A chilly draft blew through the freezing cold air.
The stylish brick building felt cold to people who weren’t used to it. This was the only medical center in the city of Friepurae. Dana walked down its hallway with steady, clacking footsteps. A man called out from behind her, his desperate voice beating against her back.
“Saint! Saint! Lady Dana! Please wait!”
Dana took a few steps forward before stopping, then sighed under her breath. She turned around, wearing a gentle, soothing smile, but anyone who knew her well would probably rate it as a very weird expression. Her eyes weren’t smiling, to say the least.
“Oh my, if it isn’t Count Lomigos.”
“O-Ohhh! You know my name, Lady Dana?”
“Why, naturally! I remember the names of our very important repeat visitors!”
“My word!”
“Is there something troubling you? Has the condition of your leg worsened again? The reception desk is in the other direction. Did you get turned around?”
Dana smiled widely again at the recurring guest. Lomigos had a bulky build, and the over-bundled clothes he wore puffed him up even more. He had probably come running as soon as he spotted Dana. His cheeks were flushed and his breathing was ragged. He held an ornate cane in one hand.
The count panted as he wiped his sweat with a handkerchief, then put on his most genial smile. “Indeed, my leg is acting up again. However, I’m here today on a different matter. There is something I earnestly wish to request of you...”
By this point, Dana had determined that there was no value in listening to what he had to say. Oblivious to this, the count continued on in a jovial manner. “I have heard that you are on intimate terms with the Aster artifact maker. I would very much like to be introduced to them!”
“Oh dear.” He hadn’t considered the possibility of being rejected. Dana smiled even more widely at the man and lightly replied, “I must apologize, but the Aster artifact maker is extremely shy. I believe that if you were to meet them, they would cause you some offense. I do beg your understanding.”
In plain language: “No way, asshole.”
“Ha ha,” the count laughed.
Dana laughed with him. “Ha ha, ha ha, ha ha...”
“W-Well, I’m certain I wouldn’t be offended.” Amid the cold, hollow laughter, the count repeated “Surely you exaggerate,” his face twitching.
“Oh no. There have been other gentlemen besides you who have said the same thing.”
“B-Besides me?”
“The mission statement of Friepurae Medical Center is to treat all with an equal mindset, so surely virtuous nobles like yourself would not suggest that they alone be given special treatment.”
Dana recalled how the nobles had acted up until recently. They called her Saint, but at heart, there were many nobles who saw Dana as their inferior. The man standing before her, Lomigos, was one of them. His eyes were darting around—it seemed that he was indeed trying to talk her down.
Well, what shall I do?
Dana’s usual strategy had been to flatter them appropriately, entice them, and then send them back feeling good. She hadn’t known who her enemies or allies might be.
As she gave it some thought, she recalled the figure of the shy mage who had wished for her to not accumulate stress.
Dana’s lips naturally formed a smile as she impulsively spoke her next words. “There are some among them who are particularly trying.”
“Trying?”
“Yes. People who don’t need care have been visiting the center quite often lately. Despite receiving treatment, they claim that the effects have worn off, so it’s put me in quite a difficult position. Some of them have even come from far away simply so they can brag that they’re close to the Saint.”
Lomigos’s face grew paler with each passing sentence. His short fingers trembled.
“God understands all. I’m simply worried that a tongue that spreads falsehoods might eventually be ripped from its throat,” Dana said leisurely. “By the way, Count, you seem to be dressed quite warmly. Do you dislike the cold? You’ve come from quite far off, haven’t you?”
“Ah, er...”
“Oh yes, the Aster artifact maker has recently invented a new ‘foot bath’ procedure. I’m sure that you know of the practice called a bath. Rather than fully immerse oneself in a tub, one soaks their feet up to their calves in hot water, thus warming up the entire body. If the cold displeases you, Count, then do consider... Oh my, I forgot that your leg is injured. I had thought—”
“I-I just recalled that I have urgent business to take care of! Excuse me!”
Lomigos interrupted Dana and skittered off in such a hurry that he forgot to use his cane. Dana watched him go with a bored look.
“Are you sure that was okay?”
“Yes. We’ve just lost a client,” Dana replied, arms folded, to the girl who had appeared out of nowhere like a shadow.
Lomigos had been an obtrusive visitor for a long time now. He came all the way from a far-off locale and even used a prop cane. The lengths he went to were astonishing. But he was lavish with his money, so Dana had overlooked his behavior.
“But I have the right to drive away any clients who add to our workload. Besides, I’ve never heard anything good about him. Apparently, he made a big mistake with the branch family he’d been nestling up to and now he’s looking for a new patron, but count me out of that.” She snorted. Then she felt reassured that her decision had been correct.
If Dana had been her old self, she still wouldn’t have blabbed about Lacey’s identity, but she probably would have dodged the question and said some cajoling words so that Lomigos would visit the medical center again. However, she couldn’t bear the idea of repeating these temporary distractions over and over until one day she went down in flames alongside this over-bundled noble.
In any case, Lacey really does have an immeasurable influence.
Sooner or later, Lacey would be pulled into the conflicts between nobles. Although she was keeping her name and face secret, the power of her magic artifacts was greater than she realized.
Lomigos’s behavior earlier was suspicious as well. There was no telling what a rat might do when backed into a corner.
“I may be overthinking this, but it might be a good idea to reach out to her.”
“To who?” The girl was confused.
Dana gave an amused smile. “To Lacey, of course. There’s only one person it could be.”
∗ ∗ ∗
“Damn it! Get the carriage moving! Hurry up and get it moving! Can’t you hear me?!”
“Y-Yes, my lord!”
Lomigos opened the carriage door with irritation and yelled at the coachman. His cheeks were flushed, and his over-bundled clothes bulged. The children of Friepurae who were used to playing in the snow would think that he was a walking snowman.
“I’ve been going to all the trouble to visit this backwater place. What gives her the right?! Just because she’s a little pretty, she thinks she can do whatever she wants! Saint, my arse! She used to be just a commoner!”
Lomigos remembered that he had tossed aside the cane he was supposed to have somewhere. It doesn’t matter, he thought as he frowned at the scenery passing by the window. I’m never coming out to this freezing hamlet again. His territory was relatively close to the capital.
“The artifact maker with the Aster mark...”