, she saw him quickly wiping a tear. She leaned over and held his hands, "Don’t worry, I will help you with whatever I can. I can’t possibly imagine what it is like for you to forget everything. If it were me, I would go nuts, for sure."

"You probably wouldn’t because you couldn’t remember how you were. Everything is a novelty for me, and it makes me sad and angry at the same time. Don’t worry, I will get used to my new life with enough time. Who knows, maybe you will like me more, because I won’t prank you at every chance I get."

Taisetsuna smiled slightly, her eyes gleaming, "Who said I didn’t like you before? You were a pain, but you were also funny and easy going. Everything was a blast with you around, and I can only complain about your pranks and stupid jokes on occasion."

Nozomu nodded and began eating the breakfast that the Priest put on the plate in front of him. Taisetsuna kept on glancing at him, with the Priest noticing that she seemed rather intrigued by the silent and pensative boy.

...

After cleaning everything, Nozomu and Taisetsuna went to the stables where Taisetsuna gave more Magic to the happily neighing Unicorns.

Nozomu held the mane of his white Unicorn, 'Rampage', and Taisetsuna crouched a little near the Unicorn, intertwined her fingers, palms upward, and said, "Here, I will give you a push so that you don’t mount like last time. No that it wasn’t funny to watch, but your friend over here might start thinking that he has a weird master."

As Nozomu was putting his foot over Taisetsuna’s palms, he said, "I am not his master, I am his friend."

With him pulling the Unicorn’s mane and Taisetsuna helping, Nozomu managed to mount easily, facing forward. He moved a little to adjust his butt, and said, "We may need to find a saddle for these guys, they are rather uncomfortable to mount."

The white Unicorn snorted and Taisetsuna spoke as she was mounting her Unicorn, "Good luck with that! Treat your Unicorn like a horse, and you will see what he will do to you! He can tolerate a pillow under your butt, but a saddle? That’s too much to ask from a proud Unicorn!"

When Taisetsuna tapped her Unicorn’s neck, he began to walk to the outside, and Nozomu did the same, getting another snort. He poked the Unicorn’s neck and asked, "What? I can’t tap you as well? Geez, you are really picky! Okay, what about voice commands? Like... Rampage, can you walk for me?"

The Unicorn nodded and walked, and Nozomu almost didn’t have time to grab the mane because of the sudden change in movement.

Outside, Taisetsuna was waiting with a big smile, "It’s nice to mount a Unicorn, right? Do you think you won’t mind if he runs? Or do we need to trot to the forest?"

"Running would be too much for me. Rampage, please trot."

As the white Unicorn trotted ahead with his head standing high, Taisetsuna spoke while her Unicorn trotted next to him, "You don’t need to ask him for a favour, you just have to tap his neck and order him."

"Yeah, but this guy doesn’t like to be tapped or ordered. If I ask him nicely, it works. I don’t mind, because since we are friends, it feels wrong if I ordered him around. You don’t order your friends, right? Besides, being polite to such a fantastic and intelligent Magical Being is not difficult."

Taisetsuna tilted her head a little, "The old Nozomu would just punch that guy’s head until he obeyed. You are indeed different, and I don’t know if you are now too kind for your own good."

When they got near the edge of the forest, they dismounted, and Taisetsuna showed the picture in her book to both Unicorns, and they both stared at it for a while, and they then neighed at each other, and looked at the drawing again. ‘Rampage’ pointed with his head to a section of the forest to their left, and there was a narrow path there. Following that path, they reached a small clearing that had two other paths exiting it. ‘Rampage’ went to the path on the right, and after almost an hour of a slow walk because of the low branches, he stopped near a small rock on the ground where a bush was growing in a crack of the rock.

Taisetsuna approached the bush and confirmed the drawing in her book, "This is it! Amazing! Such a big bush! I just need two leaves for a Potion, and there are so many!"

As she was picking the best-looking leaves, Nozomu warned her, "Careful, Suna, don’t be too greedy. Take only a few leaves or you will kill the bush and you won’t have any when you need to make more Healing Potions."

Taisetsuna stopped before pulling another leaf and as she gently let go of the branch that she was holding, she said, "You are right. If this bush grew to this size, it means no one knows it is here or people would have taken every leaf they could carry, and this bush would already be dead. Okay, I think I have enough for five tries, and if we do everything right, it will be enough for more than twenty vials. We can keep some vials for ourselves and sell the others for a very nice profit."

Nozomu touched the branches of the bush and asked, "A Healing Potion is expensive?"

"A bit, yeah. Why do you think it pained me to waste my last vial with you, yesterday? If you weren’t so clumsy, I would still have my Potion. At least now we can make a bunch, as long as we follow the recipe to the letter and don’t make too many errors. If we are able to do a Middle Grade Potion, it will be very good. I can only dream about making a High Grade one, because those are the ones that are sold for a higher price."

Nozomu asked as they were going along the path, in the same direction from where they came, "Was the potion you gave me yesterday Middle Grade?"

"No, that was a Low Grade, and even that kind is not cheap."

Nozomu scratched the scar that he had on his head, "Even a Low Grade Healing Potion was this effective? I only have a tiny scar!"

"Yeah, that’s why Healing Potions are expensive. Most people can’t use Healing Magic, so Healing Potions are the best thing they can get. Adventurer Parties normally have someone that can use Healing Magic because it’s such a big investment to have a bag of Potions in case some of them get hurt, but they need to have Potions because the Healer can get hurt, and he can’t heal himself if he is badly injured."

Nozomu nodded with a big smile, "I get it, so Potions are very desirable, not only for Adventurers but for everyone. Do we need more ingredients for the Potion?"

"We have everything in the kitchen. We need something sweet, because these leaves are quite bitter, water boiled at a certain temperature and for a precise amount of time, and a small branch from a blueberry tree. The book says there is something called ‘tannins’ that tree uses to defend against insects. I don’t understand why the recipe uses a branch like that."