Nozomanu Fushi no Boukensha (LN) - Volume 6 - Chapter SS5

Unsolicited Help 

I approached a man in a noisy bar. He looked like an adventurer, brawny and in his mid-thirties. With his skill and experience, he was considered a veteran around Maalt. He was also a Silver-rank, which contributed to this perception of him. But he didn’t match that reputation now, as he lay on a table covered in beer bottles. 

“What, it’s you, Rentt? Leave me alone,” he murmured, either half asleep or severely drunk—it was hard to make him out. The man’s name was Eiras. 

“It’d be fine if this was just about you, but I can’t just leave you like this,” I said with a sigh. 

“The hell are you talking about?” he said, confused. His voice became just a bit clearer, and he looked at me dubiously. 

If a normal human saw those eyes, they’d be so intimidated they’d be unable to speak. To me, though, this was nothing. The bloodshot eyes of a monster were far more frightening, to say nothing of the dragon that ate me. I couldn’t find humans that scary anymore. 

“You know who I’m talking about,” I said. “I mean Myurin. If you don’t do something, you’ll never see her again.” Myurin was a girl who worked at a general store in Maalt. I knew her from occasionally shopping there. She also held a special position. She did at one point, at least. “I hear you told her that you wanted to split up. She was pretty sad about it. Don’t tell me you found yourself another girl.” 

“Hell no! Myurin’s the only one for me. Wait,” Eiras paused, realizing what he said. “No, Myurin’s not my girl anymore.” 

“What a relief,” I said with a chuckle. “With how you’re acting, it looks like you still love her after all.” 

“Rentt, are you here just to tell me this? Piss off.” 

“Of course not. I’m here to give you this,” I said and tossed him a bottle containing a transparent blue liquid. Eiras caught it in midair. However drunk he may have been, he was still Silver-class. Or maybe he wasn’t that drunk anymore. 

“What’s this?” he asked. 

“It’s luan grass boiled in moontree sap and mixed with a few magic drugs. Which is to say it's a special medicine for treating fiel disease.” 

“What?!” 

“Now there shouldn’t be any problems, right? Her younger brother’s disease will be cured. She won’t have to marry someone she doesn’t want to anymore.” 

Eiras got the point and calmed down. “How do you know about that?” he asked. 

“I heard rumors you were looking for luan grass. Then later, I heard you’ve hardly been visiting your good friend Myurin lately. After that, I’m sorry to say, I went ahead and did my own research.” 

That’s when I learned that Myurin’s brother had caught a somewhat peculiar illness called fiel disease and didn’t have long to live. Curing it required a rare herb called luan grass that cost an exorbitant amount. But then a rich man proposed to marry Myurin, and if she accepted, then money wouldn’t be a problem. 

Once I heard about all that, the answer was obvious. Eiras was trying to stay out of the way so that Myurin’s marriage meeting would go without a hitch. Thankfully, there was nothing wrong with the rich man in question, and he was actually an honest man, based on my investigation. If he wasn’t, Eiras wouldn’t have been doing this to himself. He did unfortunately put Eiras in a position where he felt he had to make this decision, however. 

“You really didn’t need to do that,” Eiras said. “But if this is the real deal, then I’d even be willing to lick your boots.” 

“Sure, go ahead and lick. But don’t, actually, that’s gross. This is the real thing, I promise you. Lorraine and I got luan grass from the Empire and mixed it ourselves. It’ll work, I guarantee it.” I didn’t actually contribute much, but the other magic drugs we needed were all uncommon as well, so I helped with gathering the materials for those. I also helped with the mixing when it came to the parts that didn’t require alchemy. I didn’t train under a medicine woman for nothing. 

“From the Empire? How much did it cost you to get that? I hear you could build a house with that kind of money.” 

“Lorraine’s pretty well connected. She got it from someone who grows the stuff, apparently. Also, it might be that expensive after it’s been made into medicine, but luan grass itself isn’t too costly. You don’t need to worry about any of that. If you really care, I can charge you for the materials later. How does that sound?” 

“You and Lorraine are too nice. Tell Lorraine that she can charge me as much as she wants. I’ll go visit Myurin right away.” 

“Sounds good. Invite me to the wedding.” 

“Hey, I’ll invite you both. I owe you,” Eiras said and left the bar. 

“That settles that, I suppose,” Lorraine muttered. 

“Yeah. Sorry I asked so much of you,” I said. 

“It’s fine. I know Myurin too. I hadn’t heard about her brother’s illness, though. She should have just told me.” 

“You can’t just go telling customers about your depressing problems. She needed medicine that was virtually unobtainable, so what do you expect?” 

“That’s fair enough. She’s beautiful, though,” Lorraine said as we looked at her clad in a gorgeous dress. She stood next to Eiras, who wore magnificent armor that could have belonged to a knight. They were surrounded by people who were congratulatingcongratulated them. Today was the day of their wedding, and we were invited just as Eiras had declared. 

“You wish you were in her shoes, Lorraine?” 

“Maybe. I’m not as proper a lady as Myurin is, so a white dress probably wouldn’t be a good match for me. But I would like to try one on someday.” 

“Yeah? I think it’d look good on you.” 

“Don’t flatter me. You might look good in that armor, though.” 

“Now that’s flattery.” 

“It’s not supposed to be, but yes, maybe a witch’s black robes and cursed black armor would be a better fit for us.” 

“That could be interesting, but it sounds more like some sort of ritual than the cheerful event it’s supposed to be.” 

“You’re not wrong.” 

We laughed as we looked back at Eiras and Myurin. We saw Myurin's brother among the people congratulating them. We prayed that they all found happiness in their futures.