AMaku Yasashii sekai de Ikiru Ni Wa – 16
“How are you feeling Master Doyle?”(Ballad)
As soon as our eyes meet, I get another question about my body. I sigh and tell Ballad again.
“ . . . Ballad, I am fine. It has been two week since then. How can I not be fine? I did not suffer any injuries to to begin with.”(Doyle)
I have answered this question every single day for the past two weeks. Despite this, Ballad’s look suggests that he still does not believe me.
“But Master Doyle, you were hit by the Mace of His Highness. I understand that the seniors in the Healing Unit helped treat you, but the waking medicine did not work on you that day. You were unconscious for nearly half a day. When I saw you unconscious in this room, I felt as if my life had lost its purpose.”(Ballad)
I take Ballad’s words to mind.
The selection match.
I received a blow from Gray’s Mace in that match and somehow miraculously came out without even a b.u.mp. I was unconscious though, so the healing unit lead by Leopardo checked my body to see if anything was wrong. Since there was nothing abnormal, they wanted to use the waking medicine. The waking medicine is a special type of medicine; it was used on Jin after I had won but did not work when used on me. This medicine basically gives off a special smell that gives you a kick to wake you up from sleep or unconsciousness. It does not work on people whose bodies are predisposed to be resistant to poisonous substances.
My body seems to be one of those special bodies. There is another waking medicine for such people. However, it is incredibly expensive and is not used if the situation is not life threatening.
Let me add on something else. During the time when Gray came down, my grandfather and Jin’s father stopped him from continuing his rampage. It was only then did he calm down.
They were worried that he might have started to go berserk when I woke up, but it seems it was fine.
Gray’s image of the kind and gentle prince was basically thrown out that day. He apparently pushed down some teachers and seniors on his way down to hit me. Then when Gray had managed to calm down, they had him begin the closing ceremony for the Selection Matches.
Ballad who was extremely worried about me kept knocking on the door to the infirmary until he was let in to see me. Leopardo told me about both incidents after I woke up.
Leopardo checked my body for injuries from Gray’s attack and was annoyed by Ballad’s constant knocking on the door.
Leopardo who had told me these things also said another line.
“Man, Aghinis you sure are loved . . . huh? I mean it is to the point of people envying you.”(Leopardo)
He also told me about another incident that happened. He did not know himself why this happened though.
The training grounds were burnt to the ground. Apparently no one was hurt, but Leopardo himself did not know the exact details.
When I asked Ballad, it seems he too did not know about the fire. He had not heard about the fire until he heard it from me.
It is midnight when I wake up.
I wake up, and the first person I see is Ballad who holds my hand while crying. I tell him to stop crying and that I am fine now. This just causes him start to crying even more.
Getting him to stop crying turns out to be very difficult.
When I remember the ordeal I went through on the day of the selection match, my eyes glaze over. Still, I have to say this.
“ . . . I am sorry for worrying you Ballad, but could I ask you to prepare some tea?”(Doyle)
“I will bring it to you immedi
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ately!”(Ballad)
Seeing Ballad being able to switch from sad to work mode so quickly left me really surprised.
I could see the joy in Ballad’s eyes when I had asked him to make me some tea. I could only smile wryly right now at this level of emotional adaptation.
However, I value Ballad as an important subordinate. He worries about me just as much as my parents. I think there is no one else who can serve me better than him.
—-knock—–knock—–knock—-
Hearing the knocking on the door reminds me of when Ballad was trying to gain entrance to my room. Boy did he keep knocking. Ballad usually answers the door, but right now he is out making tea.
Also, I already know who is at the door. I open the door silently and look at the person in front of me.
“ . . . Oh! This is quite the honor! To be greeted by Master Doyle himself. Even right now I cannot stare at his magnificent figure without covering my eyes. This Luce must work hard to better himself.” (Luce)
“ . . . Come inside Luce, Solcier, and Jeff.”(Doyle)
“It has been awhile, Master Doyle”(Jeff/Solier)
I open the door wide to let my guests inside.
“Jeff, you can put your stuff on that table.”(Doyle)
“Yes!”(Jeff)
“Master Doyle, where is Ballad?”(Solier)
“Oh, I asked him to make some tea a little while ago. He should be back soon.”(Doyle)
I tell Jeff to put his big wooden box on my table.
Solcier is wondering where Ballad is, and I give him the answer.
The important Luce is still looking at me like he is staring at the sun.
Luce is improving, but he is still like when he first met me. I do not know why he comes to me, but I figure there is no problem as I feel no hostility.
“Please have a seat over there.”(Doyle)
“Yes.”(Luce/Solcier/Jeff)
I point to the sofa across from me for them to sit down upon.
Luce sits across from me, Solier sit to the right, and Jeff sits to the left.
These positions have not changed since I met them.
Luce Hendra is the son of the CEO of the well respected Hendra Company.
Solcier Strega is the son of the CEO of the Strega Magic Toll store.
Jeff Burka is part of the Ferriela family, the leading blacksmith family in this kingdom.
Although they are not n.o.bility, they are well known individuals who are experts in their respected fields. These 3 oddb.a.l.l.s like to hang around me.
The decision maker in the group is Luce.
Solcier never acts contrary to Luce’s decisions, and Jeff is the type that goes with the flow.
I do not know why Luce likes me, but we became more familiar during my rebellious phase. He was my partner in crime during that time and conspired with me to carry out many stupid pranks.
These 3 people were originally Ballad’s acquaintances.
As a pa.s.sing comment, I once said that when I inherit the t.i.tle Duke I will need useful people beside me other than Ballad.
Hearing this and taking it as an order, Ballad went around our territory and found these 3 people for me.
I can still remember his face when he told me that these 3 people would be very helpful in the future.
Luce, who followed Ballad because it looked interesting, apparently has some kind of skill that make things dazzle when he looks at them. I do not know what this dazzle means, but he was really impressed after he saw me through the lens of that skill.
Even now, Luce does it as if to confirm something. I do like him though. He has been very helpful in the form of his information network and connections.
He told me that there is nothing in this world that the Hendra Company cannot acquire when we first met, and he has not let me down.
Even today, I asked for something earlier, and I am guessing he has brought it to me.
“All right, Luce what is it today?”(Doyle)
“We have the item you requested.”(Luce)
“Wow, that is much faster than I predicted.”(Doyle)
“Of course we would hurry. It is an order from Master Doyle. We instructed all the factories we own to work on it as soon as possible. The craftsman made the item as Master Doyle requested, down to the exact details. When my father saw this item and understood what it was for, he wondered why n.o.body else had thought of such an idea before. If I may, I would like to ask if you could allow us to handle this product in the future.”(Luce)
“Of course you can. I feel bad that I made you attempt the impossible, and you were still able to accomplish it.”(Doyle)
“No, please, we are merchants. Hard work is hardly work at all! We do hard work because we know that if we miss such an opportunity, we will miss out on the potential to make large amounts of money. Seeing my father’s delight rather surprised me.”(Luce)
“Really?”(Doyle)
“Yes!”(Luce)
I could feel that Luce was not lying to me and was speaking from his heart. I wonder if this tangible item impressed his merchant soul.
“May I ask what is inside this box? It is really heavy”(Jeff)
Jeff hears our conversation and makes a guess that the item we are speaking about is inside the box. He is unable to hold back his curiosity and asks if he can open the box.
“It is this.”(Luce)
“ . . . How beautiful! Is it paper?”(Solcier)
And the person who reacts to me opening the box and revealing the contents is Solcier.
“Yes, this is what Master Doyle had requested. It is called construction paper!”(Luce) 1
“I see, no wonder it was so heavy.”(Jeff)
I thank Jeff who had to lift such a heavy box. Jeff replies that he does not mind and laughs lightheartedly.
I have such great subordinates.
I give my thanks to the three of them and make sure that I will repay them in the future. I look at the book that Luce gives me and see that all kinds of colours are in there. Red, blue, green, yellow, purple, etc. I take one and measure the thickness of the paper. It is not as thin as I had hoped it would be, but I believe that this is quite impressive for this world’s technology .
I plan on using this to rope in Leopardo.
“I have brought all the colours you requested here. How is the product?”(Luce)
“Oh, it is perfect. I am saved thanks to you.”(Doyle)
“By the way, may I ask what you plan on using these for? My father intends to make colourful paper bags and present wrapping paper out of them to sell.”(Luce)
“Oh . . . hmm . . . please Luce, Solcier, and Jeff . . . if you guys have time, could you help me out?”(Doyle)
Of course I am going to make Ballad help out as well.
“Okay, so you do this with construction paper.”(Doyle)
I start with the paper in front of me.