"AAAH!"
Splashed by the potion, Godric let out a loud scream as several wisps of white smoke immediately rose from his body.
It felt as though someone had dumped a bucket of boiling water over his head.
His entire body burned.
And this was only because Rhys had shown him mercy.
Otherwise, he had far stronger concoctions available.
"Well? That was only the appetiser. I've got much stronger ones. Care to try them?"
"Absolutely not!"
Godric waved his hands frantically, desperately trying to stop Salazar from taking things any further.
Only after more than ten seconds did he finally recover.
Still shaken, he glanced nervously at the now-empty vial in Rhys's hand.
He had never imagined that his old friend would genuinely develop a potion capable of harming ghosts.
But... why would anyone even invent something like that?!
Rhys understood exactly what Godric's expression meant.
"I wasn't bored enough to make this for ghosts."
Rhys explained once again how Rowena's soul had become contaminated after spending too long beneath the dungeons, eventually causing her to lose consciousness.
"These potions were created to cleanse impurities from the soul. At the time, Rowena was already unconscious, so I wasn't exactly concerned with patient comfort. I simply used the strongest medicine available."
When Rhys had been treating Rowena, he had practically wanted to scrape an entire layer off her soul.
Godric: "..."
What could he even say besides...
Amazing.
"Still, I do have some good news."
Rhys casually performed a health check while he was at it.
"Judging from your reaction just now, your soul is very clean. It hasn't suffered much contamination. Otherwise, the smoke rising from you would have been black."
Godric had absolutely no idea how he was supposed to respond to that.
At that moment, the corner of his eye caught sight of the wand stall nearby.
His eyes immediately widened, and he hurriedly gestured for Salazar to look.
"This stall... why does it look so familiar? I remember..."
"Back then, Helga commissioned a wand from the Ollivander family's stall. They kept it for over a thousand years. Only recently did I go and pay the remaining balance before collecting the wand for her."
A look of astonishment flashed across Godric's face.
He had never expected that the stall, which had looked so obviously fake at first glance, had actually remained in business for over a thousand years.
Could it really be true that the Ollivander family had been making wands since Roman times?
Rhys paid no attention to what Godric was thinking. Instead, he muttered to himself,
"When Rowena created this world, she must have drawn heavily from our memories. That's why shops like this appear even in small towns."
"Don't tell me she built these streets one by one?!"
Godric's pupils contracted in shock. To him, the amount of work involved would have been utterly unimaginable.
Rhys shook his head.
"As if she'd have the patience for that. These cities were built naturally by the alchemical lifeforms themselves. It's just that, because those lifeforms are inextricably linked to Rowena, many of their customs and traditions developed according to her subconscious."
As he spoke, Rhys once again remembered this world's prejudice against snakes.
His expression darkened.
"I see..."
Godric let out a sigh of relief.
If Rowena had really built every street here with her own hands, he would have been frightened out of his wits.
"We've talked long enough."
Rhys glanced around.
"It's about time we found somewhere for lunch."
Before long, he spotted a small tavern on the corner.
He strode towards it.
Godric followed behind.
Just as he had said earlier, he had no desire to disappear for the time being.
He wanted to watch Salazar's performance.
"By the way," Godric asked just before Rhys pushed open the tavern door, "do you have this world's currency?"
Rhys: ...
I should've searched those people we met earlier.
They were all so well dressed. They must have been carrying plenty of money.
Then again...
Money wasn't really a problem.
Rhys snapped his fingers.
A money pouch belonging to some unfortunate soul immediately flew into his hand.
When travelling, it was ridiculously easy for a wizard to acquire money.
"Tsk, tsk."
Watching the entire process, Godric made an indescribable clicking sound.
"Hmph. If you knew what Rowena asked me to do, you'd realise this little bit of evil is practically insignificant."
After making that cryptic remark, Rhys pushed open the tavern door and stepped inside.
The tavern was packed.
Everyone was discussing the earthquake and the strange changes in the sky.
Although the town was already more than a hundred kilometres from the Forest of Dragons, its residents had still felt the tremors and witnessed the two meteorites falling from the heavens.
For people whose daily lives were otherwise monotonous, such extraordinary phenomena naturally became the hottest topic of conversation.
As a result, both the town's churches and taverns had become overcrowded.
Rhys made his way through the crowd and arrived at the counter.
"A mug of ale. One roast chicken, glazed with honey. A bowl of stew, and a vegetable salad with cheese."
As he spoke, he took several silver coins from the purse and placed them on the counter.
"Keep the change. Just make it quick."
Having ordered a generous meal, Rhys found an empty table in the corner and sat down.
Thanks to the generous tip, his food arrived quickly.
Before long, a foaming mug of ale sat before him, along with a hearty stew served inside a hollowed-out round loaf of coarse bread and a plate of chopped vegetables mixed with crumbled cheese.
As for the roast chicken, it would take a little longer because of the preparation.
The bread that had been scooped out to make the bowl wasn't wasted.
It was placed in another bowl and served alongside the meal as a complimentary extra.
Rhys didn't even glance at it.
Instead, he reached into his small leather pouch and took out a loaf of bread baked by Helga to serve as the staple of his meal.
Anyone fortunate enough to have tasted bread made from finely milled modern flour could never truly accept the bitter, rock-hard black bread of the Middle Ages.
Those loaves contained far too many questionable ingredients.
Bran.
Pebbles.
Wood shavings.
No normal person would actually enjoy eating such things.
Even the nobility rarely had the opportunity to eat bread comparable to modern white bread because flour refinement techniques simply weren't advanced enough.
Of course, someone like Godric, who had spent most of his life in the Middle Ages, had never experienced such luxuries.
To him, everything on Rhys's table looked irresistibly tempting.
Especially when the steaming, fragrant roast chicken was finally brought over.
Rhys himself was quite satisfied with it.
Chicken of this quality simply couldn't be found at modern Hogwarts unless you happened to be good friends with Hagrid.
Although the Statute of Secrecy separated the magical and Muggle worlds, Hogwarts' meat undoubtedly came from Muggle suppliers.
Most of it was rapidly farmed meat.
It couldn't compare to a plump chicken like this, raised on grain over several years.
Watching Godric stare at the roast chicken with unconcealed longing, Rhys smiled.
"Want to sit down and eat together?"
____
12 Chaps ahead at Patreon.com/HornyFBI