Blue Advisory! (3)

After roughly grasping the situation, I left the arrivals in the yard(?) and went to find Wijel.

I judged it was time I needed his help.

How he knew I was looking for him, I could not tell.

Right on cue, Wijel appeared in front of me, and just as I was about to speak to settle things with him, he opened his mouth a bit faster than I did.

“Every time you come to see me, it seems you have a favor to ask, but please look at this first.”

What he held out was a small, dainty, beautifully ripened red chili pepper.

It was the so-called bird’s-eye chili right before my eyes.

“…It already grew?”

Flustered, I slipped into casual speech, but Wijel chuckled “ksshisihi” and said,

“No. Deep inside the Forest of the Demon Dragon there was a dense growth patch. While searching for a good place to plant that thing you called chili, they happened to discover it by luck. Thanks to that, we planted what you first gave us, and then picked all of these as we found them… The quantity is considerable.”

How much had they picked for it to be “considerable” again?

I was sometimes taken aback by these beastkin’s big hands; I swallowed and told him to show me, and he jumped up and strode ahead.

“By the way, how do you plan to use this hot stuff?”

Since the creatures here were not used to spicy heat, I figured things like bird’s-eye chili would inevitably be deemed “poison.”

In fact, when I looked into it, I heard from Aenia that assassins grind up bird’s-eye chili and scatter it to neutralize targets or their guards, and I recalled our talk about quite a few knights retiring young after going blind because of this.

“Indeed. Sprinkle it into the eyes and you’d die… If not blind, then dead for sure.”

So I thought. Spicy heat in the mouth—into the eyes?

Just imagining it brought tears to my eyes. Then, seeing the red mountain spread before us, I put a hand to my forehead and said to Wijel.

“Ha… haa, this is more than just ‘quite a lot,’ isn’t it?”

A small mountain of chilies about two joints of a pinky finger long—nice to see again, sure, but far too much.

With my head in gloomy knots, I looked back at the proud beastkin and said,

“Alright, everyone, we’ve got a new job—shall we get to work?”

The mountain of chilies made me forget my idea of pushing the beastkin back a little and putting the technical slaves there instead.

After I explained how to dry the chilies and told them how to process them, they asked why we had to go through such a complicated method, and I said I would explain later. Then I called only Wijel aside and told him why I had come.

“…So you’re asking me to pull back some beastkin, is that it?”

“Humans are weak. But technicians are people I desperately need. I also need a way to keep them safe, so I want beastkin protection.”

“I think guarding them is fine, but if some think they’re being kept farther from you, there may be those who grow to hate the humans who caused it.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

At my words, Wijel explained the beastkin’s current situation.

“First, my lord, you are one who has received the grace of Artemisia, the ‘goddess of the beastkin.’ Beastkin are not generally devout, but if one who manifested grants grace and stands before their eyes, there’s no way not to believe. Moreover, the favors you have bestowed are beyond counting. And with the coming Demon God’s Moon, that ‘medicine’ will be distributed as well, so everyone wants to be close to you so as not to miss out.”

I muttered a fresh curse at the goddess and then said to Wijel.

“I didn’t expect they’d think that highly of me, but I suppose it can’t be helped. Could you persuade them that it’s nothing to worry about? Tell them I’m preparing so the medicine reaches all beastkin. We already have a full warehouse’s worth of ingredients ready.”

“You are already preparing, I see?”

“The medicine itself may not keep long, so we’ve only prepared the ingredients for now. If I start making it a fortnight or a week before the Demon God’s Moon arrives, there’ll be no problem. And for beastkin far away—those near where you once lived—we’ll have to deliver there as well… hmm.”

Running a simple calculation, I realized we would have to make and ship the medicine within two weeks at the latest.

After I explained even that and convinced him, Wijel praised me, saying,

“As expected of the Divine Messenger—you are different.”

I sometimes wondered if Wijel and the others truly believed I was a divine messenger.

Or were they simply flattering me to use me?

Their lukewarm attitude spawned all sorts of thoughts.

Still, I couldn’t very well question their true intent. It left me both uneasy and dissatisfied, and I could only accept it with gritted teeth.

If it were going to be like this, I should have accepted every blessing she offered back then—I could only regret it too late.

After that, until the beastkin withdrew, I ordered them to live in the existing slave quarter for now. I set up temporary housing and assigned them existing slaves. What I mainly ordered those slaves to teach was local living habits, points of caution, and to clearly explain working hours; then I called Janet and began boasting about the liquor.

“I made it, so I should sell it.”

With that tidy thought, I set out cups and poured lightly, and saw Janet looking at me as if she had seen a ghost. She suddenly asked,

“Are you saying you brewed this splendid liquor yourself, my lord?”

“I’m just grateful you’re treating it as splendid.”

“No, no! Truly. When you run a slave company, you often meet high nobles, and you keep ties by so-called lobbying with drink service or premium liquors. That naturally brings many chances to taste alcohol… and this is wonderful…”

Janet rolled the pale green liquor in her wineglass; I wondered how the medicinal wine looked in her eyes.

“Will it suit nobles’ tastes?”

“Without question… they’ll try to buy in bulk, whatever the price.”

“For ingredients, we used herbs from the Forest of the Demon Dragon.”

She looked at me like I was insane, which felt uncomfortable, but I had to say my piece.

“Since we can’t release a people-wide volume right away, if we sell this to nobles, what would be an appropriate price?”

“…I’ve never even heard of liquor made from medicinal herbs…”

“Give me a ballpark. Roughly.”

Janet fell into brief thought. She took another sip, rolled it around her mouth as if rinsing, then swallowed. Knowing the aftertaste would carry herbal fragrance, I awaited her answer with expectant eyes.

“Haaaa… magnificent. Magnificent. For liquor like this… you could take one large gold coin.”

“One large gold coin…”

That was no small amount. And for liquor made from herbs lying around(?) the Forest of the Demon Dragon—if it could return that much profit, it would be remarkable.

“Ah, I should correct myself. I mean for one cup.”

“???”

I looked at her, uncomprehending, and she said,

“Judging by its very high proof, it belongs among the finest liquors. It must be distilled, and you cannot ignore the process, the various techniques and materials, and the aging period. It’s an excellent liquor with deep taste and bouquet, and if it also has medicinal effects… even one cup wouldn’t be overpriced at a large gold coin.”

Was she really being serious? Had a few cups already gone to her head?

As I wondered, Janet called someone over, handed him the small remainder in her glass, and asked,

“Drink and evaluate, Lieutenant Kim. How high among premium liquors could it rank?”

He looked like an attendant. He carefully received the glass, examined the contents, and rolled it around; feeling sorry for the small amount, I poured him a little more, and he glanced at Janet, unsure what to do.

So their vertical hierarchy was clear, I thought, as Janet told the attendant,

“It was bestowed by a distinguished lord; don’t waste a single drop, and give a precise, exact evaluation. Understood?”

“Thank you very much, Viscount.”

I wondered if we needed to be this serious, but as the man grew more entranced the more he tasted, I became curious what verdict he would give. After draining it all, he stared wistfully at the empty glass and spoke.

“This… cannot be described in words, my lord. An uncommon taste and aroma, an unordinary profile, a clean and immaculate fragrance—nothing is lacking or missing, and if, as the Merchant Master says, ‘medicinal properties’ are present, its value is all the more precious.”

I wondered who he was, and Janet, satisfied, said to me,

“He is our company’s vice-master. He mainly handles entertaining nobles. If that’s his evaluation… I don’t think ‘remarkable’ is enough to cover it.”

In the end, we received a perfect overall score.

Afterward, we discussed distribution of the liquor, but Janet again tied it to the princess, saying it would only be possible by dealing with Her Highness. That made me think we’d forever be dragged around by the imperial family at this rate.

“A way to… use the beastkin…”

I cross-checked the map I had seen at the manor with the beastkin and probed a few possibilities. Then came the conclusion.

“Let’s make a road.”

I was about to make the work bigger again, but this was something the domain absolutely needed. Frankly, we could not always use teleportation, an incredibly extravagant means of travel, and I disliked the idea of letting those who wished to trade with us wait forever.

Moreover, it wasn’t hard to realize that those who wanted to trade would be filtered and sorted by the imperial house so only those to its taste could come.

If there were no method, that would be one thing; but using the beastkin, we could probably open at least a road to neighboring fiefs and manage it without much trouble.

“Hand over the goods!! We need the God’s Blessings!!”

In front of the Ingrad Apothecary, the place was in agony from a tremendous crowd.

“Why won’t you hand out the goods?!”

The people’s fury had peaked. God’s Blessings and several other medicines had not been delivered as usual, so they could not be sold.

Inside the pharmacy, Agnes, who was watching outside, asked the knight with her,

“How goes the investigation?”

“It was not a mere bandit gang. We found traces of the Black Hand.”

By “Black Hand,” the knight meant those belonging to noble factions who handled the shadowy jobs in the dark corners.

“And the pursuit?”

“They’re even using teleport scrolls to erase their tracks. We’re in pursuit, but it may prove difficult.”

“Hu… They’ve finally gone and done it.”

Agnes was displeased that what she feared had come to pass.

This was not the picture the princess wanted. But things were flowing in a strange direction, and in the end a cornered rat had bitten the hand of a “giant.”

“Deploy all four Knight Orders—Blue, White, Red, and Black. The theft of goods is not the issue. We… must regain our pride. Find the enemy and bring to light the powers behind them, in full.”

Of the six knight orders guarding the imperial house, those ranked third through sixth began to move.