A few minutes later, Diane had calmed down. “Okay… I won’t do something like that again. I’m very sorry, my lord.”
“It’s all right. Everything’s fine now, so don’t worry about it.”
I didn’t realize how emotionally unstable she’d become. She must still be suffering from all the tumult she went through back at her hometown…
“A-anyway.” I decided to set aside Diane’s problem for now (it seemed that’s what I always did with problems) and addressed Sarria again.
“I find your medical knowledge to be outstanding. Therefore, I would like to ask you to manage medicine and sanitation not only for the Schultz clan, but for the entirety of Castle Getaeus.”
“You really want me to take on such a large role?”
I wasn’t expecting an answer right away, and I would need Ild to arrange personnel and facilities, but I definitely wanted her to be the chief medical officer of the castle.
Diane and Reyha looked at Sarria, wondering why she was hesitating over such an easy decision.
“I’ll do it,” Sarria answered right away.
“Then you have my thanks.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Inside Castle Getaeus, Mora and Reyha came to Clara’s private quarters. They were getting together for tea.
“Madam,” Reyha reported. “The jeweler who came from Relis City the other day was a spy, as expected.”
“Oh my, so we were right.”
Mora and Reyha made the tea while Clara arranged baked goods on a plate. Clara normally had a strong sense of hierarchy and refused to do any chores. She only made an exception when having tea with this particular group.
However, there was something fishy about Reyha’s report.
“It seems they held no intentions of conducting an assassination or planning a disturbance. Perhaps they were only checking on things and confirming their means of communication with the lady.”
“Good job. If that’s the case, you can leave it alone.”
“Understood.”
“Hmmm…”
It wasn’t a subject that Mora was very involved in. Hearing the word “spy” made her awfully uneasy. “Spies sure are scary. Isn’t it better to get rid of them?”
“Even if we kick out one or two spies, they’ll just send others. The problem is the side that sends the spies. That’s why it’s better to leave the spies that only listen for rumors alone. That makes them feel more secure,” Clara explained.
“Secure?” Mora’s eyes grew round.
“Our lord’s power is great, and he has a very different way of thinking than most people. That is fearsome to the rulers of the world.”
“That’s why we show the spy that there are many people on Margilus’s side who think normally, and that the lord is also living a normal life.”
Clara and Reyha understood well that Geo’s ethics and values were very different from the dominant ideologies of their world. They were also well aware of how much fear the presence of an individual with the power to obliterate an entire country, and who acted outside of the social norms, would cause rulers.
Mora sighed and tilted her head to the side. “I’m sorry. I’m not educated in these sorts of things…”
“You’re just fine the way you are.” Clara nodded coolly.
“But I want to do more for Mister Geo… Oh! Shall I help you find spies?”
Mora was indeed a normal girl, but she was the first one to jump at the chance to follow the strange existence that was the great wizard.
“You’re like my own flesh and blood. If I were to put you at risk, he’d be very, very angry with us.”
“The master’s punishment… Ah… Y-you’re right. To take such risks is rightly our role.”
Clara shrugged her shoulders. For some reason, Reyha’s face reddened, and Mora still seemed apologetic.
“Listen, Mora.” Clara whispered as she put her hands on both of Mora’s shoulders and looked into her eyes. “The reason I just told you that you’re like family is because you are someone who wants to help him no matter what. For me, the most effective way to help is to use my position and knowledge. For Reyha, it’s to use her skills in battle and subterfuge. Mora…what are you good at?”
“My…” Mora looked down at the floor as she thought, but then quickly looked back up into Clara’s eyes. “I’m good at cleaning, laundry, cooking, sewing, talking to strangers, and helping my father. And everything that gives Mister Geo energy!”
“That’s right. So…how about you focus on that?”
“Can do!”
“Good answer.” Clara praised Mora’s cheerful response, then she thought to herself. Hopefully, Mora’s pure and wholesome style will keep Geo grounded here. Even if that means that I’ll never be more than his loud-mouthed assistant.
✦ ✦ ✦
Castle Getaeus seemed to be running smoothly.
Nox, a young boy who’d gone to Relis City to procure food, came back with many wagons overflowing with meat and grains.
Ild was quite impressed that an unsophisticated country boy had done so well at his task in the big city.
The students were busy taking Torrad’s classes as well as trying to extract the “water element” from herbs. The alchemy lab was complete, and soon they would finally be able to try making real potions.
The castle soldiers, Schultz clan, and warriors were rotating shifts to guard the area around Castle Getaeus and the trade route.
I’d already requested the dwarves build a treatment center for Sarria, our newly appointed medical officer. Emergency construction was underway. She immediately visited Healwood Village and picked up a number of herbs. At Ild’s suggestion, we decided to hire a number of young people from Healwood Village to serve as assistants to the medical officer.
In the future, we planned to have several soldiers learn first aid techniques.
Trade route construction was also going well. Of course, the complete route from Castle Getaeus to Axeholm and Filsand wasn’t yet complete, but the parts that required my giants and worm monsters for large-scale construction and tunneling were already finished.