I understood from Naga-kun's letter that they were returning, but the journey would take about two weeks. Since it takes a week just to enter the Beast Kingdom, that’s to be expected.

I had planned to spend my days preparing to head out and meet them in Cyanoeidés around the time they arrived... but—

"Looks like we have a noble guest. They're making a fuss at the gate... probably a noble's envoy. Sounds like a grumbly, noisy person, so be careful."

"Ugh..."

"Alright, I’ll go. I have no intention of letting them in, but could you tell everyone to stay on alert just in case?"

Tiga-san had noticed someone outside the gate and came to get my brother and me. I was relaxing while tending to the animals at the ranch, so the interruption was a bit of a mood killer.

"You can stay and take it easy if you want."

"Hmm... I'll go."

I wanted Master to rest. My brother and I should be enough to handle this, so there was no need to involve her. Resigned, we headed to the southern gate to deal with the noble.

"You're late! How dare you keep a noble waiting!"

"Sheesh. We haven’t heard a word about any of this. Among nobles, isn’t it common courtesy to send notice ahead of time? I am the acting Viscount Granos Medicia. And you are?"

"I am a representative of the Banagloria Count family! Just tell Pamela Medicia that we're here to pick up medicine and she'll understand!"

The moment he heard the house name, my brother furrowed his brow.

I remembered seeing that name on Master’s client list—shown to us by Raz-sama.

Also, this man wasn’t a noble himself—just a servant. And he hadn’t even introduced himself by name.

"Yeah, that’s not going to happen. Master has retired as an apothecary. Moreover, she used to take orders from the Banagloria Count family, but after the delivery in the second month, she cut ties. Didn’t your house go so far as to file a complaint with the Apothecary Guild to sever the relationship?"

The man’s face twisted in frustration at my brother’s words.

He must’ve hit a nerve. While my brother didn’t share much about Master’s former clients, I knew there were a few that had turned hostile after being cut off.

Honestly, I wanted nothing to do with this. I would never let them meet Master.

"That was your side’s failure. Making medicine is an apothecary’s job. It’s your fault she couldn’t produce it."

"There were no ingredients. Of course she couldn’t."

My brother responded without hesitation, as if it were obvious.

It was obvious—you can’t make medicine without ingredients. Master wouldn’t refuse to make something unless there was a legitimate reason.

"Hmph! Just bring out Apothecary Pamela already!"

"After a flare-up of a chronic illness, her hands started shaking and she can no longer do delicate work. That’s why she retired. I believe she sent letters to all her clients explaining the situation. Please leave."

My brother personally wrote the notices and had Master add thank-you notes with her trembling hands. He had sent those letters to every client, so there’s no way they didn’t know.

Still, the envoy refused to accept it. He kept demanding the medicine be handed over, but it was pointless.

"Good grief. If the materials were available, I could make the medicine myself. But Master can’t. If you insist on hearing it from her, I could bring her here... but the answer will be the same."

"Then have that little girl make it and bring it at once!"

The condescending tone ticked me off, and I was about to fire back, but my brother pulled me behind him protectively.

"Sorry, but my sister is the exclusive apothecary for Lady Lazurite. If you want her to make something, bring a commission signed by His Highness the King's younger brother or Lady Lazurite. All of Master’s former clients have been transferred to me… and the Banagloria family has already had its contract terminated. If you'd like to renew that contract, here’s the price."

My brother pulled out a contract.

When it comes to medicine orders, having a formal agreement is essential to avoid trouble. After all, even if you receive the materials, there's still a chance of failure.

“What… what is this price!? And what do you mean by bringing our own materials!?”

“It’s not strange at all, is it? The price changes depending on the difficulty of making the medicine. And we can’t make it without the materials, can we?”

“That’s your responsibility to provide!”

“Nope. Even if you say that, we don’t have it on hand. If you don’t like these terms, why not try somewhere else?”

“We already investigated! The substitute for Peace Nectar was developed by you people, right? We’re telling you to use that and make the usual medicine! And the price is outrageous! You don’t even have Pamela’s skill, and yet you raise the price—it’s unacceptable!”

He barked orders at us arrogantly, but honestly, if he didn’t like it, he could go elsewhere. We set prices the same way for everyone.

We calculate the cost based on the difficulty of making the medicine, material costs, and market value—so we can fully explain our pricing.

The reason the price has increased is simple: the longer the illness continues, the worse the symptoms get, and the medicine needs to be customized. That makes it more expensive. But Master hadn’t raised prices out of goodwill because they were a loyal customer.

On top of that, market prices have gone up since the initial contract.

“This medicine’s market value has increased in recent years. There’s a shortage of skilled apothecaries. Furthermore, the medicine for the Banagloria household now requires special processing due to their deteriorating condition, which makes it harder to produce. So the price is fair… By the way, the Mare Apothecaries Guild appraised the same request—it would cost 10–20% more if made there. And yes, with materials supplied by the customer.”

Apparently, we even had the guild's pricing estimate backing us up.

Thanks to Lord Rekalst’s cooperation, we’re able to exchange information smoothly with them.

“Also, that substitute material you mentioned? We don’t have it here. We made it by request of His Highness the Royal Prince, and all of it was delivered directly. Even during production, we went to Cyanoeides and handed everything over on-site. His Highness handles everything—that’s the contract.”

“That can’t be true! We know you have some not under the prince’s jurisdiction!”

…Ah, that must be the sample I carelessly gave to Nebia…

To avoid further trouble, we reported it as stolen during a trial run.

After the prototype was made and delivered to Cyanoeides, it went missing while we were away, and we filed a theft report.

That was Brother’s idea—to handle it that way. He told Nebia we’d treat the samples floating on the black market as having been stolen by someone who had been secretly investigating us.

But honestly, just knowing something is on the black market already says a lot. If you’re getting info through a dark guild, you’re clearly not clean.

Nebia said someone might take the bait if he spread that around—and clearly, they did.

“Um… that was a stolen prototype.”

“Yeah. We keep getting hit by thieves who target our ingredients while we’re away. Even Master’s place was hit. Because of people like that, it’s hard to live in that town anymore. So now we have no choice but to make customers bring their own materials.”

I nodded along with my brother’s words.

It wasn’t a lie—both our home and Master’s were broken into, and ingredients were stolen.

“This is outrageous!”

“I’ll say it again. We’re still processing and producing the material, but His Highness the Royal Prince is in charge of all management. We don’t have any of it here. And if we don’t have the materials, we can’t make the medicine.”

From the start, we anticipated trouble, so we never kept the materials here.

We do have emergency ingredients to make Master’s medicine—but even that’s under the prince’s control and can’t be repurposed without his permission.

“In urgent cases where we can’t get materials, we have to use newly developed ones that are still being tested. To manage that risk, the prince controls everything. I’ll say it again—it’s not here.”

The messenger glared at us in frustration, grinding his teeth.

I silently chanted “just go home already” in my head—when he suddenly grinned at me.

“Then you file the request. All we need is the medicine.”

“There’s no reason we have to go that far just to make your medicine. Filing requests adds work for us and gains us nothing. If you bring the materials, we’ll make it. If not, we won’t. Simple enough?”

The man’s lips trembled in frustration—he looked like he was barely holding back his rage. But there’s no helping it—you can’t give what you don’t have.

Through Rarna, we’d already told Nebia that if they needed more, it would take time to prepare. So far, the initial amount had been enough.

“You may have been granted a viscount title, but you’re still upstart commoners! Don’t think you’ll get away with this!”

“You can say that… But it was your people who stole Master’s materials, which led to her being unable to make medicine, suffering an attack, and being forced to retire. That’s a national loss. But even when we try to investigate the thief, for some reason, nothing ever moves forward.”

“And Raz-sama is investigating too, but I hear there’s pressure from somewhere that keeps stalling it.”

“Well, if Raz’s side can’t manage, we’ll just reapply to the prince.”

The messenger twisted his lips and finally turned to leave.

I really hope he doesn’t come back—but people like that always do.

We told Master, but all she said was, “I see.” She seems to believe that the other noble houses won’t move on this, so we’ll trust her judgment and respond accordingly.

Brother plans to report this to Lady Kaia, and I’ll inform Raz-sama. I really feel like that noble house is behind the theft and harassment.

---

Two days after that annoying noble’s messenger left, another noble came to visit.

This time, it seems to be the noble himself. He arrived in an elegant carriage, well-dressed, clearly high-ranking. He looked to be in his late fifties, with a constantly furrowed brow that made him seem rather high-strung.

However, he treated us very politely. There was no trace of a condescending attitude, like talking about nobility or looking down on us. Even his attendants were completely different from last time—it was like night and day.

“I’d like to see Lady Pamela…”

“Is it a request for a potion?”

“No. I heard she’s not feeling well, and I wanted to meet her at least once before I no longer have the chance.”

“Your name?”

“My name is Vijeya. I’d prefer not to disclose my family name.”

I didn’t recognize the name Vijeya, but my brother furrowed his brows clearly. He seemed to know the name. I had no clue at all.

“Krein, go inform Master.”

“Got it.”

Following my brother’s words, I went to our master and conveyed the visitor’s name.

“Oh my…”

Upon hearing the name, Master gave a wry smile, looking slightly troubled, and began to prepare.

It was the same formal attire as when meeting the prince. He told me to change as well, so I did.

Meanwhile, my brother remained in his usual work outfit for civil engineering. I wondered if that was really okay.

We returned to the guest together with our master.

My brother and the guest were talking with a somewhat suspicious air—it was a bit intimidating.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“No, I apologize for the sudden visit. I did send a messenger in advance, but your third son refused entry, saying he wasn’t here. So I came anyway, on my own accord.”

“Laz-boy has gotten overprotective lately… It’s been a while, Chancellor.”

The master referred to the guest as "Chancellor," and I couldn’t help but stare at him.

Looking at my brother, he nodded slightly, and the guest, who had been addressed as the Chancellor, gave a bitter smile.

“You’ve got the time to come out to this remote place?”

“There’s an unusual illness spreading in the capital right now… I was removed from the response team and ordered to return to my territory. Oh, and also to relinquish my position as Chancellor.”

“An unusual illness, huh… I haven’t heard about that from the Pharmacist Guild or Laz-boy. If it’s a real disease…”

“Oh, Lady Pamela, there’s nothing that can be done about this strange illness, so please don’t worry. It’s different from previous epidemics—I haven’t come to ask for your help.”

Master's expression changed upon hearing about the illness, but the Chancellor immediately clarified that her help wasn’t needed.

Then why did he come here? I looked at my brother, but he shook his head, indicating he didn’t know either.

“What happened in the capital? What are the symptoms? Do you really not need help?”

“Yes. We’re calling it an illness for convenience, but it’s more of a curse. I didn’t know either, but it seems His Majesty has been involved in sorcery for quite some time… there have been consequences. I was dismissed, likely because they didn’t want me taking charge. I thought I’d take the opportunity to retire peacefully, and I came to greet you while I was at it.”

“...The curse, is it from outsiders?”

“I understand the temptation to blame outsiders due to the rarity of dark magic, but this was orchestrated long before. Although the incident became public due to an outsider.”

The Chancellor glanced briefly at me.

Wait… is he looking at me because I’m involved? This curse—could it be related to Lord Kaia?

“Um…”

“Apologies. I seem to have started rambling. The real reason I came today was to deliver these.”

He took out five stacks of documents, each about ten centimeters thick.

Then, one by one, he placed gold bars—likely to keep the papers from flying away—on top of them. Wait, what is this? A bribe?

“What’s the meaning of this?”

“It’s for all the help you’ve given us. It’s to cover my granddaughter’s medical treatment. She was born five years ago, and you’ve been preparing her medicine all this time. She has now made a full recovery. I’d like you to accept this as our thanks.”

“Recovery? From magical sclerosis?”

Master was clearly shocked and asked again. In response, the Chancellor stroked his chin and looked at me and my brother.

I had no idea what he was implying.

“Brother…”

“I need to confirm with Kaia myself. Kaia ordered Crow not to speak about it, so I don’t know the details either. I was planning to investigate and report back later.”

Ah… it must be about that incident where we were told not to get involved.

So it’s been classified as a strange illness and blown out of proportion?

“You really don’t know anything?”

“No. We do know that Kaia wasn’t actually sick. One of our slaves saw it. But since Kaia personally ordered silence, we don’t know the circumstances. Master doesn’t either.”

“Hm…”

The Chancellor seemed to ponder for a moment, then removed one of the stacks of documents from under the gold bars and replaced the bar. It must’ve been something problematic to hand over.

Maybe it was information related to the curse.

Then… what are the rest of the documents?

“You seem to be close to the prince’s second son.”

“Oh, pardon me. I got a little too casual. If it offended you, I apologize.”

“No, no. I’m not here to interfere in your friendships. But the boy has survived this far thanks to Lady Pamela. Please accept this as our gratitude.”

“I didn’t do much. I just did my job.”

In other words, she only prepared the requested medicine.

“Even so, it must’ve been a difficult formulation for a young child. I also heard you didn’t use the materials I provided for your own medicine. I understand it caused a relapse?”

“They became valuable ingredients… Some idiot claimed they were materials prepared the previous month and took them back. That’s all.”

Master is normally very careful with ingredients that have an expiration date. But since we have regular deals, she sometimes makes the medicine in advance, which probably caused the confusion.

Still, stealing it is outrageous.

“If you find this place inconvenient, I was considering offering my mansion. What do you think?”

“It might seem inconvenient to you, but I’m quite satisfied here. I enjoy watching my cute disciples grow. I’ve had enough of those who only come to complain… I’m enjoying my life here.”

“I see. Do you have any requests regarding the Banagrolia family?”

“Can you even charge a noble with a crime? All complaints against that family have been buried.”

“If I could get a statement that they stole materials from our estate, we could move quickly. Luckily, I’m currently unemployed and have time. If possible, I’d like you to sign something.”

“Sure, how about this? I was planning to leave it to the prince anyway.”

We handed the Chancellor the complaint we’d prepared to submit regarding Master’s case when we visited Curanoydes.

“May I take a look?”

“Go ahead.”

The Chancellor read the document handed over by my brother and assured us, “We’ll handle it on our end.”

He also mentioned preparing a separate document for the prince, so both he and the prince would be taking action.

This could be the end of the Royalist faction...

It feels awkward to explain all this in a letter, so I’ll go tell Lord Laz in person.

“Sigh… So many troublesome nobles.”

“Oh? You’re coming too, brother?”

“If it’s Laz’s place, I have a way to contact the prince directly. Best to inform him as soon as possible.”

Oh right, there’s an artifact like a communication device.

It’s convenient. I kind of want one myself… For now, I’ll just report everything to Lord Laz and let him handle it.