Chapter 37 Preparations: Catherine Wavered

Catherine wavered.

Even within the Papacy, only archbishops have the right to learn magic. It's easy to imagine that having someone with some magic skills and potion-making abilities accompanying her would significantly increase her chances of completing her mission.

But to avoid any misunderstanding from Lucas, Catherine added, "You should know that even if you come with me, I might not be able to help you rescue Benson. Because we don't know where he is in the Vatican, and the Vatican is heavily guarded."

Lucas was silent for a moment: "But Witch, at least I won't regret it."

Catherine raised an eyebrow: "Then you'll need to prepare enough healing potions over the next two days. If you have any offensive potions, you can have some too."

Lucas understood that this meant they agreed to take him along, and he cheered and left immediately.

Catherine told Lucas to tell the witch if he needed any equipment or materials, and she would help him get them.

Although Lucas was a little afraid of the witch, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and run towards her again and again when it came to rescuing Uncle Benson.

Perhaps because Catherine was working for the witch this time, she was very accommodating. She rarely asked why anyone asked for anything; with a flick of her finger, the item would appear on the open ground.

In less than half a day, everything Lucas needed was prepared.

Following the recipe from his memory, he squatted down in the open space and carefully mixed the potion.

The witch strolled leisurely past...

The witch tilted her head and fell back down...

"Hmm~ Are you mixing a potion?"

Upon hearing this, Catherine suddenly became alert and involuntarily straightened her back. She sat on the rock behind the witch and gave Lucas a wink.

Lucas received the signal and immediately understood Catherine's meaning. His eyes lit up slightly: "Beautiful sister... I've been feeling a bit stiff in this area for a while now. I don't know why. Could you take a look?"

The witch chuckled and scratched his chin, as if teasing a kitten: "Oh~ you have such a sweet tongue. Let me see... try adding two milligrams of moonflower grass to this."

Upon hearing this, Lucas immediately took the jar containing moonflowers and carefully picked up some and placed them on the scale.

When the pointer on the brass balance wobbled to the two milligrams mark, he immediately put his hand away, put the remaining grass back into the jar and sealed it, and then placed the moongrass on the scale into the crucible.

Lucas stirred the potion with a long-handled spoon for a while, and once the potion in the crucible started to bubble, he poured the liquid into a sealed jar.

He found a small mouse—provided by the witch—as his test subject to test the potion's effects. As expected, it was twice as effective as his previous successful potions.

Afterwards, Lucas followed the witch's instructions and brewed it several more times, achieving a success rate of over 90%!

Before this, the success of making this potion depended heavily on luck.

Lucas couldn't understand why. Even though his steps and dosages were almost identical each time, with the error margin kept extremely small, the potion still failed every time, and he couldn't figure out the pattern at all.

But now, just adding a little bit of moonflower has made such a big difference.

Not only has the success rate increased significantly, but the effectiveness has also improved considerably.

"Moonlight Grass is relatively mild and has a certain mediating property, which can perfectly mix the effects of other ingredients in potions. It is a very useful 'potion adhesive'... Doesn't your teacher even teach such basic things?"

The witch yawned and pointed at things from the side.

Lucas's eyes lit up, his tone clearly filled with anticipation: "I'm self-taught, I don't have a teacher. Beautiful lady, could you be my teacher? I'll definitely study hard!"

The witch smiled, her eyes crinkling into crescents.

Lucas saw the change in her expression and was about to excitedly express his gratitude for successfully becoming her apprentice when he heard the witch's disdainful voice.

"You? You dare to dream of being my student?" The witch tapped Lucas's head so hard that he leaned back. "In your next life!"

After saying that, he snorted and left with his head held high.

Lucas looked at Catherine with tearful eyes, seeking some comfort.

Catherine shrugged and said very sincerely, "For you, her not agreeing might actually be a good thing."

After all, a witch is capable of doing such a thing. If the "thing" she values ​​is not strong enough, she will directly cut open its back skin and stuff in the insect eggs, doing something like forcing growth.

Lucas spent several days concocting the potion.

Five days later, the potions completely filled the package he was carrying.

Just in case, Catherine asked the witch for two more pendants imbued with offensive magic, exactly the same as the previous one. The only difference was that these two pendants could be used to attack many more times than the last one.

The witch sent the two of them to the edge of the Devil's Forest.

"I can't leave this forest, so I can only take you here."

The witch raised her hand and poked Lucas's cheek, her sharp, long fingernails leaving a small dent in his cheek.

"I hope you will come back here and bring me the good news I want."

Catherine led Lucas forward a hundred or two meters and successfully left the Devil's Forest, entering the city of Vilandel. The dense vegetation overhead had disappeared, but no sunlight shone through, revealing a gray sky.

For the next two or three months, the city of Verandel will be in the rainy season with abundant rainfall.

It just so happens to be a rainy day. The small border town they arrived in was still drizzling, and in the hazy mist, they could hardly see any pedestrians on the road.

As Catherine looked around at everything familiar, the uncertainty in her heart gradually dissipated—she had truly left Devil's Forest.

Two months ago, when she entered the Devil's Forest as a sacrifice, she thought she would die there. In fact, probably everyone thought so.

Unexpectedly, she would one day return to the city of Verandel.

Catherine took a deep, greedy breath, the familiar air filling her nostrils.

If it weren't for the worm eggs the witch had inserted into her body, she thought, Tarasco's life alone might not have allowed her to return to that dangerous place.

The Papacy is located in the heart of the capital, but they are currently on the outskirts of Vilandel—a town near Devil's Forest. It's easy to see why the nobles wouldn't dare reside there long-term, let alone make it a political center.

Even by carriage, it would take them several days to reach the Papacy. Catherine glanced at the sky, then took Lucas's hand, deciding to find an inn for the night.

Catherine and Lucas were both dressed in long black robes, their faces completely obscured by wide hoods. However, on such a gloomy and rainy day, their attire did not seem strange.

They walked along the entire long street and finally saw a hotel that was still open at the end of the street.

Pushing open the door, the creaking of the wooden door startled the boy who was dozing off at the counter.

He raised his head, still a little groggy, and glanced at the two people who had entered. His tone was somewhat unfriendly due to his morning grumpiness: "Do you want a meal or a hotel room?"

"We want to stay one night, give us two rooms."

Catherine placed a few copper coins on the counter. The boy glanced at them, made sure they were correct, then opened the bottom drawer, casually picked out two keys, and tossed them onto the table.

"The two rooms by the window on the third floor have their room numbers engraved on the keys, so you can check them yourself. If you want breakfast, you have to get up early, as it's only available in limited quantities before 7 a.m. Once it's sold out, there won't be any left, no matter how early you get up. You'll have to take care of the other two meals yourself; the shop doesn't serve them..."

The boy finished speaking quickly, then pointed towards the stairs, indicating that they should do as they pleased.

As they climbed the stairs, the old wooden planks creaked and groaned, giving the impression of instability. Catherine and her companion instinctively walked more carefully.

Lucas pursed his lips, glancing at the boy who had fallen asleep again on the counter: "Seriously, with such a terrible attitude, this hotel will have to close down sooner or later."

Catherine was amused by his pouty look and reached out to ruffle Lucas's hair.

Children's hair is fine and soft, like kneading warm cotton, and it feels especially nice to the touch.

After putting her things away in the room, before nightfall, Catherine decided to go to the bakery outside to see if they had any bread on sale. She had only a limited amount of money with her, so she had to be as frugal as possible.

As soon as she stepped out of the room, she saw Lucas pry open the door a crack and peek at her, looking like he really wanted her to take him with him.

Catherine remained unmoved and pointed at him, saying, "You stay here and watch the things."

What a joke! The potions in the room are far more important than bread! What if they both go out together and the potions get stolen?

She couldn't spare another five days for Lucas to re-refine it.

Catherine put her black burqa back on, and after making sure no one could see her face, slowly walked out of the hotel.

The rain outside had stopped sometime ago, but the streets were still deserted. A gentle breeze blew by, and for a moment, Catherine even wondered if this town was a ghost town.

The town wasn't particularly small, but Catherine wandered around for quite a while before finally finding the town's only bakery. Even this one shop had a thin layer of dust on its wooden door, as if it hadn't been visited in a long time.

Catherine stepped forward and knocked on the door. After a long while, a hoarse voice came from inside: "Who is it? Coming, coming..."

The door in front of me was pulled open, revealing the empty interior of the shop. Dim light shone down, and I could see only a few loaves of bread left on the shelves.

Catherine leaned in to ask the shopkeeper the price of the bread, when she heard a snap.

A skeletal hand slammed onto the wooden door, blocking her way.