CHAPTER 39: NEUTRALIZE POISON

The original owner of this body and Gara himself both loved salty food. And Wina’s cooking always had just the right level of savoriness. It was nothing like the bland noodles he’d tasted back in town.

"It’s great, but you mustn’t tell anyone about this," Wina said.

Her anxious tone puzzled Gara. "Why not, Mom?"

"Salt is rare here, Gara. I’ve always used it generously in cooking because we can afford it..."

Gara was taken aback and once again reminded of Wina’s quiet love and care for him.

Wina went on, "If people find out this river can be used to harvest salt, nobles from the county will come to investigate. And if they bring a druid representative, things could turn dangerous."

Only then did Gara begin to grasp the complexity of living in hiding like this.

He really needed to finish his anesthetic experiment soon, so he could move on to the next: developing something to mask his scent.

"Alright, Mom. I won’t tell anyone. But we should use it for our own daily needs," Gara said firmly.

Wina nodded in agreement.

...

Before the sun fully set, Gara took a quick bath. Their bathroom, built behind the house, was made of bamboo and had no roof. To bathe, one usually had to draw water from the well beside the house.

But since Gara had his own water, he preferred to use it instead. He bathed quickly.

As he walked back to his room, towel-drying his damp hair, his eyes fell on the faint burn mark on his wrist, the one Zayn had given him.

But the scar had faded significantly.

"My water’s pretty amazing... It helps plants grow faster, makes food taste better, and now it even fades scars. What else can it do, I wonder?"

Just then, Gara reached the front room, which sat right next to his bedroom. His eyes accidentally landed on a clay glass, a thick liquid from toxic herb, and a pile of toxic plants sitting on the table.

An idea flashed through his mind.

"My water! Can you also neutralize poison?" Gara asked, not sure to whom exactly, but his tone was clearly full of excitement.

He really wanted to test his theory, but the sky was already getting dark. Dealing with poison under poor lighting would only put himself in danger.

He didn’t want to suddenly wake up two weeks in the past again just because he died accidentally.

Heading into his room, he hoped he could fall asleep quickly and wake up to morning light. But it took him quite a while of tossing and turning before he finally drifted into dreamland.

Meanwhile, in the darkness of night at the fork road in front of Suruta Village, a man sat atop a horse, observing the entrance to the village with a probing gaze.

His long silver hair, tied back, swayed with the cold wind, but he didn’t seem to care about the chill creeping in.

"He’s not here?" Langga couldn’t sense Gara’s presence in the village.

From the beginning, he had felt that Gara was odd. His Talent was incredibly powerful, yet he refused to enroll in the academy this year.

"Seems like he really has something else to take care of," he could only sigh.

His original plan was to be the Liner assigned to assist Gara in his mission.

Not only would that allow him to observe the young man up close, but it would also give him an excuse to avoid returning right away.

Now, he had no interest in accompanying any other newbie on their missions.

Like it or not, he had to return to the capital and face his mother’s demands for him to marry. But of course, he wasn’t someone who could be controlled so easily.

Before leaving the dark, remote village, Langga took out a triangle-shaped bead imbued with the scent of its owner.

He gripped the bead tightly, his gaze filled with longing.

Finally, he carefully stored the bead away and continued on his journey.

...

With the first glimmer of sunlight, Gara, brimming with energy, headed toward the mountain to complete his task of filling the water barrels.

"Slow down, Gara. It’s still dark," Wina reminded him with a worried and confused look.

This time, no curious villagers came up to Gara to ask about his Talent. Perhaps because only a few people were already out in the fields, and also because he had already entertained the whole village yesterday.

After finishing his task, Gara quickly returned home.

The sun was now shining brightly. When he opened the window, the light poured in, illuminating the darkness of the main room.

The glasses, plates, and other utensils he used were all made of dark-colored clay. In fact, everything in the house was earthenware.

This was also why he couldn’t work at night using just a lantern. It was hard to tell the difference between plain water and toxic extract.

With the room now bathed in sunlight, he quickly grabbed a clay cup filled with liquid extracted from the Thimvine, choosing the sample with the lowest dosage.

He dripped a bit of his water into the cup, trying to ensure the amount of extract and the amount of water he added were the same.

After that, he put on his gloves again—safety first—then started stirring.

Once the mixture was ready, he took the cup out to the yard, specifically to the Noxfloris, to test its toxicity level.

With hope in his heart, he poured it onto the trap of the Noxfloris.

One second, two seconds... ten seconds... up to a full minute passed...

The trap of the Noxfloris turned a bright green.

"It worked!" Gara shouted without thinking.

He did it! Finally, he could give birth without any pain!

"So, you’ve finally realized."

That mechanical voice in his head returned after a long silence. Perhaps because every time it appeared before, he would tease it mercilessly.

"Wait... you knew my water could do this?" Gara asked.

...