“Miki, can you find anything?” I asked.

“I’m looking, Master…” Miki frowned, looking through the booklet.

We were waiting in the shop, but I was feeling a little antsy once Lydia announced that the enemy was on our doorsteps. I wasn’t 100% sure what I wanted, but I suspected it was here. I used to like watching ghost shows, and the secret for getting rid of ghosts usually involved some kind of sage burning. That was the big reason the alchemy shop was my first choice. I suspected this world had some kind of anti-ghost herb. If we could exorcise each property, that would be the ideal way to conquer back this city.

Although this world was like a game, most games used real-world concepts. There had to be something we could burn, hang up, eat, or spread across the doorsills to be able to create an effective weapon against ghosts. If I was wrong, then the future retaking of the city would be more difficult. Mind you, this was all information I had wanted to look up in Chalm, but it was my own impulsiveness that had put me in this situation instead.

Well, there was no use crying over the decisions I had made. Now, I just had to depend on Miki’s research.

“M-master…” Lydia’s voice came out weakly. “The puppet’s head is turning 360 degrees.”

“Just bear with it…” I said, my mouth twitching. “The ghost is just trying to scare you.”

“Master, I found it!” Miki said excitedly.

“Yes… this is the recipe. Health… Po-tion.” She nodded.

“Ah… mark it and keep looking.” My hopes had risen, but it turned out to be something we didn’t really need right now.

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“M-master…” Lydia’s voice now sounded like she was about to cry. “The puppet’s head is now turning 360 degrees the other way.”

“Perhaps he got his strings tangled.” I offered, my hands clenching the edge of the table. “Just bear with it a bit longer.”

Some more time passed, and I realized that Miki seemed to be going very slowly. Although the book had hundreds of pages, she’d stare at each page for at least 20 seconds before turning to the next page. I was really starting to wonder what was going on. At first, I thought she was being thorough, but Lydia’s anxiousness was making me anxious.

“M-Master…” Lydia’s voice was now shaking. “The puppet is turning its head 360 degrees… the other way.”

“You already said that…”

“No… I mean… vertically.”

“What! That’s not even possible!”

“Master…”

“I mean… that’s completely breaking the laws of physics!”

“Master!”

“Ah… sorry…” I got worked up for a moment. “Miki… maybe it’d be faster if you just read the titles to me and I’ll let you know what to take.”

I worried that Miki was probably convinced she passed up some alchemy potion that I wanted, and so she was being extra careful with each entry. I knew what I was looking for better than she did.

“O-okay. Master.” Miki nodded, her eyes narrowing on the text more diligently. “Next entry… S-s-tre-ength… Strength Fa-Fashhion-Fashioning… po-tion. Strength Fashioning Potion!”

“Geh!” I let out a noise. “M-miki?”

“Yes, Master?” Miki looked up at me innocently.

“I thought you said you could read?”

“Eh?” Miki looked confused. “I can read… I’m reading. Aren’t I?”

“Ah… yes… that’s true…” I noticed Miki’s eyes were turning watery. “Continue… you’re doing great.”

It turned out Miki’s reading was at the level of an elementary school student. I probably shouldn’t have been surprised. This was another world where reading probably wasn’t that important. In the end, her reading was probably as good as it would need to be for a Master. Signing contracts, reading message boards, interpreting signs… Miki’s skill was completely sufficient to say that she understood the English language.

“M-master…” Lydia’s voice broke into my thoughts. “More puppets are arriving.”

Ah… it looked like I wasn’t going to find a magic bullet for this issue.