by Funa
There was no reason for me to tell the lieutenant colonel this, but it wasn’t too hard to figure out.
To the north was Drisard, which we had left behind, to the east was the royal capital, and further beyond was the kingdom of Brancott, where the prince I disliked was.
I was sure he already knew that we had come from that direction.
And to the east was the ocean, making it a dead end.
The lieutenant colonel told me the people from the royal capital should be arriving at the village tomorrow, where he’d meet up with them.
It was too dangerous for him to wander around the roads at night without having a chemical light like me, so that much was a given.
We didn’t want to see the people from the royal capital, so we went ahead and marched on in the night.
As soon as the village was no longer visible, I took the carriage out of my Item Box and hopped on.
Now, Fran and Roland, it was time to go.
“U-Um, Kaoru...”
“Hm? What is it?”
As we were about to depart, Francette spoke to me worriedly.
“Um, about that small goddess statue at the royal capital, is it okay for it to keep dispensing medicine like that...?”
Ah, that.
“Don’t worry, it has a mechanism built into it so it’ll blow up... I mean, shut itself down.”
“Shut itself down...?”
“Yup, I made it so it’ll break if someone tries to steal it or if it fulfills its purpose, so no need to worry! Okay, let’s go!”
And so, we headed east.
We would continue in that direction until we reached the road leading northward.
Then we would head inland.
...Oh, but maybe we wouldn’t be able to eat seafood if we’re in the inland region? Maybe we should go all the way around to the coastal region instead? There wasn’t a particular destination to our journey, so it didn’t really matter where we went anyway.
All right, change of plans. First we’ll head south toward the ocean, then head east!
Time to eat sashimi for the first time in a while!
How wonderful it was to not have to worry about pathogens, toxins, or parasites!
It was also wonderful that I could create “healing potions that taste like soy sauce” and “disinfectants that taste like wasabi”!
Yes, it’s time for a journey in search of coastal cities!
“Hiyo, Silver!”
“Again, what horse are you talking about?!”
＊ ＊
“Stand aside! That belongs at the royal palace!”
“Nonsense! The miracle statue of the Goddess should be protected by the Temple of the Goddess! You are the ones who must stand down!”
“Now, wait just a minute! We have been tasked to protect these two statues by the Angel herself. Their blessings must be bestowed to the people freely and equally. The royal palace and temple have no right to take them to be used for their own political and monetary gain!”
Three groups of men stood arguing at the central plaza of the royal capital in front of the Goddess statue.
They were civil servants from the royal capital and the royal sentries that escorted them.
Priests from the Temple of the Goddess.
And the men who Kaoru had tasked with managing the mini goddess statues until they had fulfilled their purpose.
None of them seemed to have any intention of giving an inch.
This was no surprise.
The royal palace and temple side would’ve been freely giving up their authority if they backed down here.
In fact, they’d be lucky if that was the only thing they had to lose.
The men who Kaoru had entrusted with managing things there wouldn’t even fathom abandoning the duty assigned to them.
The royal capital’s citizens watched the rather austere scene for a while longer, until the men from the royal palace lost their patience and put their hands on one of the mini goddess statues.
It seemed they were planning on taking it by force.
Seeing this, the priests hurriedly took hold of the other statue.
The men who had been appointed couldn’t put their hands on the priests or men of the royal palace, so all they could do was yell out profanities.
And just as the sentries from the royal palace gently lifted the medicine-dispensing mini goddess statue...
Crack!
It shattered into pieces.
“““Huh...?”””
The men of the royal palace stared blankly at the fragments on the ground that used to be the mini goddess statue.
“Now do you see?! The Goddess would not allow a statue in her image to fall into the hands of impure ones. This miracle will be managed by us, the Temple of the Goddess, and...”
The highest-ranking priest spoke as he lifted the other statue, which also shattered into pieces.
It clearly wasn’t because he held it wrong or anything like that.
It broke in a way that seemed physically impossible.
They had been completely reduced to smithereens.
The pieces had been destroyed so finely, it was impossible to discern what their original form could have been.
It was a clear sign that the Goddess was not pleased.
“““...”””
Silence fell over the central plaza.
Then the countless eyes of the wordless crowd stared daggers into the men from the palace and temple with looks of anger, hatred, and contempt.
Through her Angel, the Goddess had blessed the people with a statue of miracles.
And this statue had saved the inhabitants of the royal capital with the never-ending medicine pot it was holding.
Because the vile men of the royal palace and rotten priests had ignored her wishes and tried to take them for themselves, they were now gone.
Forever.
The men of the royal palace and priests stood frozen, sweating profusely as many eyes stared directly at them.
“The Lady Angel had asked us to ‘handle things here until the mini goddess statue has fulfilled its duty.’ And now, due to men with tainted hearts attempting to take them away, the goddess statue no longer exists. In other words, they have fulfilled their duty. And now... our duty, too, has ended. It’s only been two days and nights, but it was an honor to serve the Angel’s orders. You can all take responsibility for the rest. Now, to those who have helped me in this task, let us pass down stories of our accomplishments here with pride to our descendants. Disband!”
It seemed the individual who’d taken charge of the group was someone of status.
Perhaps he was a noble who happened to be hanging out in the city in commoner clothes, but after giving his uncommoner-like speech, he quickly vanished into the rest of the crowd.
The rest quickly followed.
Before the men of the royal palace and priests knew it, they were the only ones surrounded by the crowd.
...We have to run.
The thought crossed their minds, but they couldn’t just go back empty handed.
Without any options left, they gathered the pieces of the mini goddess statue as “holy relics” to take back, but it was unlikely that they would ever be publicly displayed as such.
Because in order to explain why they were in such a state, they had to explain their own foolish behavior and admit their actions had been rejected by the Goddess.
If they’re planning on putting all the blame on us subordinates, we’re taking down the higher-ups who ordered us to take the statue by force for their own personal gain with us.
Such were the thoughts of the men who were retrieving the statue fragments while on the verge of tears.
Everyone on both the royal palace and temple sides...
Meanwhile, at the royal palace and temple, news from the east village had been delivered by the soldier who departed the previous day, and preparations for a grand celebration were being made in a great hurry.
> The appearance of the Angel and a miraculous revelation.
Not to mention the Angel was there, at the royal capital of the kingdom of Jusral.
It went without saying that the royalty, titled nobility, and religious parties were ecstatic to receive the news.
The Angel had saved the royal capital from the horrid disease and headed to the village that was thought to be where it originated to save the people there.
Once she completed her task, she would return to the royal capital.
Envoys had already been sent to greet her, and they would surely depart from the village to head toward the royal capital by the next morning.
When the Angel arrives at the royal capital, they would greet her with a splendid welcome, show their gratitude, and... gain her favor.
Each of those with high standing in the political and religious fields were picturing a bright future ahead.
The only people of this nation that knew the girl wasn’t going to return to the royal capital was the third son of a noble house who she called the “lieutenant colonel” and the realtor who she had canceled the lease agreement with.
The lieutenant colonel still hadn’t returned to the royal capital, and the realtor was late in arriving at the central plaza, so he still didn’t realize the girl who canceled the lease to leave the royal capital and the Angel were one in the same.
＊ ＊
“I wonder if the mini goddess statue is still okay...”
That statue-type potion creation device was created so it would automatically break apart after five days.
There was no way she would have left a device that would continue dispensing potions forever.
Even if the effects were limited to epidemic diseases, I didn’t want some idiot to start claiming “our country is protected by the blessing of the Goddess!” It would be like that ruined religious country all over again.
Besides, medical effects aside, even an “item that creates an infinite supply of drinking water” could be valuable in itself to the army.
It might’ve even spawned some religious fanatics who would think their army was protected by the Goddess and her blessed water.
That’s why I made them so they would disintegrate without a trace, to prevent them from being taken advantage of later.
And even if five days hadn’t passed yet, I made it so they would self-destruct the moment someone tried to move them.
If someone moved one and it broke in such an unnatural fashion, I doubted they would try to touch the other one afterward.
I doubted they would ever be left completely alone with them being in such a visible location, so a random thief wouldn’t be able to get their hands on them either.
The only people who could touch them openly in front of watching eyes would be those from the royal palace or Temple of the Goddess.
So, at least one of them should survive until the full five day time limit was up.
But that was before I thought about getting Celes to help, and now that she was going to get rid of the source of the disease, the statues were no longer needed.
It wouldn’t be an issue if they both broke now.
If the statues break not because of the time limit, but because someone tried to take them, they’d be in pretty big trouble, but that didn’t concern me.
It’d be their own fault in that case.
“Kaoru, we’ll be reaching the road that branches off to the north and south. You want to keep moving toward the east, right?” Francette turned toward me and asked.
She was able to see what was coming up before me, since she had a higher vantage point on horseback while I was behind the canopy.
...Come to think of it, Francette’s eyesight was enhanced with my potions.
She was probably seeing things at a distance that wouldn’t normally be possible for humans.
Disregarding obstacles and the terrain, and the fact that the earth was round.
“Oh, we won’t be going east until we hit the ocean, so we’ll be going south there first. It’d be more fun to travel along the coast than going inland!”
Without any specific destination in mind, no one had any reason to protest.
For now, we’d be heading south.
We’d travel the coast and enjoy some seafood as we journeyed along the outskirts of the continent.
All in search of a place to live safely and a companion for reproduction.
Regardless of Francette and Roland, I absolutely couldn’t let Emile and Belle beat me to it in that regard.
This journey is about expanding the Nagase bloodline, not yours!
And Roland and Francette’s horses!
You’d better not be trying to get with Ed’s daughter!
What am I gonna do with them...
Extra - Meanwhile, at the Royal Capital...
＊ ＊
Boxed Meal Shop Regulars
“I want that boxed lunch...”
“I want some simmered mushrooms...”
“I want a meal cooked by girls...”
The customers who used to be regulars at Layette’s Atelier for their boxed lunches were now at the bread shop that replaced it, grumbling to themselves as they browsed the options.
When Layette’s Atelier closed down, a quick-witted bread shop employee immediately rented out the spot and went independent. They began offering boxed lunches and side dishes along with bread to inherit the customers of Layette’s Atelier. However...
“Well, it’s not bad, but...”
“Compared to Layette’s Atelier...”
The shop owner may have been an employee at a bread shop before, but he wasn’t eating bread three meals a day every day.
So when he was working at his former workplace, he had eaten the meals from Layette’s Atelier several times.
That was how he came up with the idea of offering boxed lunches and side dishes along with bread as soon as he had heard about it closing, and he quickly made a move to rent out the location and retain the old customers.
The old regulars who had no time to prepare lunch were accustomed to the convenient nutritious boxed meals, but they couldn’t help but compare the new offerings to those at Layette’s Atelier.
Not to mention, Kaoru had stocked her ingredients at the market, but the seasonings and condiments were created with her ability.
Soy sauce, miso, black pepper, cayenne pepper, salt, sugar, etc.
Many of them were either ridiculously expensive or unavailable altogether in this country.
...There was no way to compete.
The regulars were also used to the filling meals that came with rice, and the bread-based meals offered now left them feeling unsatisfied.
But with the owner being a baker, he couldn’t help but put the focus on bread for economic and other reasons.
“Aw man... Why’d Kaoru and the girls have to go...”
“She had no choice. She was the Angel, after all... If she did come back after all that, there was no way she could keep running her shop. The royalty, nobles, and rotten priests from the temple would never leave her alone...”
“I wish she would’ve kept selling boxed lunches as the ordinary girl with scary eyes instead of the Angel...”
“Idiot, then the royal capital and the rest of the country would still be infested with the epidemic!”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t meet your expectations...”
The owner lowered his head apologetically as he rang up a customer at the counter.
Since he was a former customer of Kaoru’s meals himself, he knew full well that his were no match.
He was in his mid-twenties and leapt at the chance to build the new business that was a fusion of a bread, boxed lunch and side dishes shop, and didn’t have sufficient funds to hire any workers.
All his savings had been used up on renovations, a baker’s oven, and other expenses.
His funds were actually a bit insufficient, and he had some outstanding loans.
“Well, it’s much better than not having a shop like this at all. Don’t beat yourself up over it...”
One of the customers realized he may have been too harsh and tried to cheer up the owner.
“But it’s a guy making these...”
“If it was a little girl, or at least a young woman...”
Other customers continued to complain, but with no funds to hire employees, there was nothing that could be done.
Unless the owner could get married and have a daughter or something.
The owner stood there looking glum, when the doorbell rang with a cling...
Three girls, aged sixteen to seventeen, twelve to thirteen, and seven to eight, leapt into the shop together.
“Hey Big Brother, we heard you got your own shop!”
“You have open rooms, right? We wanted to live in the royal capit... I mean...”
“We’re here to help!”
“““Girls!!!”””
The customers seemed ecstatic, but the owner looked pale.
The oldest and second oldest of his younger sisters were terrible at cooking.
But they were unaware of this fact, and would often try to cook for their family.
The reason the shop owner went to the royal capital wasn’t just to become successful there, but a lot of it had to do with escaping the cooking his sisters made at home.
The youngest of the three wasn’t old enough to entrust with cooking either.
All he could do was pray her cooking skills wouldn’t take after her sisters’.
The young owner watched the rejoicing customers, deep in thought.
“If my sisters have anything to do with the food I put out, my shop is done for...”
There would be many hardships ahead of him.
＊ ＊
Soldiers of the Royal Capital
“What, the soldier’s disease is never coming back again?”