Chapter 30: Volume 3 - CH 2

“Sei.” I heard my name being called from outside the carriage, so I looked out the window and saw Captain-san riding a horse next to the window.

Captain-san looked ahead and said, “You can see it now.”

I stuck my head out of the window and looked toward the front of the carriage. I saw a castle standing on top of a hill, a city was laying at the bottom of the castle and had walls surrounding it.

Our destination was the capital of Klaussner.

“Wow ~.”

It was early afternoon.

The sun shone on the tiled roofs on a tilted angle from the west and illuminated the orange roofs.

The castle and walls contrasted the city, the structures had a darker hue because they were made of stone.

However, the landscape looked like Europe, the place I wanted to visit but couldn’t, so I inadvertently shouted in joy.

Wasn’t the scenery here the same as the Royal Capital’s?

Sure it was, but Klaussner had a different charm from the Royal Capital.

So I was still impressed by it……

The carriage continued moving while I was impressed with the scenery.

The group I was with exited the forest and entered an open field.

Only a little more until our destination.

We mostly headed straight for Klaussner from the Royal Capital.

Of course, we hurried here because Klaussner was in a crisis.

However, there were lots of people on this expedition and we couldn’t rush.

It took many days to reach Klaussner, so we would sometimes stay in cities that we passed on the way here.

Many things happened during that time.

Klaussner wasn’t the only place that had problems, nobles from other fiefs have also petitioned the knights for help.

Therefore, whenever I stayed in a city for the night, the feudal lord would ask me to help them out with various things.

I wanted to help them, but we were in a rush, so I refused most of their requests.

Most of the feudal lords understood me when I gave them an explanation, but some were persistent……

It was all political, and I was really troubled because I couldn’t aid them without permission.

It was extremely painful to refuse them, and it happened several times. I was extremely worn out.

Captain-san tried not to let it show on his face, but he seemed frustrated.

Halfway through our journey, he adjusted our trip so that we wouldn’t be staying in anymore fief capital cities.

We passed through the open plains while I was thinking about this and finally reached the fortress gates.

The horse carriage slowed down probably because we entered the city.

We weren’t stopped at the fortress gate because a message about us arriving had been sent earlier and we proceeded to the castle where the feudal lord lived.

The city that I briefly saw looked snugger than the Royal Capital, but I thought it had flourished a lot.

Harvesting medicinal herbs was Klaussner’s main industry and I’ve heard that the increase in demons has affected their harvest, so I thought that the atmosphere around here would be gloomy but instead, the people looked cheerful.

Was it not as serious as I thought it was?

Or were the people of Klaussner mentally strong?

I thought and we arrived at the castle entrance.  

The horse carriage stopped.

I took a deep breath to psych myself up.

I had to behave like a【Saint】from here on out.

I stayed in the carriage as I waited for the door to be opened from the outside like I was told to in the meeting.

Nobles mustn’t get out of the carriage by themselves.

I waited for a while and the carriage door opened, letting the light in.

I peeked outside of the door and saw Captain-san. He offered his hand to me as I was getting off.

I learnt this in my mannerism lectures, but I was still embarrassed since I wasn’t used to being escorted.

I couldn’t say anything because I had mixed feelings about being escorted and my face twitched.

Yup, let’s smile and play dumb.

I made sure that I wasn’t making a weird face, put my hand on his and got off the carriage.

As I looked up, I saw a lot of servants lined up at the entrance of the castle. While an elegantly dressed man stood in the middle.

He looked like he was in his late 50s.

His hair was streaked with grey hair and he was a little taller than me.

That’s Feudal Lord-sama, right?

I followed Captain-san’s lead to where that person was standing.

I stood next to Captain-san, who had stopped, and the man spoke, “Welcome. I am Daniel Klaussner, the person who governs these lands.”

Klaussner-sama bowed gracefully after his greeting and the servants behind him also bowed at the same time.

The【Saint】had a higher position than a feudal lord.

So it couldn’t be helped that he was acting like this but such gestures made me feel uncomfortable.

I’ve always been a commoner, now and in the past.

Let’s end things like this quickly.

I tried not to twitch my face as I smiled and returned his greeting, “My name is Sei Tanakashi. I will be in your care for a while.”

“I’m in charge of the 3rd Knight Order, Alberto Hawk. I’m counting on you.” Captain-san introduced himself after me and Klaussner-sama raised his head.

Then Klaussner-sama introduced the butler and head maid who also looked like they were in their 50s.

The butler was slender and tall while the head maid was shorter than me, she was a plump woman.

It appears that I should talk to these two if something happens.

I was relieved because the two looked friendly and easy to talk to.

“You must be tired from your long journey. We will guide you to your room first. We can talk about the fief situation after you’ve rested a bit.”

“Thank you for your concern.”

I was shown my room immediately after the brief greetings.

We did rest during our journey but riding on a carriage all day was tiring, so I was thankful.

I followed after the head maid, who was my guide.

My allocated room seemed to be on the upper floor.

There was no elevator, so we were walking up the stairs.

I thought about how I got used to climbing up and down stairs in this past year as we climbed the stairs.

The Royal Palace had high ceilings so they also had long stairways.

Thanks to that, I’m easily able to climb the stairs even though I used elevators in Japan.

I thought as I walked and we arrived at the room.

The head maid opened the door.

The room that the head maid guided me to was a big room with plenty of sunlight.

The colour of the furniture was calming and I could feel its age.

Were they made from walnut?

The wallpaper and curtains were emerald green and the colours inside of the room complimented each other.

The room had a great atmosphere.

“Please use this room.”

“Thank you.”

The head maid was probably busy because she left as soon as she showed me where my room was.

I immediately sat down on the sofa as soon as I saw her off.

I leaned against the backrest and lazed around.

Please forgive my poor manners.

This is my first long trip and I’m feeling pretty tired.

“Will you change into your normal clothes?”

“Yes. Will I be meeting Klaussner-sama again?”

“This is what I’ve been told.”

“Then, it’s fine if I don’t change, isn’t it?”

“You’ll be changing clothes again when you meet Klaussner-sama, so I thought you’d like to change into something more comfortable.”

“I-is that so? Then I’ll go change.”

The person who I was talking to was Marie-san, the maid who came with me from the Royal Capital.

She came with me because we might be staying here for a while.

I could manage just fine with doing things for myself.

Although, I did learn about noble society to some extent in my mannerism lectures, I still didn’t know much about it.

For example, I couldn’t remember what I should wear when I meet other people.

Therefore, Marie-san was helping me with the noble side of things.

There was also an external problem.

It was problematic for people at the Royal Palace if the 【Saint】didn’t have a single maid.

Another maid also came with me from the Royal Palace.

The other maid was sorting out my baggage while Marie-san shifted through it to get me clothes to wear.

I got off the sofa and took off my robe.

The gorgeous robe that I was wearing was the one that I received when I had my audience with the King.

I wore the same robe the court mages wore during the journey, but I changed into something more gorgeous because I was meeting Feudal Lord-sama.

It wasn’t tight fitting because it wasn’t a dress but I still got stiff shoulders from wearing it.

Hmm?

“Will I not be wearing these robes when I meet Feudal Lord-sama?”

“I will prepare another set of robes for you so please change into that. Or would you rather wear a dress?”

“No! I’ll wear a robe!”

“Understood.”

I heard that I would be changing clothes before I go to meet Klaussner-sama, so I asked thinking that I would be wearing a dress, but it seemed like Marie-san would prepare a robe for me.

I was a little upset because I nearly brought unnecessary trouble to myself.

Marie-san and the maid chuckled when I refused politely. They knew that I didn’t like tight fitting dresses.

What can I do? I’m not used to wearing dresses.

Nope, I’ve never even thought about wearing them daily.

The maid showed me another robe while I was changing into casual wear.

It was also gorgeous.

It was light blue and had colourful embroidery on it.

According to Marie-san, they had brought many other dresses with them too.

Is it alright for them to only prepare gorgeous dresses……?

“It’s alright. This isn’t much if it’s something worn by 【Saint-sama】,” The maid said, she probably guessed what I was thinking.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. This is just between us but……”

Then she dropped her voice and told me about Aira-chan.

“Aira-sama also has many dresses like this.”

“Eh?”

“His Highness Kyle often gifted her with dresses.”

Oh, the crown prince, huh.

I thought without saying it out loud and Marie-san was standing behind the maid with a scary look on her face.

“What are you saying?”

“Ahhh!”

The maid’s face fell as Marie-san called out to her and she realised that she’d messed up.

She was planning to talk to me in secret, but Marie-san could hear her.

She was scolded after this.

After I changed, I talked with the two while they sorted out my luggage and then someone knocked on the door.

Marie-san went to the door and it was the head maid from before.

She had brought tea.

“Thank you.” I gave my thanks to the head maid as she set the tea set on the table in front of the sofa and returned her cheerful smile.

“It was my pleasure. Please take your time and rest.”

Marie-san served the tea and the head maid left the room once again.

The tea that was poured into the cup was thin.

I held the tea cup and put it to my mouth, it was very distinctive.

It seemed like they prepared a fragrant herb tea for me.

As expected of a major medicinal herb production area.

I feel like I’ve drank this before in Japan. What kind of herbs did they use?

I thought and reached out to the apple that was served with my tea.

It wasn’t big like the ones I often saw in Japan, it was small.

I chewed it thoroughly and a refreshing acidity and sweet taste spread in my month.

Sweet things are good for when you’re tired, aren’t they?

Then the sky outside got darker as I spent time relaxing while talking with Marie-san and the other maid.

Huh? When am I meeting Klaussner-sama?

“Is it still not time for the meeting?”

“I haven’t heard when the meeting will be. Shall I go check?”

“Could you please?”

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

Marie-san opened it and it was the maid from this castle.

I faintly heard what Marie-san and the maid were talking about, but the thing that they were talking about was different from what I thought it would be.

I confirmed it with Marie-san, who had come back, and just like I’d thought, her errand wasn’t to fetch me for a meeting with Klaussner-sama.

“Having dinner with Klaussner-sama and his family?”

“Yes. It appears so. She didn’t say anything about a meeting.”

“I see.”

I thought that it was strange that it was different from the schedule, but he might talk about the situation over dinner.

Anyways, let’s get ready for dinner.

I thought and asked Marie-san to help me get ready.

◊♦◊♦◊♦◊

A maid from the castle showed me to the dining room.

After what happened before, we had a bit of a disagreement because I hadn’t expected a dinner invitation.

What on? The clothes of course.

I wanted to wear something different from what Marie-san and the maid had suggested.

Noble ladies usually wore dresses to dinner in this kingdom.

Therefore, Marie-san and the maid suggested that I wear a dress, but I wanted to wear the robe that we had decided on before.

The reason for this was because I was completely exhausted and didn’t want to wear a tight dress.

It wasn’t like I didn’t adore sparkly and fluttery things like dresses because I’m an unpopular woman.

The dresses that were popular in Slantania Kingdom were all too luxurious and it was a shame to wear them. Just looking at them made my heart flutter.

I liked looking at western clothing even when I was in Japan, but I didn’t think it would suit me so I didn’t wear them.

It wasn’t like I didn’t want to try them on, but it was embarrassing to try on things that wouldn’t suit me.

So, I did become a bit excited when I had to wear a dress after coming to this world.

It couldn’t be helped if an unpopular woman like me wore a dress because I had to and my embarrassment did diminish a little.

However after wearing it, I felt like my ideal was different from reality.

It was fine for me to look at dresses but wearing them for a day was harsh.

Especially when I had to wear a corset too.

It was painful to wear a corset normally so if I wore one now I would definitely collapse and I don’t think that dinner is something one should attend while their waist is being squeezed.

I’m glad I’m wearing a robe.

“Sei,” Captain-san called out to me when I got to the dining room.

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“Hawk-sama.”

Captain-san changed from his usual knight clothes.

“Is that a new robe?”

“Yes. The Royal Palace prepared it for me.”

“Did they? It suits you.”

“Huh? Ah, mm, thank you very much.”

I swayed at the bomb he’d just thrown.

Because I always look the same, I don’t have any resistance when I get complimented like that.

I somehow managed to say thank you while my face was heating up.

On the other hand, Captain-san had a charming smile on as always.

It was polite to compliment a woman’s clothes, but should I also compliment him back?

Should I say something like, “You look handsome today too.”

Nope, I can’t do it!

“Let’s go in.”

“O-okay.”

I was worried about what to do and Captain-san held his arm out.

It seemed like he wanted to escort me into the dining room.

I linked my arms with his while my heart was pounding in my chest.

The Klaussner family was already sitting in the dining room when we entered.

We were the last ones here.

Klaussner-sama greeted us when we took our seats and dinner began.

I remembered something unpleasant while we were exchanging our greetings.

I recalled the food situation in this world.

I had completely forgotten about this fact because I was used to the food at the Research Institute. The people of this kingdom thought that the taste of the raw ingredients were important.

In short, the food was tasteless.

Moreover, it was remarkable obvious in such high quality food.

Fruits were fine because they had natural acidity and sweetness but meat dishes were completely unsatisfactory.

I was extremely hungry but it was probably better to wear a dress for dinner.

It seemed that corsets can suppress hunger.

Dammit, I was regretting it and the food was brought into the room.

“This is……”

I was surprised by the food and looked Klaussner-sama; he smiled.

I looked at the food again.

The food was roast chicken; something that was often eaten in this kingdom and it was served with rosemary.

This combination was familiar to me.

The whole chicken was brought to the dining room and the butler cut it up.

A nice smell was drifting from the dish in front of me.

I brought the piece of chicken to my mouth and the taste of herbs other than rosemary spread throughout my mouth.

“Is it to your liking?”

“It’s very delicious. Is this a dish from Klaussner?”

“No. I overheard that dishes garnished with herbs were popular at the Royal Capital, so I tried to reproduce it.”

That’s probably the food I make.

But I think that a lot of herbs were used in today’s dishes.

Did the chef add their own touch to the dish?

It was a medicinal herb production area so they probably knew the flavours of the herbs well.

I could feel the greatness of Klaussner now that I’ve had this after the herbal tea.

The recipe that I taught the Research Institute chefs were also taught to the chefs at the Royal Palace.

Because of that, there were rumours going around that the Royal Palace food had recently become delicious.

The rumour was spread to nobles all around from the people who could use the Royal Palace’s dining hall.

They might have also passed the recipe around.

I’ll probably be travelling to the other fiefs too, so I probably don’t have to worry about food, right?

I hope the food in the other fiefs have improved too.

Klaussner-sama taught me various things about his fief while I was having dinner.

He didn’t tell me about the current situation of Klaussner, but he did introduce his fief to me.

Klaussner’s main industry was medicinal herb cultivation, so naturally our conversation was centred on medicinal herbs.

We talked about interesting things such as the medicinal herbs cultivated in his fief and the kinds of medicinal herbs that could be harvested around this city.

I heard the name of a medicinal herb I didn’t know about and I thoroughly questioned him about it. He taught me various things without being annoyed.

“Do you also make potions, Sei-sama?”

“Yes. I usually make them at the Medicinal Herbs Research Institute at the Royal Capital.”

“Is that so? Then, you’re also an excellent pharmacist.”

“I don’t know if I’m excellent……”

“We also have an exclusive pharmacist here at the castle.”

“You do?”

According to Klaussner-sama, the exclusive pharmacist of this castle was also the best pharmacist in this city.

This was called a sacred place for pharmacists, so I wonder how amazing this person is.

I suddenly remembered my talk with Liz. She had told me that secret recipes were passed down generations in pharmacist houses.

If that pharmacist is that amazing, then it’s highly probable that they’ll know a lot of secret potions as well.

It might be difficult for them to teach me the recipes, but I can get more details on common potions and herbs.

I thought and asked Klaussner-sama if I could meet his exclusive pharmacist and he readily agreed.

He had predicted that I would ask something like this.

We continued talking and it was decided that Klaussner-sama would introduce me to his exclusive pharmacist sometime during my stay.

Dinner came to a close with that promise.

I had a good time talking about various things.

Which reminds me, we didn’t talk about the current situation in Klaussner.

I completely forgot about it because I was so engrossed in the medicinal herb talks.

Let’s ask Klaussner-sama tomorrow, okay?

“What’s wrong?” On the way back to our rooms, Captain-san called out to me in a worried tone because I was thinking while walking.

We were sent back to our rooms after dinner so we left together.

“I just remembered that I forgot to ask him about the status of the demons here.”

“Ah. That’s fine. I’ve already heard about it from Klaussner-dono.”

“What?”

Captain-san said that he had talked to Klaussner-sama and the mercenaries that were employed here while I was lazing around in my room.

They were concerned that I was tired from my long journey since I wasn’t used to it and didn’t call me.

I’m thankful for their concern, but I feel so bad that I wasn’t able to participate in the meeting even though I’m working.

“Will we start the subjugation straight away tomorrow?”

“No, I’m thinking of doing a preliminary investigation of the surroundings for a few days. Stay on standby at the castle, Sei.”

“Okay.”

If the subjugation started tomorrow then I thought that I would need to provide support, so I asked Captain-san about it but it seemed that I wouldn’t need to.

As Captain-san said, they needed to check the terrain and what kind of demons appeared here. It was important for them to do a preliminary investigation.

If it’s fine for me to be on standby then I should go see if I could meet the exclusive pharmacist tomorrow.

Oh right.

I want to ask if I could also make potions here.

I brought some with me from the Royal Palace but it would be better if I could replenish my potions here as well.

There was a herb shortage at the Royal Capital but they might still have some here since it was a herb production area.

Let’s confirm the herb stock with Klaussner-sama.

Then, I talked to Captain-san about our schedule and returned to my room.

◊♦◊♦◊♦◊

The next morning.

I had breakfast with the Klaussner family in a smaller dining room than yesterday.

I confirmed my seat with Klaussner-sama and it was decided that I would meet the exclusive pharmacist immediately after breakfast.

Pharmacist-san worked full-time at the castle in a room called the distillation room.

The potions used at the castle were made in this distillation room.

I walked through the corridor guided by Klaussner-sama.

The distillation room was on the first floor.

Klaussner-sama knocked on the door when we arrived at our destination and it opened.

I went inside and the room had a faint smell of medicinal herbs.

There were several shelves fitted to the walls of the distillation room and the room was narrow. There were jars filled with medicinal herbs and tools for making potions on the shelves.

There was a table in the middle and there were tools laying on top of it.

There was another room at the back of the distillation room and I could see the entrance.

There were a few people in the room and they were all working.

Everyone noticed that Klaussner-sama had entered the room and nodded in greeting. Their hands never stopped working.

Klaussner-sama didn’t say anything either so this seemed to be their normal greeting.

I tilted my head as if asking where is the person I want to meet, and Klaussner-sama turned towards the back and called out, “Corinna.”

“Oh my, isn’t it the Master. Something the matter?” A white haired old lady came out of the back room while answering Klaussner-sama.

Her back was slightly slouched and she was shorter than the head maid.

Because of that, while she wasn’t fat per se, she did give off the impression of being tiny and round.

But contrary to her impression, she was hale and hearty and felt like she would be strict to those who work for her.

“This is the【Saint】from the Royal Palace, Takanashi-sama.”

“My name is Sei Takanashi.”

“How polite, I am the pharmacist of this castle, Corinna.”

It couldn’t be helped that I had mixed feelings about being introduced as the【Saint】.

My feelings showed up on my face and I smiled awkwardly.

But Corinna-san didn’t seem like she minded it and returned my greeting.

Corinna-san looked at Klaussner-sama as if she was asking him what he wanted after we finished our greetings.

“Takanashi-sama also makes potions and she said she wanted to meet you when we were talking about you, so I brought her with me.”

“Is that so?”

“Mhm, if it’s alright with you then could you please tell me about medicinal herbs and potions?”

“I don’t mind. I was just about to make today’s potions. Let’s talk while I’m making them.”

“Thank you very much!”

Fortunately, Corrina-san was just about to make some potions.

I was happy that I could watch the best pharmacist at work.

I’ll definitely be able to learn something.

Klaussner-sama left after he introduced me because he had other work to attend to.

After he left, Corinna-san took medicinal herbs from the shelf and began working.

“Are you making Intermediate HP Potions?”

“Yes, I am. You’re very knowledgeable.”

“No, I just memorised it by chance since I make a lot of Intermediate HP Potions myself.”

I concluded this from the ingredients and it looks like I was right about her making Intermediate HP Potions.

However, did I imagine it when I saw Corinna-san’s eyes flash for a moment when I said I make it a lot?

It was just my imagination.

I stared at Corinna-san but she was busy making potions.

She was very skilful.

I wouldn’t expect anything less from her.

Corinna-sama talked about the medicinal herbs she was using and about potions while she worked. Her hands never stopped moving.

She continued making potions while talking and inhaled when she finished the fifth vial.

She looked tired.

Oh right, normal pharmacists could only make 10 vials of Intermediate Potions a day, right?

I had completely forgotten this fact because it was normal for me to make heaps of potions at once.

I thought. So, isn’t Corinna-san still quite an excellent pharmacist because she could make five consecutive potions?

“Would you also like to make potions, Takanashi-sama?” Corinna-san herself asked me if I wanted to make potions while I was thinking about her.

“Is it alright?”

Is it alright for me to use the workshop when I’ve just been introduced to her?

Maybe, she’ll teach me how to make potions?

Corinna-san nodded while smiling when I asked in confirmation.

My heart filled with expectations as I wondered what she would be teaching me and I started making potions like usual.

This time, it was Corinna-san’s turn to stare at my hands.

The first vial of potions, the second vial and then the third……

I made potions one by one but Corinna-san didn’t say a thing.

Is there nothing wrong with the way I make the potions?

If she won’t say anything then I won’t either, but I got a little worried.

The sixth vial, the seventh vial, the eighth vial……

She didn’t stop me so I thought it was fine and kept on making more and more potions.

Then her face crumbled when I began making the 10th potion.

“Are you still making more?” Corinna-san said as she looked at me in amazement.

She was really surprised since she even dropped honorifics.

“Yes. I always make twice this much.” Corinna-san laughed in amazement when she heard what I had said.

“Hah. As expected of you.”

Was it better for me to stop at the 5th vial?

I laughed back troubled and she said while smiling, “No, I heard that the【Saint-sama】liked to make potions, so I thought it was just an extension of your hobby, but it’s far from it. You’re quite good at it.”

“Mhm…… Thank you very much.”

“In that case, you’ll be able to follow the conversation even if I talk about things in more detail.” Corinna-san said while smiling and my eyes sparkled.

Perhaps she’ll tell me about the secret potion?

I looked at Corinna-san with expectation and she guessed what I was thinking and dismissed it.

“Don’t be in a rush. We’re starting from the basics.”

“Yes.”

Corinna-san smiled wryly probably because she could tell that I was a bit disappointed from my expression.

“Well then Takanashi-sama, let’s start with the practical uses of Basic HP Potions.”

“Yes. By the way, could you stop calling me Takanashi-sama? Just call me Sei, because you’re the one who would be teaching me.”

“Is that fine? Then, I’ll call you that.”

It was creepy to be called Takanashi-sama now that she’s dropped all honorifics.

Likewise about honorifics too, I wanted her to talk to me normally.

She was the one teaching me after all.

I asked Corinna-san to treat me the same as everyone else and she agreed because it was easier that way. After that we talked about a lot of things.

I helped Corinna-san with potion making while she taught me about herbs and potions on the day I didn’t have to go on subjugation.

Translator: Blushy

Editor: Sam

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