I Reincarnated as an NPC Witch

A Warming Cure

Abigail lit up the small stove she has for her small cauldron. She puts some water on it and lets it simmer for a minute. While she was waiting for the water to be warm, she starts pounding the ingredients into fine powder. She grabbed some dried Pyroblooms and starts grounding its petals with her pestle. She didn’t stop grinding it until it was a fine powder. Teria sneezes at the presence of these powders which made Abigail giggle, “You should stay away from this powdered mess, Teria. Just stand behind me. Don’t you even dare to touch the cauldron, it might hurt you.” She smiles as she puts the pounded ingredients in the pot as soon as she was done mashing them. Teria obeys her as she sits beside her, watching her owner do her thing. She stirs it occasionally after she puts another ingredient. “As long that this comes out as a potion, I am fine with it, I just need to register this as some sort of warming potion.”

She grabbed some of the handkerchieves and pulled out some of the ingredients she have in her hand. “Dried May Leaves as a catalyst of some sorts. Another gram of Pyrobloom, some remains of magma from a volcano.” She puts the said ingredients on the pot, “This alone cost me a lot. I guess volcanoes don’t erupt always, do they?” Abigail giggles as she grinds the final ingredient to finish it off, “And, Swamp Skirt Mushroom for some viscosity.” She looks at Teria, “This makes me feel like I am brewing a legit potion. I should make more, I have focused on a lot of magic.” She giggles as she pounds the slimy and sticky mushroom. It was hard for her to extract its components with the difficulty in motion. But, she managed to squeeze all of its glory. She puts its skin at the small little dump she has beside her. “Don’t sniff that, Teria.” She warned her for the last time as she puts the gooey extract into the pot. She even needs a small spatula to aid her as it sticks at the bottom of the mortar.

“There ya go.” She said as she stirs the potion. The contents of the pot are already boiling. The sign of faint smoke from it was a good sign. She needs to get most of the water out to make the potion more viscous. Minutes later, as soon as everything was mixed, she put the small fire out. She continuously stirred once more for a minute, before leaving it to cool down. She sets aside the pot and cleans the place around her. It was a mess but it was a beautiful one. She never have been excited about this.

Minutes later, as soon as the pot cools off, she puts the pot on a much higher level. “You could run freely now, there are no hot or any dangerous things cluttered around.” Teria happily squeaks as she started running around and laying on the floor. Abigail smiles as she grabbed some potion bottles from her bag. She grabbed a ladle along with it as well. Slowly but steady, she transferred the content of the cauldron to a bottle. With its stenchy and spicy smell, Abigail knows she has done the right thing. Or at least, in the eyes of others, she was successful in potion brewing. The thing was as viscous as porridge, it could stay inside the Count’s body very well before it hits his cold and acidic stomach. As soon as she filled the bottle, she immediately sealed it.

She grabbed another water from the water skin and puts it on the empty pot. She puts the lid on and lets the water sit to soften up the remaining content inside. Which was gooey and sticky. Abigail grabbed the potion and head to Yris’ room, delivering the good news.

Abigail knocks on the door, she can hear faint sobbing at the other side of the door. “Yris?” She called, it made the noise stop. Seconds later, the door was opened. Yris looks at her with teary and tired eyes. Before she can even say anything, she sees a bottle on Abigail’s hand full of red liquid. Her eyes widen and her face lightens up a bit, “You got it!?” She exclaimed as she immediately grabbed the potion. Yris looks at it for a good while. She hugged Abigail as she cries once more. “Thank you, Miss Crocus. Thank you.” She sobs as Abigail rubs her back to comfort her.

Their conversation in the hallway was enough to get the attention of others scattered around the inn. They rushed upstairs as soon as they heard something interesting. They saw the two sharing an embrace, with a peculiar thing on Yris’ hand. Abigail releases from the hug and looks at the young lady, “Let’s go and heal your dad, shall we?”

Yris nods as she lets her in the room. Abigail enters and looks at the poor Count, laying on the bed. “His arms are starting to get chilly again, that’s why I was so worried again. The wizard’s spell didn’t help him for a long while.” She looks at Yris, “Don’t worry, your dad will be okay.” She smiles as she pats her shoulder before approaching the counter. She sits at the edge of the bed, “Is he conscious?” Yris nods, “I know he is. But, he can’t talk nor move anything. I can hear him groan and I don’t like the sound of that, Miss Crocus.”

Abigail nods as she sets aside the potion on the bedside table and tries to raise the Count’s head up. She finds herself in an unusual situation, she can’t move his joints anymore. She immediately puts her finger on both at the side of the neck and the wrist, checking for his pulse. She was relieved with the result that she found but her problem remains unsolved. She looks at her friends who are watching at the edge of the bed, “Give me a hand, please.” Edsel and Wren walk up, “What do you need us to do?” Abigail thinks as she looks at the Count, “Maybe you could hold him in a standing position. I just need him in that place for the potion to run along his throat without him trying to swallow it, especially if he can’t move his muscles.”

Edsel and Wren hold the count at both ends. It was fairly easy for them because the Count’s body was stiff. Winsel helped them to rotate the Count without hurting him much. With the sound of muffled groans from his mouth, he can still feel pain. They hold him vertically, enduring the striking pain of coldness from his body. Abigail approaches him and tried to open his mouth, but it was like glue. She looks at the potion as she can feel some heat from it, emitting from all of the Pyroblooms and other ingredients that provide heat. She opens it and pours a small amount in her mouth. She tried to spread it on his lips, it was a pain to do so. The potion was incredibly hot even for her calloused hand.

But, her efforts were not in vain, as slowly, the Count opens his lips. He lets out some groans and moans, he can’t still speak with his jaw locked in its place. But, it was enough for Abigail to pour the rest of the potion into his mouth. “Tilt him back a bit.” She said as Winsel took the initiative to lift his feet a bit while Edsel and Wren leans him backward. She fills the Count’s mouth with the potion until nothing was left. The three put him in a vertical position again, letting the potion flow through his throat.

Slowly, the Count feels a warm relief from his throat and spreads across his face. Abigail can see the changes with the small movements the Count creates as the coldness of a part of his body disintegrates. He lets out a sigh of relief as he slowly opens his eyes. Seconds later, he could turn around his head and he can move his jaw up and down. He looks below him as he feels relief starting from his shoulder to the tip of his fingers. He soon moves his shoulders and fingers. The magic continues its way to his bottom limbs as it warms his legs. Soon, he can stand on his own and balance himself.

It was evident to the Count’s face the gigantic relief he is feeling right now. He everything with a movable joint on his body. The others were surprised and happy with this sight of him. He looks at Abigail with a big smile on his face, “Thank you.” His eyes start to swell in tears, “You don’t know how much pain that was and how I am thankful right now that I am out of this immense pain.” Yris immediately rushed to her father and embraced him as soon as he talked. She cried once more but sheds tears of happiness. “Father, father!” She called him, embracing him tightly. Count Alzrus happily returns the gesture as they both cried themselves out. “I thought I am going to lose you. I thought I am going to lose yet another parent. Father, I miss you so much.” Yris sobs hardly as they enjoyed this embrace for a long minute.

Abigail watches them as she tears up a little bit. She feels something touch both of her shoulders as she saw Lavena and Gallant on her side. They all shared embrace and happiness along with the noble family. The Count is released from the embrace but puts his arms around his daughter and approached Abigail. “You saved a life, Crocus. You saved a celebration as well.” She looks at them and smiles, “It’s my pleasure to help you, Count Alzrus. It’s my job to heal you from your curse. I am not worthy of this recognition.” Yris holds her hand and looks at her eyes, “No! You deserve even better than this! Despite no one knowing what happened to my father and the cure to his curse. Despite the uncertainty of the potion you offered. You tried to help and you succeeded in doing so. You did a big thing, Miss Crocus. You don’t know how much you have saved. You don’t know how much you have managed to do right now.” She puts her hands on her face and starts crying again, “You don’t know.”

Abigail withdraws her hand and embraced Yris. Yris released from the hug and wipes her tears, “Thank you, thank you so much. Words can not describe how thankful I am right now.” Count Alzrus pulls his daughter closer, “Well, change that I to we. No words can describe how thankful we are right now. Thank you, Crocus. Your efforts will not remain unheard and unappreciated.” He looks at the rest of the group, “Thank you as well for your patience to the both of us. I know it’s hard to carry around someone that can already be considered a corpse. But, I am thankful that you didn’t stop helping me to get the recovery I deserve and my daughter with the dreadful feeling she’s in for the last couple of hours.” He fixed his suit, “But, I am not satisfied with a verbal thanks. We must go back to the city and give you all the reward you deserve.”

After some more talking, the Count requested a private conversation with his daughter. They left them both in the room as they had their chance to talk to Abigail. “Hey, Crocus. You remember the thing you made me remember just hours ago?” The witch looks at Keeana, “Yeah, why?” The latter looks at Lavena as they lead her to a room. As they open it, she was welcomed by Catrina on the side of the room and a certain individual on the bed. He was tucked in a fetal position and covered by the blankets, only his face could be seen. “We found Garett.”