Chapter 78: The Schemer Drowns in their own Schemes

Chapter 78: The Schemer Drowns in their own Schemes

Yoori: "You go it, Igni? When you're fishing, it's important to understand the fish's feelings."

Igni: "The fish's feelings?" Yoori: "That's right. If I were a fish, where would I be and what kind of bait would I bite onto? It's important for you to think and understand about these things first." Igni: "IーI see...." Igni: (I feel like Gramps taught me similar things during his [Popularity] lectures)

Igni reflected on his past memories as he cast his fishing line into the water.

The line flew threw the air in a beautiful arc and <plop>, fell into the water as concentric waves parted from where it landed.

Yoori: "And now, you just wait." Yoori smiles as he sat next to Igni.

On the other side of Igni, Sara looked intently at the water as she held her own fishing rod.

Igni: "Are you good at fishing, Yoori?"

Yoori: "I don't know about good. I just did it a few times when I was back in my hometown."

Igni: "But you seem pretty used to it." Yoori: "Well, I had to if I wanted to eat supper that day." Yoori looks in the distance as he remembers his own past and smiles.

Igni: (Was there a famine around his village?)

Inside his mind, Igni tilted his head.

Sara: "The fishy!"

Igni: "Hm? OH! You got a hit!!" Yoori: "Sara! You can do it!"

Sara: "Hmph!!"

With Yoori's instructions, Sara continued to fight tooth and nail against the fish with everything she had.

Igni: "Sara! Don't give up!"

Igni abandoned his own rod and began cheering on Sara.

Sara finally raises her rod.......and there was a fish still attached!!

Sara: "Got one! Got one!" Although her words are still rough, Igni could not help but put his hand on the girl's head as she jumped up and down with her entire body in delight.

Sara: "Mmmー"

And Sara was pleased with Igni's approval and looked up to him.

Her wide smile somehow resembled Igni's.

Yoori: "Oh! Igni! You're rod!"

Igni: "Hm? WHOA!!"

Looking in the same direction as Yoori, Igni's abandoned fishing rod was getting dragged quickly back into the water.

Igni: "Wait, wait, wait!!"

Igni hurriedly grabbed his fishing rod and pulled the line upwards.

Igni: "ThーThis is.....! Something's pulling hard!"

Yoori: "Maybe it's a huge one?!"

Sara: "Ohhhh......!!" Igni grips his rod tightly as he.......pulls the line with all his strength!!

"HA HA HA!! IT'S ME!" Igni: "EDWARD?! I was wondering where you went off to! What are you doing?!"

<SPLASH!!>

And with a loud splash, Edward comes flying out of the water!!

Caught off guard, Igni let some of his natural personality come out as a result.

Edward: "I just wanted to see your surprised faces." Igni: "Ugh....did you really have to......."

Igni did not expect to actually catch Edward instead of a fish.

Igni: (But he was in the water for a long time. He must've been using [Physical Enhancement]. Geesh, this guy.....he's just playing around with his Spells......)

Although Igni was exasperated, Sara thoroughly enjoyed Edward's performance and appearance out of the water.

Edward: "Oh, what are the girls up to?" As Edward dried himself, he asked Igni.

Yoori: "They went back into the forest. They were saying something about gathering more herbs and plants.......or something..." Yoori pointed towards the deeper parts of the forest as he said so.

<<<<>>>>

Iris: "Lilly! We'll have to cooperate!" Lilly: "Of course, Iris! We can't lose to Alicia!" The two firmly shake each other's hand.

Alicia: "Hehe...my potion is already in the [resting] stage." Lilly: "Ergh...! Iris, we must hurry!" Iris: "Leave the ingredients gathering to me!!" They leave behind Alicia with the huge smile on her face, and Lilly and Iris run into the forest.

Iris: "The necessary ingredients are the [Affection Shroom], the [Qatari Grass] and [Stone of Amo]......right?" Lilly: "That's right! The [Qatari Grass] grows near the roots of large trees. It's a grass that steals and absorbs its nutrients directly from trees, so you should find one around here......there it is!"

Iris was using her [Earth] Type Spell to make a smooth pathway inside the forest, both her and Lilly were running through the forest at an amazing pace as they found one of the key ingredients.

Lilly: "You'll find the [Stone of Amo] inside caverns where the Magic Power is trapped. Let's go deeper into the forest!" Iris: "Leave it to me."

Iris' compatibility is an [Earth] : [S].

Coming here, she is now using her talent to its fullest potential as they continue to move at high speeds.

Lilly: "Oh, wait! We also need the [Negozio Moss]. Could you slow down a little bit?"

Iris: "[Negozio Moss]? That's an antidote ingredient. What will you use it for?"

Lilly: "What are you talking about?! It's to counteract and cure Alicia's [Love Potion]!"

Alicia: "..........?! That's an Elf for you.......!"

Lilly: "Hehehe......train about a century longer if you want to challenge me on medicines and the forest, Alicia!"

And Iris and Lilly disappear further into the forest.

Alicia, who was left behind, squeezes the liquid out of the [resting] Love Potion and.......she inserts a single strand of her golden hair.

With a momentary <flash!>, the hair lights up the liquid and instantly melts inside of it.

Alicia: "And Lilly will probably try to undo the effects with an antidote so...." Alicia places the [Negozio Moss] she already found inside her Love Potion.

Alicia: "You're too obvious, Lilly." The [Negozio Moss] is a moss that can flip a specific medicinal herb's <key attribute>.

In other words, it can turn an active potion to an inactive state, or an inactive potion to an active state.

With this, Alicia's Love Potion is currently in an inactive state.

In other words, once Igni drinks the other two's potion, Alicia's Love Potion will turn into an active state inside Igni's body.......!!

Alicia: "You will never be able to outsmart me, Lilly." And she smiled darkly.

<<<<>>>>

Alicia: "Igni, give me your bowl." Igni: "Here." On Alicia's request, Igni gives her his bowl.

And Alicia pours soup into the bowl Igni gave her.

The sun was about to set, and the group was getting ready for dinner.

While Alicia prepared the soup, Igni was serving the Bullet Rabbit Steaks to everyone on plates.

As soon as Igni's eyes turn away from the bowl, Alicia pours her [Love Potion] into his soup without anyone noticing.

Alicia: "Here you go, Igni." Igni: "Thanks." Without any suspicion, Igni takes the bowl and sets it in front of him.

Lilly: "Igni, do you have water?" Igni: "Ohhh, no I don't. Could you pour some for me?" The other members in the Party can use [Water] Spells to fill their glasses with water, but Igni can only use {Fireball}, so he can't pour water into his glass.

But knowing that, Lilly kindly volunteered to fill his glass with water.

At that moment, she mixes her [Love Potion] into the water, but Igni didn't realize this.

That's because......

Sara: "Igni, I will cut the fishy."

Igni: "AーAre you really going to be okay.....?" Sara was cooking........well, not so much cooking as she was using a knife to cut the fish into bite-size pieces, and Igni was busy making sure that she didn't cut herself.

While Igni's attention was elsewhere, Iris poured just enough of her [Love Potion] on top of Igni's Bullet Rabbit Steak where he wouldn't notice.

The [Love Potion] is transparent, so it would be impossible to see in the dark.

Sara: "Cut." Igni: "AーAre you okay.....? Don't cut your finger..." Cold sweat runs down Igni's forehead as Sara clumsily handles the knife.

Alicia: "You're being overly protective. People learn from their injuries."

Igni: "Alicia, I know but......." Alicia: "Here, come sit down already. You're going to be one of those parents hovering over your own child one day......." Edward: "If she gets hurt, I'll fix her up so there's no problem." So with that, Igni sat down. And a few moments later, Sara came with sticky hands and sat next to Igni.

" " Thank you for the food " "

Everyone speaks up at the same time as they begin eating their meals.

With every bite Igni takes, he had 3 sets of fearful eyes constantly watching his every move.

But Igni didn't realize any of this and continued gobbling down his food.

The [Love Potion] is an "Ancient Spell" so the girls could not have known.

The [Love Potion] is a potion that will cause the person who drank the potion to feel strong romantic feelings towards the person who made the potion.

That is why in this case, there is a precise order you have to follow when inserting the [Negozio Moss] as you make the potion. That is because depending on when you insert the [Negozio Moss], the <effects of the potion will change>.

The [Negozio Moss] has a strong effect, and thus, the effects were systematically identified when creating [Love Potions]. But this knowledge was completely lost during the war against the [Demon King].

ーーThere is a specific timing to make sure the [Love Potion] effects are nullified.

ーーThere is a specific timing to turn the [Love Potion] into a [Hate Potion].

And there is also a specific timing where the effects are completely reversedーーand <the maker of the potion is drawn to the person who drinks the potion>.

On a completely random coincidence, the 3 of them made exactly the last type of potion.

<<<<>>>>