Chapter 56
***
One year since I became engaged to House Hausen.
Since Charlotte and I became engaged, my daily life...
had remained astonishingly unchanged.
On most days, I commuted to Limbus Fit, and every so often I attended my mentor's classes.
It was hardly any different from before I was engaged to Charlotte.
In the end, I returned to Limbus Fit and spent my days treating patients as usual.
“Next patient, please come in.”
“It's been a while, Doctor.”
“Long time no see, Wangcho.”
Wangcho stepped into the examination room, reeking of the slaughterhouse.
“How's the gout been lately?”
“I switched from beer to wine, and it seems to have gotten better lately.”
“Looks like your wallet's doing better, then.”
Tap. Tap.
Wangcho paused for a moment, rhythmically tapping his thigh.
The scar-riddled hyena beastkin pricked up their ears and looked around.
Then the hyena beastkin whispered in a low voice.
“Speaking of which, Doctor, what exactly happened in the Smokepit?”
Smokepit Alley.
Sector E.
The area located right next to Sector D made its living by processing plant-based indulgences like herbs, spices, tobacco, and the like.
When my mentor disguised himself as a tobacco artisan, he claimed to be from Sector E for exactly that reason.
“Well, you told me a year ago to keep an eye on Sector E, didn't you?”
“I did, yes.”
“And then, a month later, their boss disappeared along with the whole family. What happened?”
I had no choice but to keep my mouth shut at that question.
The reason the ruler of Sector E disappeared.
It was because of the star anise incident.
After the incident that turned Prince August's faction upside down.
The Investigation Bureau looked into how poisonous star anise and ordinary star anise had been mixed together.
And as a result of the investigation, it was revealed that Sector E, which processed the star anise, had intentionally mixed in some poisonous star anise.
The sequence of events was as follows.
Originally, the Smokepit had been supplying star anise in two grades.
Premium star anise for nobles.
Regular star anise for commoners.
They would pick out the best ones first and send them to the nobles, then mix poisonous star anise into the leftovers and hand those to the commoners.
This incident happened when a mistake was made in that process.
The mixed star anise that should have gone to the commoners ended up slipping into the premium line.
And that poisonous star anise, of all things, went into the tea for frail newborns.
The result, as you can see.
The organization that had ruled Sector E vanished without a trace.
And I had contacted Wangcho in advance before they disappeared.
— “Wangcho, are there any organizations you're fighting with lately?”
— “No? It's just the usual—everyone posturing in their own turf, that's all.”
— “What about Sector E?”
— “That old man from the Smokepit? Same as always. He keeps sneaking drugs into our territory every day, and when we catch him, we have a bit of a stare-down. That stingy old bastard. We ought to really clash once and put him in his place.”
— “I don't think that's necessary. Sector E will get a little noisy soon. I'd appreciate it if Wangcho could clean things up then.”
— “What are you talking about, Doctor? Doctor—!?”
A few days after that.
The organization that had ruled Sector E disappeared overnight.
While the other organizations dragged their feet, saying it might be a trap or that something felt off,
Wangcho's organization, which had been prepared in advance, gobbled up Sector E in one gulp.
And now, a year later.
“Doctor? Can you tell me now what happened in Sector E?”
Wangcho's organization had come to rule both D Sector and E Sector.
“Why are you curious about it now, Wangcho?”
“Well... I was wondering if it was okay for me to eat it... if I'd get sick after eating it, that is....”
“Don't worry, Wangcho. It's the reward for honestly supplying the meat all this time.”
There was only one reason I had given Wangcho that information in advance.
He had protected my trust all this time.
Since we first met at age ten, Wangcho had never once lied to me or tried anything shady.
He had never passed off dog meat as lamb, nor tampered with the ingredients of medicines.
Sometimes he even protected my deals at his own expense.
Sector E was the reward I gave Wangcho for being that way.
However, there was one thing I needed to correct.
“Still, Wangcho, don't misunderstand. Sector E isn't a gift I'm giving you myself.”
“Pardon?”
“I merely gave Wangcho the opportunity. The one who seized it was entirely Wangcho's own strength.”
That was the truth.
All I did was tell him ahead of time that the owner of Sector E would disappear.
What calmed the chaos in Sector E and completely absorbed that district afterward was Wangcho's ability.
“So there's no need to keep doubting Sector E any longer. Since Wangcho handled it himself, it's Wangcho's rightful share.”
“....”
Wangcho looked up at the ceiling for a moment.
The hyena beastkin, silently blinking their golden eyes, muttered in a voice close to a sigh.
“Anyway. That old bastard. At the very least, I told him not to sell drugs to our kids.... And he just had to cross the line.”
“?”
Drugs, all of a sudden?
It seemed Wangcho was once again under some absurd misunderstanding.
By now, I had no idea what kind of image he even had of me in his head anymore.
“Understood, Doctor. It might be a bit much to call it a substitute, but I'll completely clean up the drug business within two years.”
“No need to go that far. Just switch it over to medicinal use.”
I waved my hand toward Wangcho, who was denouncing drugs with a resolute expression.
“Please make sure the narcotics already in use are supplied only to our company, and strictly manage them so they don't leak out to the public.”
“Huh? Drugs to the company? Could it be that the big shots...?”
“No. Drugs can become excellent medicine if used properly. That's why management matters.”
“Understood. If anyone lays a hand on the company's goods, I'll hang them in the slaughterhouse.”
“No, there's no need for that....”
The more I spoke, the deeper his misunderstanding seemed to go.
But since he was saying it with the face of someone prepared to offer his heart, it was hard to bring myself to say anything.
So I decided to leave him alone.
After all, Wangcho was most reliable when he was operating under a misunderstanding.
***
“Ah, come to think of it.”
After finishing Wangcho's gout treatment,
since there were no more patients waiting, I caught up with Wangcho for a while.
“Wangcho, how's Eri been lately?”
“That girl? Don't even get me started.”
Wangcho stopped limping and turned halfway around.
“These days we're having a bit of a turf war with the other districts, right? Since we took Sector E, there've been more punks trying to mess with us from other areas.”
“And?”
“Every time that happens, I bring that Eri girl along.”
The hyena beastkin shuddered and clicked their tongue.
“That kid. She can use magic, and she's quite skilled with aura too, isn't she? She absorbs every aura technique I teach her and turns it into her own thing. Honestly, if she weren't only guarding you, I'd have put her in the number-two spot in my organization.”
Oh.
Wangcho thought even more highly of Eri than I had expected.
Wangcho was a fighter strong enough to beat Shen, the section chief, if conditions were right.
For Wangcho to rate her this highly.
It was certain that among people her age, only a handful in the Empire could beat Eri.
“Right. I heard that little kid's been learning from Brother Otto and that fire mage we met last time too?”
“She's learning martial arts from one and magic from the other.”
“What, are you making some kind of decisive weapon or something?”
“I'm only helping that child make the most of her talent.”
“Hoo. Lucky. When I was young, if only I had one good person like that around.”
“You're the good adult, Wangcho. Thanks for watching over Eri so well.”
“....”
Wangcho narrowed his eyes.
Then,
“Are you perhaps leaving Limbus Fit soon?”
“.... Did you know?”
“The way you say it, like you're suddenly going to part, I can't very well pretend not to know.”
As expected, Wangcho was quick on the uptake.
“Well. You're not someone who should be staying in a place like this. I had a feeling this day would come eventually.”
“I'm not leaving forever. I'll come by several times a year.”
“Yes.... Still, I guess I'll have to tell the prostitutes and my guys. These days they rely on your treatment and don't hold back on their bodies. The clinic won't stay open forever either, so I should tell them to keep living as they did before.”
“Ah, no need for that.”
“Pardon?”
Knowing this would happen, I'd prepared a little surprise.
“The clinic will stay open from now on. No, other clinics will open too. Wangcho only needs to guide them to places close to home.”
“What do you mean by that....”
“Our company has selected dedicated healers to handle clinical trials this time.”
A few months ago.
At long last, the sildenafil clinical trial results came in.
The result as a heart medicine was somewhat disappointing.
Compared to the existing heart medicine, digitalis, its performance wasn't overwhelmingly better.
But during the clinical trial, an 'unintended' side effect was discovered.
“As expected of the company president. He was actually doing proper clinical trials.”
That side effect was an increase in male virility.
I asked it to save the heart, and instead it ended up reviving some completely different part.
— “D-Director. The test subject who signed up for the clinical trial... the... can't seem to calm down...”
— “Uh... why do the patients keep refusing to stay in bed?”
— “Huh? The company president wants to participate in the experiment too? The other directors too? What??”
Right after the effect was discovered,
the company had a few little mishaps,
but in any case, after that clinical trial, one project got started at our company.
“Our company is now going to keep running clinical trials on all our medicines. We'll test all the medicines that already have results too.”
There may be some 'side effect' we don't know about.
Just like sildenafil had been.
With that hope, the company's board of directors unanimously agreed to the project.
However, there was one problem in this case.
If we recruit all the test subjects as volunteers like this, the cost will skyrocket astronomically.
To solve that problem, the Mercur Company took drastic action.
“No way....”
“Our company's clinics are currently being set up all over Civitas Square. Soon they'll be installed in Limbus Fit as well. Our contracted full-time healers will be stationed there.”
And those healers will 'test' the many medicines of our company on the residents.
“Of course, we'll only be testing medicines that have passed through phase 3 clinical trials. You don't need to worry about serious side effects.”
“....”
“Residents who agree to the trials will be able to receive treatment at a cheaper price. The company will be able to collect data on the medicines.”
It was a win-win relationship for everyone.
Citizens who find the price of holy magic burdensome can receive cheaper treatment in exchange for agreeing to the clinical trials.
The company can extract clinical trial data without spending much money.
Lastly, the healers also benefited.
Since the amount of holy magic they could use per day was limited anyway, they could make a nice chunk of money through these clinics.
It was all the benevolent influence of sildenafil— Viagra.
... Hah. If only the medicine hadn't been an aphrodisiac.
“So don't worry too much just because I'm not around. If you feel lonely, you can always send letters through Wangcho.”
“....”
Sniff.
“?”
I whirled around at the sound from Wangcho's side.
What was that? Was Wangcho crying?
A mafia boss who hangs people on hooks and slices meat for a living, crying over something like this?
“Doctor... thank you so very much.”
The hyena beastkin lowered their head, as if trying to hide their tears, and took off their hat.
“Until the day you leave, I'll somehow have Eri reach the first tier. Even if I have to teach her everything I have.”
“There's no need to push yourself that hard....”
“No. Compared to what you've done for us, this is all I can offer, and I'm ashamed.”
Wangcho put his hat back on and wiped the moisture from the corners of his eyes.
“Once again, thank you as the representative of our district, Doctor.”
***
When I parted with Wangcho and returned to the mansion, the house was in an uproar.
Servants bustled back and forth through the hallways, the storeroom that was usually kept shut was open, and somewhere I could smell something burning.
For the record, the burning smell was from someone scorching clothes while ironing them.
That servant was getting yelled at by the head maid in a corner.
I grabbed one of the busy maids passing by.
“What's going on?”
“Ah, you've returned, young master. The Founding Day preparations are in full swing. Dinner might be a little late tonight.”
Dinner was going to be something I cooked anyway, so whether the servants were busy had nothing to do with me.
Anyway, I understood the reason.
Founding Day.
Basically the Empire's version of Lunar New Year.
Once for the New Year, and once for Founding Day.
The Empire had two major holidays like this.
The moment I heard that, I understood why the servants were so busy.
On Founding Day, my parents would have a lot of places to go.
Freya would also get busy because she had to go meet her friends.
That was why the servants were busy too.
They had to sort out the clothes the masters would wear, and prepare to receive the guests they would bring.
It was an event that made the whole house busy in many ways.
'Well, nothing to do with me.'
Still, it wasn't something I needed to worry about.
Usually on Founding Day, only my parents were busy, and I would stay home doing research.
This year, I planned to research ways to promote Viagra at home.
Just as I was thinking that and casually heading toward the back door of the kitchen,
“Ah, young master. You're back from work. That's perfect.”
Wilhelm, the head butler, approached from the end of the hallway.
An old silver-haired butler with his back straight as a board came walking this way.
“This year on Founding Day, you and Lady Eri will also be participating, so starting today we'll be fitting your clothes and going over etiquette one by one.”
“Me?”
“You are seventeen this year, are you not?”
Ah, right.
Founding Day wasn't just a simple festival.
It held special meaning for noble children who had come of age at seventeen.
If sixteen was the time to make your name known in social circles, then seventeen was the time to start seriously looking for a betrothed.
Founding Day also served as the occasion to mark that beginning.
In martial arts terms, sixteen is when you make your debut in the martial world, and seventeen is when you go to the Dragon-Phoenix Assembly.
By the way, the Dragon-Phoenix Assembly is basically a world-class youth tournament where all the promising juniors gather to show off who is better than whom.
However, one question arose from the butler's words.
“I already have a betrothed, don't I? What happens in that case?”
In short, Founding Day is the place you go to find a betrothed.
I couldn't understand why I would have any reason to go when I'd already found one.
“That's right. Which is why this Founding Day will be the place to officially announce your engagement to House Hausen.”
“I see.”
“How unexpected. I didn't know there were things young master didn't know.”
“I just haven't looked into that side in detail.”
Since I thought there would be no reason to go out.
It would be impossible to know things I hadn't bothered studying, wouldn't it?
The butler then also spoke to Eri, who was standing next to me.
“Lady Eri, let's have your clothes fitted starting today as well.”
“Huh? Me too?”
Eri mumbled with bread in her mouth from behind me.
I didn't bother asking where she got it.
No doubt she'd stolen it from the storeroom on the way over.
“Why am I going?”
“Lady Eri, you are now practically carrying the Nihirit family's seal on your back. So the family's social activities will also be managed by us.”
He put it that way, but there was also a more practical reason hidden in it.
Usually, a mage brought into a house doesn't know the rules of noble society very well.
So the family takes care of the parts that mage doesn't know.
Because when that mage later rises in status, the family may end up managing some of the rights she gained.
Of course, considering how my mother has been treating Eri lately, it feels more like she's just treating her like a daughter.
“Please don't feel burdened. This Founding Day is also a chance to let the other families know that the Nihirit barony has taken in a dedicated mage. Lady Eri may also make some good connections at Founding Day.”
“Good connections?”
“Yes. Isn't Lady Eri at that age now too?”
Perhaps because the butler's words didn't sit well with her,
Eri stopped chewing her bread for a moment and began thinking hard about something.
Soon, she answered with a somewhat displeased look.
“I'll think about that. By the way, will there be lots of tasty food there?”
“Some of the Empire's finest cooks will be preparing the food.”
“Okay. Then I'm not eating lunch that day.”
The butler gave a wry smile and nodded.
Then he smiled again and turned his gaze to me.
“And young master. At Founding Day, there are also times when gifts are presented to the imperial family. Most of those will be prepared by the family head, but it would be good if you thought about it once as well.”
“Understood.”
“Then I'll be off. If you need anything, please let the servants know.”
The butler left those words behind and withdrew.
I stood in the hallway and thought for a moment.
A gift.
It would be nice to give something that showed off the family's character.
But the Nihirit family wasn't really the sort of family with much distinctive character.
Hmm.
'If the imperial family member were a man...'
Could the sildenafil that hasn't been released yet be a gift?
'Nah, that's probably not it, right?'
Even with all the mistaken-identity story bonuses, this seems wrong.
Then if not sildenafil, what gift could I give the imperial family?
Even after that, I stood in the hallway for a long while, thinking about a gift that would leave a lasting impression on the imperial family.