After school, I rode in one of our family’s carriages with Madeleine and one of her attendants. We met up with Parfeil and headed for the nobles’ pharmacy in the city center. There, we began buying the ingredients for our ointment.
Inside the shop, glass jars and wooden boxes filled with herbs and medicines were lined up tightly on the shelves. On the glass countertops, expensive-looking fragrant wood pieces were on display. With such a selection of items, it would be difficult to find exactly what we needed. Thankfully, there was an apothecary in charge, so I went and asked.
“Could we have some lavender oil, rose apple oil, giant hyssop oil, marigold oil, and some beeswax?” I listed off the ingredients we needed.
“Of course. Please wait a moment.” The apothecary gathered the items from around the shop without missing a beat.
“Is this everything?” the apothecary inquired.
As a child, my mother had given me some Evaluation Glasses so I could avoid buying poor-quality goods. They were infused with the Evaluation spell and allowed me to ascertain the condition and quality of an item. I examined the items the apothecary had brought with them. The lavender oil, rose apple oil, giant hyssop oil, marigold oil, and beeswax were all of medium quality. Only alchemists were able to produce high-quality oils, and even though these were only of medium quality, they were pretty good compared to other pharmacies in town. Some shops sold inferior items, so it was important to evaluate things when purchasing something.
“All right, we shall take these.”
“Understood.”
Madeleine wandered around the shop with curious eyes. Her attendant didn’t seem to know how to navigate the place either. Parfeil, with her 205 years of life experience, looked pretty calm in comparison.
“Mille-Feuille, I didn’t know that you frequented this shop,” Madeleine remarked.
“Not at all. It’s my first time here,” I replied.
“Oh, but you look like you’re quite used to coming here.”
“It’s not that different from buying stationery at the academy shops,” I said.
“R-Really?” she asked, surprised.
Nobles did not go to shops to purchase items, as they had merchants come to their homes, bringing their wares. This was Madeleine’s first time entering a store, so it must have been a fresh experience for her.
It was also my first time visiting an outside shop in this life. I must have known my way around because of my experiences in my previous incarnation. Charlotte had sneaked out of the castle to buy materials for her cosmetics. She must have been quite a rambunctious princess to wander around the marketplace.
“Mille-Feuille, look! Apparently, this is medicinal honey. I didn’t know that honey could be used as medicine.”
“Indeed, honey is used for cleansing and disinfecting. In the past, it was used as an ointment for wounds,” I explained.
“I see...”
The item in Madeleine’s hands was ranked as “low quality” by the glasses. High-quality honey was probably used as food.
I asked Parfeil to pay for the items. I could have charged them to the house, but I didn’t want my father to find out about my purchases.
“Mille-Feuille, are there other uses for this honey?” Madeleine inquired.
“Hmm... Some people suffer from a sore throat from casting too many spells, so maybe we could make candies out of it. Honey can help a sore throat.”
“I see! Mother’s throat hasn’t been in the best condition lately, so I’d love to make some.” Madeleine consulted her attendant and decided to purchase some honey. “Do you think mother would like it?”
“Of course she would,” I reassured her.
Tonight was a full moon, and more mana would be pouring onto the land during this time. If we made the ointment and candy tonight, they would absorb quite a large amount of mana.
We left the pharmacy and waited for a carriage. Madeleine was more cheerful than usual.
“If your medicine becomes a success, it will be quite the discovery,” she chirped.
“I don’t know if it’s going to be a success yet— Look out!”
“Ahhh!”
A man walked around the corner and bumped into Madeleine. He was tall and well-built, while Madeleine was small in comparison. Though it was only a minor collision, she fell over.
“Madeleine!”
I rushed over and helped her up. Parfeil and Madeleine’s attendant also helped out.
The man with a black mantle glared at us. The emblem of a different magic academy was emblazoned on his chest. He must have been a student at the academy on the city’s outskirts. The magic school for young men was located far from the city to prevent its citizens from getting caught in the chaos resulting from dragon transformation incidents.
The man’s head was covered with a hood, so I couldn’t tell who he was. But he didn’t even bother to help Madeleine, nor did he show any sign of worrying about her. I found this beyond insulting.
Four other men were with him. Two of them got in between me and the stranger, and I couldn’t make out their faces because they wore the same hooded mantles.
In any case, this was horrible. A group of men was openly guarding him against a small woman like me. It wasn’t like I was going to protest straight in the man’s face. Still, I wasn’t about to let any of this slide.
“Hey, why don’t you apologize to her?” I demanded.
One of the hooded men immediately reacted to my demand. “What for? Didn’t she fall down because she wasn’t paying attention?”
“Madeleine was just standing here. You lot bumped into her while your group was walking. This was entirely your fault!” I snapped back.
One of the men moved forward.
Inside, I was terrified. If I were how I’d been before, I never would’ve spoken out against a man like this. I could only do this because I had Charlotte’s memories of the place where she lived—a country where men and women were of equal standing.
“You insolent little—”
“Stand down.” One of the other men held back the agitated man and then addressed me. “Young lady, I apologize for our actions. It was completely our fault.”
Madeleine grabbed my sleeve and whispered to me in a small voice. “I’m okay now.”
Even so, I wasn’t satisfied with this apology. The one who had bumped into her still hadn’t apologized.