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AND so began my uneasy time watching over the house. Me, Tinaris, watching over the house by herself for the first time at four years old…! Granted, I wasn’t all alone.
It’s at this point that it’d probably be best to officially introduce the party members. Like I’ve said before, there were four of them—two men and two women.
Aaron was a swordsman. He had unkempt black hair and wasn’t incredibly handsome. My first impression of him was that he was something of a frivolous optimist. His housework skills were weaker than level 1. I couldn’t rely on him for anything.
Then there was the middle-aged man with grizzled, graying hair who carried a spear. His gestures were elegant and dignified, but in contrast, his gear was old and worn out from overuse. Honestly, he came across as a bit different from the other three…
His name was Sirius. He was very fit, and apparently, he was a former knight, just like Dad? But something struck me as oddly off about him…
Then there was the muscular woman, Gina. She carried a large ax on her back, had clearly defined abs and tanned skin. She gave off the distinct impression and feel of an older sister and puffed up her chest proudly when she said to leave the chores to her. I was relieved to know I could at least rely on her.
Last was the girl dressed in a cute robe—Mina. She held a staff, but I concluded she wasn’t actually any good with magic based on their conversation. Gina mentioned something about her physical attacks actually being stronger than her magic. Maybe she just took after her older sister, Gina, in that regard. Like Aaron, she was no good with chores…
Either way, I decided I’d be a good girl and make sure I didn’t trouble anyone while Dad was out. I wasn’t old enough to live independently quite yet, and if I was kicked out of this house, I’d have nowhere left to go. To that end, I figured I’d be better off learning some magic, if only for my future’s sake.
That was why I’d dug through Dad’s study for a book that taught magic, but…Dad had hidden them away, saying, “Ahaha, magic? No, that’s too dangerous, you can’t do that…!”
“Alrighty! So, where do we start?” Aaron asked.
“W-Well…Grandpa hasn’t had dinner yet…” I answered anxiously.
“Hmm. So those dishes over there are for us?”
“Yes, Dad said he made you food since you paid for the meal plan. Mine and Grandpa’s dishes are in the kitchen…”
“Then we just gotta carry those, right?! Leave it to me!” Mina exclaimed and briskly walked off.
“Ah! Wait, Mina, don’t just open it…!” Gina tried to stop her.
Mina crossed behind the counter without permission and went into the door on the left.
Ah, wait, over there is…!
“…Um, that’s not the kitchen… It’s the toilet and bathroom…” I pointed out wearily.
“O-Oh, whoops!” Mina apologized with a smile. “Then, it’s over here!”
It so happened that each of our cottages had its own private bathrooms. In other words, the bathroom behind the counter was for me, Dad, and Grandpa. There was a half bath on the second floor too, but the bathroom down here was the only full bath.
“So, where’s your Grandpa’s room?” Mina asked.
“Up the stairs, first door on the right,” I replied. “Ah, I’ll show you.”
“…You’re one dependable little girl.” She smiled at me. “How old are you again?”
“I’m four years old this year,” I answered.
“Four years old?!” Mina’s eyes widened. “Wow, you’ve really got a good head on your shoulders!”
“Aaron could take a page out of your book,” Sirius remarked, crossing his arms.
“Definitely!” Gina nodded.
“Wow, mean!” Aaron raised his voice in protest.
Apparently, that was this party’s power balance.
“Then let’s start by getting your grandpa some dinner. We’ll ask him if he can eat on his own. Is he still in pain?”
“I’ll go check!”
“Healing magic can’t cure diseases…” Mina said pensively. “Healing items do no good for it, either.”
“…It’s not like you can cast any healing magic anyway, Mina,” Aaron pointed out.
“Zip it or I’ll wring your neck like a ukoke’s.”
“ULP…!”
M-Mina!? That creepy, evil voice just now was her?!
“Mm, little lady, can you bring Mina and me to your grandfather?” Sirius asked.
“Y-Yes.” I nodded.
“Anything we can do for the time being, Sirius?” Aaron asked.
“I don’t think so, but for now, we’ll check on him.” Sirius shook his head. “Hopefully, it was only a momentary seizure.”
“Then, Gina and I will have dinner before you’re back! Wouldn’t want it to go cold, right?”
“…I guess eating sooner means you’ll be ready to work sooner…” Gina said, eyeing Aaron like he was some kind of pathetic creature.
…Having another pair of hands on deck is important. I can’t be picky right now! Anyway, let’s get Grandpa his dinner!
“Sirius, can you diagnose his disease?”
“Not at all. I’m an archaeologist, you know? How would I know anything about diseases! Ahaha!”
“Cut that out, you geezer… A-Ahem.”
After we entered Grandpa’s room, Sirius kneeled down and checked his pulse. He took off his gloves and did it so naturally, even I started expecting he might know what he was doing… He just looked the part of a doctor.
Sirius is an archaeologist, huh?
He did seem more intellectually inclined than the other three, so I was actually impressed. I didn’t know how this party came together, but some part of me wanted to ask. Anyway, Grandpa had his eyes open despite being in pain, so Mina cleared her throat.
“Are you okay, sir?”
“Ngh… Y-Yes… I just ran out of my medicine…”
“Medicine?”
I’ve never seen him take any medicine… I cocked my head.
Grandpa coughed dryly and started rubbing his chest. I doubted it was actually helping him in any way, though…
“Is it Severed Breath Syndrome?” Sirius asked him grimly.
“…I’m surprised you can tell…” Grandpa muttered. “Yes, I used to live in a country that was occupied by Edesa Kura… The research they conducted there made me develop this illness. And so my wife and I moved here to Rofola. I hoped the clean air would help.”
“Sirius, what’s Severed Breath Syndrome?” Mina asked.
“About fifty years ago, Edesa Kura exploited and forced the lands they occupied to develop a supposed medicine of some kind,” Sirius explained. “They used that drug without knowing what it might do, and it cost many lives. Those who didn’t die developed the same kind of illness as this gentleman. Severed Breath Syndrome is a rare disease that stops at a certain stage. Once one is afflicted with it, there’s no cure. There’s only one antidote available that can alleviate its symptoms. A core of Solemayu fruit boiled in dried Solan flower leaves.”
“Ah! So if we have that antidote, we can cure Grandpa?!” I asked expectantly.
“I’m afraid it’ll only relieve the symptoms temporarily, little lady.” Sirius shook his head. “A definite cure for Severed Breath Syndrome hasn’t been discovered. Solan flowers have been used in antidotes since ancient times and are mildly effective against respiratory diseases.”
So it won’t completely heal him…
Grandpa sunk back into bed, clutching his chest. He looked like he was in so much pain…
“…There should be Solan flowers and Solemayu fruits on the mountain! I’ll go look for them!” I said.
“Do it tomorrow, little lady.” Sirius stopped me. “It’s too late to go out today.”
“But…!”
“And besides, the Solan leaves need to be dried properly. That’s not something you can do within a day or two unless you’re good with alchemy.”
“Aah…”
A-Alchemy…
Alchemy was an art similar to magic. It used mana to transmute materials, fusing them together to create and refine matter. It was said that advanced users of the art could mix together materials to create something completely unlike the original ingredients.
Alchemy was created by humans, but only a select few people could use it in the larger nations. Ordinary people could use it to a very basic extent, but only experts in the craft had the advanced skills to actually create medicine. Demi-humans and beastmen were skilled with magic, so they hardly ever tried using alchemy.
…Wait, but it’s fine if I can just use alchemy, right?
“I think there were alchemy manuals in Dad’s study!” I exclaimed, hopping to my feet.
“Hm? N-No…Little lady, I don’t think you can learn alchemy just by looking at books and imitating what they say to do…”
“I want to do anything I can!”
Dad found and raised me, and this man is his father. Not only did he not object to Dad raising me, he even helped him! And now, after Grandma fell ill and died, Grandpa might die too!
I haven’t repaid him for everything he did for me! I can’t let him just die!
I knew alchemy was a difficult art to learn, but humans were better at alchemy than magic. And there should be a few elementary alchemy books in Dad’s study. I actively avoided those books until now. Some part of me always thought that if this world had magic, I was better off learning that than trying to pick up something as complicated as alchemy…
If I don’t open these books now, then when will I?!