Convenience Store Worker From Another World Chapter 83

Episode 83. The potion carries love (3)

He said he couldn’t talk for long because he was on the subway and that he would arrive in 20 minutes. I said okay.

Exactly 20 minutes later, a succubus came into the store. As soon as she made eye contact with me, she shut her mouth tightly and had a very gloomy expression on her face. First, she greeted me.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you, sir.”

“… … .”

There was no answer. We just stared at each other for a few seconds, and then I apologized.

“Okay. I won’t bring up the topic of buchimgae again.”

This succubus probably doesn’t want to be remembered as a Korean chef. When I said that, the succubus immediately smiled and asked back.

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

I think that we should mention things like this consistently so that the person involved will be alert and not make mistakes… but what can we do if the person involved doesn’t like it?

Let me answer. Now, his expression has finally relaxed and he quickly approaches the counter. I guess I should at least say hello.

“I haven’t seen you in a few days. You must have been very busy.”

“It’s really hard! Finding disease targets, writing papers, writing proposals… .”

Besides that, I was extremely busy doing things I didn’t even know about, but the only question I had was, “Do I have to write a thesis even after I get a job at a pharmaceutical company?” I didn’t ask because I thought it would be a show of my short-sightedness.

“I haven’t been able to leave work for the past two days! I’ve been preparing for the Phase 1 trial of a new drug—”

Immediately after saying this, he suddenly stopped talking and started staring at me. After a while, he spoke with a voice that was slightly filled with admiration.

“I didn’t know that the boss was a half-wizard. I heard that the competition to get a license is extremely high.”

“You wouldn’t know. It wasn’t like that the last time I saw you.”

“Yes? Then… .”

“It’s been five days since I got my license. This is actually my first time.”

I know it’s not the best thing to say in a situation where we have to work together, but I said it anyway. Even if I lied about my career, it was obvious that they’d find out if they looked at my certificates once…

This succubus is not the type to ignore anyone just because she has a short career. The succubus seemed to think about something for a moment, then said this in a serious voice.

“Then, I guess I have to explain it really well, right?”

“Uh… I guess that’s what you should do?”

“Don’t worry! I also train new researchers at our company.”

I didn’t say that to make you worry less, I just said that because I was worried about you having to work with a total rookie…

“Because the boss always listens to what I have to say, I want to pay him back for that.”

I didn’t say anything because I was going to get paid, but I stopped talking. The succubus had a face full of ambition. There was no reason to extinguish her ambition.

“So, where should we start?”

“Let’s start with something to drink. I think my throat is sore.”

When he said he wanted to buy it, I said okay, got two cans of Americano from the beverage stand, and paid for it. After that, I took off my uniform, placed it under the counter, and sat down next to him at the table.

“It feels like I’m always getting what I deserve from the boss….”

“Don’t worry about it. What exactly is the potion… used for?”

It’s a company that makes love potions, so I guess it’s in that lineage. But… how exactly does the love potion work?

In my encyclopedia of trivia, the Western folklore entry states: ‘If a man and a woman share a bottle of potion and drink half of it, the man and woman who drank the potion will fall in love.’

If we apply this tradition to the world as it is, a love potion is a drug. And it has to be based on the premise that there is an agreement between the two parties. Otherwise, you will go to jail.

And here the question arises. If you are going to love each other by taking medicine with mutual consent, aren’t you destined to love anyway even if you don’t take the medicine? Why bother taking the magic potion?

In the old days of the West, even a marriage of convenience between two people of the same age was considered a ridiculous worldview where the head of the household had to criticize, so it might have been useful. Since you have to get married anyway, it would be better for your mental health to love someone even if you have to take medicine.

But it is questionable whether the concept of a love potion exists in this world where people openly use smartphones. The succubus gave a clear answer to this question.

“You can’t create love that doesn’t exist. It’s a violation of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act.”

“So, uh… it helps maintain the love that already exists, is that what it feels like?”

“It’s similar. The effect of this new drug is that we become more honest with each other.”

“Let’s be more honest with each other… .”

As soon as I heard it, other potions with similar effects came to mind.

“Isn’t that a confession?”

It seems more likely that the water was in a paper cup on the desk in the interrogation room than in a bottle in the newlyweds’ refrigerator.

“I guess you could think that way. But do you know the principle of the confession system?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.”

“Confession is not a drug that makes you honest. It’s a drug that makes you say anything.”

Many mass media outlets portray confession as if it were a cure for taciturnity, but it is not. To be exact, it is a drug that inhibits thinking by administering psychotropic drugs that directly affect the brain.

It is not effective to administer this alone, and other treatment methods for tachycardia, such as patana electroconvulsive therapy or molar extraction, must be used.

“And there’s no guarantee that what you say will be honest.”

Since it is a drug that inhibits thinking, the words that will come out will not be words that come out through normal thinking. Even the person speaking will not know what he is saying.

“hmm….”

Knowledge has increased. But why does this succubus know such things?

“I received the same claim when I was getting permission from the Magic Agency. They said there was a risk that it could be used as a confession tool. So I looked for some counter-material and…”

“Aha. Still, you managed to get permission.”

“Actually, I got permission for something completely different.”

“For what reason?”

“Since this is a drug that makes people honest with each other, in order for it to be effective, the interrogator, not the subject, has to take the drug as well, right?”

In other words, if the interrogator asks, “To be honest, are you going to let me go?”, the interrogator will answer, “No? Am I crazy?”

From the interrogator’s perspective, it would be unwelcome, and it could stimulate the interrogate’s resistance, reducing the effectiveness of the drug and making it useless. I submitted this point as a rebuttal, and somehow it passed.

“We also mixed several types of protective agents into the new drug.”

“Protectant?”

“Yes. In fact, this is something I would like to ask of you, sir.”

The intended use, as stated on the bottle label, is ‘for two people in love to be honest with each other.’

It’s easy to say, but there are two big questions to consider. The first is, “How honest are you with each other?” and the second is, “If you’re in love, should you be honest about everything?”

For example, in the first case, if you answer ‘yes’ to the question ‘Do you love me?’, you can consider it honest.

On the other hand, if you answer, ‘There are other people I love besides you, but you are my favorite among them,’ will the other person be happy that you answered honestly? Or will they cough up blood?

If the potion is too strong, this is a problem. You won’t be able to tell what you can and can’t say. The protective agent mixed to solve this problem is a ‘auxiliary magic agent that allows you to answer questions in short answers.’

For example, in the case of the second problem, even if you are in love, there is bound to be at least one thing you want to hide.

For example, ‘Honey, are you hiding something from me?’

Here, you might answer, ‘Actually, when I was little, I stole money from my mom’s wallet and bought a gift certificate. I peed my pants a few times.’ In any case, it’s true that you were hiding it.

To prevent such unfortunate events, a magical aid is added that allows people to agree on topics of conversation. This means that even ambiguous questions can be answered as desired.

After hearing this, I have a vague idea of what I will do.

“I think there are a lot more things that go into it besides those… .”

“That’s right. There are a lot of added supplements besides the ones I mentioned—”

There are bound to be side effects, and we’re going to work together to prevent them in advance.

It is not known exactly what type of side effects will occur. It is predicted that there will be psychological problems, but that is about it.

“How long does it take to do this?”

“Oh, there is no set deadline. The goal is commercialization.”

He added that the average success rate for commercializing new drugs is less than 9.6%. It seems to be saying that there is no benefit in rushing, and that things will not work out if you rush.

“So, you don’t have to feel too burdened, Mr. President! This is an industry where rejections are a daily occurrence.”

“Ugh… .”

Regardless of the industry situation, I want to do a good job at what I’m doing. If things go wrong because of my fault, I don’t think the Magical Agency will even take note of it.

“That’s all for now, but do you have any further questions?”

“There is, but… I’ll think about it for a moment.”

I think I’ve heard the story, so now I need to get an estimate.

First of all, I don’t know anything about the process of developing new drugs. And I can’t offer any magic theories about side effects. Still.

“… Speaking of the New Testament, can I see it for myself?”

“Of course I should show you.”

“You can try it.”

“Of course… Yes?”

I know what I can do myself. I can erase magic, erase unnecessary magic, or see with my own eyes that magic is being cast.

The side effects must be magic too. Then I can erase them.

You could just erase the unnecessary side effects, and you could see the side effects with your own eyes. I wonder if it makes sense for the side effects of a drug to be visible, though… .

If you’re going to argue about what makes sense and what doesn’t, everything I’ve experienced in this world with my body has been nonsensical. Would adding one more thing make a difference?

“Boss. This is a drug that hasn’t even been tested in Phase 1 yet….”

“Is there a legal problem?”

“No, that’s not it… .”

I have received permission from all the places that require permission, and I have not posted the clinical trial announcement, so it doesn’t matter if I include them in the applicants later. It’s a trick, but―

After he said that, he made a worried expression, and I immediately understood what he meant. Legal issues aside, what on earth are you trying to do?

I think it’s better to show you than to explain in words.

“Do you have anything magical? Or any medicine?”

“Uh… just a moment.”

Then she searched through her handbag and took out a bottle of perfume. It was in a pretty fancy-looking bottle, and it was full. It didn’t look like she had used even a single pump.

“Yes. I bought it out of curiosity on a home shopping channel.”

“What effect does it have?”

“It makes it hard for anyone who looks at you to take their eyes off you. The radius of effect is 3m, and the more attractive you find yourself, the stronger the effect…”

“Does 3m mean anything?”

“In the past, the radius was wide, but there were a lot of traffic accidents….”

So after the full recall, they started reselling it with a reduced radius, and they are using the fact that it has the potential to cause traffic accidents as a viral marketing tool. Is this what they mean by turning a crisis into an opportunity?

“Just spray me with a few pumps of that.”

Anyway, it looks like it could be used right now. As I spoke, the succubus tilted her head, opened the lid, and sprayed me with a few pumps of perfume.

“Have you sprinkled everything?”

“yes.”

“How are you now? Are you able to focus better?”

When I asked, the succubus, who had been quietly looking at me, quickly turned her gaze to the right. Then she looked at me again, and then quickly turned to the left.

It seems to have gone well. Just as I was about to explain what was going on, the succubus tilted her head again and muttered.

“It’s not working. Do I have no charm at all with the boss…?”

“…uh….”