In a somewhat dilapidated tent in the Valley Camp.
A little girl, about ten years old, looked anxious, with tears in her eyes.
On the straw pile in front of her lay a pale woman, unconscious.
"Mama..."
The girl anxiously called out to the critically ill woman in front of her.
A month ago, she and her parents had left the Royal City with Draconis to travel to his fiefdom.
Unexpectedly, they got lost along the way, her father left them, and her mother fell seriously ill.
Ten-year-old Anna knew this illness was a fever; she had seen beggars in the Royal City suffer from it, and because they had no money for treatment, they eventually died by the roadside.
Anna had gone to see one of them once, secretly slipping the beggar a piece of black bread.
Now, her mother was showing the same symptoms as that beggar.
"Mama, wake up quickly! Boo hoo... Don't leave Anna alone here..."
Anna tried hard to shake the woman's arm, calling out "Mama."
However, the woman had already fallen unconscious; no matter how much she called, she didn't open her eyes, nor could she gently stroke Anna's head and softly respond as she usually did.
Just then, Anna suddenly heard footsteps outside.
Immediately after, the tent flap was lifted, and the Physician and the Old Butler, who were with Draconis, walked in.
Physician Lila looked at the girl, who was crying uncontrollably in the tent, and couldn't help but frown. She quickly stepped forward, checking the woman's condition while saying, "Let me!"
"Phy... Physician! Please save my mama!"
Anna, as if seeing a final ray of light, immediately stepped aside obediently, watching without blinking.
Lila reached out and touched the woman's forehead; her expression immediately became very serious.
"She has a high fever and is already in a coma..." Lila said.
"Can Mama still wake up?" Anna couldn't help but ask.
"I will do my best," Lila said, turning to the Old Butler, "Mr. Alfred, I need Moonpetal Grass and Bitter Root to alleviate her symptoms."
Upon hearing this, Alfred took out two herbs from his medicine box and asked, "What should I do?"
"Prepare a pot, put these two herbs in it, and boil them for thirty minutes. Afterward, feed the bowl of medicine to the patient," Lila replied.
Hearing this, Anna, who was nearby, quickly said, "I'll help!"
Lila looked at the young girl with some surprise and asked, "Do you know how to boil herbs?"
"I used to help Mama at home!" Anna wiped away her tears. She knew the current situation in the camp.
There were many patients, and the Physician couldn't stay here for too long, so some things needed her to do.
"Good child, I'll leave it to you," Lila nodded.
Anna took the herbs from the Old Butler's hand, ran out of the tent, and started boiling them as the Physician had instructed.
Finally, she fed the prepared medicinal soup, spoonful by spoonful, to her unconscious mama.
Time passed minute by minute; Anna didn't know how long it had been.
She only felt utterly exhausted.
The fatigue from the journey, coupled with constantly caring for her mama without leaving her side.
The poor girl finally couldn't hold on and fell into a deep sleep... Anna was awakened by a familiar voice.
"...I trouble you, Sir Alfred."
She suddenly woke from her sleep, as if from a bad dream, and cried out, "Mama!"
The woman, hearing the sound, turned her head. Having drunk the herbal medicine, her condition had improved. Although still very weak, she respectfully stood up to greet Sir Alfred, who had come to check on her.
"Mama..." Seeing her mama awake, Anna, who had been holding back, immediately burst into tears of relief. She threw herself into her mama's arms, crying and happily saying, "It's great, you're okay!"
The woman gently stroked her daughter's head: "Don't worry, Anna."
Saying this, she looked up at Alfred in front of her and gratefully said, "Thank you very much, Sir Alfred."
Hearing this, little Anna also jumped down from her mama and said to Alfred, "Thank you!"
Alfred smiled, looking at the mother and daughter, and said,
"You don't need to thank me; if you want to thank someone, thank Prince Draconis! He was the one who shared the herbs with everyone."
Prince Draconis... Did he save Mama?
At this moment, Anna's heart was filled with gratitude for Draconis.
*
[Popular Support +3!]
[Popular Support +1!]
[Popular Support +2!]
[...]
Lines of information constantly flashed across the panel in front of Draconis.
The [Popular Support], which was originally in single digits, had directly broken through the 15 mark in just one day.
And the satisfaction, which was originally 0, had also reached 50.
"It seems my judgment was indeed correct."
Draconis murmured.
Sharing his herbs with everyone could both solve the problem of his people dying from illness and earn everyone's gratitude.
However, what made him even happier than this was that he had directly gained 50 satisfaction this time.
Draconis's thoughts stirred, and he immediately opened the technology interface.
The next second, several unlockable technologies from the agricultural era appeared before his eyes.
[Animal Husbandry: Unlocks methods for raising land Pokémon. Exchange required: 200 satisfaction.]
[Fishing: Unlocks methods for raising water Pokémon. Exchange required: 200 satisfaction.]
Draconis: "..."
50 satisfaction is still too little!
He couldn't even unlock Animal Husbandry and Fishing, let alone the [Electricity Technology] and [Poké Ball Technology] later on.
Draconis continued to browse the later tech tree; although later technologies were restricted by the era and couldn't be unlocked, he could view them in advance.
[Pokémon Food Science: Unlocks methods for making Pokémon foods such as Poffins and Energy Cubes. Exchange required: 1000 satisfaction.]
Pokémon food?
However, there were hardly any Pokémon in the territory right now, so its current use wasn't very significant.
Draconis continued to look down, and soon, a technology on one of the routes under the industrial era caught his attention.
[Apricorn Crafting: Unlocks the crafting process for Apricorns, a wondrous craft that uses Apricorns and specific materials to create old-style Poké Balls. Exchange required: 500 satisfaction.]
Apricorns?
Draconis was slightly stunned. He incredulously found the [Modern Poké Ball Technology] and, seeing its exchange requirement of ten thousand satisfaction, couldn't help but be a little dazed.
Why was there such a big difference between the two?
Logically speaking, the method for making Poké Balls was not difficult. Hundreds of years before the Pokémon League was established, people living in the Hisui region used Apricorns combined with metal and jade to create the old-era Poké Balls.
Although they were old-era Poké Balls, their performance in catching Pokémon was not much different from modern Poké Balls.
Moreover, the prerequisite for unlocking Poké Ball technology actually required Electricity Technology... A bold idea suddenly popped into Draconis's mind.
Could it be that the so-called [Modern Poké Ball Technology] included the crafting method for the [Master Ball], which is why the exchange requirement was so high?