Chapter 50 At This Point, Call Me A Pharmacist
The Mountains had never had this much fun in a very, very long time.
For one, they had never seen humans before— or at least, most of them had not. They knew tales of the human Queen, Eldoria, who had a war that caused other parts of the realms to shift into pocket places due to the curse she had somehow placed on many lands, but due to their safety being paramount, have never left the mountains.
Secondly, they spent their days drinking, partying and fighting, so you must understand that they had never seen such… strangeness, especially from another being. It was a new sort of pleasure for adrenaline seeking creatures like that.
And to top it all off?
This human lady that called herself Isabella Montague… was no different from the demon king story they had heard many times as children.
They said that before the lands were ill and cursed, all dark creatures stayed unified and protected under the Demon King. He was so feared and revered that the other creatures let the dark ones live in peace but after a while, he went into a deep sleep and has not risen.
They were sure he changed his form and appeared as this woman.
She was so… fascinating. With the beast that followed her every move so docile and quietly— and the other beast that seemed to look human but glared at them in a way that made them fully aware their lives were at stake if they came too close.
See? She also had extremely terrifying subordinates that made it even clearer who she was.
Now, Maeve who was currently writing down everything she could possibly remember from all the meals she had to spontaneously make took note of the increasingly growing Approval Ratings of the Orc Clan.
Which she knew now was because of the meeting she had with the actual chief of the clan, Brukk of Varkunn and Father to Kazh of Varkunn who had interrupted her lovely breakfast, who had told her that the guard she met earlier believed she was the Demon King shifting in a female body to test them.
But Kazh just thought she was a usurper who had come in disguise to trick them.
Maeve believed he would work well with Adrian— If Adrian of course was not staying by her side.
They didn’t return his sword, because of course not, but it didn’t matter. As soon as the house was provided for her, she sent him to work.
Like right now, there was a mountain hog over his shoulder that he was carelessly throwing to the table. He was shirtless— with animal blood all over his chest and hands. He also had the white strand in his hair growing… more.
She didn’t ask. “You’re back. Want to taste food for me again?”
“Do I have the choice to refuse?”
“No.” She was already in front of him, the piece of meat in her hand already moving to his mouth. “Open up.”
Adrian’s eyes lingered on her, staring at every crease, every crinkle on her face but as he did recently, he obeyed. His eyes still showed distrust as she placed the piece of meat inside his mouth but he chewed on it still.
Maeve watched his face, waiting for any terrible reaction but for the sixth time that day, his deadpanned face didn’t change. Instead, he just said quietly, “It is not… bad?”
“Not bad? What does that even mean?”
His eyes lingered to one of the pots she had placed on the fire, his eyebrow raising, “It means it has gotten significantly… better. How?”
Maeve wrapped her hand around his arm, pulling him towards another table, “I am so glad you asked. Now, remember those stones we took from the mana beasts you defeated?”
On the table she had taken him too, white powdery things were placed in sections with different words written under them. “Yes,”
“Okay, so that one time when I came to the Capital to take Amir away after your wrongful imprisonment of him, the Queen had mentioned something about mana stones. Now, I had asked the Banister servants to ask the servants of the royal palace what those were and apparently, they’re volatile magic stones that belong to the Royal family alone,”
“Yes. The Queen… controls its production and distribution,”
“Yes. Very smart, she is. And brilliant. The government controlling their own addictive drug production,” Maeve could almost break into a wide smile from the joy spreading through her veins though she managed to fight it down as she said, “Though the stones are refined and carefully produced by the empire, some illegal substances are sold and used to make people addicted to it. Like cocaine,”
“Co… what?”
Maeve didn’t bother to explain. “The point is, there are different mana stones for different reasons. I found out that our dear Queen spreads them across the realm, in careful segments and in secret. But I also found out, they have a taste. Like seasonings, yes? Now, I’m not exactly sure how they are formed at the Capital, but when we found the mana beasts, I put two and two together,”
Adrian was, unsurprisingly, listening. “Go on,”
“The mana beasts each had stones in them— and why wouldn’t they be mana stones? I mean, come on, it’s simple 1+1,” That earned her a raised eyebrow from Adrian before she cleared her throat and continued, “But I couldn’t be certain of its uses till we got to Satyr. Obviously, I’d eaten some of—”
“What?”
“Before you yell at me, let me finish,” She cut in, holding back herself from rolling her eyes. “I couldn’t be sure of what it was, not until I handed it out to the elves in Satyr. Each stone looks white, but under light, they sort of… change colour to reveal their true appearance? And I was able to sort of sort out which was which from their experiences using the stone. I also came to realize those stones that didn’t change colour— were seasonings!”
“You gave the elves mana stones?”
“Amir and I observed them before we got to Satyr, and I knew they were not poisonous… though some of them behaved exactly like I took some drugs. Made me remember terrible years of my childhood—” Maeve stopped, her eyes on Adrian who was staring at her intently before she cleared her throat and said, “Not that this… present me does… drugs. Let’s focus,”
“If these are… spices from the stones,” Adrian stated at the table again. “How do you have so many of them?”
A little skill called Alms to Alchemy, Maeve thought. A skill that made every donation she gave, if accepted by the other person in a positive light, double. Of course, if they associated it as something negative, it wouldn’t work.
But that was none of its business. “A magician never reveals his secret,”
“You don’t have any magic—”
“Shhhh,” Maeve’s index finger rested on his lips before she said, “Good. Now that you’re quiet, you can look at the menu,” She placed a pad in his hands. “Tell me what you think,”
Adrian did as he was told, read the words on the pad and looked at her. “I see six different dishes. You are to submit these tonight. Are you unwell? Forgive me, I speak out of turn. Must you prove that you are unwell?”
Maeve beamed at him. “So you like it?”
“… Are you deaf?”
“I’ve come to understand that when you like things, you are mean to them,” Maeve took the pad back and placed it on the table. “Thank you for the different meats you’ve brought back. Each one would be cooked with love and care—”
“It makes no sense that you can cook in the first place. As a noble—”
“I was head of a revolutionary and surprisingly, your candidate for the next ruler of the realm,” She looked almost disgusted as she turned to look at him. “If I called upon the flames of hell and the devil actually answered, I don’t even expect you to make a single sound of complaint,”
“The Orcs gather around this place,” Adrian moved in closer. “Their... belief of you being the next demon king is unfounded, and you know this,”
“Quite sure it’s rolling in some money— I mean, approval… thingies. Which is good for business— I mean me,” Maeve shook her head. “Look, I know why you fear—”
“I will kill each and every person here if they try to harm you,” Adrian cut in. The seriousness in his voice had Maeve stop her ranting to look at him. “I know what I can do. All I worry about is being unable to protect you while doing so. I cannot keep letting you risk your life while knowing this,”
Maeve sighed there. “The only reason I do the things I do is because I know you’re here. You and Thomas,”
“The beast has done nothing since we arrived,”
“Yes, the little bugger is living my literal dream,” Maeve could almost feel the tears in her eyes resurfacing. She fought it back down. “I am so carefree because I know you will protect me. Maybe not because of your feelings for me, but because it is your job— and you always finish your missions. You’re very straight-laced like that. I hate it, but I admire it,”
Adrian stared at this woman who was strangely complimenting him for the first time since they had met— an honest, kind compliment.
His face began warming up.
Fortunately, she did not see it as she stretched her body and said, “So if anything happens to me, I know the guilt will eat you up from the inside and give me an opportunity to hold it over you and make you my slave forever,”
The warm feeling died. “You are a parasite,”
“Ah, your words of love. I almost forgot how beautiful they sound. Now,” Maeve grabbed his hand and led him to another table with different white powders… with no description on them. “Taste each one, and describe it to me,”