bookworm

“Huhhh?!”The crowd’s voices rose in confusion, unsure of what she meant.“In other words, I’m asking you all to lend this man your money. Whosoever lends him a coin now shall receive it back double with interest as soon as he can go back to the estate to retrieve it. Double your money, just like that!”“All right!!!!” the crowd roared.“And also!” Pauline continued. “If the young mistress should recover thanks to your help in obtaining this medicine! Then! All those who made a contribution will be invited to the party to celebrate her good health! You’ll be invited to the baron’s mansion as a benefactor and perhaps even have the chance to shake the young mistress’s hand in thanks! For we common folk, this is the dream of a lifetime!“This is an honor you’ll be able to remember for the rest of your lives! We’ll be accepting contributions until we’ve collected ten gold pieces—first come, first served! Please, everyone! Lend us your money! Whatever you can give!”“Yeaaaaaaaahhhh!!!”There was a mad rush.Pauline’s face twitched. The response was far greater than even she anticipated. Reina and Mavis rushed to Pauline’s side, to keep her from being swallowed up in the tidal wave of bodies.And Mile muttered, dumbfounded,“A m-money bomb…”***And so, it was settled.This was a city of commerce, so there were many other shop owners among the spectators. Naturally, every shop owner around kept one or two extra gold pieces on their person at all times, separate from their coin purse, just in case of an emergency—an emergency like that merchant’s orichalcum coin.Thus, the ten gold pieces were collected in short order.Even if this proved insufficient, it was obvious that they could collect plenty more if necessary. Already there was no way for the merchant to win.“28 gold pieces!”The butler made a scant one coin increase to the bid, but anyone could see that the match was already over. Continuing the fight any longer was futile.“I fold.”Just as the owner of a large business should, the merchant dutifully recognized his defeat and gave up the fight.“You really got me there. I am completely defeated. Well done, well done…” he said with a smile, gathering up all the coins that he had piled on the table. “I look forward to next time!”The Crimson Vow and the butler stared agog as the merchant left in unexpectedly good spirits.“He’s up to something. We should be careful…” Reina said, glaring at the merchant’s retreating form from behind.“No need,” came a voice from the nearby crowd.“Huh?”Reina looked suspicious, but the man who had spoken explained, “That guy likes to put on a show, but he really is a good person when you get down to it.”“Wh-what are you talking about?!” Reina shouted in confusion, having never heard of oxymorons such as “a mini monster truck,” or “an honest liar.”“What I mean is that he likes to push the limits of what’s allowed within the rules of business, but he never does anything truly unreasonable to actually cross that line. Even his crude way of speaking is just to teach his opponents a lesson or to have a bit of fun himself. Even if he’d won that auction, he probably would have just sold the medicine to the butler for a few gold more. The whole auction was probably mostly for the sake of giving the apothecary a larger profit. That, and…” he trailed off as he looked toward the owner of the medicine shop. “Anyway, it seems like he had a lot of fun this morning, so I don’t think he has any animosity toward you. On the contrary, he seems to have taken a liking to you all. He might even come to your aid sometime. Man, am I jealous!”The man laughed. Some of the other mercantile folk in the crowd laughed along with him, as if they were in the know as well.The Crimson Vow and the butler were stunned.“Wha…?”“B-but then why would you all help us out with that loan?” Pauline asked. “If you all already knew that, then even if you hadn’t bothered…”Another man who had contributed to the loan piped up.“That’s because we’re merchants. Did you really think we were gonna pass up the chance to instantly double our money? Plus…”“We wanna shake a young noble maiden’s hand and hear her thank us!!!” they all shouted.The Crimson Vow and the butler all slumped their shoulders in disappointment.Pauline, however, was quick to recover. There was still something that she had to do.“Mister Apothecary, what do you intend to do with all that gold?”“Uh…”The shopkeeper, who had been gazing at the mountain of gold that the butler had piled upon the table, looked blankly at Pauline.What did she care? Whatever he planned on doing with it, it was his money, won fairly at auction.“Imagine a shop that, despite having made a prior agreement with a noble family, failed to refuse someone who tried to snipe their goods and forced them to compete for much needed-medicine, causing them to pay almost six times the original asking price for said goods. If such a precedent were set under the watchful eyes of an entire crowd, do you think that anyone would continue to place orders at that shop from that day forward?”“Um…”The owner was speechless. He finally seemed to realize what it was that he had done.Merchants who dealt in goods where the competition was high, such as clothing and foodstuffs, had experience and knew their markets, and there were some sly devils among them. However, for an apothecary, as long as you were knowledgeable and had a knack for putting out well-made goods, it didn’t matter if your personality was a little rough around the edges. It wasn’t the sort of sector where you had to scramble for customers or even talk very much.This is precisely the kind of shopkeeper this apothecary was… In other words, as merchants went, he was a little estranged from the intricacies of human nature.“N-no, I… That wasn’t what I…”“Whether or not you intended to do it, that doesn’t change the facts. Plus, it’s not even as if you didn’t know or that this happened by accident. You allowed the intervention and the competition while fully understanding the circumstances. So there is no arguing with the fact that you are the sort of person who would do such a thing, and that this shop is the sort of place that allows those sorts of practices, with no regard for anything except for turning a profit. I want you to take a nice long moment to think about what you’ve lost, all for the sake of earning twenty-odd gold coins.”Truthfully, the spectators probably would have given him some leeway, understanding that his failure to refuse the merchant came from a place of fear. But now that that merchant was gone, leaving everyone with only the reality that the shop owner was willing to take 23 gold coins beyond the original price of his goods, the spectators, merchant and consumer alike, were uncertain that such a thing was just.“………”Cold stares from the crowd all focused upon the owner.When he considered his shop’s lost reputation and customer base, 23 gold pieces was as good as dirt.The owner’s face went pale, and sweat dripped down his brow.The reason that the man who’d been explaining the merchant’s nature to Reina earlier had trailed off was probably because he anticipated this. The merchant had not only been having a bit of fun—he was testing the shop owner as well…“Wh-what are you saying there? I did not want to come on too strong because angering the leaders of the Merchants’ Guild would be very bad for my business’s longevity, but naturally my intention was to give the medicine over to the butler no matter what. The auction was just for the sake of holding a bit of a competition, you see! The sales price of the goods was settled from the beginning. Come now, that’s reasonable, isn’t it?!”The weak-willed merchant had suddenly become overly formal. This was understandable, of course; if he made the wrong move now, his business would be ruined for certain.“Oh, is that so? My goodness! Pardon me, then, for throwing such accusations…”“No no, it’s no bother. Hahaha…”“Ahahaha…”“Ahahahahahahaha!”It was a refreshing little farce. Blessedly, everyone around, the onlookers included, were kind of enough to realize that the shop owner was not a bad person at all and ignored the awkwardness, with winces all around.***“I truly must thank you all for this. Despite what that man and the shop owner said, I’m not sure how things would have turned out had you not been here. When it seemed the worst was at hand, you helped me safely obtain the medicine without even sullying the Baron’s name…”After packing all but the initially promised five gold pieces back into his bag, the butler extended his thanks to the Crimson Vow with yet another deeply humble, 45-degree bow. As far as the butler was concerned, the Crimson Vow were as good as gods in the form of young women, or the spirits of legend incarnate.“Don’t mention it. We only butted in on a lark in the first place. Now, Mister Butler, I’m sure you’ll be wanting to get that back to your mansion as quickly as…”Hearing Pauline address him thus, the butler suddenly realized that he had yet to give his name.“Ah, I still have yet to properly introduce myself! And to my benefactors no less, how rude of me… My name is Bundine! I am the butler of the house of Baron Aura.”“Oh! My name is Pauline. I’m with the C-rank hunting party, the Crimson Vow.”“And I’m Mavis, likewise.”“Reina here.”“And I’m Minami Haruo… Wait, I mean, Mile!”Seeing the exhaustion on Reina’s face, Mile quickly corrected herself.However, a singular thought was running rampant through Mile’s head:O-oh my God, it’s the Aura Butler, Bundine!!!***“We would formally like to invite you, as most honored guests, to the Aura family’s capital residence,” said Bundine to the Crimson Vow, after preparing a message to the residence for the purpose of repaying those who had lent their money to his cause.“You sure that’s all right? I’m not really good with nobles,” said Reina.“Huh?”The other three were bewildered. Hearing their confusion, a realization suddenly spread across Reina’s face. Now that she thought about it, among their party were individuals from the lines of viscounts and counts, which were even more highly ranked than a baron. In the case of the viscount, not only did their number include his daughter, but at this juncture, the viscountess herself.“Oh, uh, never mind…”One out of every two members of the Crimson Vow was noble. Among hunters, parties with such a percentage were exceptionally rare.“We will humbly accept your invitation!” Mile replied.“What?”The other three were momentarily stunned at hearing such a quick acceptance from Mile, who they had assumed would want nothing to do with any other nobles. However, since Mile wished it, they all readily agreed.No matter how low-ranking a baron might be, if the steward of a noble household was going to go out on an errand for his master, he certainly was not going to do so on foot. No matter how walkable the distance may have been, it wasn’t seemly. And so, though it was not as nice as the one that would have been used for the members of the baron’s family themselves, a carriage carried Bundine, with the Crimson Vow in tow, toward the capital residence of the house of Baron Aura.Though Bundine had ridden in the passenger’s box on his way out, he allowed the Crimson Vow to take the seats on the return journey, while he himself rode up beside the driver. There was plenty of space for him back in the passenger seats, but he probably felt it improper to ride alongside his guests. He could have had no way of guessing that half of them were nobles, from households that were more highly ranked than his own, so the decision probably just showed a bit of courtesy on his part, as he assumed the girls would be more comfortable riding along with just their companions. “Okay, so what are you after?” Reina asked.There was no way that Mile would have wanted to do something as bothersome as visiting the household of a noble without reason. Indeed, her reply was direct and immediate, with no attempt at all being made to mask the truth.“I wanted to learn more about the daughter’s illness… Since those herbs were mostly raw medicinal ones, I’m sure that they would strengthen anyone’s constitution, but they aren’t some sort of magical panacea that would cure any illness in a single swig. Also, I was thinking that the illness might be something that they’ve already found a treatment for back in my country…”“All right. I thought it might be something like that.”Mavis and Pauline nodded as well.“Don’t tell me, Miley. Have you got some magical treatment…?”“Mm, well, that depends on the illness. Since if we messed something like this up, we could be hung as murderers.”Indeed, unlike with injuries, applying healing magic to a sick person, if done poorly, could cause their status to deteriorate even more rapidly, urging the patient on to their death. This was another reason why magic was rarely used for illnesses.Plus, fevers and coughs were necessary responses to one’s body trying to combat an illness. If a fever began to approach 40 degrees Celsius, it was important to lower it to protect the brain and reproductive functions, except in the case of serious illness, when it was generally better to try and leave the symptoms alone.Because Mile had taught her some of the fundamentals of basic medical knowledge, Pauline knew that it was possible to treat illness with magic to some degree, if you were careful about how you used it. However, this still was not something you could embark upon carelessly when it involved other people, particularly not a noble. Even if your spell did show some results, if you failed and the patient did not heal entirely, the mage could end up shouldering the blame for it.“Anyway, I was just thinking I’d look in and see how things were…” Mile said, grinning sheepishly. “Oh right, Pauline—that reminds me. Why did you bother with all that, with the crowd? If you needed ten gold pieces, we could have just lent him that amount…”“What? No, we couldn’t have done that,” she swiftly replied. “If we just gave him money out of pity, that’s not a negotiation—that isn’t business. In times like that, you have to keep fighting, in a proper negotiation, to maintain the norms of proper commerce. Besides…”“Besides?”“If he up and ran with the money, that’d be a huge loss. You never lend money to family or friends, much less total strangers! No matter what circumstances they might have going on!”Wah…In the end, Pauline was, after all, still Pauline.“Come in. Please wait here a few moments.”After leading them into the parlor and serving them tea and sweets, Bundine vanished from the room. Naturally, he needed to explain the situation to his master and persuade the man to come and see them.“This is so good…” Reina mumbled through a hurried mouthful of sweets, slurping down tea.“These are really good…” Pauline agreed.For Mavis, who had grown up the beloved daughter of an affluent count, and Mile, who had eaten many delicious things in both her previous life and in this one before her mother had died, such treats were standard fare. However, for Reina, a peddler’s daughter, and Pauline, whose merchant father had detested luxury in spite of his financial success, the cuisine before them was the height of class.“They gave us all this food—it’d be rude to waste any.”Reina’s words were highly reasonable, but it was clear that she was attempting to take more than a quarter of what was on the table for herself.“Hey, wait a minute!”Mile leapt to protect her own portion. No matter how much delicious food she had eaten in the past, she had become somewhat estranged from tasty treats these past few years. Plus, Mile had a very quick metabolism and had already started to grow hungry. Though she was typically kind and giving to all people, this was the one area where she would not yield what was hers, particularly not to Reina.“Hang on, now. I was about to…”“What are you talking about? This one is mine…”“You’ve already eaten more than a quarter of it, Reina!”“Grrrrrrrrrngh…”With Pauline jumping into the fray, the atmosphere now grew dangerous.“Um, pardon me, but I can bring some more in, if you desire…”“Huh?”Mile and Reina turned to see a maid standing in the room, a troubled look upon her face. Naturally, no veteran butler would leave his honored guests unattended for so long. He had directed a maid to remain with them.“Please forgive us. I-If you would…” Pauline, who had thought that her portion was going to end up wholly depleted, requested bashfully. Reina’s cheeks began to redden as well.“Please, you guys,” said Mavis, “Try not to embarrass us. I’m begging you…”Apparently, as the daughter of a noble, she could not bear to witness such shameful behavior.Yet Mile, another noble’s daughter—or rather, at this point, a titled noble herself—appeared to have no such qualms.“I’m so sorry to keep you. Baron Aura wishes most sincerely to meet with you young ladies and extend his gratitude…”Once the Crimson Vow had finished up their second round of sweets, Bundine finally reappeared to lead them to a separate room.“Kindest regards and thank you for making the journey. I am Harval von Aura, head of the House of Aura. I must thank you most profoundly for your assistance. With your help, we were able to secure the medicine that my daughter, Leatoria, most desperately needs, and you saved our household from having shame brought upon it by the likes of a merchant. Instead, I should say, besting a greedy merchant has in fact brought honor upon the Aura family name. Please, I would like you all to join us for a luncheon as my thanks.”“Gladly!!!” replied the members of the Crimson Vow—all save for Mavis, who was grimacing.For Reina and Pauline, getting to eat the same food as nobles was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the sort of thing that one normally only dreamed of… Well, there had been the time after the so-called “bandits incident,” when they had eaten at the lord’s manor, but that was not the food of nobles so much as it was a banquet prepared for commoners, so it didn’t count.As for Mile, though she had enjoyed plenty of truly upscale cuisine, those delicacies were now just memories left over from her time as Adele. She had yet to taste such a thing in her current life as Misato—er, Mile.And so, for all of them except Mavis, who had had plenty of years to grow weary of such food—and who, furthermore, as a knight, found virtue in a more abstemious life—this was an experience not to be passed up.“Oh, yes, of course. Please don’t think that we intend to reward you with nothing more than a meal for all that you’ve done. Such appalling behavior would be a shame on the Aura name. Please rest assured that you will receive a more proper reward as well,” the baron said.This time, the reaction from the Vow was a dull one.Seeing how his guests were relatively unmoved by the promise of rewards, despite being so eager to enjoy the family’s delicious food, the baron’s smile deepened.“In that case, could we ask you to call this a personal request, post-completion?” Mavis asked the baron in place of the other three, whose heads were too filled with thoughts of lunch to react in a timely manner.“Ah, certainly! If you desire…”“Then please, that is what we would like.”A direct, personal request from a noble. Even if it were labeled as such only retroactively, that would give them a great number of points toward their promotion. Processing it through the guild meant that they would have to pay a commission, but to the Crimson Vow, who were not hurting for living expenses and who valued reputation more than wealth, this was no issue. (That is, save for Pauline, who most certainly valued wealth over reputation.)The baron knew all about the Hunters’ Guild. Thus, all it took was Mavis’s request for the baron to grasp that despite being a party of young, female hunters, the Crimson Vow were not wanting for money and would be aiming for a promotion soon.“Well then, let us discuss it at lunch. My family will be joining us as well. If they found out that I had kept the chance to hear of the exploits of a group of young lady hunters all to myself, I would never hear the end of it! Now then, Bundine, I’m counting on you to tend to them until then.”With that, Baron Aura left the room.“He was incredibly polite toward us common folk, wasn’t he?” said Mile.“Yeah,” Mavis agreed with a nod, “He seems like a good person.”Reina and Pauline felt the same way.From then until lunch, they passed the time with Bundine, hearing tales of the House of Aura.***Because the Vow had left the inn fairly late to begin with, it was not long until the lunch hour was upon them. When the maid came to give word that the dining room had been prepared, Bundine, who had been keeping the Vow company, led them to the table. Though they had gobbled down not one but two helpings of sweets, the girls were all famished.Upon entering the dining room, they found the baron, his wife, a young man and woman of around seventeen or eighteen, and a girl of around fifteen already seated. All of the baron’s family, or at the very least, their three children, all looked incredibly healthy. There was no sign of a sick young maiden anywhere.“Thank you most kindly for having us here today.”As they entered the room, Mavis gave a noble’s greeting. As she was in breeches currently, she gave not a curtsy but a nobleman’s bow. She was not yet a knight, so she could not greet them as a knight would.Mile, however, did give a curtsy. In truth, the motion was originally nothing more than an incidental one, intended to protect one’s dress from touching the ground while executing the true intention: to lower one’s body. As Mile was not wearing a full-length skirt, the action was unnecessary. However, as was habit from her time as Adele, she plucked at her skirt as she bowed… Anyway, it was cute enough that surely no one minded—so long as she didn’t show too much leg.Reina and Pauline, meanwhile, only bowed their heads normally, as commoners might.Seeing this, the family looked rather shocked.A commoner should not be greeting a noble as nobles did. Such behavior was, in fact, highly offensive. Greeting the family in the manner normal to commoners, as Reina and Pauline had done, was what was expected. Yet, here were two who had greeted them in the manner of nobles, in natural, practiced form no less.What could possibly be the meaning of this?Of course, there was no shortage of former nobles among the hunters or even current nobles who were enjoying a bit of freedom until they had to succeed their parents. There were still others who joined a party for self-improvement. Plus, it was not unheard of for second sons and other younger brothers, who had no chance of succession and didn’t have the constitution for a difficult job like municipal clerk or knight, to take up life as a hunter… However, this was somewhat more unusual for girls.Still, though they were shocked and a little concerned, the baron knew better than to press into a hunter’s personal history, so the family’s questions went unasked.The baron concealed his shock and bade them to sit. “Y-yes, welcome. I thank you most humbly for your efforts in aiding my daughter, Leatoria, and for saving the House of Aura from the disgrace of being belittled by a lowly merchant. Please, take your seats and enjoy the meal.”In another surprise, though they remained seated, the baron’s wife and children all bowed their heads to the girls as they took their seats.Even if their family was a lower ranking one, and even if they were rather fond of someone who did not happen to be in their employ, it would normally be unthinkable for such a family to bow their heads to commoners. Perhaps this was because the girl called Leatoria was so greatly adored by her family?Of course, it was equally likely that this was because the family was now certain that Mavis and Mile were nobles as well…The food was top-notch.Even if they were nobles, a baron’s household could not possibly have enough food to feast like this every day. They weren’t royals or even highly ranked nobles, after all. Plus, if they were to eat such rich food in such quantities on a daily basis, they would grow plump and unable to serve as soldiers in a time of war, and they would not live very long.Today, however, though they had not had the time to shop for new foodstuffs, the chef had clearly pulled freely from the ingredients in their stores. A great deal of food had been laid out before them. Reina and Pauline, even while trying to be hyper-aware of themselves and their manners, gobbled it down. Mile, minding the manners instilled in her previous life, as well as those she had learned from her mother in this life before she passed away, ate her meal silently—albeit with abnormal speed.“Ha ha…”Mavis alone ate her meal at a normal pace and with normal, noble manners, while sharing conversation with the Aura family.“Oh! So you have three elder brothers, Lady Mavis, but no sisters?”“Ah, yes. That’s correct.”While the other three continued to eat in a trance-like state, the baron gathered what information he could from Mavis, the easiest target. Of course, Mile was paying attention even while she inhaled her food, but she kept out of the conversation. There was really no reason to conceal this sort of information, and as long as they did not reveal their names or their countries of origin, it didn’t really matter who knew that she and Mavis came from noble households. Naturally, they would not let such information slip around lowlifes—or even other hunters—but other nobles, especially those who were indebted to them already, would be very unlikely to try any funny business with nobles from another country. If they didn’t want their rank and status to be known, Mavis and Mile wouldn’t have greeted the family as nobles in the first place.In fact, there was a particular reason why Mavis and Mile had not attempted to hide their noble status. They had come to examine the condition of young Leatoria, who was taken with illness; depending on what they found, Mile might like to intervene, and for that she needed the baron to trust her.What head of a noble household would entrust his precious daughter to the hands of a commoner whom he had only just met that morning, after all?After eating their fill, the other three, finally feeling more personable, joined in the conversation with the baron.Mavis had already told the family the gist of what they had experienced since arriving in this country, so after dramatizing a few episodes from their lives as young hunters, with jokes that would tickle a young noblewoman, Mile told the baron about the recent trends regarding the elder dragons as thanks for their meal. Word would be spreading soon from the guild and the palace, after all. Naturally, she played it off as but a rumor, not divulging that they had been party to the incident themselves.At a lull in the conversation, the baron began to press Mile on her background, getting her to reveal that she was an only child.Then, finally, they came to the matter at hand.“So, about your daughter, the one who needs that medicine…” Mile began.“Ah, Leatoria takes her meals in bed, back in her room. We would hate to make her eat all alone, so our meals come at a slightly different time from hers, and we join her to dine on tea and sweets while she eats. Leatoria eats different meals from us, and she eats little, so it wouldn’t do for us to have a full meal there when we get together, of course…”The baron’s gaze drifted downward and his demeanor shifted, his face clouded with a father’s anguish.Seeming almost thoughtless, Mile asked, “Might we join you for that, perhaps?”“What?”The whole family was stunned. Bundine, who had been standing quietly by the whole time, cleared his throat. Bundine was a veteran butler and not the sort of man to do such a thing without reason. As the baron glanced Bundine’s way, the butler gave a big nod.This was Bundine’s way of saying, Honor her request. The baron, having understood this, decided to have faith in his butler.“Very well. Perhaps if someone from a foreign land sees Leatoria’s condition, they might be able to spot something that we haven’t. Please, do accompany us.”An hour later, nine people—the Crimson Vow and the whole Aura family—were assembled in the room of Leatoria, the youngest daughter of the Aura household.Sitting up in the bed, only her top half visible, was Leatoria, a slight, ephemeral beauty of thirteen or fourteen.Because it was common for nobles to wish to make partners of only the most beautiful people—by marrying attractive commoners and making them the adopted daughters of noble households, and even bringing the children of mistresses into their line of inheritance—naturally there were many beautiful people among noble households. Indeed, they were an elite breed.A meager spread was set out before the bedridden girl. Even that small amount was more that Leatoria could possibly eat. Plus, she had already consumed a cupful of the prepared medicine that day, so much of the food was fated to remain on the plate. Placed before the others were baked goods and a teapot with cups of black tea.Bundine had already told Leatoria about the Crimson Vow ahead of time.“Thank you for all that you have done for me,” she said to the girls.Pauline shook her head and hand, indicating that it was no big deal, and told her the amusing tale of the exchange with the merchant. As she never left the residence, Leatoria never spoke to anyone other than her family and servants, and she was often bored. Hearing her laugh for the first time in ages, her family smiled in relief.I’m so glad I listened to Bundine… the baron thought, but this was perhaps premature.“Baron,” said Mile, “I have a request. Might we break rank for a moment?”“Break rank? Why, whatever do you mean?” The baron tilted his head in confusion.Breaking rank. The phrase itself implied something broken, such as trust or respect, but naturally that was not what it actually meant.Breaking rank referred to what happened after gatherings where people were bound by etiquette, indebted to certain rules and manners by the standing of those in attendance. Breaking rank was when people said, “Let’s put aside our differences in status for a while and all just let our hair down.” In other words, it did not mean, “We no longer respect one another,” but rather, “Let’s just have fun without worrying about rank and rules.”Of course, at times in modern day Japan, you would have, say, some new employee who overdid this a bit and got into a fight with their boss or decided to dab the division manager’s bald head—but in such cases, one reaped what one sowed.As this was not a party, perhaps “breaking rank” was not the correct phrase, but Mile could think of no other term for it. Of course, the baron—and the rest of the people of this world—had never heard such a term, so even that had no meaning, here or otherwise…Finally, Mile awkwardly explained herself as simply as she could. “I mean, please forgive us if we do anything rude.” It was not the same as the Japanese meaning at all, but the baron cheerfully agreed.And then, Mile sprang into action.“May I taste that food there?” asked Mile, pointing to the plate set before Leatoria, which, due to her slow eating, was mostly still full.“Huh…? Oh, u-um, sure, go right ahead!” The girl was perplexed for a moment but swiftly agreed.“M-Mile! I know that you’re greedy, but this is too far even for you! What are you thinking, snatching food from a sick person?!”“I-I-I-It’s not like thaaat!!!” Mile roared in response in Reina’s absurd accusation, her face turning red. “It’s important to confirm what’s in someone’s food when investigating an illness! That’s the very first step!”“Huh? I-Is that true?”Judging by Mile’s rage, Reina determined that she must be telling the truth and backed down.“Jeez, honestly… Anyway, please let me taste a bit of that,” Mile said as she stood from her seat, approaching Leatoria’s bed. “Um, now this is beef, right? Just plain meat, boiled, not grilled, the juices discarded, and… Here’s an egg, and here’s some mushroom. There’s vegetables cooked in, too… And, what you’re drinking with this meal is watered down wine, and milk afterward? Hm…”Mile tasted each part a bit at a time and then thought.“Miss Leatoria, do you have any food preferences?”The baron, from behind Mile, was the one to answer.“Preferences aside, this is generally what we serve her. Leatoria can’t eat very much, so if she filled herself on bread and such, then she wouldn’t be able to eat other things. We figured it’s best to put aside other staples like grains and serve her meat, eggs, vegetables, mushrooms, and milk, so that she gets a balanced meal. Also, the water quality around here isn’t very good, so we serve her wine diluted with water to accompany the meal. Wine is good for blood circulation, after all. And of course, we have her drink milk as well. Is there anything wrong with that?”“Hm…” After thinking for a while, Mile finally said, “Well, at least we can be sure there’s no poison in it.”“Well, obviously!!!” the whole Aura family roared.They seemed a bit hurt that anyone should have any doubt in their management of their servants and the affairs of their estate.“This is why I warned you I would be breaking rank…” Mile muttered, but at least now that that preliminary investigation was complete, she could return to her original duty.This duty was, of course, to entertain Leatoria with tales of fascinating things that had happened during their lives as hunters while the girl slowly finished her food. No one had asked Mile to do so, but there were few people who understood the loneliness of being shut away, with no one to talk to except your own family, better than she did.When Mile got caught up in the moment—seeing how Leatoria, so starved for entertainment, was eating up her stories—and broke into her Japanese Folktales, the food that was in Leatoria’s mouth went flying in a splendid display, but that could not be helped.When Leatoria finally finished eating and everyone stood to leave the room, Mile said, “I would like to examine Miss Leatoria a bit more, so I’m going to stay behind. Oh, I’m sure that sounds worrisome, so if your wife or one of your daughters would like to stay with us…”In for a penny, in for a pound, the Earth saying went. There were similar idioms in the language of this land.“I’ll leave you to it then. Wilomia, if you would…?”Leatoria’s older sister, Wilomia, a girl of fifteen or sixteen, nodded and retook her seat. The other three members of the Crimson Vow departed as well, leaving only Mile, Wilomia, and Leatoria alone in the room.“Now then, please strip.”“Whaaaaaat?!?!”The two sisters screamed, shocked at the sudden request.“What’s going on?!” the baron shouted, flinging the door back open at the commotion.“Nothing’s going on, sir! And also, please consider that conducting a medical examination might mean that Leatoria could need to open her nightgown. Even if she’s your daughter, rushing into her room without knocking is incredibly rude!” Mile raged.“Oh, s-sorry…”The baron apologized sheepishly and retreated from the room.“Now, anyway, I didn’t mean anything weird! So, if you would…”“Forgive us.” The sisters sincerely apologized for their shocked reactions.“Now then, let’s continue. I need to check your body for any swelling or discoloration. Please don’t think I have any strange intentions…” said Mile.Leatoria unbuttoned her gown, and Mile examined her closely.Mile, of course, did not have the same level of knowledge as a medical professional. She knew only as much as the average high school student—or perhaps a little more because of her fondness for reading. Despite all that, she was still practically a layman. However, with at least as much knowledge as the average Japanese person, she still might be able to determine something. There was nothing to lose here by trying. And so, Mile asked Leatoria a number of questions as she carried on her mock exam.