The next day...
Even though the world was in the middle of an apocalypse, birds were still singing when sunlight streamed through the windows.
Inside the house, Yuu had created an extra room. There, Saeko, Rei, Jin-ah, Saya, and Shizuka were all gathered. Naturally, Yuu was there too.
"Mm~ being petted by Yuu-ssi… this is happiness…"
Jin-ah closed her eyes as Yuu's hand stroked her head, smiling like a spoiled child.
The other girls watched with complicated expressions. Saeko and Rei could almost see cat ears twitching over Jin-ah's head.
For some reason, Saya bit her lip, looking at Yuu's hand, then at Jin-ah's head.
'Why not me..? Wait, what am I thinking?!'
Blatant jealousy.
—Plush!
Meanwhile, in the middle of the room stood a huge metal cauldron filled with bubbling green liquid. From time to time, a few bubbles popped.
"Ugh, this looks like some witch stuff."
Saya pinched the bridge of her nose and muttered those words.
"No, no no! I'm not a witch, I'm an alchemist!"
Shizuka puffed out her chest proudly as she corrected her. That, of course, made her breasts bounce under her shirt.
Today, she had her hair tied up in a high ponytail, exposing her white neck, and over her clothes she wore a white lab coat. Her hands were covered in disposable gloves as she handled some rather strange herbs.
A red-leaved plant the size of a fist, a purple flower, and a stem with black roots.
"Ingredients ready. Hup!"
She threw them all into the cauldron, and they immediately sank. Then she began stirring with what looked like an overly long wooden spatula.
"Shizuka-sensei really did become an alchemist…"
Rei murmured what everyone was thinking.
After receiving Yuu's Blessing, Shizuka hadn't gotten a healing skill as she expected, but one related to alchemy.
So, since early morning, she'd been determined to create potions.
The problem was that her first attempt had almost blown up the room. The second one resulted in poison. And now, this was her third try.
"This time I'll make it, I know it!"
"Cheer up, Shizuka-nim!" Jin-ah encouraged her with a bright smile.
But as Shizuka activated her Exclusive Skill, mana quickly drained from her body, and the liquid in the cauldron started to glow. Everyone's shadows stretched long and twisted across the walls and ceiling.
"Hii! It's gonna blow up!" Jin-ah shrank into herself.
"D-don't tell me it's happening again..!" Saya went pale and quickly hid behind Yuu, peeking out from behind him.
Rei tensed up too.
"Relax. Look closely."
When Yuu said that, the light began to shrink little by little, while the bubbling liquid reduced in volume.
"The impurities are evaporating."
Seeing the girls calm down, Yuu explained what was happening.
Finally, the glow disappeared. Inside the cauldron, there was only a single glass' worth of bright green liquid left that, honestly, didn't look appetizing at all. From over three liters, only that tiny bit had survived.
"Did I do it?" Shizuka asked with sparkling eyes, turning toward Yuu.
He smiled softly and nodded.
"Yeah. It's just a low-grade healing potion, but it's complete."
"Yaaaay!"
Shizuka threw her hands up in celebration.
The girls gathered around the cauldron, leaning in with curiosity.
"Hmm…?"
Rei wrinkled her nose and sniffed the steam.
"Doesn't smell as bad as I thought."
"Yeah, I thought it'd smell like old socks," Saya muttered under her breath.
Yuu walked up to Shizuka and gave her a few gentle pats on the head.
"Good job, Shizuka. Your first success. I hope you'll keep improving, and become the greatest Alchemist that ever was or will be."
"U-uhh…! You can leave it to Sensei!"
Shizuka felt her cheeks heating up. That simple head pat made her a little dizzy, and when she glanced at him, for an instant, she had an indecent thought about pushing him down and climbing on top of him.
Such sinful thoughts… She wasn't respecting her Kami-sama.
As she tried to compose herself, Yuu placed several glass bottles with cork stoppers on the table. Some were cylindrical, others round.
Shizuka blinked, then smiled sweetly.
"Potion bottles? They're so cute!"
"If you ever run out, just ask me. I can make more anytime."
"Kami-sama~!"
She suddenly hugged him, rubbing her cheek against his arm.
Yuu realized this woman was quite clingy.
Not that he minded…
"..."
Yuu lifted his hand and gently held Shizuka's chin, forcing her to look at him. His golden eyes darkened, turning almost empty.
"You're mine. You shouldn't get this close to anyone else but me."
"…!"
Shizuka froze for a moment, staring at him with her heart pounding. Then she nodded quickly.
"O-of course! Sensei belongs only to Kami-sama."
Besides, thanks to Aegis's Blessing, none of them could be touched by other men with impure intentions. But still, she felt a bit offended by the distrust in his tone.
'Kami-sama… is he a yandere…?'
A strange heat ran through her body, making her hold her flushed cheeks while rubbing her thighs together in discomfort.
Yuu acting like that because of her was kind of cute, though.
Satisfied, he smiled softly before turning and bringing his hand to his chin.
'Does this… count as an emotion?'
That strong obsession with the girls who received his blessing… Saeko, Rei, Jin-ah, Shizuka, and Yue, since he felt that same obsession with her too.
While he was deep in thought, Shizuka took a round glass bottle and filled it with the green liquid from the cauldron. In the end, she managed to get three bottles.
"Huh…?"
Her eyes widened in surprise, because as soon as she held one, a blue screen appeared before her eyes with floating letters.
[Healing Potion]
—Grade: Low
—Rank: 1 Star
—Description
A bottle of potion made by a novice Alchemist.
When consumed, it can heal wounds no deeper than one centimeter.
×××
"Look at this!" Shizuka showed the bottle to the others excitedly.
The girls immediately grabbed one and saw the blue window appear in front of their eyes.
"How does this work...?" Saya felt like her genius wasn't of much use here.
"It's a function I added to the bottles. That way, you'll always be able to see the rank and grade of what's inside."
The Grade was divided as follows: Low Grade, Mid Grade, High Grade, Superior Grade, Legendary Grade, and Mythic Grade.
And each Grade had Ranks, ranging from 1 Star to 5 Stars.
"Hehe. It's just like a game." Jin-ah was thrilled by that.
Once Yuu finished explaining everything they needed to know about the potions, he turned and looked at Saya.
"Saya-chan~ Shall we go?"
After all, he'd promised to take her somewhere.
×××
You can read 15 advanced chapters on my Pa treon.