episode_0046

“Anyway, this teacher trying to cure baldness is definitely innocent!”

Wiping away the tears in his eyes, Rotos insisted to me.

“Thank you…! I never thought there would be someone who truly appreciates my experiments!”

He seemed genuinely touched as he wiped away the tears in his eyes as well.

“It’s really a mess.”

I wholeheartedly agreed with Aramis’ words.

“But why did the baldness treatment explode?”

“I mixed the reagents incorrectly, causing a mana collision.”

The wizard scratched the back of his head in response to my question.

“I see…”

“Marie, shouldn’t we leave this wizard and go attack those men?”

“You mean Duke Orléans’ men?”

“Yes, we should follow them.”

“I will help you.”

The wizard spoke to me with a determined look in his eyes.

“I will naturally part ways with them when I meet them tomorrow night, so you can trail them.”

“Is there a change in your mindset?”

“Well… actually, even though I knew what effects this potion had, selling it still pricked my conscience. But I sold it to make a living, didn’t make any money, and my heart hurts… I think it’s time to end it.”

The wizard sighed deeply and put on his pointed hat.

“Well… just in case, you should stay here tonight and go to the pharmacy in the morning.”

“Alright…”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Well…”

I hesitated at Bingsoong’s question.

“What can I do to help?”

“Well… I’m not sure.”

“In that case, just bring me some alcohol.”

Bingsoong nodded and brought me the alcohol.

The next night, we started trailing the wizard.

He glanced back and forth, waiting for Duke Orléans’ men to arrive.

“Goodness… when are they coming?”

The wizard, feeling anxious, rubbed his arms with his hands, scanning his surroundings.

“You came sincerely again today.”

“Yes, I did.”

“How did the sales go?”

“Well, somehow I managed to sell everything in my pockets.”

“See, I told you I would expand, didn’t I?”

“Haha…”

In reality, only one pocket’s worth was sold, but I pretended to put my money in and made it look like everything was sold.

That money didn’t matter anyway, as I could just beat up Duke Orléans’ men and take it back.

“By the way, you’re quite skilled.”

Duke Orléans’ man put his hand on the wizard’s shoulder.

“Can I expand one more pocket?”

“I barely managed to sell this one. Please, just this one…!”

The wizard started to get enthusiastic.

“Hey! What are you doing right now!”

Duke Orléans’ man pulled the wizard off his leg, who was clinging and begging.

Smack!

As soon as the wizard was pulled off his leg, Duke Orléans’ man punched him.

“Ouch!”

The wizard flew about a meter in the air and crashed to the ground.

“Ow…!”

He grabbed his face and got up.

“Alright, since I hit you today, I’ll deduct the penalty and end it with two pockets. Come back here in two days.”

Duke Orléans’ men laughed and left.

“Let’s go.”

We started trailing Duke Orléans’ men.

“A tavern…?”

I thought they would be operating in the underground, but it seemed they were operating in a normal place.

We casually followed them into the tavern.

“There are too many people here to just beat them up…”

The tavern was crowded, making it impossible to distinguish between Duke Orléans’ men and regular citizens.

“Where did they go…?”

Unfortunately, we lost track of Duke Orléans’ men and were completely clueless.

“Damn it, we lost them!”

Rotus scratched his head and headed straight for the bar.

“Welcome…”

Crash!

“Alcohol!”

In a fit of anger, Rotus slammed his palm down on the bar and shouted at the bartender.

“Goodness…”

The bartender chuckled and handed Rotus a bottle of rum.

“Enjoy.”

Rotus pulled out the cork with his teeth and started gulping down the strong rum like water.

“Ah~~! Damn it, I missed it right in front of my eyes…!”

Rotus lamented, tapping his forehead.

“Why are you so upset?” Aramis asked, patting Rotus on the shoulder.

“I had a task to help that teacher, and I failed…”

“Oh, bring a bottle of wine. And a glass.”

Aramis interrupted Rotus and ordered wine from the bartender.

“Well… that’s frustrating.”

“If you keep fixating on that, how are you going to live! You need to find another way.”

“Right…”

“Here you go.”

While Aramis comforted Rotus, I planned to extract information from the bartender.

“Huh…?!”

The bartender, upon seeing my face, momentarily swallowed hard and looked at me.

“First, give me a glass of wine.”

“Ah… Yes! Of course.”

The bartender retrieved a bottle of wine from the cabinet and poured it into a glass, handing it to me.

I took the glass and downed it in one go.

“Phew…”

As I exhaled, savoring the fruity aroma filling my mouth, I began to extract information from the bartender.

“I saw people in black uniforms coming in and out of this building earlier. Who are they?”

“You don’t need to worry about them, miss.”

The bartender’s expression slightly changed to a frown, but upon seeing it relax, I smiled faintly.

“Perhaps… are they the ones managing this place?”

“Well… you could say that.”

“I see… I understand.”

“Have another drink.”

“Thank you.”

Thinking that the soldiers of Count Orlean might have lost interest in me, the bartender offered me another glass of wine.

I approached Rotus with the wine glass in hand.

“Here, Rotus.”

“Gah~!”

Rotus let out a long sigh instead of answering.

“What the…!”

I smacked Rotus hard on the back of his head.

As my palm met his scalp, the sound of clapping echoed through the tavern.

“What are you doing?”

Rotus stood up, glaring at me.

“Hit the guy behind you.”

I muttered, and Rotus smirked in response.

The bartender had mentioned that this tavern was managed by Count Orlean’s men. If a commotion were to break out here, wouldn’t Count Orlean’s men rush in to quell the disturbance?

With that in mind, I deliberately decided to stir up trouble.

“I can’t stand your filthy drinking habits. That’s all.”

“Miss…?!”

Laurent looked startled, alternating between me and Rotus.

“What?!!! Say that again.”

“Did your intelligence fall out with your hair?! Let me say it again, you’re filthy!”

“You little…!”

As Rotus tried to raise his fist, Laurent threw himself in between us. I grabbed his back and pushed him back.

Thud!

Rotus spun around and landed a punch on the face of the person behind him.

“Ouch!”

The person who was hit by Rotus’s fist stumbled and crashed into the shelf where the bottles were displayed.

The impact caused the expensive bottles on the shelf to fall and shatter.

“No!!!!”

The bartender wailed as he looked at the broken bottles scattered on the floor.

Kneeling on the floor and crying loudly, his pitiful appearance was heartbreaking.

“You bastard!”

A man rushed towards Rotus seeking revenge for his friend who had been beaten by Rotus.

“Ha!”

Rotus grabbed him and lifted him up before throwing him towards a table in the distance.

“Ah?! Wow!!!”

The man who flew far away landed on a table full of food and drinks, tumbling over.

“Ah?! What the hell?!”

“Ugh…!”

The thrown man groaned in pain, holding his aching waist.

Shocked by the sudden turn of events, the man whose table had been overturned grabbed the collar of the man who caused it and shouted, “Hey, what about my food and drinks?!”

But the man in agony could only groan in response, unable to say a word.

“You… son of a b****!”

“What… what?!”

The man thrown by Rotus, holding his waist, misunderstood the insult directed at Rotus as being aimed at himself, blushing with embarrassment.

“Who the hell are you cursing at now?”

Slap!

He slapped the cheek of the man lying on his table.

“Why are you hitting me, you son of a b****!”

Slap!

The man who was slapped retaliated by kicking the man’s stomach.

Thud!

The kicked man rolled on the floor of the tavern and collided with another table.

Crash!

“Scream!”

Suddenly, a fight broke out at another table that had been unexpectedly disturbed, spreading to the adjacent tables.

“You crazy person! My cards!”

The gambler at the table, who had been winning, saw his game ruined.

Having just finished work in the cold sea and looking forward to warming up with a hot meal, he lost his simple meal.

“Is this why you brought me here?! I’m leaving!”

Slap!

A man who had been enjoying a romantic moment with his partner lost his lover.

“Scream!”

“Die!”

The tavern turned into chaos, with various objects breaking and the scene turning into a mud fight.

Thud!

“Stop right now!”

The henchmen of Count Orleang upstairs drew their swords and descended to the lower floor.

“What on earth is happening?!”

They looked around the chaotic tavern in disbelief.

“Let’s hide for now.”

“Agreed.”

We successfully avoided causing a riot and decided to hide and observe the situation.