Chapter 51
Chapter 51
On the way back to the base camp.
I kept exclaiming in admiration.
"Wow. This stuff is ridiculously effective."
Holy water's effect is insane, seriously.
My body felt like a brand-new product fresh out of the factory.
'So this is why nobles bow and scrape to the church.'
Having experienced an item you couldn't even buy with money, I instantly understood that power.
Then Lily, who had been trailing beside me, whispered in a dejected voice.
"...I'm sorry."
"For what?"
When I glanced down at her, Lily fidgeted with her fingers and watched my reaction.
"If it's Lord Cassian, I figured that, just as strongly as you'd feel the incredible effect of the medicine, you'd also realize at once that I'd caused a major mess."
Holy shit.
How did she know?
"...Am I really that easy to read?"
"No. Not really. I'm just quick on the uptake."
That's even scarier.
I gave a light shrug and replied coolly.
"Anyway, I lived, so I don't have any intention of blaming anyone. If I started cursing out someone who used something precious to heal my body, I'd be worse than a beast. Don't worry about it."
"Yes. Hehe."
Only then, perhaps finally relieved, did Lily smile brightly.
Sure enough, this woman had a strange knack for making people feel at ease just by being around her.
* * *
As soon as we arrived at the empty lot serving as the base camp, a massive shadow fell over me with heavy footsteps.
"Kwahahaha! Our hero has returned!"
Professor Wilhelm rushed up and pounded my shoulder.
Thwack! Whap!
"Ow! Could you take it easy!"
Damn it, my shoulder's going to come out of joint.
The body I'd just healed with a potion was about to get smashed again by this old man's grip.
How the hell does this geezer have so much strength?
I barely shook off Wilhelm's bear-like hand and quickly turned my gaze away.
I headed to the area in one corner of the village where Lucius was working.
"You've arrived."
Lucius greeted me, wiping sweat from his brow.
By now, the artificial well-making work he had been assigned had made quite a bit of progress.
A very wide, neatly dug pit came into view.
"Amazing."
"Ah, yes. Well. It just sort of ended up that way."
I scratched the back of my head.
Not only Lucius, but even the young noblemen helping with the shoveling nearby had gazes so intense it was overwhelming.
I'm really the type who gets embarrassed by stuff like this, so I wish they'd please stop.
Ignoring their attention on purpose, I asked Lucius,
"How much work is left?"
"The digging is finished. We're applying the coating now."
Lucius pointed into the pit with his chin.
Turning my head, I saw Karls and several students I had earlier appointed as the water-hauling team leader.
They were holding tiny beakers in one hand and using brushes in the other to paint the bottom all over.
Damn, they're fast.
But then.
"Why is Karls over there?"
When I asked in confusion, Lucius answered calmly.
"It doesn't seem like we need such a grand title as chief of water transport, so I'm just having him do that. Once he brings the water, all I have to do is tell him where to pour it."
That's fair.
Our Karls, after finally getting a title to wear, got his authority stolen by an alchemist before he even got started.
But I didn't feel like pointing out how pathetic that was.
"Apply it more carefully! If water leaks through gaps in the ground, all our efforts will be for nothing!"
I had seen with my own two eyes that Karls was painting with real enthusiasm, concentrating so hard he practically looked like a performance artist.
On the contrary, it was almost enough to make me glad he'd found his calling.
That bastard.
Back in Korea, he'd have been the sort to get favored by some awful employer and exploited to the bone.
How lucky he was to have been born into a count's family, even if it didn't suit him at all, seriously.
Still, the fact that he's working hard and trying to be so earnest is admirable and reassuring.
"The water will be here soon. The people I assigned are hauling it over as fast as they can."
Nice.
As expected, an A-rank is different.
By the way.
I couldn't help but admire it, looking down at the well floor where several people were in the middle of applying the hardening solution.
"The reagent is a work of art."
The parts that had been coated had hardened into something rock-solid, as if they had been given a special kind of coating.
How should I put this?
It felt like the muddy pit, once mixed with filth and trash, had been transformed the instant the solution was applied into a top-grade artificial marble with mud-colored patterns.
For the record, that's not exaggeration or overblowing; that's my objective impression.
The whole village is really going to look different.
"If this gets hit like marble, will it break?"
"It will break, but if moisture is replenished, for example by rain, quite a bit of it will be restored. If you apply it thickly, durability goes up as well. It's not permanent, but for use in a capital city where wagons pass constantly, you could easily get five or six years out of it."
"So if wagons don't pass and only people step on it, theoretically it could last thirty or forty years."
"Theoretically, yes."
Somehow, when this guy says "theoretically," it doesn't sound like he's dodging responsibility. It sounds like he's calmly saying, "I haven't actually tested it in real use yet, so it's only theoretical. But the theory should be perfect, right?"
Lucius straightened his back and smiled faintly.
"If you like it, please don't forget this Lucius."
"..."
How did he know I liked it?
No matter how I look at it, my expressions have definitely gotten easier to read.
"I'm not a merchant, you know? You're not trying to cozy up to my father, the court count, are you? My father isn't such an easy mark that he'd let anyone use family ties to curry favor with the imperial court."
"Ha ha, you misunderstand."
Lucius calmly removed his dirt-stained gloves.
"The court count's integrity is something everyone in the world knows. I'm not trying to get in with the Parne family; I'm just trying to get in with Lord Cassian personally."
"That's no better, though."
"Huh?"
"I absolutely hate living a life where people rely on me. My dream is to be a shut-in NEET."
At my proud declaration of future plans, Lucius's eyes widened.
But then he shook his head and laid down the facts.
"For someone trying to be a NEET, you've done far too much since entering the academy."
"..."
...Fair enough.
That really wasn't what I wanted to do.
Somehow, I'd become the attention-seeker among attention-seekers.
As I clicked my tongue with a bitter expression, Lucius, keenly perceptive as ever, threw out a brilliant suggestion.
"Anyway, if you want to stop getting attention, I'll handle the rest of the mixture, so you can stop using magic here."
Oh. That's tempting.
I had already gone way overboard anyway.
Once people get enchanted by something, they'll clap for a guy even if he takes a dump, saying, 'Wow! Golden shit!'
If I went and boiled water here too, it was obvious the story would get twisted into something like, 'The guy who caused a tidal wave from the ground is boiling an entire giant well, too.'
This isn't even a proper well—it's more like a flimsy slab I cobbled together, but rumors always chew up details like that.
"I won't put this on your tab. Don't worry."
What a quick-witted little bastard.
I nodded with great satisfaction.
"Thanks. Then please take care of the rest."
Before I could flee into the carriage, there was one last customer I needed to take care of.
*
I waved toward Lily, who was hovering near the pot.
"Lily. Come here for a second."
"Huh? Did you call me, Lord Cassian?"
The pink cotton candy trotted over on little steps.
"I'm going to get in the carriage and rest now. It's too noisy outside."
"Ah... yes! Good thinking! Your body isn't well either, so you should get plenty of rest!"
Lily clenched both fists and nodded vigorously.
I looked straight into her eyes and spoke bluntly.
"If I'm going to rest in the carriage without being disturbed, you need to focus on this place right here. Don't keep popping over to where I am. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"Yes! I'll make sure to do it well!"
What was this feeling?
It felt like watching some brainless junior brag, "I'll handle everything!"
This is seriously making me anxious.
Noticing my uneasy stare, Lily continued in a spirited voice.
"I couldn't help it before because I was so worried about Lord Cassian that I abandoned what I was doing and left."
She turned to look at the villagers behind her with a gentle gaze.
"It's true that I feel pity and affection for the poor people here. I'll do my best on site and make sure all the incredible effort Lord Cassian put in doesn't go to waste, so don't worry and get some good rest!"
Her eyes were sparkling brightly.
In the end, that means I matter more than all those people put together, right?
That's ridiculously burdensome.
That troublesome obsession and overblown praise were a little worrying, though.
It's awkward to nitpick, so let's just let it slide.
"Understood. Take care."
Leaving Lily behind, I walked over to Professor Wilhelm, who was standing firm in the middle of the lot.
I need to get his stamp of approval too if I'm going to rest for sure.
"Professor, my body's kind of wrecked, so can I rest in the carriage for a bit?"
Then Professor Wilhelm looked at me and suddenly made an emotional expression.
"Oh my...!"
What kind of misunderstanding face is that? Like he's putting on a whole one-man drum-and-janggu performance?
His thick eyes welled up with tears as he gripped my shoulder tightly.
"As expected, when it comes to concern for the common people, you're far above me! To think you'd ignore your body breaking down just because you want their suffering to end even a little sooner!"
"No. If I had known it'd be this exhausting and make me want to throw up, I was planning to spread it out over three or four days in a very soft, delicate way."
I really needed to clear up this misunderstanding, so I said it plainly.
At the very least, I didn't want this Wilhelm old man inventing some unnecessary heroic narrative about me.
But Wilhelm ignored my explanation completely and laughed boisterously.
"Kwahahaha! There's no need to be so modest! You have what it takes to become a true meritorious subject of this empire!"
He thrust his fist high toward the sky.
"Today, I will clearly and unequivocally summarize your great deeds and report them to the imperial court, and I will strongly recommend that you be awarded a decoration!"
'Ah, fuck.'
Why does this old man keep saying things that make my heart sink?
* * *
Leaving the village fence behind, I grabbed my head.
Just thinking of Professor Wilhelm's confident eyes made my stomach twist again.
I had told him absolutely not to do it, and yet he was saying, "Yes, yes, I understand your feelings," while blatantly making it obvious that he didn't understand my feelings at all.
A decoration? No thanks. I really don't want to get tangled up with the imperial court.
As I trudged toward the carriage I'd ridden here in—the carriage I mentally dubbed the two-and-a-half-tonner because I was the only one who called it that—
there stood a top-class carriage gleaming with imperial insignia.
It was obvious who was inside without even looking.
'I don't want to talk to the princess again for no reason, so I should duck away quietly.'
I hunched over as much as I could so I wouldn't be seen from the carriage window and tried to carefully slip past the side of the carriage.
Creak!
At that instant, the carriage door opened, and I locked eyes with Princess Ibelin as she was stepping outside.
Seeing my awkward half-bent posture, her red eyes narrowed.
"...What are you doing?"
"...Just trying to pass by without being noticed."
Now that I'd said it, the scene really did look a bit ridiculous.
But Ibelin's reaction was completely different from what I expected.
"Why did you want to avoid being seen by me?"
"Well."
"Why?"
"Because you dislike me."
Ibelin's gaze wavered.
notes":"Aligned the title to nearby chapter-title style and smoothed a few literal or awkward phrasings."}]}