Melmel stared at the transparent plastic cup in wonder, then her expression turned severe as she focused her attention on the orange potion it contained. She had a look of a pro in her eyes. I mean, she literally was a professional with her own workshop.
She took a sip of the potion, then her expression grew even more serious.
“Amazing. It truly is the work of a high-level mage,” she said.
“Huh? What?”
I hadn’t expected that. She didn’t seem to be sarcastic, but I was confused about what she’d meant. I wondered if her expression was so severe because she didn’t like the honey flavor or something. Maybe she was trying to warn me about presenting such a lame potion. If it was good, she probably would’ve given me a look of admiration like earlier, so I had to assume the worst. I stiffened, anxiety welling up inside me and sweat streaming out of my pores. My stomach hurt so bad I thought I was gonna die.
Somebody help.
As I worked up the courage to ask what she’d meant, she spoke again. “I’m sorry. I need to prepare for the presentation. Goodbye.”
“Oh, right. Good luck...” I said.
“Thank you. You too.”
Her expression still hard, Melmel returned my plastic cup and walked away, leaving me feeling uneasy.
Pain.
After some time, preparations for the exhibitors were complete, and the show began. A staff member called out to me, and I twitched in surprise.
I was led to a meeting area where a total of around thirty exhibitors were also waiting. There were more than thirty meisters in Freida, but most meisters from workshops performed joint research, and their presentations were handled by single representatives. They got to take turns attending the exhibit too.
I was super envious.
I’d been told that each presentation was around five to ten minutes long, which meant the event would likely take around three hours or so. But some presentations ended quickly without doing a tasting, so it should wrap up sooner than expected. I was glad it was Sunday, meaning I’d been free from the morning. But come to think of it, I might have been able to avoid coming entirely if it hadn’t taken place on a weekend. It was too late for that though. How unlucky could I be?
I was led to the venue, which was as spacious and full of spectators as I’d imagined. There were so many people involved in this event that it reminded me of the MLB Japan All-Star or the NPB Climax Series. Balloons and confetti flew in the air, and vendors busily walked through the crowds. I had no idea why a potion exhibit was such a major event. How did they draw such a crowd when it wasn’t a certain world martial arts tournament or a certain dark tournament? The citizens of Freida had way too much time on their hands, and they were way too into events.
Anyway, this was really bad. I was so nervous I felt woozy, and I felt like I was going to faint. You needed nerves of steel to be able to overcome something like this, and mine were super thin, like, microfiber thin. I knew nerves were actually thinner than microfiber, but that wasn’t important right now.
I was shaking in my boots from the scale of the event when the judges appeared from the other side and took their seats. On the far right was the Divers Guild master. He was the very person responsible for putting me through this hell, earning him the title of “demon number two.”
You’ll pay for this, you damned handsome blond man.
“I’m the master of the Divers Guild, as I’m sure you all know already. Ha ha ha!” he laughed, and the crowd cheered for him.
As the representative of the Divers Guild, he was obviously a major figure in the city of Freida. His work was even more important than resource gathering as it was directly linked to the survival of Divers, so he was quite popular among Divers and had a lot of fans.
As an aside, a spell had been cast on the venue so that when someone spoke from a specified point, their voice would be amplified throughout the venue. I’d been wondering why the guild master’s voice had suddenly become magnified, so I’d looked into it with magic. Magic sure was useful.
Next to the guild master, Dracarion Hueller, aka Lion-Maru, took a seat. He seemed to have dressed up for the occasion, his mane looking cooler than usual. He cared a lot about how his hair looked, and I’d seen him making some adjustments in the corner with a giant comb earlier.
“I’m Dracarion Hueller,” he said.
His voice was rather rigid and serious today in contrast to his usual lively and boisterous tone. The crowd immediately fell quiet to his overwhelming presence as if a wave of silence had washed over them. Then they erupted into applause—that was Do-Melta’s hero for you. It was no wonder there were stuffed dolls of him being sold at some of the stalls, the kind that looked like they’d break all sorts of copyright laws.
Next up was Greenia Reartail, also known as Esmeralda, who was the head of Brave Wings, one of the guild’s major teams. She was a graceful green-haired Tail woman with animal ears and a tail. There was a dignified and mature air about her, and I had a feeling people with certain inclinations would willingly get verbally abused by her. The word “capable” sounded perfectly fitting for her, and she seemed the polar opposite of my receptionist Ashley. Her tail was especially big and long compared to all other Tails I’d met before. It was the same emerald green as her hair, and it gleamed with a beautiful luster in the sunlight.
“This is Greenia Reartail from Team Brave Wings,” she said. “I spend an hour carefully grooming my tail every morning, and the reason it shines so brilliantly in the sunlight is because I’ve diligently polished it with a brush made with Mutable Horse hair...”
After her introduction, Greenia went on boasting about her fox-like tail, describing its smooth texture and claiming hers was the best in all of Freida. It was a fine-looking tail indeed, but I had no idea why she was talking about it for her self-introduction. In fact, she took more time talking about her tail than introducing herself. Why wasn’t anyone stopping her, anyway? Maybe they were already used to it.
I felt like I’d entered another dimension—well, I was in another world. My “capable woman” image of her vanished into thin air. Eldrid was like this too, so maybe this was a shared trait among all Tails.
The next person was even more out of this world.
“I’m Gale Huomottio from The Bloody Blood of the Goddesses. Mm-hmm.”
It was the buff dark-skinned okama manager of the potion shop I frequented. Their physique rivaled that of Lion-Maru, and they made Greenia look tiny being sandwiched between the two. Gale was more overdressed than usual today, and I couldn’t help but feel a monsterlike vibe from them. Even Orcs from the Red Iron & Cogwheel Mine would run away from them in fear. Also, I wished they wouldn’t wink like that because there were going to be some casualties. Even now, people were retching in the audience. There were plenty of potions here though, so there shouldn’t be any serious issues.
The representative and master of the Potion Guild came next, followed by an old man named Grado, who was an authority figure from the Freida Parliament, making six judges in total. As an aside, the Potion Guild representative was not only obese but also really shady-looking. The phrase “stinkin’ rich” came to mind, and he just gave off bad vibes for some reason.
With the introductions completed, the bizarre potion-drinking exhibit began. My presentation was near the end while Melmel’s was near the beginning. The examination process went quickly, like I’d been told earlier. The judges were evaluating potions, after all. They either healed wounds or recovered mana, so unless there were some novel and outstanding effects, there wasn’t a whole lot to go over. Most of them were about having slightly more potent healing effects or making the production process more efficient.
One person claimed their potion had the same effects with fewer ingredients, but that was exposed as a lie by Greenia and Lion-Maru during the taste test, and that person was escorted out. I was amazed that Lion-Maru was knowledgeable about potions. That incident actually fanned excitement in the venue, and the crowd was really enjoying the show.