Chapter 131: Shopping Spree
As soon as they were allowed, the members of the Underworld Research and Extermination Club visited Rierdan. They said various things. Some said they would look after his plants and send letters to his parents to tell him what was going on. Others swore bloody vengeance in his name.
Zach didn't say much. He patted Rierdan on the shoulder and stood up.
"We'll fix this, Rierdan. Just be patient."
The air stilled and seemed to grow cold around Zach as he left Rierdan's room. He went to one of the rooms they had commandeered in the name of the club. It wasn't the club room or the storage room. It was the room they used to experiment and test things with the samples from the forest and the underworld energy.
Zach locked the door behind Yanael and Alzara. He looked at the tall desert witch.
"You said you can make potions, right? Can you whip something up to fix Rierdan?" Zach asked, but it was as much a request–an order–as it was a question.
"...It's not impossible." Alzara hesitated.
"Explain." Zach wasn't interested in beating around any bushes.
"I can make potions I'm familiar with if I have the right ingredients, which I have none of currently. If you want me to make something new, I will have to figure out a new recipe with completely foreign materials." Alzara could tell this was no time to be coy or playful, so she answered as directly as she could.
"Tell me what you need." Zach nodded.
"Three or four of everything should do, Master," she responded as if she had been waiting for it.
"Everything?" Zach repeated with raised eyebrows.
"Not everything in the world, just as much as possible. Oh, and a few glass containers of different sizes and shapes, if possible. I'll also need a bigger room than this."
Zach looked at Alzara for a moment before nodding like that was reasonable.
"Anything else?"
"I'll let you know~" Alzara blew him a kiss. Zach caught it and stuffed it in his pocket before turning to leave.
He opened the door and found Nessa outside.
"Zach, I thought it was you in there. You're the only one who would lock yourself inside with the underworld energy except for Julius. It sounded like you were talking to someone—"
"Myself." Zach interrupted Nessa as she glanced into the room to see if there was anyone but Zach and his familiars in there. She was a little surprised to see no one.
"I-I see. What are you doing now, Zach?" Nessa asked as she walked next to him. What happened with Rierdan was tragic, and it put a damper on their daily life and club activities, but life goes on. The forest wasn't any less contaminated just because Rierdan's Runic Moss Butterfly had stolen and kept some of the underworld energy for itself.
"You remember how I told you I got a second skill?"
"Yeah."
"It's time to put it to use."
"Cool. Can I come?"
"I would love it if you did."
"Great. Just me?"
"Your familiar, too, of course."
"Be honest, is that why you want me to come?"
"..."
"Zach?"
"..."
Zach refused to answer until she dropped it.
His first order of business was to find and arrange a proper lab for Alzara where she could put her potion-making skills to full use. It wasn't difficult. He just rented a large self-study and training room that could fit most of the larger familiars walking around the Academy.
The only exceptions were the familiars that were too big to even stay on the campus for too long since it would get crowded quickly.
With a room practically bought with his parents' money, Zach didn't have anything to worry about. He and Nessa moved over a lot of the samples from the storage room to Alzara's lab. He had Nessa go out ahead of him.
"Get started with your potion-making and experiment with this for now. I'll return with more things in a bit, and I'll come back tonight to use my skill. I'm assuming that's part of the reason why you wanted multiples?" Zach spoke to Alzara.
Alzara glanced at the door for a moment before nodding.
Zach raised an eyebrow.
"She's eavesdropping?" Zach asked. The door and room should be well soundproofed. It would be amazing if Nessa could even hear anything other than her own pulse if she pressed her ear against the door.
Alzara shrugged.
Zach didn't bother. If Alzara could sense her and didn't want to say anything, it was best not to risk it. He also didn't know much about Nessa's skill. Maybe hers let her hear better.
When he had made sure that Alzara had everything she needed to get started, Zach and Nessa went around the Academy, the forest, and even the city to gather all the materials that Alzara had asked for.
By the time half her familiar was packed with bags and boxes of various materials from plants, monsters, animals, and ores, Nessa had gotten more than a little curious. She had pieced together to know that Zach's familiar was going to receive everything and use it. But she couldn't tell for what ungodly reason that tall maid could need so much.
Zach had said he would be using his second skill, the one he got from his contract with Alzara, but wasn't it his skill, not Alzara's? Nessa was a little confused. She wondered if it was worth trying to ask Zach since he was pretty good at dodging questions that poked at what could be considered secrets.
But eventually, she just tagged along. It wasn't every day she could see someone empty the equivalent of a rich merchant's coffers of gold like it was water.
Zach was the spoiled youngest son of one of the four duchies of the Empire. But to others, he was the troublesome seventh son of one of the duchies that were responsible for the safety of the Empire. Including his classmates, many thought there was no way his family was giving him that much money, even if he was a Duke's son.
Zach's easygoing attitude, most of the time, didn't help those ideas.
And after his shopping spree, those thoughts were almost true. Zach's purse hadn't been this light since he was born.
But it was an investment that may very well be more than worth it. Even if it didn't pay off, Zach was willing to offer at least this much for the sake of believing in Alzara. Find exclusive stories on m_v l|e-NovelBin.net