96
My Villains Chapter 96
25. Rainy Season (1)
Like other regions of the Milanol Kingdom, they said Seiben's summers were rather dry. It was typical to have clear weather except for occasional passing showers.
In that sense, the rain that started around the end of the siege was somewhat special. It continued for 3 weeks, alternating between heavy and light rainfall.
It was an unseasonable rainy season.
When I opened the wooden window to shake off my wet robe, the morning sun was showing its clear face.
Drip, drip.
Water drops fell one after another along the eaves.
About a week ago? The Ship's Horn Inn replaced its roof. They removed the straw that was starting to smell and laid down woven reeds instead.
Thanks to the innkeeper spending plenty of money, three or four workers attached themselves to the task and finished it in half a day. They took advantage of a brief break in the rain, like now.
No, this time it might not be just a brief break. Looking at the clear sky without a single cloud gives me that feeling.
After absently watching outside the window, I folded my robe and tidied up my bed.
"Ellen, time to wake up."
"Mmm..."
Leaving behind the kid rubbing her eyes, I lit the candle placed on the bedside table. The damp and dark room brightens a bit.
Ellen squirmed inside the blanket for quite a while.
"Ughhhh..."
Since buying the wool-filled bedding, Ellen's wake-up time was more like a battle. The kid couldn't break through the persistent defense line of the cozy blanket.
Wearing just a tunic, I put on my belt with Hrunting and a dagger. Seeing Ellen still not fully awake, I gave a wry smile.
"I'm heading down first. I'll send Lindsay up."
"Mmmk"
When I went down to the first floor, the inn was already bustling with guests. All sorts of people - merchants, mercenaries, sailors, and messengers - were having early breakfast before setting out on their journeys.
I asked Daria for breakfast and gave young waitress Lindsay a few coins. It was payment for Ellen's bath water and attendant service.
Leaving Lindsay climbing the stairs behind me, I headed to the backyard while stretching.
"Phoenix, you're late again today."
"Ah, yeah. Good morning to you too."
As I took off my tunic while yawning, Utequais charged at me with a snort.
Three weeks ago, Utequais was severely injured by the Underground Lord. Being thrown like a home run ball and getting buried in the ground, it was actually a miracle he even survived.
While Utequais was bedridden, I hired mercenaries to recover Riku and the tribal people's remains.
Well, it wasn't an easy task. It took two days just to find the bodies, and because of wild animals, their condition... Well, anyway, it was quite troublesome.
Though not as much as me, Utequais, who had superhuman-level toughness, received treatment at the church and got up after just three days. Then he made a raft himself, loaded the tribal people's remains, and on a day when the east wind blew, sent them off into the stormy sea.
Whether it was some cultural ritual or what, he danced and sang while watching the departing boat. Since it happened to be raining, seeing him alone, writhing and wailing, looked rather pitiful.
And since that day, Utequais hasn't challenged me to fights anymore.
"Huff, whew."
So what we're doing now isn't a duel, but sparring. Our Nabuk training disguised as fighting in the inn's backyard had somehow become a daily morning routine.
I pulled in my chin to push away his thick arm, and quickly rolled to cling to Utequais's back. While frantically applying techniques, I could hear whispering from afar.
"Ooh, is the bloody swordsman winning today?"
"What nonsense, the Red Bear has already won five more rounds!"
Fifteen or sixteen men crouched in the corner of the backyard were having a heated debate.
"That much should be handicapped for his size, right? Phoenix should start with a 5-round advantage!"
"You idiot, there's no such thing in fighting! Stop talking nonsense and pay up!"
Those spectator uncles, I left them alone since they weren't particularly harmful, but now it seems they're even placing bets.
As one uncle said, I still can't handle Utequais in Nabuk. Although I've become quite strong after reaching level 18, I can barely keep up, but I'm still far from winning.
Utequais's level also increased, but his stats and skills remained the same. I hadn't allocated any bonus points to him.
Well, what can I do? I still can't trust him 100% yet. When I develop complete trust, that's when I plan to allocate stats and skills.
After rolling around on the wet ground for quite a while, our sparring ended with Daria's voice.
"Stop, both of you stop! Breakfast is ready!"
As we got up covered in mud, the spectators dispersed. Seeing this, Daria heaved a sigh and poured well water over me.
"I don't understand why you like rolling around in muddy water so much, you're not wild boars."
Even while saying that, she diligently wiped off the mud on me with careful hands. Watching this scene, Utequais caught his breath and smiled broadly.
"Phoenix, *huff* likes rolling around. Daria also likes. *whew* So at night, secretly..."
"You crazy bastard, stop saying weird things!"
***
Ippotranslation
***
"A mage should always conserve magic for emergencies, you know?"
"Who said not to save it? Use it when needed,"
"Agh, stop wasting time and let's walk!"
These days, Ellen had been going to her self-made laboratory.
Well, calling it a laboratory was generous - it was just a well-ventilated building they'd rented and equipped with basic tools, but they seemed quite satisfied with it.
As we turned from the street vendors' area into the plaza, five or six guards rushed past us heading somewhere.
A common sight. Even though the thieves had retreated, petty crimes never ceased throughout the city.
While watching the soldiers disappear into an alley entrance, I suddenly asked Ellen.
"So, any results?"
"Of course. Who do you think I am?"
In this world, alchemy is recognized as quite an important field of study.
While making things like soap and perfume contributes to this recognition, the most important aspect was potion making.
You might wonder what alchemy has to do with potions, but alchemy itself was quite a broad field of study. They lumped together all activities involving processing magical items under alchemy.
What Ellen was focusing on researching these days was also related to potions. They were appraising the potions obtained from the underground relic room.
"I've identified two bottles so far."
"Oh yeah? What are they?"
"Magic recovery potions. As expected of imperial era items, the quality is incredible."
Magic recovery potions? Magic potions?
"Aren't those extremely expensive?"
"Of course. They're several times harder to make than healing potions."
"Wow, that's amazing! Then we can cover all the money we've spent so far?"
Ellen gave me a sideways glance as if to say 'what nonsense are you talking about?'
"These are treasures that can instantly fill even my vast magic capacity. Who knows when we'll need them - you're not seriously suggesting we sell them?"
"If we sell those and buy some healing potions instead-"
"You want to trade these treasures for something made with just a few herb leaves mixed in blood? Absolutely not."
'Just' healing potions? Plenty of people die because they can't get even one bottle of those...
"Ugh. Fine, I get it."
Actually, healing potions were no small treasure either. You couldn't get them even with lots of money unless you were in the royal capital or a few other major cities.
No point in feeling regretful over something we couldn't buy anyway.
"Ah, then what about the underground- I mean, the 'Crawling Dragon'? Think it could be useful?"
"Hmm, I'm not sure about that. It's a monster no one's ever heard of, and utilizing corpses isn't exactly easy."
'Crawling Dragon' was the new name for the Underground Lord. They say it got this strange name because it was a monster that had never shown itself to the world before.
I wondered if its corpse might be useful for something, but it seems we can't expect much from the alchemy side.
As we walked briskly and turned onto Ruge Street, Ellen clapped their hands and said, "Ah, right. I'm out of money for materials."
"So what do you want me to do about it?"
"What else? Give me money."
Saying that, they boldly held out their hand.
"...I'll say it again, the group funds aren't your personal money."
"It's not like I'm wasting money partying like some barbarian. Hand it over quickly."
"Ugh, how much do you need?"
"Ten gold coins should do it."
"Ten coins? Just what are you buying?"
"Would you even understand if I told you?"
"You little-"
"Red thistle, finely ground silver powder, Develesh horn, blue coral, marsh drake fins..."
"Hey, enough. Here, take it."
As I handed over the gold coins with a groan, Ellen smiled brightly and slowly floated up.
"See you this evening then."
"Yeah."
As she disappeared toward the makeshift laboratory borrowed from some merchant, a familiar voice came from behind.
"Hey, Phoenix."
It was Arnal, the archer from Grania's group. She was with two companions, all quite well-armed.
I scratched my chin while looking over the two mercenaries Arnal brought. One face was somewhat familiar, but the other was new.
"...And this is?"
"Ah, hello sir. I'm Remus. It's such an honor to meet Phoenix, known as the 'Bloody Swordman..."
As the young man, who looked barely twenty, kept rambling on, Arnal cut in with a frown.
"Hey, shut up."
"...Yes ma'am."
"He's a new recruit. Looks stupid but he's kind enough."
A kind mercenary. Is that supposed to be a compliment?
"Just how many new recruits are you taking?"
"Grania's pretty ambitious. She wants to gather more people while we have the chance."
Grania's group had gained quite a reputation thanks to their performance during the recent siege. They also received generous combat pay, which they're using as a foundation to expand their numbers. Having more people makes mercenary work easier after all.
"Well, that's your business, but from an escort client's perspective, it's not great seeing new faces every time."
"Come on, why so strict?"
"You know how tense the city atmosphere is lately."
"Atmosphere? Oh, that's just back alley talk. Nobody would dare mess with a mage of Ellen's caliber anyway."
As Arnal was talking like this, she grew pale under my quiet gaze.
"No, I mean, I'm not saying you're being paranoid... Hey, Remus."
"Y-yes?"
"Go tell Anton and Farel to come."
"Yes, I'll be right back!"
"No, you go rest."
"What? Rest?"
"Don't come back. I'll explain to Grania myself, now get out of here!"
After chasing away the recruit, Arnal turned to me with an awkward smile. After watching that smile quietly, I handed over a gold coin with a quiet request.
"I'm counting on you. Don't make any mistakes."
"...O-of course."
Leaving the two pale-faced mercenaries behind, I headed to my next destination.
As I turned the corner, I heard someone exhaling heavily.
"Are you okay?"
"Y-yes. Whew, I almost wet myself."
"He's not a bad person, but sometimes he gets like that. Today was actually mild."
"I-is that so?"
The frightened voice was buried in the city noise.