𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟑: 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞
“Ellen-sama, I’m back… Who are these guys?”
“Welcome back, Baulder. They are defeated soldiers. Moreover, they are the ones who did this to Stephan.”
The three men are tied up and rolled over. The snake I brought this time doesn’t have a deadly poison. Their limbs will swell and they will suffer greatly for a few days.
Baulder rode a horse and went out again to inform the locals about the capture of the defeated soldiers. I caught the four snakes and put them back in the bag.
Norra, who popped her head out of the box, was very interested.
“Are you a snake charmer?”
“No, Norra, I’m not. I’m a pharmacist. I keep snakes to collect their venom. They were attached to me, but I angered them and threw them, so they might not be attached to me for a while.”
“Won’t you get bitten?”
“I was bitten when I tried to take it out of the bag by touch.”
I show my arm. Norra’s eyes widened at the sight of the fang marks on my arm and the slightly reddened skin.
“Are you okay?”
“My body is already accustomed to the venom of these snakes.”
“That’s amazing. You’re like a wizard. This person is getting much better too.”
Indeed, Stephan was beginning to recover. Plenty of hydration, soft food, medicine, stress relief. Stephan’s body was spending all its energy on survival.
“Damn it! I’ll kill you for sure.”
The man who was tied up and rolled on the floor shouted.
“Oh really? If you make a fuss, should I inject more snake venom?”
I take a small box out of my backpack and show a syringe and a small bottle of medicine from inside.
“If you behave, you might be returned to your homeland as a prisoner. If you oppose me, you’ll be bitten by a poisonous snake and die before you become a prisoner, you know?”
The men became quiet.
Eventually, the voices of many people, the rattling sound of pulling a cart, and the neighing of horses could be heard. It was the villagers who came to take the prisoners.
・・・
『”𝘈𝘸𝘦𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴.𝘤𝘰𝘮” – 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘳a𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 “𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴” 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 “𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴”.』
・・・
First, I sent a message to my house by fast horse about the discovery of Stephan. After that, considering Stephan’s condition, I moved the carriage slowly.
“Ojou-sama, I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing, Stephan? You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“It’s my fault that Ojou-sama was in danger.”
“I wasn’t in danger. I managed to handle it safely, didn’t I?”
The carriage is being driven by Baulder. Inside the carriage are me, Stephan, and Norra. Although his condition is improving, Stephan’s wound is still open and we can’t let our guard down.
“Prince Ehrlich is safe. He was grateful to you.”
“I’m glad…”
With that, Stephan fell asleep again.
When we finally arrived at the gate of our house, my mother was standing like a guardian deity waiting for us. She had a very scary face. My father was desperately trying to calm her down. Next to them, Hanna was crying with joy, burying her face in both hands.
・・・
『”𝕬𝖜𝖊𝖇𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘.𝖈𝖔𝖒” – 𝕯𝖎𝖘𝖈𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖆 𝖈𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖛𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖜𝖔𝖗𝖑𝖉 𝖔𝖋 𝖑𝖔𝖛𝖊, 𝖕𝖆𝖘𝖘𝖎𝖔𝖓 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖆𝖉𝖛𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖚𝖗𝖊, 𝖜𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖊 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖈𝖆𝖓 𝖎𝖓𝖉𝖚𝖑𝖌𝖊 𝖎𝖓 𝖆 𝖈𝖔𝖑𝖑e𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 𝖔𝖋 𝖙𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖘𝖑𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖓𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖑𝖘 𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖍 “𝖉𝖆𝖎𝖑𝖞 𝖚𝖕𝖉𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖘” 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖊𝖝𝖈𝖑𝖚𝖘𝖎𝖛𝖊 𝖆𝖈𝖈𝖊𝖘𝖘 𝖙𝖔 “𝖆𝖉𝖛𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖊𝖉 𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖘”.』
・・・
“So? You decided that searching for Stephan was the top priority?”
“Yes.”
“Do you still think the same?”
“Yes. If the same thing happens, I will go to help Stephan again.”
“I see.”
If I abandon the life of a loved one, I will definitely regret it for the rest of my life. Even if I lose the position of successor, I can continue my work as a first-class pharmacist as long as I live. But Stephan’s life, once lost, can never be regained.
I couldn’t read what my mother was thinking with her expressionless face, but she examined Stephan and assured me, “It’s okay, he’s young and strong, he’ll recover.”
At night, the captains of my house’s guards came to apologize to me. They were sorry that they couldn’t help Stephan.
“You guys didn’t do anything wrong. I was able to find him because I knew the mountains in that area better than anyone. You guys had to go back because you are guards of the Marquis family. So, lift your heads.”
When the guards left, Norra sighed, “Haaa.” Norra, the lifesaver of Stephan’s life, was cleansed, dressed in a simple dress, and is now in my room. When I washed her and removed the dirt, Norra turned out to be a beautiful girl with thick blonde hair and brown eyes, although she was too thin.
“I didn’t know Ellen-sama was such a great noble. I’m sorry for calling you a snake charmer in the hut.”
“Speaking of which, Norra, you didn’t scream when you saw the snake.”
“I was raised in the mountains. Snakes won’t attack unless they are startled. But, I can’t grab them like Ellen-sama because if bitten, you could die. Ellen-sama, who threw venomous snakes at bad people, was like a goddess and wonderful!”
“You thought that was wonderful? Fufu. Norra, after you’ve calmed down a bit, would you like to study basic medicine under me? The number of dog and cat patients is increasing, and I can’t handle it all by myself anymore.”
Norra’s face brightened up instantly.
“If you would teach me, I will do my best. My father has passed away, and I was wondering how I should live from now on. I will work hard to be useful. Please teach me about medicine. Please.”
“Well, it’s settled then. I look forward to working with you, Norra. Also, let’s make an important promise.”
I held Norra’s hand, who was listening to the conversation intently, and spoke.
“Someday, when we no longer have to worry about defeated soldiers, let’s go to your house. And let’s make a grave for your father, Norra. I want you to wait until then, as we will properly mourn him.”
There’s no way Norra could forget about her murdered father. She just can’t bring it up out of consideration.
Norra nodded, her tears falling.
“Ellen-sama is indeed like a goddess.”
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