Prepared Overnight

After that, the viscount must have said everything he wanted to say, because once he'd eaten a fair amount, he rose from his seat.

"I have work to attend to, so I'll take my leave. Don't mind me, please enjoy the rest of the meal. I'm grateful to all of you. I'll extend my formal thanks to Royal Advisor Yohane at a later date."

"Thank you for treating us to such a wonderful meal. We're glad we could be of help."

The servants who had remained to attend to us also left after setting down the dessert plates.

I finally felt a weight lift off my shoulders.

When Master was here, I could just sit beside him and smile politely, but when I had to take the lead myself, that wasn't an option, so it was exhausting.

I'd much rather be swinging a sword.

Alexia-san probably felt the same way back when she was still a noble.

"So that wraps up our work here, right?"

"Yes. We were planning to head back to Kassad as soon as we were done, but…"

"Who would've thought we'd find a former director of the Insurance Association in a place like this. It feels almost too convenient, doesn't it?"

"I wonder about that. No matter how obscure the organization is, a subsidiary of the Adventurer's Guild should be of considerable scale. There must have been plenty of people who worked there."

I cut the nut tart that had been served for dessert into bite-sized pieces with my knife and brought them to my mouth with a fork.

In the old days, I definitely would've eaten this with my hands.

I couldn't bring shame to my master, so I no longer did that outside of the house where it was just family.

Alexia-san turned to look at me.

"So, what do you want to do? We'll be late getting back, but since we have this lead, want to at least hear what he has to say before we leave?"

"That's my plan. I feel bad for everyone… especially Ramiza-san, though."

"Well, I'll stick with you. My business is already done, after all."

"You can go back ahead of us if you'd like."

"Yohane-kun did assign me as your support, so I can't really do that. Besides, even if the shop stays closed, I've got plenty of stock, so it's no problem."

Ramiza-san ran a shop as an alchemist, but I'd never once seen a customer there whenever I visited.

Apparently she supplied her products directly to many trade companies, so it wasn't an issue.

It made me realize there were all kinds of ways to run a business.

As for the quality of her potions, I could vouch for that from personal experience.

If they were available, I'd make securing them my top priority.

We finished the meal and left the dining room.

After greeting the servants who had been waiting to clean up, we left the viscount's estate.

Once we'd walked a short distance and confirmed no one was around, I spoke up.

"So, was that antidote potion the real deal?"

"Of course. I'm not stupid enough to pawn off a fake on a nobleman."

"Then couldn't we have just used it ourselves? With Elza-san here, purification wouldn't have been a problem either."

"No way, no way. I only threw that together on the spot last night before bed because I thought it might come in handy."

"Huh?"

Even I understood that wasn't something you could do easily.

"The viscount's reasonable enough, so it's fine, but nobles are basically greedy by nature. I don't want them knowing about overly useful magic tools, or even that they exist. This time was a perfect example of them making convenient use of you girls. If they found out about a ring that could nullify poison, it would absolutely turn into a headache."

She let out a dry laugh.

This was probably something she'd experienced firsthand in the past.

If they didn't know about it, they couldn't demand it. That was the logic.

"The compromise was that antidote potion. The efficacy is based on toxins extracted from monsters, just like I explained. The viscount gets what he wants and keeps costs down, and since it's consumable, he'll need to keep buying more. Meaning both I and Yohane-kun as the middleman profit."

"I-I see…"

While I'd been troubled by that weird stalker, Ramiza-san had been thinking all of this through.

"If he can get what he needs without any hassle, he won't feel compelled to keep me tied down, either."

"That sounds like a lot to deal with…"

"You have no idea. All I want is to do my research at a leisurely pace and tease Yohane-kun through my twilight years. His old man looked out for me, after all."

We talked as we walked.

The city of Ludea was reasonably well-maintained.

I'd say it fell somewhere below Kassad but above Luido.

At the very least, it didn't feel impoverished.

That viscount seemed to be running his city properly.

We'd been told where our destination was, but first we needed to secure lodging.

Our return would be delayed by a day, but if we brought back some useful information, Master would surely be pleased.

Thinking about that gave me the energy to keep going a little longer.

We booked an entire large room, then headed for our destination, the house of that soldier's father.

Honestly, I didn't want any more involvement with that strange soldier, but I understood well enough that you should make use of whatever you can.

The house was in a remote area slightly removed from the city center.

It was closer to a shack than a house.

Nigd's father, Adol-san, was supposed to live here.

"There aren't any other houses nearby. Just some woods a bit farther off, some fields, and a cattle shed."

"Definitely gives off the vibe of someone who doesn't want anything to do with the outside world. But with this much land, he should be fairly well-off. So why is he living in a shack like that?"

I agreed with the observations from Alexia-san and Elza-san as they looked around.

The house itself reflected a person who'd tried to avoid human contact.

There wasn't even a bell to announce visitors, and the haphazardly placed mailbox showed no sign of being used in a long time.

I could sense someone inside, so he didn't seem to be away… but the house itself felt somehow dark.

Feeling uncertain about whether we'd even be able to have a conversation, I knocked on the front door.

The sounds that had been coming from inside the shack stopped.

That told me he was pretending not to be home.

Did he really not want to see anyone that badly?

I knocked several more times, but there was no response.

"Hmm, no luck."

"Then let me try."

Elza-san took my place at the door.

She knocked softly, but again, no response.

"Adol-san, my name is Elza, and I'm a priestess. Is there anything troubling you? Or perhaps any anxieties weighing on your mind?"

Her voice was different from usual, gentle as she asked the question.

She sounded exactly like what you'd expect of a priestess.

After a short while, the front door slowly opened.

He'd ignored me but couldn't ignore a priestess, apparently.

The man who appeared was middle-aged, leaning toward elderly.

Though "appeared" was generous; he'd only poked half his face through the gap in the door.

He seemed rather old to be the father of someone as young as Nigd.

Deep wrinkles were etched into his expression, lending him a gloomy air.

"What business does a priestess have in a place like this? There's nothing here, and I'm not in any trouble."

"Oh, is that so? What about, say, your son causing trouble?"

"That's… Ah, you must be the people my son made trouble for."

After hearing what Elza-san had to say, he must have decided that turning us away any further would be difficult.

The door opened with a reluctant air.