In The Name Of Ingrad! (16)

Was the reason her lips cracked simply because they were dry?

With that thought, I examined the condition of the maid whose lips were cracked, but it did not look like a simple condition.

“It must hurt. Does it hurt a lot?”

“I-It hurts a little.”

Judging by the way there was a slight spasm even as she was speaking now, it seemed to hurt quite a lot. So after apologizing, I examined the condition of her lips, and the cracking was certainly severe. I could also see that the skin was peeling off white, as though there was dead skin.

Moreover, the corners of her mouth looked inflamed, as though they were about to split, so I was thinking that this could not simply be described as something like chapped lips, and while I was pondering it, Pharmacy informed me of the names of the illnesses.

‘Hmm, angular cheilitis and cheilitis, is that it?’

It told me that the two illnesses had clearly different causes, so the medicine prescribed had to differ depending on the person, and it also informed me of several recipes.

Most of the time, it was true that they occurred when someone was dry or fatigued, but I carefully examined the point that picky eating and the like could also be a major problem.

‘Is it a vitamin deficiency?’

There were many cases where they occurred because certain components found in specific vegetables or fruits were lacking, so I once again had to survey the maids about foods they disliked or did not often eat, and because of that, I had to spend time once again checking their conditions.

I felt the gazes of people who found it strange that all sorts of things were happening simultaneously, but with the thought that I should use this chance to check everyone’s health and make diagnoses according to that, I put effort into it. I called in everyone I could call in, including the vassals, and began gathering data while checking one by one whether they had chronic illnesses or had recently suffered worsened health.

“Whew, this is pretty difficult too.”

A huge pile of documents had built up, and when I was already suffering from headaches because of the large amount of paperwork, I had made the work far too big.

However, it was work for everyone’s health, so I began examining them one by one.

And as an overall conclusion, I was able to identify five kinds of illness names, so I was able to spend quite a useful time, but the fact that I had been buried in documents until past midnight made a sigh come out on its own.

“The situation is quite serious.”

“I am more worried about Your Majesty’s condition. You must rest now, Your Majesty.”

Demina, who was beside me, spoke in a voice full of concern, and with my reply that I understood, I was able to end that day’s work.

And the next day, after waking up early at dawn, I went to the workshop, and as expected, the person who knew me far too well was there.

“Welcome, Your Majesty.”

“Beni, you didn’t stay up all night, did you?”

“How much work is there? How could I stay up all night?”

“True… If you did, you would collapse.”

Together with Beni, who smiled bashfully, I wrote several recipes down on documents and said,

“In general, these are various kinds of illnesses people suffer around this time. First, in cases where the lips crack, swell, or form blisters, they are illnesses that cause inflammation called angular cheilitis and cheilitis. There were cases where the lips simply cracked because they were dry, but there were quite a lot of cases where it was an illness.”

“It’s fascinating… So that is an illness too…”

Certainly, I was told that since it occurred when someone was fatigued or their body condition was not good, people had resolved it simply by sleeping well and replenishing moisture.

Because they did not know, they had endured it in a rule-of-thumb way. But now, I intended to make treatments and allow them to receive appropriate measures.

As I took out various kinds of medicinal ingredients like that, Beni asked,

“Are you thinking of making an ointment?”

“Hmm, for now, I’m going to try making an ointment in a slightly harder form so it can be applied often.”

“Often?”

Since she looked puzzled because it was unexpected, I roughly drew the medicine container I wanted on the document and said,

“It would be put into a flat container like this and applied in this form.”

It was a form where one would dab the medicine with their pinky finger and spread it nicely on their lips. It would be nice to make it in the form of a crayon, but since I did not have the ability to go that far, I intended to make it in a small form that could be easily carried.

“Even if I put it in supply kits as a standing medicine, everyone will not use it easily, so I plan to distribute it individually. Besides, even if their lips are not swollen, I intend to make it so they can always apply it as a preventive measure. And I will have to pay attention to making it with ingredients that are not harmful to the body.”

“Ugh, my head hurts.”

Beni looked disgusted. It was because there were many parts to consider. Moreover, since it had to be harmless even if eaten, the process of selecting medicinal ingredients was also complicated.

‘There are also cases where medicines mix with each other and their medicinal properties become stronger, turning them into poison instead…’

I thought finding the mixture was also work, and first, I made the medicine according to the recipe I had been given and examined what form the medicine was created in.

And while substituting the things I wanted to add in the middle of the process, or replacing things that seemed fine to remove with other items, I made various kinds of medicine. Then, when I was sitting at the table and resting, Seria, who had now risen to become the head maid, entered the workshop with two maids and breakfast.

“Is it already time to eat breakfast?”

“Your Majesty, the request that you lower your speech toward maids has already continued for several months.”

Seria had become rather strict after becoming head maid. So I grinned and said,

“They say people die if they change too easily. So let us change gradually. And it smells good. What is it?”

“Chef Riin said high-quality Haegeumcho had come in and prepared fish soup to be served only to Your Majesty. They said it was cooked spicy with chili.”

Was it maeuntang?!

At that thought, I immediately looked at the fish soup placed on the table, and while looking at it, which was full of red color just as I had expected, I told her to convey my thanks, then scooped a spoonful and put it in my mouth.

“Mm…!”

It was spicy. It was truly spicy enough that tears streamed down. And it was also a nostalgic taste. To think it was maeuntang…

It seemed I really began eating it frantically. Since it was soup, it seemed the fish bones had been intentionally cleaned and used separately only to make the broth, so there was only flesh. Eating that together with Haegeumcho and all sorts of vegetables made me able to enjoy it so deliciously that I thought it was a delicacy among delicacies.

“It really is a wonderful taste.”

I felt as though Seria was giving a slight look while watching Beni eat with me, but she did not particularly say anything.

It was probably because Beni’s position was ambiguous. By now, most of the maids were keeping their distance from having relations with me.

For some reason, I did not know the details, but from what I had heard indirectly, they seemed to feel burdened.

It was probably because there was a large difference in status between an ordinary noble or lord and a “king.” In some cases, there were those who tried to form relations even more actively, but that was how it was now.

After finishing the meal with those distracting thoughts, I gathered the medicine that had been made. Then, I distributed the medicines by type to Seria and most of the others suffering from ailments, first prescribing treatments for mouth-related illnesses. After that, I planned to prepare medicine for those who felt chronic fatigue.

“I’m full…”

Beni had overeaten, and while looking at her belly, which looked plump and rounded, I asked,

“It was delicious, right?”

“Yes! It was really a taste I had never had before, but it was amazing!”

Beni had become used to spicy food because she often encountered it while following me.

“But it would be troubling if you only ate things that were too spicy or made that your staple food.”

“Why?”

“There are cases where the body cannot endure it well. Problems could occur in the stomach or intestines. Commonly put, you could get sick.”

“When that happens, Your Majesty will fix me!”

In any case, I thought she was unusual. Like that, I went to the workshop and began combining various medicinal ingredients. That was because I already had various kinds of prototypes regarding nutritional supplements.

They were things whose experiments had already roughly been adjusted, and I intended to add a few more components to them and distribute them as “supplies.”

After spending quite a long time writing down each recipe and putting effort into manufacture, I made quite a variety of nutritional supplements, handed one to Beni as well, and said,

“It is a fatigue recovery supplement. It does not have a dramatic effect like a fatigue recovery medicine, and it is a nutritional supplement that helps your body regain vitality over the long term, so you have to steadily take one pill a day for a long period to see a large effect. Understood?”

“Thank you!”

Beni expressed her gratitude with a bright look, and after I made various kinds of nutritional supplements by type, such as for cases where someone had to sit in one place for a long time like Matilda, or cases where the muscles were fatigued from being used for a long time, I handed the written recipes to Beni.

“Deliver these to Matilda. Tell her to prepare the quantities written there and make them available for sale.”

“Are you thinking of selling them separately?”

“If possible, I want all the people to have access to them. And these are not nutritional supplements that use expensive medicinal ingredients. They are medicines deliberately mixed using medicinal ingredients that are easy to obtain.”

With a reply that she understood, Beni ran out carrying the documents, and after watching Beni leave, I sat down and let out deep sighs.

“It’s tiring. As expected, making something new is a little difficult…”

It was a moment where I grumbled after a long time.

Ulde scratched his head with complicated thoughts while looking at the blocks that had arrived on the battlefield together with the troops.

That was because he had no talent for making things.

So he looked troubled, but just then, he thought of Linda, whom he was protecting, and Ulde moved his steps toward her.

The whale beastkin had been proceeding with the schedule together with the Relief Group after annihilating the Demonic Tribe and disbanding the mercenaries.

Because all of them had incredible strength and handled hard work easily without difficulty, the existing members of the Relief Group had begun to like the whale beastkin very much, but because of their role, the situation was one where they had not been allowed to become too deeply involved.

Because of that, Ulde had been acting while keeping a certain distance from Linda, but now, he thought it was not the time to worry about such circumstances and went to find Linda.

“Is Linda there?”

Ulde stood in front of the Relief Group tent and asked. Because of his size, it was difficult for him to enter the tent, so he called from outside.

“Yes, I’ll be right out!”

Linda answered in a bright voice and came outside with Bella, and when she sensed that Ulde’s expression was not good, Linda immediately asked the reason.

“Has something happened?”

“Hmm… It is nothing else. I came because I wanted to ask for advice about those blocks.”

“So they are called blocks? I thought they were fascinating objects.”

“Mm, mm, I thought the same. But I am having trouble because of those things.”

“You came to ask for help, then?”

Ulde nodded, saying that was so, and when he explained the circumstances of why he had come here, Linda called the official who had brought the blocks and began receiving an explanation.

“…And so, they say you can assemble them in this form. I will leave a small model, so… I think you can try producing it according to that.”

The mid-level official handed over one large box, and when they looked inside it, it was filled with blocks slightly larger than a single finger.

“Sir Ulde, shall we make it together?”

Linda smiled softly as she said that, and Ulde shook his head with a horrified face at that, but in the end, he was caught by Linda’s hand, and Ulde also had no choice but to join in assembling the blocks.

After that, Linda, Bella, and Ulde, the three of them, put their heads together and became engrossed in block play(?).