Kays Translations

Chapter 404: House Mulan

The floating wagon quickly reached the village. The knights were still fighting nearby, and Lionel began issuing orders as soon as we stopped inside the settlement.

“Lionel, we’re fine here. Go provide support right away.”

“Understood. You all, I’m leaving the rest to you.”

“Yes! Even at the cost of my life, I will protect you!”

The knights’ resolve felt rather heavy, though I supposed this was normal. Would I ever become accustomed to it? As Lionel and the others headed towards the fighting, I stepped out of the wagon, only for Nero to stop me.

“Julius-sama, what do you intend to do? You must not leave the carriage.”

“It is fine. I am not going towards the fighting. I only want to prepare some potions in case anyone is injured.”

“I will assist as well.”

“Kyuu!”

Fabienne and Mira intended to help as well. Nero, Giles and Christopher joined us, and by the time the potions were ready, Lionel and the other knights had returned.

“Julius-sama, we have exterminated all the monsters that attacked this village.”

“Good work. What kind of monsters were they?”

“Forest Wolves.”

“Forest Wolves, huh? That’s a bit troublesome. The villagers might find them too difficult to handle.”

“Is that so?”

Fabienne furrowed her brows in concern. She probably didn’t know much about monsters. The other three seemed to understand, as their expressions grew serious. Forest Wolves were more troublesome than goblins.

“Goblins use weapons, but their movements aren’t that fast. However, Forest Wolves are quick. They also coordinate with their pack when attacking. Fighting multiple of them alone can be difficult.”

“Julius-sama, you know a lot about this.”

“W-Well, yeah. I read about it in a book.”

Fabienne looked at me with admiration. Of course, I could not tell her that I had learnt it from the game’s tutorial, so I merely gave an ambiguous smile. Nero, Giles and Christopher already seemed familiar with the information and nodded in agreement.

“Lionel, check whether anyone is injured and distribute the potions as necessary.”

“Understood. I’ll do so immediately.”

With that, Lionel and the others left again. I had made the knights run around quite enough; once matters were settled, I would make sure they received a proper rest.

The knights brought back the injured villagers while we finished preparing the potions. Only a few people needed treatment, and the medicine was quickly distributed.

“Julius-sama, the village chief wishes to thank you.”

“Me? Not Lionel and the others?”

“Yes. It was you who gave us instructions and decided to distribute the potions, was it not?”

Well, that may be true, but the ones who actually acted were Lionel and the others. As for me, all I did was float the carriage and prepare the potions for distribution. Was I really the one who should be thanked?

As I was thinking about this, a white-bearded man, escorted by knights, approached us.

“This is the village chief. Thank you for saving us. And for the precious potions as well… I don’t even know how to express my gratitude.”

“Please don’t worry about it. We didn’t use that many potions. More importantly, are potions really that rare?”

“Oh, yes, they are. Ever since the monster outbreak, obtaining potions has become even more difficult. Even the herbs that used to grow around the village have been completely harvested by adventurers.”

There were probably medicinal herbs growing in this area before. Herbs have healing properties on their own, so the villagers likely used them to treat minor wounds.

The potion shortage was worse than I had imagined, which meant the damage must have spread across a wide area. I could not remember whether Father’s letter had described the full extent of it.

With the village chief’s permission, we decided to remain there for the night. The villagers offered to provide our meals as a token of gratitude, and we accepted their hospitality.

“It appears the magic potions you supplied are causing quite a stir, Julius-sama.”

Lionel, who had gone out to gather information about the village, said this as soon as he returned. When I asked for more details, he told me that people were saying they had never had a magic potion so easy to drink before.

It seemed the improved beginner-level healing potion formula I had released still had not spread throughout the kingdom.

“Could it be that the Mulan Marquisate is still using the old version of the beginner-level healing potion?”

“That might be the case.”

“What about the royal capital? Now I’m curious. Maybe I should check when we stop by on the way back.”

The royal capital had surely adopted the improved formula by now; the Royal Magic Pharmacists’ Corps had been working hard to spread it. Even so, new techniques took time to reach distant territories. Perhaps House Mulan had summoned us partly so we could introduce the formula here.

The next day, we left the village and hurried onwards. We were slightly behind schedule, and Marquis Mulan might already have been growing impatient. To make up time, I kept the wagon floating just above the road.

This time I adjusted the magic properly, making the wagon’s elevation almost impossible to notice. Fabienne said nothing, but her good mood made her approval obvious.

It spared us the jolting ride, so I preferred it as well.

At last, we reached the Mulan Marquisate. Although the territory was not especially large and contained only a few towns, its position as an eastern trade hub generated considerable tax revenue and made House Mulan extremely wealthy.

“Julius-sama, the House Mulan residence is in sight!”

As Lionel pointed ahead, a white mansion came into view. We couldn’t help but gasp at its beauty.

So this was Caro’s family home. It was enormous and beautiful; had someone called it a royal villa, I would have believed them without hesitation.

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter