Chapter 60 - An Expedition Without Dreams or Hope (2)

2

The hunters murmured among themselves.

“Huh? So all four spots are filled?”

“But who the hell is that woman?”

“Exactly. I know the Medicine King, but...”

The Sword Star looked perplexed, too.

“You’re the young lady I saw last time.”

“Eek...!”

The Apothecary hid behind me.

Back when the Sword Star had mistaken me for a murderous fiend, she and the Paladin had stood in his way. His presence had been so menacing then that the timid Apothecary apparently relived the memory the moment she saw him.

Perhaps remembering that incident himself, the Sword Star cleared his throat.

“Ahem. There’s no need to be so frightened. Death King and I have settled our differences.”

“H-have you...?”

“Indeed. Hmm... However...”

The Sword Star turned to me with an awkward expression.

“Death King, the place we’re about to enter is extremely dangerous. Didn’t the constellation say so? If we die inside an apocalypse, we die for real. Are you sure it’s wise to take this young lady somewhere so dangerous?”

“Yes.”

I nodded confidently.

“She’s the best apothecary I know.”

And probably the best apothecary alive.

—Urgh...

Hadn’t even the Sword Emperor acknowledged that?

Using the same ingredients, she had produced fifteen times the quantity, with even greater potency, than I would have gotten from the shop he had originally intended to recommend—the shop belonging to that Medicine King fellow standing over there.

—That guy makes decent medicine... but he’s not the best. Not with this young lady around...

‘Exactly.’

But the Sword Star’s expression turned peculiar.

“The best apothecary you know...”

I brought up the Character window and read his thoughts.

「Hmm. A remarkable young man’s recommendation suggests she has something remarkable about her, but there are always bigger waters out there... Quite right, Sword Emperor. For once, you’ve said something sensible. Even the largest crucian carp in a stream discovers, upon reaching a river, that it cannot match the smallest carp there. Yes, I should take this opportunity to help these two young people establish a connection with the Medicine King.」

Wow.

At least he hadn’t said it aloud, perhaps because of the relationship we’d built and the promise he’d made to me. And I knew he meant well... But he really was still a patronizing old geezer.

The other Sword Emperor attached to the Sword Star seemed to be judging the Apothecary by her appearance, just as my Sword Emperor had back then.

There was even someone here who flaunted that attitude openly, without the slightest goodwill behind it.

“Hah! The best he knows!”

It was the Medicine King.

“This is the trouble with young pups! Hah, honestly. They step over one little rock and puff out their chests as though they’ve crossed a mountain. Ridiculous. Reminds me of myself when I was young, and I can’t stand it. Really can’t. Tsk, tsk.”

Oh?

“Medicine King, be understanding. Death King is an exceptional young man. He simply lacks a little life experience...”

“Exactly! Experience! Isn’t experience what matters most? Yet he doesn’t understand that and acts as though he knows everything. Good grief. I’m embarrassed for him. Just like me when I made about a billion dollars in Silicon Valley in my twenties. The exact same rotten attitude! And he’s the only one who doesn’t see it.”

“Now, rein in your temper...”

“Hah, honestly. Haven’t I been doing that all along? Markus, I only put up with that pup ordering everyone about out of respect for you. And now what? He wants to bring along some scrawny girl who crawled out of who knows where. Like a young Silicon Valley billionaire parading around with a trophy on his arm.”

“Death King isn’t that sort of young man...”

“What do you mean, he isn’t! You brat! Look me straight in the eye and say that! Is he really not?”

Incredible...

What was incredible, above all, was that someone existed who could leave the mighty Sword Star floundering. Apparently, the food chain of patronizing old geezers worked by having each geezer devoured by an even worse one.

This newly discovered ecological marvel left me gaping.

Perhaps that was why I wasn’t the one who talked back to the geezer of all geezers.

“Y-you can call me a young pup, but...”

Clutching my collar tightly, the Apothecary spoke through her teeth.

“D-Death King is absolutely not a young pup! He’s an amazing person! A-and calling his attitude rotten...”

“Hah, look, Markus. Defending him like he’s her husband. Young people these days. Bah. Though I suppose when I was young, I thought all that was part of youth, too...”

“L-like he’s my husband...?”

The Apothecary’s mouth opened and closed. His words were so absurd that her brain seemed unable to process them.

The Paladin stepped forward to defend her.

“Enough. This ‘Apothecary’ is indeed an excellent apothecary. Death King introduced her to us, and our neighborhood watch has received countless outstanding medicines from her.”

The Medicine King snorted.

“Perhaps by the neighborhood watch’s standards.”

“... What?”

“Let’s speak plainly. With your finances, could you even afford to visit my shop? Never having seen the sky, you think your ceiling is high. You don’t even realize that ceiling isn’t the ceiling of some little room, but the lid of a box. Such ignorant recklessness, exactly like me in my youth. Tsk, tsk...”

The Paladin bit her lip hard.

Though counted among the Five Great Guilds, the neighborhood watch was perpetually short of funds. He had cruelly struck her where it hurt.

The Medicine King flicked his hand as though shooing away stray birds.

“Bah, what’s the point of talking? Enough, enough. It only tires me to speak and you to listen.”

Hmm.

He had a point.

‘Mr. Sword Emperor.’

—Yeah?

‘We’ve heard enough insults by now, haven’t we?’

—More than enough. Why are you putting yourself through all this frustration?

I glanced around the library.

‘It’s not pointless frustration.’

As I’d said several times, this scene should be broadcasting live to the hunters gathered in Babylon’s square.

In other words, this was the perfect moment for both a [debut] and a [retirement].

I addressed the Medicine King.

“Want to have a match?”

While the Sword Star gave me a troubled look, the veins in the Medicine King’s neck immediately bulged.

“Hah! Look, Markus. He can’t win with logic, so he goes straight for his sword! What a rotten display! Reminds me of when I became the world boxing champion in my forties.”

“No, I don’t mean against me.”

I took some medicinal ingredients out of my clothes.

“I’ll supply the ingredients. Each of you can make a medicine with them. Then we compare how well they work. That should settle things, shouldn’t it?”

“Eek...!”

The Apothecary jumped.

“D-Death King! I’m furious that this old bast... this gentleman insulted you... B-but he’s called the Medicine King, you know? He’s famous. All the hunters recognize him... Whereas I-I haven’t even had my epithet for a week yet—eep!”

She flinched.

I had taken hold of both her shoulders.

“Apothecary.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

Meeting her eyes through her glasses, I said,

“I believe in you.”

“... D-Death King.”

“So believe in yourself, too.”

“...”

The Apothecary took a deep breath. The wavering eyes behind her glasses regained their light.

Clenching both fists tightly, she nodded vigorously.

“Yes, Death King! I’ll do my best! No.”

Immediately shaking her head, she corrected herself.

“I’ll win!”

The Medicine King watched us as though we were ridiculous.

“Hah.”

He shook his head.

“There are always people like that. People who have to taste it to find out whether it’s ketchup or blood. Exactly like me when I was about three. Tsk, tsk...”

“You’re talking an awful lot. Getting cold feet?”

“Very well, you pup. Prepare yourself properly to watch that girl cry her eyes out. I’ve never known how to go easy on youngsters.”

Medicine King versus Apothecary.

A match for the ages had begun.

3

When the match began, the hunters’ reactions were cynical.

“Obviously, the Medicine King will win.”

“That old man’s shop is so expensive, but his appointments are still booked nearly a month ahead.”

“Is there really something going on between those two? Death King’s pushing his luck way too far, no matter how you look at it.”

“Death King and Medicine King. They’re both kings, but there’s a difference in experience.”

Entirely predictable reactions.

“Now, anyone betting on the Medicine King, over here! Anyone betting on the Apothecary, place your wagers here!”

Meanwhile, the Count, never one to miss a money-making opportunity, had set up a betting pool.

I didn’t know when the Count had talked them into it, but two bookmark maids stood demurely holding collection boxes.

“Death King, are you sure about this? The odds are a staggering 1.08 to 47 right now.”

The Witch approached and whispered to me.

“Great. Why not think of it as pocket money and bet on the Apothecary? Just don’t wager enough to lower the payout too much.”

“... Death King, you’re the one who said this was all being broadcast live.”

The Witch looked utterly serious.

“What if that apothecary you recommended gets utterly crushed? If that happens...”

“That’ll all be broadcast live to Babylon, and to the world. Actually, I bet the internet’s already going wild right now.”

What sort of comment would my old self have been posting?

Would I have written something like, “I want to be like the Medicine King, too”?

As I indulged in those idle thoughts, the Witch pressed a hand to her forehead.

“Death King, if that happens, your reputation will suffer, too. ... Are you really sure?”

“I do feel a little bad for that Medicine King fellow.”

No, honestly, I didn’t feel bad at all.

If you run your mouth, you ought to take responsibility, shouldn’t you?

Wasn’t that the true spirit of respecting one’s elders?

With an odd expression, the Witch looked between me and the Apothecary. I was just considering opening her mental-state window to see what she was thinking when it happened.

“It’s done, you pup!”

The Medicine King.

He held up the medicine he’d made and bellowed,

“Bow your heads before my magnificent creation!”

+

[Superior Healing Potion]

Rarity: Superior

Crafter: Medicine King

Description: It tastes a little bitter, but drinking it should heal even most fatal wounds. Of course, as this is a healing potion, you should account for the aftereffects of healing by taking it somewhere safe and getting plenty of rest. In any case, producing a potion of this caliber is truly an impressive feat!

+

Cries of admiration filled the library.

“A superior healing potion!”

“My God. He made a superior healing potion. That’s the Medicine King for you. Kings really never die.”

“Medicine King, sir! Would you consider selling that to me?”

“Don’t try to cut in line! Medicine King! I’m first on the waiting list! I’ll buy it!”

Lifting his chin, the Medicine King looked between me and the Apothecary. His expression seemed to say: Do you finally understand that you’ve poked a tiger on the nose, and now you’re going to suffer a thorough humiliation for it?

Then it happened.

“Um... I’m finished, too...”

The Apothecary held up the medicine she’d made.

+

[Soma Strawberry]

Rarity: Quasi-Mythic

Crafter: Apothecary

Description: Wait, it tastes like strawberries! There aren’t any strawberries in it, so why does it taste like strawberries? And what is this efficacy?! If properly preserved, even severed body parts could be reattached without any aftereffects! What on earth have you made?!

+

Silence enveloped the library.