Chapter 1-15 : Critical Situation Ⅰ (part 3)

 

「By the way, Kate-san, who are those men? They just joined your party temporarily, right?」(Sarasa)

「Yeah, I just met them today. This was the first time Iris and I entered the Great Sea of Trees, so we looked for someone who knew the place. Those men said they were veterans here, but then I found out that they were just amateurs who were pretending to be veterans after I saw their sloppy movements.」(Kate)

「Veterans, huh? Lorea-chan, have you seen those men before?」(Sarasa)

「Nope. They are probably newcomers.」(Lorea)

「I knew it…」(Sarasa)

I also don’t remember seeing them before.

Almost all of the Collectors in this area have visited my store at least once.

They knew about the Great Sea of Trees, they said? What liars…

「So they were really lying to us, huh…?」(Kate)

「Yeah. Looks like you drew the short straw for picking them as your party members. I’m sorry for you two…」(Sarasa)

「Haahh… I should have told Iris to go back after I saw their amateurish movements….」(Kate)

Kate put her hand on her forehead and let out a big sigh.

「Well, at least they didn’t abandon Iris-san and run away.」(Sarasa)

After giving Iris-san the potion to recover her physical strength, I took out a potion to cure disease.
This one is not very strong, so I think it’s okay to give her more than one bottle.

Even though her wounds were closed, she seemed to be short of blood.
Her face was still a little pale.

However, the rashes on her entire body have already subsided, and her breath was much calmer now.

I think her pulse and breathing is normal now.

To make sure, I examined her body once again with magic.
After confirming that there were no abnormalities, I held my hand to my chest in relief.

「Fuhh… I think she’ll be okay.」(Sarasa)

「Really!? Thank you! I thought she was done for…」(Kate)

Even though I practiced how to treat injured people, this was the first time I had treated a person with a terrible condition like this.

However, there’s a principle that “the person who treats injured or sick people shouldn’t be impatient or anxious”, so I desperately pretended to be calm.

ーーI did it, right? Yeah, I think I calmly treated her wounds.

「For now, let’s keep her body clean and let her rest. Do you have her change of clothes?」(Sarasa)

「Yeah, but it’s in the inn…」(Kate)

「Can you get it? Ah, you can stay here too if you want. I have plenty of rooms.」(Sarasa)

「Can I? Honestly, I’m grateful because I have to save money in order to pay you, but…」(Kate)

「Don’t worry. It’s better if you stay here with Iris-san after all.」(Sarasa)

I think Iris-san will be okay, but I’m still a little worried.
If Kate-san stays here, I can feel more at ease.

「Okay, thank you! I’ll go get our luggage from the inn then!」(Kate)

As soon as I opened the door, Kate-san ran out of my store.

As the door was opened, I saw those two men were still waiting outside.
However, Kate-san kept running to the inn, completely ignoring them.

I didn’t want them to come in, so I closed the door again.

「Lorea-chan, can you wash this tub?」(Sarasa)

「Understood.」(Lorea)

While waiting for Lorea-chan to come back I took off all of Iris-san’s clothes to check if there are other injuries.

Normal injuries could be cured with potions, but if there are any poison stingers or something like that on her body, I should carefully take them off her body.

Hell Flame Grizzlys used their poisonous claws to attack people, not stingers, but I did it just to make sure.

「…..Alright, there’s no suspicious things on her body……… Hmm… Iris-san has a really beautiful body…」(Sarasa)

I didn’t pay attention earlier because I was worried, but when I looked at her naked body, I thought she was really beautiful.

She has a slender body and a cute face.
Her hair is covered in blood now, but it’s beautiful.

By the way, Kate-san was also a beautiful woman.

ーーCould it be… those men were lying that they were veterans just to act cool in front of these two beautiful women…?

「Sarasa-san, I’ve washed the tub.」(Lorea)

「Thank you, Lorea-chan.」(Sarasa)

Using magic, I poured hot water into the tub that Lorea-chan brought.

I wet a piece of cloth with the hot water and wipe Iris-san’s body.

Actually, taking her into the bath would be better, but Iris-san is quite tall.

I could use body strengthening, but it would be kind of hard to carry her tall body with my short body.

I’ll let her use the bath when she can move by herself, but for now, let’s just simply wipe her body.

After I cleaned her blood-stained body and hair, I carried her to one of the empty rooms on the second floor with Lorea-chan’s help.

「Lorea-chan, thank you for helping.」(Sarasa)

「U-un… I couldn’t do much, though…」(Lorea)

Lorea-chan looked a little down.

It looks like she has never seen someone seriously wounded before.
Nonetheless, she didn’t panic and calmly helped.

Lorea-chan is really a good girl.

「Is it too stimulating for you?」(Sarasa)

「Un… But, Sarasa-san, I was surprised that you can also treat an injured person like that. Alchemists are amazing!」(Lorea)

「Well, I’ve been practicing something like this at school. This is my first time treating a person with terrible injuries, though.」(Sarasa)

「Is that so? But you looked really calm.」(Lorea)

I smiled at Lorea-chan who tilted her head.

Looks like I successfully forced myself to make a calm expression.

「Actually, I was desperate, you know? But… I’m glad that Kate-san said she would pay for the treatment…」(Sarasa)

「Sarasa-san….. If Kate-san said she wouldn’t pay… would you have treated Iris-san anyway?」(Lorea)

I was at a loss for words for a moment.

「Umm…….It’s a difficult question… But as an alchemist, I do need money in order to help more people.」(Sarasa)

Even if I can help one person now, I can’t help more if I go bankrupt.

「….. Do you also think I’m greedy…?」(Sarasa)

I don’t intend to change Lorea-chan’s mind, but if possible, I want her to understand.
I want to continue to get along with her, after all.

And as if she was banishing my anxiety, Lorea-chan shook her head.

「Of course not. I understand what you’re saying. I also don’t think that ‘life-threatening’ is an excuse to get treated for free….. Those potions… are expensive, right?」(Lorea)

「Ah, umm… Yeah… I think it’s worth more than 10 years of your salaries…」(Sarasa)

「S, Seriously…?」(Lorea)

Actually, even if Lorea-chan saved up her salaries for 10 years, she couldn’t even buy the raw materials to make those potions.
But, let’s not tell her the truth…

「I see… Sarasa-san, you’re impressive for giving someone who you just met for the first time such expensive potions…」(Lorea)

「Well, if the one who was injured was one of those men, I would never give them any, though. I treated iris-san because I thought Kate-san could be trusted.」(Sarasa)

It’s just my intuition, though.

But Kate-san nodded without hesitation when I said she should pay for the treatment.
She made a face like “I’ll do anything for my friend’s sake”.

Seeing her determination, I couldn’t help but trust her.

I’m sure Iris-san is a really important person to her.

 

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