“Oi, g’evening~” (Yuusuke)
“Oh, good evening Yuusuke-sama. We are meeting quite often these days.” (Rasanasha)
A few days had gone by since the Darkness God Corps had resumed their usual patrols. Since then Yuusuke somehow came to encounter Rasanasha frequently during his patrols in the middle class and commoner districts.
This time however, they did not simply pass each other by on the street as before. As they were acquaintances now (or at least Yuusuke thought so), they stopped to exchange a few words.
“Are you working today as well?” (Rasanasha)
“Well, yeah. Have you heard anything interesting today?” (Yuusuke)
Rasanasha changed the topic towards her work by replying “Everything is as usual in Sanc Adiet, but I have heard that a new brothel was opened in Nossentes.” To Yuusuke, Rasanasha’s shop looked to be a kind of a massage house, the kind of industry that he had no experience with. (T.N. katakana read [Soapland] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soapland)
“Nossentes, eh?” (Yuusuke)
“To tell the truth, I come from Patrutia Nost myself.” (Rasanasha)
Rasanasha’s story caught Yuusuke’s interest so he continued listening to the woman speaking about her family without interrupting her. She spoke of having a younger sister, who was a simple girl back at her birthplace, about how her sister knew about her occupation (singing princess), and about how they argued about it on the rare occasions that she returned home.
“She is probably worried about her older sister.” (Yuusuke)
“I think so as well” (Rasanasha)
[“I should not ask why she took on this job,”] thought Yuusuke to himself as he was enjoying the conversation. Suddenly Rasanasha’s body shuddered. She swayed as if she was drowsy and clutched an area around her stomach.
“Ah… this, I am sorry, give me a moment.” (Rasanasha)
As she said that, she turned her back towards Yuusuke, took a bottle of medicine from her purse, and drank a little bit of it. Afterwards she used healing art on the area that she felt pain.
[“And I drank the medicine this morning too… The spasms seem to be becoming more frequent lately…”] (Rasanasha)
Rasanasha was very worried about this, but after feeling the effect of the healing art starting to spread, she managed to calm down a little bit.
“Are you alright? Is something wrong?” (Yuusuke)
“No, I mean… it’s something I have had for a long time.” (Rasanasha)
Rasanasha tried to evade the question, fearing that Yuusuke would lose interest in her after learning of her chronic disease. However Yuusuke was genuinely worried for his acquaintance thus he offered to introduce her to an exceptional healer that he knew.
“His healing skills are the real deal. Maybe you have heard of him as well, his name is Zeshald.” (Yuusuke)
“Ah, I know of him. He is the former royal divine arts instructor, right?” (Rasanasha)
Worried about the more frequent spasms, and thinking that this might be a chance to get closer to Yuusuke, Rasanasha accepted Yuusuke’s offer and asked to be examined by Zeshald.
The next day Rasanasha came to the palace. Yuusuke talked the matter over with Violet the night before so the preparations to go to Zeshald’s place were already complete. All that was left for the woman and the members of the Darkness God Corps was to board the palace knight’s carriage.
It was unheard of for a palace knight corps to employ the carriage to escort a singing princess, moreover it was done on a personal whim. Thus members from other knight’s corps as well as other people of higher status, who had descended to the carriage floor, were staring at the members of the Darkness God Corps with envious eyes.
At first Violet was shocked, when Yuusuke requested to take a singing princess to Rufk, but after hearing about Rasanasha’s situation she finally gave her consent. Afterwards she asked for Sun’s consent and left with her with Yuusuke saying “I’ll leave her to you.”
She suspected that there was something else hidden beneath that woman’s reasons. For a singing princess, becoming sick would greatly affect her reputation. Even if she said that her illness was not contagious, for someone such as a singing princess, they could not avoid the looks of suspicion and contempt of other people.
“We’re good to go guys, don’t forget to keep this a secret, okay?” (Rasanasha?)
“Aaah… I also wanted to go with them…” (Hivodir)
Krielov stared at the three people with strange expressions on their faces. Meanwhile, he was considering Violet’s actions. Her actions were different from the usual princess’ tantrums, whose main purpose was to tease someone.
[“Princess will do the cover up by herself, eh?… This is child’s play, so the decision was easy, however…”] (Krielov)
Krielov was wondering of whether or not this had shown some sort of growth within the princess, thus the amount of wrinkles on his forehead was constantly changing.
The carriage with the party was riding on the highway that stretched towards the direction of their destination. The tension inside the vehicle was high, as Aisha was riding in the same carriage as a singing princess, a type of person she would never look at, much less speak to. Before boarding, Fonke looked at Aisha and blurted out “It would be perfect if she became a member afterwards,” and every now and then he would steal glances at the woman while pretending to concentrate on the wind arts that were necessary to run the carriage.
Vermeer was clutching the reins, not as dissatisfied as one might have expected him to be, and Shaheed was silently watching the tense atmosphere as it had become a habit of his by now. Aisha and Isotta were the most nervous of the bunch, stealing quick glances at their unexpected companion. Meanwhile, Yuusuke and Sun were engaged in friendly chatter with Rasanasha.
“The two of you seem to have complete trust in Zeshald—“ (Rasanasha)
“He might be mischievous at times, but he gives off the feeling of a gentle grandfather.” (Yuusuke)
However, the person himself was not in any way similar to the “gentle grandfather”. When the relations with the neighboring country of Blue Garden deteriorated, he pretended to betray Fonclanc and traveled to the enemy country. He was a “man of valor” who had even gained the queen’s trust, formed a group to oppose the anti-Fonclanc faction, and destroyed it from within. And he did all of this alone.
A count had warned her “to not lower her guard” when she serviced him the other day. Although she managed to hide it from the two companions, she was feeling some tension regarding the meeting with Zeshald and the unavoidable questions that she would have to answer.
“Oh, Yuusuke, and Sun.” (Zeshald)
“Heiyo~” (Yuusuke)
When the Darkness God Corps party reached Rufk village, the sun was already setting. Guards, stationed at the village, were notified in advance (through the use of wind arts) about the upcoming visitors, so Zeshald seemed to have finished his preparations for the medical examination.
Due to the recent attacks, makeshift barracks were built in the village and a simple fortress like structure was constructed within the area, surrounded by a protective trench. All the defenses were similar to what was usually used against armed groups.
“Ah, Belushya-san.” (Sun)
Belushya was tending the field, it seemed that she had successfully taken over Sun’s usual tasks. This was a new kind of experience for Belushya – instead of taking lives to survive, she would now tend for them, harvest what she had grown, and plant the seeds again.
Sun was looking at the fields and talking with Belushya who, for some unknown reason, was wearing a maid uniform. Vermeer and the rest of the corps turned towards the temporary barracks while Fonke took Rasanasha’s luggage in an attempt to tag along with Yuusuke. By the way, Bahana had become the center of attention within the temporary barracks because everyone was captivated by her cooking.
“It’s unfair for captain alone to g—“ (Fonke)
Aisha stepped on Fonke’s foot. Yuusuke sighed at the sight of his quarreling subordinates.
“That guy, he will go anywhere when his precious singing princesses are involved.” (Aisha)
“Ufufu, our songs are only used to comfort the partner overnight. The magic is gone, once things become serious.” (Rasanasha)
Thinking that this had somehow added fuel to the fire, Yuusuke escorted Rasanasha to Zeshald’s house.
“You seem to be doing fine.” (Yuusuke)
“I can say the same about you.” (Zeshald)
Having arrived at the guest room which had been transformed into an examination room, Zeshald sat on the chair, directing the rest of the group to sit on the sofa, and then began to activate his divine arts. He used his healing arts to examine the inside of Rasanasha’s body, trying to find the source of her illness.
“Hmm, this seems to be rot disease. (朽病)” (Zeshald)
“… …Yes.” (Rasanasha)
In a gloomy mood Rasanasha nodded to Zeshald’s confirmation. Rasanasha’s illness was [Rot disease]. Although the illness itself was not too common, it usually caused tumors to develop and spread within one’s body. It was an illness that caused a range of other complications and finally led to the person’s demise.
Healing arts could alleviate some of the symptoms, but a moderately strong art was needed in order to do so. It was also said that complete recovery from this illness was not possible.
[“It looks similar to cancer…”] (Yuusuke)
“Hmm… it seems to be quite advanced… Did you bring the adjuvant medicine?” (Zeshald)
“Ah, yes… Here it is.” (Rasanasha)
Zeshald took a sip from the medicine bottle that Rasanasha gave him and drank a little bit of it, sloshing the liquid within his mouth. Using healing arts along with adjuvant medicine could greatly reduce the rate at which the rot illness spread within the body.
Being a water arts user herself, Rasanasha was able to feel the tumor in her body by herself. However, until yesterday she thought it to be much smaller.
[“As expected of the former royal divine arts instructor,”] thought the women, admiring Zeshald’s skills.
“Were you using this medicine yesterday?” (Zeshald)
“Yes, that’s right.” (Rasanasha)
Since Yuusuke saw Rasanasha holding the same medicine yesterday, he had inquired about it. It seemed to be a very expensive medicine that was only available in Nossentes. It was nearly impossible to obtain it here in Fonclanc as it was rarely imported by traders. This was because it was difficult to obtain as the quantity available was always insufficient. Rasanasha’s bottle was already half empty when Yuusuke asked to take a look at it.
“Hmm, let me see…” (Yuusuke)
Zeshald silently watched over Yuusuke, who was examining the item in his customization menu. Rasanasha was lost at how quickly the focus of the room shifted to Yuusuke and her eyes were jumping between the two men.
Yuusuke confirmed the status of the medicine.
“It belongs to the healing enchantment type and does not bring out an immediate effect.” (Yuusuke)
“Well, in theory… But this seems to be quite a strong medicine.” (Yuusuke)
Yuusuke hinted that this was a strong medicine that had a heavy impact on the patient’s body, so tampering with it bore some risks. This made Zeshald think what effects could such a customized medicine, coupled with healing arts of his level, bring out.
“Since the production method is held secret by Nossentes, wouldn’t it be good to produce a better medicine that helped the ill?” (Zeshald)
Because he felt that he could assure the patient’s safety, Zeshald urged Yuusuke to take a go at customizing the medicine. Yuusuke groaned, while thinking. He was troubled that he could not obtain a sufficient amount that one would want, considering that the medicine was not available in Fonclanc.
[“There are probably more people that are suffering from this too. Should I go to Nossentes to procure more of this medicine?”] (Yuusuke)
“It seems that the quickest way will be for me to go and buy the medicine myself.” (Yuusuke)
“Mhm, there will also be other useful medicine sold there. It would be best if you confirmed the usefulness yourself.” (Zeshald)
Unable to comprehend their conversation, Rasanasha was only staring at them, waiting for whatever conclusion would come out of the discussion.
“Then I will consult with Violet about it. Maybe I can turn this into an official business trip to Nossentes.” (Yuusuke)
Rasanasha was shocked by the sudden reason for traveling to Nossentes. And then a doubt appeared within her mind.
[“Maybe Yuusuke-sama isn’s actually a womanizer the rumors say he is?”]
That timid looking transmission type wind arts user, who her superior had forced himself on, seemed to be looking at him with something more than only respect in her eyes. The artless girl, who for some reason was living in the palace, also not only held faith in Yuusuke but also seemed to hold feelings for him.
In any case, she was able to create a reason for Yuusuke to travel to Nossentes. She had to report it if she managed to return to the city. Thus, Rasanasha had made a mental note of today’s events, and her doubts about the intel of the personality of the captain of the Darkness God Corps that she was provided with.
That night—
After eating their supper, Yuusuke and Sun, Zeshald and Belushya were together, enjoying the tea, thus spending the evening together. Rasanasha’s situation seemed to be serious, so she was made to rest in the guest room.
Zeshald was telling Yuusuke various pieces of information about Nossentes. Having come upon a part of the conversation where he could interrupt the topic, Yuusuke asked a question that was bothering him for some time.
“By the way, why the maid uniform?” said Yuusuke, pointing at Belushya’s uniform. One eye hidden by her short blue hair, Belushya gave Yuusuke a faint answer in a barely audible voice.
“… Rood is– He (T.N. Zeshald) said that it looks better this way.” (Belushya)
Finishing her reply, Belushya looked at Zeshald.
“Rood?”
“Nh… well that is a name of a pet I had when I was young.” (Zeshald)
For a moment, everyone in the room froze. Sun started murmuring something to herself while Yuusuke tried to keep a calm demeanor.
“You are calling her by a pet name?…” (Yuusuke)
“What are you doing sensei?” (Sun)
“Hohoho” (Zeshald)
“… … (The tea is delicious.)” (Belushya)
Thus it was a peaceful evening indeed.