"It's hopeless. We haven't had the chance to restock our ingredients yet. We've been too busy with expeditions providing aid to frontier towns." Tuli said, her voice sounded like she was about to cry again.
"Wait..." Something clicked in Merlin's mind. "A plant poison that lowers stats..."
"We don't have any." Tuli said as she sat down on a stool with her head in her hands. "No matter how much you look, we don't have any."
「You have lost 4 familiarity with Tuli.」
"I do." Merlin said as he made his way back to the potion brewing in the boiling water. "Bloodgrass still absorbs blood efficiently even when it has been crushed right?"
"Not as efficiently as if it were whole, but yes." Tuli answered, "Why?"
Merlin unsheathed one of his daggers and sliced his hand over the potion, allowing his blood to drip into it.
Tuli sat there speechless as she stared at Merlin, just what was she thinking bringing this guy to help?
「Passive skill ⟪Rose Blight⟫ has triggered, target's stats have been reduced.」
"It actually worked." Merlin chuckled to himself as he watched the potion solution begin bubbling, the red liquid began turning purple. "Tuli, come look at this before you decide to have a breakdown."
Tuli didn't seem to appreciate that comment, but she stood up and looked at the concoction, what was once a red pool had slowly shifted into a purple hue as Merlin's blood touched it, until it eventually became a dark shade of pink.
"It's actually reacting to your blood, and it looks like a successful potion... What did you just do?" Tuli asked with a shocked expression as she stared up at Merlin.
"It's hard to explain why, but my blood contains a plant's poison, and the poison has a similar effect to alanemine, except it spreads through blood and usually affects creatures." Merlin tried briefly explaining his rose poison. "I thought it was worth a shot."
"So if you're not acquainted with the druids, are you an Anthousai? Or at least part flower nymph?" Tuli asked him.
"No, I've just got weird blood." He said with a shrug. "Quickly, start healing people with it. My poison lasts for about five minutes on people, I don't know what sort of effect or limit it would have on plants."
Tuli seemed a bit hesitant, she didn't want to be the one to put her fellow rangers at risk by feeding them a suspicious potion.
Merlin could partially tell what was going on in her mind, so he filled one of the potion vials and chugged its contents before turning to Tuli.
"It's safe. I'm not dead." He spoke to her in as non-threatening of a voice as he could muster. "But some of those people out there will be if they don't get the potion, so please."
Merlin began filling up the vials and bottles he had on hand with the potion and placed them where Tuli could reach them.
After a few minutes, Tuli realised that it was worth a shot, as there didn't seem to be any immediate dangerous effects. She grabbed two vials and ran to the briefing room where the patients were. The room smelled like blood, and the pained groans made her feel sad, but she could only hope that the potion did as Merlin promised.
Tuli picked out a couple of critical patients that she believed wouldn't live long enough for her to brew another batch with the ingredients that remained, so she used the potion on them. She realised it was ultimately a gamble, and that she was essentially using them as test subjects, but it was either this or death from bleeding out.
She applied the potions before running back into the medicine room to grab more and dump her empty vials. Eventually she noticed that the first few people who were given the potion seemed to have started getting better, which gave her a boost of confidence in her goal, and in Merlin.
「You have earned +9 familiarity with Tuli.」
Merlin had to whip up another batch for the remaining victims, but eventually everyone had been given the potion and were beginning to heal. Those in the most critical conditions had been successfully stabilised.
「You have completed the quest, "Emergency care", rewards have been delivered.」
「You have earned +5 reputation within the Rangers Guild.」
That last notification was unexpected. It wasn't listed as a quest reward, but based on the quest, it was likely that saving everyone wasn't a requirement, or rather that it would have been impossible outside of a miracle.
Merlin left the medicine room after his hand had healed. He made his way into the briefing room to inspect the end result of his efforts. Fortunately it seemed like everyone was doing okay, so he slipped out before anybody could really notice him.
He made his way towards the building's exit, where he was met face to face with the leader of the guild.
"Merlin, was it?" She asked as she walked towards him. "Not many people can avoid my first attack."
Merlin began tensing up as she walked closer to him.
"Would you like to join my next expedition?" She asked him. "Although you've successfully healed my men, it's very unlikely that they will be in fit enough shape to attend the next one. And unfortunately, it seems that some of them will never use a bow again."
Merlin observed the woman's fists clenched as she spoke those words.
"That's quite the offer, but we've only just met. Aren't you worried you may be overvaluing my skill?" Merlin cautiously worded his next sentences. "And I beg your pardon, but I haven't even gotten your name, guild master."
"That's quite odd." She responded, before mumbling to herself. "I suppose I've been taking my position for granted."
"Well, if I must. I am Callisto, leader of the rangers guild, daughter of King Lycaon." She began reciting her titles. "And most importantly, a devoted servant of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt."
"Now that we are acquainted." She spoke up again, this time with a strange grin plastered on her face. "What would your opinion be if I were to shoot a baron?"
