One of my hobbies was potion making and it was something I do in my free time in the research tower. I harvested the medicinal herbs I had been growing on this land and processed them before using them in making all sorts of potions.
Then, I had these potions distributed to the other settlements where they were used as medicine.
Recently, the Lamias also joined in to help me out due to their knowledge of medicinal herbs, and now, we were seeing a boom in the production of potions.
With surplus quantity on hand, we decided to add them into our trade with the Gard Beastkin Nation where skilled potion makers were few and far in between
Right now, a problem has occurred in one corner of the research tower and was brought up to me.
<master, we="" discovered="" a="" theft="" in="" the="" research="" tower="" and="" have="" apprehended="" culprits.=""></master,>
So I heard from Baretta, who spoke in an uncharacteristically cold voice. Behind her, the three lamias she brought were neatly prostrating on the ground side-by-side.
< < <we, we="" are="" terribly="" sorry!=""> > ></we,>
"...... Can you tell me the exact details first?"
I felt a headache coming up as I received their desperate apology as they kept kneeling on the ground. I pressed my finger on my temple to endure it and asked for the reason.
Stealing was a problem indeed, but I was puzzled as to why she brought this matter to me.
"Err, there are rules established on what to do in such cases, right?"
<yes, it="" is="" to="" provide="" compensation="" the="" victim.="" or="" have="" them="" pay="" through="" labor.="" concerned="" item,="" in="" this="" case,="" was="" medicines="" master="" prepared,="" so="" their="" repayment="" towards="" you.=""></yes,>
'You can also treat them as fraudsters,' Baretta further added.
"Please forgive us! It's all my fault, so please don't exile my brethren!"
No, I wasn't thinking of doing anything of that sort, I mentally thought. Usually, it was Teto who played the role of easing the tension but since she had gone out to take part in the mock battles, the atmosphere in the room became heavy.
I should first see what their reasons were. It was hard to make a judgment otherwise.
"Why did you guys steal medicine? I'm sure it should have been available on all settlements, no?"
"Umm...... When making potions, we would sometimes cut our fingers with knives accidentally, or get burned by liquid......"
Their reason was surprisingly feminine.
Apparently, they used the medicine for treating their wounds or burn marks in the beginning. But at that time, they noticed that the ointment in the medicine was not only effective in treating old burn scars, but it also improved their skin condition.
"We thought that if we use it to treat the burn marks and make our skins smoother and glossier, we might be able to attract men! I'm really sorry!"
" "Sorry!" "
"A, Ahh, well, it is quite a struggle for female demonkins, huh......?"
Still, I was really shocked though. Like, I never expected an ointment meant to treat burn marks would be used as a beauty cream.
For the female-only demon races, the only way they could rear a child was to get together with the males of another race.
The female-only demon races of the plant variety like Dryads or Alarunes didn't hold any interest in the opposite gender, but it couldn't be said to be the same with the other female races like the Queen bees and the Arachne. They had a history of kidnapping travelers for mating, and Lamias, too, were known to create incense to elevate the mood and obtain seeds.
Returning to the present topic, the three lamia girls tried to sneak out some ointment they treated as a beauty product but was meant for injuries like burns.
"And I wondered what happened, I assume you already received your scolding from Baretta?"
" " "Y, Yes......" " "
It wouldn't be unusual for a person who was injured during work to get delayed treatment due to the medicine being insufficient after being stolen.
"Let's see. I'll have you help out in my work for a while and serve as test subjects for some medicines as punishment."
" " "Understood...... We humbly accept." " "
"Alright, you can go back for today."
After I sent the Lamia girls back, Baretta spoke.
<master, you="" went="" too="" soft="" on="" them.=""></master,>
"Maybe. But, it surprised me that there is a demand for these ointments as a beauty cream. Though it's hardly as effective as the real one. I'll need to improve it a bit further so I might as well develop skin care products."
Right now, there are three
skill holders extremely interested in beauty products.
If I merely punished them and let things continue as they were, I was sure that the stealing of these ointments would continue to happen in the same way. In that case, producing true beauty cream with their cooperation would help in preventing theft instead.
"Let's see, the ointment was made from medicinal herbs effective against burn marks as the core material, now I gotta research for some new materials I can add to it."
<i'll help="" out.="" i="" am="" glad="" to="" see="" master="" is="" having="" fun.=""></i'll>
With this, I began spending my time picking materials I was growing in the and selecting which ones would go well with the burn ointment.
The following day, in my research room on the top floor of the research tower, the three arrived and stared at me and the collected materials with nervous looks.
"Alright, first, I'll teach you three how to make the burn ointment from yesterday."
"Don't worry, the materials have already been prepared!"
Today, I had Teto as my assistant as I proceeded to teach the three Lamia girls how to make burn ointments.
"I use damian flower and the extract of the world tree leaves in making it. Talk about luxury, eh?"
"Aside from that, there's also agarwood that’s used in making incense. Its properties help in keeping the inflammation of the burn area in check.” (T/N - ‘Agarwood’ can be entirely wrong too, didn’t get what the author wrote and google yielded no results.)
"Eeeek, s-so the reason why the burn ointment was so effective is that that much mana was used in making it!?"
When I demonstrated the process of making the ointment, the Lamias shouted in a voice almost closer to a shriek.
The ointment recipe used quite the ordinary herbs, but the addition of mana strengthened the medicinal effectiveness by a great margin. That was why it was far more effective than an ordinary ointment.
I was pouring around 10,000 units of mana (more than the capacity of three average adventurers) into the burn ointment.
"Well, our mana potions are currently at the ready so you guys give it a try."
" " "Y, Yesss......" " "
I urged the three to also follow my steps and had them infuse around half of their mana amount. They reluctantly completed it in the end.
Since they already had high proficiencies in the
skill, maybe their intuition worked as they managed to do it without any hiccups.
"Hmm, great! In that case, we four should be able to improve it into a better beauty cream."
" " "Huh?" " "
Teto took the completed burn ointments to where the medicine was stored, replenishing the stock they had stolen and used.
"I would be relying on you to assist me and serve as test subjects until the beauty cream is completed."
With these words, I swiftly began potion-making with the materials that I thought might be effective.
Although the three looked dumbfounded at my words, apparently finding it hard to believe that they who had committed theft were being asked to work on creating a beauty cream that follow their interest, they also began making medicine.
As they gradually became accustomed to the process, they used mana potions to replenish their magic power and created the ointment they had planned on.
My work was about creating beauty cream but there wasn't that much difference between what I had to do and the amount of work of the Lamias.
Finally, when the beauty cream was ready, I used to check its effectiveness.
"No.7, No.15, and No.20 are more effective in treating skin-related symptoms. No.23 is the best to use as a beauty cream."
The remaining ones had a couple of unsatisfactory points but after having the three help out, I would have them try them out in reality to assess their actual effects.
Appraisal magic may have given an okay description, but there were still many factors to work on like smell, stickiness, and level of moisture that needed to be taken into account..... so they still need some minor adjustments to bring them into daily use.
After going through repeated potion-making for a while, the end product was finally ready.
"Hurray!" "It's over!" "We're finally free!"
The three Lamia girls cheered. Their skin had become a lot smoother and glossier after serving as test subjects for all the trial products, but their inner emotions were anything but bright.
Now that they were done with repaying their sins, they regained their cheerfulness.
"Well then, I'll leave making beauty cream to you guys. I'm glad to find a moisturizing cream that suits my taste."
"Majou-sama! Teto will apply it on your back after today's bath!"
As a matter of fact, my immortality was hardly effective in maintaining my skin's condition. It was easier for my skin to become dry after a bath or during winter, that was why keeping my sensitive skin moisturized was necessary.
Though my goal wasn't to keep myself all glowing, I was also delighted to have a satisfactory product.
On the other hand, realizing they were still not out of the loop even after finishing their sentence, despair was evident on their faces.
Like this, they were once again back into the loop of making beauty cream until it spread among the women of the . They only got some relief when Baretta finally judged that they had served enough and added more personnel to the team.
Also, they were properly paid for all their labor during this period, so it wasn't like they made a loss either way.
