Chapter 28: The Angel Returns

Five days later...

I woke up and quietly got ready for the day, careful not to wake the still-sleeping Layette. I descended to the first floor and opened the wooden window to find...

“Whoa!”

There was a huge line outside.

This wasn’t the first time I’ve had a long queue of customers, but something was off.

In previous cases, there was a clear reason for all the customers lining up, like when the store first opened or when we were having a sale.

But this time, I couldn’t figure out why it was happening.

They were quietly standing out there without making a scene, but they each wore a fretful expression with bloodshot eyes.

“Wh-What in the world...”

I was standing there, frozen, when I heard a knock on the door.

It was clearly coming from a different door from where the line was formed.

I removed the bolt and opened the door, then two men burst into the store.

“Kaoru! I need some strong medicine! Ours isn’t nearly strong enough!”

“This is an emergency! Please!”

They were the owners of the two medicine shops that weren’t a part of the so-called association.

Yes, the ones I made a deal with to supply them with my medicine wholesale.

“What happened...?”

“A disease. It seems an epidemic has been going around. It’s pretty serious, with the number of patients increasing at a rapid pace. There have even been deaths...”

“What?!”

“Fever, headaches, stomach aches, joint pain, loss of appetite, and fatigue. In some cases, people have died in as quickly as ten days. Even using as much of our strongest herbs as possible before the side effects become too big of a problem have barely helped at all. The court head doctor has been working without sleep to no avail. All they could manage to do was close off the royal palace to keep the contamination from getting to the royal family...”

This was bad.

I was running a medicine shop at one point, but I had no knowledge of medicine or medical science.

It would be far too suspicious to use some elixir that could make a dying old man or woman get up and start dancing, and I couldn’t diagnose, let alone figure out a cure for a disease by looking at a patient.

The only thing I knew how to diagnose was beriberi.

You take a mallet and do that thing where you tap them on the knee with it.

...That wasn’t going to do anyone any good.

What to do...

In any case, I had to do something about the long line outside.

“Everyone! I don’t have any medicine right now! I’ll have to assess the situation and figure out what to do from there, so please return home for today!”

They seemed to understand it was unreasonable to have such high hopes for a business that had closed down already, and the line dispersed.

Either they were really desperate to come to my shop, or their expectations were just that high... wait, there were still tens of people in line that hadn’t left.

“Excuse me, but we still don’t have medicine...”

“We’re here to buy your box lunches.”

Oh...

After selling them some packed meals, I closed the doors, wooden windows, and curtains, then flipped the sign to indicate we were temporarily closed today.

I gathered everyone for a meeting.

The members were me, the owners of the medicine shops, Layette, who had noticed the commotion and came downstairs, Emile, and Belle.

I had them cancel any work from the guild today to stay home.

Roland and Francette had appeared out of nowhere too.

It was the all-star cast.

...Oh, but I guess Ed and the others weren’t there.

“First, please explain the details of this emergency.”

The shop owners explained the details as I had requested.

According to them, a highly contagious disease had spread in a village to the east of the royal capital, and although exit and entry was closed off in an attempt to contain it, patients were found in the royal capital a few days ago, and the disease spread quickly.

“Apparently, news of the disease and the quarantine on the village was initially suppressed to avoid chaos. In fact, an official announcement about it still hasn’t been made. But there’s no hiding it anymore, and the information has been leaked everywhere. So while we’re running around trying to find a solution, it’s completely unrelated to whatever the authorities are doing about it.”

What was this country doing...?

Speed is of the essence in cases like these.

“How foolish. The royal family here seems completely incompetent,” Roland commented harshly.

It was probably extra frustrating for him, being royalty himself.

A lot of people could end up dying.

As for us, we probably wouldn’t be affected by the disease as long as we drank my cure-all medicine.

We could simply wait for this epidemic to pass, or move to another country.

Even though I had the funds, I had opted to rent out my store rather than buy it precisely so I could pick up and move whenever I needed.

Any interior items I purchased could be thrown into the Item Box.

That way, I could reopen shop at another city with ease.

...Wait, I would never abandon my regulars!

What if people find out who I am? Bring it on! I’ll just run away again!

I decided on that day.

I’ll live the life I want in this world.

I’ll be modest, but I won’t hold back.

I’ll reflect on my mistakes, but I won’t have regrets!

“Sorry, everyone. I think we’ll have to move again...”

“...Finally. To be honest, our current backstories were a bit hard to deal with...”

Roland gave a forced smile at Francette’s words.

Huh? Really? Well, I suppose I should’ve known.

Sorry, Francette.

““We are at your call.””

Ah... Well, I guess Emile and Belle would say that.

“That’s okay. I’ll follow you wherever you go!”

And I’ll protect you, Layette!

Okay, let’s do this.

“There you have it. Leave the rest to us.”

The shop owners looked at me wide-eyes, not understanding what was happening.

All right, show time! The Angel’s Theater was about to begin!

I had the shop owners return home and opened the door to leave the shop.

Then I produced a small, thumb-sized whistle from my pocket.

I put it up to my lips and...

Fweet, fweet, fweet! Fweet, fweet, fweet! Fweet, fweet, fweet!

Fweet, fweet, fweet! Fweet, fweet, fweet! Fweet, fweet, fweet! Fweet, fweet, fweet! Fweet, fweet, fweet! Fweet, fweet, fweet!

I used all of my lung capacity to blow it as loud as I could.

Then, after some time, human figures could be seen running toward us at full speed.

“Number ooone! I was here first, so this job’s mine!”

“No, stupid! Did you forget what she told us about the signals? This isn’t a normal job... Isn’t that right, Lady Kaoru?”

I nodded at the boy who was second to arrive.

I would explain once everyone was gathered.

One after another, the children from the orphanage and local street urchins showed up.

Actually, the children living in abandoned buildings were technically “homeless” and not street urchins, but that was neither here nor there.

These were the children I hired as messengers or to perform miscellaneous tasks for me in exchange for money or food.

I usually gave requests to whoever happened to catch my attention, but we had an arrangement so they would come when I blew the whistle in case there was no one around.

If I blew it once, I would need one person. Two times meant I needed two, and three times meant I needed three.

First come, first serve.

And if I continued to blow the whistle a bunch of times...

It was the signal for a special assembly.

When this happened, it meant I had a job that required everyone who heard the sound of the whistle.

It was the sign of an emergency.

The children who gathered lined up in the order they arrived.

They all understood I wouldn’t allow any cheating by cutting in line, so there were no arguments.

I explained the contents of the job to all who had gathered.

“Do you know about the epidemic going around the royal capital?”

Some of the relatively older kids nodded.

“I’m going to eradicate it. You’re all going to save the royal capital, and this country.”

“““Whoaaa! No waaay!!!”””

I’ve always paid out their rewards as promised and more.

There wasn’t a single orphan child or street urchin who would decline work from me or distrust anything I said.

Each child took a potion bottle and silver coin from the bag I had been wearing on my shoulder.

The bag was clearly too small to fit everything, but no one seemed to question it.

Of course, this included Francette.

Under my order, everyone drank down the potions.

Now the children wouldn’t be infected by the disease.

“First, I want you four to go where this person tells you to, and tell people that the owner of Layette’s Atelier wants them to gather before the goddess statue at the central plaza before the second morning bell. After that, I want you all to move on to the next task with the other children, which I’m about to explain,” I said to four children and pointed toward Roland.

“Roland, tell them where to find the lieutenant colonel, the viscount company commander, and the residences of the two noble houses that visited the shop before. I’m sure you’ve already done research into the nobles who tried to cause me trouble...”

Roland scratched his head, which I took to mean I was right.

“I want you to go to Salabert Realtors and tell them ‘Layette’s Atelier will be closing. Our contract will end today, so please keep the deposit.’ Join the rest of the group once you’re done with that.”

This one required the most explanation, so I asked the one who seemed to be the oldest.

Then...

“I want everyone to go around town and spread the word. Tell them ‘You can get special medicine for the epidemic for free. They’ll be given out after the second morning bell in front of the goddess statue in the central plaza.’ Okay, did you memorize it? All right, go!”

They all went running with a sparkle in their eyes.

“Kaoru, why did you do that?”

Francette asked, but the answer was obvious!

“I can’t abandon the people of this city after being in their care.”

Francette replied, “Yes, I did know you would say that. What I don’t understand is, why are you going out of your way to send a messenger to the nobles that caused you trouble?”

Oh, that!

“Whether it’s for good or bad, they are ‘acquaintances’ of mine. If I call for them, they might think it’s for a request, and come over thinking they can make money by selling me favors. It would be much harder to call for nobles who I’ve never met before. I want to use the military and nobles to spread information as quickly as possible. In other words, I just need them to spread the word, so it doesn’t matter if they’re good or bad. I need someone who will answer my summons and has a route to quickly send information to other nobles and the royal palace.”

“I-I see!”

Francette seemed to finally understand.

Roland probably knew all this from the beginning, but he acted completely disinterested.

As expected as the brother of a king... though he was probably higher spec than His Highness himself.

Now, it was time to put everything in the shop into my Item Box before heading out to the central plaza.

I’d be taking the sign too.

I could reuse it next time.

＊　　　＊

When I arrived at the central plaza, there were already quite a lot of people gathered.

The four I appointed still weren’t... oh, there were the military officers running toward us.

And from the other side, two carriages.

Probably the annoying nobles.

All right, the stage was set.

It was time to begin.

I just needed some high platform...

Yeah, I was short, so people wouldn’t be able to see me or hear my voice by standing at the same height.

Actually, I could take care of the voice issue with this.

[Come out, potion in a container like a shoulder megaphone!]

Hm, I think I’ll stand on the pedestal part of the goddess statue... I mean, Celes’s statue.

I hoped nobody would yell at me for being blasphemous.

All right, the military group and nobles were there! I had to start before they started bothering me for an explanation.

Time to begin!

“Everyone, thank you for coming. I will now grant you all the medicine for the epidemic.”

I stood on the pedestal and spoke loudly using the megaphone.

The gathered crowd quieted down, staring with a blank expression on their faces.

I should probably explain a bit more than that...

“Are you all aware of the terrible disease spreading across the royal capital?”

Some of them knew, while others were hearing it for the first time or suspected it but weren’t sure.

Not everyone had known about it, but they all seemed to figure out what was going on by how the people around them were acting.

And gradually, an anxious clamor began to spread.

“Yes, it’s a dangerous disease that has even resulted in death!”

The crowd grew more restless.

“Stop! What are you plotting?!”

The lieutenant colonel rushed up to stop me, but Roland and Francette blocked his path.

Emile and Belle stopped the viscount company commander as well.

Yeah, I expected they would try to interrupt.

There was a reason there had been no official announcement despite the news being widespread already.

Because once someone pulled the trigger, there would be panic, chaos, and possibly a riot.

And I was seemingly acting as an agitator.

However!

“I will now distribute a specific remedy for this disease! If you drink it, it will protect you from getting infected, and those who have already contracted it will be cured. There’s plenty to go around—many times more than the total population of the royal capital—so please, line up in a calm, orderly manner, because there’s plenty to go around. Or else...”

Then I created a “nitroglycerin-like thing” a few meters above the ground between me and the crowd.

Boom!

“You will be struck down by the wrath of the Goddess!”

The noisy crowd instantly fell quiet.

I began chanting strange incantations into the megaphone, conscious of the fact that everyone’s attention was gathered on me.

“My friend, the Goddess Celestine, grant us salvation from this wicked disease! Come forth, Medicine Pot of Miracles!!!”

Then a miniature goddess statue, about two meters in height, suddenly appeared at the base of the goddess statue.

A tiled pot was being held up at its right shoulder, where a white fluid was pouring out.

The fluid was pouring down toward the mini goddess statue’s feet, where it seemed to vanish as it was drained at the base.

Yes, it was being returned and recirculated into the pot.

Who knows what would happen if such a suspicious fluid was endlessly poured into the drainage channels?

It would be pretty bad if the mice living down there turned into super mice or something.

The crowd still didn’t utter a word, and gulped audibly.

A goddess statue had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

White fluid was pouring out endlessly from the pot that the goddess statue was holding.

A strange girl.

An explosion of divine judgment.

The royal capital’s crisis.

The Goddess’s protection.

“““Uooohhh!!!”””

Suddenly, the crowd erupted in cheers.

I continued shouting in the megaphone in an attempt to control the crowd.

“Quiet down! Stay calm! The medicine will continue to flow without end, so there’s no need to rush! Prioritize children, the elderly, and those who are already sick, and patiently wait your turn. Do you want to act shamefully in front of your family and friends? Do you want to incur the wrath of the Goddess?”

It would be an absolute disaster if the crowd all rushed forward at once.

In order to prevent this, I had given them a feeling of security by telling them there is an endless supply of medicine, and planted fear for the Goddess’s divine punishment.

No one would doubt the existence of divine punishment after witnessing such a miracle.

In fact, they had just seen it with their own eyes.

“I want the lieutenant colonel and company commander to inform the royal palace and military. And don’t forget about the guard regiment and royal sentries. You two nobles, go around the nobility district and inform the other nobles. They wouldn’t listen if a commoner was to spread the news. Let’s see, you may tell them a friend of Celestine has just appeared.”

I changed up my speech pattern a bit to sound more authoritative.

The two nobles simply stood there with mouths agape, but the officers were on top of it.

An officer in the military couldn’t survive if they were dumbfounded by every unexpected situation.

They saluted and got ready to run off...

“Oh, wait!”

I called out to them, then grabbed two potion bottles out of thin air.

Their eyes widened, as well as the rest of the crowd.

“It’s the same medicine as that one. Drink it.”

The two drank it down without hesitation.

Then I grabbed two cloth bags out of the air.

“There are twelve bottles each inside. Have the king drink it. We can’t have His Majesty and ministers lining up with the rest of the crowd, can we?”

They took the bags wordlessly, bowed their heads, then ran off toward the royal palace.

...Huh?

“Why are you two not going?”

I asked the two nobles who were still standing there.

“W-Well, we were hoping for some medicine as well...”

Oh, right!

“Here!”

I grabbed two bottles out of thin air, and handed them one each. Once they drank them...

“...Why are you still waiting?”

“U-Um, the medicine bag...”

Ah.

“You won’t be getting one. A normal noble who isn’t a minister will have to line up normally with the rest of the people.”

““Whaaat!””

They were still taking their sweet time, but they ran off immediately after I glared at them.

Fear the demon eyes! ...Hey, shut up!

“Now, once you’ve formed a line, move forward promptly but without rushing! One sip of the medicine will be enough. Please also put some in a container for the people who weren’t able to come here due to age or sickness!”

“““Huh...?”””

Ah, judging by the reaction from some of them, I could tell they were up to no good...

“Also... it would be pointless to try to take a lot of it to save for later, because this medicine won’t work for any other illness and its efficacy will expire in a day, and you can get it here for free. And if you’re petty enough to do such a thing, who knows what your family and friends would think... Even if you need some for your family, one cup will be enough for ten people or so. You would even be fine with less. So keep moving and don’t hold up the line! Drinking one scoop from your hand will be enough!”

All right, things were finally moving along! I was set for now.

Layette squeezed my right hand.

She was worried about me...

There was no turning back now...

But I had no choice.

Judging from what the two medicine shop owners told me, the disease was spreading at an alarmingly rapid rate.

It was probably spreading far quicker than the plague, typhus, or cholera.

Even a little bit of delay in its treatment would result in it spreading throughout the kingdom, and eventually the entire continent.

It would all happen in the blink of an eye.

And I had no way to tell diseases apart.

Of course not! What do you expect from an ex-newbie office lady?!

I couldn’t diagnose the plague or typhus, and I knew nothing about the causes, traits, or treatments for any disease.

The only thing I did know was that beriberi diagnosis method where you tap your knee.

And selling medicine in my shop wouldn’t have helped.

Only people who were relatively well-off would go out and purchase medicine.

Orphans, street urchins, the homeless, and even normal citizens often relied on free folk remedies rather than purchasing medicine.

There were some who wouldn’t buy medicine even if it was really cheap or even free.

Then it would be pointless, and conversely, if everyone in the royal capital came barging into my store, I wouldn’t have been able to handle that either.

So I had to go somewhere spacious and give it out for free, with a method where everyone would be rushing in at once, but while avoiding panic and preventing people from fighting over the medicine or nobles and royalty trying to keep it for themselves... Only the Goddess or Angel could fulfill all those conditions.

In other words, it was checkmate.

I didn’t even know what the disease was called.

But if I went around giving out medicine that could cure any disease, the world would go on a witch hunt, no, an Angel hunt.

I’m no masochist, so I had to pass on that.

And so, I had the convenient Goddess-branded “Potion Factory” (named by me) resolve everything.

This was the result that came of it.

[Potion that cures and creates antibodies for any epidemic disease going around in the royal capital right now with just a low dose and loses its effectiveness if it’s not drunk in twenty-four hours after being scooped, go inside a small container shaped like a goddess statue with an endless generation/circulation system and come out!]

That’s cheating, you say?

It’s fine, I’m the one who makes the rules.

Despite the massive crowd of people gathered, each person took very little time.

Some people took it upon themselves to organize the lines, leading the people so they would move in from the side instead of directly from the front.

Smart! It would take more time from the front because each person would need to stop, scoop some, drink, then move aside, but they would only need to stop for a moment this way.

Well done.

The volunteer workers seemed very happy, and I could even see a glimmer in their eyes.

I mean, they were helping the Angel, so they must have felt like they’d become a servant of god.

Of course they would be happy.

It seemed I could leave the rest to them without worry.

Then, after some time, they arrived.

Yup, of course. Them.

The soldiers of the military.

Most of them were foot soldiers, but there were some cavalry as well.

...And a crowd of nobles.

“Out of the way, commoners! The miracle medicine belongs to the house of Marquess Sessdor...”

Boom!

“A-Ahhh!”

As the noble rode his carriage through the rows of citizen toward the goddess statue, I gently gifted him the nitroglycerin-like thing.

The roof of his carriage was blown off, and his two horses sat down on the spot out of fear.

Horses are quite timid creatures. A single crow or a shadow flying by in front of them could cause them to stop or run away.

Maybe they opted to sit down because they couldn’t run away while drawing the carriage.

The noble in the carriage shrank down and covered his head with both hands, perhaps to protect his head from the falling shards of the roof or because he was cowering in fear.

“Fool! It seems you don’t value your life, to oppose the will of the Goddess like this... Then as you wish, I’ll grant you a swift death. That way, you won’t need to worry about the disease anymore.”

My voice, amplified by the shoulder megaphone, spread throughout the plaza.

The sound was high quality without any distortion... well, of course it would be.

It was a special order straight from the Goddess’s workshop.

All right, the nobles and army stopped in place.

At the front of the group was... the lieutenant colonel.

“Behold, the miracle of the Goddess!”

Then I created another mini goddess statue.

One, two, it didn’t make much difference now.

So I decided to prioritize making an impactful impression to the nobles and army.

“The soldiers are to line up at this second goddess statue and drink the medicine. Afterward, under your commander’s orders, you will cooperate with the sentries to maintain order in the royal capital, distribute medicine to the sick, and spread the word that the disease has been overcome. Anyone who drinks the medicine will be immune to this epidemic. As for the nobles... you will line up normally behind the rest of the citizens.”

The soldiers roared in jubilation, and their superior officers quickly began forming lines.

I had to give it to the military.

They moved in an orderly fashion, and formed rows quickly and efficiently.

Though I could hear grumblings from the nobles...

“There is no difference between nobles and commoners before the Goddess. That’s a distinction humans have made by themselves. If you don’t like it, feel free to leave without the medicine.”

They shut up and lined up pretty quickly after that.

Oh, it looked like some of the nobles had their servants bring containers instead of lining up themselves.

It seemed they had gotten my message.

I guess those two I sent off to spread the word did their job well.

But why did they go through the trouble of coming in person? Maybe they wanted to see the miracle for themselves, or they were plotting to take the goddess statue...

“Kaoru, I mean, Lady Angel...”

It was the lieutenant colonel.

He had ridden over on his horse.

“Kaoru is fine. It weirds me out when you address me that way...”

“I can’t... well, I suppose you’re right. That’s the kind of person you are...”

I was glad he seemed to agree.

There were several unfamiliar faces.

Judging by the way they were acting as equals to the lieutenant colonel, they must have been the leaders of the other nine battalions. Though it didn’t look like they were all there...

“So, Kaoru, what are you planning on doing after this?”

Yeaaah, that was the question.

There wasn’t much I could do now.

Then I’d have to take care of things properly.

“I’m going east.”

“East?”

“Yes, toward the village to the east, where this epidemic is believed to have started.

If I don’t contain it there, the disease could spread to places other than the royal capital, resulting in a disaster...”

The lieutenant colonel had a grave look on his face upon hearing this.

“That village has already been contained. People are prohibited from exit and entry, and they’ve been quarantined until the disease passes.”

...In other words, they’re waiting for the villagers to die as they’re trapped in the village? Or were they going to disinfect the entire village by setting fire to it?

Not on my watch!

I turned toward the people who had volunteered to organize the lines.

“I must go to a village to save those who are suffering from disease. So, please handle things here until the statues have fulfilled their duty.”

“““You can count on us, my lady!!!”””

They had been given a task by the Angel of the Goddess.

Such an honor was unheard of.

Five men raised their arms proudly, eyes glimmering with purpose.

“Once the soldiers are done, please form a second line and use that statue for the citizens as well. Now, I leave the rest to you.”

With that, I leapt down from the pedestal of the goddess statue.

The sea of people parted before me.

Who am I, Moses?!

Well, I doubted there was anyone who would try to stand in my way.

After all, I was the Angel of the Goddess, going out to save a dying village from an epidemic.

“...I’ll lead the way,” the lieutenant colonel offered suddenly.

Hmm, what to do...

There were going to be a lot of soldiers over there anyway, so there was no point in sending him away.

And I didn’t know where this village was.

At this point, it was meaningless to try and keep secrets.

The soldiers at the village may try to stop me, so it could be more convenient to have a high-ranking officer with me...

As I thought about it, the lieutenant colonel whispered in my ear.

“Please, if I’m granted the task of guiding the Angel of the Goddess, it would help my career in the future...”

Ahh, I got it.

That made sense.

Then I would let him play the part.

He had helped me with a bunch of things in the past, so I decided to repay him.

Let’s see, the lieutenant colonel’s name was... wait, I don’t remember! I always called him the lieutenant colonel or battalion commander instead of his name...

Oh well.

“Commander of the royal army second battalion. I entrust you to act as my guide to the village. Lead me there, so that we may save the villagers!”

“You honor me! I, Nevas von Vonsas, third son of the house of Count Vonsas and the second battalion leader of the royal army, will see this through even if it costs my life!”

He was really into it.

...Though I was one to talk.

No, I was just playing it up because the people would be more likely to listen to me if I acted all mighty.

Besides, having it known that the Angel has a grand attitude would distance that persona from the usual me, making it harder for people to figure out we’re one in the same.

I did put some thought into it.

But I had to say, the lieutenant colonel knew how to put himself out there, stating his full name and everything.

I was thoroughly impressed.

He talked loud and clear, so his voice carried pretty well.

For those who couldn’t hear him, my shoulder megaphone amplified my own voice, so the advertisement was effective enough.

Now, it was time to get out of there.

We made our way through the crowd of people that had parted to either side, the lieutenant colonel in the lead.

He was riding on horseback, while the rest of us walked.

Boo hoo.

He offered to bring a carriage, but I declined.

If I had agreed, Ed would have been furious, being out of the picture for so long.

So we went to the stable where Ed was to round up everyone else.

“Took you long enough! We’ve been waiting forever!”

All five horses, including Ed, complained at once.

Apparently, they were bored out of their minds.

Sorry about that...

I decided to keep them at a stable with a pasture next time.

I’d come visit once in a while, so forgive me.

I climbed on top of Ed with Layette in my arms, then we were off.

After distancing ourselves from the royal capital, where there was no one around to see...

“Come out, chariot!”

A miniature carriage appeared out of nowhere, and the lieutenant colonel stared with his mouth hanging open.

But he quickly regained his composure.

I mean, he’s already seen worse.

After tethering the carriage to Ed, I put Layette on board and climbed in after her.

“Let’s go!”

Good bye, royal capital! I probably wasn’t going to return after this this time.

Though I may quietly pass through again next time I return to Balmore.

Yes, quietly! No way was I going to come back as the Angel with a flourish of trumpets!

In any case, I had to get to the village to the east.

“There are a lot of lives on the line. I’m counting on you, Ed!”

“Leave it to me, missy!”

Excited for his time to shine, Ed took the lead pulling the carriage along with the four other horses.

The lieutenant colonel’s horse followed behind us.

Oh, I guess Ed really wasn’t just a normal horse...

There was an awkward smile on the lieutenant colonel’s face, and his horse watched us with disbelief.

...I think I’ll give him a potion later.

Not to the lieutenant colonel, of course, but to his horse.

＊　　　＊

We arrived at the east village before dusk.

As soon I saw the village-like area up ahead, I put the carriage into the Item Box and got onto Ed with Layette in my arms.

We continued forward at a walking pace, and as we veered from the main road and toward a path leading to the village, we spotted several soldiers there.

“Stop!”

The soldiers ordered, and I complied.

They could surely see the lieutenant colonel in the back, but they couldn’t just let me go without stopping me.

Their eyes wandered toward the lieutenant colonel with a troubled look.

“Entry is prohibited beyond this point. Go back to the main road and toward the next village. You should get there before it gets dark.”

Yeah, he seemed like a good, diligent soldier.

But I refuse!

“I run a medicine shop. I’ve heard about the epidemic and prepared a specific medicine for it. I’ve already succeeded in stopping the spread of the disease in the royal capital. All that’s left is to cure the afflicted in this village.”

“I-Is that so?!”

The soldier surely didn’t want to close off the village and let its inhabitants die miserably.

Upon hearing my words, his face broke into a smile.

He glanced at the lieutenant colonel, who gave a deep nod, and his faint smile turned into a full grin.

“Go on through! And please, save the villagers!”

I wasn’t sure if they were familiar with the gesture, but I gave a thumbs up and made my way into the village.

Before we entered the village, I saw the soldier closing off the path again.

How prudent...

But I supposed it was proper procedure to double check for safety-related concerns.

As I approached, a soldier called out to me.

“How did you get in here?!”

Right, there was a soldier blocking the entrance, so I couldn’t blame him for being surprised to find someone there.

This guy was probably there to make sure people weren’t leaving the village instead.

Well, if he’s asking how we got there, I had to answer.

“We came by chariot!”

The soldier had a blank expression on his face.

“...Chariot?”

Don’t ask!

“She’s from a medicine shop. She brought medicine for the epidemic. Let us through!”

The lieutenant colonel’s exasperated voice called out from behind, and we were able to go through without incident.

He should have done that in the first place! And why was he in the back when he’s supposed to be leading us?

So useless...

Well, we were able to get in the village, so I guess it was fine.

There were no soldiers around once we were inside.

But I guess that made sense, considering they wouldn’t want to get sick.

In fact, there was no one around at all. It seemed everyone was cooped up in their homes.

So, it was time to do my thing.

I took the megaphone I had on my shoulder from back at the royal capital and...

“People of the village, I bring you medicine for your illness! One sip, and you’ll be cured! For those of you who aren’t able to move, please have your family members get it for you. For those without family members, please call out and I’ll come to you!”

With a small village like this, there was no need for me to go over the top like at the royal capital.

All I had to do was hand people a potion bottle normally.

Some time after I made my announcement, the doors of several houses rattled open, and people began coming outside.

Perhaps they were too sick to go outside, or hiding for fear of getting infected.

Probably both.

Oh, but maybe they were instructed to stay indoors.

They may not have fully trusted my words yet, but an infected person with worsening symptoms had nothing left to lose.

Besides, it was highly unlikely for someone to visit a place quarantined by soldiers just to trick people.

The villagers began approaching us, slowly and cautiously.

The doors of the other houses were also slightly ajar, with many eyes peeking from the openings.

Well, I figured.

I only needed a couple guinea pigs.

There was no need for everyone to try it at once.

My voice, amplified by the speaker, seemed to reach them well enough, and even the soldier by the main road had walked over where the soldier on the village side was to see what I was doing.

I figured they were ordered not to get any closer than where they were.

If they happened to get infected, they would be spreading the illness to everyone else at the royal capital.

Not to mention, the soldiers of the army would be the first ones to fall victim.

This meant they had to obey their orders no matter what, even if they wanted to help the villagers.

Ah!

I was forgetting something.

I pretended to grab a potion out of my bag and...

“Belle, give this to the soldiers for me. Tell them it’s medicine that’ll keep them from getting sick.”

“Okay!”

I’d feel pretty bad if the soldiers ended up being a source of infection after I’d cured all the villagers, resulting in all the cities and villages getting infected except at the royal capital, where I gave out a bunch of medicine.

...Huh, the soldiers took the medicine from Belle, but ended up putting it into their pockets after deliberating over what to do.

Though I suppose it wasn’t impossible for it to be poison, used to take out the soldiers so I could rile up the villagers to march into the royal capital.

Even with the lieutenant colonel there, some young newbie soldiers wouldn’t recognize superior officers from another unit, and anyone could get a hold of a military uniform.

It wasn’t unusual for soldiers to listen only to their direct superiors when carrying out important missions.

But I had no problem with them waiting to decide until they saw the results for themselves.

“...Is it true? Can this illness really be cured?”

A villager finally approached me, glaring at me suspiciously as he asked.

Well, I suppose I did look like a child to these people.

I reached into my bag and pulled out a potion, then presented it to him.

“Drink it.”

The man still had some strength left in him, but it was clear to see the sickness had weakened him significantly. He opened the bottle, then drained its contents with desperation.

“Ugh...”

“““Wh-What’s the matter?!”””

“It tastes good...”

The villagers slumped their shoulders.

Then the man who drank the potion said, “My body feels lighter... and I think my head feels clearer too...”

It was probably from his fever being reduced.

The medicine had the effect of exterminating pathogens and returning the body to its normal state, so his body temperature would be returned to normal, but his diminished energy wouldn’t recover, which explained why he was still feeling woozy.

I added the effect to cure abnormalities because I didn’t want them to die before making a recovery if I simply killed off the pathogen, but it would be far too unnatural and creepy if they immediately made a full recovery after taking the medicine.

They’d regain their appetite once they get their strength back, so this should be good enough.

The man’s cheeks still looked a bit sunken, but he was far less pale than before, and it was clear to see he felt better after drinking the potion.

After seeing this, the villagers all presented their hands to me at once.

“Give us some medicine too!”

“All right, all right. There’s plenty of potions to go around for everyone, so please stay calm and drink slowly!”

I said as I created more potions, pretending to pull them out of my bag, and handed them to the villagers, who opened them and immediately drained their contents.

“...I feel better.”

“My chest doesn’t feel tight anymore...”

“My stomach pain is gone...”

Stomach pain and chest tightness? The other medicine shop owners mentioned symptoms like those, but what kind of illness could it be?

Maybe the plague or typhus?

But it wasn’t necessarily going to be a type of disease that exists on Earth, and there was no way for me to tell them apart anyway, so there was no point in me trying to figure out what it was called anyway.

As I thought about this...

“Let me have some for my ma and son!”

“For my parents and little sister!”

Five of the villagers reached out again for more medicine.

I pretended to get more out of the bag again, and handed them potions I created on the spot.

Before I knew it, many people were emerging from their houses to gather there.

They didn’t have enough energy to run over, but they seemed to be desperately hurrying to the best of their abilities.

I guess I didn’t need to do the old Angel act this time around.

Just so you know, I wasn’t doing that because I wanted to!

I mean, I was getting a little carried away once I got into it, but who wouldn’t?

I’m only human, after all.

Kaoru.

But what was the point of playing “Angel” for a village with just 200 to 300 people when I didn’t need to?

It was better not to do it if it’s not necessary.

For my own mental health, that is.

Though I was pretty sure people were starting to catch on by now.

I was pulling out way more potions than it would be possible to fit in my little bag.

＊　　　＊

Meals were being prepared in the center of the village.

Despite having been cured of their illnesses, many of the villagers were still too enfeebled to prepare food or eat, and so they were all hungry.

Since it was inefficient for everyone to cook food in their own homes, they thought to celebrate the fact that the village had avoided certain doom by having a communal meal together.

They wouldn’t be able to recover their strength without eating something nutritious.

Just ingesting empty calories without nutrition to stave off hunger wasn’t enough.

And so, they would make hotchpotch, which was full of nutrition and easy to digest.

The village chief wanted to have a festival, but I shot that idea down real quick.

People would die if we were to do that.

I mean, some of them could barely walk straight, and seemed to be just managing to hold on. I made those people eat before waiting for the full meal, and mixed some weakened healing potion into their food just so they’d survive.

If we threw a festival in this state, things would get out of hand with people getting drunk and rowdy, and people could actually die.

Everyone may have seemed to be okay now, but their negative conditions were simply removed, and it didn’t mean they had their full vitality back.

There have been many deaths from this epidemic already.

Why risk adding more to that list of casualties?

Yes, I do get the importance of mourning the lives lost and celebrating those who had survived, and that having a festival would be a good way to show appreciation to god and process everything, but that could wait until everyone is fully recovered.

“How much time do you think we have?”

“I can’t be certain, but I’d say if we leave in the afternoon tomorrow, we should arrive late in the night. The soldier that had left earlier would arrive at the royal capital before dawn and report first thing in the morning. Then it would be discussed in the morning meeting and they would decide who to dispatch to confirm the news. A carriage would be sent to receive you, then the Temple of the Goddess would butt in and argue, delaying the departure to the afternoon.”

“Ahhh...”

One of the soldiers that was standing guard at the village had went to the royal capital to report the situation.

They couldn’t enter the village or interact with the inhabitants, so things like well water, food, or fodder for animals couldn’t be obtained from there.

Since they couldn’t take care of horses, there weren’t any there. This meant one would need to travel on foot, which would take some time.

I was asked if they could use Ed or my other horses, but I obviously declined.

I may have made an exception for an emergency, but there was no need to rush when the crisis was already resolved. Besides, I wanted to buy more time, so there was no reason for me to help.

I couldn’t just leave Ed either.

“Then we’d have until tomorrow evening at the latest...”

I’ve already told the lieutenant colonel we’d be leaving this place.

He really tried to stop us, but after thoroughly explaining what would happen if we stayed, and how much I would hate it, he finally seemed to understand.

I was sure he’d try to take me back to the royal capital if I was a regular girl, but it seemed “defying the will of the Angel” was a bit too much of a hurdle for him.

...Being the Angel sure was convenient.

And so, I wanted to get out of there before the men from the royal capital arrived, but there was something I had to take care of first.

I had asked that question earlier to try to figure out how much time I had.

Hmm, one whole day.

Would I make it in time...?

The thing I had to take care of was, of course, to figure out the reason the disease broke out in the first place.

A powerful epidemic had suddenly occurred in some ordinary village.

Did a pathogen spontaneously mutate that way by chance? The possibility wasn’t zero, but it would be better to confirm.

I had nothing to lose by trying, so I might as well use the time I had to give it a shot.

Once everyone was nice and full, the village chief gathered all the key people there upon my request.

Of course, no one had any alcohol, so they were all sober.

“I’m about to ask a very important question. This involves the future of this village, so please think about it carefully before answering.”

They nodded tensely, seeing my serious expression and words after they had just managed to avoid their demise.

I spread a piece of paper out in front of them, then drew a big circle onto it.

“Let’s say this is a map of this entire village. Please indicate which houses have had deaths occur.”

“S-Sure...”

They didn’t seem to quite understand what was going on, but did as I asked.

Even as I looked at what they had drawn, there didn’t seem to be any significant deviations.

“Were there any common factors between those who had passed away?”

The village chief answered my question.

“Ah, well, I suppose they were the children and the elderly, those who weren’t too strong to begin with, and the ones who were the first to get infected...”

Ahh, I’m so stupid! Of course!

“I’m sorry, but please stop writing what I requested earlier and show me which houses were infected first instead.”

With that, I pulled out a new piece of paper and drew another big circle.

Then the villagers went to work again without a word of complaint.

“The first ones to get sick were Mark, Kiara, and Joey...”

“Martha and Joshua too...”

Oh, I almost forgot.

“Excuse me, but please divide the time frames into ten and number them from one through ten.”

Since they didn’t understand the reason for this process, I had to be more specific with my instructions.

All right, they’re making good progress...

“Hmm...”

“Did you figure something out?” Roland asked, despite being pretty quiet until that point.

“Hmm, a lot of the early cases are concentrated around here, but that could just be because they lived near the first victims...”

“Then it sounds like there wasn’t much of a point in checking the concentrated regions.”

He wasn’t wrong, but maybe there was a hint in there somewhere...

There was another concentrated region off in a different spot, but that was likely because someone contracted it early and it spread around from that person.

I thought something would become more clear if we drew it out, but maybe we needed a professional to look at it instead of amateurs like us.

Hmm...

“The valley!”

“Ah!”

I bent backward in surprise as the village chief suddenly shouted.

“The thing that the early victims all had in common was the valley! The early cases concentrated here are on the valley side of the village, where all the hunters live. The hunters go through the forest and toward the valley to hunt wild animals. The sporadic early victims you see here and there were Kiara, Martha, and Weidt. They were housemaids who dyed textiles at the valley, and youths who occasionally went out to catch fish. The valley must be the source of all this!”

Wow! He perfectly understood why I had them draw this out and utilized his knowledge of the residents as the village chief to analyze the information and come to the logical conclusion! Just who was this geezer?!

...Oh, right. The village chief.

“Incredible, Chief! I’ve heard you were known as a prodigy as a child...”

“Hm, I suppose they did call me that once upon a time.”

Ugh! That annoying smug face from getting his butt kissed by the villagers...

But, well, what he said was reasonable, and I wouldn’t have known about the valley or who goes there if it wasn’t for him.

He deserved the credit.

“Well done, Mr. Village Chief! I’ll go investigate the valley tomorrow, so may I have someone healthy accompany me as a guide?”

“Certainly! You’re the savior of this village, so we’ll do what we can to help. I’ll have one of the hunters who haven’t gotten sick guide you, so please take care of this.”

Afterward, we joined the village chief at his home.

It was pretty common for small villages without inns like this one to have visitors stay at the village chief’s house.

The reason the chief’s house was bigger and nicer than the rest of the villagers wasn’t because he got to live luxuriously due to his status... well, maybe there was some of that.

But even there, there were reasons for things being the way they were.

The soldiers? They said they’re going to take turns wrapping themselves in blankets and napping.

That was just the nature of their jobs, so that was that.

I thought more soldiers would be sent from the royal capital every few days to replace them, but according to the villagers, they would only send carriages with water and food, while the soldiers stayed the same.

It must’ve been to prevent people in the royal capital from getting sick.

These poor soldiers...

Maybe I’d do something nice for them later.

We left the royal capital before noon and it was starting to get dark as the sun began to go down.

We were okay on food supplies because we got some from the communal meal earlier, so I decided to hash out the plans for tomorrow at the village chief’s house.

Whatever happened, we’d be leaving this place by tomorrow evening.

When we do, I guess I’d just firmly tell the villagers not to let visitors enter the village no matter what.

All of the villagers drank the medicine, so they were already fully immune to the disease.

But still, I wanted to find out the cause if possible.

Besides, there was a chance it could spread somewhere besides the royal capital.

The people of this village only went to the royal capital and back, but visitors wouldn’t necessarily be heading only to the royal capital.

And I’m sure there were people who went to other cities from the royal capital after the disease spread there.

It was possible that it may have already spread elsewhere.

Maybe it was spreading village to village, city to city, even now...

I’m only one person. I couldn’t go around every city and village.

It would be impossible to stop it from spreading while trying to play catch up from behind.

Replicate myself using potions? That’s way too creepy!

And if I did that, I wasn’t sure if there would be a way to reverse it.

I was afraid each of the copies would start claiming to be the original and killing each other.

Ya know, that “Cogito ergo sum” thing I read about in manga.

Eeek!

“What’s wrong, Big Sis Kaoru? You don’t look so good.”

“Something wrong, Kaoru? You’ve got a scary look in your eyes.”

Layette sounded concerned as she spoke to me.

“Oh, no. I’m okay... And Roland?”

“Shut it!”

＊　　　＊

The next day, we departed for the valley with a hunter from the village guiding us.

“Lieutenant colonel, you can head back to the royal capital now if you’d like. You’ve already fulfilled your role of leading us here.”

“I can’t just turn back now! His Majesty would be angry with me if I don’t see this through to the end!”

“Ah, right...”

And so the eight of us, which included me, the lieutenant colonel, and the hunter guiding us, all began making our way into the forest.

There was actually a beaten path for us to follow already though.

We were still some distance away from the valley, but I decided to put it on at this point.

Yes, I’m talking about the glasses-type destination detector I thought of last night.

The left lens had a PPI scope (Plan Position Indicator scope: Plane coordinates display screen) and the right lens pointed out the position of the destination with arrows and dots.

Oh, actually, let me rephrase that.

It’s a glasses-type destination detector shaped potion container.

There’s a potion inside the part that secures the device to my face.

And I could still see what’s in front of me while wearing it.

Though it did make it a bit more difficult.

It’s used for finding things, so I decided to call it a “Searcher.”

It doesn’t read the opponent’s power level or anything, so I decided against calling it that other name.

I already showed it to the others last night, so no one was surprised to see it.

Even though the hunter was seeing it for the first time, he had already seen the infinite potions popping out of my bag and their effects, so it wasn’t anything to be surprised by at this point.

And of course, I had set the Searcher to find the pathogen that had caused this disease.

Even if I couldn’t find it right away, there was no need to rush.

Whenever we get to the valley in question, I could just increase the search range from there.

For now, I just needed it to ensure we don’t miss out on anything important.

But wait... what’s this?

There’s a bunch of blips showing on the PPI scope on the left side.

And since they were close range, I could see each individual point moving around clearly.

They were moving far too fast to be microbes.

And if they were being blown around by the wind, their movement speed and directions were too erratic.

Plus, the points were too big.

They were infected animals!

This was bad. If the disease could spread through animals, there was no telling when someone other than the people in the village or royal capital, who haven’t had the medicine, could get infected.

And if someone does get infected, it could spread again in some other city.

Not only that, but the animals caught by the hunters of this or other villages would be sold to merchants.

Those would be delivered to not only the royal capital, but to all sorts of cities.

If the animal meat is eaten without being fully heated to kill off the microbes...

In any case, we had to get to the valley.

And so, we eventually arrived at the valley.

There was a small stream with clear water there.

It was likely a watering spot for the animals in the area.

So, the hunters also likely hunted here too.

There were lots of points at the stream lighting up on my detector.

But there weren’t any animals there that I could see.

...Maybe they were small animals, like mice?

All right, I’ll extend the range and... What the?!

They seemed to be moving erratically from close range, but when I extended the range, I could see the whole image more clearly.

Their minute movements were no longer visible, and instead, the PPI scope showed their movement as a whole.

There was a clear center, and the light points became less concentrated as they went further from the middle.

It was spreading out in a radial pattern.

This had to be the source of the outbreak.

The Searcher’s so useful!

“We’re heading toward what seems to be the source. I don’t know what we’ll find there, so be careful, everyone! Roland, keep your eyes on Layette. Everyone else, stay alert!”

I had to make sure Layette was safe, and I suppose Roland too, who was royalty.

Belle and Emile were fully-fledged hunters already, so they could protect themselves.

The hunter’s a professional too, so I figured he could handle himself.

Though I didn’t think we’d be in too much danger.

The villagers hadn’t been exposed to any danger besides the disease until this point, after all.

But it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.

It was possible an animal that had become sick could turn violent or something.

We stayed vigilant as we made our way toward the center of the points on the detector, and as we reached the most concentrated area...

“The heck is this?!”

We found something strange.

A squishy thing that was about three to four meters in diameter.

...Thing? No, there wasn’t an actual object there.

It was like the dimension itself was writhing after being twisted around...

From there, a sort of miasma was leaking out with small, mouse-like creatures coming out periodically.

“There it iiis!”

I shouted, but I had no idea what it was.

It didn’t seem like it could be cut with a sword, and I felt like something terrible would happen if I touched it.

Yeah, we definitely shouldn’t touch that thing.

Let sleeping dogs lie, as they say.

“Kaoru, what is that warped thing...?”

Ah.

I realized what it was when Francette asked me the question.

This wasn’t a job for humans.

It wasn’t something any human could handle.

So what should I do?

That’s right, I’d just call someone who could handle it.

“Potion inside that crystal ball shaped container, come out!”

And so, a crystal ball appeared between my palms as I put them together.

“Activate, emergency calling device!”

The next moment, the crystal ball emitted a brilliant light, and a sphere of light appeared in the air immediately after.

That sphere of light began to take shape, eventually turning into the form of a beautiful girl.

Yes, the Goddess Celestine had descended.

“Where is the distortion?!”

Celes said the same exact line as she did four years ago.

“Kaoru? Oh, this isn’t about a distortion? What is it?”

“There.”

“Huh?”

Celes had a blank look on her face.

She seemed to think I had called her for some other reason using that sketchy crystal for emergency use.

But...

“There. I thought that might be the ‘distortion’ you’ve been looking for...”

“Huh? What? Whaaat?! Ah, you’re right! It’s a distortion!!!”

Celes let out a shout of surprise.

Meanwhile, everyone else stood in an even more shocked state, their mouths agape.

Even Francette and Roland, who had already seen her four years ago...

“Get back! Everyone, please stand further away!”

No one even reacted to Celes’s panicked voice.

“We need to run! Follow me if you don’t want your body to get ripped apart!”

Getting torn into pieces while getting rid of a distortion once was enough!

I ran with Layette in my arms, and everyone seemed to finally come to as they followed after me.

They must have realized how serious this was after seeing how even the Goddess and her Angel were panicking.

But Celes...

Did you really need to do this in such a hurry?

It’d been a long time since that thing was created, so couldn’t she just wait a few minutes longer? At least until we got to a safe distance?

No, there was no point in saying this.

This was Celes we’re talking about.

Yes, because it’s Celes.

Damn it!

Roland took Layette from my arms as he ran past me.

As expected of royalty, he knew what to do even when flustered. I had to give it to him.

...Though he kept running on, leaving me completely behind.

I mean, that was totally fine! I’d rather Layette be saved than all of us die together.

Emile was leading Belle by her hand... staying directly behind me.

They were probably thinking to use their own bodies as shields to protect me.

Even though they could easily outrun me...

Sheesh, those two knuckleheads...

And Francette was protecting them from behind as well.

Argh, why was everyone so dumb!

The lieutenant colonel and hunter? They’re waaay in the front! I guess they didn’t want to get involved in heavenly conflicts.

But they’re the normal ones!

This was bad, I was reaching my limit because of my lack of athleticism...

M-My leg cramped up!

Baaam! I fell flat on the ground.

And...

Oof, oof!

I felt something hit my back twice.

Belle and Emile went down with me?

No, they were using their bodies as shields to protect me! Y-You dummies!

“Here it comes!”

Urgh!

Francette called out, and I felt another impact.

Yeah, that was Francette stacking on top of us.

...I knew it.

Then a heavy impact came over us.

＊　　　＊

““I thought we were done for...””

Belle and Emile said as they rose to their feet.

Uh, I thought they were going to crush me to death!

As for Francette and Celes... Oh, there they were.

“Please explain, why didn’t you wait until Kaoru got somewhere safe?!”

Gyaaa! Why was Fran scolding Celes?!

Celes may seem mild-mannered, but she’s pretty short-tempered and humans are like ants to her. It was just that sometimes she felt like helping when a lot of humans were in danger of dying at once.

So unless she has some interest in you like she does with me, she’d just squish...

“I-I’m sorry...”

...H-Huh?

“Kaoru is in a mortal’s body right now, so her body could be destroyed if you do something so reckless!”

“Y-You’re right...”

Whoa, their conversation was miraculously meshing together...

“She’s your friend, so you should be more considerate...”

“Yes...”

Huh, she must have been acting docile because it was concerning me.

“As a fellow goddess, you must learn to be more like Kaoru...”

Gyaaaaaa!

“Let’s just leave it at that, okay, Fran?!”

“Mmg...”

I swiftly ran toward Francette and covered her mouth.

We were treading on thin ice.

Celes could lose it any moment now.

“So, Celes, I wanted to ask about this distortion...”

I really did want to know more about it, of course.

But for now, my main objective was to distract Celes.

“Oh, yes! Thank you, Kaoru! You really helped me this time!”

With that, Celes explained the following to me.

The distortion starts off very small, but suddenly expands once it reaches a certain size.

I suppose it was like a small hole in a levee bored by ants.

Finding the distortion before they could rapidly expand was the key to keeping the damages to a minimum.

But apparently, it was pretty hard to find them while they were still small. Celes had divided up her discarnate entities and used them to search all over, as well as gave those crystals for reporting to her to various people.

...It may not have been much, but it was better than nothing.

Once the distortion grew bigger, it could spread from ten to several hundred kilometers at once, ripping open the walls separating our world from the adjacent dimensions, causing them to adhere to one another. If the atmospheric pressure between the two worlds was different, the atmospheric air would come rushing in as violent storms, and most of the organisms in both worlds would die from the sudden extreme changes in weather.

There was a chance the atmospheric air that was created could be toxic for creatures in the other world too.

And not only did the worlds adhere to each other, but dimensional tremors and wide-scale destruction involving other neighboring dimensions could occur as well.

It was Celes’s job to prevent such disasters. Stopping the course of destruction at one dimension would be a passing mark, while dragging the surrounding worlds into it would be a failure on her part.

She still gets a passing mark even if this world gets destroyed?!

That’s a scary friggin’ thought!

“So I’ve been trying to find them while they’re still small so I can prevent the damage from spreading. If I happen to miss one and it gets big enough to take out all living creatures in a several hundred kilometer radius, that’s considered a great success.”

“Huh? So even with the incident at Rueda?”

“Yes, the damages were contained to a very narrow region in that case, so I was able to thoroughly restore it afterward. Even though the distortion had grown bigger, that was one of my better handled cases if I do say so myself. Though, of course, it’s better to deal with it before it can expand, like we did this time. There weren’t any damages this time either...”

Celes seemed very happy.

Well, there weren’t any differences in atmospheric pressure, and it wasn’t like there were toxins in the air... now wait just a minute!

“Celes, there have been damages already! And there’s way more to come!”

“Whaaat!”

Yes, it was that epidemic disease.

If anyone thought that was an illness that just happened to occur here by chance instead of something from another world, I’d question their sanity.

“This is a source of the disease that’s been going around. I stopped it from spreading at the royal capital and the village near here, but I’m sure it’s going around in other places too. Since this distortion is the cause of it, this falls under your jurisdiction, right?”

“What? Um... If the disease is caused by the distortion, I suppose...”

Huh, she didn’t seem too on board with it.

“That’s right! Because of the distortion, pathogens and small animals that are infected hosts are leaking into this world. This is your responsibility to fix! There wasn’t much physical damage this time around, so you should focus on restoring things.”

“Hmm, that sounds like a lot of work...”

She left me no choice.

I was going to use the ace up my sleeve!

“I wonder what the god of Earth would have done. When I talk about what happened here, I’ll explain how you...”

“Of course I’ll protect the humans from getting harmed by the distortion! That’s my duty!”

...Too easy.

“I suppose you... can’t send the hosts of the disease back to their original world. Since you already got rid of the distortion. Then I’ll need you to completely get rid of all the pests and pathogens that came into this world. Those creatures may only be guilty of being the host of dangerous pathogens, but it’s not impossible for them to be irregular organisms that totally throw this world’s ecosystem out of whack. They could have spread out far and wide, so be sure you don’t miss any.”

“O-Okay...”

Why was she being so reluctant about this when she was capable of granting me such ridiculous powers?

It had to be a simple task for someone as powerful as Celes...

“Elaborate work like this is very troublesome! Do you realize how much effort is needed to get rid of such small animals or pathogens throughout an entire country?! It’d be so much easier to just blow this planet to smithereens instead!”

Ah, she must have figured out what I was thinking from the look on my face.

I doubted she actually read my mind or anything like that.

“Well, good luck. Besides, you just might get praised by the god of Earth if you work real hard. He might even say, ‘good work,’ and pat you on the head...”

“There’s no time to lose! Okay, I’m going to go work hard to clean this place up! See you later, Kaoru. Thank you so much for today. I’m so glad I have a great friend like you!”

With that, Celes vanished.

“...”

The lieutenant colonel stood there, dumbfounded.

It seemed he had returned some time during all of this.

The hunter who had guided us there... oh, he was cautiously watching us from a distance.

The others?

They were either present the last time Celes had appeared, or they were already used to thinking of me as a goddess, so they didn’t seem all that surprised.

...Damn.

“Th-Th-That was...”

“Yup, Celes. Oh, right, she’s known as the Goddess Celestine here.”

“...”

The lieutenant colonel seemed to be out of service...

“Well, we’ll be going now. Thank you for everything, lieutenant colonel.”

“Wait! Hold on just a minute!!!”

As I tried to leave and say goodbye, the lieutenant colonel raised his voice in a fluster.

“I need you to return to the royal capital! And what about your shop?!”

I wasn’t surprised that he didn’t want me to go, considering I was on casual speaking terms with the Goddess herself.

And I probably seemed far from just “an ordinary girl.”

But I already had an idea of what it would be like if I returned to the royal capital.

So...

“I already canceled the contract for my shop. I cleared out my wares too, so I have no reason to return to the royal capital. Though I have plenty of reasons not to go back...”

The lieutenant colonel averted his eyes.

Yeah, he already knew exactly what would happen if I went back.

First, I’d get an invitation from the royal palace, then the Temple of the Goddess, influential aristocrats, big-time merchants, and if I went, there’d probably be a bunch of handsome men of marriageable age waiting for me.

...That didn’t sound too bad!

I mean, never mind!

“No thanks to being a caged bird, swarmed by ants, or being bred by some top breeder! I mean, I do want kids, but only with someone who likes me as a normal girl, and not for my abilities!”

“...Can I ask you one thing?” The lieutenant colonel said with a serious expression.

“Where is this ‘normal girl’ you’re talking about?”

“““...”””

And why exactly were you desperately trying to hold in laughter, Fran, Roland, Emile, and Belle?!

You four...

“In any case, you have no right or authority to restrict me from doing what I like. I’m just a traveler who’s not from this country, and I’m not a criminal or some foreign spy. Besides, those two over there are nobles from another country. If you tried capturing us by force...”

“Forget nobles from another country, what kind of idiot would try something on someone who has connections with the Goddess Celestine?!”

Well, he had a point.

“But if that’s the case, what about the soldier’s disease medicine? There are those who haven’t been fully cured yet.”

“Huh? But even if they did get cured, it’d just come back again, right?”

“...”

I was sure the lieutenant colonel already knew this full well.

He was desperately trying to guilt trip me somehow so I would return to the royal capital.

Although I did feel bad about the royal sentries who seemed happy to be freed from the soldier’s disease.

A lot of their work was pretty ritualistic and they couldn’t even scratch themselves, so I would have liked to at least help them.

Like if I made sure they don’t catch it aga... Wait a minute!

“Lieutenant colonel...”

“Hm? What is it?”

“I don’t think you’ll need to worry about soldier’s disease anymore...”

“Huh?”

Yes, I just realized something.

What were my thoughts when I created those mini goddess statues?

[Potion that cures and creates antibodies for any epidemic disease going around in the royal capital right now with just a low dose and loses its effectiveness if it’s not drunk in twenty-four hours after being scooped, go inside a small container shaped like a goddess statue with an endless generation/circulation system and come out!]

“any epidemic disease going around in the royal capital right now”

“any epidemic disease going around in the royal capital right now”...

Wouldn’t soldier’s disease fulfill those conditions?

And wouldn’t that also mean anyone in the royal capital who drank that medicine would never be afflicted with soldier’s disease again?

I explained as such to the lieutenant colonel, and...

“What...?”

He was probably disappointed about losing his advantage over other battalions, but he had to be happy that the soldiers would never have to deal with that hated condition ever again.

His face told me he was feeling a mixture of emotions.

“Oh, it’s not for certain yet, so please confirm once you get back. And if it’s just as I suspect, you can feel free to take all the credit. Just tell them the angel told you to choose your reward, and you wished, not for yourself, but for the sake of everyone else, that the soldier’s disease would be eradicated. I’m sure that will increase your prestige among the other soldiers.”

There was a forced smile on his face.

“Well, I’ll be going now. Oh, and it’ll be no use sending anyone after me. No one could catch up to my horses when they’ve taken my healing potion, and even if they could, they wouldn’t be able to keep me from leaving. If anyone tried to use force, Celes would just give ‘em a little so-called divine punishment...”

“Don’t worry, I’ll personally report to His Majesty to make sure that wouldn’t happen. Our people are well aware of the story of the Goddess Celestine destroying an entire country.”

All right, it seemed like I could depart peacefully this time.

“Well then, farewell!”

“...”

Huh? Why was the lieutenant colonel looking at me quizzically?

“What is it?”

“Where do you plan on going now? There’s only one guide, and I need him to take me back to the village. Besides, your horses are back at the village. Do you plan on leaving them here and going through the mountains and out onto the road without a guide?”

“Ah...”

The lieutenant colonel looked at me with exasperation.

Roland and the others too...

Come on, everyone makes mistakes once in a while!

＊　　　＊

After we retrieved Ed at the village, we started heading east in the opposite direction of the royal capital just as the sun was going down.

The plan was to change course to the northeast after moving forward for some time, then heading inland.

There was no reason for me to tell the lieutenant colonel this, but it wasn’t too hard to figure out.

To the north was Drisard, which we had left behind, to the east was the royal capital, and further beyond was the kingdom of Brancott, where the prince I disliked was.

I was sure he already knew that we had come from that direction.

And to the east was the ocean, making it a dead end.

The lieutenant colonel told me the people from the royal capital should be arriving at the village tomorrow, where he’d meet up with them.

It was too dangerous for him to wander around the roads at night without having a chemical light like me, so that much was a given.

We didn’t want to see the people from the royal capital, so we went ahead and marched on in the night.

As soon as the village was no longer visible, I took the carriage out of my Item Box and hopped on.

Now, Fran and Roland, it was time to go.

“U-Um, Kaoru...”

“Hm? What is it?”

As we were about to depart, Francette spoke to me worriedly.

“Um, about that small goddess statue at the royal capital, is it okay for it to keep dispensing medicine like that...?”

Ah, that.

“Don’t worry, it has a mechanism built into it so it’ll blow up... I mean, shut itself down.”

“Shut itself down...?”

“Yup, I made it so it’ll break if someone tries to steal it or if it fulfills its purpose, so no need to worry! Okay, let’s go!”

And so, we headed east.

We would continue in that direction until we reached the road leading northward.

Then we would head inland.

...Oh, but maybe we wouldn’t be able to eat seafood if we’re in the inland region? Maybe we should go all the way around to the coastal region instead? There wasn’t a particular destination to our journey, so it didn’t really matter where we went anyway.

All right, change of plans. First we’ll head south toward the ocean, then head east!

Time to eat sashimi for the first time in a while!

How wonderful it was to not have to worry about pathogens, toxins, or parasites!

It was also wonderful that I could create “healing potions that taste like soy sauce” and “disinfectants that taste like wasabi”!

Yes, it’s time for a journey in search of coastal cities!

“Hiyo, Silver!”

“Again, what horse are you talking about?!”

＊　　　＊

“Stand aside! That belongs at the royal palace!”

“Nonsense! The miracle statue of the Goddess should be protected by the Temple of the Goddess! You are the ones who must stand down!”

“Now, wait just a minute! We have been tasked to protect these two statues by the Angel herself. Their blessings must be bestowed to the people freely and equally. The royal palace and temple have no right to take them to be used for their own political and monetary gain!”

Three groups of men stood arguing at the central plaza of the royal capital in front of the Goddess statue.

They were civil servants from the royal capital and the royal sentries that escorted them.

Priests from the Temple of the Goddess.

And the men who Kaoru had tasked with managing the mini goddess statues until they had fulfilled their purpose.

None of them seemed to have any intention of giving an inch.

This was no surprise.

The royal palace and temple side would’ve been freely giving up their authority if they backed down here.

In fact, they’d be lucky if that was the only thing they had to lose.

The men who Kaoru had entrusted with managing things there wouldn’t even fathom abandoning the duty assigned to them.

The royal capital’s citizens watched the rather austere scene for a while longer, until the men from the royal palace lost their patience and put their hands on one of the mini goddess statues.

It seemed they were planning on taking it by force.

Seeing this, the priests hurriedly took hold of the other statue.

The men who had been appointed couldn’t put their hands on the priests or men of the royal palace, so all they could do was yell out profanities.

And just as the sentries from the royal palace gently lifted the medicine-dispensing mini goddess statue...

Crack!

It shattered into pieces.

“““Huh...?”””

The men of the royal palace stared blankly at the fragments on the ground that used to be the mini goddess statue.

“Now do you see?! The Goddess would not allow a statue in her image to fall into the hands of impure ones. This miracle will be managed by us, the Temple of the Goddess, and...”

The highest-ranking priest spoke as he lifted the other statue, which also shattered into pieces.

It clearly wasn’t because he held it wrong or anything like that.

It broke in a way that seemed physically impossible.

They had been completely reduced to smithereens.

The pieces had been destroyed so finely, it was impossible to discern what their original form could have been.

It was a clear sign that the Goddess was not pleased.

“““...”””

Silence fell over the central plaza.

Then the countless eyes of the wordless crowd stared daggers into the men from the palace and temple with looks of anger, hatred, and contempt.

Through her Angel, the Goddess had blessed the people with a statue of miracles.

And this statue had saved the inhabitants of the royal capital with the never-ending medicine pot it was holding.

Because the vile men of the royal palace and rotten priests had ignored her wishes and tried to take them for themselves, they were now gone.

Forever.

The men of the royal palace and priests stood frozen, sweating profusely as many eyes stared directly at them.

“The Lady Angel had asked us to ‘handle things here until the mini goddess statue has fulfilled its duty.’ And now, due to men with tainted hearts attempting to take them away, the goddess statue no longer exists. In other words, they have fulfilled their duty. And now... our duty, too, has ended. It’s only been two days and nights, but it was an honor to serve the Angel’s orders. You can all take responsibility for the rest. Now, to those who have helped me in this task, let us pass down stories of our accomplishments here with pride to our descendants. Disband!”

It seemed the individual who’d taken charge of the group was someone of status.

Perhaps he was a noble who happened to be hanging out in the city in commoner clothes, but after giving his uncommoner-like speech, he quickly vanished into the rest of the crowd.

The rest quickly followed.

Before the men of the royal palace and priests knew it, they were the only ones surrounded by the crowd.

...We have to run.

The thought crossed their minds, but they couldn’t just go back empty handed.

Without any options left, they gathered the pieces of the mini goddess statue as “holy relics” to take back, but it was unlikely that they would ever be publicly displayed as such.

Because in order to explain why they were in such a state, they had to explain their own foolish behavior and admit their actions had been rejected by the Goddess.

If they’re planning on putting all the blame on us subordinates, we’re taking down the higher-ups who ordered us to take the statue by force for their own personal gain with us.

Such were the thoughts of the men who were retrieving the statue fragments while on the verge of tears.

Everyone on both the royal palace and temple sides...

Meanwhile, at the royal palace and temple, news from the east village had been delivered by the soldier who departed the previous day, and preparations for a grand celebration were being made in a great hurry.

The appearance of the Angel and a miraculous revelation.

Not to mention the Angel was there, at the royal capital of the kingdom of Jusral.

It went without saying that the royalty, titled nobility, and religious parties were ecstatic to receive the news.

The Angel had saved the royal capital from the horrid disease and headed to the village that was thought to be where it originated to save the people there.

Once she completed her task, she would return to the royal capital.

Envoys had already been sent to greet her, and they would surely depart from the village to head toward the royal capital by the next morning.

When the Angel arrives at the royal capital, they would greet her with a splendid welcome, show their gratitude, and... gain her favor.

Each of those with high standing in the political and religious fields were picturing a bright future ahead.

The only people of this nation that knew the girl wasn’t going to return to the royal capital was the third son of a noble house who she called the “lieutenant colonel” and the realtor who she had canceled the lease agreement with.

The lieutenant colonel still hadn’t returned to the royal capital, and the realtor was late in arriving at the central plaza, so he still didn’t realize the girl who canceled the lease to leave the royal capital and the Angel were one in the same.

＊　　　＊

“I wonder if the mini goddess statue is still okay...”

That statue-type potion creation device was created so it would automatically break apart after five days.

There was no way she would have left a device that would continue dispensing potions forever.

Even if the effects were limited to epidemic diseases, I didn’t want some idiot to start claiming “our country is protected by the blessing of the Goddess!” It would be like that ruined religious country all over again.

Besides, medical effects aside, even an “item that creates an infinite supply of drinking water” could be valuable in itself to the army.

It might’ve even spawned some religious fanatics who would think their army was protected by the Goddess and her blessed water.

That’s why I made them so they would disintegrate without a trace, to prevent them from being taken advantage of later.

And even if five days hadn’t passed yet, I made it so they would self-destruct the moment someone tried to move them.

If someone moved one and it broke in such an unnatural fashion, I doubted they would try to touch the other one afterward.

I doubted they would ever be left completely alone with them being in such a visible location, so a random thief wouldn’t be able to get their hands on them either.

The only people who could touch them openly in front of watching eyes would be those from the royal palace or Temple of the Goddess.

So, at least one of them should survive until the full five day time limit was up.

But that was before I thought about getting Celes to help, and now that she was going to get rid of the source of the disease, the statues were no longer needed.

It wouldn’t be an issue if they both broke now.

If the statues break not because of the time limit, but because someone tried to take them, they’d be in pretty big trouble, but that didn’t concern me.

It’d be their own fault in that case.

“Kaoru, we’ll be reaching the road that branches off to the north and south. You want to keep moving toward the east, right?” Francette turned toward me and asked.

She was able to see what was coming up before me, since she had a higher vantage point on horseback while I was behind the canopy.

...Come to think of it, Francette’s eyesight was enhanced with my potions.

She was probably seeing things at a distance that wouldn’t normally be possible for humans.

Disregarding obstacles and the terrain, and the fact that the earth was round.

“Oh, we won’t be going east until we hit the ocean, so we’ll be going south there first. It’d be more fun to travel along the coast than going inland!”

Without any specific destination in mind, no one had any reason to protest.

For now, we’d be heading south.

We’d travel the coast and enjoy some seafood as we journeyed along the outskirts of the continent.

All in search of a place to live safely and a companion for reproduction.

Regardless of Francette and Roland, I absolutely couldn’t let Emile and Belle beat me to it in that regard.

This journey is about expanding the Nagase bloodline, not yours!

And Roland and Francette’s horses!

You’d better not be trying to get with Ed’s daughter!

What am I gonna do with them...