CH 17

Chapter 17 – The Next Target

If I had my original specs, I wouldn’t have been able to carry such a heavy load, but as expected of the [Perfect Ring], this level of weight was nothing to me. When I pressed the intercom, this time the wife and the husband came to the door, accompanied by their four children.

“Thanks for waiting. Here is your portion of 30 kilograms of rice.” (Kaiba)

The wife opened the cardboard box, looked inside, and smiled. The children also looked delighted to see such tasty-looking meat and fish in the cooler box.

“This is really a lot of rice… and it’s high-quality rice from Uonuma Prefecture too. Come to think of it, how much is this?” (Woman)

The rice I bought cost about ¥10,000 yen for 10 kilos. I planned to ask for more than three times that amount.

“For the 30 kilograms of rice, it will be ¥100,000. And these food ingredients―as our first time transaction, I’m willing to offer it to you free of charge.” (Kaiba)

“…!? Free of charge? Are you sure?!” (Man)

Not only the husband, even the kids’ eyes grew round as they excitedly murmured, ‘oooh~!’

“However, next time I will naturally have to oblige.” (Kaiba)

“Y-Yes! That’s fine. Is cash really fine?” (Man)

The husband handed over ¥100,000 in cash to me. In truth, with this alone, I was already receiving a surplus. The meat was [Orc Meat], and the fish wasn’t that expensive.

In any case, the first priority was to get the people to like my food and trust me.

“Man, really thank you so much. Oh, right… Can you come again a week from now?” (Man)

“Then one week later, at the same time?” (Kaiba)

“Yes, please.” (Man)

“Understood. Ah, I also sell daily necessities and general goods, so if you need anything, just let me know and I’ll do my best to get it for you.” (Kaiba)

“For real? That would be great!” (Man)

“Yeah, it really is. Right now, even if we went to the store, we wouldn’t be able to buy shampoo or soap.” (Woman)

The wife’s voice was filled with relief.

“Of course, I can prepare those items for you.” (Kaiba)

Now then, for what I had really come here for.

“Come to think of it, about that house across the street…” (Kaiba)

“Across the street? Ah, Fukuzawa-san’s house?” (Woman)

Yet another rich-sounding name.

“Yes. When I was passing by earlier, the big gate opened, and I saw a girl in a wheelchair… Is she disabled?” (Kaiba)

“Ah… actually, she got into an accident when she was around 9 years old, and the bottom half of body was paralyzed.” (Woman)

Paralyzed… I see.

“Are there any hopes for her recovery?” (Kaiba)

“Who knows… It’s already been three years since then… Seeing as she still can’t move now, it might be difficult.” (Woman)

“Her mother must have been very sad. I heard that even now, her father has been searching for a talented doctor.” (Man)

That was good information. In other words, a doctor who could cure her of her disability had yet to appear. If I could save that child, the reward would probably be colossal.

Of course, I didn’t have a single shred of medical knowledge or healing arts. At best, the extent of my knowledge was limited to CPR and artificial respiration. However, with the help of my strong ally called fantasy items, I could defy such conventional wisdom. Among those fantasy items was a medicine that could cure any injury or disease.

As I held in the laughter that threatened to break loose from hearing such great information about the Fukuzawas, I gave the Ishibashis my regards and left.

“Now then, that just leaves… how to make contact with the Fukusawas, hm? It might be good to just ask them while going door-to-door, but with an estate of this size, the likes of food ingredients would be turned away at the door.”

They seemed like they would have a lot of connections, so they wouldn’t be in such a bind that they would rely on a door-to-door salesman. In that case, I could just act as a doctor… No, no, who in the world was still doing medical visits even?

“Wait… On the contrary, if it seems more unnatural, would he become even more interested…?”

Fortunately, the head of the Fukuzawa family was making his best efforts to find a way to cure his child of her disability. He was probably eager to cling to any information, no matter how insignificant it might seem.

In that case, it might not be strange to try talking to him… even if it might seem shady. But if they couldn’t trust me, then it was highly likely that they would just give me the cold shoulder.

“It’s difficult… If only there was a way to make her father want to rely on me…”

I had heard that the husband of the Fukuzawa family was also a doctor and a professor at a university hospital. They apparently had three kids. The eldest son was a talented doctor at the same hospital, and the mother and eldest daughter were both registered nurses. In other words, the whole family was related to the medical field.

In that family, the youngest of the three, who was only 12 years old, had been paralyzed from the waist down in the aftermath of an accident. That girl’s name was Fukuzawa Kanna, and her dream was to become a successful soccer player for the team Nadeshiko Japan. It was interesting that her dream wasn’t also to become a doctor.

However, since her lower body was paralyzed, the options for her future had inevitably become much more limited. Nowadays, she’d managed to regain her cheerful nature, but it was said that in the past, she used to close herself in her room and cry all the time.

Unable to bear to see her like that, her father had been employing all of his connections to search for effective medical means to help cure her disability. However, it was considered to be impossible with the current level of modern medical advancement, so it was almost a hopeless situation.

Plus, with the world like this, doctors were probably really busy and couldn’t waste their time on a single girl.

“Which reminds me, the wife of the Ishibashi family said that…”

The husband of the Fukuzawa family was a person of fine character, and he would go to evacuation centers and other such refugee shelters to give free medical examinations to the sick and injured who were sheltered there. He was lovingly referred to as Whitebeard-sensei for the way he never hesitated to lend a helping hand to others in need, not just his daughter.

Any doctor would probably know, but this alias came from a famous masterpiece written by Shugoro Yamamoto about a doctor who lived in the Edo period and was called Redbeard.

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The main character, Akahige, also known as Redbeard, was a man of great character who made great contributions as a doctor and a human being. In the midst of severe poverty, not only did he treat people who suffered from illnesses, but he also examined those conditions in the context of underlying factors such as human relationships and problems in society.

If something ever happened, all of the residents of this residential area could trust and rely on the master of the Fukuzawa family.

“So in this world, there do exist people that are like the ones you only see in fictional stories.”

He was the complete opposite of me and the other students at school. I wonder what would have happened if such a person had been in my class…

No, I can’t help thinking that if someone like Redbeard really existed, he would definitely be a pretty unique person.

Well, now that I’ve unearthed some information about the master of the Fukuzawa family…. Hmm.

“…Patrolling evacuation sites and refugee shelters…? That could work.”

Once the thought passed through my mind, I set about working towards it.