"..." I’m looking at the food that Shizune has brought me, after a few hours of work I told Shizune to go get my food since it’s time for my dinner and I knew it would be ready.
And she brought the standard that the cooks make, but with an extra, a cup of milk that shouldn’t have come with my dinner.
"Shizune, what’s this cup?" I question, normally my meal is an unchanged standard, this wasn’t supposed to come.
"It’s the potion" Shizune says while strangely blushed.
"You mixed the potion with milk?" I question.
"Mixed? Oh yes, I mixed the potion with milk..." She says strangely nervous.
"..." I analyze the milk to see if it has poison, but it’s clean, no toxins, no poison, and no drugs of any kind, although it has a slight magical concentration in the liquid.
’Seems to just be regular milk apart from the bit of magic in it’ I just sigh and start eating, I’ll drink this potion later to see if what she said about a potion with a 3-fold increase in magical power is true.
"Shizune, I want you to stack these papers and leave them on that table, in a little while a maid will come into the room, take the papers, and leave with them" I tell Shizune and then immediately start eating my food in total silence while watching Shizune picking up the papers.
I have to keep an eye on her, now she’s free from the control of necromancers, but nothing prevents her from being loyal to some necromancer and it all being just a farce and her trying to kill me.
If it’s a farce, I’ll unmask her by giving her various opportunities where she could kill me, and that’s why she’ll spend every night in my room and take care of my food.
Because that way she’ll have every possible chance to end my life, and if she does that I’ll lock her in prison until I can purify her completely.
After a few minutes I finish my meal and look at the cup of milk, I’ve already checked that everything is normal, but Shizune’s nervousness is unsettling.
’Why does she seem so strange about this?’ I don’t understand why she seems embarrassed and nervous, but I let it go, taking the cup and bringing it to my lips.
"..." I drink the entire cup quickly since it’s a potion, I want to ensure the full effect of it without any flaws.
"Hmm...it’s very good" I murmur, feeling the smooth and sweet taste of the milk, this is not the normal church milk, I wonder if it’s the potion’s fault that the taste has been altered and it’s this good.
’If I had known it was so good, I would have drunk it more slowly’ It’s a shame I was in a hurry, and soon I feel the increase she mentioned, my power really starts to rise rapidly until it reaches a very high level and gets stuck at that point.
’I’ve never felt so much power before...’ It’s strange, magical power-boosting potions are extremely rare, their rarity rises because the material used in them almost doesn’t exist.
My power has undoubtedly become 3 times greater just as she said, the potion cataloged with the largest increase was one of 5 times, and even a mere potion that doubles power is already ridiculously expensive and rare.
And yet Shizune said she can produce two liters of this potion per day.
’Where did she learn such a thing?’ This is undoubtedly incredible, but no one should know about it, potions could start a war if they discovered a stable source like Shizune.
"Shizune, never say that you can manufacture these potions in large quantities or you’ll have problems" Shizune will have serious problems if mages find out about this.
"O-Okay, I won’t say anything" She speaks nervously.
"By the way, could you give me another cup of this potion? I want to analyze it better" I was skeptical before, I thought it was just a lie, but apparently it was true and now I’m curious.
"...Okay..." Shizune just says okay and leaves the room taking the tray with the plates I ate, I wonder why she’s so embarrassed.
As soon as she leaves the room and I try to use a sacred magic, the power increase allows me to perform the magic much faster.
"The taste...was so good..." It gives me a strange feeling of nostalgia and pleasure, as if it were a lost taste that I always longed for but never found, I wonder why the taste of this simple cup of milk was so pleasant.
I can only look at the painting of my mother while waiting for Shizune to return with more.
"In 1 month I’ll ask for a report on the ingredients in my meals" I murmur to myself, it’s not that I want to try to figure out how Shizune is making the potion and what she’s using.
I just want to be sure about expenses and where she’s getting the ingredients to make this incredible potion.
"..." The door opens and Shizune enters again with a full cup of milk.
"Shizune, why did you mix the potion with milk?" I question with doubt, I asked for another cup of the potion, but it was just to analyze, she didn’t need to mix it with something else.
"Ah, it’s just that hmm...well...I can’t explain that, I’m sorry" She speaks with the blush highlighted, I decide to just let it go.
"Okay, then" I look at the cup and take it, feeling and analyzing the liquid better, the power increase is proven so Shizune didn’t lie.
I look at the cup and then at Shizune, analyzing both, the magic in the milk and undoubtedly Shizune’s.
’Maybe the production method is directly linked to Shizune’s own magic...that means maybe only she can produce this, it’s probably linked to her characteristics as a high-class undead’ I think of the clearest possible answer.
I smell the milk, it has a mild and slightly sweet scent, indicating that it’s very fresh.
’Strange, they usually don’t milk the cows at night, and it’s already late to go after it’ I wonder if Shizune asked them to milk the cows at this hour to have it fresh.
"Thank you for asking them to get fresh milk, but I don’t need these luxuries, the stored milk is already enough for me, and the cows need rest...any problem?" Shizune seemed affected when I mentioned the cows and doesn’t seem to have liked it.
"No, it’s nothing...I hope you enjoy the fresh milk taken from the ’cows’, I’ll go to the bathroom" She speaks sulkily as she leaves the room.
"...?" I’m left without understanding what made her sulk, but I decide to let it go, I don’t think I’ll be able to understand, so I’ll just continue analyzing this milk.
"...Hmm, undoubtedly the best..." I murmur, drinking just a sip, the taste is really perfect and pleasant, it gives me a good feeling of something from childhood that I lost, although I don’t know exactly what it is.
’A taste I lost in childhood...I wonder what it is...’ I think while drinking another sip of the milk, it’s smooth and slightly sweet, having a superb taste.
"Maybe I should ask for fresh milk more often" I murmur, drinking the last sip of the milk, I really can’t identify how this was made.
No matter how much I analyze, it’s just milk with a little magic, there are no other extra flavors other than the fact that it’s delicious.
Soon Shizune re-enters the door, her face still shows her dissatisfaction with something, I wonder what I said that offended her.
"..." The silence is unpleasant so I decide to speak.
"Shizune, as an undead you don’t need to sleep, so I want you to stay in my room all night to ensure my safety, if something suspicious happens I hope you know you’ll have problems" I say to her seriously.
’If she tries to kill me while I sleep, then she’ll be judged as evil.’ I already have spells in the room to wake me up or prevent anything.
"Understood, Beatriz" She just says that.
"Sorry if I bothered you with something I said, I wasn’t denying your access to the church’s resources, you’re free to collect the cows’ milk, just don’t do it so late at night, everyone needs rest..." She seems even more irritated.
’I don’t understand? I just apologized, why does she seem even more irritated?’ She is undoubtedly a confusing person to understand.
"By the way, your dress is poorly adjusted, you have to pull it up a bit or the bust area will fall" I say to her trying to change the subject.
"..." She doesn’t say anything, just pulls the bust part of the dress up in silence, since she’s irritated I decide not to say anything else, I’ll just finish my nightly routine and go to sleep, tomorrow I have a lot of work to heal people.
"I guarantee no ’cow’ was dissatisfied with having ’milk’ taken at night...tsk" I hear a small murmur and look at her, who is completely silent and neutral, I didn’t quite understand, but she seemed to be talking about the cows.
’So she’s really angry because of the milk, maybe she thought I was criticizing her?’ I have no idea, but I decide not to say anything else to avoid making it worse.
It will be better to just forget this subject, it will be a little strange to sleep with someone in my room, but I need to ensure proof of Shizune’s innocence or malice.
And this method is great, if nothing happens in a long time, it means she is at least a little trustworthy and I can give her her own room.