Episode 3.3 (1/2)

Steeling himself, Lecan knocked on the door.

After a bit, a voice came from inside.

”Okay okay. I'll be right with you, hold on a bit.”

And then, after some time, the door opened slightly.

”Come'in.”

A soft voice.

Lecan put his hand on the opened door's knob and went inside.

The room smelt of beast.

The left side of the room is covered in straw, a long-arm ape (Zanvald) is sitting there.

Its fur looks really glossy. It must be eating nicely. Its face is of deep black color which also has a nice luster to it. It's looking up at Lecan with its big round eyes, seemingly slightly puzzled.

The person who opened the door had her back facing Lecan as she walked to another room in the back.

”Over here.”

Lecan passed through the still opened door, following after her.

The room he came into was shockingly spacious.

There's a work desk in the middle of the room.

At the farthest end, in other word, right by the outer wall, there's a fireplace with a huge chimney in the back. The size of the fireplace doesn't match the chimney's. As if the fireplace is just an extra.

A small table along the wall near the fireplace has teacups, a kettle and such placed on it.

And the walls in every directions are full of shelves filled with pots of various sizes.

Since the ceiling is very high, there's a lot of shelves, and countless amount of pots.

Wonder how are the pots on top getting taken in and out.

”Heave-ho.”

The woman who's sitting down on a chair behind the work desk has long white hair.

Lecan's right eye opened wide for a bit.

<3D Perception> is able to perceive the shape of things, but it cannot distinguish colors and materials. Thus, the figures of people caught by <3D Perception> are often quite different than the ones caught by his bare eye.

However, this apothecary is a special case.

The figure of this apothecary caught by <3D Perception> is that of a young woman.

Yet, the apothecary reflected in Lecan's bare eye is that of an elderly woman.

In other words, the figure seen by the bare eye is a false image. This apothecary is tricking bare eyes through magic. A magic that makes her look old even though she's young in reality. Since she's maintaining such spell indefinitely, she should be continuously emitting her mana, yet Lecan cannot sense it. Since the amount of mana this apothecary possesses is far too large.

The long-arm ape <Zanvald> got in and closed the door behind Lecan.

”Pardon me. I'm Lecan. Are you Shiira.”

”Correct. I'm Shiira. Hmmm, you huh.”

”I assume that Chaney has given an explanation. I'm wondering if you'd hear my wish.”

”Right then. First thing first, have a seat. Jericho. Get a chair for our guest here.”

The long-arm ape called Jericho fetched a backless chair from one corner of the room and put it in front of Lecan. Then it skilfully moved away with its long arms and positioned itself on the floor next to the elderly woman.

Lecan put his bag on his feet, removed the sword on his waist, leaned it on the bag, and sat down on the chair. He's not wearing his overcoat today, but a tidy proper one.

The woman is staring straight at Lecan with her droopy gray eyes.

As for Lecan, he's comparing the woman's real figure and false one. Looking closer, they're very similar. The contours of her jaw and nose, the shape of her eyes. Perhaps, her outward appearance is that of hers in advanced age.