Chapter 182: I Want

　I went around the rooms in the orphanage and gave them cold medicine. There were nine in total. Of them, only Lelie was suffering from lung disease. Thank God it had not spread to the other children. This was probably thanks to Nero, who thought there was something wrong and had Lelie quarantined in a private room.

“Julius-sama, how can I thank you?”

“Don’t worry about it. Your proactive efforts has saved us from having too many sick people. I can make cold medicine quickly, but I couldn’t make a lot of medicines for lung diseases because the ingredients are a little special.”

　The children, who had regained their energy, gathered in the dining room and ate the snacks on the big table with relish. Among them, Nero was the only one who thanked me without touching them.

　As I expected of him, he is a very solid person who is in charge of the children in the orphanage. With this, even if he leaves this orphanage, he will be able to find a place to work without any problems. Nero’s stable atmosphere makes me think that he would be a good fit for a family orderly.

　He moves fast, and I think he could support someone while also serving as an escort. Yeah, I’m starting to want Nero. I’ll talk to my brother Alex about it. And of course, I’ll take his sister Lelie with me. That should make him feel at ease.

“Julius-sama, aren’t you going to chase each other today?”

　A boy of about five years old asked me with a twinkle in his eye. Apparently, he had seen me and Nero play chase last time. Maybe he wants to see it again?　But today I had to check on the children’s cold symptoms and hand out cold medicine, so I didn’t have much time left.

　Besides, it’s getting colder and colder outside as we head into winter. I think it’s better to stay indoors as much as possible to reduce the number of children who catch colds. That is why I took out my next special items. It is Sugoroku and karuta.

　Our territory’s specialty was secretly becoming popular even in the royal capital.

“Instead of running, I brought you something you can play with in your room. Here it is!”

　I lay them out on the table. Most of the children seemed to be scratching their heads as they had no idea what these were. Nero was the only one who did not.

“is that Sugoroku and Karuta? I’ve heard that they are very popular toys in some frontier territory. I also heard that they have come to the royal capital and are very popular. Could  that frontier territory be…?’

“That’s right. Well, in fact, it’s the Margrave Heine territory, where my parents live!”

　Hearing that it was a toy, wow! The children cheered. This entertainment product is also a very useful learning device for memorizing letters. Playing and learning. Killing two birds with one stone.

“By the way, this is a special edition, handmade by me. It’s a one-of-a-kind item that can only be found here.”

　Again, “Wow!” cheers went up. The kids are in such good spirits. It’s not bad. I made a good number of them so there wouldn’t fighny fighting. As long as I teach them how to do it, we can all play together right away.

　Thus, I taught the children how to play Sugoroku and karuta, and played with them myself. After all, board games are more exciting when played with a large group of people.

　After losing several times, it was time to go home. Don’t get me wrong. I only lost on purpose to make the game more exciting.

“Thank you so much for today, Julius-sama.”

“Thank you very much!”

　The children said this in unison at the entrance. There really are a lot of good kids here at the orphanage. I’ll have to find time to come visit again. Maybe I’ll bring some magic tools next time.

“If you run out of magic potions, please don’t hesitate to let me know. If there are any other magic potions you need, we might be able to work something out. And make sure you teach them to use the soap properly. It helps prevent colds.

“I understand. Please leave it to me. Thank you in advance.”

　At the end, I parted from the children with smiles on our faces. The carriage ride home felt very quiet.

　When I returned to the townhouse, I found my brother Cain. How unusual. He had never come home since the school started. I wonder if something had happened.

“I’m back.”

“Welcome back, Julius. Did you cause any problems?”

“Of course I did. Ah, there was a child who was suffering from lung disease, so I gave them a magic potion to cure their lung disease. It worked, and she’s all better now.”

　The servant will tell him what happened anyway. If that’s the case, it’s better to say it here …… Huh?　Brother Alex and brother Cain are looking at me with stern expressions. And just like that, the two of them closed the distance without saying a word.

“Tell me more about that story.”

“Uh, okay.”

　I don’t really understand why, but I told him how I had given them a magic potion that was effective against lung disease, and an elementary recovery potion to avoid the risk of side effects from that magic potion.

　Brother Alex puts his hand on his chin when he hears this. Brother Cain, on the other hand …….

“Julius, can you give me that magic potion?　I’ll give you as much money as you want!”

　Brother Cain grabbed both my shoulders and shook me back and forth. Stop it, I feel like something is about to come out of my stomach.

“No, no, I don’t need money. I made it with materials I got for free from the royal Magic Potions Division’s materials storage. But there is one problem. ……I don’t have any on hand right now. I’ve donated everything to the orphanage.”

“Ahhh.”

　Brother Cain collapses with his head in his hands. Okay, I get the gist. I looked at my brother Alex, who had a good smile on his face, and our eyes met. Something’s eerie.

“You may have figured Julius, but Viscount Raniemi’s daughter seems to be suffering from a lung disease. We were looking for a magic potion to cure it, and it seems we already have one.”

“I won’t know until I diagnose Baroness Raniemi, but if it started with cold-like symptoms and turned into a lung disease, the magic potion I made might work. If necessary, I will write a letter and we can pick it up at the orphanage. I will also prepare a piece of paper with the order in which the potions should be taken.”

“Thank you, Julius.”

　He said this in a voice that sounded like every sound was muddled, and then Brother Cain hugged me. My clothes were soaked with liquid from my brother’s face. Oh my gosh.

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