Chapter 29: Encouragement from Mushroom Empress Mia

In truth, Mia was no longer in any mood to attack Shalloak.

Yes, she’d come here with the intention of pressuring him until he snapped. In fact, on the way here, she’d considered all sorts of mean things to do to him, only for her motivation to fizzle out at the sight of him weak and weary in bed. He was a morally bankrupt merchant...and her enemy. But even then, she just didn’t have it in her to kick someone when they were down. Also...she suddenly saw herself in Shalloak. Wasn’t the sight of this man, who lay there as a result of his immoderation and gluttony, a glimpse into her own future if she kept engaging in the same kind of overindulgence?

No... Surely, I won’t end up in this bad of a condition.

Not entirely convinced by her own rebuttal, she couldn’t resist palpating her tummy, just to be sure. To her relief, she seemed to have a long way to go before matching his girth.

Either way, she had—possibly literally—a gut feeling that laying into this man would be a mistake. It just didn’t feel right.

I almost pity him, in a way. All he did was eat a lot of delicious food and laze around a lot. What’s wrong with that? And this is what he gets in return? If this is how the world works, then the world is the one that’s wrong!

Feeling outraged on his behalf, she began to sympathize and resonate with Shalloak’s plight of F.A.T.! So, she made up her mind. She’d wait until he woke up. Then, after making sure he was okay, she’d leave him in peace.

Her plan was going well until, to her shock, Tatiana suddenly decided to start exposing his shameful past.

Wait, what in the moons are you doing, Tatiana?! Are you sure about this?

The question got within an inch of her throat before a realization forced it back down.

You’re...trying to minimize the damage on all sides, aren’t you?

Viewed in that light, what Tatiana was doing made sense. Sometimes, it was necessary to kick every last bit of fight out of a downed opponent. Letting them get up again would only cause the fight to drag on, leading to more injuries. This applied to Shalloak. He was receptive to her right now, but if he were allowed to recover, he’d go back to his old recalcitrant self. Therefore, they should take advantage of his current vulnerability and thrash him so badly that he’d quit his nasty ways for good.

Forcing him to stop scheming and get some quiet rest is ultimately for his good... That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it, Tatiana?

Having figured that much, Mia straightened. She’d originally brought Tatiana along as a convenience, but the girl had certainly earned her spot. Seeing her so determined to repay the man who’d changed her life, Mia decided that she owed her at least some help.

So be it. I’ll play the part of the villain for you, then!

Envisioning the villainess that had shown up in one of Elise’s stories, she curled her lips into a wicked crescent.

“What I’m saying...is that you shouldn’t go around sowing seeds you can’t handle, but I guess my advice is too little too late, isn’t it? Your end is your own making, Shalloak.”

After all that pretentious posturing, all that bluff and bluster, he turned out to have all the cold, calculating ruthlessness of a doting uncle. The shame! It was too much! Nevertheless, Mia hardened her heart and prepared to break the will of the man in whom she saw herself. It was kicking time!

This is for your own good, Shalloak! We’re going to keep you healthy enough to live out the rest of your life as nothing more than a nice person!

She gritted her teeth, hoping that was excuse enough to convince herself. That was when Shalloak’s eyes opened slightly.

“Your Highness... May I...ask you a question?”

“...Oh? What is it?”

“Please, tell me...” He struggled up to a sitting position. “If you ever found yourself at the end of a path that had been wrong for a very long time...and you had no choice but to admit it was wrong... What would you do?”

Mia frowned in puzzlement, caught off guard by the question.

What a strange and abrupt question. I wonder if he’s trying to dodge the issue by changing the topic? Hmph, you’re not getting away. I’m going to beat all the fight out of you, right here and right now. There’ll be nothing left in you but a sentimental old sop!

She huffed a breath out through her nose and replied, “What would I do? Simple. I’d double back to before I made my first wrong turn and look for the correct path forward. What else is there to do?”

Mia, you see, knew what to do if she were to ever lose her sense of direction in a forest while hunting for mushrooms. The correct course of action was simple: retrace her steps back to the place where she started to reorient herself. She learned this from a book she’d been reading obsessively lately. Titled Hundred Mushroom Delicacies, it was written by an adventurer who detailed fine foods.

Fundamentally, if you realize you’re lost, then the last thing you should be doing is philosophizing about how wrong the path was. Yes, you’ve come a long way, but you can’t let sunk costs cloud your judgment. The more you wander around aimlessly, the more lost you’ll be, and the more stamina you’ll waste. The only solution is to double back all the way.

Mia, who understood this mushroom-picking truth, felt that the concept could be applied to life in general. She had in the past sought to research mushroom recipes, only to abandon the pursuit in the face of opposition from those around her. The door to her unending quest to perfect sautéed horse-shaped mushrooms and mushroom sweets had been shut before she’d even touched it.

But now, she felt that she’d made a terrible mistake.

When all is said and done...I still love mushrooms!

Reading Hundred Mushroom Delicacies had hardened her resolve on the matter.

One way or another, I’m going to treat Abel and the other student council members to the ultimate full course mushroom meal! And I’m going to personally cook it!

Holding high a mushroom of imperial purple—figuratively, of course—she proudly declared—mentally, of course—her ambition to the world. The lack of any outwardly visible phenomena notwithstanding, it was undoubtedly the historic moment when Mushroom Princess Mia took her first step on the path toward becoming Mushroom Empress.

All right, back to the serious stuff now.

“Before you made your first wrong turn... I see. What a tantalizing thought. If only such an option were available to me...” murmured Shalloak.

Seeing that her opponent wasn’t striking back, Mia stayed on the offensive.

You think you can fudge the issue by mumbling weird things to yourself? Well, you’d better think again! I’ve answered your question, so now it’s my turn. And I’m going to drag this conversation right back to where we started and finish you off!

She folded her arms victoriously and smiled smugly at him.

“It’s time you accepted the cold, harsh truth, Shalloak, that she is your undoing. Tatiana is a seed you sowed yourself, and her existence represents an inextricable part of your person.”

She emphasized the point to ensure Shalloak didn’t try to dismiss it as mere youthful indiscretion. No, what he did for Tatiana had to be a part of his fundamental character.

“Huh?” blurted Tatiana, blinking in surprise.

“The person who saved your life...is none other than her!”

“Wh-What? No, that’s...” Tatiana shook her hands and head in a panic. “I didn’t save anyone’s life. Also, this isn’t something that can be cured so easily. Oh, but...”

Tatiana caught herself. For a brief moment, she studied Shalloak, then said, “Eating lots of sweet or fatty foods and not exercising... These are things that will erode your health. Obesity increases the physiological burden of the heart, making it easier to collapse. It’s possible for your condition to deteriorate even further. Therefore, I really think you should pay more attention to your diet.”

She finished her counsel to a speechless Shalloak. A second later, Mia chimed in.

“Just so you know, Tatiana is being modest. The truth is that when you collapsed, she was the first to run over and help you. Even as you fell on her, she cradled your head so you wouldn’t hit it on the ground. The way I see it, she saved your life, and that’s that.”

Tatiana glossing over the details weakened her offensive potential, and that just wouldn’t do. Mia made sure to state in explicit and graphic terms how Shalloak owed his life to the girl. That set the stage for her next attack.

“Let me tell you a small story. Tatiana’s father, you see, was a doctor, but he passed away when she was young. In honor of her dear father, she aspired to practice medicine. However, she had no money, so she had no choice but to give up on this dream. Oh, the tragedy! Doesn’t it just wrench your heart?” Mia hammed up her delivery a little for effect, gesturing melodramatically as she spoke. “But wait! There was something that showed up in the nick of time and saved her from her plight. This something...was a scholarship program. Your scholarship program, Shalloak! The one that didn’t make you even a penny of profit!”

The man who’d put on such a tough act, claiming he only ever did things for money and would use even others’ misfortune for his own profit...ended up being saved by a naive act of altruism he’d done in the past.

The tougher the act, the more this kind of thing hurts, and he has been putting on a pretty tough act. Honestly, if I were him, I’d die from pure embarrassment.

She placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Look, haven’t you kept it up for long enough? Just let it go already. You tell everyone that you only care about money. That money is everything, and money is your god. But in the end, what saved you was the result of wasting money. Isn’t it time you admitted that there’s more to the world than money?” What seemed like pure compassion radiated from her smile. “All this scheming, this conniving and calculating... It’s senseless. Doubly so when it’s shaving away your life. Stop and rest. If you need help, Tatiana will be happy to offer it. Listen to her advice and retrieve your health. Am I understood?”

With that, she heard the snap of Shalloak’s faltering will. At the same time, she opened the way for Tatiana to pay him back for changing her life. With the face of someone who’d just done a damn fine job and knew it, she silently offered one last message of encouragement.

Do get better, Shalloak. Let’s both take care of ourselves and live long, healthy lives.

It was a message she delivered with sincerity to a predecessor who walked the brambled path of F.A.T. before her.

“Ah... Aaah... I see.” Shalloak’s voice trembled. He was indeed wrong. His whole life had been wrong. However...not all of it had been a waste.

Once upon a future, there was a man known as the Merchant King. His stubborn pursuit of money led him to dismiss many things as worthless, including the voices of the weak and needy, as well as the repentant. Those voices, formerly rebuffed, had at last made it into Shalloak’s ears.

“Hah, that’s it? I had no idea that it’s so utterly simple...”

If he lost his way, all he had to do was go back to before he got lost. Instead, he’d hidden his self-loathing within the veneer of self-reflection, and over time, grown weary of even the veneer. He chose to accept himself as is, but deep down, he was simply giving up. Eventually, the very fact that he was lost began to fade from his consciousness. Occasionally, he’d have a moment of clarity and realize he was utterly lost in the depths of an unfamiliar forest. Every time, though, he’d let out a sardonic laugh and keep advancing, figuring it was too late to turn back.

Mia, however, didn’t think so. She met him in the woods, knowing full well how far he’d strayed from the path, and nonchalantly told him to go back. It was wrong to believe that money was everything, so before he fully succumbed to its curse, he should just backtrack until he could pick the correct path.

He recalled an old memory of leaving his master’s side to start his own merchanting career. Then, a flurry of scenes followed. Bright-eyed children played with strange toys from distant lands. Young women marveled at quilts with beautiful, exotic patterns. Curious husbands gleefully trying smoking pipes from foreign cultures. The goods he carried brought people joy, and whenever he saw their smiles, he felt a faint sense of pride.

Then, when he successfully finished his first big job, he was so overcome with joy that he felt a desire to do something good for the world. The desire led to him setting up a scholarship program, which earned him no small amount of ridicule from his fellow merchants.

I was so naive...but also so sincere. I sincerely loved my job, and I was proud to do it.

When had it all changed? When did the source of his joy change from the work itself to the money it brought in? And his pride, not from his job but his wealth? It probably occurred not in a moment but over a span. Gradually, the pressures of merchanting redirected his attention from pleasing customers to increasing profit. The principle of minimizing costs and maximizing returns—a basic axiom of business—spilled over to all other aspects of his life. If he was minimizing costs, could he minimize his effort as well? And if returns were to be maximized, what about joy? Before he knew it, he’d tethered his enjoyment not to the work he did, but the money it made him.

“Master Shalloak...”

He looked up to find the girl named Tatiana gazing straight at him.

“Don’t be discouraged. It’s not too late; you can still get better. I’ll help you, so let’s try our best together.”

She likely meant that his physical health could still get better, but to Shalloak, it resonated on a much deeper level, as if she was asking him not to give up on himself, that it wasn’t too late to turn back and find a new way to live...

“Not too late, huh...? I can still...”

With eyes shut, he slowly inhaled, feeling the air fill his lungs. It was, he felt, perhaps the first breath he’d truly drawn in a very long time. He let it out, and an invisible weight left with it. His eyes reopened to a world more vivid than he remembered.