Capítulo 2: Apparently, I Wasn’t a True Comrade
It had been three years since Taraxon, the Raging Demon Lord—ruler
of the dark continent—began an invasion of the continent of Avalon.
In just three years, four different countries had been destroyed, and
half of Avalon had fallen into the demon lord's hands. But just when
the people began to despair that they could do nothing to stop the
destruction…it turned out that the god of their world had not
abandoned them.
The Hero's birth was prophesied. And then a girl suddenly took
command of forces in the countryside that should have had hardly
any soldiers with combat experience and managed to beat back the
demon lord's army's advance forces. The Hero, Ruti Ragnason,
appeared in the capital bearing proof of the Divine Blessing of the
Hero. Evidence that anyone would recognize and accept. From
arranging a compromise to stopping the fighting with an
underground band of thieves in the capital to recovering the proof of
the Hero that was resting in ruins from the ancient time of the elves
to various feats beyond, the girl's exploits convinced the king that
she was indeed who she claimed to be.
And thus, the Hero set off on a journey to save the world,
accompanied by the cheers and blessings of the people.
Zoltan. The frontier.
Far from the Hero's hometown, Zoltan was on the front lines of the
war with the demon lord's army. Blessed with a wealth of rivers—but
in the path of storms coming out of the southern ocean. Protected to
the north and east by the vast, unexplored mountain range known as
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the Wall at the End of the World. Covered in wetlands, so
transportation and communication were difficult, hardly having
developed at all. It was a land with no strategic value.
With its bounty of rivers and the replenishment of nutrients that
came from storms that caused the rivers to overflow, one could
make a decent living just spreading seeds around farmland with good
drainage. But of those who seriously devoted themselves to
agriculture there, many lost everything to the squalls that blew it all
away. As a result, the people developed a natural laziness and
distaste for hard work.
People working in Central were all scared of the threat of being
demoted and sent to the lazy land of Zoltan. Even criminals who
preyed on various villages left Zoltan alone because they knew they
couldn't make a living here. The only travelers who came to the
frontier were fugitives, hermits, or eccentrics.
But as I was now, this sort of place suits me.
"Three kilos of nightshade, two kilos of koku leaves, one bag of white
berries…"
I placed the medicinal herbs I had gathered on the table at the
Adventurers Guild's collection desk.
"Thanks for all your hard work, Red… Your total comes out to one
hundred and thirty payril."
The girl at the counter promptly breezed through the calculations
and handed over silver payril coins for my payment.
"We look forward to working with you again."
Seeing me leave the counter, the other adventurers all grinned.
"Hey, Red, still gathering medicinal herbs? How 'bout spicing things
up a bit with a goblin extermination for a change?"
"Sorry, this is a bit more my speed."
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"Come on, man—that bronze sword of yours is seriously lame. An
adventurer who doesn't even have at least an iron sword is an
embarrassment to the job."
I just shrugged. It's not as if I particularly liked being made fun of, but
compared to how things used to be, this was nothing.
These guys were just shooting the breeze; they weren't serious. They
had the same lazy Zoltan spirit as everyone else and stuck to taking
easy quests.
As for why I was working as an adventurer in a place like this… That's
a story from before I became a specialist in herb collection.
In the past—though it was less than a year ago—I was a member of
Ruti the Hero's party.
At the time, my name was Gideon Ragnason. To be frank, the Hero—
Ruti Ragnason—is my little sister.
In this world, people receive a Divine Blessing when they are born.
It's considered a gift from God in order to guide people down the
paths they should live. They're granted strengths appropriate to that
path, which is why they are called Divine Blessings. Power could also
be granted in the form of skills based on what kind of blessing you
have. Those with blessings in the Warrior or Mage trees could take
on warrior or mage skills.
My blessing was Guide, one that had never been seen before. The
power it granted was an initial blessing of level +30. I was born at
level 31. I had a level equivalent to a knight in the royal guard. It
caused a pretty big fuss at first. By the time I was six, I was heading
out to exterminate monsters, and by eight, I was recruited into the
knighthood. At seventeen, I had already risen to second-incommand.
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When it came out that my little sister was the Hero, we started
getting praised as the twin hopes of humanity. When Ruti and I
returned from skirmishes in the countryside, Ruti was finally
recognized by the king as the Hero, and when she set out from the
capital to defeat the demon lord, I was obviously added to the party.
At that point, I was stronger than my sister and was one of the top
five knights in the capital. No one opposed me joining the Hero's
party.
No one except the Sage, Ares, another member of our group.
In the end, Ares was right.
My blessing, Guide, was a power meant only to protect the
beginning of the Hero's journey. As everyone else's levels rose, they
learned powerful new skills, and the limitation of the Guide's
blessing became apparent.
With the Hero's blessing, hero skills could be used; with the Sage's
blessing, sage skills could be used; with Warrior-style blessings, all
sorts of warrior skills could be used… But there were no guide skills.
The only ones I could choose were common abilities anyone could
learn. When we set out, I was strong relative to the rest of the group.
Over time, however, they caught up to and eventually surpassed me.
Gradually, I became deadweight. My role was that of the party
member who helped the immature Hero in the early stages only to
drop out midway through the quest.
"You are not a true comrade."
That was what the Sage, Ares, told me when we were headed to the
local lord's mansion to celebrate after the intense battle with
Desmond of the Earth, one of the four heavenly kings of the demon
lord's army.
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"What do you mean?"
"A true comrade is someone who fulfills their role. Someone with
whom you can fight back-to-back."
"And you're saying I'm not that?"
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"Surely you've noticed it by now, right? To be succinct, you're a
liability. During the fight with Desmond of the Earth, what did you
do?"
"…I fought with my sword."
"No, your sword didn't deal any noticeable damage to Desmond. In
fact, Desmond was probably just completely ignoring you. You got
caught up in some of the area of effect attacks, but there wasn't a
single strike actually aimed at you."
That was certainly true. Desmond had definitely been ignoring me.
"You were judged to not be a threat. And yet you still failed to
escape the area of effect attacks where you weren't even the target.
What's worse, if you get hurt, Ruti will make me heal and protect
you. For no reason other than that, I am forced to waste my spells."
"That's…"
"You're not even just a liability. Your very existence is a weight
holding Ruti back."
"It's not like I'm not trying my best to be helpful."
"Trying your best? Are you an idiot?"
"What?!"
"Trying your best is an explanation for success, but it does not excuse
being a liability. You think you can be forgiven for holding us back
just because you're trying your best? How selfish can you be?! You
really aren't a true member of the party!"
I was speechless.
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Now might really be the time, I thought. The thing I had always been
considering… This seemed like the moment for it.
"But I'm the second-in-command of the Bahamut Knights; if I return
to them being labeled a liability, it would be a stain upon their
honor…"
"Faced with a threat to the world, you would worry about the honor
of the knights?"
"Tell the others… Tell them I went on my own to scout the situation
with the demon lord's army…and never came back. Can you tell
them that for me?"
"I see. Very well, then. We can go with that story."
"…Thanks."
My head downward, I started to leave.
"Hey." Ares stopped me. "Leave your equipment. We're the ones
who earned that."
"…"
The treasure sword Thunderwaker, a mental-defense ring, a cloak of
evasion, and more. I removed all my equipment. In exchange, I took
a little bit of money for the road and a cheap bronze sword from
Ares and departed.
Still, I had some lingering attachment. The next day, before leaving, I
wanted to see my little sister's face one last time. She had always
been so fond of me, always calling me Big Brother.
Of course, she was way stronger than me by then, but still, when I
thought of her going off by herself from then on, I got worried.
Also…I kind of hoped she would be a little upset about me leaving.
But…when I peeked stealthily through a window, I was greeted by
the image of Ares with his arm around that same little sister's
shoulder.
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"Oh…so that's how it was…?"
She didn't need me anymore. That was perfectly clear. Just like the
Sage had said, I wasn't a real comrade. Dammit. The thought of it is
still hard to bear. I kept pitifully muttering to myself "I know you
don't need your big brother anymore, but I hope you still remember
me from time to time" as I left town that morning.
From there, I changed my name to Red. I wandered, eventually
settling in this forsaken land. Now I make a living as a boring
adventurer who specializes in herb gathering.
"It was really rough back then."
After ending up all alone like that, I bawled my eyes out for a bit.
Being pushed out of the party left me too dejected to do anything
else for a while. I half-heartedly beat up a group of thieves that was
causing a fuss near the town where I was staying and stole their
money. I spent the lot of it on booze. I'd never really been a drinker
before, but I got blind drunk while trying to forget my problems.
Unfortunately, that started to attract attention.
If anyone figured out my identity, it would surely be a big problem
for the knight captain and the head of the territory who had done so
much to support me. So I pulled myself up and ventured out to the
frontier under the assumed identity of an adventurer named Red.
There, I found a new dream for myself, a new way to live.
"I'm going to open an apothecary here in Zoltan and live a
comfortable, easy, slow life! I don't have any talent for battle, so I'm
going to live peacefully from now on!"
I was still worried about my sister, but as I was far weaker than her,
there wasn't much I could do even if I fretted over her every day. I
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wasn't even a real comrade, so I decided to leave the demon lord to
them and just live for myself!
To that end, I started saving money from medicinal-herb-gathering
jobs while drawing up a map of the distribution of medicinal herbs by
season, in preparation for my future.
You might find yourself wondering if perhaps there's some kind of
hidden super-cheat to the Guide blessing. Nope. There isn't.
Blessings give both an initial skill and innate skills that are unlocked
upon leveling up. There are also common skills that can be taken
anytime.
A guide's initial skill provides a starter blessing of level +30. An
incredibly powerful ability. Blessing level 30 was around where your
average knight might be when retiring from duty. I started at a level
that someone else might spend his or her whole life trying to
achieve. But I had no innate skills to choose. All there is to the ability
is just being reasonably strong at the outset. Even if someone
wanted to take advantage of that initial skill, there was no room for
broad improvement.
A person without skills was significantly weaker than someone at the
same level with skills. If you wanted to fight in order to raise your
blessing level and earn skill points to get stronger, you wouldn't be
able to beat enemies that another person at the same level would be
able to handily dispatch. That meant you'd have to defeat people
with lower blessing levels than you, which was significantly less
efficient.
Thinking about it, it was hardly a blessing at all. Even blessings like
Warrior or Mage—with their abundance of skills—might've been
better, despite being considered lower tier. At least they had room
for growth.
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So with my heart broken, I set my sight on a slow life and gradually
earning money.
I headed into the mountains again to gather some more herbs today.
Since I have a high level but innate skills to acquire, I've assembled a
decent collection of common skills. Thanks to the Survival skill, as
long as I don't go too deep into the woods while hiking, I won't get
lost. Plus, I can recognize the standard medicinal herbs one can
gather. It's just a common skill, though, so it only covers the
spectrum of standard plants.
"Henbane is an antiseptic and hemostatic to stop bleeding, koku
leaves are for antidotes, ryujin mushrooms are immune-systemboosting nutritional supplements, and rare white berries can be
catalysts for magic potions."
I hummed to myself as I diligently scavenged the herbs for the day. In
Zoltan, with its abundance of water and pretty much nothing else,
the mountains could be called a natural storehouse containing a
bounty of medicinal herbs and fruits.
"Oh, green nuts. I can boil those for dinner when I make camp."
Generally, herb gathering was a two-day, one-night trip. Because it
took about half a day's travel, it wasn't very efficient to return the
same day. I was used to camping from all the time I spent traveling
anyway. I would find non-medicinal herbs and wild plants to cook
while I was out.
"But it's definitely a bit tiresome to camp out in the middle of the
mountains."
Monsters weren't scared of fire. I slept with my sword next to me
and a rope attached to a strung-up bell for a little peace of mind.
There weren't any particularly dangerous monsters around here, but
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it was still possible to get attacked in my sleep and suffer an
unexpected injury.
"Ahhh, maybe I should make a little lodge here soon."
The people living in the area hadn't built a mountain cabin because
they figured it would just get destroyed by a storm before long, but
its construction wouldn't have to be that great to withstand the wind
and rain. It only needed to be sturdy enough that monsters would
have to exert a bit of an effort to knock it down.
Lately, I've been coming here twice a week to gather medicinal
herbs, so it would be way easier to just make it a four-day, threenight trip. But in order to stay in the mountains that long, I would
need a place to put my bags and rest, which would mean I'd need a
little hut or something.
"Well, I can deal with that after I've saved up a bit more money."
I drifted off to sleep with thoughts of my future aspirations.
I woke up during the night. There was a gamey scent in the distance
accompanied by the presence of a large animal.
I silently drew my sword close as I studied the interloper. Even
though I didn't have any special skills to enhance my senses like
someone with a Thief or Hunter blessing, my Sense skill's level was
high, since there was nothing else to spend my skill points on.
It wouldn't be enough for something like the demon lord's elite ninja
squad, but it was more than sufficient to perceive a monster dwelling
in these mountains.
There didn't seem to be any sign of it approaching soon, so I got out
of my sleeping bag and silently climbed a tree. A crescent moon like
a tightly drawn bow hung in the starry sky. Its pale light wasn't bright
enough for me to catch sight of the creature, however. After peering
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for a while, I heard a bell ring. A large beast's face emerged from the
darkness.
"Oh, an owlbear?"
As the name implied, an owlbear was a magic beast with an owl's
head and brown bear's body. Generally, owlbears were monsters
around level 15. They were common magic beasts that lived in
forests around the world. Fairly apex predators, they lived as the
free-spirited kings of their forests. How nostalgic. I'd fought one of
these before. That must've been back when I chased after Ruti,
who'd gone charging into the forest looking for some friends of hers
who'd gotten lost.
That was around when I was seven. Nowadays, I could easily handle
one, but…
"Well, it's not like there's a reward for it."
I nimbly hopped down from the tree. Animals and low-intelligence
monsters like magic beasts could instinctually sense when their
opponent was stronger. The owlbear and I exchanged glances before
it slowly moved back, turned around, and ran off into the dark of the
woods. I didn't bother chasing after it and just climbed back into my
sleeping bag and slept until morning.
The next day, after I'd finished gathering what I needed, I returned to
town to find it in an uproar for some reason. I tried asking the guard
at the gate if anything had happened.
"What's up?"
"Oh, Red, you staying safe?"
"Yeah, same as always. Things seem a bit troubled here, though.
Something happen?"
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"There were some adventurers who got attacked by an owlbear.
They're currently trying to put together a group to go take care of it,
so the mountains will probably be off-limits until it's been sorted."
Oops. That owlbear had probably stumbled across me after attacking
some adventurers nearby.
"Really? How long do you think it'll take?"
"Who knows. It's pretty rare to have something as big as an owlbear
show up around here. It'll probably be either our ace B-rank party or
else a big group of thirty some odd people."
Adventurers are categorized into six ranks from S down to E. The
ranks are based on parties rather than individuals, so when the
makeup of the party changes, so, too, does its rank. Generally
speaking:
E: Rookies who just registered
D: A party that can survive in the wild where monsters roam
C: A party that can resolve a crisis that endangers a village
B: A party that can resolve a crisis that endangers a town
A: A country-level party that can resolve a crisis that involves
multiple cities
S: A legendary-class party that is mobilized to deal with crises
threatening a continent or the world
Generally speaking, most towns have around one to three B-rank
parties that form the peak of the local power-dynamic pyramid. Only
really big cities like the kingdom's capital would have an A-rank
party. Right now, all the best adventurers were active on the front
lines fighting the demon lord's army.
Incidentally, I'm D rank. It can't really be helped, since I basically just
collect herbs, and if I ended up rising to B rank here, I'd stand out too
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much and people might figure out who I was. Worst-case scenario, if
that happened, it would cause problems for the head of the knights,
my benefactor. As such, I was content leaving the owlbear to other
adventurers.
"I guess I'll have to sit tight in town for a while."
At least I was able to finish my business in the mountains first. I
headed to the Adventurers Guild to sell my wares.
My earnings this time totaled around ninety payril.
After returning to my room in the town house where I was living, I
did the regular maintenance on my bronze sword, though I had only
been using it to cut plants lately. I also repaired my traveling clothes
that had gotten torn up from hiking.
I had raised my Repair skill a fair amount. Back when we were
fighting on the frontier, before we'd set out for the capital, it had
proved pretty useful. As time went on, though, everything became
reparable via magic, so it had become redundant along the way. But I
didn't have any mage acquaintances now who could use Repair
magic, and armorers cost money. Since I was saving to open my own
apothecary, it was definitely a valuable skill.
Having finished the upkeep of my gear, I used some eggs and
potatoes from my pantry and the green nuts I brought back from the
mountains to make a dinner of salad and mashed potatoes.
When that was done, I used the shared washroom to rinse myself off
and went to bed.
This wasn't some battlefield with monster corpses strewn
everywhere, a dragon's nest with scores of the creatures, or a frozen
snowy mountain. It was just a small room with a roof, so I could close
my eyes in peace.
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Once I saved up enough money, I would build my own house and
operate the apothecary from it. I'd set up a garden in the back to
cultivate some of the more important medicinal herbs, too. It
wouldn't be some huge success, but there wouldn't be any life-ordeath battles or nerve-racking conspiracies to deal with. That was
the sort of life that could be had here in Zoltan.
This was my second chance after getting pushed out of the Hero's
party.
Three days later, a team of twenty-seven adventurers was assembled
to hunt down the owlbear, and they ventured off into the mountains
bolstered by cheers from the townsfolk at their backs. During that
time, I was fishing at a nearby river and selling what I caught.
The work earned me eight payril. It was possible to get a room and
two meals a day for only one, so eight payril for three days' effort
was a decent haul. In order to open my own apothecary, though, I
would need 1,730 in funds.
I was gradually saving up, but between the general cost of living,
buying preserved rations in order to go out to the mountains to
gather herbs, and maintaining my gear, my actual profit for a single
trip was only about thirty payril. At that rate, I was going to have to
keep doing this for another six months.
"Well, not that that's the end of the world."
There was no particular rush. No impending peril loomed, so I could
just take my time.
I was lying on my bed and reading a book I'd borrowed from the
library to kill some time. It was shortly after noon when I heard a
knock on the thin door to my town house.
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"Coming." I tucked a bookmark between the pages and hung my
bronze sword from the belt at my waist as I headed to the entrance.
Readying my sword was a habit I had picked up from my old quests.
There had been several occasions when we'd been attacked in our
sleep back in those days. The experience made it tough to sleep if I
wasn't ready to fight at a moment's notice. Even after I was ousted, I
still wasn't really comfortable turning in without a weapon close at
hand. It felt weird to be unarmed when a gust of wind blew by, too.
Living the slow life meant I would need to do something about those
habits, though…
"Who is it?"
I opened the door to see Megria, one of the employees of the
Adventurers Guild. Behind her stood a man wearing fancy-looking
armor along with what was clearly his party.
"I'm sorry to bother you while you're resting, Red."
"Oh, Megria. What is it? And Albert, too." The armored man, Albert,
twitched at the offhand greeting.
"Show some respect, D rank."
Albert was one of only two B-rank adventurers in town. There were
no higher-ranking adventurers, and the other B rank, Rit, only
worked solo. Thus, Albert's party was considered the ace team of the
Adventurers Guild in these parts.
"…Right, Albert, sir. So what brings you here?"
Albert moved toward me, beaming as he patted me on the shoulder.
"I've heard stories about you. You specialize in gathering medicinal
herbs and know more about the mountains than anyone, yes?"
"I do my best."
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"My party is headed to take out the owlbear. It's not something we
would normally handle, but the first suppression team failed, so
there's no one else who can deal with the beast."
Oh, so they got routed, huh? With that many people, they should
have been able to win, but maybe the group got divided along the
mountain trails. This was the first I'd heard of them losing, and
noticing that, Albert smiled condescendingly.
"Don't tell me you haven't heard? I guess dealing with an owlbear is
something far beyond someone with your skills, but the mountains
are the pillar of your livelihood, right? You should really pay more
attention to stuff like that. If you ask me, that sort of mindset is why
you're an eternal D rank."
What was with him lecturing me out of nowhere? I just nodded
perfunctorily as I glanced at Megria to move things along and get to
the point.
"Sir, the time."
"Ah yes, time is of the essence."
The assembled party members nodded, too. It was really just a oneman crew centered around Albert. He was the only one with a
noticeably high level. The rest didn't even meet B-rank standards.
Other adventurers in the party rarely even spoke unless they had
permission from Albert.
"Like I said before, we're headed out to take care of the owlbear, but
we've hardly done any herb-gathering jobs. We don't really know
much about the mountains."
"I see. So you wanted a guide?"
"Yes. We're more than capable of the actual hunt ourselves, of
course. But I don't want to spend days chasing something like an
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owlbear. If we can get this done faster with you as a guide, then all
the better."
"But I'm just a D rank, right? Wouldn't it be better to ask one of the
adventurers in the first expedition that failed?" A look of contempt
crossed Albert's face at my words.
"Huh? This is your chance, isn't it? All you have to do is guide us, and
you'll get a nice accomplishment you can point to. You might even be
able to get to C rank out of it. What are you so scared of?"
Judging from his annoyance, I could guess he had already been
turned down. Most likely, the members of the previous party
weren't sure Albert's group could actually beat the owlbear, or
perhaps they feared that whoever acted as their guide might get
caught in the crossfire.
It was rare for a B rank to be so distrusted in the face of something
like an owlbear, but Albert was an adventurer who had come to
Zoltan because he couldn't make it in Central. It was an open secret
that the Zoltan Guild bent the rules a bit to recognize him as B rank
because they needed one.
"Sorry, but I refuse, too."
"Why?! If you make it to C rank, you can take more jobs! And
everyone else will respect you at least a little more! Even you don't
enjoy being ridiculed, right?!"
"I've got no interest in being C rank. My dream is to open an
apothecary and have a totally ordinary life."
"Kh, fine, then!" Albert shouted, glaring at me as he left in a huff. The
rest of his party hurried after him. Left behind, Megria hung her
head, embarrassed.
"It would be a relief if you were willing to accept this job. I can even
guarantee the promotion to C rank, if you want."
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"I'm sorry, but I really don't have any interest in that."
"Then there's no helping it, I guess. If you'll excuse me."
"Okay. Good luck." She bowed her head slightly and left to follow
Albert's group. After watching her leave, I headed back into my
house.
There was a thudding knock on the thin door as the sun was starting
to set.
"Red! It's me! Gonz!"
"Oh, Gonz the carpenter? I'll be right out. Don't knock so hard. You'll
break the door."
Judging from the sound of his voice, it was clear the woodworker
was perturbed over something. I took just a second to slip my sword
into my belt before opening the door.
"What is it?"
Standing on the other side was Gonz, the long-eared, half-elf
carpenter. Despite still having the distinct, trademark elven good
looks, he exemplified the hearty spirit and skill of a Zoltan carpenter.
In a way, that unbalanced sort of appearance was fitting for a half-elf
man.
"Sorry to bother you while you're resting, but my little sister's kiddo
caught something. According to the doctor, it's apparently whiteeye."
"Tanta got white-eye?! How far has it progressed?!"
"Ummm, as of now, he's collapsed with fever."
"The second stage of the sickness, then. Okay, I'll be right over!"
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Since I was aiming to open an apothecary someday, I had been
studying injuries, diseases, poisons, and various related topics. It had
afforded me some familiarity with the afflictions. White-eye, as its
name implied, was a disease where the corneas turned a cloudy
white. It was a bird-borne disease. The pathogen attached to the
eggs of birds, and eating an infected egg spread the disease to
people. The disease could be killed off by heating the eggs, but it had
some resistance to heat, so if the eggs weren't cooked enough, it
would still be contagious. The reason the ailment was feared was
because a few days after the initial symptoms emerged, the patient
would go irreversibly blind. The first symptom was a high fever, at
which point treatment had to be rendered within thirty-six hours.
Sight could be restored by Priest or Healer magic available to
someone with a high enough level blessing, but…in Zoltan, on the
frontier, there was only one person who fit that description. The
previous mayor, Master Mistorm. She had retired in her old age,
though, and was currently off somewhere enjoying her remaining
years in peace. No one knew where she was now.
Gonz's little sister and her husband lived next door to the
woodworker. Tanta was their son. The home was not particularly
spacious but had a nice feel. It was furnished with a red roof and a
weathervane on top and a green lawn with a small garden gnome
out front. The whole design gave the building a rather cozy feel. It
was a lovely home, built by Gonz and imbued with the love he held
for his younger sister.
"Nao!"
"Gonz!"
His little sister, Nao, was also a half-elf, with fair white skin and a
beautiful face. However, just like with Gonz, she had another aspect
to her as well, the apron-wearing, child-rearing mother, born and
raised on the blue-collar side of town.
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Her husband, Mido, was human. He was a former adventurer who'd
retired and now worked with his brother-in-law. Apparently, he was
less adept at the work than Gonz, which led to a fair amount of
scolding from the half-elf man, but Mido was quick at calculating and
often covered for the rougher patches of Gonz's personality. When
Mido wasn't around, Gonz would praise him for being a bright guy. If
you asked me, it would probably be good to tell him that to his face
once in a while, but evidently, Gonz couldn't bring himself to do that.
With their son developing white-eye, the couple's usual cheerful
expressions had grown haggard.
"What do we do, Brother? There's no medicine…"
"It will be fine. We can trust Red. He's the adventurer who's
gathered the most herbs in all of Zoltan."
That was where a normal adventurer would probably have lit into
the man for saying such a thing, but to me, it was genuine praise.
However, this was hardly the time to think about things like that.
"What's Tanta's condition?"
"The doctor's taking a look, but he said there wasn't anything else he
could do without the medicine."
"Got it. Could you let me in?"
In the bedroom, there was the boy—Tanta—lying in bed, suffering
from what looked like a particularly bad fever. The doctor, Newman,
was at his side, observing his condition. He wore a serious
expression.
"Doctor."
"Oh, so you're the adventurer Red? Thank you for coming."
"I heard it was white-eye."
"Yes, there's no mistaking it."
Page | 37
After that quick exchange, I examined Tanta's eyes, lymph nodes,
and inside his mouth.
"Yes, his irises are paling, there are ulcers in his mouth, and the
lymph nodes in his neck and underarms are swollen. He's got every
initial symptom of white-eye, all right."
"I wouldn't have expected an adventurer to have such detailed
knowledge," Newman said as he wiped the sweat from his brow and
thinning hair with a towel.
"About how long has it been since he developed a fever?" I asked.
"Seems he was struck by a feeling of fatigue around noon, and he
collapsed around three PM."
"It will be bad if we can't get him some medicine before tomorrow
evening."
"That's the problem. I don't have any."
The medicine to treat white-eye was based on a preparation of koku
leaves and a spiny mushroom called a blood needle. Excepting
winter, koku leaves could be found basically anytime, but blood
needles could only be gathered from spring into the middle of
summer. Thankfully, it was spring, so they were in season.
"Last month, there was an outbreak of goblin fever and white-eye.
None of the three clinics in town have enough medicine."
"I'm sure they have the koku leaves, though the blood needles…
They're probably just starting to sprout, but…"
The Adventurers Guild managed the repository of medicinal herbs.
Normally, they would be putting out job requests with a priority on
gathering blood needles since the stock of those was running low,
but…
"It takes time for that guild to approve anything."
Page | 38
Someone first had to point out that the reserves were low; the
person in charge of those reserves then needed to report to their
boss; the boss then double-checked the reserve; next, the person in
charge had to write a report that their boss took to the higher-ups to
get approval; and once that was all done, the person in charge had to
fill out the forms to send out the job requests, which their boss had
to double-check, and…
"Zoltan's Adventurers Guild is all about the red tape," Newman said
with a grimace.
Anyway, right now, the fact of the matter was that there was no
stock left of one of the fundamental ingredients for the medicine.
Based on Tanta's symptoms, he needed treatment sometime before
nightfall tomorrow. Considering that preparing the medicine from
the ingredients took time, Newman probably needed to get the
blood needles no later than noon tomorrow.
"I'm begging you, Red! I know the mountains are bad right now, but
I've got no one else to turn to! Can you please get the ingredients?
Name your price, and I'll pay! No matter how long it might take, I
swear I'll pay it all back!" Gonz knelt, his head bowed to the floor as
he pleaded.
"I mean it! The boy's a genius when it comes to carpentry! I can't
accept his dream dying here like this!"
Gonz did not have any children. He lost his wife to sickness before I
came to this town and continued to live alone, never showing any
inclination of trying to find another wife. Because of that, he
cherished his sister's son. So much so that he declared that the boy,
who was not even ten yet, would succeed him in everything. Tanta
was quite fond of Gonz, too. The boy was raised playing at Gonz's
shop and was always saying that he wanted to be like his uncle when
he grew up.
Page | 39
But…
"It's true that it's dangerous, but also the mountain is currently
entirely off-limits. I might be an adventurer, but I can't go there until
the owlbear is taken care of. If I ignore that order, I could get kicked
out of the guild."
"Th-that's true, but there's nowhere else to get the medicine."
Nao and Mido both lined up beside Gonz, lowering their foreheads
to the floor as they pressed their request.
…Albert and his party should've been searching the mountains for
the owlbear by now. If they hadn't found it yet, they'd be camping
out. It was also possible the party had found it and was busy tracking
it across the mountain, even through the night. It was a big
mountain, but they were experts when it came to hunting. Even the
smallest trace could have given me away to Albert's group.
Should I negotiate with the guild? No, that'd be hopeless. I haven't
earned that much trust from them.
"Big Bro, is that you?" Tanta's eyes had opened as he called out
weakly.
The pointed ears proving his elven lineage were red to their tips from
his fever. Yet the boy still smiled at me.
"Sorry, I caught a little cold. But once I'm better, let's talk through
the plans some more," Tanta murmured. Gonz and the others
glanced at me.
…It's not like the kid was saying anything of importance, though.
"Oh yeah. That promise to build my apothecary for me. Once you're
better, we can talk about it some more."
It was just silly banter we shared when Tanta spent time with me.
We talked about all sorts of stuff—like how I was going to build an
apothecary, what sort of layout it should have, where it should be
Page | 40
built, that sort of thing. The young half-elf had sworn to build it for
me, saying "When I become a carpenter, I'll build your store for you,
Big Bro Red."
Well, yeah. It was clear what I was going to do from the start. I mean,
that was the promise, so there wasn't really any helping it. My
beautiful, slow life wouldn't be complete without a modest but no
less lovely little shop to go with it, after all.
"Right now, the Adventurers Guild has placed the mountain offlimits…"
"Y-you can't do it?"
"I can't take this job as an adventurer. But I'll do it as a friend.
Promise you won't tell anyone?"
"Red!"
"I'll be back soon. I'll leave Tanta to you until then, Doctor."
"I'll do the best I can. But it will take an hour to prepare the
medicine."
"It would take me three, so if you can do it in just an hour, I'd be
grateful."
High-speed preparation was something that could only be done by
people with a blessing in the Medical or Alchemical trees, or else
maybe someone with the Herbalist blessing.
It was beyond my ability.
I had no intention of staying up in the mountains this time. I just
filled a waterskin, secured my bronze sword, and left town. I jogged
along the outskirts of the village a bit and then had a look around.
Page | 41
"All right, no one is watching." How long had it been since I last ran
all out?
"High-Speed Mastery: Lightning Speed. Endurance Mastery:
Immunity to Fatigue."
They might've been common skills, but by raising the skill level to 11,
you gained access to the mastery ability. Quite powerful despite the
skills being so common. Not many people built up common skills that
high, though, so it wasn't a very well-known boon.
Lightning Speed increased movement by a factor of ten. While I was
running, other people would see me as little more than a flitting
shadow. Immunity to Fatigue meant my body wouldn't tire.
Regardless of whether I was working through the night, engaging in
heavy manual labor, or even sprinting all out for an entire day.
Effects other than fatigue still applied; it wasn't as if I could go
without sleep for days on end. Sleep itself was still necessary, but the
skill was undoubtedly useful.
I took one powerful step, then another, and another. I gradually
accelerated, and the scenery transformed into a green blur as I left it
behind. Once I reached my top speed, I was covering one kilometer
every thirty seconds, moving around 120 kilometers per hour. With
magic support, I could run even faster, but this was my personal
limit. That velocity could match the flight speed of an adult dragon
more than one hundred years old.
As the last light of day was swallowed up by night, I sprinted toward
the mountain. It took a while to reach my destination. If there had
been even the barest of roads, I could've maintained my speed, but
the rough forests of the mountain made moving that quickly
unfeasible. I had to go normal speed here.
Taking out my map, I plotted my route.
Page | 42
I didn't want to take any longer than necessary, but I also wanted to
avoid any route Albert's party was likely to take. I looked over the
more common paths. This side got a lot of direct sunlight, and
owlbears tended to dislike strong sun; hopefully, that meant it would
avoid this area unless given a particular reason. Likewise, it would
mean that Albert's party would naturally save this portion of the
mountain for later in their search.
"All right." With a route set, all that was left was to move forward.
When I noticed the smell, I felt impatient for the first time in a long
while and gritted my teeth as I ran.
"Dammit!"
The area where blood needles tended to grow in clusters had been
scorched. My skill-enhanced hearing caught the shouts of Albert's
party fighting in the distance.
"They used fire magic!"
Someone in Albert's party had used a fire magic while they were
fighting the owlbear. Fire magic was powerful and the standard
move when fighting something able to take a lot of damage, like an
owlbear. But the conifer trees that blood needles grew on burned
easily and were the perfect kindling for the hungry tongues of
flames. On top of that, it was spring, when the winds were strong. It
was incredibly dangerous to be summoning fire on the mountain,
given the circumstances.
If it were Ruti or Ares, or anyone else from the party, they could have
used an innate skill or a magic to extinguish the fire and halt the
spread. But I couldn't do anything. I didn't have any means of
extinguishing the growing blaze.
"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!"
Page | 43
I used my bronze sword to cut the water bag I had brought with me
and dumped it over my head. The only thing I could do in this
situation was gather as many blood needles as possible. Goblin-fever
season was over, but it was the time of year when white-eye, the
deadly red-tongue disease, and the airborne trembling fever could
break out. Blood needles were a crucial medicinal herb during Zoltan
summers, and they were all being burned to ash.
Despite being so critical, blood needles grew in relatively few places.
This mountain was the only major source in all of Zoltan.
I ran through the flames and smoke, plucking every one of the
mushrooms I could find. The smoke coated my throat and scorched
my lungs. Immunity to Fatigue did not help with smoke and oxygen
deprivation, and the heat stung my flesh. But I could still move. I
possessed no special skills. My blessing was a high level, pure and
simple, and my resilience to physical punishment befit that level. I
could take this much.
But there was a limit. Surrounded by flames, I started having trouble
breathing, and hypoxia began setting in. The oxygen deprivation
made my head heavy and dulled my senses.
A sudden rustling caught my attention. An owlbear covered in
wounds stood before me.
You let it get away, Albert?
The wounded creature was in a frenzy. It raised its claws to attack,
an instinctual drive to protect itself. I took the hilt of my bronze
sword in hand. The wildfire had heated the grip, and there was a
sizzling sound as it burned into my palm. The owlbear roared down
on me, swinging its arms to tear me apart.
I drew my bronze sword, slicing upward across the owlbear's
stomach to its shoulder.
Page | 44
Page | 45
"Over here, sir!"
Relying on the tracking ability of Campbell, a member of the party
with a Thief blessing, Albert's party arrived at the owlbear corpse
collapsed on the ground, its body encircled in flames. They had been
granted Resistance to Heat and Resistance to Environment by a
magic spell, so they were unhurt by the smoke or the heat of the
blaze.
"That's a B rank for you! And I did my part, so I'll be getting my
reward, too," shouted Dir the Fire Mage. He was hunched over, his
cheeks were hollowed out, and his skin looked generally unhealthy.
He was the adventurer who had guided them in Red's stead, who
Albert had only just barely been able to find in time.
According to Megria, he had a history of abandoning his party
members and running away, rendering his reputation abysmal, but
they had gone with him anyway, since no better option had
presented itself. His poor guidance through the woods meant they'd
been walking around the mountain until late into the night.
The owlbear wasn't moving, but Dir didn't dare draw any nearer to
the beast. The creature would tear him apart if it was still alive,
though it was a one-in-a-million chance.
Albert approached the owlbear and severed its foreleg. That would
serve as the proof of having completed the job.
"We did it!"
"…This wound…"
"What is it?"
"No, it's nothing. Let's get out of here before the magic wears off."
Page | 46
Campbell the thief raised both his hands in agreement at that. "Yeah,
even with the resistance magic, it's still hot and hard to breathe," he
complained.
The woman with a Priest blessing furrowed her brow.
"That's just how it works. This isn't the sort of situation people were
meant to survive in the first place. Just be grateful this is all the pain
you have to suffer," she responded.
"I know, I know. Look, it for sure beats dying" came Campbell's
response.
The effects of the magic that granted resistance to the fire lasted ten
minutes. If it ran out while they were in the flames, even a B-rank
party like them would be incapacitated almost immediately. The
group of adventurers ran fast to escape the growing blaze.
"Wh-whoa! Are you okay, Red?!"
It hadn't even been six hours since I left. By now, most folk would
normally have been sleeping, but everyone was still awake and
watching over Tanta. I rushed into the room as if I was about to
collapse, my whole body covered in black soot.
"Dr. Newman, I got the blood needles."
"What?! That fast? How?! Wait…that looks like a really bad burn.
What did you…?"
"This is all of the blood needles we're going to be able to gather in
Zoltan this year… I'll explain later, but right now, preparing the
medicine is more important."
"Okay, I understand. I'll get started at once." Newman took the bag
of blood needles and went back to his clinic to get the medicine
ready.
Page | 47
"Red, are you okay? I'll get something for those burns…"
"What's the point of going out to gather medicinal herbs if I have to
take medicine when I get back? I'll be fine. The burns aren't as bad as
they look. I'm going to go home to wash off. I'll be back soon."
"Wait! Red!"
I wasn't physically tired, but I could definitely feel that I had fully
exerted myself. I poured the water from the well over the top of my
head to cool my burned body. Looking out the window, I could see
the crescent moon hanging in the night sky.
Even though I had gone all out, gathering a single bag of blood
needles was the best I could accomplish. Such was the limit of my
blessing. Even pushing common skills to their limits, there was only
so much I could do without innate skills.
"Guess it was only natural I got kicked out…"
If this was all I could do when I pushed myself to the max, then of
course I wouldn't be any help saving the world.
At home, I gently washed the worst burns with a damp cloth and
wrapped them in bandages before heading back to Nao's house.
"You three must be tired from nursing him the whole time, right? I'll
switch with you and take care of wiping his sweat and getting him to
drink water and all that until the doctor gets back," I said as I entered
the room. But the three of them looked at me as if I were crazy.
"D-don't screw with me! You're the one who needs to rest!" Gonz
shouted as he dragged me into the next room.
Some soup, a sandwich, and a bit of watered-down wine awaited me
there. It had probably all been thrown together while I was washing
off.
Page | 48
"Eat. My sister made it for you."
"Wait, taking care of Tanta's more important right now."
"We'll take care of him, so eat."
"Okay. In that case, I guess I'll accept this. Thank you." Sensing there
wasn't any arguing with him, I sat down and started downing the
food. Gonz was staring at me as I ate.
"What? Quit hovering; go be with your nephew."
"I never thought you'd get so beaten up."
"Albert's fight with the owlbear started a forest fire. I had to rush to
gather as many blood needles as I could. I'm sure there will be more
cases of white-eye, and it's a crucial ingredient for other medicines,
too. It's a bit weird to say, but it was lucky Tanta caught it when he
did. If he'd gotten sick tomorrow, all the blood needles would
probably have been burned up."
"…Sorry. You ended up like that after doing so much to gather the
medicine for us. Meanwhile, I was just sitting here on my ass."
"Don't worry about it. That's part of the job description for an
adventurer. Besides…there's still the matter of my reward. You'd
better steel your nerves."
"Y-yeah! A man always keeps his word! I'll pay up, even if it takes the
rest of my life!" Gonz grinned broadly.
Thanks to the curative the doctor made, the cloudiness in Tanta's
eyes cleared nearly immediately. It would still take a week of bed
rest, and the boy would have to keep taking the medicine Newman
had prescribed in order to completely heal, but there wouldn't be
any lasting damage. With that, Newman declared that Tanta would
Page | 49
be fine now and began packing his instruments back into his bag to
leave.
"Thank you so much, Doctor!"
Gonz, Nao, and Mido lowered their heads, but Newman dismissed
the action with a wave of his hand.
"It was fortunate he could get the medicine so quickly. With that,
there shouldn't be any lasting visual impairment. It's all thanks to
Red. And don't worry about my fee. Just put it toward covering his
reward. These blood needles he provided are invaluable now, so I'll
be discussing how best to use them with the doctors at the other
clinics."
After hearing the news about the fire, Newman had grabbed both
my hands and thanked me for gathering all the blood needles I had.
He'd even offered to pay for the extras I had gathered beyond what
Tanta needed, but I turned him down. Things that an adventurer
gathered could only be sold to the guild. It was against the rules to
sell directly to anyone else. Special permission was required in order
to traffic items yourself. If I had sold Newman the blood needles, it
would have been bootlegging, so it was safest to just give them to
him instead of accepting any money.
"If I achieve my dream, I'm sure I'll be in your debt."
"An apothecary, huh? All the doctors in Zoltan would rejoice to have
a skilled adventurer like you running an apothecary. Whenever you
manage to open your business, please let me know. I'll be sure to
patronize it."
"I'm looking forward to it."
Doctors were regular customers for an apothecary, so earning his
gratitude here and making sure he remembered my name certainly
didn't hurt.
Page | 50
Newman took my hand one more time and shook it firmly before
returning to his own house. And after seeing him out, Gonz and his
family bowed their heads to me.
"You really saved us. I can't thank you enough."
"Then shall we discuss my reward while the topic is still fresh?"
"Y-yeah! Don't hold back!"
"I don't plan to. In fact, I intend to get exactly what I want." The
family looked nervous as I prepared to state my demands. When he
heard it, Gonz was shocked but quickly broke into a full-faced grin.
I was sitting on a bench eating some sweet potato fries I had gotten
from a stall as I watched the ceremony off in the distance. Tornado—
the mayor—with his bushy beard on full display, stood on a stage
and expressed his gratitude to Albert while awarding him the Twin
Swords Medal.
With the battle against the demon lord's army heating up all across
the land, these people were awarding the Twin Swords Medal for
defeating a single owlbear. The medal was supposed to honor great
deeds of combat. Here, it seemed more emblematic of how peaceful
Zoltan was. The sight evoked a bit of a chuckle from me. All those
gathered cheered and rejoiced when the medal was hung around
Albert's neck.
"Tch, what's all the fuss over? He went and started a fire on the
mountain."
"Oh, Gonz? Didn't you say you weren't going to take today off, even
though you're always first in line for festivals? What're you doing
here?"
Page | 51
"Who'd take a day off to celebrate him, knucklehead? I'm just here
to get some lunch." Gonz was holding a basket with a sandwich,
some fried food, and a few other assorted bits. He sat down next to
me and took a fried fish out of the basket and started eating.
"If you ask me, you're way more deserving and amazing than he is."
"Oh? Then let me have that." I grabbed one of the sausages out of
his basket and bit into it. Gonz looked angry for a second before
breaking into a hearty laugh. We sat there for a little bit watching
Albert's ceremony.
"Albert's doing his best for the town in his own way."
"Hmm? He is?"
The B-rank adventurer still had a Central-esque air about him. Often,
it didn't leave a good impression on a lot of people from the bluecollar parts of town. People like Gonz. The stuffy, formal clothes
made of multiple layers that were popular in the capital were
considered too hot and irritating to the people in Zoltan. However,
the mayor and what few well-to-do folk who lived in the town did
cling to an appreciation for a more Central sort of style. So Albert
was well received by them. It was possible the man was even
intentionally maintaining those trappings simply to earn favor with
the wealthier denizens of Zoltan.
"Well, it might also just be that he hasn't gotten used to life on the
frontier."
"What are you talking about?"
"Albert. Don't be too harsh on him. He drifted in from Central and is
doing his part as a B-rank adventurer in a party that struggled to deal
with an owlbear. I'm sure he's got a lot of pressure he's dealing with
every day."
"That so?"
Page | 52
"And even so, he's trying to make it work. It's not like he wanted to
burn the mountain down."
"If you're okay with it, then I guess I'll leave it be," Gonz said,
resigned.
His tone made it clear he still wasn't convinced. He obviously thought
I should've been the one getting the accolades. But I just wanted to
live a modest life; I didn't really need them.
I watched until Albert left the stage, and then I patted Gonz's
shoulder and said good-bye. Starting tomorrow, I was going back to
gathering herbs. Also, I had reported the mountain fire to the guild,
but the extent of the damage still needed to be assessed.
If I was going to run an apothecary, I needed to get a handle on the
best remaining places to gather medicinal herbs before anyone else.
I was serious about trying to make my dream a reality here in Zoltan.
"That wound…"
After the ceremony and the meal with all the influential people in
town, when Albert was finally alone, the B-rank adventurer thought
back to the image of the owlbear collapsed on the ground.
"That wasn't damage I inflicted… My sword wouldn't make that kind
of cut."
It was a slash all the way up the torso to the shoulders. Rough, the
cut looked like it had been made by a dull weapon that had been
forced through with incredible power.
"Like…a bronze sword."
The image of the D ranker who the man had tried to get to guide his
party flashed through Albert's mind. He'd…had a bronze sword on
his waist, hadn't he?
Page | 53
"There's no way."
Albert shook his head. "Besides, there's no way he could have been
there," he muttered to himself.
Four months and two days later. According to the calendar, fall was
right around the corner, but in Zoltan, there was no end in sight to
the heat of summer. The town still displayed vibrant greens, as if it
had no interest at all in the fall styles adorning the mountain and
other regions. The area that had been burned in the fire was already
covered in plants again. The black scar of burnt foliage was no longer
visible.
I made my way to a part of town a bit outside the town center. It was
in the area between a residential neighborhood and a district where
craftsmen plied their crafts. It was a ten-minute walk from the
residential block where my town house was. At a normal person's
walking speed, of course.
"You finally made it, huh?" Gonz said.
"You're so slow, Big Bro Red!" Tanta shouted.
The two of them were wearing neat, formal suits and waving their
hands. I had slipped myself into a rented suit for the first time in a
while, too. In the past, I'd been made to deal with aristocrats and
royalty with my sister fairly often, so it wasn't my first encounter
with a suit. This was the first time since I'd left the party, though.
Behind Gonz and Tanta stood a newly constructed building. It wasn't
that big, but its design spoke of strong, solid construction. Visually, it
had a reassuring sort of feel. There was a sign above the front
entrance that read:
RED'S APOTHECARY.
Page | 54
This was the reward I had asked Gonz for. Money for the materials
came from my own pocket, but the construction was free. The
savings I had built up at that point were enough to cover the
construction thanks to that arrangement. Today was the gathering to
celebrate the successful completion of the build.
I looked up at the sign, overcome with emotion.
"Everyone's waiting to eat, so hurry it up already!" Tanta said,
grabbing my hand and dragging me in.
"All right, all right," I answered as I was led inside.
Around twenty people, ranging from Gonz's coworkers, some
members of the Adventurers Guild, Dr. Newman, and a few others
with whom I got on well in Zoltan, were all gathered in waiting.
"Oh, the man of the hour's finally here."
"You've really gotten used to Zoltan's pace, Red."
I had been busy sorting out various medicines for the store's opening
and had lost track of time. In Central, the star of an event being late
would have caused an uproar, but here, it was forgotten with a
laugh. I scratched my head as I thanked everyone who had
assembled, and then we started the banquet.
"Mom made the food for today!" Tanta announced, oozing with
pride.
He was almost as proud of his mother's food as if he had made it
himself. When I commented that it was delicious, he happily fired
back immediately with "Right?" and a delighted smile.
There had been no further complications to Tanta's white-eye. His
eyes were sparkling like a young boy's should, and he was laughing
just as cheerfully as he did when working with Gonz or his father.
Page | 55
Newman made a point of thanking me again and saying how
fortunate it was that we were able to get Tanta the medicine so early
in the disease's progression.
"I'm pretty sure I already sent you the order. If you've had a chance
to look at it, do you think you'll be able to fill it?"
"Yes, it won't be a problem. I'll put a priority on the delivery and get
it to you tomorrow evening."
Dr. Newman was my first customer and had promised to place
requests for whatever herbs he was running low on periodically.
He'd even given me a recommendation when I was registering my
shop with the Merchants Guild and let me know that if I borrowed
the funds for opening the business from them, they would put the
paid interest owed on the loan toward my first year's guild
membership fee. Despite not having to pay construction costs, I'd
run my savings nearly completely dry just purchasing the materials,
so that sort of recommendation was particularly helpful. Now I
wouldn't have to worry about losing my operating rights for failing to
pay the membership fee.
Not bad for my first step.
"Oy, don't you have any big aspirations or anything?" Gonz asked.
Aspirations, huh…? It was hard to answer such an out-of-the-blue
question… But everyone was watching me; I wasn't in a position just
to say nothing.
"Ahhh, yeah…"
I tried to compose myself and think of a suitable answer but quickly
thought better of it. I wasn't going to try to put on airs like that. I
wasn't a knight or a member of the Hero's party anymore.
"With all your help, I've managed to realize my dream. Thank you.
But now I'm going to try to take it easy while running this apothecary
Page | 56
and not push myself too hard. Particularly on hot days like today, I
just want to sit back, drink some cool tea, and chat with everyone. So
feel free to come by to hang out anytime."
The room erupted in laughter and applause.
And just like that, I started my slow life as an apothecary in Zoltan.
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder