Chapter 14
Lisette signaled to the maid.
The maid carefully set ink and parchment down on the table.
She dipped the pen's nib into the ink and prepared to transcribe.
"Let's go over the conditions."
Lisette set down her teacup and straightened her posture.
She held her back straight and looked straight ahead.
"We'll purchase all the red materials at seventy percent of market price and make up the remaining thirty percent by introducing you to the mages and alchemists you requested beforehand."
Lisette also laid out detailed conditions regarding the amount of red materials to be collected and the prohibition against trading with third parties.
Red materials were expensive.
Thirty percent of the amount projected from the transaction was by no means a small sum.
But if I could be introduced to people whose services money alone couldn't buy, it was far cheaper from a cost perspective.
Mages and alchemists were professionals whom only nobles could use and who accepted only nobles as clients.
Otherwise, one had to be wealthy enough to provide them with continuous patronage.
Since those were nothing more than everyday connections for a lord, I was promised—at a much lower cost—the sort of contacts I would otherwise have had to spend a fortune and make a huge production to obtain.
Lisette rested her fingertip against her chin and looked at me.
"I'll arrange for you to be given priority whenever you submit a request. Of course, you'll have to cover any costs incurred when using the materials or facilities."
"Understood."
The way she said it made it sound as though they had been using them without paying.
In any case, this gave me access to the advanced enhancement system that unlocked from Chapter 2 onward.
Mages could handle enchantments, while alchemists could make potions and refine materials. They were essential personnel for enhancing Elena's equipment or creating special consumables.
'Elena's growth resources and Ellis's medicine ingredients.'
I had cleared the first hurdle.
"And on the day the Red Moon rises, you'll have to bring Sir Varie along."
Lisette turned toward Varie.
The cold-looking, silver-haired beauty bowed her head slightly with a resolute expression.
"Varie, follow Eck's instructions while accompanying him."
"Understood."
"Would it be all right if I added one more condition?"
Lisette knitted her brows.
She seemed to glare at me for a moment, then relaxed her expression.
"You certainly are bold. Go ahead."
"It's obvious that you trust Sir Varie. Sir Varie must be loyal to you as well."
"Yes. You have a good eye. Varie has been with me since childhood. Varie endured harsh training to become my knight and return to my side. After my father and mother, Varie is the person I trust most."
Unconditional trust could be glimpsed in every word she spoke.
As if Lisette would ask what had happened even if she saw someone killed right before her eyes.
Hearing her liege's trusting words, Varie's usually cold features flushed red.
"That is why I would like you to accept one condition. A knight's loyalty is famous even among adventurers. Unless we add this condition, I won't be able to accompany you."
"What condition?"
"If Sir Varie disobeys my instructions or slips out of control, please give me Sir Varie's sword."
Varie widened her eyes and glared at me.
"Do you know what that means, yet you're asking for it?"
"I do. That's how much Sir Varie's loyalty frightens me."
...?
"A forest on the day the Red Moon rises will tempt you with all sorts of things. I don't want to underestimate a knight's loyalty when trying to obtain good materials for a master..."
"Hmm..."
Lisette touched her chin and tapped her lower lip with her index finger.
"All right. I suppose Varie is quite capable of that. I was being shortsighted."
"Thank you for understanding."
"Then you have no other requests?"
"No."
Lisette took the contract and quill from the maid, reviewed the conditions one more time, and signed at the bottom.
I received the contract as well.
Purchase of all red materials.
Transaction at seventy percent of market price.
Introduction to mages and alchemists.
Sir Varie to accompany me on the day the Red Moon rises.
Command authority in the Red Forest to belong to Eck.
In the event of noncompliance, Sir Varie's sword would be handed over to me.
Nothing had been omitted or added.
Once I had signed as well, Lisette stamped the melted wax with a seal bearing the lord's family crest and sealed the contract.
"With that, the contract is concluded."
The maid took the contract.
Lisette smiled with satisfaction.
"That was a pleasant transaction, Eck."
"I'll do my best to ensure you're satisfied."
***
Elena gathered her equipment at the lodging she had moved into this time.
The lodging where Uncle had arranged a room for her was an upscale accommodation available only to female adventurers of D-rank or higher.
Unlike male adventurers, female adventurers were less likely to be killed by monsters, but because they were attacked more aggressively, they often returned in a state too embarrassing to show men.
This place had been set aside exclusively for women so they could conceal themselves in such shameful states.
According to Uncle, he had muttered something difficult to understand about it being 'a developer's consideration for virginity-obsessed creeps.'
In any case, Elena donned the ogre-leather light armor spread across the bed.
When she fitted the arm guard onto her left arm, the leather clung snugly around it.
The fine seams at the joints folded without hindering her movements.
The light armor fit snugly across her shoulders, chest, and back.
'How did he know my measurements and get it to fit so well?'
Had he observed her that carefully?
For some reason, she felt embarrassed.
She strapped on the shin guards and tightened the laces of her boots. Finally, she put on the leather gloves and flexed her fingers.
She grasped the hilt of her sword. It didn't slip and fit snugly in her hand.
There was no mirror, so she couldn't check her whole body, but when she twisted from side to side, nothing caught or restricted her movement.
It was light and sturdy.
It looked cool, too.
The face of the person who had provided this equipment came to mind. She remembered his curt claim that he had just picked it up on the way. The corners of her mouth rose before she knew it.
She covered her mouth with her hand and tried to hide her smile, but she couldn't lower the corners that had already risen.
She exhaled once and opened the door.
"Cough."
That was when she heard a cough.
Across from Elena's bed, Ellis lay with her blanket pulled up to her chin.
Her pale face was beaded with sweat, and the bedside table held the packet of medicine the doctor had left that morning and a bottle of water.
"Sis?"
Ellis opened her eyes. Her cloudy gaze turned toward Elena.
"Going out?"
"Yeah. I'll be back."
"Be careful."
Ellis's voice was thin. A hand poking out from beneath the blanket waved.
"If I'm late, make sure you take your medicine on time, okay?"
"Okay. I will."
"Then, I'll be off, sis."
"Okay. Come back safely."
Elena closed the door and descended the stairs of the lodging.
When she stepped out through the shared entrance, she stopped.
A middle-aged man carrying a house-call bag was waiting at the entrance to the lodging.
It was Roen, the doctor who looked after Ellis.
"Ah, Miss Elena. You're finally out."
Roen called Elena to a stop.
"Could you spare me a moment?"
"What's the matter?"
The meeting time was drawing near, but talking about Ellis came first.
"I won't keep you long."
Roen looked straight at Elena's face.
"Ellis isn't doing well."
"...I know."
"No, it's worse than you know, Miss Elena. The medicine is keeping her going, but she has never once gotten better."
"If it's ingredients for a cure, I can get them. I definitely will."
Roen shook his head.
"The medicine Ellis is taking dulls the mind. Thinking too much worsens Ellis's condition, so she takes it to suppress her thoughts. But remaining in that state isn't good for her."
Roen looked into Elena's eyes as if assessing her condition.
"It's bad for Ellis, but it's bad for you too, Miss Elena."
"Me too?"
"Lately, haven't you felt dazed? Have your thoughts become somewhat disjointed, or have you found yourself unable to think deeply and simply moved on?"
Elena listened to Roen seriously.
"Now that you mention it... I do feel a little more dazed than I used to."
"The medicine's effects are that strong. It disperses easily and is inhaled through the air; it's absorbed through the skin as well. Even that small amount must be causing your mind to gradually deteriorate."
"Th-that was what was happening?"
"At this rate, you won't be able to question flattering words and will be easily deceived. That worries me terribly."
Elena's face hardened.
She tried to connect everything she had experienced so far to her symptoms, but her thoughts wouldn't deepen, as if a fog had descended over them.
"But I can't stop giving her the medicine, can I?"
"If she stops taking it, even I can't predict when she'll lose her life."
Roen lowered his voice.
"That's why I'm saying this."
He was utterly serious.
"Please entrust Ellis to me."
"Entrust her to you? Ellis?"
"I'll take her with me and care for her properly. I'll monitor her constantly so her condition doesn't worsen, give her the appropriate medicine at the right time, and respond immediately if her condition changes."
....
"I know you're taking dangerous risks, Miss Elena. But if you suddenly disappear, who's going to look after Ellis?"
She had already experienced the fear of leaving Ellis alone when she decided to become an adventurer.
But the words wouldn't come out.
It was because of what had nearly happened to Ellis at their old house.
Moving had reduced that danger, but the risks that came with continuing as an adventurer remained.
Roen wasn't wrong.
Perhaps it would be better to leave her in the care of someone trustworthy even now.
She could trust Roen.
Since he would care for Ellis as well, there was no one more suitable than Roen.
But Elena shook her head.
"Thank you. Truly. But Ellis is my younger sister."
"Miss Elena."
"I'll take care of her."
Elena's voice trembled, but her gaze did not waver.
She might have entrusted Ellis to Roen in the past, but now she had hope.
....
Roen glanced at Elena's equipment, then kept silent without asking where she had obtained it.
"...I understand. I suppose I was meddling."
"No. I'm truly grateful. If not for you, I would have already lost my younger sister."
The day her father died, the future had seemed utterly dark.
Her father was gone, and her little sister was ill.
Because Roen, who had come to tell them of their father's death, looked after them, saying it was their father's last wish, they had been able to maintain even the bare minimum standard of living.
"You don't need to thank me. Sigh. But Ellis is beginning to develop a resistance, so we'll have to increase her dosage."
"How much?"
"Double."
"Twice, twice as much?"
"That's why I wanted to take care of her—I was worried you wouldn't be able to manage. Even now, if you'd like?"
"Ah, n-no. I'll do my best."
Elena calculated her daily living expenses with the cost of the medicine doubled.
After parting with Roen, she headed toward the place where she was meeting her party members.