"I would like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind."
Loni of Posehay opens his mouth.
"What?"
I give a blunt reply. If he can't heal Riko, there's no point in having him here. I give him a blank expression, wishing he would go home as soon as possible.
"When did this kind of pain start for you, Mr. Riccolet?"
"This morning. The slight pain itself has been there since the day before yesterday."
Roni nodded, writing something down on a piece of paper in her hand.
"Did you take any medications?"
"It looks like May mixed up some painkillers and gave them to him. Also, Fairy Dragon Fairy produced a pain-relieving scale powder and had Riko breathe it in.
What about healing magic?
I did.
High heels?
No, it's an extra heel.
"Extra heel..."
Roni is taking notes, mumbling something.
"I'm sorry, but the medicine you gave me and the... scale powder? May I see it?"
"I don't know about the medicine. May made them. Fairy can make the scales. Hey, Fairy.
"Okay!"
The faerie moves its wings to produce scales. Roni collects them carefully and observes them, crushing them with her fingers, smelling them, and licking them a little.
Yes, this is a nervous system," he says. It's probably something that numbs the sense of pain. This is not a problem."
He scribbles a note with a crunch. At that moment, May came home.
"Master, I handed you Master Rico's letter. The Dwarf King and Chief Vivar were overjoyed to receive it, but Mr. Matkal was awe-struck..." he said, bowing apologetically. What was written on it?"
"...I have a pretty good idea, but that's not where I'm at right now. Roni here wants to ask May about the medicine."
"About the medicine...?"
May went over to Loni and started to talk about something. It seemed to be a very technical talk, and we had no idea what it was about. He was going into great detail about what kind of plants he used, the proportions, the refining process, and so on.
I see, then it seems to be safe for human body. However, please do not use that medicine in the future. Also, please refrain from using healing magic.
Loni says it out loud and clear. The way he said it annoyed me.
"Hey, you, stop that nonsense!"
"Is it enough...?"
"Yeah. You've been asking me all kinds of incomprehensible questions about medicines and scale powder. Get out of here! You can't cure what's wrong with Rico, can you? I wish you could at least alleviate the pain, but you can't, can you? Then your presence will only be a distraction."
Roni straightens his back and bows.
"This was not explained well enough. Please forgive me. I was asking out of concern for your health, Mr. Ricolet. I was asking out of concern for your health. However, from what you have just told me, none of the medicines you have taken are strong, so there is no problem.
"But you said not to take May's medicine from now on!"
"Yes. Mr. Mei's medicine is to stop the movement of the affected part of the body that produces pain. That's not a good idea, so I told her to stop taking it.
"Huh? I don't get it, man. What's wrong with stopping the movement of the affected area that causes pain!"
"If you do that, you will not be able to excrete..."
Excreting?
"Palpation reveals that Mr. Ricolet has not had a bowel movement for the past ten days. The severe abdominal pain is caused by an attempt to excrete stools. Therefore, if you take May's medication, your bowels will stop the movement of excretion. That is why I told her not to take it."
"...So, the cause of Liko's abdominal pain is... constipation?"
"That's what I'm thinking."
My body suddenly relaxed, and I slumped down into a chair.
"I've done a palpation and a urinalysis to check for any other diseases, but there doesn't seem to be anything serious. In the meantime, we have given Ricolette a medicine to help her eliminate stools more slowly, and we expect that she will be able to eliminate all of her stools in a while. Perhaps then the pain will stop."
"Well ... good ... But wait, what? Rico has never been constipated before, has he? I didn't even hear you talk about it. May, Ferris, Ruara, have you guys heard anything?"
Ferris and Ruara look at each other.
"No, we have not heard from my sister Rico."
May also thought for a while,
"Yes, that's right. I've never heard of such a story either..."
All of us turned our heads. Roni looked around at us,
"Is there any indication that you have changed your lifestyle, Mr. Ricolet?"
"Yeah, I've certainly changed where I work in the last few months."
How about exercise?
"Almost never. Maybe when I'm doing housework?"
Roni opens her mouth with a nod, wiggling her long ears.
"Constipation can be prevented with a regular diet and exercise. Please wait a moment.
Then Roni took out a new piece of paper and began to write something on it.
"...Yes, it's done. Here are the ingredients for relieving constipation. I think it would be a good idea to make a meal with them.
I looked over the ingredients and found that more than half of them were unknown to me. I handed the paper to Peris and muttered in disgust.
"I'm surprised, by the way. I didn't know you could get constipated all of a sudden.
Roni looks at me strangely and nods his head.
"It's not unusual, you know. It happens all the time, you know?"
"Is that so?"
"Yes. It is not an uncommon early symptom of infertility."
"... What? What did you just say?
"Well... it's not uncommon for early signs of infertility..."
"Or, infertility? Could it be that...?
"...Huh? You didn't know about this? That's... I'm sorry. Congratulations. It is true that you are pregnant. I would have to check the details, but I believe that she is already in her second month. What I meant earlier was that since pregnancy is not a disease, we cannot cure morning sickness, constipation, or any other symptoms related to pregnancy. I apologize for the lack of explanation.
Roni bows and smiles as she explains the situation to me. I get up from my chair and head for the room where Rico is sleeping as fast as I can.
"Rico!"
Rico, who was already half awake, rolls his eyes in surprise when he sees me suddenly jump into the room.
"What is it?"
"Rico... Rico..."
I hug Riko with tears streaming down my face. And then she cried.
"Ri... Rinos. Hey, Rinos...
"Rico, thank God. I'm so glad..."
"The door is still open. I'm so embarrassed. Please don't do that..."
Rico... Rico...
"Okay, okay, please let me go. Just... let me go!"
Rico shakes my arm off with surprising force. I was so surprised that I looked at Rico's face with a crying face. Riko turns her head and looks embarrassed,
"Please let me go to the toilet... please let me go to the toilet!"
Rico jumped out of bed and ran out of the room like a rabbit.
Pitter-patter-patter...the sound of Rico running away echoes through the hallway. And then, bang! After that, Rico had been holed up in the bathroom for about an hour.
It was the next day that Likolette's pregnancy was announced to Agartha and her allies.