Chapter 23
The public market allowed anyone to set up a stall as long as they paid the Commercial Guild, and numerous vendors had set up in a sprawling, cobblestone-paved square.
Some stalls sold handmade accessories or dried fruit, the sort of stalls one might find at a flea market in Japan, while others sizzled something soba-like on iron griddles.
Apparently, different goods were sold in different areas, at least to some extent.
Well, that made sense. If everything were thrown together, it would be harder for people to shop.
"Pretty much everyone is talkin' about the mine, aren't they?"
Mimino-san suddenly said.
"Can't you hear them? Everyone's talking about that."
——They say Six Mine has stopped operating?
——Otherwise, the domain troops wouldn't be out in such numbers.
——They say His Grace the Duke feels responsible and won't come out of the castle.
——Wait, wasn't His Grace the Duke at the mine?
——What could the reason be? What is it?
——If the mine shuts down, the domain capital will decline too...
——It's probably temporary.
Sure enough, if I listened a little more closely, I could hear customers and shopkeepers talking.
No one had the exact information, but everyone was talking as though the mine was in serious trouble. Was that how important the mine was to Duke Achenbach's domain...?
"Of course. This country relied entirely on Talent Gems."
"I see..."
"What happens if the mine disappears? Maybe it'd be a good lesson."
Mimino-san gave a small smile, but I couldn't bring myself to smile.
"...Reiji-kun? What's wrong?"
"Ah, n-no. I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
Mimino-san casually took my hand. There was a height difference between us, but like this, we looked like a boy and girl running an errand together... No, no, a couple? No way. (I had never been in a relationship and got flustered over something that minor.)
"Looks like the stalls selling medicinal herbs start here."
Mimino-san's words brought me back to myself. There were countless stalls with dried leaves spread out on cloths laid directly on the ground.
"Whoa."
I eagerly made my way from stall to stall.
There were ordinary medicinal herbs, and many stalls selling spices. In fact, most of them sold spices. They sold dried seeds loose, apparently leaving the processing to the buyer.
Some stalls had spices in jars, too, but those were sold by weight on scales, and the prices were fairly high.
The herb I was looking for didn't seem to be anywhere.
"Is there something you're looking for?"
"Er, um... I don't know if you've heard of it, Mimino-san, but..."
I explained the leaf to Mimino-san. It was five-lobed like a maple leaf, and each lobe split into five more at its tip. In my mind, I'd arbitrarily named it "Double Maple."
"What in the world is that?"
Mimino-san didn't know, either, and tilted her head to one side. How cute. And she was supposedly twenty years old, too—that was just unfair.
"—A leaf even a Halfling apothecary doesn't know about? Tell me about it, too."
A nearby, heavily bearded middle-aged man stood up and came over.
"What? A mysterious leaf even a Halfling apothecary doesn't know?"
"You mean a secret leaf passed down in the Halfling village?"
"What? A legendary leaf cultivated by the Halfling elder?"
The rumor spread rapidly, and old men started coming out of the stalls!? And they were adding all sorts of embellishments! The only things they had right were "Halfling" and "leaf"!
We were soon surrounded by old men, but Mimino-san calmly explained the leaf's characteristics to them.
"—Could it be that one over there? The leaf of an Icefall Tree."
"Idiot. That one's three-pronged."
"I've seen one before. If I remember right, it was at a coral reef in the Holy Kingdom of Kurvaan..."
"It couldn't be in the sea."
They bickered and tossed out one suggestion after another, but they didn't seem any closer to the right answer. Was it really such a rare material...?
I was wondering whether to ask about the deep silver-colored metal and the wriggling, earthworm-like creature when—
"Ho ho ho. What is all this commotion?"
An old man appeared, leaning on a cane, with a gleaming bald head and long eyebrows hanging down over his eyes.
"The elder."
"It's the elder. We'll know the answer now."
"The elder."
The apothecaries at the stalls quickly moved aside, creating a straight path to where we stood.
"Boy, this gentleman is known as the 'Walking Herbal Encyclopedia.'"
"I-is that so? And his name is...?"
"Don't know."
He doesn't know?
"Ho ho ho. It sounds as though you're discussing some interesting herb... Huh!? You're a Halfling!?"
His gentle manner changed completely, and he suddenly started spraying spit at us!?
"You damn Halfling apothecary—how dare you come tramping into human territory again!"
"H-hey, Elder. She's a traveling apothecary. She isn't here to cause trouble at the stalls."
"I won't believe you! I won't say a word while a Halfling is here!"
He said he wouldn't speak, but we hadn't even discussed anything with him yet...
Even so, the way he kept stealing glances at me made him seem like such a pain to deal with.
"...Um, Mimino-san, shall we go?"
When I urged Mimino-san to leave with me,
"Are you sure about that!? I am the 'Walking Herbal Encyclopedia,' you know! There are things I know even when none of the other apothecaries do!"
Oh, what a pain...
This was impossible. Just dealing with him was exhausting. I was about to leave as quickly as possible—but then Mimino-san said,
"Reiji-kun, I'll keep my distance, so you can talk to him."
"B-but..."
"It's all right, it's all right. Hmm? Nothing ventured, nothing gained."
With that, Mimino-san moved away from me. Hmm... I didn't want to talk to anyone who said bad things about Mimino-san.
"So? What kind of leaf do you want, boy? Hmm? One that lets you drown in pleasure?"
Is this old man dealing in drugs or something...?
As it turned out, the old man knew about "Double Maple."
Not only that—he had one.
The leaf was called the "Leaf of the Tree of Life," and apparently it was a precious item that could only be obtained in a forest managed by High Elves.
But I was able to buy it using only the "pocket money" Dantes-san had given me—for some reason, although the "Leaf of the Tree of Life" was precious, only High Elves could use it to concoct medicine, so to everyone else it was merely a collector's item.
"Ho ho ho. To think I would end up entrusting the 'Leaf of the Tree of Life' passed down from my predecessor's predecessor to someone..."
"Thank you very much. Well, we'll be on our way."
"Yes. I was an apprentice to my predecessor's predecessor, you see, and that was when I..."
"Is this story going to take long? We can go now, right?"
He went on about how children these days had no manners and all sorts of other things, but I was finally free. At the old man's stall, he finally said softly,
"...Halflings are indeed excellent apothecaries. But some people speak ill of them because of their fixation on money. You should know that, boy."
I wondered whether keeping Mimino-san away had been the old man's way of showing consideration...
Even so, Mimino-san was Mimino-san. I didn't want people lumping her together with everyone else.
With complicated feelings, I gazed at the "Leaf of the Tree of Life," which was far larger than my palm. Apparently, it had been harvested decades ago, yet it was so fresh that it looked as though it had been attached to a branch until just moments ago. Looking through 【All Creation】, I could tell that all sorts of possibilities lay dormant in the leaf.
"—Oh, Reiji-kun, looks like you found what you were after?"
"Mimino-san..."
Mimino-san approached with a bright smile, and I bowed my head to her.
"I'm sorry. I made you go through something unpleasant because of my selfishness..."
"Huh!? N-no, don't worry about it~. Like that old man said, Halflings do sometimes cause trouble in the market. That's why a lot of people dislike us."
"Even so, that has nothing to do with you, Mimino-san."
"If you understand that, Reiji-kun, then that's all that matters. Besides, you can't go worrying about people who have nothing to do with you, right?"
"But..."
Mimino-san gently stroked my head.
"...But you'll show me that leaf later, won't you?"
"Yes, of course!"
We were laughing together when—
"T-there you are, Mimino-san, Reiji-kun!"
Non-san came running toward us, out of breath.
"Come to the Adventurer's Guild, quickly! The person Reiji-kun gave the medicine to—"
Mimino-san and I looked at each other and started running.