Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 188: The Girl on My Mind
After leaving the women's dormitory, we headed straight to the student council room. I'd assumed they couldn't possibly have finished gathering information yet, but the student council officers were already waiting for us.
"Senior Alex, we've checked on the absent students. None of them appear to have developed lung disease yet. They have been taking cold medicine, but… apparently, only when their symptoms become truly severe."
The officer smiled wryly. He probably understood the feeling. The others wore similar expressions. Living alone while suffering from a cold must be miserable.
Nobles generally had servants, but if the servant caught the cold, that would create a serious problem. The noble would be forced to do everything for themselves, and a noble born and raised in comfort would never manage that.
"What about the servants?" I asked. "Many people besides students work at the academy, and I'm concerned about their condition as well."
The officer looked troubled. Apparently, that possibility hadn't occurred to him. This was the problem with nobles. Far too many still failed to think about commoners, and the student before me was probably one of them.
"We're about to investigate them. We thought it best to establish the students' condition first."
"Very well," Brother Alex said. "Please continue the investigation. The sick students are using the medicine sold by the academy shop, correct?"
"For the most part. Some appear to be ordering medicine from their family homes, though I doubt it makes much difference where they purchase it."
He grimaced as he spoke. Dreadful-tasting cold medicine must be the same everywhere.
That raised the question of what would happen once our medicine appeared. Should we give the academy priority? It felt unfair. I had no intention of favouring the nobility. I'd distributed medicine to the orphanage too.
"We'll use the potion Julius and the others made for any cases of lung disease," Brother Alex said, "but what should we do about the cold medicine?"
"What do you mean?"
The officer tilted his head, apparently unable to follow. The thought that easy-to-drink cold medicine might exist had never crossed his mind.
This could become a genuine problem. Orders might pour in faster than anyone could fill them.
"Julius's cold medicine is different from the ordinary kind," Brother Alex explained. "It's very easy to drink. He gave some to a sick child only a short while ago, and the child looked as though he couldn't believe it."
"I never imagined such cold medicine existed…"
"Brother, the recipes I use came from Grandmother. Anyone who knows the method can make them."
"Of course."
He smiled meaningfully. Brother Alex had apparently begun to suspect something. He really was sharp. But unless I confessed, he could never know the truth. Even now, I continued adding my recipes to the magic-potion book Grandmother had left me. At any time, I could point to it and say, "See? The method is written right here."
No loose ends.
"Senior Alex, could you arrange for the academy to receive those potions first?"
"That isn't something you should ask me. Julius, what do you think?"
The student council officer looked uncomfortable. Brother Alex's authority as the former student council president remained formidable. Unfortunately, the officer's respect for him seemed to come at the cost of any consideration for me. Perhaps his pride wouldn't allow him to defer to a ten-year-old.
There were plenty of people younger than him with higher status. He ought to learn how to show consideration to his juniors while he still could. Brother Alex hadn't abandoned that courtesy even at the orphanage.
"Many people in the royal capital are suffering from colds," I said. "We can't give the academy special treatment. However, the Royal Magic Pharmacists' Corps is also producing cold medicine, so I expect some will be allocated to the academy."
"I understand how Julius feels," Brother Alex said. "He's entirely right. I'm sorry, but we can't give the academy special treatment."
Admittedly, I had given the orphanage preferential treatment.
Well, its residents were too poor to buy magic potions, so I would simply insist that I'd provided the charity expected of a noble. I wouldn't entertain any complaints.
After discussing several other matters, we left the student council room. By acting early, we'd ensured that no one at the academy would die. That left the rest of the royal capital.
Or perhaps…
"Brother, what is happening in the territorial capital? Could the epidemic be spreading there as well?"
"We're waiting for word. A reply should arrive soon."
As expected of Brother Alex, he had left nothing unattended. If anything, I was the careless one. Once we returned to the townhouse, I'd write to Lady Fabienne and include the recipes for both the cold medicine and the lung-disease potion.
Fabienne should be able to make them without difficulty.
"Brother, we've finished our business at the academy. Shall we return to the townhouse?"
"Yes, let's. Oh—were you perhaps worried about Baron Ambert's daughter?"
"…"
Too sharp. A brother with intuition that keen deserved to be treated with caution. Would staying silent only make me look more suspicious? What was I supposed to say?
"I'm sorry, Julius. I didn't mean to tease you. I merely thought it was heartwarming, much like Cain. I had a time like that myself."
Brother Alex apologised, his gaze drifting into the distance. Was he thinking about Lady Hilda, Lady Carolina's elder sister? Being popular certainly came with difficulties.
I'd like to avoid becoming like that, but I already felt as though I had one foot through the door.
There was no doubt I was his younger brother.
I envied Brother Cain. Perhaps he and Lady Meeka were fooling around at that very moment? No, surely not. They wouldn't do anything like that inside the women's dormitory, especially with servants nearby.
They wouldn't… right?