Chapter 1-25 : The Girl Is Having A Conversation With The Gentleman
「Phew… I’m full now. It was delicious. Thank you for the food, Little Missy. You’re a lifesaver.」(nobleman)
「It was my pleasure.」(Elle)
「Please take this. This is a token of my gratitude.」(nobleman)
After eating a late lunch with Elle, the gentleman took out a gold coin from his pocket and put it on the table.
However, Elle shook her head.
「No, I don’t need it.」(Elle)
「Are you sure?」(nobleman)
「Yes. I don’t think the meal was worth a gold coin. Besidesー」(Elle)
Elle looked at the gentleman with an upward gaze and continued her words.
「ーI want you to consider it a favor. It will be much better for me if you owe me one.」(Elle)
The gentleman opened his eyes wider. He looked surprised. He put back the gold coin in his pocket and laughed.
「Hahaha! I see, I see. Seems like we have a clever young lady here. Making an adult owe you something worth a gold coin is not a thing any child can do.」(nobleman)
Judging from how casually he handed Elle a gold coin, the man seemed to be a rich and powerful noble.
Elle thought it would benefit her more if she made someone like him owe her a favor rather than accepting the gold coin.
「Well then, if you ever have any trouble in the royal capital, you can come to the Forster Family. You can ask around and people will lead you to us.」(nobleman)
Elle’s guess was right. He seemed to be from a well-known noble family in the royal capital.
「Speaking of which, your cleverness reminds me of someone.」(nobleman)
「Reminds you of someone?」(Elle)
「Yes. My best friend. He was a clever man but stubborn and surprisingly cautious. He was the wisest and the most compassionate man I’ve ever known.」(nobleman)
The man looked into the distance through the window while saying that, reminiscing about the time he spent with his best friend.
「He’s been missing for a long time. I set out on a journey to find him, but… no luck. I’ve searched every place he might visit but unfortunately, I still couldn’t find him. I don’t even know if he’s still alive or not.」(nobleman)
「He… went missing…?」(Elle)
「To be exact, he abandoned us… He said he didn’t want to see fools like us anymore. I wasn’t a sharp person at that time, so I didn’t see his intentions at all, but after many years, I finally realized he wasn’t wrong. That’s why I went looking for him.」(nobleman)
Elle didn’t understand exactly what he was talking about, but she could tell that it had been hard for him.
The gentleman let out a long sigh and returned his gaze to Elle.
「Little Missy, are you planning to move to the royal capital and live there?」(nobleman)
Elle replied to him by shaking her head.
「Good. I don’t know your business in the royal capital, but you should leave immediately after you’re done. The city is not in a good state right now. A civil war might break out.」(nobleman)
「Eh? What happen?」(Elle)
「There are two factions in the royal capital. The people who are with the royal family and the people who oppose them. There will be a social event in the city soon, and those two factions will gather in one place. We managed to hold the social event every year without any problem so far, but, I’m not sure about this year’s event… After all, Her Majesty has…」(nobleman)
The man suddenly fell silent and looked down. He seemed to be holding back tears.
「Umm… Are you okay…?」(Elle)
「Ah, yeah. I’m alright. Pardon. Anyway, thanks to the queen we were able to retain the balance in power between two factions and maintain the peace. However… she was no longer in this world…」(nobleman)
「The queen has passed away…?」(Elle)
Elle, who knew little about what was going on in the country, was shocked when she heard that.
The queen seemed to be the buffer between the royalist and anti-royalists. Now that she had died, the peace was in danger.
「It was black spot disease. A year ago, she went to do charity work in a small village in the countryside and got infected… After she died, the entire village was burned down to the ground to prevent the disease from spreading… It was truly unfortunate…」(nobleman)
「Black spot disease? Ho, hold on. Wasn’t the cure for that disease discovered thirty years ago? You could have saved the queen and that village.」(Elle)
「Ho? You’re still young but not only are you clever, but you’re also knowledgeable.」(nobleman)
The man looked surprised. He never thought a young girl like Elle would know that.
She knew because the one who found the cure was none other than her late master, Moritz. He saved many lives by discovering the cure thirty years ago. (chap 1-5 part 2)
「That’s right. There was a cure, but we lost it. All the medicines and the research related to it were burned.」(nobleman)
「Burned…? By who?」(Elle)
「…..The king…」(nobleman)
「What!? But why did he do that?」(Elle)
「Because… The cure was created by a traitor who was against his will…」(nobleman)
「…..」(Elle)
Elle remembered Moritz once told her the reason why he isolated himself in the forest was because he had a fight with someone powerful in the royal capital.
That ‘someone powerful’ seemed to be the king.
「But, still… That cure could have saved many lives. He shouldn’t have wasted it just because it was made by someone he hated.」(Elle)
「I understand your feelings. You’re right. However, the king must have been consumed by hatred. He lost himself and couldn’t think straight at that time.」(nobleman)
The king made a huge mistake. If he kept the cure, the queen and hundreds of other people who got infected by the disease might have survived.
Elle’s conscience told her to tell the man that she knew the cure, but her intuition told her otherwise.
She still didn’t know who the man she was talking with was. He was obviously a noble, but his identity, which faction he was in, and how powerful he was in this country were still unclear.
It would be unwise to reveal everything to him, so she decided to keep quiet, at least for now.
「Since we don’t have the cure, His Majesty didn’t have a choice but to order the army to burn the villages infected by the disease to prevent it from spreading. As a matter of course, the anti-royalists didn’t agree with his decision. They tried to save those poor people from being burned alive by dispatching a group of agents wearing bird masks to investigate any village infected by the disease and save the people there.」(nobleman)
「ー!」(Elle)
Hearing the words ‘bird masks’ Elle remembered she saw people in those masks.
Their mission seemed to save the people infected by black spot disease from being killed by the king’s army. However, let alone saving people, the men in bird masks Elle saw were extorting money from the villagers in exchange for haphazard medical treatments.
It seemed that their higher-ups were not aware of their evildoing.
Elle wasn’t sure whether she should tell the nobleman about it or not, but she thought that those evil men should be stopped.
「Umm, Sir. What I’m going to tell you may surprise you. It’s about the men in bird masks.」(Elle)
「Oh? You know about them?」(nobleman)
「N, not really… I only heard about them from people at the port on the island before boarding a ship here, and from what I’ve heard, they were totally different from what you described.」(Elle)
「What do you mean?」(nobleman)
「You said they were dispatched to save people, but I heard that those men were extorting money from villagers. They would leave the villager to die of disease after getting enough money.」(Elle)
「What!? Are you sure you didn’t hear it wrong?」(nobleman)
「I’m sure.」(Elle)
「I can’t believe it… Do you know where they are?」(nobleman)
「They were on a small island about three days away from here. I heard that they were last seen at a village in the forest not far from the port.」(Elle)
「I see. I have to send people to investigate as soon as possible. Thank you for telling me, Little Missy. Seems like I owe you more than a gold coin.」(nobleman)
「Don’t mention it.」(Elle)
Elle had told the village chief and some other villagers who knew her identity to not tell anyone about her, so her secret would be safe even when the people sent by the nobleman came to investigate.
She was hoping that the men in bird masks could be captured and brought to justice for their evil deeds.
You can gain access to [Early Access] page and read up to ten chapters ahead by supporting me on [Patreon]
Thanks for the chapter! ❤️❤️❤️