Immediately afterward, I went to the green spring and picked the remaining medicinal plants I needed for the hearing restoration potion. I then tried to recall what Fia had done as I carefully stuffed the ingredients into a small bottle. Somehow, she didn’t need to measure anything last time, but that meant I didn’t know the right proportions for everything. I tried not to lose heart as I faced a daunting task only I could undertake.
When we made the hearing restoration potion together, my mana alone hadn’t been enough, so Fia supplemented it with her own. Keeping that in mind, I used smaller quantities of the ingredients. Fia produced a miracle medicine that could completely restore hearing in only a single dose. I couldn’t make anything that potent, but maybe I could manage a fraction of what she had if I set my sights lower. I had a whole week before Gideon’s familiar left for the rest home—hopefully that was enough time for me to slowly feed his familiar working hearing restoration potions.
I poured as much mana as I could into the small bottle in my hands as I began my first attempt.
Thirty minutes passed. I brought the finished product to the familiar stables and found Gideon standing outside. Perfect timing. I wanted to ask his permission to feed the potion to his familiar.
He ran over when he noticed me. His scary face and intimidating size were even more apparent from up close. I couldn’t help but tense, but I would have to ask many other older, scary-looking adults if I could feed their familiars untested potions as I continued this work, so I couldn’t back down now. I swallowed, working up the courage to speak.
“Um—”
“Um—”
My voice overlapped with his. We gawked at each other, and his eyes went wide, stripping away a bit of the intimidation factor.
“Forgive me! Please, go ahead!” he said.
More relaxed, I gathered my resolve. “I was told your familiar is having problems hearing. I don’t know if it’ll work or not, but I made this potion. Can I feed it to your familiar? It shouldn’t have any negative side effects.”
Without missing a beat, he bowed and exclaimed, “Absolutely, yes!”
Well, that went smoother than I expected. Perhaps Desmond or Quentin had talked to him beforehand.
He lifted his head, tears shining in his eyes. “Thank you so much, Saint Charlotte. I heard from Captain Desmond and Captain Quentin that you’re making a special, difficult-to-produce potion for my familiar. I’ll be thrilled if you succeed, but even if you don’t, the effort you’ve put in means so much.”
“Huh? N-no, you don’t need to thank me that much!” I squirmed. I didn’t even know if this potion would work. The expectations people placed on saints weighed down my shoulders. With a bow, I said, “Um, I can’t make any promises, but I’ll try my best.”
Every day afterward, I made hearing restoration potions in the morning, afternoon, and evening, then brought them to the familiar stable to feed the deaf flower-horned deer.
As a high-ranking knight, Gideon should’ve been busy, but somehow he was always present when I did the feedings and would bow his head to me when I finished. The sincerity of his concern over his familiar struck my heart, fueling my desire to see this succeed.
Gideon’s captain, Desmond, must have revealed certain things to him—including the fact that the potion Desmond drank had completely restored his hearing in one go. Gideon seemed disappointed the first time I fed his familiar a potion and it produced no noticeable change. Still, when he caught me watching him, he tried to smile. Even with my failures, he didn’t want me to worry, but that only encouraged me to work harder so this kind knight wouldn’t lose his familiar.
On the morning of the fourth day since I started this experiment, I went to the familiar stables with a potion in hand like usual and found Gideon waiting outside. He wore a strange expression and, upon seeing me, bowed with great vigor, his face streaked with tears when he lifted his head again.
“Last night, I watched my familiar eat her dinner. I began putting her dish away, but accidentally dropped it, and she stiffened with surprise! Thank you so much! She can finally hear loud noises!”
“Really? Oh, that’s so good!” Relief washed through me. I grabbed his hands. “I’ll do my best to heal your familiar over the remaining three days!”
“Thank you! Thank you so very much, Saint Charlotte!” he exclaimed in a voice several times louder than mine while bowing repeatedly.
From that day on, the effects of the potion became more and more apparent. The change was gradual, but the flower-horned deer showed clear signs of hearing. On the seventh morning, her hearing returned completely, to the extent that she could even hear sounds too quiet for Gideon and me to pick up.
“This is incredible! My Rose’s hearing is completely back! Now she doesn’t have to go anywhere! We can stay together!” Gideon hugged his familiar, crying all the while. The flower-horned deer pressed her nose against him.
Emotion welled up inside me as I observed the pair. Desmond, Quentin, and Patty—who had all come to witness the last dose—smiled at me with admiration.
Desmond met my eyes. “You’re incredible, Saint Charlotte. You’ve succeeded in making a new, unheard-of potion not once but twice.”
“N-not at all. This isn’t anything that special…” I said bashfully.
He shook his head. “I was too excited from having my ear healed to fully comprehend the greatness of this deed, but I understand now. To succeed in healing the same issue twice is proof this potion is the real deal. You’ve created a potion this world has never seen before.”
Fia was the one who showed me this potion… But she wanted to hide that fact, so I couldn’t say anything.
“Thank you, Saint Charlotte,” Quentin said next. “Gideon has hardly slept or eaten these past two weeks. This familiar is like family to him. I know how deeply he loves her and I’m as happy for him as if she were my own familiar.” He grimaced before continuing. “According to him, his familiar lost her hearing due to my chick. I didn’t believe it was possible given how small it is, but Gideon insisted, so I’ve started to wonder if he was right. My baby is rather talented, so it’s not beyond the realm of possibility for it to harm a monster many times its size. For that reason as well, I’m glad Gideon’s familiar recovered.”
I didn’t miss the bragging beneath Quentin’s thanks. He really liked monsters and truly embodied the spirit of the Fourth Monster Tamer Knight Brigade.
At any rate, I was just glad the potion worked.
Lastly, Patty grabbed my hands, her eyes shimmering with tears. “Thank you so, so much, Saint Charlotte! I only requested your help with giving them a wonderful last night together, but you’ve done so much more! You’re a real miracle worker! Thank you so much!”
“I’m happy if you’re all happy.” Their smiles elicited a smile of my own.
Just then, a familiar voice spoke up at the entrance to the stables. “Oh? Everyone’s gathered here?”
I turned to find Fia cocking her head at us. I ran to her immediately, exclaiming, “Fia!”
Desmond heaved a sigh. “Yeah, we’ve been gathered. You’re late! I called for you over thirty minutes ago! I don’t care how short your legs are, there’s no way you’re that… A-ahem, never mind! I, uh, I got a bit carried away there.”
Desmond cut himself off as though suddenly realizing something and turned his gaze to the ceiling. Whatever he was searching for, he didn’t find it there, so he breathed a sigh of relief and scratched his neck.
“I’ll leave the scolding at that since we’re celebrating Saint Charlotte’s wonderful achievement,” Gideon said. “Actually, there’s no need to scold an excellent knight like you in the first place, is there? All right, listen up, Fia! Believe it or not, Saint Charlotte has recreated the potion she used to heal my hearing to heal Gideon’s familiar!”
Nervously, I looked to Fia, wondering how she would react. This achievement should belong to her. She had every right to resent me stealing it. But Fia quickly reminded me how contrary that was to her nature. She smiled broadly and said, “That’s incredible, Charlotte! Making a hearing restoration potion all by yourself is a real feat. You’re a saint who can make many people happy now.”
Everyone smiled at me, and the flower-horned deer leaned happily against Gideon. The whole scene reminded me that Fia wasn’t just a super talented saint—she was also kind. That’s why she didn’t hesitate to share her potion with me in the first place, and why she was happy for my achievements.
By staying by her side, I could become a real saint.
“Thank you, Fia.”
I gave her my brightest smile yet. Any day spent with Fia was always so fulfilling and fun.