by Funa
He let out an exclamation of surprise at hearing about my thorough preparation. As for Francette, she was giving me a suspicious look. I’d have thought she was used to my top-of-the-head remarks by now...
“S-So, the ingredients for the medicine...”
“Will never be stocked again, as the apothecary has told you. There is also no way for me to restock them, even if I wanted to. This store won’t be handling any medical supplies other than common medicine, bandages, and the like. This is just a ‘convenience store’ for supplying basic goods on short notice, and it’s our policy to leave any professional-grade items to their respective specialty stores...”
This should have gone without saying. What sort of convenience store would be better stocked than a specialty store?! But the man’s dejected and disquieted look was hard to see. It would’ve been easier if he flew into a rage and started yelling. The guilt was starting to get to me...
But if I told him I could get the items, it would be the same result as last time. I couldn’t allow that to happen. Even if the man was giving me an imploring look, like a rain-soaked chihuahua...
Urrrgh!
“...Kaoru, is there nothing you can do for him?” Francette suddenly spoke up, and the man’s eyes lit up at the unexpected support.
Why would you shoot your ally in the back at a time like this, Fran?
It was pointless to think about.
“Just ask, and they’ll sell you rare materials.”
If such a rumor got around, it would all be over. Even if I insisted on keeping this a secret, what if another member of the baron’s family got sick, like his wife or his daughter?
What about other noble dependents? Their families? A retainer close to the baron, or the baron’s family? What if an upper-class noble above them asked for it? What if their kin ordered it? I suspected the chance of him keeping a promise to stay quiet, a promise that he made with some commoner girl, at that, was zero. The only possible option was to have him give up and leave.
“I’m sorry, but there is nothing I can do.”
And so, the man plodded away, wearily. What’s that judging look for, Francette?!
“...And that’s what happened.”
After our meal, I explained what happened to the others. I mean, if I had brought up that story while eating, it would have made the food taste bad. I had to wait until we were done.
“Francette, you...”
Roland gave Francette an exasperated look. Emile and Belle looked at Francette reproachfully.
“N-No, I didn’t give her a judging look... That’s just how Kaoru took it. This is a false accusation!”
Francette desperately tried to explain herself. However...
“But you were looking at me just like that!”
With that, I pointed at Emile and Belle, who were looking at Francette, and Francette looked down in shame.
“...I’m sorry. I couldn’t help but remember the time I brought Lord Hector and Lady Yunith to their grandmother, after she had fallen ill...”
Francette was talking about Earl Adan’s family, who she had served before serving Roland. The air in the carriage with those four—the siblings, the maid, and Francette—must have been quite heavy before she received the potion from me.
Francette was too kind for her own good to begin with. She couldn’t just abandon someone who she had the ability to help... assuming that someone wasn’t considered an enemy by her, her friends, or me, that is.
This time, I saw anyone who wanted me to do something that could draw the attention of the rich and powerful as being my enemy, but that wasn’t the case for Francette. Well, she wanted me to be worshiped by the people as a goddess, so I supposed she was all for having me do goddess-like deeds. But with Roland trying to interfere with me finding a marriage partner, and Francette trying to get me to show off my goddess powers and draw attention...
I had enemies all around me! What the hell!!
“Emile, Belle. I have a divine order for you two, as members of the Eyes of the Goddess.”
“Yes!” they replied, earnestly.
Whenever I spoke with a formal and serious attitude like this, it meant I wasn’t messing around. They would take it as an absolute order. Therefore, I had to be very careful about the exact orders I gave out. Otherwise, they would put their lives on the line, even if it was something dumb.
“You are to find out more about that visitor’s master, the so-called Baron Dorivell, and his son, Challotte. However, you must prioritize your safety above all else while conducting your investigation. My servants are millions of times more important to me than the child of some unknown noble. Should you be careless with your own lives, you would be looking down upon and putting my servants in danger. Your lives belong to me. I will not allow you to die without my permission!”
Since that time at the well, this was the second time I had told them they weren’t allowed to die without my permission.
Emile and Belle replied energetically, then ran out the door.
“M-Me too!”
Francette tried to follow, but I grabbed her by the arm.
“Not you, Francette.”
“Wh-Why...? I-I want a divine order too...”
Ah... ‘A knight who had taken up a divine order.’ Sounded like a title Francette would die for.
“M-Me either?”
I turned around to find Roland standing there. Right... Come to think of it, he really, really wanted that divine sword. Maybe Roland had a lot of admiration for those things, too...
“No. Those two have done these sorts of jobs in the past, so they’re used to it. You two have combat abilities that are far greater than theirs, but gathering information about someone without being caught isn’t your forte. Besides, you two stand out way too much.”
Francette and Roland couldn’t argue back, and just slumped their shoulders. I felt a little bad for them...
“Okay, then. Francette, massage my shoulders! That is my divine order!”
“Y-Yes, ma’am!”
I meant it as a joke, but Francette pounced on the opportunity. She swiftly came up behind me and...
“Gyaaa! Ow ow owww!”
Forgetting to curb her strength out of excitement, Francette squeezed my shoulders with a vice-like grip.
“Gyaaa!”
Then, Layette leaped forth and bit Francette’s neck to protect me. That was the only exposed part of her skin while attacking from behind.
“Gyaaaaaa! Gwaaaaaah!!!”
Francette instinctively squeezed my shoulders harder from the pain and surprise of being bitten. Then, she swung her body around in an attempt to get Layette off of her, making Layette’s teeth sink into her neck even deeper. Layette clung onto Francette, continuing to bite as if her life depended on it. Francette crushed my shoulders with an even stronger grip.
“Gyaaaaaaaaagh!!!”
It was a scene straight from a nightmare...
“Haah... Haah... Haah...” we all panted, winded.
The look in Roland’s eyes as he stared down at the three of us, laying on the ground and exhausted, was painful to see...
＊ ＊
“Reporting the results of our investigation...”
Once evening rolled around, Emile and Belle came home. According to them, Baron Dorivell had one boy and two girls. They had been born in the order of ‘boy, girl, girl,’ and they were ten, seven, and five years old, respectively. Challotte, the boy that the servant had mentioned, was the eldest son.
No wonder he seemed so desperate...
Well, not that he would have put any less effort into it if he had another successor lined up. Besides, the baron’s wife wasn’t too old to have more children... but I guess that didn’t matter to a parent who cared for their child.
In any case, this Challotte was the only boy in the Dorivell house. And he was in critical condition, due to his illness...
“Baron Dorivell is Rank B. The Challotte boy is Rank B Plus. Of cours
e, this is based solely on rumors from outside sources...”
Oho, those are pretty high ranks.
These “ranks” were a rating system the Eyes of the Goddess had used when I was in the Kingdom of Balmore, mainly to determine whether the target was worth saving.
“C” meant they were average nobles, not particularly good nor bad.
“D” meant that they were somewhat bad nobles.
“E” meant that they were garbage.
“B” meant they were pretty good for nobles, and “A” was reserved for the very good ones.
These five levels also had plus and minus variants, leaving a total of fifteen ranks.
There were exceptions to the rule, of course, but a Rank B adult and a Rank B Plus child were well within the range for being worthy of receiving the goddess’s mercy.
“All right, it’s time for phase two of the investigation. I want you to keep it up tomorrow.”
This is the first task I’ve given them in my role as the angel since we left Balmore.
Oh, and I’d given up on claiming I wasn’t the angel long ago. There was no point in continually repeating myself, and if I brought it up, I risked Francette claiming I was a goddess instead of an angel.
“Thank you, Lady Kaoru...”
Francette usually just called me Kaoru, but when there were no outsiders around and the topic was related to the angel or goddess, she addressed me as Lady Kaoru. I figured there wasn’t much that could be done about that, and let her do as she pleased.
“I’m not doing this because you wished for it, Francette. I’d already decided to continue saving people back when I left Balmore. And the one granting salvation to the people is the angel, and not the girl known as Kaoru, who runs Convenience Store Belle, so there’s no problem there!”
“Lady Kaoru...” Francette stared at me with a look of reverence, but she had always worshiped me in the first place, so that was business as usual.
Add ninety-degree water to water that’s ninety degrees, and it’d remain ninety degrees. That was just how she was.
Now, how should I handle this job...
Chapter 32: Work
“I am a potion maker from another land. My potions have been consumed in royal courts.”
I said as such to the gate guards, and they greeted me with the utmost courtesy. I was even wearing a suspicious-looking mask to disguise myself.
...Should they really be letting such a sketchy person inside so easily?!
When I asked, one of them responded, “If something were to happen, you and I would simply lose our heads. Compared to the possibility of Master Challotte recovering from his illness, such an outcome is of no consequence.”
‘No consequence,’ my butt! I’d like to keep my head, thank you!
But to think that even the guard could say such a thing with confidence... They really must have been good nobles. Emile and Belle’s report must have been right. I wasn’t doubting the accuracy of their reports, of course.
And so, one of the guards led me into the manor. This was, needless to say, the residence of the Dorivell baronial family. I had heard they were looking for doctors and medicine, regardless of their social standing, so I decided to visit them straight through their front door. In disguise, of course.
I had changed my hair, eye, and skin color, and had the jewelry I had worn when I attended Achille’s party some time ago. The jewelry would draw attention away from the rest of my appearance, and it would make it harder for them to recognize me without the ornaments, just like a girl without the glasses she always wore.
...I’m so smart!
Plus, by wearing expensive jewelry, I could signify that I wasn’t wanting for money, and make them less likely to suspect me of being a swindler attempting a desperate gamble to rip off some rich nobles. It helped give me some authority, too.
And to top it all off, I had my ‘suspicious mask.’ ...This ruined my authority and credibility all at once.
“So, you’re the so-called potion maker from another land. Well? Do you mean to tell me that you have the Longevity Medicine?”
“No, why would I?”
The baron and the guard standing by near me wore the same shocked expression. Oh, and the guard was positioning himself so he could seize me right away if I made any suspicious movements.
Even if they were a lower-class baronial house, one removed from any intense political strife and not the type to attract grudges... Even then, being the head of a baronial house, he could never be completely safe from resentment or unwanted attention.
Therefore, they would obviously want to avoid any unnecessary danger. I may have looked powerless, but I could still be hiding weapons or poison. I even called myself a potion maker, so they should assume that I could handle poison as well.
“I do not handle medicines of that sort. My potions are much more effective.”
“Wh-What?! More effective than the Longevity Medicine? It can’t be... Well, I have heard of such things in distant lands, but they say they are quick to spoil and hard to transport over long distances... I’ve also heard this medicine hasn’t been made for quite some time, ever since the original creator passed away and its recipe was lost...”
Huh, this place was quite distant from the Kingdom of Balmore, and I didn’t think they would know about it, but he seemed to have pretty accurate information about my potions. This information should have been limited to the higher-ups, so a lowly baron shouldn’t even know about it...
Well, babbling on with explanations was a waste of time. And if he didn’t want to believe me, I didn’t have to force him to take my potions. If he refused my help, I would just take my leave. Francette might end up a little disappointed, but that couldn’t be helped.
There was no need to force my medicine on them, and as they say, “Those who believe shall be saved,” so I didn’t intend to go out of my way to take care of non-believers.
So...
*fwsh*
I gestured as if I was reaching into my pocket and pulled out a single bottle.
“Here’s the healing medicine, the Tears of the Goddess.”
This wasn’t the potion being sold to the masses in Balmore, but the specially-made Tears of the Goddess delivered by the angel herself.
After all, I wasn’t Shop Owner Kaoru right now, but rather the ‘angel.’
“Huh?” The baron and guard blurted out as they stared at me, wide-eyed.
“Wha...”
Baron Dorivell was completely speechless.
“As I said, this is the healing medicine known as the Tears of the Goddess. If you have no need for it, I’ll be taking it home... Oh, and it doesn’t keep well, so it will be useless unless it’s taken now.”
The baron hesitated for just a moment.
“...Right this way!”
The baron led me into a child’s room. A boy of about ten lay sick in his bed.
“Challotte, I brought you some new medicine! Drink!”
Baron Dorivell accepted the potion from me and handed it to his son. His hand was trembling slightly, but he focused on not spilling a single drop with a look of desperation. Though, honestly, spilling a little wouldn’t really have affected the results. It seemed the boy wasn’t actually asleep, and sat up to drink down the contents of the bottle his father held to his mouth.
Thinking about it, I did question how this noble was having his son drink medicine some strange girl had given him straight away. It would have been one thing in Balmore, where the angel and her deeds were well known, but... He must really have been out of options, or maybe he was just planning on punishing me after the fact if I had been lying. Well, maybe he figured not even a child would be dumb enough to pull off a stunt like that. Considering he had heard about the Tears of the Goddess, he must have been well aware of its instantaneous effects, too.
“Father, I feel better...”
“Y-You do?! Your fever—How about your fever?”
He clearly wanted to cry out
in jubilation. But, afraid of being let down, he was using all his willpower to control his emotions. His face cycled rapidly between expressions, the baron still unable to believe in the miracle.
“The haziness and fever seem to be gone...”
The baron pressed a hand against his son’s head, peered into his eyes, checked his tongue, and eventually seemed to understand that the illness truly had been cured. Maybe it wasn’t some incurable, malignant disease... Well, by the standards of modern Japan, anyway.
But even an illness that could be cured in Japan, probably with a single shot or even just a better diet, could easily kill people in a lower-level civilization like this one. Especially younger children.
So, ultimately, I didn’t know what sort of illness this boy had, or whether it would have been resolved through natural means, had he been left alone. But to this baronial house, I was definitely considered the angel of the goddess, the one who had saved their son’s life.
This realization seemed to hit the baron suddenly, and he turned toward me and kneeled. Of course, this wasn’t something a noble would do for an ordinary potion maker.
It was probably much easier to believe that I was the angel of the goddess, rather than thinking I was some potion-making 12-year-old genius who happened to have a miracle medicine with an extremely short shelf life, handing it over without even negotiating a price.
That is, according to the frame of reference possessed by this baron and his world... Yeah, I thought so, too.
“Lady Angel, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving my son, Challotte...”
Huh, he went straight to deciding I was the angel without any sort of confirmation? Don’t tell me...
“You know of me?”