Chapter 72
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: The Pickpocket Herbalist
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The girl, clutching her wounded body, looked up at me. Her face was also covered in blood.
“I wasn't bitten by a monster.”
The girl spoke quickly, seeing Ethan draw his sword. But Ethan didn't lower his weapon, remaining wary of her.
“Who are you?”
“An herbalist.”
An herbalist? I looked at the girl, puzzled.
Her black hair, swaying around her neck, was so straight it looked as if it had been cut with a knife. With sharp, cat-like eyes and pale white skin, the freckles on her cheeks stood out.
She was a girl with a very unique charm.
“Though, to be honest, I make a better living as a pickpocket than an herbalist.”
Smiling wryly with her wounded face, the girl revealed the hand she'd been hiding behind her back. In it was a small, square box.
It was the box of Elpinus Herbs.
Startled, I glanced down at the belt bag on my hip. It was open.
It seemed the girl had opened my bag and taken the box. But when?
She was incredibly skilled. Not that her thieving habit was anything to praise, of course.
“It’s because of this, not me. The reason those monster bastards are rampaging outside the gate.”
The girl pulled something from her pocket and showed it to us. Amidst a clump of dirt was a blueish herb.
An herb that looked just like an insect. It resembled the Elpinus Herb.
Looking closer, I saw the same drawing on the box of Elpinus Herbs the girl had stolen from me.
“I saw it on my way up here. Those things were all swarming it, sniffing at it. It was dropped right in front of the main gate.”
Hearing her, I recalled a conversation I’d had with Knox a while ago.
“There were Elpinus Herbs at 61 Notium Street as well. Both mansions are connected to the monsters. So we cannot say that the monsters and the Elpinus Herbs are unrelated.”
I had a gut feeling that the Elpinus Herb held more secrets than I knew.
Brewing and drinking the Elpinus Herb provided a temporary vaccine effect, even if it wasn't perfect.
If so, it was possible the herb itself had a special influence on the monsters.
“I must have dropped it on my way in with Knox.”
I finally understood why the monsters hadn't left the main gate.
The number of monsters around the mansion had significantly decreased, yet the ones at the stone gate had lingered this whole time. This was why.
“This precious herb…”
I noticed that the box in the girl’s hand was half empty. The seeds, too.
“In a situation like this, why are you worried about some herb? Those monsters seem to like it, so just throw it away…”
“No! Absolutely not!”
I screamed as the girl showed signs of dropping the box. Ethan and the girl turned to me in surprise.
The girl looked flustered, glancing at me before carefully clutching the box again as if it were precious.
“Sorry, is this something you cherish? I won’t throw it away, I promise, so please don’t kick me out.”
I didn't know when we'd gotten close enough for her to call me that, but the girl looked at me pitifully, her eyes wide like Puss in Boots.
“We shouldn't fall for that. We need to interrogate her first. We have to check again to make sure she really wasn't bitten.”
And Ethan, without batting an eye, placed a hand on his hip and looked the girl up and down. Just like a police officer.
“Isn’t the pretty lady here the owner of this mansion?”
The girl asked, pointing at me.
“You’ve got a good eye, don’t you?”
At that, Ethan quickly turned to me, his expression one of utter disbelief at my reaction.
Thinking she had the upper hand, the girl looked at Ethan and said,
“Hey there, sexy mister? Your face is totally my type, but unfortunately, I have a fatal allergy to cops. So could you please step aside?”
“I should have known when you so brazenly admitted to being a pickpocket. You insolent little brat.”
“Ah. I’m also allergic to condescending old-timers.”
Ethan and the girl glared at each other, their eyes fierce.
“I’m not sure what’s going on here, but I think we should treat her wounds first.”
I said, examining the girl’s condition. She needed to be cleaned up first. Her clothes were a filthy mess, caked with the monsters’ green blood and dirt.
“What’s your name?”
“Amy. Amy Wharton. Just call me Amy.”
“Alright, Amy. We’re going to have to restrain you for a bit. If you don’t turn after a certain amount of time, we’ll let you go immediately. Please understand.”
I nodded at Ethan. He grabbed Amy’s arms and cuffed her.
Amy grumbled as she watched the handcuffs being placed on her wrists.
“Hey! Is being that sexy in a uniform all it takes? Be a little gentle.”
“Do I look like I’m playing games?”
As Ethan muttered menacingly, Amy finally shut her mouth and watched us cautiously.
Amy did seem like a teenager in the throes of a rebellious phase.
But now I saw it—she was likely expressing her fear that way. Because her arms were trembling.
Still, I didn't stop Ethan. It was only natural to be wary of someone whose identity was uncertain.
After confirming that Ethan had secured Amy, I spoke to her.
“Our doctor will give you proper treatment once his condition improves. Until then, I’ll give you some first aid.”
“So Mr. Ludpersher is safe too. I was worried when I didn't see him earlier.”
“You know Mr. Ludpersher?”
“The whole town was buzzing about the famous doctor from the capital. Wow, a cop and a doctor. I was right to risk my life escaping to this place.”
Right to risk her life escaping here.
Amy already knew Knox was here. It seemed she had witnessed Ethan rescuing Knox in town about a week ago.
“But my favorite is still Star Candy. I saw you send a monster flying with your axe.”
Amy said to me with a bright smile. She seemed to have decided I was the one to win over, not Ethan.
“Star Candy?”
“That’s what the townspeople were calling you. The lady of the ruined house, or the Star Candy lady.”
Oh, for heaven's sake. I could only stand there, mouth agape, unable to respond. Star Candy here, too. Star Candy…! It was as if the world was conspiring to make me die of embarrassment.
Pfft.
I heard Ethan burst out laughing beside me.
When I turned my head, he looked at me with a straight face as if nothing had happened and said,
“Ahem. In any case, shouldn’t we be retrieving the Elpinus Herb from outside the gate?”
He pointed to the firmly shut gate. It still seemed to be crawling with monsters outside.
Amy chimed in, backing Ethan up.
“It’s stuck in the gate, so it’s just giving off a scent. That’s probably why they can’t eat it and just keep gathering in front of it.”
If that was true, leaving it as it was would be a problem.
I already knew there was an unusually high number of monsters coming and going in front of the stone gate.
Which meant that if we left it alone, even more might gather in the future.
“But the moment we open that gate, the safety of this mansion will be gone.”
Ethan and Amy nodded in agreement at my words.
“The remaining Elpinus Herbs. What if we throw them far away to distract them?”
Ethan, who was holding onto Amy’s clothes, said.
A catapult wouldn't work for that. If we launched it too far, the monsters might not be able to smell it.
Dropping it somewhere in the nearby forest would be ideal, which would mean using something like a bow to launch it…
That’s when I remembered the weapons I’d bought in bulk from the weapon shop in Brunel before the fall.
“Ah. Maybe we could tie it to an arrow and shoot it with a crossbow?”
At my mumble, Ethan nodded as if to say, ‘That’s it.’
“If we can just reduce the number of them clinging to the gate, I think we can take them on.”
“But, it would be a problem if we use up all the herbs.”
A very big problem. It was the same as throwing away the vaccine!
Just then, Amy, who had been watching us, spoke to me as if to say not to worry.
“I don’t know why you’re so obsessed with this herb, but you can just save a few stalks. You have seeds, so you can grow more. Elpinus Herbs are tricky to manage, but they grow fast.”
“You… you know a lot about this herb?”