I Would Rather Be a Rogue [BL]-Chapter 131: Potion Brewing

Brewing potions... was far less exciting than Felix had imagined. If you were to ignore the weird ingredients, it felt more like a chemical experiment.

Not that Felix knew much about chemical experiments. He had only read about them in his textbooks. Like all the other pups in the Moonhill Pack, he had also only been homeschooled, and their education level was only so-so. Their pack was one of those that didn’t like wasting too much money on human education, focusing primarily on knowledge useful in daily life.

It was just the precision with which all the ingredients had to be measured and prepared that brought such a comparison to Felix’s mind. Every tiny detail mattered, from the amount of the ingredient and the form it was in - fresh, dried, powdered, ground into fine paste, liquefied, and so on - through when it was added to the cauldron, to the temperature of the magical fire used to brew the potion. Even the speed and the direction of stirring was important!

And, as a complete newbie, Felix naturally got the easiest, but at the same time the most boring job - that is, weighing the ingredients again! This time, using an enchanted scale, which was far more precise than the kitchen scale he had at home, even though he wouldn’t have been able to tell that by its old-fashioned design.

But, oh well, you had to start somewhere. Felix was just glad that he had a job that allowed him to stay at home (whether it be his own house or the witch’s), with his pup. Remi didn’t mind at all when Felix took sudden breaks to change Vivi’s diapers, feed her, or just to pacify her whenever she started wailing. Just for this, Felix was so happy with his new job, that he would be willing to give the witch an ’employer of the year’ award!

Not that his Boss at Crossroads didn’t deserve it as well. He had been very accommodating toward Felix, it just would be difficult for him to allow Felix to bring his pup to work, especially during busy hours, when everyone had to work hard all the time. It wasn’t like at the witch’s house, where the two of them could work at their own pace.

Either way, even if it was boring, it was fine. As he got more experience, Remi promised he would teach Felix how to brew some of the potions, for example for his heat, or for dealing with the common cold, and so on. Or how to prepare the balm for his neck, which started to itch again (just a nervous reaction, apparently. Felix still had some doubts, but since the witch said that there was no magical or medical cause, then perhaps it was indeed so?). They would be less effective if Felix wanted to brew them alone, without the witch’s help, since he wouldn’t be able to cast the complementary enchantments - magical talent was innate, it wasn’t something just anyone could learn - but they would still be able to elevate his symptoms a bit. It wasn’t something Felix would need anytime soon, since he had the witch’s services free of charge as one of his job’s perks, but...

Felix wanted to learn as much as he could. In case he and Remi parted ways in the future... He had no idea what was going on in the fox’s head, after all, so he had to keep such a possibility in mind.

They both worked hard, Felix going back and forth between the boxes and his seat by the desk, flipping through the compendium to identify the ingredients, weighing them and preparing according to the witch’s directions... There was no clock in the witch’s workshop, while Felix’s phone was turned off and cast aside in the pocket of his jacket. Busy with the potion brewing, they didn’t even realize how much time had passed, or that the sky outside had turned dark, as the night had fallen.

All of a sudden, something creaked in a different part of the house, and the curtain fluttered from the light breeze of cool air that entered, carrying the scent of the rainy evening, the late fall, and something else, something more wild and bewitching, so faint that it was barely even there. A normal person wouldn’t have been able to pick up on the scent.

But Felix and Remi were not ’normal people’. They were a wolf and a fox. With their superior senses, they picked up on the breeze, and even on the hint of the mysterious scent.

And they both immediately lifted their eyes, and stopped what they were doing, Felix freezing with the pestle in his hand, in the middle of grinding fresh leaves into vivid green paste, while Remi almost dropping the ladle.

The front door had opened. Even though it was not supposed to open on its own, not unless it was on the witch’s command. Even when Kade had assaulted it with all of his strength, back when his father had been suddenly dragged inside all alone, they hadn’t budged an inch.

So, how come they opened just now? Judging by Remi’s expression, it wasn’t done by him. Which meant that someone must have broken through his protective spells...

The door creaked again, closing behind the intruder. Then came the sound of footsteps, light and soft, as if coming from the paws of a small animal, quickly approaching them. Remi flinched, snapping out of his initial shock...

After that, everything happened so quickly, Felix barely had a chance to blink. Remi waved his hand at the cauldron, muttering something under his nose, probably to preserve the potion they had been working on, all while he jumped right to Felix’s side. He tore his spiky witch hat from his head, and put it on the Omega’s head instead, pulling it down so much, that it almost reached his nose.

Just in time, because barely a second later, the curtain fluttered again, as a slender red fox entered the room.

This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶