While Lothering Town is crowded with commoners and peasants, Abram City is a place with many mercenaries, knights and members of lower noble families. It specializes in selling weapons and other items to these people, and among them the trade in potions is quite brisk. Therefore, Abram City has more herbalists than a normal city. Competition makes the potion cheap but the quality of cheap potions are not only inferior but questionable. 

Brita frequently goes past the border door between the town and city to look for potions. 

She even surveys for armours and weapons despite not being able to afford them.

Today, Brita easily brings Hiro and his comrades into the city. 

The guards of the Abram City are very well equipped compared to Brita. However, they immediately allow her to pass through the door. They asked Hiro who they were, but with Brita's short explanation, the party of six persons were immediately allowed without further questioning.

Brita tap-dances along the path made of bricks of the city. The bricks  squeaks "Thud...thud...thud...thud" like something hard falling on the road but, today they sound like music from the heavens.

Struggling in vain to keep a straight face, Brita strides with her firm butt swaying left and right, twerking, while humming and whistling with a goofy grin. The shape of her toned ass is clearly viewable from her tight pant. 

While Hiro is walking just behind Brita and enjoying her butt intently, his companions  quietly study the city view. Interrupted from their sightseeing, the girls stare at the source of the intrusion, the twerking and humming Brita. There is a pitying expression on their faces, one that is usually directed at the village idiot.

But Brita really couldn’t give a damn on what they thought.

No, in fact, she is in such good spirits, she mistakes the looks of pity for admiration.

Humming a tune, she slips between standing men on the road, her body lightly dancing in time with the strange rhythms inside her head. The dark red haired girl is in a world of her own, entirely oblivious to the pitying and puzzling looks directed at her from various directions.

Hiro's gaze stops at a chubby woman who is cooking something. There is something like kitchen beside the street.  It is placed outside, open air, with roof above it. 

There is a bar table along the kitchen with stools arranged in straight line between the long table and street. 

There are two men sitting on the stools and eating.

Hiro grabs Brita's shoulder.

"Girls. We should have our breakfast."

Still humming a tune, Brita slouches at an empty spot at the bar table. Hiro and others sit on the available stools.

"We only have porridge and coffee." The chubby woman says with poker face.

Feeling disappointed, Hiro nods.

She then prepares their meal while glancing at the humming Brita.

“You’re in a good mood.”

The cook's soprano voice and the slam of a wooden bowl filled with porridge, hitting the counter-top broke Brita’s daze and successfully forced her back into reality.   

For others, she put the bowls properly in the table.

With a quick node of thanks to the chubby cook, Brita lifts the wooden spoon buried in the white porridge and smoothly pours the contents into her mouth.  

“Hahii!”

At that moment, Brita feels a burning sensation spread all over her mouth. That is, of course, the natural outcome if one stuffs hot porridge into one’s mouth without cooling it first.

Swallowing not being an option, she purses her lips, frantically attempting to suck in cool air. It doesn’t work. Tears welled up in her eyes as she huffs and puffs desperately, her mouth continuing to burn.

The other girls gives her pitying gazes while slowly taking their breakfast.

“Here.”

The chubby woman places a wooden cup on the counter, and Brita frantically picks it up, and drinks it in one gulp.

“Ha~”

“Calm down a little.”

“Hihi, madam. Sorry.”

“What the heck happened, you’re out of it? Is the current job that good? Girl.” Hiro notices the cook is familiar with Brita.

“No, that is...”

Brita’s face breaks into a proud smile like a child who is given a particularly awesome toy. Seeing that Brita is about to break into a some long winded brag, the cook turns away abruptly. She brings out some chopped meat from the kitchen and tosses it into Brita’s porridge.  

“Go on, eat up. Here’s some  leftovers –no need to pay, on the house.”

The other girls' pitying gazes towards Brita becomes worse as they found out she is living on a welfare.

The chubby woman starts clearing up the tables, ignoring the accusatory gazes directed at her from the other customers sitting at the edge of table for this blatant act of favouritism. Having lost a person to brag to, Brita stirs her porridge disinterestedly, blowing into the still-steaming porridge.   

Having finished breakfast, one by one the  customers left the table after paying. Even Hiro and the girls have finished eating.

Brita isn’t a slow eater. It is just that on top of a late start, the chubby woman had given her a double portion of porridge.   

A double portion of porridge is a lot to swallow, but Brita is a warrior first and a woman second. She attacks her porridge quietly, eventually draining the contents of the wooden container.

“Hehe…”

There is a satisfied expression on her face as she pat her lean stomach. It seems a little comical as Brita doesn’t have a pot-belly to pat due her active lifestyle, but she does it subconsciously anyway.

“……Now you were talking earlier about the reason for your high spirits? ”

“Eh?”

A momentary tinge of confusion seeps into Brita’s face as the cook addresses her from out-of-the-blue. Having understood what the the cook means, she looks at Hiro. The cook starts to clear away their empty wooden bowls.

The perceptive girls might have discerned the reason for the timing of the cook’s question. A full stomach tends to lower one’s ability to think.

Hiro allows Brita to resume as he wants to gather more understanding of this world.

"I got a potion for free from the guy sharing a room with me.”

She glances at Hiro before continuing,

“Today, I asked, and got another one.”

It doesn’t really seem like something to be worth being so happy about. Maybe she got a good deal on that potion? Convinced that that is the case, the cook’s interest wanes considerably. However, since she was the one that started the conversation, she felt compelled to keep it going.

“Well. How much?”

Brita has a broad grin. The cook smiles at the scene which she saw earlier.

“I got it for free.”

The middle aged woman is puzzled.

“What, a gradual recovery-type potion is very expensive. I can’t believe it…Usually over 100 gold coins…What?”

Brits has a weird face as the cook asks that question.

“No, the one I got immediately healed me.”

“Immediately? Impossible.”

The chubby woman mutters under her breath, convinced that Brita is mistaken.

The middle aged woman ponders...

Potions that have a healing effect are generally categorised into two groups. The first type is simply increasing the body’s natural healing. This is used with  emergency treatment, it does not have much of an effect alone. It is cheap, costing between one to five silver coins, equivalent to 100 to 500 copper coins, depending on the quality. Its main ingredients are herbs. Brita struggles to save money to buy these useless potions.

The second one is the type that gradually heals the drinker. It requires several hours or days for the effect to be seen, depending on the quality. The potions that heal in hours fetch a far higher prices than potions that heal in days. Such potions cost at least 30 gold coins. Its ingredients is a mix of both herb and magic. The potions that heal in weeks cost about 30 to 100 gold coins, depending on the quality. The potions that heal in days cost beyond 100 gold coins. to  It is not an item that could be afforded by most people. 

Even the noble families don't own many of such potions.

The potion used by Brita has instantaneous healing effects which is unheard before. The potion could be made with a high leveled magic caster using alchemy, mixed with rare herbs. 

The cook's eyes become even more stern. 

"Listen to me calmly." 

"What, madam?"

"That potion would fetch around 1,000 gold coins. That said, once you factor that extra value in, the price is enough that people would murder you for it.”

Britta’s body trembles uncontrollably.

To lowly town guard like Britta, the potion’s base value alone is already beyond her wildest dreams, to say nothing of the added value. Her monthly income alone is just less than 300 copper coins, equivalent to 3 silver coins.

Brita suddenly realizes something and turns to Hiro who is smiling naughtily after knowing the potential value of that potion.

"C...can I return this potion to you.." 

Hiro's grin becomes wider.

"Last night, you used up 1 of those expensive potion, right? Pay me 1,000 gold coins."

Brita immediately prostrates before Hiro beside the crowded street.

The cook's eyes go wide, "Could ... Could it be... You..."

Still grinning, I kneel down, grab her arm and pull her up. 

"From now onwards, you will work obediently for me. You can still keep your present job "

Brita's whole body is trembling with goosebumps.