Despite the ability to restore strength, chi kung couldn’t properly dispel poison or cure diseases. Sebas hadn’t acquired those skills. That was why he needed Solution’s help for this.
“Okay, please heal her.”
“If you want someone who can use healing magic, it might be better to summon Mistress Pestonia.”
“That won’t be necessary. Solution, you have the appropriate magic scrolls, don’t you?” After she nodded, he continued, “Then please use those.”
“…Master Sebas. These scrolls were given to us by the Supreme Beings. I hardly think they should be used on the likes of humans.”
She was right. He probably needed to devise a different solution. First, they would heal her wounds to prevent her from dying and fix her poisoned and diseased status at some later point. The question was whether they had that much time. If she was nearing death due to her overall condition instead of merely her wounds, it would be pointless to restore her strength unless he did it permanently.
Sebas hesitated and then, in a steely voice that masked his inner feelings, told her, “Do it.”
He thought he saw something reddish black flicker in the back of Solution’s narrowing eyes, but the change was hidden as she bowed her head.
“…Understood. I should restore her body back to its uninjured state? Back to before any of those things were done to her?” When Sebas nodded, she bowed politely. “I’ll do it right away.”
“Then when you’re done treating her, can I have you heat up some water and bathe her? I’m going to go buy some food.”
There was no one else in the mansion who could make or required meals. If they didn’t have a spare magic item that would render eating unnecessary, they would have to arrange food for the woman.
“…Master Sebas. It’s a simple matter to treat her body…but I can’t treat her mental distress.” Pausing there, she looked straight at him. “To care for her mental needs, I think summoning Lord Ainz would be best. Shall I call him?”
“…This isn’t important enough to have Lord Ainz come personally. We can leave her mind as is.”
Solution made a deep bow, silently opened the door, and went inside. Watching her go, Sebas slowly leaned back against the wall.
What should I do about her?
The best would probably be to help the woman recover to some extent and then, while the ruffian was still on the run and leading his friends on a chase, release her in a location of her choosing. Somewhere away from the royal capital, at least, would be best. Throwing her out into the city would be dangerous and cruel. That wouldn’t be aiding her at all.
But is that really the right thing to do as the butler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, Sebas Tian?
He exhaled deeply. How much easier would everything be if he could expel the other things built up inside him like that? But nothing changed. His thoughts were in turmoil, a white noise invading his consciousness.
“This is foolishness. Why would I…for a human…?”
He quit seeking an answer that wouldn’t come and decided to start with something easy. It was only to buy time, but it was the best plan he could come up with for now.
Solution lengthened her slender digits into tubelike shapes a fraction of an inch wide. By nature, Solution was an amorphous slime, so she could alter her appearance quite radically. Changing the contour of her fingertips was a piece of cake.
With a glance at the door, she keenly observed the lack of Sebas’s presence outside and quietly approached the woman lying on the bed.
“I have permission from Master Sebas, so I’ll promptly solve all this trouble. I’m sure you’re fine with that as well. You probably don’t even know what’s going on.”
Solution took the hand she hadn’t transformed and reached inside her body to take out the scrolls she’d been keeping there.
These scrolls weren’t the only things she was secretly carrying. She contained not only consumable magic items but also, of course, weapons and armor. She had enough room to swallow up several humans, so there was nothing surprising about that.
Solution gazed at the unconscious woman.
She wasn’t the least bit interested in the woman’s features. Solution had a single thought: She doesn’t look very tasty. That was all.
With this husk of a body, the woman probably wouldn’t even struggle if she was melting in Solution’s acid. Where was the fun in that?
“If I could have her as a toy after I finished healing her, I would understand Master Sebas’s behavior, but…”
She knew her boss’s personality. He would never approve of that. Unless they were attacked on the road or something similar, he would never allow her to prey on humans.
“If he’s acting on the Supreme One’s instructions and was ordered to save her, I suppose I have to accept it, but…is she really worth expending the Supreme One’s precious assets? This human?” Solution shook her head to clear her mind. “…Should I just eat her before Master Sebas returns?”
Solution broke a seal and unrolled a scroll. The magic it contained was Heal, an elite tier-six recovery spell that restored a great deal of vitality and cured almost all negative status effects, including sickness.
Usually only those with the class that would allow them to cast the spell normally could use the corresponding scrolls. So to use faith caster spell scrolls, one would need to attain a priest-type class. More specifically, the spell had to be on the list of available spells that the class could learn. However, some thief-type classes provided the ability to sidestep this requirement and “trick” scrolls.
As an assassin, Solution had a number of thief-type classes that allowed her to use the Heal scroll.
“First, I’ll make sure she’s comatose. Then…” Solution prepared a compound combining a strong sleep-inducing anesthetic with a muscle relaxant and moved over to where the woman lay.
26 Mid-Fire Moon (August) 7:37 PM
Sebas came home with food at almost the exact moment Solution exited the room. Solution held a steaming bucket in each hand, both containing towels. The hot water had turned black, and the towels were dirty, showing what an unkempt state the woman had been in.
“Thank you, Solution. It looks like the treatment…went all right?”
“Yes. We finished with no problems. She didn’t seem to have any other clothes, so I dressed her in something that was lying around. I hope that’s all right with you?”
“Of course. That’s fine.”
“Very well… The anesthesia should have already worn off… If there’s nothing else you need me to do, I shall retire.”
“Good work.”
Solution bowed and walked past Sebas.
After watching her go, Sebas knocked on the door.
There was no answer, but he could sense someone moving around inside and quietly pushed open the door.
Sitting up on the bed was a girl who looked extremely dazed, perhaps because she had recently woken up.
He practically mistook her for someone else.
Her dirty, disheveled blond hair was now clean and glossy. Her hollow cheeks had filled out with unbelievable speed in such a short time. Her dry, chapped lips now also glowed a healthy pink.
To appraise her overall looks, the word charming fit her better than beautiful.
It was possible to get some idea of her age. She was probably in her late teens, but her hellish life weighed heavier than her years on her face.
Solution had dressed her in a white negligee, but it was a plain one with as little of the usual frills and lace as possible.
“I think you’re fully healed, but how do you feel?”
There was no answer. Her vacant eyes didn’t contain the will to look up at Sebas. But he continued speaking without worrying about that. No, he hadn’t been expecting much at first. He knew her empty expression indicated she wasn’t mentally present.
“Are you hungry? I brought you some food.”
He’d bought an entire meal from a res
taurant, including the dishes.
The porridge in the bowl had been made with a light-colored broth. The sesame oil added for flavor gave it an appetizing scent.
Reacting to the smell, the girl’s face twitched slightly.
“Then here you go.”
So she’s not completely locked away in her own world, thought Sebas as he held the bowl with a wooden spoon in it out to her.
The woman didn’t move, but Sebas didn’t press her, either.
After long enough to annoy any third party present, she slowly moved her arm. She was frightened of pain, so it was a stiff motion. Although her physical wounds had been completely healed, vivid memories of suffering still remained.
She grasped the wooden spoon and scooped shallowly into the porridge. Then she brought it to her mouth and put it in.
The porridge, made with ten parts water, was runny to the point where it wasn’t even necessary to chew. Sebas had requested that the fourteen ingredients be cut up extremely small.
Her throat rose and fell, and the porridge traveled to her stomach.
Her eyes shifted a bit. It was a truly slight movement, but it was the change from an elaborate doll to a human. Her other hand, shaking, took the bowl from Sebas.
Sebas kept his hands against hers and moved the bowl to where he thought she wanted to put it.
She plunged the wooden spoon into the bowl and wolfed down the porridge without stopping.
Her eating was incredibly rushed. If the food hadn’t been cooled to an appropriate temperature, she would have certainly passed out from the burns. She paid no attention to the liquid dribbling out of her mouth onto the front of her negligee. “Drinking” was the best description for how she attacked her meal.
After finishing at a speed incomparable with her previous movements, she sighed, still holding the bowl.
Now that she had become a person, her eyelids grew heavy and began to close.
The effects of her full stomach, fresh and comfortable clothing, and her own clean body combined to relax her mind, and a wave of sleepiness overcame her.
But the moment her eyelids lowered into straight lines, they popped back open and she cringed in fear.
Was she scared to close her eyes? Or fearful her current situation was an illusion that would disappear? Or was there some other reason? Watching from beside her, Sebas didn’t know.
It was possible she didn’t know herself.
So Sebas spoke to her gently to calm her down. “Your body must want rest. It would probably be good for you to take it easy and get some sleep. You’re not in danger here—I guarantee it. When you open your eyes, you’ll still be in this bed.”
For the first time, her eyes moved to Sebas’s face.
Her blue eyes didn’t contain much light or energy; however, they were no longer those of a corpse but of a living thing.
She opened her mouth slightly—and closed it. Then she opened it again—and closed it once more. She repeated this several times. Sebas kindly watched. He certainly didn’t hurry her up. He just gazed at her silently.
“Th…” Eventually her lips parted and a tiny voice squeaked out. The next words came bit by bit. “Th…than…k…you…”
The first words out of her mouth were not to confirm her situation but to express her gratitude. Feeling like he had grasped a hint of her personality, Sebas did not wear his usual fake smile but a genuine one.
“Don’t worry about it. Since I found you, I’ll do everything in my power to guarantee your safety.”
The girl’s eyes widened just a bit. Then her mouth trembled.
Her blue eyes became wet and then overflowed with tears. She opened her mouth wide and started genuinely sobbing.
Soon the curses began to mix in with the weeping.
She cursed her fate, detested the ones who had served her that fate, and resented the fact that help hadn’t come sooner. The latter of these was also aimed at Sebas. If only you had saved me sooner—that type of blame.
Upon receiving Sebas’s kindness—at being treated like a person—whatever was inside her enduring everything for all this time had broken. Or perhaps it’s more correct to say that because she regained a human heart, she could no longer bear the memories of all the things she’d been through.
She clawed at her head, audibly ripping out her hair. Countless golden threads curled around her slender fingers. The porridge bowl and the spoon fell onto the bed.
Sebas watched her fit in silence.
Her bitter comments at Sebas were inaccurate and nothing more than spreading blame. Some people might have taken this badly and gotten angry, but Sebas’s visage bore no trace of ire, and his lined face was, on the contrary, compassionate.
Sebas leaned over and held her.
It was a hug like that of a father for his daughter, with no ulterior motives, containing nothing but love.
For a moment she stiffened, but sensing the way he held her was different from the men who had devoured her up until now, her frozen body relaxed slightly.
“You’re okay now.” Chanting those words over and over like a spell, he gently patted her back. It was like he was comforting a crying child.
She sobbed for a moment—then, as if Sebas’s words had sunk in, she buried her face in his chest and cried some more. But these tears were a little different from before.
Time passed, and when Sebas’s chest was completely soaked, the young woman finally stopped crying. She slowly moved away from him and lowered her head to hide her red face.
“Ah…s…rry.”
“Please don’t worry about it. It’s an honor for a man to lend his chest to a woman.”
Sebas took a fresh, clean handkerchief out of his breast pocket and offered it to her. “Please use this.”
“Bu…t…I can’t…some…thing this…beautiful…”
Sebas placed a hand on the timidly hesitating girl’s chin and brought her face up. While she was still frozen, wondering what had happened, he gently wiped her eyes and brushed the tear streaks from her cheeks.
Oh yeah, Solution was saying she recently had a long Message conversation with Shalltear… Apparently, she was bragging she had her tears wiped…? Under what circumstances did our master attend to her crying? Puzzled as he was, since he couldn’t even imagine Shalltear weeping, his hands didn’t stop. Before long, he had finished wiping the young woman’s face.
“Ah…”
“Okay, here you go.” He pressed the slightly damp handkerchief into her hand. “An unused handkerchief is a pitiful thing, especially one that never gets a chance to brush away tears.” He smiled at her and moved away. “Now then, have a good rest. We’ll talk about what happens next when you wake up.”
Magic was a versatile thing. Solution’s treatment had helped the woman’s body make a full recovery, and her mental exhaustion was also completely gone. She would probably even be able to function normally right away. But mere hours earlier, she had been in hell. He feared a lengthy discussion would cause her mental wounds to reopen.
Actually, she was not yet psychologically stable. Her earlier outburst was evidence enough. Magic could soothe a mind for a limited time, but it couldn’t treat the root issues. It might have been able to heal her physical injuries, but it couldn’t heal her gaping invisible wounds.
As far as Sebas knew, the only ones who could fully heal her mental wounds were his master and—maybe—Pestonia.
Sebas tried to get her to rest, but she spoke, bewildered. “Wh…next?”
He wasn’t sure if it would be okay to continue the conversation, but she seemed to be in a talking mood, so he went on with a close eye to her condition.
“You probably don’t feel safe staying in the royal capital. Is there anyone you can rely on?”
She looked down.
“I see…” Of course, he swallowed the comment So there isn’t anyone…
Okay, that’s a problem, thought Sebas. But surely there was no need for them to take immediate action. It was
nothing more than a hopeful observation, but he wanted to believe they didn’t need to rush, at least until she regained her strength.
“Okay, then. May I have your name?”
“Oh…I’m…Tsu…Tsuare.”
“Tsuare? Oh, that’s right, I haven’t told you my name yet, either. My name is Sebas Tian. Please call me Sebas. I am the owner of this mansion, and I serve Lady Solution.”
That was the story.
Solution was constantly wearing not her maid uniform but a white dress, in case a sudden visitor should call. But while Tsuare was around, Sebas would have to advise Solution to act more like the mistress of the house to keep up appearances.
“La…Solu…tion.”
“Yes, Lady Solution Epsilon. Although I don’t think you’ll see her very often.”
“…?”
“She’s rather ill-tempered.” Sebas closed his mouth as if he’d said all there was to say about her. Then after a short silence, he spoke again. “Okay, please rest well for today. We’ll discuss your future tomorrow.”
“O…kay.”
After making sure she had lain down, Sebas retrieved the empty porridge bowl and exited the room.
As expected, right when he opened the door, Solution was standing there. She had probably been eavesdropping, but he didn’t reprove her. Solution showed no sign of expecting a scolding, either—hence her standing there in plain sight with no attempt to conceal her presence. With her assassin classes, if she had wanted to hide, she should have been able to do so more skillfully.
“What is it?”
“…Master Sebas. What have you decided to do with her?”
Sebas was conscious of the door behind him. It was a sturdy barrier, but it wasn’t completely soundproof. If they talked here, she would be able to partially hear them.
Sebas set off walking, and Solution silently followed him.
They stopped when he felt sure the sound wouldn’t reach Tsuare’s ears.
The Men of the Kingdom Part I Page 13