Chapter 3-15 : Making The Ultimate Antidote (part 1)
「So… the mermaids’ sickness was caused by the wasted substance from the failed Lost Potion?」 (Kako)
Those people are trying to make Lost Potion, but it doesn’t seem to be going well for them.
Still, it doesn’t mean they can dump the waste into the sea so irresponsibly like this.
「This is not good…」 (Kako)
Speaking of Lost Potion, I was kidnapped by the people from the Keemariq Group because of this potion. Thanks to Father, they have been taken care of, but I wonder if the people polluting the sea are their remnants or maybe their former business partner.
Nevertheless, it doesn’t feel good now that I’ve learned that the reason behind all this might be because I was found out creating Lost Potion by those people back then.
「…No, it’s not the time to feel down. Now that I’ve identified the cause, I have to make the antidote for the mermaids as soon as possible. But…」 (Kako)
I stared at the highly contaminated southsark grass in my hand and thought.
I’ve learned the cause, but it doesn’t really mean anything since I’m neither an alchemist nor a doctor.
In other words, I have no idea how to make the antidote.
All I have is my Synthesis ability, so maybe I can try combining this contaminated grass with the medicines I have and see the results.
What I have on hand are just regular potions, some seasickness medicines I bought at the port, a few herbal plants unique to this region, and… a bunch of random weeds I found on the way here.
I remember I saw in a manga that you could make an antivenom from the venom itself. I don’t know if it’s true, and venom and poison are different, but it won’t hurt to try, right?
First, I think I’ll try combining this contaminated grass with the fuli grass.
「Alright, I hope it works. Synthesis!」(Kako)
I held the highly contaminated southsark grass in one hand and fuli grass in the other hand and then used my ability to combine them.
《Highly Contaminated Starleaf Grass : A wild vegetable that has five leaves. It is heavily contaminated and extremely harmful to the human body. Do not eat it under any circumstances.》
「Ugh, it’s a failure… Next, ragus grass!」(Kako)
I put away the contaminated starleaf grass and moved on.
This time, I combined the highly contaminated southsark grass with ragus grass.
《Highly Contaminated Tower Butterbur : A tall wild vegetable that grows near water. Its unique bitterness will send you straight to heaven. Do not eat it unless you want to die.》
「Another failure… Next!」(Kako)
I kept synthesizing the contaminated southsark grass I could find in this area with the weeds I had, but let alone the results being suitable to be used as the antidote ingredients, none of them were even edible.
While staring at the failed results I put away on the ground, I was thinking, “What if I combined all of them?”
「I doubt it will work even if I synthesize them altogether, but I guess I’ll try it anyway.」(Kako)
Without high expectations, I combined all the grasses from the failed attempts, and the result surprised me.
《Highly Contaminated Maizen Grass : The mountain vegetable that is the result of hybridization from multiple weeds and wild plants. It has the highest concentration of deadly toxin. Eating it as it is can be life-threatening, but if you extract its juice and dilute it with the right amount of water, it can be used as an ingredient for an antidote. The leftover pulp after the extraction can be dangerous for the environment, so it must be burned. Do not inhale the smoke or ashes from it.》
「Ohh!」(Kako)
It has a long description, but only a few words caught my attention. That’s right! “It can be used as an ingredient for an antidote!”
I knew that if I repeated the process over and over again and then combined all the results, not only would the materials turn into something completely different, but their traits would also be affected by the materials used in the process.
What an unexpected miracle! This tiresome process of synthesizing repeatedly has finally paid off!
However, it’s too early to celebrate. I can’t feel relieved yet, not until I get the antidote.
「I finally got the right material. Now, following the description, first, I need to extract its juice and dilute it with water.」(Kako)
I shifted my gaze to the river right next to me.
「Ugh, nope. Ideally, I should use clean water, not this brownish, contaminated one.」(Kako)
The water here is highly contaminated. Even the parts that aren’t red have mixed with toxin for sure.
「Well, I guess I have to go back to the forest.」(Kako)
With that in mind, I stocked up on some more highly contaminated southsark grasses just in case and headed upstream, where I came from.
After walking for about an hour, I found a spring coming out of the gap between rocks. Judging from the direction, I could tell that this water was coming from the mountain in the center of the island, which means it hasn’t been contaminated.
「Clean water found!」(Kako)
I took out a cup and scooped some of the water.
I then looked for two small rocks; one with a slightly concave surface and the other one had a smooth, oval shape, which I could use as a mortar and pestle.
「Alright. The preparation is now complete!」(Kako)
Now that I have everything I need, I started working on the antidote.
First, I cleaned the rocks, put the maizen grass on the flat one, and started grinding the grass to extract its liquid.
I got a few drops from a handful of maizen grass. I then synthesized the liquid with a little bit of water so that I could appraise the result.
《Highly Contaminated Maizen Juice : The substance extracted from maizen grass that had been contaminated with deadly toxin. Just one drop is enough to poison a powerful monster. Another drop means certain death.》
「Yikes, even a single drop is deadly.」(Kako)
Now that I can use my appraisal ability on this substance, it’s time to dilute it with water.
I took a spoon from my magic bag, took a few drops of the liquid, and mixed it with the water in the cup by stirring it.
《Contaminated Maizen Juice : The substance extracted from maizen grass that had been contaminated with toxin. It’s been diluted with water, but the concentration of the toxin is still high. Extremely poisonous. Do not drink it.》
「Still too thick, huh?」(Kako)
Looks like a cup of water is not enough for a few drops of the liquid.
I poured away half of the mixed water from the cup, filled the cup with the water from the spring until it was full, and stirred.
《Slightly Contaminated Maizen Juice : The substance extracted from maizen grass that had been contaminated with a small amount of toxin. Definitely not suitable for drinking. The concentration of the toxin is still too high to be used as an antidote.》
「Still too much, I see.」(Kako)
I repeated the process once again and finally got the result I wanted.
《Perfectly Diluted Contaminated Maizen Juice : The substance extracted from maizen grass that had been contaminated with a very small amount of toxin. Although it still has some toxin, it has been diluted with the right amount of water; hence, it’s suitable for making an antidote. When mixed with a high-quality potion, it will become an antidote.》
「This is it! I did it!」(Kako)
At last, I succeeded in finding the main ingredient needed for the antidote.
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