GILF Hunter

Chapter 441: 441 Emergency Patient

‘Excuse me…’

Visiting the shop, Tanya knocked on the door of the laboratory.

The place Tanya went to was the lab attached to Louise’s shop. It was currently a space Emilia and Louise were using jointly.

Louise opened the door and greeted her guest.

‘Miss Tanya? What brings you here?’

Inside the lab, the heat and steam from boiling chemicals were thick. A very strong medicinal scent wafted through the air.

It seemed both of them were in the middle of researching something.

Wondering if she had interrupted their work, Tanya carefully explained her business to Louise.

‘I have something to deliver to you.’

‘Something to deliver?’

Louise’s expression shifted subtly.

It was highly likely an errand from Ian… and if so, there was probably only one thing it could be.

Having anticipated what Tanya’s news might be, Louise nodded with a resigned face.

‘Alright. I thought it was about time. The Leader has decided on a new item that needs developing, right?’

‘Huh? Developing?’

Emilia, who had been staring at a flask without paying any attention to Tanya, reacted to the word ‘developing.’

Rising from her seat, Emilia belatedly approached Tanya and Louise.

‘What do we need to develop?’

‘Our Leader puts in urgent development requests periodically. The deadlines are tight, and we have to jump straight into mass production right after development, so it’s quite hectic.’

‘Oh. Sounds fun.’

‘Phew… I’m ready, so please tell me.’

‘Ah, no. It’s nothing like that.’

While it was true she had come after getting permission from Ian’s office, what Tanya had brought was a completely different object from what the two had imagined.

Shaking her head hurriedly, Tanya carefully took a glass bottle out of her pocket.

‘This is…?’

Both Louise and Emilia tilted their heads as they looked at it.

What Tanya took out was an ordinary glass bottle. Looking at its outward appearance, it didn’t seem like a proper material. It just looked like she had filled a spare glass bottle with water.

‘What on earth is this?’

‘It’s hot spring water.’

‘Hot spring water?’

Louise naturally thought of the Spirit Hot Spring owned by the mercenary group in the city. Since there was no way she would have fetched hot spring water from far away, it was likely from there.

With a puzzled expression, Louise asked Tanya.

‘Why hot spring water all of a sudden?’

‘Well, I thought it might be helpful for research… I brought it with the Leader’s permission to give it to both of you.’

‘Pardon?’

Upon hearing Tanya’s words, Louise wore a subtle expression.

Hot spring water…

Louise had been there once herself, so she knew the effects well enough.

It was certainly an incredible hot spring. It was her first time feeling something like the power of a spirit so closely and directly.

If a potion could be made with that water, a truly tremendous item would surely result.

Even making a simple healing potion would undoubtedly produce a top-tier product that would sell for an enormous price.

Even if they just made a tonic, if it were put up for auction, wouldn’t the wealthy scramble to buy it with heaps of gold?

But it was an impossible task. The power of a spirit contained in hot spring water wasn’t something you could just scoop up and carry away.

Louise knew this because she had tried it herself when she first used the hot spring.

…I appreciate the thought, though.

While Louise was pondering how to explain this nicely to Tanya with that look on her face… Emilia suddenly snatched the bottle.

‘Wh… what on earth is this?’

‘Ah, you haven’t been there yet. It’s just hot spring water. There’s a hot spring nearby owned by our mercenary group…’

‘I’ve been to places like spirit hot springs a few times too! How on earth did you bring this?’

Louise looked at the fussing Emilia with a pathetic gaze and said,

‘What do you mean ‘brought it’? The water from a spirit hot spring turns into ordinary water once it goes outside…’

‘I’m telling you, it’s real hot spring water!’

Only then did Louise examine it closely.

It really was hot spring water.

‘H-how did you do this?!’

The intact essence of a spirit, its power not yet dissipated, was contained within the water.

While Louise stood frozen in shock, Emilia grabbed Tanya’s hand and spoke.

‘By what method did you deceive the spirit? Tell me!’

‘P-pardon? De-deceive?! I brought it after getting permission…’

‘Permission?! That’s right… you said you were an elementalist, didn’t you? Tsk, those elementalists. No matter how much I begged, they flatly denied it was possible, but it actually worked!’

Emilia spoke as she held up the bottle of hot spring water.

‘If I have this, I can make that! I’ve gathered all the other ingredients, but I just didn’t have a base potion that could handle it!’

At that moment, Louise snapped out of it and hurriedly reached out to grab the bottle.

‘Wait! Why are you speaking as if you’re going to use it all by yourself? She gave it to me!’

‘What are you talking about? It came into the workshop!’

‘So, why are you trying to monopolize everything that comes to the workshop!’

Louise was so excited that she inadvertently dropped the dignified facade she had been maintaining out of consideration for her senior.

‘Fine… then let’s decide who gets to use this.’

‘Hah. Since I’ve pretty much squeezed out everything I can from you, maybe it’s time to send you off to work where the apprentice chemists are.’

The gazes of the two chemists, both clutching the bottle tightly, met. Their eyes burned as if sparks were flying.

…I can just fetch another bottle.

Perhaps they hadn’t imagined it was possible to fetch this indefinitely, but Louise and Emilia engaged in a psychological battle over that single bottle.

Taking a quick look at the atmosphere, Tanya backed away slightly from the two of them.

For now… once those two finished their agreement and calmed down a bit, she could just give another bottle to the person who didn’t get to use it.

In this kind of atmosphere, telling them that the hot spring water was actually unlimited felt like it would cause even bigger trouble, so Tanya left the bottle and quietly slipped out of the lab.

＊ ＊ ＊

—Clank.

Rin, who was wandering around the market alone on her day off, turned her head upon hearing the heavy sound of clashing metal nearby.

A knight clad in thick armor was passing through the street.

A knight wearing armor that looked expensive even at a glance was naturally a presence that drew attention just by walking down the street.

Naturally, not just Rin but everyone nearby was staring at the knight, and the knight, perhaps used to such gazes, moved along without paying any mind.

…Why are there so many knights today?

Rin thought as she stared intently at the knight’s retreating back with a puzzled expression.

Of course, it wasn’t that there were no knights at all in Labyrinth.

Knights coming to place commissions or buy items in Labyrinth were a sight one could see occasionally, even if it wasn’t common.

But this was already the fifth time she had encountered a knight today. Moreover, they were all different knights.

It clearly looked like a sign that something unusual was happening.

The nearby mercenaries also seemed to feel a chilling atmosphere, as a small murmuring commotion broke out and gradually spread among the people’s voices.

It felt as if something ominous was about to happen.

‘Excuse me, mister.’

‘Yes?’

‘What knight is that person?’

Rin called out to a nearby merchant and asked while slightly pointing at the knight’s back.

They say you can tell which knight they are by looking at the crest on the armor, but Rin was a complete amateur when it came to such things.

In fact, that was likely true for most mercenaries as well. Why would a mercenary who only works in Labyrinth memorize the crests of knight orders?

That’s why Rin purposefully asked a merchant who looked like a peddler.

Peddlers who wandered through various places had to have such information lined up in their heads.

Hearing Rin’s question, the merchant chuckled and spoke.

If it were useful information, he would have tried to sell it, but this wasn’t even worth that much.

‘Ayy, you don’t know that?’

‘I’m from the countryside, so I don’t know much about those things… hehe.’

‘Even so, you should at least know the crests of the Temple Knights. There’s a large temple in Labyrinth too.’

‘The temple?’

Rin nodded as she looked at the knight’s back, as if she had only just remembered.

No wonder I thought I’d seen it somewhere. They were Paladins.

Having learned the knights’ affiliation, Rin could roughly guess what had happened.

Seeing so many temple knights enter, it seemed a rather high-ranking person from that side had visited Labyrinth. The suddenly increased knights were likely that person’s escort.

‘Step aside for a moment!’

‘Whoa?’

At that moment, she felt something approaching from a distance. A murmuring commotion and noisy sounds swept past the crowd a step ahead.

The clanking sound of armor.

Compared to the noise of the market, it wasn’t actually that loud a sound, but those orderly, aligned footsteps pushed through the noise of the murmuring crowd and invaded the market.

Naturally, the voices of people chatting diminished. It was a sound that instinctively made one’s psyche contract.

Soon, the knights appeared on the quieted market street.

When people saw them and stepped aside to create space, the long line of knights passed between the people while nodding to ask for understanding.

It was a much larger number than Rin had anticipated.

Judging by the direction, they were probably on their way to the Labyrinth temple.

And… as Rin had expected. There weren’t only knights in that procession. The knights were surrounding someone in the middle as if escorting them.

Hidden by the crowd, she couldn’t see clearly, but it looked like a noble lady with long hair flowing down.

Given the escort of knights, that person was likely a high-ranking individual from the temple.

A High Priestess?

Rin caught a slight glimpse of the key figure’s face through the gaps between the passing knights. It was to see what kind of person they were and inform Ian.

In fact, if it were temple business, it would have little to do with mercenaries, but since Ian met high-ranking people often, he might be interested. For now, she intended to deliver the news.

Just as Rin was about to move toward the base with that thought, the gaze of that lady passing nearby suddenly snapped around.

Whether she felt something, she turned her head with eyes wide in surprise and met Rin’s gaze.

‘…!’

Without a moment to be stopped, the high-ranking temple lady suddenly pushed aside the escorting knights and rushed out from between them, running toward Rin.

Rin, who hadn’t expected such a situation at all, froze with a bewildered face, unable to react in any way.

And for some reason, the lady who suddenly jumped in front of Rin also had a very flustered face.

She looked just like a rookie priestess encountering an emergency patient collapsed on the roadside.

Standing before Rin, she stared at her with a horrified expression and muttered,

‘H-how could there be such a terrible…’

‘Pardon?’

‘L-let’s go to the temple together! Quickly!’

She grabbed Rin’s hand tightly.

Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!