Book 1: Chapter 15

*Residence of Duke Achenbach*

He was shaking his legs with an irritated look on his face. The duke’s eldest son, Daniel Achenbach, was staring at the knight in shining armor and the butler in the room.

「Is there still no contact from Six Mine yet?!」

「Yes. The advanced party should have arrived, but it may take some time to install the magic communication device. The communication device in the mine is probably not operational.」

「I know that! The problem is the dragon and the 6-star skill orb!」

Being treated like a child despite being over 40 years old, Daniel wiped his forehead with a handkerchief.

「Young master. The mine soldier’s report was that the 6-star skill orb had already been used and the girl had escaped. If that is the case, she’ll starve if she doesn’t stop by at some town. We have no choice but to wait right now.」

「I said I know that! There aren’t many children in the mine! Why can’t you find her?」

「We just finished notifying the entire Dukedom yesterday. So, we should find her right away… No, please wait a minute. Indeed, there were only a few children…」

「Hmm? Did you come up with something?」

The butler flipped through the pages of the record in his hands.

「As you say young master, there were only two children working as mine slaves.」

「Yeah, and?」

「Wouldn’t fellow children get along well?」

「Well, that’s right… but what about it?」

「The other child doesn’t have a name, but is characterized by black hair and black eyes. What if both these children are together? The escaped slave named Lark has an average look, but black hair and black eyes should be easy to find.」

「I see! But is the black hair black eyes really true?」

「…Yes, that’s a fact.」

Daniel struck his fist on the table.

「Isn’t it the “Child of Disaster”?! The legend was true, after all!」he exclaimed, and glanced over to the knight.「Look for the black hair and black eyes! If you find him, make him spit out the location of the 6-star and kill him as soon as possible!」

「…Is that okay?」

「Of course it is! This is the Duke’s order! Go!」

「Understood…」

The knight went out, though his reluctance was apparent.

「Shit. It will be a serious problem if His Majesty Geffert finds out that the 6-star was lost.」

It took about half a day for the knights to receive information from the castle guards that,「There is a black hair, black eyes slave in the territory.」

On the other hand, the butler ran around to prepare a landing space for the magic airship. This is because an airship carrying a Mithril-rank adventurer was arriving this evening.

* *

After being called by Non-san, Mimino-san and I rushed back to the Adventurer’s Guild – to the warehouse at the back of it. When we returned, a surprising scene unfolded.

「No way…」

「What the hell…」

The short-bearded ossan and the one-armed assessor were staring dumbfounded.

「Hmm… I carried them all over there, chief.」

「Y-Yeah…」

「Then, I’ll go clean up the documents inside!」said Mr. Useless, as he went into the guild.

The person who was staggering on his feet just about an hour ago.

「–You!」the short-bearded ossan turned to me.「I’ll buy all that grass! How much?!」

「W-What?!」

「It’s extremely effective for hangovers, right? From now on, I am even going to put up a collection quest in the guild!」

「O-Oh…」

Apparently, the yellow medicine I gave worked perfectly. That’s good, but was it really that effective…? I checked with 【World Ruler】, but I only understood that it “enhances the function of the liver”.

…Well, I guess it isn’t wrong in terms of enhancing the function of the liver?

…Even with rpgs, “healing” and “advanced healing” is completely different.

…Rather, isn’t that “advanced” really important?

「!」

When I was fixed on the grass roots, the image of “greatly enhances the function of the liver” popped up in my head.

…It worked! If so, say it from the start!

…No, wait a minute. Maybe it’s because I didn’t try to check the fine details before?

「By the way, what kind of grass is this?」

「Oh, this is turmeric—」

I quickly stopped as the words came out of my mouth. No, this is not turmeric! I have never even seen a real turmeric!

「Oh. It’s called turmeric, huh.」

「A-Actually, I don’t know the official name. I just call it turmeric because I think it looks like turmeric.」

「Well, we can change to the official name if we find out later.」

「S-So, why not give it a different name?」

「Hmm… for convenience sake, let’s call this grass “Reikon” in the dukedom guild.」 (1. TL Note: Turmeric is “Ukon” in japanese. The ossan combined “Reiji” and “Ukon” to form “Reikon”.)

「…Eh?」

「It’s named after the discoverer.」

「Ah…」

I was troubled. I was about to spread the wrong name for turmeric in a different world… Actually, I don’t even know if turmeric exists in this world at all… So, I guess it’s fine?

…It’s fine, right?

…It’s fine.

…I’m sure someone has given a more scientific name already.

「Okay, then let’s go with Reikon…」

「I understand. About the payment, will one small gold coin be okay for all the grass?」

Unexpectedly, it came out to be a lot of money. It was well over the price I bought the “Leaf of Life Tree” for. Hooray!

Just when I was about to nod,

「Waaaaaait a second!」

「Mimino-san?」

「One small gold coin for medicine that has such an effect is too cheap.」

「No, hangovers can still be treated with healing magic to some extent. In which case, what I’m paying is already quite high.」the short-bearded ossan said.

「But you can use it differently from healing magic.」

「Different use…?」

「You can take it in advance.」

「Ah!」the short-bearded ossan raised his voice.「Unlike magic which can only be used after the fact, you can drink this in advance! Which means… I see! This might just turn out amazing!」

The ossan was excited, but I didn’t understand a thing.

「What does that mean, Mimino-san?」

「Hmm, I think you’ll understand this as you grow up. There are quite a few situations in which important people have to drink alcohol. But not everyone can hold their liquor, right?」

「Yes.」

「Having said that, various arrangements and business negotiations are conducted at such places. For people who are weak in alcohol, it is their weakness, and for those who are strong, it is their strength. You can’t negotiate with a drunken head.」

「Oh… I see. If you take this medicine in advance, you will be less likely to get drunk!」

「That is the possibility. We will have to verify after this…」

「I’m sure there were quite a few people who took it before drinking. So it does work.」I said.

「…Are you talking about your hometown, Reiji-kun?」

…Oh, crap.

I showed off my knowledge of Japan. Like when you go to a pharmacy, they do sell medicine labelled, “Before a drinking party” and such.

「Understood.」the short-bearded ossan took out a gold coin from his pocket.「Let’s go with one federal gold coin. This is an up-front investment, and I can’t afford to go higher than this. I am investing because it has been a long time since I last saw an exciting medicine.」

「That’s good enough! “The God of Trading is watching over justly”.」

「Let’s report that it was a “good sell good buy deal”.」

Ossan and Mimino-san shook hands. I heard later that the exchange seems to be the phrase of greeting that merchants often use.

「Ah, sorry, Reiji-kun. I made a deal without asking you.」

「Not at all. I never thought about the possibility of pre-dosing, so I am grateful.」

「Here. Reiji-kun’s money.」

「Ah…」

The federal gold coin in my hand was heavier than a small gold coin. It was worth about 100,000 yen(1000usd).

「It looks like everything ended well. I thought maybe something bad happened when a guild staff rushed over to get us.」

「Dante-san.」

「Knowledge is power. I hope the knowledge that Reiji-kun has brought will benefit many people.」Non-san said, standing next to Dante-san.

They haven’t asked me where I got this knowledge or anything like that. They’re aware, yet they don’t ask.

(Will there come a time when I have to tell them everything? I really don’t know…)

「Hmm?」

At that time, I heard a cry. There was a similar building next to the warehouse, and the sound came from there.

「What’s over there?」

「Oh, that’s the training ground. Adventurers are training over there… Would you like to go?」

「I want to go!」

「Before that, let’s get something to eat. We haven’t eaten anything yet.」

Just when Mimino-san said that, I heard my stomach growl.