At the End of the Hidden Greenery - Chapter 287
As Lugarmel briefly summarized, Jiwoo became much more eager to learn about her body than before.
“So what should I do?”
“I’ve prepared a few things you can try.”
Lugarmel had always been thorough.
He disappeared briefly behind the curtain that concealed part of his laboratory, then returned carrying several items and laid them out in front of Jiwoo. It seemed he had either expected her to ask how to proceed or had wanted to run these experiments long before she did.
“These are normally used to preserve the potency of medicinal herbs. Go ahead and give them a try.”
He had prepared dried herbs known for preserving medicinal effects, sealed inside beeswax, as well as decoctions brewed into tonic-like elixirs. The former resembled pills, while the latter looked like bottled liquid medicine.
Since Jiwoo wanted to create medicine that could be carried around, everything had been made portable and easy to consume.
“And I brought this as well, just in case.”
“Is that the honey Kaman and I harvested before?”
The golden honey streaked with bluish marbling was unmistakable.
“Even if it isn’t suitable for eating, I thought it might be useful for this experiment, provided you can remove the poison while preserving the beneficial properties.”
“Then I’ll start with this.”
“Yes. And remember that your will is part of the power.”
Jiwoo cupped the small bottle of honey in both hands and summoned Akarna’s power.
‘Remove the poison… Leave behind only the healing… Just like when I healed the Ellandos during my travels…’
This wasn’t direct healing. She was trying to infuse the effect into something else, and that was far more difficult.
Still, once she focused on a single thought, the change gradually appeared. The bluish marbling vanished, as though the poison itself had evaporated.
“…Did it work?”
“Wonderful! Darling, that’s amazing!”
Mel applauded enthusiastically before jerking his chin toward Reed.
“Reed.”
“…What? You’re testing it on me?”
“Who else would we test it on?”
“Oh, honestly…”
Despite his grumbling, Reed took the transformed honey without another complaint and swallowed it in one gulp.
He clicked his tongue and gave his verdict.
“Hmm. It’s just honey. Bland, flavorless honey.”
“I guess it failed…”
“Mmm, I wouldn’t call it a failure. The poison seems to be gone. We’ve confirmed at least one effect, so you’ll just need more time to learn the rest.”
That was true. After all, she had only recently learned how to heal an Ellandos. Expecting perfect results immediately would have been unreasonable.
Still, she couldn’t help feeling disappointed.
“It might have something to do with my mood.”
Jiwoo quietly voiced the possibility that had been bothering her.
“When I heal another Elandos, I’m genuinely happy. Right now… I’m worried.”
Helka’s team still hadn’t returned.
Truthfully, she was less worried that they had been beaten up than she was that they had gone around beating up other tribes.
“Ah…”
“Oh.”
Reed tilted his head thoughtfully before making a casual suggestion.
“In that case, I know several ways to make you feel good right here.”
Jiwoo almost asked what he meant. Then Reed raised two fingers and tapped his own cheek with a broad grin.
Her face immediately turned red.
‘These men…!’
Their married life has gone on long enough that they don’t even hesitate anymore…!
Mel, who had been quietly chuckling, gradually let the smile fade from his face and shook his head.
“We’ll exclude that method.”
“Well, fair enough.”
Reed backed down easily, as though he had never been entirely serious.
Apparently they wanted to avoid any method that might consume Jiwoo’s strength, no matter how enjoyable it might be. Instead, they tossed around gentler ideas. Eating delicious food, admiring beautiful scenery, and the like.
Then someone suggested, “How about surrounding her with pleasant scents?” Immediately, everyone agreed. It was simple and, in every sense, required no expenditure of energy.
And the children of Ellandos knew countless ways to create wonderful fragrances.
The discussion seemed ready to end there when Mel spoke again, his voice bright with excitement.
“Darling, there’s one more thing I’d like to learn.”
“Yes?”
“If you feel grateful… how about doing that one with me alone later?”
“What is it?”
“For now, it’s a secret.”
Reed stared at Mel’s smiling face before clicking his tongue.
“…Don’t agree to that.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Just don’t. At least wait until this works first.”
“I suppose that makes sense.”
“Hahahaha!”
Mel burst into laughter.
“Darling only listens to Reed. How disappointing.”
***
By the time they had finished making several prototype medicines in Mel’s laboratory, evening had already fallen.
Narkreed reached over and took Jiwoo gently by the wrist.
“I’ll walk you home.”
“You could always stay the night…”
Reed cut Mel off before he could finish.
“I’ll walk her home.”
“Hahaha. Darling, come visit again.”
As they walked together, Jiwoo absentmindedly ran her fingers over the medicines they had just made.
“It’s a shame we can’t test these yet.”
“Well, just wait. It’s not as if we’ll never suffer a few bumps and scrapes. We can’t exactly go about making wounds on purpose.”
Halfway through the sentence, Narkreed glanced back at Mel, who was still standing there waving them off.