Hall Of Exchange (8)

After that, I was forcibly removed from all my planned activities.

“I’m the lord of this domain, aren’t I?”

“It is an order from Her Highness, the Princess. Since everything seems to be running quite well without you, there was a strict command to forcibly remove you from all work until you recover, no matter what.”

‘Who decided that?!’

I couldn’t help but get angry, but the Princess had not yet left our domain. No, I heard she was going to have all the merchants escorted by Count Brinne and then return to the Imperial Palace via a Teleport Scroll in a few days.

“Ah… I have so much to do! Oh, right. The liquor! I have to change the barrels!”

At my words, Beni immediately responded.

“I heard that most of the liquor barrels have already been changed. Your personal warehouse has also been completed.”

“Keuh-heuk. Did you try any?”

“How could I taste that? It’s the Lord’s property.”

Beni was the one to push my upper body down onto the bed, saying, ‘Don’t say strange things, and lie down.’ I wondered if I could arrest her for insubordination.

And then, would I find freedom?

With that thought, I ate the porridge Beni handed me…

“What on earth is this made of? Why does it taste so bad?”

“I heard it’s a porridge made by grinding up herbs, vegetables, and meat that are good for stamina recovery, boiling them all together, and then seasoning it.”

Was she trying to assassinate me?

As I was seriously contemplating this, Beni looked at me with a worried face and said,

“Lady Hare said you have to eat all of it, even if it doesn’t suit your taste. She said it helps detoxify the addiction to the Magic Power Restorative that has accumulated in your body…”

“Then I don’t have to take the medicine she’s going to give me later?”

“No, you have to take that too…”

“Then what is this…?”

“It’s a meal, isn’t it?”

It was a dismal situation. I thought I had fallen from heaven to hell because of my collapse, and I miserably ate the porridge in despair. Beni then said,

“All the Beastkin are worried about you. Lady Wijel visited while you were sleeping today and asked me to deliver a message.”

“What did she say?”

“She said that everyone is taking the medicine as instructed and that there isn’t a single Beastkin who has had any side effects or problems so far.”

“That’s a relief… And what else happened?”

“Well, the merchants requested a meeting to wish you good health, but they were all refused. We also received a letter from Guts and Lita of the Unseeable Mercenary Troop, saying they will come to our domain.”

“Why those two?”

“I think the letter said something about them being able to work as mercenaries here anyway and that buying the Blessings of God at the main production site would be cheaper than getting it from the market.”

I thought those two were something else. Thanks to Beni’s detailed recitation of information, I was able to find out what was going on in the domain. After being bedridden for a fortnight, I was amazed to see that I had gained a good amount of weight back.

‘The Demon Dragon’s medicine is mysterious, isn’t it?’

I didn’t feel like I had done anything special, but it had detoxified all the magic poison in my body. I heard that magic poison initially started to eat away at the body without the user even knowing they were addicted. And eventually, it ate away at the user’s body, first burning the body fat, then the protein, and finally destroying the bones and muscles, leading to death. It seemed I had been in a quite dangerous situation.

But now that I seemed to have developed a resistance to magic poison, I could hear Hare’s warning not to recklessly take more than two Magic Power Restoratives. And now, the time had finally come for me to regain my freedom and tour the domain after a long while.

But the problem was that I wasn’t alone.

“So, why did you come?”

Count Brinne de Ishtain, there was a story that she was a knight of immense skill who succeeded the late Count Ishtain.

She’s a lord, so was it okay for her to be away from her domain like this?

While I was thinking that, Brinne replied.

“I received a request from Her Highness, the Princess. To look after you.”

It was a mystery who was looking after whom, but for now, persuasion came first.

“This is my domain, and I have fully recovered now. This isn’t a situation or a relationship for me to be looked after by someone, is it?”

“That may be. But I am interested in you.”

“…So what do you intend to do about it?”

“I would like to walk with you and have a chat.”

I sighed at the words of this stern-looking young Countess, told my escorts to stand back, and walked side-by-side with her, just the two of us, around the Lord’s Official Residence in the frigid cold. Count Brinne then spoke.

“Your medicine has a great reputation for being outstanding on the battlefield.”

“And so?”

“I heard the medicine on the battlefield right now is ‘high-grade’ medicine. I am curious if you have medicine superior to what you have created.”

“Hmm…”

A few recipes came to mind. But I didn’t see any reason to manufacture such medicine.

“It might be possible. But why are you asking this?”

“I will participate in the war.”

With such a noble appearance, on the battlefield… Was she trying to be another Joan of Arc?

The thought fleetingly crossed my mind, but I didn’t plan on stopping her from doing what she wanted.

“So, is this a request for medicine?”

“Do you accept personal requests as well?”

“There’s no reason why I can’t. But there has to be an appropriate price, don’t you think?”

“Hmm… I have nothing to give you right now. But if I succeed and win merit in the war, I will give you half of that merit. How does that sound?”

That could be considered a rather groundbreaking offer, but if Count Brinne were to go to the battlefield and die, it would all be for nothing. Furthermore, news had recently reached us that a Hero had been killed.

Even though the Ingrad Domain was a place where news was bound to be slow, the fact that the news was delivered relatively quickly meant that the death of a Hero was an event that would shock the continent.

“I have bloomed with talent for the sword at this age. And I have reached the ranks of a Master. I am different from the Heroes who recklessly act, relying only on the power of the gods. I will dutifully participate in the war and accumulate merit. And… I will achieve my revenge.”

“Revenge…?”

Count Brinne nodded. It was true that the nobles of the era had all but disappeared, with most lordships being passed down to the next generation. So, she was in a position to talk about revenge.

But I also wondered if she could actually do it.

That brilliant Hero was dead. I felt a sense of bitterness when I thought that the Heroes who came with me must have been active on some front and were now dead. Just in case, I asked Brinne,

“How many Heroes are currently active on the front lines?”

“Thirteen. Three died this time, and five more were added, bringing the total to that number.”

At the word ‘five,’ I knew that the people who came with me had been deployed to the war. How strong could they have gotten in just a few months… It was unfortunate, but I considered it a separate matter from myself and said to Brinne,

“Are you going to the battlefield where the Heroes are?”

“No, I will go to the battlefield where the Hero died.”

“Why?”

“Because my nemesis is there.”

I remembered hearing that revenge makes people simple-minded. Was Count Brinne in front of me blinded by revenge?

With that thought, I looked at Count Brinne. She met my gaze with her gray eyes and spoke with force.

“I am not crazy with revenge. But my decision was made because the being with whom I can both achieve merit and take revenge is there. And it’s also the fastest way to face him.”

“Who is the target of your revenge, exactly?”

“The Demon Realm Duke, Henes.”

I didn’t know that name. But someone called a Demon Realm Duke was surely an incredible individual. Could this frail-looking Count Brinne kill such a formidable being, who had even killed a Hero, and accumulate merit?

That thought crossed my mind as I pondered.

“I have a secret weapon. With this, I can handle him.”

And she pulled out a small glass vial from her bosom. It was a vial about the size of a pinky finger, and as soon as I saw it, my Pharmacy aptitude immediately gave me information.

‘High-grade Physical Ability Enhancement Potion, huh…’

It was clearly high-grade, having been manufactured by the general Pharmacist Guild. However, compared to the highest-grade Physical Ability Enhancement Potion I made, its potency was laughably weak, and the increase in ability was also small.

However, the “high-grade” rank seemed to have been appropriately assigned.

‘It’s not a great item, but it’s moderately good?’

If the Pharmacist Guild were to hear this, they would probably be foaming at the mouth. I contemplated it and then made a deal.

“Half of the merit. I hope you don’t forget that promise. Furthermore, I will give you two types of items.”

“I only need a superior healing medicine.”

“No. I would feel uneasy if you were to die on a battlefield that even a Hero couldn’t handle. If it’s true that you’ll be returning to your domain tomorrow, I will deliver the medicine before you leave tomorrow.”

“Thank you. I will be incredibly grateful for your help.”

I wondered why she was so thankful. After that, until we finished touring the entire domain, Count Brinne silently followed behind me without any interference. It seemed she was truly going to protect me as Princess Riana had requested. Or she was monitoring me…

In any case, now that I knew the cause of my physical decline, I planned to be more careful. Furthermore, I remembered that I had also manufactured an excellent antidote for magic poison in my workshop, and in that moment, I decided I would take that as well when I used Magic Power Restorative in the future.

I figured that if all those who were worried about me knew this fact, they would try to burn down my workshop.

Later, I returned to the Official Residence, had a farewell dinner for Count Brinne, and was able to fall into a deep sleep alone for the first time in a while.

It truly felt like it had been a long time.

The next day, I woke up in the early morning and manufactured the highest-grade restoratives I could make. There were two forms.

One was a topical ointment, and the other was in the form of pills that you put in your mouth and swallowed.

The former was a treatment that acted directly on wounds, and the latter was a medicine that maximized the body’s recovery ability.

In other words, it was a medicine that enhanced natural healing power.

As they say, war is a battle of stamina, so I manufactured the pills after an additional process to help with stamina recovery.

The duration was half a day, so I didn’t know how many would be used. I manufactured about 600 pills, each the size of a pinky nail, and placed them in a small storage container. I also manufactured 30 containers of the wound-healing medicine, with a large quantity in each so that it could be used multiple times.

In other words, I was determined not to let Count Brinne die. And the much-anticipated gift was the highest-grade Physical Ability Enhancement Potion.

She would likely experience an enhancement that was incomparable to the item she possessed, but since it was a medicine with the penalty of rapidly consuming stamina, I did not plan on giving her a large quantity.

‘Three bottles should be enough.’

I thought that if I bluffed and said the manufacturing success rate was close to zero, she wouldn’t make any more unreasonable demands.

So, at the lunch banquet with Count Brinne, I took out the three types of medicine and explained them. Count Brinne showed a particular interest in the highest-grade Physical Ability Enhancement Potion.

“Is that truly the highest-grade?”

“I can’t make many bottles. The production success rate is close to zero. So I have a small quantity and can only provide you with this much.”

“…This is more than I deserve. The amount you are offering me right now could buy a decent small domain. It is that enormous an item.”

I thought she was exaggerating and said,

“Half of the merit, for sure. I hope you don’t forget that promise. If you go back on your word later, our trust will be ‘broken to pieces,’ you know?”

“That will never… happen. I will surely achieve merit… And this… is the token of my promise.”

The item I received was a signet ring. It was a rather luxurious ring with the symbol of her Count’s family, and seeing it, I could tell how firm her resolve and determination were. The emotion was clearly visible on Count Brinne’s face.

‘She’s cute. Her youthful charm is adorable…’

It seemed my body had fully recovered.