Chapter 497: Sparring Ticket

The very next day, I began making the abacus without delay. On the way to pick up Fabienne, I recounted the events of last night, and she laughed lightly, clearly amused.

“So the abacus will be officially registered as a new product, then. That’s wonderful. I’m excited to see what kind of tool it is.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that. It was a bit unexpected, though.”

“Unexpected?”

“Yeah. Even the servants who were there wanted one. That’s why it ended up being turned into a product.”

The servants who had watched from a distance became remarkably excited. Before I knew it, plans were moving ahead to sell the abacus. We also decided to hold abacus classes, beginning today with a small group.

Ah, that means I’ll have less time with Fabienne. What should I do…? Wait, I can just teach her along with the others.

When I mentioned this to Fabienne, she nodded happily. Perfect.

Back at the estate, I taught Rosalia and the other craftspeople how to make abacuses while Fabienne compounded magic potions. I had planned to begin developing a new potion today, but the abacus had overturned my schedule completely.

After finishing the morning’s work, I went to the salon to have tea with Fabienne, when a servant assigned to Sister-in-law Daniela arrived. Something must have come up.

“Julius-sama, Brother Alex and Sister-in-law Daniela will be travelling to the royal capital in three days. They asked me to tell you that you should let them know if there is anything you need from there,” she said.

“Understood. Could you also deliver a letter to Sister-in-law Meeka?”

“That shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll inform her.”

I suppose clearing the backlog at the Heine Trading Company yesterday made the sudden journey possible. They needed to report everything that had happened in the Kingdom of Raven, and a letter alone would not be enough—mostly because of the outrageous things I had done. My apologies, Sister-in-law Daniela. Please forgive me.

“All right, I need to write Sister-in-law Meeka a letter at once. I should also prepare the Sparring Tickets. Oh, and as an apology, I’ll send her some shampoo and conditioner as well.”

“You mean the ones you mentioned before? And a sparring ticket?”

“Yes, the Sparring Tickets. When she visits the House Heine estate during summer break, each one will allow her to spar with me.”

Fabienne nodded solemnly. She had been present when Sister-in-law Meeka left for the royal capital, so she probably remembered how disappointed Meeka had been.

“Well, we must hurry and develop the shampoo and conditioner.”

“Yes. We’ll begin as soon as our break ends. It isn’t a magic potion, but once we finalise the method, anyone should be able to make it.”

“Then many people will be able to use it.”

She was right. Even if not all commoners bathe daily, at least they wash their hair. Washing hair is simple enough with just a shower.

Now I was curious how widely the shower magic tool had spread among commoners. I had left distribution entirely to other people, so I had no idea. The drawbacks of that hands-off approach were becoming obvious. Managing distribution must be difficult.

Lost in thought, I headed to the compounding room. The three royal magic pharmacists who had come from the royal capital for training were working there, so we exchanged only brief greetings.

“This place is getting a bit cramped. Perhaps we should use the annex where Grandmother used to work?”

“I think that’s a good idea. We shouldn’t get in anyone’s way.”

“Oh, no need! If you need the space, we’ll vacate immediately.”

I quickly stopped Lyla-san from moving aside for us. Her loyalty was admirable, but there was no need to prioritise me above everything else. I was not that demanding. Smiling wryly, I gathered the ingredients in the space that remained.

We used ordinary herbs, Blue Slime mucus, magic herbs and soap. The result would be odourless, so adding fragrance would be ideal, but I had none on hand. I would have to consult Mother about that. For now, we would make the first prototype.

We simmered each ingredient in a pot to extract its properties, then blended the extracts with detoxified Blue Slime mucus and soap. The batch was small, so the prototype was finished quickly.

“Julius-sama, what is this?”

“This is for washing hair. It’s not a potion, you see? I’m planning to call it shampoo and conditioner.”

“Shampoo and conditioner…”

“The process was very similar to compounding a potion, though.”

The boundary between magic potions and daily-use products was admittedly vague. Magic potions produced obvious effects, such as healing injuries or neutralising poison, whereas daily-use products were meant for regular use.

Since shampoo and conditioner would be used whenever someone washed their hair, they counted as daily-use products. I had decided it, so the matter was settled. No objections allowed.

I wanted someone to try it immediately, but perhaps not today. They could use it tonight.

“I’d like to try it, Julius-sama.”

“Well, you’ll need to bathe… or at least take a shower.”

“In that case, let’s take a shower. My swimsuit is in the room prepared for me.”

Fabienne apparently kept her swimsuit in the room prepared for her at the House Heine estate, along with some clothes. It was always better to be prepared.

And so, we ended up taking a shower together in the middle of the day.