by Funa
But the royal sentries had more of an elite ring to it, so that could’ve been why the one son opted for it instead. It seemed like being in the sentries would mean he got to stay in the royal capital too.
Hm... I’d only delivered the soldier’s disease medicine to the sentries once before, and the other son was in a different battalion, which explained why they hadn’t received any yet. Maybe they were even put on the back of the waiting list because people would assume they got it from their dad... But the company commander seemed like the type that would keep public and private affairs strictly separate.
Anyway, why were they home on a weekday, and in their military uniforms? And the daughters, judging by their age and clothing, seemed to be married already.
Oh, they must’ve taken some days off and gathered back home because they knew I’d be coming since a few days ago.
...Why though?
I was sure the company commander had given me the original request because he was sincerely in trouble, but maybe he had a plan to get some sort of benefit from this visit if that ended up in failure? Maybe for some personal purpose related to the company commander, or rather, the house of Lasrich, that had nothing to do with the battalion leader lieutenant colonel or the other three company commanders...
But even though he had his sons abandon their military obligations for the day and called his daughters over from their in-laws’ homes, he probably had no intention of marrying his sons off to me. If that were the case, they would’ve explained as such, and the first words to me from their mouths wouldn’t have been to ask for the medicine.
Damn it, is it because I look like a kid?!
No, no, wait a minute. Thinking about it, this was a country modeled with a class system in place. Even though a viscount household was considered low-rank among nobles, there was no way they’d marry off the first son and successor of the house, or the second son, who was next in line after him, to some (seemingly) underage girl of unknown origins who’d wandered in from another country. This even took into account whatever value I had to them. I mean, they could just get their family all chummy with me, make me one-sidedly fall for one of the sons, then take advantage of my usefulness by... Hey, that’s the exact situation I’m in now!
Damn it... Wait, stop that. My word choice has been pretty unprofessional lately. These may just have been internal thoughts, but I was afraid I’d vocalize them some day if I kept thinking like this.
Calm down, me! Breathe in, breathe out... In... Out...
Oh, I know!
“Now that I’m of age, I’m hoping to find ‘someone nice’ soon...”
I segued into one of the married daughters’ in-laws conversation by appealing my willingness to find a husband myself.
“““Bffffff!!!”””
...Why did they just spew out their drinks?! All of them at once too!
“No, I mean, I’m an adult, and I run a medicine shop, and I’m Layette’s guardian as well! I’m no mere child who manages the shop or anything like that!”
Yes, I’d slowly spread word that I was of marrying age, and progress my search for a partner. I said I was of age instead of saying my actual age, because, well... I had no choice. I’d been treating the day of my reincarnation as my fifteenth birthday, which meant I’d be nineteen and a half now. There was no need to quicken my own “deadline.”
But I didn’t want to lie and say I was fifteen or sixteen. Roland and Francette would only look at me weird if I did... Besides, if I returned to the kingdom of Balmore with my future husband, or if rumors about me reached that prince, the lie about my age would be exposed.
I couldn’t get married falsifying my age. I’d obscure it instead. No one would go out of their way to question a lady about her actual age.
“““You have a child at your age?!!!”””
“No! I’m just taking care of her! I’m not her actual mother!!!”
If that became a rumor, it’d be catastrophic in my search for a husband!
After all that I explained how I’d saved Layette and became her guarantor and guardian, quickly dispelling that misconception. I was planning on taking care of Layette for however long I needed to, but it would affect my search for a suitable marriage partner if people thought she was my daughter. Our relationship wasn’t like that of a mother and daughter at all anyway, so it’d be even worse for my search if people thought I was cold to my own daughter.
...Was having a child with me already a handicap? No, if a man didn’t have the capacity to accept this, I wouldn’t want to marry him in the first place.
I will find Layette a nice husband someday!
Just as I’d planned to for some time, I used my tear-jerker story of growing up poor and having little to eat to explain my small stature. In reality, my height was more than average for a Japanese person! Westerners were just too big!
On Earth, westerners were also small when they were at this level of civilization, but that was due to their diet. They didn’t have many opportunities to eat meat and lacked the nutrition to grow bigger. And if you were wondering why the people of this world were as big as people on modern Earth, well...
Even if they didn’t go through the trouble of feeding livestock their low-yield crops, monsters would multiply on their own. Monsters, which needed to be hunted to secure the safety of the townspeople. Monsters, which had edible meat.
Yes, so long as you didn’t care about taste or the toughness, monster meat was edible and cheap. Some of them were even pretty good, depending on the species. No one ate things like goblin meat, but orc and graybear meat were pretty good. Horned rabbits were easy to obtain too.
Nobles who never ate monster meat, but only expensive deer and boars would say, “I won’t eat orc, only pork”... Probably not.
Also, boa juice made from boas. Was it made from boas or boars?! Well, it would have to be the snake kind, since it melted human bodies. Considering the rakugo story of “Jagansou”...
Long story short, the people of this world had the height and build of westerners of modern Earth, where meat consumption had increased.
Yup, really.
So, after talking for some time after, we were ready to go. They asked that I stay longer, but I couldn’t just close down the shop for a whole day without any prior warning, especially when it wasn’t even a holiday. We weren’t some general goods store, but a medicine shop where customers may very well urgently need our services.
“...I wonder what that dinner was for, anyway. Just for getting acquainted with his family?” I asked Layette, but she had no idea.
I thought about it some more as we walked, when suddenly...
“Layette?”
An older man who I didn’t recognize called out to her. There was no way someone could recognize Layette out here when she hadn’t ventured outside her rural village. If they did, then that would mean...
I was already protecting Layette’s back as it crossed my mind. Roland and Francette appeared to cover my flank.
Where did they come from...
Well, I guess this was to be expected. If not now, when were they going to spring into action?
The long, long, long, long, long, long, long time spent on standby was finally going to pay off. Of course they’d come flying.
Francette, can you stop grinning so happily like that? You’re making it hard to tell who the bad guy is here...
Just as Francette bared her fangs...
“You’re safe, Layette?! I’m so glad... Are these people your new masters?”
““Huh?””
Something was off here...
And so, the man told us his story.
A transaction akin to slave trading, where eighty years’ worth of salary was paid upfront at an incredibly low rate for a merchant apprenticeship in another country. But these were measures taken in desperation, where the only options the peasants had were to either lower the number of mouths to feed or starve together as a family. The long contract te
rm was to prevent the children from being taken away as collateral in case their family took on debt. The price was cheap to make it easier for them to pay off the down payment through money they’d earn from tips and side jobs. They were effectively “a regular servant who had their rent paid in advance,” so they were able to live a normal commoner’s life.
A live-in job that came with three meals a day. They could earn a bit of allowance on days off and go out freely. But what if they escaped? Someone would be sent to collect the down payment from their family, and it’d be impossible for a young child to survive in a foreign country where they didn’t know anyone. The best they could hope for at that point would be to live in the slums and die early. Compared to that, a warm bed and three meals a day as a servant was far better.
It was, at the very least, the preferable option to staying home and having nothing to eat. They could even buy their own freedom with enough money saved, or even find someone to pay off the down payment, get married, and live a happy life. They’d be able to achieve happiness that would be incomparable to starving back in their rural village.
“...Then, I regret to say, she was taken by a group of kidnappers. Even though I wouldn’t be ashamed to do what we do in front of the Goddess, we could be accused of human trafficking according to the law. That was why I couldn’t report the incident, and my only choice was to flee the city... I was afraid she was being used by a noble or some other wealthy person somewhere else by now. But to find that she’s still safe and living a good life... nothing could make me happier.”
There were tears in the middle-aged man’s eyes as he spoke.
“...Such a good person...”
If he were just a slave trader, he probably wouldn’t have bothered to learn the faces and names of his “stock.” Since he remembered Layette’s name, it showed that he cared about her as a human being.
“So, what is Layette’s living situation now? Did she get purchased or...”
“Y-You fool! What are you blabbering on about in a place like this?!” Francette yelled in a fluster.
Yes, slave trading was a serious crime. There may not have been much foot traffic past noon, but this wasn’t something to talk about so blatantly out in the open.
“...Follow me!”
And so, we moved over to Layette’s Atelier. We kept the shop closed and everyone went upstairs.
“Layette is currently a normal part of the population of a fief without being bound by contract to anyone. Here. This document proves it, signed by this territory’s lord himself.
I pretended to reach into my pocket and pulled out various documents, and the man’s eyes widened.
“These documents are official... So, this girl has achieved a normal, happy life...”
Yeah, but was he okay with that?
“But didn’t you lose out substantially from this? You paid off Layette’s parents, and they probably didn’t get their money because the merchant never received her...”
He responded, “No, it’s just business, so I’d already factored in some level of loss. It wasn’t like I lost hundreds of gold coins from this incident. Besides, when I didn’t report the kidnapping, I’d already abandoned my duties and rights.”
It was the exact same textbook answer I’d heard from one of the lord’s subordinates. I mean, I was glad he wasn’t causing a fuss, but how was he such a good person? Just what type of merchant was he?!
“Um, you are a merchant, so maybe you shouldn’t be so moral for the sake of your business...”
The merchant drooped his shoulders dejectedly at my advice. I guess he was already aware.
Francette’s shoulders also drooped, seeing that her time to shine ended up being resolved just by talking. It seemed she had wanted to swing her sword and protect me from danger... But judging by the fact that our opponent was just a tired old man, that wasn’t realistic in the first place.
In any case, it wasn’t as if I was worried about it, but one of the pending concerns regarding Layette had been resolved. Now I had to look out for cases where Layette’s parents would come screaming to give her back, try to sell her to the merchant again, give her away to a neighboring village for ten bags of wheat, or make her work and take care of them, but I’d need to teach her so that wouldn’t happen...
Hm, no, that wouldn’t be necessary. Layette was six already, and very bright too. She was smart enough to know what to do. Besides... as Layette watched the merchant go home with a cheerful expression, her hand was gripping mine tightly. She’d stay with me until the day she got married... I just had a feeling.
Oh, but I’d be getting married first, of course! I’d get married and take her with me.
...What if someone wanted to get married with both of us?
Obvious answer: He’d be judged by divine punishment!
Chapter 27: Complaint
“Is the manager here?” a portly, middle-aged man asked upon entering the shop.
If he’d been a normal customer, he’d check out the product shelves or ask if we had a specific item first. Therefore, this man was not a “normal customer.”
I smelled trouble. But he didn’t seem like a noble, so I doubted it’d end up being too big of an issue. Maybe he had a question about a specific medicine, or some other business with me...
“Oh, yes, that would be me...”
“No, not the hired shopkeep. I want to speak with the proprietor.”
Well, if he’d done even a little research, he would’ve heard about the child(ish-looking) manager here. Though I guess it was natural to assume I was hired as a salesperson and someone else was in charge of stocking medicine and paying the rent.
“...Yes, I am the manager and owner.”
“What!”
Yup, already used to that reaction...
“So you pay the rent here, stock the medicine, and sell it all?”
“Yes, I do. Can I help you?”
“...”
Huh, what’s going on? He went quiet...
“Then tell me who your supplier is.”
This again...
“Do you really expect a seller to blab about their supplier and products so easily? What, do you think I’m stupid just because I’m a girl? Are you a noble from somewhere?”
I was thoroughly annoyed at this by now, so I dropped the pretense.
“I-I am not a noble. I’m from the association.”
Huh? But there shouldn’t be any organizations like a Merchants’ Guild spanning across industry and commerce here...
Taxes were to be paid directly to the government. There were gatherings based on occupations, like the Blacksmiths’ Association or Bread Baking Research Association, but membership for those groups was solely optional. Besides, in this town alone, there should’ve only been five other medicine shops besides Layette’s Atelier.
“What is the association called? What type of organization is it? How big is it? And, uhh, how many members are in it?”
“Ugh...”
Why was he stammering now?!
“The Medicine Shoppe Association! Many of the medicine shops besides this one have joined already!”
“Huh...?”
So... three shops? If four had joined, he’d have said “all but one.” If five had, he’d have said “all of them” had joined already.
“...I decline.”
There was no reason to listen just because three shops went off and made a group. Not one bit. Their members could go ahead and follow whatever regulations they decided on. It had nothing to do with the rest of us, and they had no power to enforce anything.
“Why?! This is an official order from the...”
“Um, that doesn’t mean anything to anyone who’s not in your association. And what happened to the other two shops? Oh, if I join forces with the remaining two, we’d have an even power balance...”
“Wha...” The man became flustered.
Why was such a meaningless social gathering trying to enforce things for their s
elfish reasons anyway?
“So obviously you’re all going to tell me all of your suppliers, buying prices, compound ratios, and secrets too, right?”
“What?! There’s no way I could do that!”
He noticed Layette looking at him like a piece of garbage and cast his eyes downward, finally seeming to realize how ridiculous his demands were. The look of contempt coming from a pure young girl seemed to be pretty effective.
At least he was still familiar with the concept of “shame”...
“Why go through all this trouble...? We don’t carry any medicine that would work on serious injuries or illnesses, and besides our featured soldier’s disease medicine, we only sell things you could practically get anywhere else, like antidiarrhetics and antiseptics.”
“But that soldier’s disease medicine is a huge deal! People normally won’t buy medicine unless they’re injured or sick, but that can be sold indefinitely. And starting from the army, you can make various connection with hunters, field workers, and some nobles, leading to the sale of other medicine. Not only that...”
Huh? But I wasn’t making connections or upselling anything...
Oh, he meant that was what he would do.
“How can normal medicine be so effective?! Why should we get accusations of our products being a sham that deliberately don’t cure people so we can make more money? Sure, we dilute it a little, but it’s still somewhat effective if you drink enough of it!”
Ah...
I made my medicine to be effective, so of course they’d work. But I hadn’t been making anything that could instantly fix serious injuries and illnesses like the Tears of the Goddess and other potions. The medicine’s effects were meager, like curing stomach pain or preventing wounds from festering...
Wait, I guess it’d be pretty obvious with repeated use or when compared to medicine bought at other stores. It’d be clear to see the difference in efficacy and reliability...