Saving Labor Turns Everything To Shit (6)

Until we ran the experiment, the two of them hadn’t believed it.

An amusing point was that we called over one member of the Sain tribe and had him undergo a full transformation—the beastkin transformation—and it looked cool.

Ah—no, not like that. First, while we circled around the transformed Sain tribesman to prove there was no danger, I took out the prepared drug and, heart pounding, put it into the mouth of the lion-shaped Sain tribesman.

“If you take this, you won’t be able to use mana for three days. Since transformation obviously requires mana, it should wear off, right?”

As everyone watched the Sain tribesman with tense faces after my explanation, the drug seemed to take effect a moment later; with a rough roar, he reverted to an ordinary beastkin form, and everyone looked at me in amazement.

Even the Sain tribesman who took the drug stared at me, eyes like a startled rabbit.

“Well then, the drug’s effect has been proven, and you’ve also confirmed that the Sain tribe follows my words. That ends the worry, yes?”

Princess Riana slowly nodded. She still wore an expression of disbelief, but once she gathered herself, she spoke to me.

“Viscount Ingrad, you have worked a miracle once again…?”

I didn’t think that was a good sign. Worried that talk of “miracles” would make the Sain tribe blurt out “messenger of the goddess” by mistake, I hurriedly sent them off and then told the princess:

“It wasn’t like that. I just took a hint from the idea of suppressing mana.”

“No one else ever grasped that hint; we’ve written a bloody history for ages because of it… Please don’t belittle your own achievement.”

It was only awkward. I couldn’t tell whether the continent’s so-called pharmacists had been so incompetent that they praised everything I touched to the skies.

‘By the way… what happened to the Pharmacists’ Guild?’

Just as I was thinking that—

“Damn it! Damn it!! Again, again!! Again it’s that Ingrad!!”

Marquis Doriyan, thrashing about in near-hysterics, kicked at his attendant and shouted.

“You worm—why haven’t you brought me that pharmacist? Why!!”

“Ghh… i–in the forests of the Ingrad Domain… ugh!! They’re teeming with impossible monsters!!”

At the attendant’s words—barely forced out between stifled groans as he was beaten—Marquis Doriyan huffed, collapsed into a chair, and caught his breath.

He had known the imperial household might be trying to ruin him by teaming with Viscount Ingrad, but he hadn’t imagined getting pummeled straight on in every single area like this.

At least the very highest-grade potions were still outside Ingrad’s reach, so he held that ground; the problem was the rest of the medicines.

“Damn it, how can that man produce effects like that?”

“Our researchers are on it. The guild’s pharmacists will soon uncover the secret!”

“You rice-wasting maggots… do you know how much money I’m paying you? How is it you can’t even replicate the publicly revealed recipes?! What exactly is the problem!!”

Marquis Doriyan was starting to rage again, but the attendant before him had nothing left to say. In truth, the Pharmacists’ Guild was going through a time so hard that “collapse” suited it.

This month’s revenue wasn’t even one-tenth of a normal year’s. If this kept up for several months, even Marquis Doriyan—rumored to be “stuffed with money from his domain”—would take a serious hit, the attendant thought.

‘He’s fundamentally… different from you rotten nobles. He used to be a free citizen, and he doesn’t gouge prices—he won’t live a life coated in greed with a belly full of fat like you… What do you think pharmacists are, you piece of trash…’

The attendant dreamed of retribution, but no one knew when that day might come.

“The phrase ‘it’s wrapped up’ sounds so good, doesn’t it?”

I said it while looking at the spot where the princess had vanished in a flash moments ago. The long, long three-day schedule had finally ended.

On top of that, I had disposed of far more medicinal stock than expected, so I felt considerably lighter. I didn’t love that reports about the Sain tribe would go up to the empress, but I decided to trust Princess Riana’s assurance that they viewed it positively.

“Do you really feel that relieved?”

At Beni’s words, I nodded vigorously and said:

“Think about it, Beni. She’s a princess. If I slip up even once—speech, conduct, posture—my rosy life could head straight for the sewer.”

“Even without being so careful, Her Highness seems to think well of you, my lord…”

“You don’t get it. Someone said human feelings are like duckweed floating on water! I don’t remember who, but—when ripples run through that drifting heart, what do you think happens?”

“…I don’t know…?”

“It sinks. Down into the deep abyss, pulled under. I don’t want that to be me…”

‘Not after how hard I fought to get this life…’

Resolving myself, I got my thoughts in order and told Beni:

“All right, that’s that—shall we go enjoy a good meal first?”

“Yes!”

Beni gave me a smile that was a pleasure to see. Allena, on the other hand, rarely smiled; even during intimacy she tended to frown in pleasure. Aenia wasn’t the smiling type either.

But Beni truly was different.

She lived as if always wearing a happy smile. And even when two knights came by the last two nights—ready to devour me—they ended up collapsing like Aenia had, conquered by me; through it all, Beni stayed by my side with a smile, as if cheering me on.

‘She’s an unusual one…’

I had thought she was shy, but something must have changed—she felt different now.

In any case, more knights were slated for tonight and tomorrow night as well. The problem was that I had finally had a nosebleed this morning.

‘Maybe it’s not stamina… More like my body got on edge because the princess was coming, and that caused trouble.’

I refused to think it was due to overdoing sex. So at the moment I carried various nutritional tonics I’d compounded.

I intended to hand them out to the maids and others who worked for me as we headed to the dining hall.

“So, what’s for dinner today? I’m still rattled from the princess being here…”

“Apparently Her Highness stopped by the kitchen on her way out and made a special request.”

“…Telling them to poison me?”

“Of course not…”

At my serious look, Beni answered just as seriously. Relieved, I relaxed my face and asked:

“What did she say?”

“She said you seemed too busy to eat properly, so the kitchen should take care. And if you look the same next time she comes, she will severely scold you. Chef Riin is quite worried.”

Riin must have been the head cook. I felt vaguely sorry.

‘Should I… cut back a bit?’

I remembered the calorie burn of sex was enormous. Someone said it was like running a marathon the whole time.

Since I was facing not just one partner, but two or three every day, of course the weight would fall off me.

‘What’s high-calorie around here…?’

There was “butter” in this world, but that would turn into low-carb/high-fat and act like a diet food for me.

‘Then vegetables?’

I thought of a mountain-vegetable bibimbap, but the issue was the sauce. This world did have soy sauce and many fermented foods from Earth, but it lacked gochujang (chili paste).

Maybe that was why—

—an intense craving for spicy bibimbap hit me, and I dragged that irresistible appetite to find Riin.

When I showed up in the kitchen rather than the dining hall, Riin, startled, stopped cooking and bowed politely.

“No need for that—I just have a question.”

“What is it?”

Since she had lent me a sieve before, I put a little gratitude on the counter by placing three jars of Tiger Balm on the cutting board, then asked casually:

“Do you have any kind of paste that’s spicy?”

“Spicy…? Hmm… we have white pepper.”

Pepper wouldn’t give the flavor I wanted, so I shifted the question.

“Do you have any peppers—vegetables or spices called chili?”

At the word “pepper,” Beni, Riin, and a nameless kitchen helper all flushed slightly; apparently that word was also slang for a man’s indecent part here. I made a mental note to be careful and waited. The answer came not from Riin but from the kitchen helper.

“In my homeland, ‘chili’ grows. The one that turns bright red—do you mean that?”

“Oho! Yes—that’s it. You call it chili here!”

“But that’s a poisonous plant…”

“…Eh?”

“You can’t eat it—it causes stomach cramps. Your gut seizes up, you get diarrhea, and, uh, your a–anus gets raw…”

It seemed people here didn’t know how to process or consume it, so they considered it poisonous. Even on Earth, some vegetables and fruits had that reputation.

I recalled hearing that apples before selective breeding could be toxic. Similar idea—though perhaps not exactly the same. Anyway, back to the necessary questions:

“How big are they?”

“About as long as the joint of a little finger.”

“Do they grow on trees?”

“Umm… I’ve seen big ones over three meters tall.”

Not exactly the peppers I had in mind. A bit different information—but the most important point was that they existed. If I handled them well, I thought I could make gochujang.

“Where’s your homeland?”

“The Apoca Kingdom.”

‘…Just great.’

A place I never wanted to visit again. Still, given that climate, peppers were plausible.

As I was wondering what to do, the kitchen helper spoke up:

“But the seeds are used to drive away bugs, so I actually have a few… if you want them…”

“I’ll buy them. With this!!”

I boldly whipped out a jar of Tiger Balm; the flustered helper stared at me, dumbstruck.

‘Even if I plant them right now, it won’t—’

“—or maybe it will?”

“Pardon?”

“Eh?”

The women looked at me quizzically. I told them it was nothing, and later I learned the helper’s name: Leti. I purchased the chili seeds from her.

After that, I headed to the back of the lord’s castle where the Sain tribe lived.

‘Heh heh heh, they say plants grow fast in the Forest of the Demon Dragon…’

My desire squirmed.

‘What did I need again to make gochujang…?’

“Ehehehe.”

I was losing my mind.