Ch.4The Red-Haired Girl from the Slums (3)

The Potion Knights’ activities truly didn’t end in just a day or two.

It’s already been over a week, and things are running quite well, showing everyone’s sincerity.

This makes sense because since the founding of the Potion Knights, the slums have become incredibly clean.

My shop is located near the entrance of the slums.

On my own, I could only clean the area in front of my shop, but with the slum residents mobilizing in large numbers, the streets and every corner have become spotless.

Like this, the slum residents were motivated by the knights’ establishment to transform their own areas.

Our village administrator should get his act together soon too.

It would be great if he improved the infrastructure, attracted more people, and developed the village quickly.

For a weak NPC like me with nothing to my name, it’s better to live in a big city with all the benefits of civilization where I can live comfortably and safely.

While I was lost in these thoughts, a mail carrier visited my shop.

“I have a letter for you, Jack.”

Who would send me a letter?

It’s probably a tax notice related to running the shop.

Or maybe it’s a notice from the Potion Association that my shop belongs to.

But the envelope was too dirty, covered in dust and wrinkled, for that to be the case.

Moreover, instead of an official seal that should be stamped on correspondence from institutions, there was only neat, round handwriting.

Reading it brought a smile to my face.

It was a letter from the protagonist, Alreina.

She’s learned to write. That’s wonderful.

I sat in a chair, quickly opened the envelope, and took out the letter.

The stationery had the same round handwriting as on the envelope.

The handwriting was cute, just like Alreina’s face.

The contents of the letter were as follows:

* * * * *

Hello, Potion Mister.

I’m the adventurer Alreina who received potions and various tools for free from you a few months ago.

Thanks to all the Healing Potions you gave me, I’ve overcome many dangerous situations.

The fishing rod and other tools you included helped me avoid starving outdoors and freezing to death at night.

When I killed the Mad Doctor in Reangso Village, the cucumber juice you mentioned really helped a lot.

And there, I met the boy you told me about and learned how to write.

I’m not sure yet if he’ll really become my future husband candidate.

Thanks to him, I can now read the notebook you gave me, and I read it until the pages wear out every night before bed.

Recently, I defeated some lake monster by following the notebook. Without it, I probably would have drowned.

Visiting your shop when I started my adventure was the greatest fortune of my life.

I’ll continue to send you news by letter like this.

Stay healthy always.

* * * * *

I couldn’t stop smiling while reading the letter.

I immediately began writing a reply.

I received your letter.

I’m very happy that you’re steadily walking the path you need to take.

Everything you need is written in that strategy guide.

Keep going with conviction and integrity, Alreina.

Oh, and don’t just focus on quests; don’t neglect searching for hidden equipment too.

Some equipment could save your life.

If this letter reaches you in time, you should be around Kainak City.

If you’ve already passed it, go back. It’s that important.

There’s an abandoned temple in the sandy desert south of the town.

You must find the necklace hidden inside.

It’s an excellent necklace with magic resistance that can block most spells.

After passing Kainak City, you’ll face a lich, and without that necklace, your life might be in danger.

I wrote this in the strategy guide too, but I’m writing again out of concern.

At the temple entrance, there’s a statue that asks three riddles, and I’ll write the answers below, and so on.

I wrote Alreina’s name on the envelope and hurried outside the shop.

I barely managed to catch the mail carrier who was about to leave the village and send the letter.

I’m not sure if it will reach Alreina this way.

When playing the game, you could just write a username and it would be sent, but this is reality now.

“Brother! What kind of letter is that?”

Startled, I turned around to see Mirella propping her opener on the ground like a two-handed sword, looking at me.

“I sent it to someone I used to know. They’re adventuring all over the place now.”

“Really?”

“What’s with that look?”

“I thought you might be exchanging letters with your first love or something.”

“Even if I were exchanging letters with my first love, it wouldn’t be any of your business, you rascal.”

Mirella flinched and bit her lip.

But such a subtle change in expression was only momentary.

“By the way, brother.”

Mirella changed the subject.

“With letters, you just write them and give them to the mail carrier, and they go?”

“That’s right. But you have to write who sent it and who it’s for on the envelope. Otherwise, it won’t arrive properly.”

“Hmm, I see.”

Mirella fell into deep thought.

Oh no, she’s planning to cause trouble again, isn’t she?

Mirella is the only honor student among my students who can write complete sentences.

It was probably during the first week of class.

“Ah, hello… My name… is Mirel… la…”

Surprisingly, Mirella had already scrawled out a complete sentence on paper.

The children gathered around Mirella in admiration.

“Wow, big sister, that’s amazing.”

“Hmph, this is nothing.”

Mirella is showing remarkable progress in class.

Not only did she memorize all the letters in just a few days, but now she’s even writing simple sentences.

Perhaps Mirella is naturally very intelligent.

If her parents were still alive, I would have immediately informed them and recommended sending her to study in a big city.

But Mirella is an orphan.

She says she lost both parents during the war and drifted here among refugees.

If I had more ability, I would like to teach Mirella and send her to the city.

Even though I’m possessing an insignificant NPC, if I do my best like this, surely something will change.

Just like when I gave Alreina the cheap starter pack and strategy guide.

If I could change Mirella’s life, that would be quite meaningful in its own way.

* * * * *

A few days later, a letter arrived at the shop.

What kind of letter could it be?

Surely Alreina couldn’t have sent a reply already.

Most letters that come to our shop are official documents.

Demanding taxes, or the Potion Association announcing price increases for materials, or various regulations.

So most of them aren’t very welcome.

This letter also looks like it’s from the Potion Association based on the envelope.

The Potion Association exercises authority over potions nationwide and grants permits to certified people to operate potion shops.

In other words, the Potion Association is the franchise, and I’m the franchisee.

They supply potion ingredients once a week through private merchants from the warehouse in Odelin City.

The letter states that our shop has been selected as a candidate for this month’s outstanding shop.

It says someone from headquarters will come down soon to verify.

I have no idea what this is all about.

Puzzled, I read through the document and became even more confused by the last part.

[As the evaluation has been confirmed, if you know anyone who continues to send recommendation letters to headquarters, please ask them to stop. We are receiving too many recommendation letters, which is disrupting our work.]

Someone sent recommendation letters?

Who on earth could it be?

It definitely wasn’t me, so was it the slum knights?

But there aren’t many people who can write well enough to send recommendation letters yet…

“Hya? It arrived properly?”

Mirella, who had somehow approached beside me and was reading the document on tiptoe, proudly shrugged her shoulders.

“I wrote a few letters to your shop’s boss. I told them to give you an award because you do so many good things.”

So it was Mirella after all.

Mirella is an excellent student who mastered all the letters in just a few days and wrote a complete sentence after a week of lessons.

But after teaching her to write, she uses it to bombard headquarters with recommendation letters?

“You? Suddenly? Why? No, more importantly, how many is ‘a few’ that it’s disrupting their work? And how did you know about the Potion Association?”

“It’s on the wall.”

Come to think of it, I did hang the potion sales permit on the most visible wall.

Well, this is…

It’s a bit odd, but it’s touching and I’m grateful.

She’s quite smart too.

Seeing my smile, Mirella puffed out her modest chest.

“If your shop does well, I do well too.”

“What does that mean? Save that kind of talk for your future husband.”

I made a joke, but Mirella’s face hardened.

“I’m talking to him right now!”

Mirella got angry.

“Why do you get upset at everything I say?”

* * * * *

Mirella was telling the truth.

Jack is Mirella’s future husband candidate.

It’s only natural that her future husband’s business doing well means she does well too.

That’s the absolute truth without a shred of falsehood.