I was going to send relief supplies to Sacula. With that solved, all that was left was to deal with the chaos it caused. It was hard to discern how much they needed, and even if we could work that out, it most likely wouldn’t match up with what we were able to send. They definitely needed more food, but if it were to go bad before it reached them, it would end up being of no help at all. All we could do was ask that they seek help from nearby allies in the Frontier Alliance. With that, we would be able to focus on sending nonperishables. It was approaching the time of year when the sun hung low in the sky, bringing along with it the cold chill of winter. They could probably benefit from more cloth. They could make them into clothes, or better yet, they could wrap themselves in cloaks.
“Hey, Your Highness Alicia. Wouldn’t it also be a good idea to send more leather? Or would it be difficult to gather more?” Tris asked me as she looked over the items we planned to send. We were using a room usually reserved for researchers from the Church, and as Tris was learning to be a priest, she was very relaxed here.
“Leather? We could probably gather more, but don’t you think it’d be better to get more materials for cloaks?”
“That’s true, but couldn’t they use it for tents? I mean, Sacula is getting a lot of people, right? So there’s definitely not gonna be enough places for them to stay.”
I had also been worrying about living spaces, but I’d never considered tents. It reminded me of the camping trip I went on back in Sacula. I was thinking about sending them wood they could use for building, but even if they were frugal with it and only built small wooden houses, I imagined it wouldn’t be enough. Tents in winter probably wouldn’t be the most comfortable, but it would be better than being exposed to the elements.
“I’ve seen it before—the inside of a tent can be quite warm if you use a heater. But I guess it’s a little dangerous since there is a risk of fire and it can ruin the air quality within the tent,” Tris explained.
“Tris, when you say you’ve seen it before, do you mean in a book?”
“Yup. Do you want me to gather more information and compile it into a report?” Tris smiled at me as she left the room. Having the opportunity to relax like this reminded me of my time as Arthur. While I was talking to Tris, I’d thought of a lot of things I wanted to ask Ash about.
When I was struggling, Tris would ask stuff like “Do you wanna know more?” or “Do you want me to find out more about it?” At any rate, it seemed Tris herself was enjoying herself, so I didn’t feel so bad about asking her for help. She was a great person. If we sent Ash the report along with leather and wood, he would be able to decide how to use it. Even if they couldn’t make tents with heaters, there were a lot of ways they could use leather and wood. While I thought through the options, Lusus—a priest-in-training—entered the room.
“Your Highness. It is a pleasure to see you.”
“Thank you. Can I help with something?”
“Ah, yes, if you are wishing to send supplies to Sacula, then I wanted to let you know that I have put together some pharmaceuticals,” Lusus responded. As he handed me the documents, I noticed there were a lot of them. Having a closer look, I realized they were instructions on how to use various pharmaceutical items.
“I’m sorry for putting this on you when you are no doubt busy with patients.”
“Not at all, it was my pleasure.” Lusus was very polite compared to the more casual Tris. It was funny how much of a difference there was between them. Following my discussion with Father Birkan, it was decided that the Church would send relief supplies to Sacula, and they had reached out to me for support thanks to my knowledge of the region and its capabilities. I had no qualms helping them. I was able to work toward helping out the place I hoped to return to, and there was no other fulfilling work like it here in the capital.
I had originally planned to come as Arthur, but the youngest child of House Sacula receiving aid from the Church would’ve left a lot of room for suspicion. Therefore, I came as Princess Alicia instead. We were so similar that people would start to get suspicious. When I mentioned this to Ash, he seemed really happy. He was the kind of person to say that if keeping up appearances is important to them, then just show them what they want to see. I started to understand why he was so close with Father Birkan. As a result of coming out as Alicia, I was able to tell Tris and Lusus that I was Arthur. After all, I couldn’t not tell them. They were assigned by the Church to specifically help me. They knew how I was as a person, they knew I had a connection to Sacula, and the whole Church knew of my abilities. These two were perfect. Tris didn’t change how she treated me at all, but Lusus started acting like he was now. I told him that he could be at ease with me, but it seemed he himself didn’t want to. He was a serious person. Ash also trusted Lusus, and his patients probably felt safe with him too.
“However, while I can arrange the reagents for the medicine, will the doses be all right? I know Sir Fenix was worried about training the doctors, so I am worried we will not have enough people,” Lusus said.
“I haven’t yet heard if they solved that...”
Ash was working on educating doctors on medicine. Or rather, it was one of the things he was working on. I had heard from Ash himself how hard it was to get medicine back in his hometown. He told me this while he poured “medicine” (it was actually poison) down the throats of “guinea pigs” (they were actually mice). He looked genuinely concerned, recalling it as he moved onto another mouse. Thanks to the enthusiasm he had for medicine, I was able to drink herbal tea even while in the capital. In short, it seemed Ash was trying to teach doctors about it.
“If he’s trying to teach doctors, I guess he has some ideas already,” I pointed out. Lusus crossed his arms, nodding.
“Speaking of which, Ash was the one who came up with the idea of Father Folke’s orphanage, right?”
“He was. If we have the ability to open the first orphanage in the capital, don’t you think we’re also able to increase the number of doctors?”
“Once I am done here, I plan to speak with Sir Fenix. I wish to ask him how much help that would be. If only I could also just freely go to Sacula.” Lusus had patients to look after, so he was stuck here. After the Royal Sword Fighting Tournament, the sick and wounded had been left in Lusus’s care, and Baron Nepton had left his own ailing citizens in his care as well—Lusus was quite busy.
“Recently, I have been wishing there were two of me.”
“Heh heh, that would be quite hard to make happen.” If anyone could do that, it would be Ash. He had me acting on his behalf here in the capital, not something a lot of people could do. Right, it’s almost time to meet with Father Birkan. I stood up and grabbed the roll of papers.
Sending the relief supplies was turning out to be quite difficult. A while ago, Tris and Lusus were helping me decide on what to send. But even though we’d discussed it with Father Birkan, we ran into problems on the way—like being unable to acquire some supplies or needing more than we’d originally thought. I was discussing the best way to send them with Father Birkan.