“But that sounds a bit like shallow thinking. As long as you’re giving out the recipe, it’ll leak eventually,” she said.
Oh, I guess she’s right. I’ll have to think of a work-around.
“Hmm... Then can we have the Freida Parliament make it so that transactions involving honey potions can only be done by workshops that were given the recipe through some sort of licensing system?” I suggested.
Grado asked, “I wouldn’t mind doing that, but why go to such lengths?”
“Well, the thing is... Let’s just say I have a little situation on my end,” I replied.
“I’m willing to do it for none other than your sake. However...” said Grado, then he looked at the Divers Guild master and the Potion Guild representative.
“That would be difficult for the Divers Guild,” said the Divers Guild master.
“Why’s that?” I asked.
“Limiting potions like that would go against our policy since we want potions to get to as many Divers as possible.”
“Oh, then how about this, Guild Master? If you don’t accept these terms, I’ll stop making that other thing completely,” I said.
I was, of course, talking about the gold potion. The backlash from Divers would be catastrophic if I stopped making them, giving me a lot of leverage for negotiations. This method was a double-edged sword, but I’d brought it up because I knew he had no other choice.
“You’re threatening me? Ha...ha ha ha... How amusing. Aha ha ha!” he laughed.
“Aha ha ha,” I laughed along with him.
“Oh, that reminds me. You aren’t going to ask me to return that favor?” he asked.
“No, because I’d like to hold on to it so I can cash it in when I really need to,” I said.
“How terrifying. Aha ha ha!”
The guild master was still laughing. It was kind of scary.
He then exhaled and said, “Okay. I’ve been concerned about this issue for a while now too. I think I’ve been prioritizing Divers too much and letting the situation for the potion workshops get out of hand. You’re right. I think we can resolve this problem if they were the only ones to get access to products that will definitely be in demand.”
“Great! Then—”
“I’d like to refuse, but we can say I had no choice since you put it that way,” he said.
“Yes!”
It’d worked. The condition was unconventional, but it shouldn’t cause any big losses for the major workshops either. The only difference between a honey potion and a regular potion was whether it was bitter or not. They wouldn’t compete with each other and should be able to coexist. The demand for potions far exceeded their supply anyway, so it wasn’t as if people would stop buying bitter potions. Besides, honey potions would likely be a bit more expensive because of the increased cost and labor. But of course, getting access to new customers would be a huge benefit. The rest would be a matter of power balance, which wasn’t my problem. I was only doing as I’d been told by a god. I wasn’t taking responsibility for that.
The matter appeared to be settled when the Potion Guild representative said, “The Potion Guild absolutely refuses those terms.”
“What?! This was about to be settled,” I protested.
“What are you saying? Of course it’d be better for major workshops to make these potions too. The more potions are being produced, the more people will be able to benefit from them,” he said.
“But the small-scale workshops won’t be able to survive like this,” I went on.
“That’s completely irrelevant. They just need to work harder,” he said.
“Whoa, are you being serious right now?” I asked.
That was a pretty wild thing to say. He sounded like he ran a sweatshop or something.
Oh, I get it. He must be connected with those major workshops.
“Besides, a meister shouldn’t be demanding such conditions...” The Potion Guild representative went into lecture mode and began grumbling.
I wasn’t sure what to do. It seemed this guy wanted to find some reason to get rid of the condition I’d proposed. Allowing the bigger workshops to make honey potions wouldn’t mean the end of small workshops, but it’d ruin the plan to give them a means of survival.
Then I remembered what Torpaz had told me just before I’d teleported into this world. He’d told me to say something as a last resort if anyone refused to cooperate and that they’d understand what it meant. It’d sounded strange to me, but it’d come from a god, so I was sure it was important.
“I think you’ll regret it if you don’t agree to these terms,” I told the Potion Guild representative.
“Wh-What’s with that tone? Is that a threat?!” he shot back.
“Actually, this isn’t coming from me.”
“What’s wrong with you?!” he screamed.
“Eek!” I squealed, surprised by his loudness.
Seeing this, Lion-Maru intervened by saying, “Potion Guild Representative, calm down.”
“How can I be calm?!” he shot back. “Did you see how that brat was talking to me? I represent the Potion Guild! Even if you—”
“I told you to shut up!” roared Lion-Maru with an intensity that matched his Raaaaaargh Crusher.
Having taken the full brunt of his scream, which could be classified as a special attack, the Potion Guild representative immediately turned pale.
Lion-Maru is so cool and dependable.
“Go on, Kudo,” he said.
“Yes. Well, a certain someone told me to relay his words if someone refused to listen,” I explained.
“You mean...”
“Yes. So I’d like to share that now.”
Lion-Maru’s expression changed. He seemed to have an idea of who I was talking about. A while back, I’d told him I was from another world, and we’d mentioned God during that conversation. He’d told me the other races met with their creators pretty frequently.
“Well?” he asked.
“He said Beast-Heads should understand what it means,” I said.
“Me?”
“Yes, he told me to relay the words ‘Don’t make me shake a leg.’ He said there should be at least one Beast-Head here, and—”
“What?!” said Lion-Maru, his expression changing even more dramatically. “Kudo! Is that true?!”
“Eek! I’m sorryyy!”
Please don’t roar at me! Please! I’m scared!
“You were lying to me?!” he yelled.
“No, that apology wasn’t because I lied. The words just came out of my mouth because you startled me!” I said quickly.
“So it’s true, then?”
“Y-Yes. He was laughing as he said it too...”
“I see...”
“Excuse me, but what does it mean?” I asked.
“Well, let’s just say this is a serious issue,” he said. Then he turned to the other judges. “Guild Master, Mr. Grado, I want these conditions accepted no matter what.”
“I’ve already agreed to it,” said the guild master.
“I owe him a great debt for making this honey-flavored potion. I have no objections,” said Grado.
Those two were fine with it, but the Potion Guild representative was still against the idea. He said timidly, “A-As I’ve been saying, the Potion Guild can’t accept such terms—”
“Keep up your obstinate attitude and Freida could be destroyed. How will you take responsibility if that happens?” asked Lion-Maru.
“What?”
Huh? That sounds ominous.
Meanwhile, Greenia’s face turned stern.
“Dracarion, does ‘shake a leg’ mean what I think it means?” she asked.
“Yes, it does,” he replied.
“I see. Everything makes sense now,” she said.
“Whoa, this is serious. It isn’t just a matter of owing or paying debts now,” said the Divers Guild master.
Uh, so what’s going on? Can you explain it so I can understand too?
Anyway, this case was settled with Lion-Maru’s insistence. He, the guild master, Greenia, Grado, and all the other races in general seemed to know what “shake a leg” referred to, and they, with dire looks on their faces, ultimately made the Potion Guild representative agree. They’d threatened force to reach a conclusion, and it’d been very effective.
How scary.
And so, my presentation came to a chaotic close, and the rest of the exhibit was pretty uneventful. In the end, the young potion-meister who’d made the hybrid potion won first place. Melmel won a separate technical award, and I finished in fourth place because my potion’s healing effect wasn’t very strong compared to the others. Yet, Grado appeared when the results were announced and praised me with all his heart.
“Potion-Meister Kudo Akira!” he called out. “I speak for all Adorners when I say thank you from the bottom of my heart! Please give him a warm round of applause!”
I received the greatest applause of the day, and getting all that attention was a bit embarrassing.
Come to think of it, all I did was make a potion that tastes like honey. I really don’t think it’s all that amazing...