How the two met
Clarice and Melvin met a little over a year ago.
That day, Clarice had been asked to do some urgent work and was the only one working overtime.
As I was counting the finished potions, making sure I had everything, and preparing to go home, a strange knight and his large black wolf, which seemed to be his servant, ran into the compounding room.
Clarice was shocked and asked, “Why is there a knight here?”
“You’re the pharmacist here, right?”
The knight came over to me.
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
The compounding lab where Clarice works as a pharmacist is staffed entirely by women, including the head of the lab.
Some of her colleagues have become friendly with knights and go on group dates with them, but Clarice has no interest in that sort of thing, and this is the first time she has even had the chance to exchange words with a knight, so she ends up hesitant.
“Do you have any leftover recovery potions or anything like that?”
“Eh? A recovery potion?”
The tall young knight with dark blue hair lowered his gaze to his hands.
Clarice followed his gaze and understood what the knight was saying.
A small, bloody animal was placed on the knight’s large palm.
I don’t know what kind of animal it is, but it appears to have suffered a serious injury to its abdomen, and it isn’t moving, with its long tail hanging limp.
“My companion saved me from being eaten by a crow.
Since it’s so small, you should only need a little medicine.
Can’t I help you somehow?”
“Even if you say that…”
Clarice also wanted to help, but the numbers of all the medicines and materials in the compounding room were strictly controlled.
If the compounding fails, it must be discarded immediately, and there are no spare medicines.
“I guess that’s impossible after all…”
The knight lowered his eyebrows in dejection, and the large black wolf next to him turned its ears down and made a sad face.
They say that servants resemble their masters, and these two do look alike.
Wanting to help somehow, Clarice racked her brains trying to think of what to do, but then she quickly made a move.
“Oh, that’s right. I have something nice right now.”
Clarice took out a small bottle of liquid from the inside pocket of the bag she used to commute to work.
“it is?”
“It’s a healing potion I made as a hobby.”
Clarice opened the bottle and dripped some medicine onto the small animal’s large wound.
Then he made it open its mouth, which was small but had sharp fangs, and dripped a few drops of the medicine there as well.
The change occurred soon after.
The wound, which had been so large, had healed in the blink of an eye, and the tail, which had been hanging limply, began to sway slightly.
Her eyes are still closed, but if you look closely you can see that her chest is rising and falling slowly.
“Good, it looks like you were saved.”
“Yes, it seems so.”
The knight gently held up his hand, and the blood-stained fur became completely clean.
He cast a purification spell on it.
Well, that’s not surprising, is it?
Since he has enough magical power to turn such a large wolf into a servant, it’s only natural that he can cast magic.
“Hmm? Is this by any chance a kitten?”
The knight tilted his head at the newly cleaned up small animal.
It was hard to tell when it was dirty, but its body was too long for a cat and its neck and head were out of proportion.
“Do you know what animal this is?”
It has a light brown coat, small ears and a long, straight tail.
Its face resembles that of a squirrel, but it has sharp fangs in its mouth.
“Well… I guess it’s Itachi?”
“Itachi…”
The knight scratched his head.
“Yeah, it certainly looks like Itachi.
Oh no, I thought for sure it was a kitten…”
“Wouldn’t Itachi be fine?
It doesn’t matter that a life was saved.”
“I thought if it was a kitten I could find someone to take care of it.
But not Itachi.”
That may be so, Clarice thought.
There are a lot of cat lovers, so it shouldn’t be difficult to find an owner for a kitten.
However, I have never heard of anyone who likes weasels.
Clarice wasn’t an expert on weasels, but this one was very small.
He must be a child who has been separated from his parents.
Even though its wounds have healed, it will likely die quickly if it is released outside.
It’s a shame, after all the effort we put into helping him.
“In that case… I’ll make you my servant.”
“Eh? Is that okay?”
The knight blinked his light blue eyes rapidly.
He appears to be a few years younger than Clarice, but despite his large size he is not intimidating.
This is probably because he has a kind-looking face and a kindness that emanates from within, as if he would have no hesitation in trying to help a small, bloody animal.
「It’s okay.
If you look closely, you’ll see that weasels are cute too.
If it’s that big, I should be able to feed it with my magic.”
A large animal requires a large amount of magical power, but a weasel is a small animal.
It shouldn’t consume that much magical power.
When Clarice took Itachi’s small body from the knight’s hands, Itachi’s small eyes widened slightly.
It seems he regained consciousness in good time.
“Itachi, I’m Clarisse.
Are you a girl or a boy?
I’m not sure, so let’s just use a name that doesn’t matter.”
Clarice thought for a few seconds and then made a decision.
“Chico. How about Chico?
I think it’s very cute.”
For a human and a beast to make a contract, the human must have magical powers.
The human uses his magical powers to interfere with the beast’s consciousness, and by giving it a name, the bond becomes strong and unbreakable.
Of course, not just anyone with magical powers will do; compatibility is also a factor, and if the beast refuses then the contract cannot be made.
“You’re Chico.
Become my servant.”
Clarice used her magical powers to envelop the small weasel in her palm.
Itachi rose to his feet and looked up into Clarisse’s face.
“Kyu!”
I could see that Clarice’s magical power was smoothly absorbed into Itachi’s body.
This is a successful contract.
“Chico, I look forward to working with you.”
“Kyu!”
With the magical power absorbed in addition to the healing potion, Chico seemed to be able to move around more energetically, and quickly climbed onto Clarice’s shoulders.
“Not just medicine, but even beast companion contracts…
I’m completely indebted to you.”
“No, don’t worry about it.
The medicine is something I make as a hobby, and I was just thinking about wanting a companion animal.”
Recently, I saw a colleague of mine sign a contract with a parakeet, and I thought it would be fun to live with a cute pet.
Clarice lives alone, so no one will object to her.
There’s no problem with making a contract with a weasel, which is a rare beast servant.
“Don’t worry, I will take full responsibility for raising Chico.
Well then, I’ll excuse myself.”
“Ah, wait a moment.”
As Clarice was about to hurry home, the knight called out to her.
“You’ve finished your work already?
Is a carriage coming to pick me up?”
Some pharmacists are aristocrats, and it’s common for them to commute to work by horse-drawn carriage, but unfortunately, Clarice is not a noble.
“No, I’m a commoner.
I’ll just walk home normally.”
「Is that so…
Well then, let me walk you home.
It’s already dark outside.”
Although the sun had certainly set, the royal capital was a safe place, so it was fine for a woman to walk alone.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“It’s fine. Come on, let’s go.”
After being forcefully pushed aside, he had no choice but to start walking alongside the knight.
“Can I call you Clarice?
I’m Melvin.”
“Melvin-sama.”
“There’s no need for “sama”. I’m just a commoner after all.”
“Haa.”
If he is something like that, then he is probably not a commoner.
I don’t want to delve too deeply into the affairs of the nobility, so I’ll refrain from asking about it.
“You said that you made that potion just as a hobby, right?”
“yes”
“That seemed to be more effective than the medicine I usually use.”
“It’s a medicine made from my own original recipe, so it works differently than the medicine provided by the Knights.”
Wow, you have the original recipe.
If the effectiveness of this is recognized, you could be very successful, right?”
“No, I’m not interested in that sort of thing.
I don’t want to stand out too much.”
“Really? You have no desire.”
It’s not that Clarice doesn’t have desires either.
It just means knowing your place.
Clarice knows very well that excessive desire can destroy oneself.
“Are you sending me off this way because you’re interested in that medicine?”
“Exactly.
I belong to the 5th division and will soon be heading out on an expedition to defeat demonic beasts.
Of course, if you get injured you can get healing potions, but then you have to fill out a lot of tedious paperwork afterwards.”
All kinds of medicines are strictly controlled, whether in the Knights’ Order or in the compounding room.
A knight who subjugates magical beasts could probably use plenty of medicine, but that would probably mean an increase in paperwork.
“So you want my medicine?”
“yes.
Of course, I’m not saying it’s free.
I’ll pay you a fair price.”
Melvin grinned.
“Your hobby is compounding and developing medicines, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I’m a knight who travels far to hunt down demonic beasts.
In other words, rare materials can be obtained in the royal capital.
How about in exchange for that?”
Clarice blinked her green eyes in thought.
The ingredients she uses for her hobby synthesis are either ones she travels outside the capital to gather herself on her days off, or ones she purchases from a store after consulting with her wallet.
This means that the types of materials available are limited.
What if you could get materials that you normally can’t get your hands on?
It was a very attractive proposition to her.
But is it really okay to do such a thing?
“…Isn’t that the same as selling materials on the black market?”
When I voiced my concerns, Melvin laughed brightly and shook his head.
“Oh no, that’s not going to happen.
The materials I’m talking about are things that aren’t even worth the effort of salvaging.
After hunting the magical beasts, they are all burned at the end, so those materials also get burned.”
“Is that so?
What a waste…”
Even though the Knights had no use for it, Clarice was desperate for a material that was being burned.
“You can’t take things like magical beast cores or other valuable materials, but as long as it fits in your personal luggage, you can take that kind of material back with you.
Some people make pocket money that way.
I thought it would be too much trouble and hadn’t tried it, but when I saw your medicine just now, I changed my mind.
If I can get that medicine, that much trouble is a small price to pay.”
“I, I see…”
It’s not against the rules, and with just a little effort Melvin can get the materials.
In that case, no one will lose by going along with this idea.
In fact, it would be a win-win for both Clarice and Melvin.
“got it.
I’ll give you my medicine.”
When Clarice said that, Melvin’s face lit up.
“However, I will require you to make some promises.
First of all, it can only be used by Melvin.
Please do not share it with other knights.
And if anyone asks you anything, please keep my name a secret.
Is that okay?”
「Of course!
I will keep my promise, so don’t worry.”
When Melvin said that happily, Clarice felt a sense of déjà vu.
It looks similar to something… That’s right, it’s a large dog that lived nearby when I was little.
She looks like that big dog that always comes running up to her wagging its tail whenever she sees Clarice.
Thinking like that, my wariness eased.
Therefore, I had no qualms about inviting Melvin into the room to give him the medicine.
“Do you live alone?”
“Yes. My parents are dead now.”
Ignoring Melvin’s slightly confused look, Clarice took a box containing pills from the shelf.
“This is the same medicine I gave Chico earlier.
It is more effective if you take it orally rather than just sprinkling it on the wound.
This is detoxifying.
It is effective against most common poisons, but it may not work against special magical beast poisons, so be careful.
I also have some medicine for insect bites, do you need it?
“That’s nice. It would be really helpful.”
“If you have an insect bite, it’s effective for both the itchiness and pain.
However, this doesn’t work on special insects.”
“Okay. I’ll keep that in mind.”
After receiving a total of about ten pill bottles, Melvin smiled with satisfaction.
“As soon as I return from my expedition, I’ll bring you the materials.
Should I go to the compounding room like I did today?”
Clarice thought for a moment and then shook her head.
“No, bring it here.
If a knight were to come and see a plain woman like me, it would cause a commotion and become troublesome.”
“Really? Is it really worth making such a fuss about?”
Seeing Alvin’s face look of dissatisfaction, Clarice wanted to sigh.
This is why it’s so difficult for these ignorant rich kids.
“anyway!
Please do not contact me in the castle.
This is our little secret.
Isn’t that great?」
“……Understood”
Melvin reluctantly nodded and left.
And so, the two met through their companions.
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