Chapter 15: Bastard of a Bloodfiend (4) |
She's going to cause another scene when she wakes up.
I sighed, looking down at the fainted Eri.
When we arrived at the mansion in Sanctum Hill, the maids took Eri and moved her to the annex.
I left the rest to the Head Maid.
Bathe her, dress her in new clothes, and feed her.
In the meantime, I prepared 50 reasons why we had to raise this child in our family's annex to persuade my father and mother.
- How the child is brilliant, how she has the talent of a Mage...
But they gave their permission before I could even list the reasons.
— “Yulian is finally showing some childish behavior...!”
*
And so, the next morning came.
I received a report from the Head Maid.
“She woke up last night, ate, and went right back to sleep.”
“She didn't cause a rampage?”
“No. However...”
“However?”
“She kept rustling, as if she found the blanket uncomfortable.”
Aha.
It's probably because it's her first time with a cotton blanket.
It's something I've naturally enjoyed since birth, but usually, it's an item only the wealthy Middle Class among commoners can even touch.
For Eri, an orphan from the poor of Limbus Pit, this must be her first time sleeping under such a blanket.
“Shall I wake her, Young Master?”
“I will wake her.”
“Yes?”
There it is again.
The Head Maid is giving me that strange look again.
It's the same look the servants give me whenever I show up in the kitchen.
“I have something to explain early in the morning. Ah, may I ask you to prepare a lunch box for me today?”
“Ah... yes...”
The Head Maid seemed slightly confused.
The guy who always made his own lunch box was now asking for one because he was busy; she must be experiencing a different kind of cognitive dissonance.
Leaving the confused Head Maid behind, I headed for the annex.
Hmm. My sweet home, been a while.
Though since I live in the main building now, it's more like past tense.
I opened the door to the room I used to use.
I saw the cotton blanket, swollen like a boa constrictor that swallowed an elephant.
The squirming must be Eri tossing and turning inside.
Or maybe the blanket is in the process of digesting Eri.
I pulled back the blanket and said.
“Wake up.”
At my voice, Eri rubbed her eyes and lifted her head.
And as soon as she saw me, her eyes widened.
"...Who are you?"
Eri glared at me irritably.
It was a natural reaction.
Because right now, I wasn't wearing my crow mask.
Eri's gaze scanned me.
A look of caution appeared on her face.
She was sizing me up.
In the Red-Light District, sizing up who you can mess with and who you can't is crucial, so it must have become a habit.
“Hey.”
Having finished her assessment, Eri pulled the blanket closer and asked.
“How long have you been here?”
It seems her assessment concluded that I was either a servant or one of the same kind, dragged here like her.
This damn Power of Misunderstanding just strikes whenever it pleases.
She must think of me as some senior who was also dragged here, and is trying to establish a hierarchy in advance.
'Does she think Teacher Schnabel is some kind of Orphan Collector?'
It might be fun to pretend to be a servant, but unfortunately, my schedule is tight today.
I had no time for games, so I told her the truth right away.
“It's me.”
“What do you mean, 'me'? When have I ever seen you-”
“Didn't I tell you yesterday that your mouth is the window that determines your worth? Be careful with your speech and conduct. This is your last chance.”
“...”
Silence.
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.
“...Wha?”
Eri's mouth fell open.
“N-No way. Teacher Schnabel is a Gnome over 150 years old. He was kicked out of a ducal family and his face was burned...”
“Did you really believe that?”
“That's what everyone says?”
“I have never acknowledged that.”
Eri's eyes wavered.
[A 150-year-old Gnome Healer.]
[His face was scorched after a failed treatment in a ducal family, and he wears a crow mask to hide the scars.]
[Afterward, he was exiled to the Red-Light District and now lives a life of service.]
(+And these days, that person rides around in a limousine that comes down from Sanctum Hill.)
It took some time for the still-groggy Eri to accept the reality that this entire story was a lie.
“...Huh? Teacher? You tricked me?”
“I have never told a lie.”
She had the face of a child who had just been told Santa isn't real.
For some reason, I feel a sense of guilt even though I've done nothing wrong.
“It can't be... you were my age... Aaaah!! No way!”
Eri shrieked, pulling the blanket over her head.
What kind of fantasy did she have about me to react like that?
Just then, the door opened and a maid entered.
"Young Master, breakfast is ready."
Eri's head slowly turned toward the maid.
And then she looked back at me.
Me. Maid. Me. Maid.
“Y-Young Master...? Not a personal physician...?”
Eri's voice cracked.
It seems she thought I was a dependent retainer or a personal physician of this baronial family.
Well, what young master in this world would go all the way down to Limbus Pit at this age to see patients?
From a common sense standpoint, thinking like her is actually correct.
“So I'm not on the side that gets eaten...?”
“If I had to choose, I suppose I'm on the side that eats.”
I sighed and completely pulled the blanket off Eri.
“Eat and get ready. It's the weekend, so we're going somewhere else instead of the clinic.”
“S-Somewhere else?”
“The trading company.”
“Tra...ding company...?”
Eri's eyes lost their focus.
Thinking she might faint again, I quickly clapped my hands in front of her face.
Clap!
“Gah!”
“Snap out of it. Eat and come out.”
I gave the maid instructions as I left the room.
“After her meal, dress her in outdoor clothes and bring her to the entrance.”
“Understood, Young Master.”
***
An hour later.
The Eri who appeared at the entrance seemed like a completely different person.
Neatly combed red hair. A white blouse with a navy vest. A knee-length skirt and leather shoes.
She didn't look like a vagrant child from the Red-Light District, but like the daughter of some merchant family.
“...This is weird.”
Eri tugged at her collar, looking uncomfortable.
“I didn't know clothes could be this uncomfortable.”
“You'll have to get used to it. They're your clothes.”
“Wha? These are mine?”
I led the malfunctioning Eri outside.
A black sedan was waiting.
“Get in.”
As she got into the car, Eri asked cautiously.
“...Where are we going? I mean... where are we going?”
Her form of address had changed.
Now that she knew I was a young master, she seemed to have become uncomfortable using informal speech.
“You don't have to use formal speech. I'll be wearing my mask outside anyway.”
“...Okay.”
The car started moving.
On the way, Eri carefully asked a question.
“So, why do you wear the mask?”
“To protect myself from bad energy.”
“Not to hide your identity?”
“I've never hidden it.”
My level of personal information security hasn't changed much since my days in the 21st century Republic of Korea.
If you slipped an information broker in the Red-Light District a few coins, they'd probably reveal everything from my bare face to my identity.
Although, most seemed to stop their investigations as soon as they found out I was from Sanctum Hill.
Plus, with the rumor of the healer whose face was burned in a ducal family, they're afraid of getting caught up in a succession struggle.
Well, to the poor, nobles are no different from Celestial Dragons, so I understand.
'It's not like I'd eat them for finding out what my bare face looks like.'
Meanwhile, the car continued on.
Unlike yesterday, we weren't going up, but down.
Leaving Sanctum Hill, heading for Civitas Square.
The white marble outside the window changed to ashen brick.
“This is... Civitas Square.”
“Yeah.”
“Isn't this the commoner district?”
“It is.”
“Why would you be in a place like this, Teacher... ah.”
Remembering that I was a young master who even frequented Limbus Pit, Eri stopped talking.
In the meantime, the car stopped.
We had arrived in front of a five-story building in the middle of a busy street.
On the building's facade was a signboard engraved in brass.
[Merkur Trading Company]
Eri muttered, looking out the window.
“...A trading company?”
Instead of answering, I opened the car door and got out.
Eri followed me out.
As soon as we entered the building, the employees in the lobby all bowed their heads.
“...Director?”
She looked up at me.
“Wha?”
“Get used to it.”
This status was burdensome for me at first too, but after a few years, I got used to it.
“Let's go in.”
Eri creakily followed.
*
The Guild Master's office.
When I opened the door, a portly middle-aged man shot to his feet.
A greasy face, gleaming eyes, a flashing gold tooth.
The impression of a typical nouveau riche.
But I know that, unlike his appearance, he's a pretty decent person.
If anything, he has nothing shady behind him and handles business dealings sincerely—a Guild Master full of conscience, unsuited for this world setting.
'He's so conscientious that his trading company was on the verge of bankruptcy right before I brought him Quinine and Insulin.'
Well, that aspect is also why I chose him as my business partner.
After all, saving a merchant who is this stupidly good is the duty of a protagonist.
However, after the trading company grew rapidly thanks to those two medicines, the Guild Master, having tasted money, was developing an image that increasingly resembled a villainous nouveau riche.
His speech and conduct were part of it, but the influence of his physiognomy was greater.
Still, he wasn't this fat when I first met him.
'Maybe I should try making a weight-loss drug later.'
If I work hard on diabetes medicine, I might get lucky and make one, you never know.
I heard that's how it was made in the world I used to live in.
Well, let's put aside talk of the distant future for now.
“Ooh! Young Master! Welcome!”
The Guild Master came forward, rubbing his hands together.
“Would you like some coffee?”
“I'm still 12 years old.”
“Ah, you said you'd drink it at 18. I always forget! Haha! Then I'll have tea prepared. We have some Darjeeling that came in this year.”
“Thank you.”
The Guild Master signaled to his secretary.
While the secretary prepared the tea, the Guild Master brought over a stack of documents from his desk.
The Guild Master sat on the opposite sofa and handed me a copy.
“These are the sales from the last quarter. Quinine sales are up 12 percent from the previous quarter due to increased military supply orders. Insulin is up 15 percent thanks to successful marketing among nobles with diabetes, and Colchicine is up 8 percent due to the high repurchase rate from gout patients...”
The numbers poured out.
It didn't seem like she would understand, but I passed the documents I finished reading to Eri, as if to tell her to study.
“One, two... uh... uh oh...”
I could see Eri trying to count with her fingers before giving up because there were too many zeros.
When I finished checking the documents from the Guild Master, it was my turn.
I took out my research journal from a leather file.
“I have good news, Guild Master.”
“Ooh? Is it a new medicine?”
“If an improvement counts as a new medicine, then I suppose it is.”
The Guild Master's eyes sparkled.
I opened the research journal and showed it to him.
“I've succeeded in improving the purity of Insulin. It's a method of crystallization using zinc, and it has improved the purity by about 30 percent compared to the original.”
“Th-Thirty percent?!”
And 30 percent is a conservative estimate.
My major was medicine, not alchemy.
Perhaps that's why I'm still not used to the technology of this world.
Even I managed to improve it by 30 percent, so people familiar with alchemy will obviously achieve better results.
Hearing this, the Guild Master shot to his feet.
“Th-Then the issue with inflammation at the injection site...!”
“I believe it will be almost completely resolved. The risk of hypoglycemic shock will also be greatly reduced. The duration of action will increase as well.”
I pointed to the conclusion section of the research journal and spoke.
Crystalline zinc insulin is absorbed more slowly, so the number of daily injections can be reduced... anyway, it's a pure innovation.
The Guild Master's hands, holding the journal, trembled.
“S-Sob...! Young Master... no, Director, you truly are...! Sniffle...!”
Soon, unable to contain his overwhelming emotions, the Guild Master burst into tears.
It's a bit gross, but there's a reason for this kind of reaction.
The existing insulin often caused the injection site to swell up due to impurities, or the patient to collapse due to failed dosage control.
Thanks to that, it had earned the disgrace of being called 'a deadly medicine for a deadly disease.'
And because of the aforementioned side effects, despite being an innovative drug for treating diabetes, the market's reaction was more lukewarm than expected.
Because nobles are such conservative people.
But this improvement solves most of those problems.
It will probably become a bestseller product, standing proudly next to Quinine.
Having tasted the glory of Quinine once, the Guild Master sensed this and is reacting in such a way.
“Will it be possible to release it to the market in a few months?”
At my question, the Guild Master, who had been biting his fist, counted on his fingers.
“If we lock down the factory and grind the alchemists to the bone... five months... no, three months will be enough!”
“Set the development period for four months, and add another six months to that.”
“Pardon?”
The Guild Master blinked.
Why must we delay bringing out this lovely golden egg?
That resentful emotion was clearly conveyed through his eyes.
But I also had a line I could not compromise on.
“That's the clinical trial period. We must administer it to at least 50 patients and collect data on side effects. It cannot be released to the market before then.”
I don't want the medicine I made to go down in history as a drug with terrible side effects.
Because what I want is to be the perfect protagonist of a misunderstanding genre.
But unlike me, the Guild Master was not a man with such aspirations.
He was a man who moved strictly by the logic of money, profit, and this world.
“Ah, well... Young Master. To be frank, other trading companies don't do such things. Once the medicine is complete, it'll sell out the moment it hits the market...”
The Guild Master is right.
In this world, morality is honestly a luxury item.
In my previous life, a pharmaceutical company would be ruined if a side effect issue blew up, but in this world, they can just hush it up and cover it.
A patient with side effects? Where is this patient?
Oh dear! The witness got lost on their way here and went missing outside the wall?
How could this be! Why are the belongings of the missing person found outside the wall?
Even with our trading company's standing, that is now possible.
But I have no desire to do that.
Because that is not what the protagonist of a misunderstanding genre would do.
“I know. That's why I'm suggesting we differentiate ourselves.”
However, in this world, persuading with morality takes too long.
They even pretend to be persuaded, only to pull strange tricks behind your back.
That's why you have to persuade them with the logic of money.
“Guild Master. Who are the main customers for insulin? Is it the commoners?”
“Of course not. It's the nobles.”
“Yes. They are very suspicious people. They are the kind of people who would use even slaves to test what goes into their bodies.”
“Ah, don't tell me...!”
“We must show that we are putting this much effort into it, so the nobles can feel at ease and take the medicine. They won't complain even if we raise the price.”
I persuaded him with a kind of premiumization strategy.
Because this kind of show works, no matter how the world changes.
“Such a deep meaning...!”
The Guild Master clapped his hands in admiration.
I added a final request.
“However, you cannot conduct the trials carelessly. The moment the nobles think this is just a show, it will backfire.”
“I'll keep that in mind, Young Master!”
The Guild Master bowed his head deeply.
I nodded and moved on to the next item on the agenda.
“And there is someone I'd like to introduce.”
I pointed to Eri, who had been like a forgotten sack of barley throughout the meeting.
“She is my personal assistant.”
“Hoh. You've finally taken one on.”
The Guild Master's gaze turned to Eri.
A hesitant girl who couldn't quite shake off the air of being from the slums.
Someone like the Guild Master would probably be able to guess her origins.
The stench of Limbus Pit doesn't just wash away overnight.
But the Guild Master showed no sign of it.
“But for what reason did you hire this person?”
“I brought her because she has the talent of a Mage.”
“A Mage! As expected of your eye, Young Master...!”
“...”
I sent him a look that said, 'Stop with the flattery.'
He's really laying it on thick.
The Guild Master gave a dry cough and straightened his clothes.
Then, he politely extended a hand to Eri.
“I'm Gustav Meyer, Guild Master of the Merkur Trading Company. I look forward to working with you, Little Young Lady.”
Eri just stared blankly and nodded.
Her face showed she still hadn't grasped the situation.
