Prologue: News Always Comes Unexpectedly

The spoon clanked against the edge of the pot.

“Phew. It’s done.” Sara wiped the summer sweat from her brow with her sleeve and happily waited for the sediment to sink to the bottom of the potion solution and for the liquid to turn clear. “No matter how many times I experience it, I love this moment.”

“I agree.” Even the apothecaries who’d tested her when she’d first come to Hydrangea had long since acknowledged her strength and were amicable colleagues now.

“I learned how fun gathering plants is from you, Sara, but making potions like this is the true fun of being an apothecary.”

Other apothecaries busily making potions here and there at the different tables all nodded in agreement.

“You learned how to handle white moonlight mushrooms and make dragon repellent this winter, so you’ve grown into an apothecary we can lend out anywhere, Sara. You even talk like a full-fledged apothecary now.”

“You really think so? I think so too!” Back in Japan, she might have been humble, but there was no need to be modest here in Trilgaia. Still, when Sara lifted her head high, one of her senior apothecaries gave her a cautioning look.

“Don’t get full of yourself!”

Someone laughed at the exchange. Sara wondered if the atmosphere would be so friendly if this were Rosa’s Apothecary’s Guild. What about Camellia’s or the capital’s? All the other Apothecary’s Guilds she’d visited had been a lot more tense in atmosphere.

“In the capital... No, never mind.” She was about to voice the thought, but she decided against it. No matter how comfortable she found her current workplace, it didn’t feel good to bad-mouth ot