episode_0022

Although Emma had dragged Irha out to use her as an emotional punching bag, recently, Irha had become a bit cleverer.

When Emma was about to scold her for not even doing the simple task properly, Irha, on the contrary, began to argue.

“As you wished, Ras ended up failing the exam. So… so…! Emma! Hand over the money!!”

“Wh-what…?! Money…!”

Emma, who hadn’t expected such a blatant demand for money, was flustered, but Irha didn’t stop!

“The remaining money, excluding the advance. Including the doctor you promised to introduce Mirha to. Since I did something bad, I should definitely get my due.”

Come to think of it, there was nothing wrong with Irha’s words.

Emma had commissioned Irha to ‘ruin Ras’s exam,’ not to ‘feed him Succubus’ Tears.’

Of course, she couldn’t reveal her original intention, and Emma had no intention of paying Irha the transaction fee from the start.

Naturally, she also lacked the ability to pay the promised transaction fee.

The reason she had paid the advance was that the request hadn’t yet been fulfilled, and she had given it to ensure things didn’t go wrong.

If Irha had a change of heart and withdrew, Lizley and Emma would be in a difficult situation.

But now? There was no reason to pay the price, so Emma decided to act shamelessly as originally planned.

“Money? A doctor? Why would I give you something like that?”

“W-well… you promised…”

With a scoff, Emma cut Irha off.

“What promise? When did I ever? Do you have any proof? You’re really a funny kid, aren’t you?”

“…!!!”

In front of Emma, who instantly feigned ignorance and dared her to do her worst, Irha’s aggressive momentum broke.

Irha had never lived a life where she considered the concept of ‘evidence.’

Rather, her usual mindset was ‘promises must naturally be kept,’ so the situation didn’t align with Emma, who had broken her promise and then demanded proof.

As she struggled to argue, a warm voice, like a bright fireplace, echoed in Irha’s mind.

Ras’s voice, directly echoing in her mind, subtly had a different atmosphere and color than last time.

[That’s enough, Irha. You did well, but there’s nothing more to gain from this, nor will it do any good. Just say what you want to say and end it.]

‘What I want to say…? No… where is Ras watching from right now…?’

Irha still didn’t know why Ras had made her create something that was bad for his body, and then drunk it himself.

She had simply trusted and followed Ras’s words, somehow finding him entirely trustworthy despite the short time they’d known each other.

However, separate from the issue of trust, watching Ras, who was almost on the verge of death, was agonizing for Irha.

And she hated Emma, who had intended to harm Ras from the start.

Especially when Emma had tempted Irha with an irresistible offer to do the one thing she hated most in the world, and was now acting shamelessly.

Along with the thought that if she had foolishly truly joined hands with Emma, it would have remained a lifelong regret, and a resolve to never accumulate bad karma for others…

“Yes, I’m funny. You’re a villain and a liar. Someday… you’ll definitely get your bad deeds returned. You idiot..!”

With a jerk!

After glaring at Emma, Irha shoved her away with a jerk and simply walked out of the lounge.

Emma stared at the spot where Irha had left, muttering with a bewildered look.

“Hah! She eagerly complied when she was desperate, and now she’s trying to act innocent… Is she clinging to Ras because of guilt? How long can she hide it? Just you wait…”

Emma’s deviously brilliant mind began to work furiously.

What would Ras, who must be furious, do if he found out that Irha was the one who fed him the strange concoction?

Emma was already displeased seeing them act so close these days, so she felt this was a good opportunity.

Someone like Ras should know his place, quietly wag his tail and offer his paw to Lizley, and then be discarded, but to think he was flirting with other women…

She would appropriately spice up this poisoning incident and deliver a doctored lie to Ras. That was Emma’s resolve.

Of course, Emma had no way of knowing that doctored lies don’t work on someone who knows the truth.

*

I had been bored, being alone.

While waiting for Rosalie Maman, I thought, ‘Should I explore the building?’ and came out of the ward.

As I passed the lounge, I heard Emma and Irha’s voices leaking out, so I quickly focused my senses and activated full eavesdropping mode.

After all..! Watching a fight, even if it’s just listening to an argument, is always entertaining!

Though I had instructed her to squeeze out the advance payment, I never imagined Irha would go a step further and demand the remaining balance from Emma.

I hadn’t heard them arguing from the very beginning, but I saw Emma drag Irha out… so circumstantially, I figured Emma must have started the fight.

Our rather pathetic minion, who had been fighting quite well, was properly countered by the magic words, ‘Do you have proof?’

It was also a situation that clearly showed how harsh and unfair this world can be for those who lack resources.

I sent a telepathic message to the fellow, telling him to stop, say what he wanted to say, and then end it.

The shoddy elixir Irha had made for me was slowly dissolving and being absorbed into my body, sinking below my dantian and sending a rather abundant amount of mana to me.

Thus, less than two weeks after my regression, I was able to use telepathy smoothly and effortlessly.

While I was pleased with my upgraded physical condition,

“Yes, I’m funny. You’re a villain and a liar. Someday… you’ll definitely get your bad deeds returned. You idiot..!”

Oh my goodness, minion… How is it that you can’t even swear properly? ‘You idiot’…

But is it okay because she’s cute?

After Irha yelled “Bang!” I heard the sound of her slamming the door shut and walking out.

I raised a finger, made a “Shhh” gesture, then took the fellow and quietly went up to the rooftop.

The fellow lingered, following me with a considerably deflated expression.

“How about it? Wasn’t it good that you didn’t do anything bad?”

I asked the fellow with a wide grin.

The fellow nodded, bowing her head.

The sky is so blue, and the wind is cool, so why are you looking at the ground, minion?

“Why are you bowing your head when you haven’t done anything wrong?”

“Well… I don’t really know the circumstances, but anyway, you got sick after eating that strange thing I made. Even if it was for Mirha, I feel so sorry.”

Sorry, you say.

That was true in the past, but not this time.

She didn’t intentionally try to harm me, and even the quack medicine she made was absorbed into my body as an incredible elixir that continuously produced mana with extreme positive properties.

While it was my ability to properly absorb it so it didn’t become a horrible poison, gratitude is still due.

Anyway, it worked out well, as I have something to tell Irha.

“Irha, you must have realized this from this incident… Don’t get tied up with nobles, especially noble brats, through contracts or deals like this. You can’t get anything out of them in the first place. And they have nothing to give you.”

In this world, ‘evidence’ has many unfortunate aspects.

While magic has developed in many ways, there’s no magic that records conversations between people or captures visual situations.

The development of ‘replay’ magic is very slow, and at best, only recently has it become possible to briefly leave a trace of text through communication magic tools.

While one can observe real-time situations in places where surveillance magic is installed, it means it cannot be recorded as video for replay.

Magic that enables video or audio recording only barely appears five years later even in Kashmir, where magic is more developed than in Sephiroth.

In fact, it wasn’t so much that magic skills were inferior, but rather that these were types of magic that had no merit for the higher-ups to develop, and I only learned later that their development had been deliberately suppressed.

After all, when the higher-ups did bad deeds, it was better to have fewer eyes watching or ears listening, so one could assume that was the reason.

Anyway, in the case of nobles or respectable merchants like the Etgards, they always leave evidence such as contracts in written form.

The debt-credit relationship certificate written by Gracia and Etgard, the document recording Lizley’s and my engagement, and so on, are prime examples.

Of course, they always include publicly verifiable, unforgeable family seals and the like in the documents.

This is precisely why Irha had nothing to gain the moment she got entangled with Emma.

She couldn’t even think of demanding a contract with the Agnelli family’s seal from Emma.

In the first place, these brats who had barely passed adulthood couldn’t even touch the family seals used for contracts.

“I hope you truly realized that it’s best to avoid suspicious dealings, that there are quite a few shameless idiots like Emma, and that people don’t always keep their promises as they say they will.”

“Yeah… but Ras can be trusted, right? Ras is a good person, after all…”

I ruffled Irha’s naive head once, seeing her somewhat hurt expression, and corrected my words.

“Hey, you can trust me. You and I are in a minion-boss relationship, aren’t we? I’m going to work you to death, so you can trust my words. You need to live healthily to do your work well.”

“Hehe… even if you say that… Ras, your hands are so warm, it’s really nice. As much as I owe you, I’ll work very hard.”

The fellow mumbled softly, and pledged allegiance again.

I thought to myself, ‘So I’ve captured my minion’s heart once again.’

*

“Hmm..! So, an outing. For a week… Okay. The situation is unusual, so the permit is coming down from above. You’re feeling alright?”

“Yes. But I keep having this inexplicable feeling of heat, ohhh… Ahh… perhaps it’s best to go to a large hospital…”

“Alright. Have a good trip, and buy me a souvenir when you come back~ Teacher-nim likes luxury bags, you know?”

On Monday, after being discharged, I went to find Professor Tiria.

The purpose was to submit a leave of absence permit. I also didn’t forget to pretend to be very sick.

At this point, it was absolutely necessary to go out for an extended period at least once.

I needed to go to my main home, and Mirha’s treatment also needed to be done quickly.

Two weekend days were impossibly tight just for traveling back and forth, so a long leave of absence was unavoidable.

Of course, if I just said ‘I’m going out!’ at the academy, they wouldn’t simply grant permission saying ‘Alright! Go ahead!’.

But my case was a bit special now, as I was a victim of the unprecedented ‘defective potion’ incident, which gave me a justification to go out.

Regardless of Professor Bernard’s investigation into the potion bottle, seeing me, who outwardly appeared to be in poor condition, Rosalie-ssi eagerly stepped forward.

As I groaned, feigning illness, she immediately said, ‘Ras definitely needs to go to the capital for a thorough examination and treatment…!’ and then took the initiative to arrange the leave of absence herself.

‘Ras, Teacher-nim is also going on a business trip to the capital for a seminar anyway. Teacher-nim will take you, so don’t worry~’

She was truly nothing short of an angel.

Anyway, thanks to that, I received permission for the leave of absence without much difficulty, and ended up accompanying Rosalie-ssi to the capital.

After briefly reporting to Professor Tiria and stepping out of the guidance office, Irha was waiting, groaning with discomfort.

This fellow had been groaning like this ever since I told her yesterday that I would be accompanying Rosalie-ssi.

“Don’t skip meals, and eat lots of delicious things. At school, stick with Marisa, and after school, definitely stay with Professor Isera. Got it?”

“Ugh… yeah… I want to go too… A minion should follow… Tsk… Rosalie-ssi is dangerous, you know…”

I gave the grumbling fellow a light tap on the head.

“You rascal. Just listen carefully. And why is Rosalie-ssi dangerous? She’s nothing short of an angel. Keep in touch regularly with the magic tool. Got it?”

If she stays with Marisa or Professor Isera, Emma or Lizley won’t be able to bother Irha.

As for Leon, he isn’t particularly interested in Irha enough to care, so that’s fine.

“Angel..! I’m a minion and Rosalie-ssi is… I wish I was super pretty too..!”

But why does she keep getting upset with Rosalie-ssi?

Having Rosalie-ssi as the companion this time was entirely a good thing for Irha.

After treating Mirha, she’s able to immediately stabilize her condition. Rosalie-ssi is a highly skilled healer, after all.

Anyway, is she sulking because she thinks we’ll eat delicious things by ourselves? Ugh…

“I’ll be back on the weekend, so let’s go get something to eat. You’re sulking because you thought I’d only eat delicious things with Rosalie-ssi, aren’t you? You rascal, you.”

When I pinched the fellow’s cheek, it stretched out.

She’s definitely eating well, her face has brightened up.

“You’re pretty, so stop saying silly things. Anyway, I’m off~ I’ll contact you later.”

“What?! I’m pretty too..!”

I casually waved goodbye to the fellow, and as I walked, pulling my luggage, it wasn’t long before I found Rosalie-ssi.

“Hello~ Ras. Are you feeling alright? Since poisoning can cause emergency symptoms at any moment, please tell me right away if you feel any discomfort?”

“Nyuuuh…”

First, my goal was to act as sick as possible, and to make sure my pulse registered as that of a sick person.

Here comes Ras Etgard, master of faking illness!

Anyway, I staggered out of the school gate, and Rosalie-ssi, walking beside me, soon took a carriage to the station.

Trail.

This is a large, fast mode of transport powered by magic, and there is a direct Trail connecting Leone to the capital.

The fare is very expensive, making it difficult for just anyone to use, but it’s a super-luxury mode of transport with facilities that are just as splendid.

Although its speed is very fast, because Sephiroth is so large, it still takes a full day and a half on the Trail to reach the imperial capital, Sephyr.

“Shall we get on, then?”

“Nyuuuh…”

Rosalie-ssi smiled faintly, then half-carried me onto the Trail.

I was startled by how incredibly strong she was, more than she appeared, but when I remembered that Rosalie-ssi was a former battle priestess who had traveled through many battlefields, I just accepted it.

Inside the quite spacious and comfortable cabin, Rosalie-ssi and I sat facing each other.

“It’s nice to ride the Trail after a long time. Ras, tell me right away if you feel sick anywhere?”

Rosalie-ssi smiled faintly, took something out and began to study it, and soon the Trail departed.

“Chocolates, boiled eggs, sodasoda, strawberry shortcake, acorn jelly for sale~ Delicious~”

With the catchy song of the snack cart ahjussi, which I hadn’t heard in a very long time, the first day of my leave began energetically.