“There’s a child with no shadow?”
“Yes.”
An old man was wearing a characteristically styled hat of a priest, a cape, and a white robe with a stand-up collar where the hemming was embroidered with gold. He was the head priest of the Guardian Church of the Wind; a Marseille parish.
This Head Priest had just received a special report from a parish priest. The Guardian Church was under the jurisdiction of a larger “Church” organization that could be found all over the continent, for each guardian deity it has its own Church. This Church had a guardian deity of the wind attribute.
“Yes, an orphan from the orphanage claimed to have witnessed it personally on the beach. According to the orphan’s story, the boy with no shadow had removed a portion of the seawater to help a drowning child.”
“What? Isn’t it just a made up story from child? Ignore it.”
The Head Priest didn’t pay much attention to it, simply signing the piled up documents with a quill.
“It would be great if that was the case, but. . .”
The priest began to explain in a very serious manner.
“Since the orphan was annoyingly noisy about it, the priest in charge of the orphanage’s religious affairs went with the child to the beach the next day. And then. . . it seems that divine power had accumulated in that area.”
Accumulation of divine power means that a powerful Divine Art had to of been used there.
“You said the next day, so it still remained?”
The Head Priest was doubtful. If a large scale Divine Art was used by a powerful Divine Art user on the level of Emperor, then some divine power will accumulate in that area. Though it would only remain for up to several hours. For it to remain for a full day, that was hard to believe right away.
“I’m certain that the accumulated divine power didn’t disappear. Many priests have confirmed it too.”
That’s abnormal, the Head Priest got flustered.
“The seawater was removed. . .? Did he use a Water Divine Art of the negative attribute?”
“Do you really think so? The orphan said that a column of seawater was removed. Can a Divine Art do such a thing?”
If it was true that the accumulation of divine power had occurred, then it was certain that the boy with no shadow had used a Divine Art. However, he had never heard of, nor seen, such a Divine Art. The Head Priest, who had finished signing the documents, began to grin unkowingly as he listened closely to the priest’s story.
Colorful lights were leaking in through the stained glass windows, causing a fantastical atmosphere to drift into the large room where the Head Priest was located. The flame of a nearby candlestick was wavering solemnly.
“Yet he had no shadow. Wait, what does that even mean in the first place?”
“Could he be an evil spirit?”
Nonetheless, evil spirits don’t usually walk in broad daylight, nor can they accumulate divine power since they haven’t received the divine blessings of the Gods. That was the conclusion the Head Priest had came up with.
“The boy they saw was said to have light blonde hair, and his skin was slightly fair. Within the diocese of Marseille, there isn’t a boy that has blonde hair and the negative attribute of water.”
It was a strange story. Even though the Head Priest had been in power for a long time, he didn’t remember anyone who would fit that description. First of all, the Head Priest had memorized all negative attribute users of every element within the diocese of Marseille, since negative attribute users were very rare.
“Does the orphan who witnessed still remember the face of the boy? It might be a Divine Art user from another diocese.”
The Head Priest began to press for an answer.
“They were quite far away, so the orphan didn’t get a good look.”
If he thought about it carefully, the child might have mistakenly seen that he had no shadow and can erase water because that person has a powerful negative attribute. The Head Priest decided to contact the upper echelons. He was afraid that a child with such a powerful ability might recklessly use their divine power in the city, because they are still immature. So that it would not turn out that way, centralized training from a special agency would be necessary.
“Get in contact with the Inquisition Bureau. And locate the boy.”
“As you command.”
The Inquisition Bureau of the Great Church. It was a bureau specialized in purging heretics and exorcising evil spirits.
A few days later, an order to search for the boy was sent to all the parish churches on the continent.
Such events were not known to Falma.
Falma and the gang finished their inspection of the Marseille Province and went back to the Imperial Capital. While they were gone for a week, the pharmacy had been closed. Upon their return, the business was reopened. Just as Falma prepared to go back to work, the Captain Knight guard from the pharmacy rushed over to de Médicis mansion.
“A wagon crashed into the pharmacy!?”
It happened while Bruno was having breakfast with Falma.
“Yes my Lord, the door of the shop and some products were damaged. Normally we guard using a two-person system, however, when morning came we opened the iron gate. It was then that two wagons with no coachmen rode through the gap in the gate and crashed in quick succession. We weren’t able to stop it, even though we were there. We are very sorry, my Lord. We also don’t know who the owner of the wagon was, as it didn’t even have a registration number.”
“What about the compounding room?”
The compounding room was located behind the counter, which meant that it was isolated. It was the core of the pharmacy, and Falma would be distressed if that room was ruined.
“The compounding room is safe.”
“What cargo was the wagon carrying?”
Falma could easily eliminate the spilled cargo if the chemical compound was simple, then he would be able to immediately reopen. Also, it was the day after the holiday break, so there were many patients who had been scheduled to come in and receive their prescriptions. Their arrival would hopefully make up for the lost sales they encountered while the pharmacy was closed.
“It was dirt and sands.”
There was uncertainty in the knight’s report.
Ah, I will have to temporarily close the pharmacy, and so Falma gave up today’s sales. Before the opening time of the store, he had to quickly create a notice.
“Oh well. . . It’s a good thing the wagon was unmanned when it crashed.”
His mother was concerned. When Lotte and Cedric came into the room, they understood the unusual atmosphere and kept quiet.
“Someone is trying to sabotage our business..”
When Bruno was done eating, he said the same words that Falma was thinking of.
“To some, a shop that sells strange medicines isn’t amusing in the slightest. They think it’s frightening, and there are even those who think that it’s harmful.”
It was practically impossible for them to do business. Rather, the shop looked so different that it made customers think that the shop was a dangerous place.
“Perhaps. . .”
He had a bad feeling about it. The saboteurs might attempt to do something similar to Medique.
“We have to reopen the pharmacy as soon as possible. Our customers will dwindle the longer we dawdle.”
“This is. . .”
“This is terrible. . . The shop is a mess.”
When Falma, Lotte, and Cedric went to the pharmacy, they were met with a horrible sight. Did the dirt from the cargo rot? The shop was filled with a terrible smell, and part of the interior was almost filled with both dirt and sand. Luckily, as the knight had said, the compounding room was safe. Since Cedric’s Divine Art was Earth of the positive attribute, it wasn’t possible for him to remove the dirt and sand using divine power. However, he was able to purify the contaminated soil.
“Purification (La épuration)”
Cedric held his wand and chanted the activation spell, purifying the soil.
“Thank you Mr. Cedric, the smell has disappeared now.”
“Tis the only thing I could do.”
Cedric sniffed in vexation.
“What is the meaning of this!?”
Without knowing anything about the situation, Ellen arrived at the pharmacy after having ridden a horse all the way from the Bonnefoi mansion.. Her shout resounded as she was about to get to work.
“Ellen, can you take the take the medicines in the compounding room over to Medique and start working there instead? I want to be able to send the patients there.”
Falma entered the clean compounding room that was separated by a wall, and began compounding all the medicines for the patients who supposed to come by today. After finishing, he entrusted the medicine bag and a list of the patients to Ellen. He also handed over the compounding set and vials.
“Here. . . This is only enough for all of the patients who scheduled to come today. So if a new patient comes in, I’ll write the prescription and send it over to Medique.”
“Uh, Uhm. Understood.”
Ellen had recently learned quite a bit from Falma, it was to the point where she could compound modern medicine by imitating Falma’s techniques. If she hadn’t learned information from Falma, then she wouldn’t be able to cope with diseases other than the standard ones. Although it was possible to prescribe medical herbs and the like using this world’s traditional pharmaceutical knowledge, Ellen believed that Falma’s medicines were more effective, so she switch her formulation techniques.
“Finally, Ellen, do not fully open the iron gate in front of Medique.”
“Why? Will that place also get attacked?”
“Just a precaution, please be careful. Also, I want you to bring along Lotte too.”
“Eeh!? I want to help you here!”
“I understand, let’s go Lottelita. You should listen to what the boss says.”
“Please do.”
“If a suspicious person comes, I’ll drive them away with my Divine Art!”
Falma decided to leave it to Ellen since she was an excellent Water Divine Art user. He remained at the Different World Pharmacy, and began formulating a plan for reconstruction.
“What the hell happened here. . . Who were the bastards that did this to my favorite shop!?”
Jean was an old man who always came first thing in the morning, before the shop even opened. After seeing the plight of the shop, he was outraged.
“I thought I could finally buy some candy today! So this means I can’t drink the water then eitherー!?”
Falma was unable to say anything after he heard the old man. He started to search for the “sailor’s candy” inside the shop; where all the products were scattered and buried inside the pile of dirt and sand. Fortunately, the candy was safe in a jar on the top of a nearby shelf, though it looked as if it could collapse at any moment. Falma took the jar and handed it to the old man, Jean.
“The jar looks dirty on the outside, but it’s clean inside. Because Mr. Jean is my best customer, I’ll give this to you. In addition, when the shop reopens, please do come and buy.”
“Wooooo. . .! So you are just going to give this to me for free!?”
Old man Jean’s sparkled as he ran away with the jar held in his hands. He ran in a way that Falma didn’t think it was possible for an old man like him.
“Sir Royal Court Apothecary, don’t be disheartened.”
“If there is anything that I can do, please let me help.”
“Let us assist him.”
The neighboring shopkeepers, who were all close to Falma, had come out to the street feeling sorry for the calamity. They said they would lend him their apprentices, to help remove the wreckage made by the wagon.
“Thank very much, you have saved me the trouble.”
Little by little, people who came to help increased.
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