The witch set down the water bottle.
"Well, well, first things first — this water bottle has a name. It's called the 'Crescent Vessel.'"
"The Crescent Vessel...?"
At the center of the round water bottle, there was a crescent moon.
At first I'd taken it for a simple marking, but it was made of metal.
Hm? The Crescent Vessel?
I felt like I'd heard that name somewhere before.
"Okay, okay, first up is the purification function. Any liquid poured in comes out perfectly clean, no matter what state it was in."
Just that alone was already absurd.
"There are more functions?"
"Yep, yep. Next is the cooling and heating function."
"Cooling and heating!? It can make things cold AND warm!?"
T-That's incredible.
"Yep, yep. But there's something I've been thinking for a while now."
"What is it?"
"For a while now, young Wof — you're way too quick on the uptake. A kid your age shouldn't have the faintest idea what cooling and heating means, let alone understand a thing when someone says 'function.' I'd expect nothing but a blank stare, honestly."
"W-Well, I do study quite a bit."
This was bad. She was getting suspicious.
It was because my memories from my past life let me understand everything in an instant.
"Hmm-hmm. Being diligent isn't a bad thing, you know."
"I'm going to become a delver."
"Oh my, oh my. That's right, that's right. Well, someone like you could probably become a delver even now."
"Eh? But I'm still only 13."
You had to be 14 to become a delver.
But the witch dropped a bombshell.
"Hmm-hmm. Wof boy, you don't know about this? Not here, mind you, but there's a child who became a delver at age 9."
"Wh— 9!?!"
I was stunned.
"Well, well, I don't know the details myself, but apparently it was granted as a special exception."
"Special exceptions actually exist? I had no idea."
"If I recall correctly, I heard they've since turned 10 and are already a Rank III delver."
"...Rank III...?!"
"Mm-hm. That's what you'd call a genius."
"That's incredible."
"Heh heh. Maybe you could do it too, Wof boy."
"I'll pass on that sort of thing."
"Oh my, oh my. Won't Wof boy take on the challenge?"
"Standing out like that isn't my way of life."
If I went back to town and asked around casually, I could probably learn more details.
There's nothing more attention-grabbing than this.
I don't want to stand out. So I won't be taking on any challenge.
I want to become a delver for the sake of making a living. Most people are probably the same.
Of course. If I could become one sooner, I'd want that.
But I don't want to become one badly enough to expose myself to the curious eyes of so many people.
That would be far too high-risk.
Even so, becoming a delver at nine years old.
People would think I'm some kind of genius or prodigy.
Well, I probably won't run into anyone like that, though.
"Oh my, oh my. Well then, let's get back to the cooling-heating function."
"Yes. Please go ahead."
"First of all, in this water flask... perfect timing."
"?"
The witch poured blue liquid into a crescent-shaped vessel.
"What's that?"
"Well, well. If you leave it as is, you see... this has gone lukewarm, so it's still lukewarm. But now, if you move this part..."
The witch pinched the crescent-shaped metal ornament in the middle of the flask.
It clicked and tilted.
"Did it move?"
"Good, good. Wof boy, give it a taste."
"Huh?"
No way, drinking it just like that — I looked uncertain.
"It's fine, it's fine."
"What… is this?"
"Well now, you'll find out once you drink it."
"………………"
"My my, don't you want to know? The secret of the Crescent Moon vessel."
Put that way, I was curious.
I hesitated, then threw caution to the wind and took a big gulp.
"Gulp — cold!? Ah, it's good."
To my surprise, it was delicious. A refreshing sweetness.
"Heh heh, heh heh. It's a potion."
"A potion?"
It tasted just like juice.
But from what I'd heard, potions were supposed to taste awful.
"Now then, up here on the crescent, there are blue, white, and red orbs, aren't there."
"Y-yes. There are."
The Crescent Moon vessel. Blue, white, and red orbs were set into the crescent on top of the round canteen.
I hadn't noticed.
"So then, so then — that's where you adjust between cold and warm. The white orb is normal temperature. The blue orb is cold. The red orb is warm. That's how it works."
So then, since the crescent is tilted toward the blue orb right now, does that mean the potion inside is cold?"
"Mhm, mhm. That's right."
That's when a question occurred to me.
"How long does it take for the temperature to change from cold to warm?"
"My my, what an interesting question. It doesn't take any time at all."
"In an instant?"
"Mhm, mhm. That's right."
"Is the liquid inside okay with that?"
A sudden temperature change should have a significant effect on the liquid's composition.
"Hmm hmm. Wof, you really are interesting. There's no need to worry about that."
"So there's no change at all. And is the temperature constant?"
"Oh my. You noticed that too, did you?"
The witch narrowed her eyes with amusement.
"I'm at that age where I'm curious about all sorts of things."
"Mhm, mhm. Kon is the same even now. As for the temperature, it stays constant."
"I see."
So that much adjustment really wasn't possible, huh.
The cooling and warming function alone was more than enough. Just when I thought that was the end of it—
"Now then, on to the next. This is the best feature."
"There's still more?"
"Oh, sure, sure. That's the blending function right there."
"……?"
"Here, here. See the little round dial and numbers next to the canteen?"
"……This?"
On the right side of the canteen, a round dial and numbers were lined up vertically.
0, 2, 4, and 6.
The dial was set to 0.
"Well well, there's still some left, so Kon's gonna drink it up."
With that, the witch drained the canteen's contents.
"Ah—"
"My my, what's that?"
"Nothing. It's nothing."
"Well then, try turning the dial to 2."
I did as told and set it to 2.
"Like this?"
"Mm-hmm. That's right. Wof, kid. Now I'll show you something good."
"Something good?"
The witch nodded and said to wait just a moment, then left the room.
And after truly just a moment, she came back.
In her hand were two leaves.
"Well now, let me turn these two into liquid."
She placed each leaf into a separate empty flask and added the red liquid.
"What's that?"
"This, this — catalyst fluid. By the way, the two leaves are medicinal herbs, so you don't actually need catalyst fluid. You could just chop them up and put them in water."
Once the red liquid was added, the empty flasks turned into blue and green liquids.
She poured them into the crescent-shaped vessel by eye, closed the lid, and turned the crescent back into a white sphere.
"Like this, like this — you turn the dial from '0' to '2'."
With that, the witch turned the dial to '2' and pressed the switch on the lid.
"!?"
Clicking sounds rang out.
"There we go — once the sound stops, it's done."
"What's being made?"
"Mm-hm. Potions."
"Potions, like the one I just drank?"
"Mm-hm. That's right."
Ding!
Just like a kitchen timer.
"It's done."
"Potions…"
"Now then, let me explain. The number you set on this round dial is the number of ingredients to combine. '0' means zero ingredients — in other words, no combining. '2' means two ingredients. '4' means four. That's how it works."
"I see. So you can combine up to six ingredients."
"Yeah, yeah. That's right. That covers all the functions."
"..."
Purification function.
Heating and cooling function.
Combination function.
Way too many functions. So this is what legendary means.
And then I was told to go ahead and drink it.
The same thing twice in a row? I tilted my head but drank anyway.
This time it tasted awful.
The witch laughed, and I stared wide-eyed.