Read The Dark Warrior for Free Online Page B

front and a workshop in back, while this one was more like workshop, workshop, workshop. Reading the letters on the wooden plate hanging from the door and the sign out front confirmed she was in the right place.
    She pushed open the door. The bell attached to the top of it jangled so loudly she jumped. Inside seemed like a sitting room where discussions with customers could take place. Two sofas faced each other in the center of the room, and along the walls were shelves lined with things that appeared to be documents. There was a houseplant in the corner.
    The moment Brita stepped inside, a voice called out to her. “Hello there!” A man’s voice. No, it was too young sounding.
    When she looked over, there was a boy standing in the back of the room wearing a beat-up work apron, which seemed likely to give off a pungent odor, judging from all the mashed plant material sticking to it. His long blond hair hid half of his face, so she couldn’t tell how old he was, but judging from his height and voice, he was probably in the middle of a growth spurt.
    Brita had an idea who he might be. Yes, his grandmother was renowned, but this boy could also be counted among E-Rantel’s celebrities due to his talent.
    “…Nfirea Baleare?”
    “Yes, that’s me.” He nodded and then asked, “What can I do for you today?”
    “Oh, uh, just a moment.”
    Brita took out of her pocket the folded paper the innkeeper had given her and handed it to the boy, who had come closer. He opened it and began reading carefully.
    “So this is… I see. Then, could you show me the potion?”
    Nfirea took the potion she’d taken out and raised it up to the level his eyes must have been under his hair.
    Something in the atmosphere changed.
    Nfirea parted his bangs, exposing regular features that made it seem certain girls would fuss over him in the future. He still looked so young, but now, a sharpness appeared in his expression. His gaze was incredibly keen for the casual tone he had taken earlier. He blinked several times, and his excitement was visible in his eyes. Then, he rocked the bottle a few times and nodded once. “Excuse me. There’s not much I can say about it at this point, so would you come this way?”
    Assenting, Brita followed Nfirea to a messy room. No—it only seemed messy because she didn’t have the knowledge to understand it.
    On a table were round-bottom flasks, test tubes, a still, mortars, funnels, beakers, burners, a balance, strange jars, and other various pieces of equipment. The walls had shelves full of countless medicinal herbs and ores. The whole room assaulted her nose with a singular reek that seemed like it might be harmful to her health.
    The occupant of the room turned to glare at the two intruders. It was an extremely old woman. Wrinkled face, wrinkled hands. Her hair, cropped to shoulder length, was pure white. Her work clothes had even more green splotches than Nfirea’s and smelled strongly of herbs.
    Entering the room, Nfirea called out to her, “Grandma!”
    “What is it? What is it? I can hear you without all the shouting. My ears are doing just fine.”
    Nfirea only had one grandmother. This was the woman said to be the best apothecary in the city, Lizzy Baleare.
    “Look at this!”
    Lizzy took the bottle as he thrust it into her hands, and her perceptive gaze was so sharp that Brita was almost compelled to brace herself. She sensed that she was in the presence of a powerful veteran.
    And it wasn’t just her imagination. Apothecaries needed to use magic in the course of making medicines, so the better the reputation of the apothecary, the higher tiers of magic it indicated they could use. That meant that as the best apothecary in E-Rantel, Lizzy’s individual combat ability surpassed Brita’s.
    “This… She brought it? The legendary…? It can’t be… Gods’ Blood? Hey, what is this thing?”
    “Huh?” Brita blinked. That was
her
question.
    “This potion…it shouldn’t exist. Where did