Chapter 17

「So, that’s how it turned out, I’ll be the one acting as the bridge between the Knights’ Order and Vedito Pharmacy.」

The news of the Knights Order’s interest in purchasing the medicine from my store and that Hector was assigned to handle the transactions I heard from the man in question himself. Apparently there had been a bit of disagreement when deciding who would take the role, but for me, having someone I already knew made things much easier.

To begin with, I had no desire to get involved with knights at all. It was only because I had a fallback in case something happened, and because my friend Hector was there, that I felt I could help out a little. I had no intention of forming deeper ties with the other knights.

「Then, once again, I look forward to doing business with you.」

「Yeah, leave it to me. If anything doesn’t sit right, just tell me anytime, I’ll make the command aware of it as best I can.」

He said it with his usual smile, making him very reliable. With Hector, I felt confident he wouldn’t agree to any deal that would put me at a disadvantage.

(…He looks well. That’s good.)

The last time we parted, he had looked as if he were standing on the edge of hell itself, drowning in despair, but it seemed he had recovered well. There was no sign on his face, or in the lines of expectation, of him dwelling on his failure.

As far as I was concerned, the Feferi flowers he brought back had been a delightful gift, so I was glad he wasn’t dragging it out. If anything, I’d like him to go pick some again.

「By the way, your medicine really has a good reputation, it works well. My cheek healed in three days… Do you use some special formula?」

「My recipes are a secret, and I don’t know how other shops make theirs… but perhaps it is a bit different.」

After all, these were medicinal recipes passed down through a lineage of healing mages. It wouldn’t be strange if they were somewhat unique. And since I, a healing mage, was the one making them, their effectiveness was even stronger. …The ones I gave Hector were magic potions, so they were extra effective.

「Speaking of which, I’ve started training with my right hand again. If I can swing a sword properly, I feel like I might be able to use both hands. I might even become what they call a dual-wielder.」

「That’s… impressive.」

Hector’s dominant hand had originally been his right. Though he hadn’t been able to use it for a while, he said it wouldn’t be hard to regain the feeling. If his strength returned, he might even become a dual-wielder capable of handling swords in both hands, and apparently even the captain had high hopes for him.

There had been a few dual-wielders in the past, but it required tremendous skill and dexterity. And since they couldn’t use a shield, they couldn’t fight in a steady, defensive manner. Without exceptional ability, it would only make injuries more likely.

「…Please don’t get hurt.」

「You’re worried about me?」

「I think that’s what friends do.」

Even I, who had no friends other than Hector, knew that much. You worry about those close to you.

Hearing that, my only friend said 「That’s true,」 while showing both joy and sadness in his expression. …He seemed happy to be worried about and treated warmly, but perhaps a little sad to be seen as just a friend.

「Hey, if you’re okay with it, do you want to go out somewhere together sometime?」

「Go out…?」

「Yeah. I can’t really walk around openly, so the places I can go are limited. But I think friends are supposed to hang out together.」

That might be true, but judging from the colors above his head, that wasn’t all there was to it.

This was probably an invitation for a date. The moment I thought to refuse, a translucent blue extended, and I found myself unable to do so. When that kind of emotional color appeared, it meant that even a refusal would linger for days.

If it was just going out as friends, that was perfectly normal, I told myself. …I didn’t want to deliberately make a friend sad either.

「That’s fine, but… I don’t have any experience with that, so I’m not really sure what I should do.」

「Huh?」

「I told you, didn’t I? That I avoided making friends. I’ve never gone out with one before.」

Occasionally, Jean would take me out to eat, but otherwise I was always working. Either working, or preparing to work. Since losing my parents, I couldn’t recall ever doing anything just for fun.

Well, collecting materials for medicine and making it was enjoyable, so perhaps that counted as a hobby or play.

「…To be honest, I don’t have much experience either. I don’t really know what we should do.」

Now that I thought about it, his close friend Kai was a noble. I didn’t know the details of their connection, but it was clear he wasn’t in a position to go out freely. And considering his difficult personality, it wasn’t hard to imagine that he had no friends besides me and Kai.

「But I want to go out with you. …Is there somewhere you want to go? Or something you want to try?」

「…Let me think. For reference, what kind of things did you do with Kai-sama?」

「Hm… I don’t know if it’ll help… we went hunting sometimes, or played cards.」

Hunting and card games. I had no experience with either, and the former was probably impossible for me. I knew of indoor card games and board games, but I didn’t even know the rules. Perhaps I could learn if someone taught me.

(No, wait, Hector wants to go out… Since walking around town is dangerous, it’d probably be somewhere outside the city.)

As for places I wanted to go or things I wanted to do, my options were extremely limited. There was one place I had thought of after seeing the Feferi flowers, but I doubted it would be enjoyable for Hector. …Still, I had no choice but to ask, though I didn’t expect much.

「Um, it might not be very different from usual, but… apparently there’s a place in the forest where Shutom flowers grow in clusters.」

「Shutom…? I’ve never heard that name before.」

「Yes, it’s a rare flower. Most people wouldn’t know it.」

It was something my father had told me when I was a child. Somewhere in the forest we always went gathering, there was a lake filled with Shutom flowers. He had found it once by chance after getting lost, but he no longer knew where it was.

Shutom were also called illusion flowers, because they interfered with human perception. A place where they grew in abundance was extremely difficult to find, and even if you did, it was easy to lose your sense of direction.

I had never seen them myself, but they were likely magical flowers. A mage would be fine, but ordinary people would be misled.

「My father said there were many rare medicinal ingredients there… and for someone who makes medicine, it was like a dream.」

「I see… but you have no idea where it is, right?」

「Well… yes.」

I had wanted to go there as a child, but had long since forgotten. Even as I mentioned it now, I didn’t really believe we could find it. It might have been just a story my father made up, a fairy tale.

I was about to laugh it off and say 「Just kidding」 but Hector smiled and nodded.

「Alright, then the Lake of Shutom it is. Let’s go look for it.」

「…Huh? Is that okay?」

「You want to go, right? It sounds like a treasure hunt adventure. Even if we don’t find it, we can still have a picnic, it sounds fun.」

I could tell he meant it, even without looking at the lines. But I hadn’t expected him to accept so easily, and it left me confused. Searching for a place that might not even exist in a vast forest… I felt guilty if it ended up being pointless.

「But we really don’t know where it is.」

「Yeah. So we should narrow it down… The forest is big, but not infinite. We knights patrol a wide area and hunt magical beasts. We can exclude those areas first, and then…」

「Ah, wait. I have a map of the forest, I’ll go get it.」

It was something my father left behind, a map marking where different herbs could be gathered. It had been incredibly useful when I started the apothecary on my own.

We spread the map out on the table and leaned over it together, eliminating unlikely locations. Patrol routes, heavily trafficked areas, paths through the forest, those were ruled out first.

「Do you know where your father usually gathered herbs? Even if he got lost, it probably wasn’t too far from there. If it wasn’t far enough to be life-threatening, it should be closer to town…」

「…I see.」

The forest wasn’t too deep to cross straight through, it took less than half a day, but it stretched widely. Thanks to the knights’ patrols, truly unexplored areas could be narrowed down. And within those, if we focused on places not far from where my father gathered…

「…Maybe around here.」

「Yeah. We do have guys who get lost around there sometimes… I think it’s possible.」

The place that had once felt like a dream suddenly became real. My heart felt light, almost floating. …It was a place I had dreamed of as a child. Surely it was okay to feel a little like a child again.

「I hope the Lake of Shutom is there.」

「Yeah… I hope so too.」

I looked up with a smile, and noticed Hector gazing at me with softened eyes. Our heads had been close as we looked at the map, so our faces were near. His honey-colored eyes were filled with affection so clear I didn’t even need to look at the lines.

It startled me, and my heart beat a little harder.

…That kind of expression felt unfair. I couldn’t bear to look and ended up turning away.

「So, when should we go?」

「Next week, or rather, the week after. I’d like time to prepare… What about your schedule, Hector-san?」

「That works. The week after, then. I’m looking forward to it.」

As I started thinking about what we’d need, my thoughts drifted to what kind of lunch I should prepare. When I asked his preference, his answer surprised me.

「Sandwiches?」

「Yeah. The ones I had the first time I escorted you. I want those again.」

「You like those? Alright, I’ll make that for lunch. What else should we bring…」

I’d pack plenty. Even though it was still two weeks away, I was already excited. Lost in thoughts of that day, I didn’t notice Hector smiling at me the whole time.