The Reward Would Be This, Right?
"The carriage looks quite different."
"...It does."
What was waiting for us at the agreed spot wasn't the dingy carriage with covered windows, but a dazzling luxury carriage with a red rose painted boldly on its side.
A design that didn't even try to hide that it belonged to House Veloz.
Taira, who hadn't known the client's identity, looked fairly surprised.
House Veloz was famous for having amassed enormous wealth, after all.
We arrived at the mansion in no time.
The better carriage and strong horses probably played a part.
But even accounting for that, we arrived much earlier than last time.
'So last time they really did take us the long way around.'
This time I entered the mansion without a blindfold, receiving greetings from the maids.
I'd hoped Taira would watch and learn something, but she looked utterly uninterested.
Instead of the secret basement we always went to, we were guided to a proper reception room.
The windows here were all covered with curtains too, but compared to the basement, which didn't even have traces of windows, it might as well have been a suite.
After a short wait, Countess Veloz entered.
Everything else had changed, but she alone wasn't much different from when I'd last seen her.
She had her body wrapped in a cloak, and wore gloves that came up to her elbows and black stockings.
Most of all, she was still wearing a mask.
Had her illness relapsed?
But the potion had definitely succeeded.
Then could it be because of the potion I'd applied directly last time?
I'd tried to apply it as carefully as possible, but I might have let my hands wander without realizing it.
Noticing my concern, she spoke in a voice tinged with laughter.
"Rest assured, my benefactor."
"Benefactor?"
"Yes, since you cured my skin condition, you are my benefactor."
The treatment must have gone well.
And our relationship didn't seem to have turned awkward either.
"Then why are you dressed like that?"
"That's because~ I wanted to show you first. How much prettier I've become."
The cloak slid down along the countess's shoulders.
What had been hidden beneath the cloak wasn't the drab, thick clothes meant to conceal her rash-covered skin, but a sky-blue dress meant to show herself off.
With her silver hair, a bright dress suited her far better than a black cloak.
Then Countess Veloz removed her mask.
My gaze rose on its own.
The moment I saw Countess Veloz's bare face, I understood why she was called the queen of high society.
Her features were so striking that even in the middle of a rose garden, only she would be visible.
Looking at a face that seemed like a work crafted by god and a voluptuous body as perfect as a sculpture, I felt dizzy, as if intoxicated by the scent of flowers.
Calling it mere sensual beauty wasn't enough.
Paradoxically, the covered parts were sexy, and the exposed parts were pure.
I’d never been so grateful to be wearing a mask.
If my ceaselessly wandering gaze had been fully exposed, it would have been a grave rudeness.
"What do you think?"
"The treatment... is completely finished. Congratulations."
"...And?"
"There doesn't seem to be any need to use a separate recovery potion."
"Is that all?"
The countess pushed out her lips.
Her drooping eyebrows radiated dissatisfaction.
Was she always someone with such varied expressions?
The expressions were exaggerated, like an anime character's, but they didn't feel unnatural at all.
If anything, they were cute.
Thanks to her face, which revealed her inner thoughts, I could roughly tell what I was supposed to say.
"You are very beautiful."
"Hehe~ thank you."
Only then did her eyebrows return to their place.
That was the right answer.
***
"Did you have enough of the medicine?"
She looked fully cured on the outside, but you never knew.
I still had enough ingredients left to make about one more batch.
"The amount was exactly right. Thanks to that, I don't need any more myself.... But it's a potion other people would covet, isn't it?"
The moment the topic of potions came up, her gentle face turned quite serious.
I caught a glimpse of the successful businesswoman in her.
"I felt it while applying it myself, but the potion you made seems less like it treats the skin condition itself and more like it erases the effects cosmetics have had on the skin. Am I right?"
"You're sharp. That's correct."
"Hehe, every noblewoman who wears makeup, myself included, lives with one worry. The worry that side effects from cosmetics might cause problems on her face."
Countess Veloz had entered the market by targeting exactly that concern, so she would know better than anyone.
She personally used her products before release and attended banquets.
With that act, she caught two birds with one stone: promoting her cosmetics and proving they were safe.
Thanks to Countess Veloz personally testing her products, Rose Garden gained trust and was able to leap to the top of the industry.
Though that was also why she ended up with a skin condition.
"What if there were a potion that could perfectly wash away not only cosmetics, but even the side effects caused by them? Would any noble lady turn down such a potion?"
"So you're saying you want to sell the potion I made for you."
Countess Veloz answered with a smile instead of words.
"But the potion I made is difficult to mass-produce."
"It wouldn't simply be because it requires a lot of ingredients.... It must be because of that red liquid you secretly added back then, right?"
I'd tried to hide it, but she must have seen it.
The red reagent was common enough that I didn't need to worry about its identity being discovered.
"That's right. The ingredients are hard to procure, and honestly, I can't even be sure I'll be able to obtain them again."
The probability of obtaining the ingredients again was as low as the probability of me kissing Taira again.
"With the remaining ingredients, I could make at most one more batch."
"Just showing the possibility of a cure is enough. The mere fact that a treatment exists will increase Rose Garden's cosmetics sales. And I promise to compensate you generously for it."
Countess Veloz opened her eyes wide, as if she'd forgotten.
"Ah, you came today to receive your reward, didn't you? I got so caught up talking about a field I enjoy that I put it aside for a moment."
The moment you clear a quest and accept the reward.
It's the most anticipated time.
And if you don't even know what the reward is, the anticipation doubles.
What would she give?
Money? Or jewels? Rare herbs?
"The first reward you should receive is this, isn't it?"
Countess Veloz's hand moved without hesitation.
The place where her hand stopped was slightly above her solar plexus.
A spot where her cleavage was just barely visible.
'No way.......'
As if she'd seen this somewhere before, she leaned her body forward and hooked her finger onto the V-neckline.
Even while making an embarrassed expression, she slid her finger straight down.
A deep valley with no visible end was revealed.
That gap was like a black hole, and my body was almost pulled in on its own.
Just as I wanted to bury something—my hand, my face, anything—in that gap.
The killing intent I felt from behind brought me back to my senses.
There was no need to turn around.
Taira was the only one who could emit such menacing killing intent.
'But why is she angry?'
Was she annoyed that I’d left her standing behind me like a mannequin while I flirted with another woman?
Anyway, Countess Veloz had already revealed her identity to me.
That meant it was fine for me to visit her on my own.
Today wasn't the only day, after all.
I'd come secretly when Taira wasn't around.
"Nngh...."
Countess Veloz, who hadn't felt Taira's killing intent, looked slightly flustered when I stayed still.
She swallowed dryly, as if anxious, and the fingers pulling down her clothes trembled faintly.
Her violet eyes studied my mask.
Before, I had been the one reading her reactions, but now it was the opposite.
"Y-you may do as you please, like last time?"
A beautiful woman who could make even gravure models look ordinary was asking me to touch her chest.
This feeling might not be so bad.
Those breasts were my property anyway.
I could touch them whenever I wanted.
So for now, I decided to watch her fidget.
Because watching her be embarrassed is the real delicacy.
"Do you perhaps not like them? The shape..., or the size...."
A ripe woman spoke shyly, her cheeks reddening.
I can't hold back any longer!
Just as I was about to spread both arms and pounce, a knock rang out.
"My lady, this is the maid Sera."
I pressed my slightly lifted hips back onto the chair.
The countess also hurriedly pulled her fingers from her clothes.
Her clothes snapped back from the elasticity.
Waves rippled across her chest, which was as vast as the sea.
'Whoa, would you look at that.'
I'd been right on the verge of eating that giant marshmallow.
The uninvited guest had broken the flow.
Since I held back today, I resolved to stuff both marshmallows into my mouth at once later.
Countess Veloz must have been flustered too, because even though her treatment was complete, she had put her mask and cloak back on.
Had it become a habit to dress like this whenever someone entered?
"Come in."
The black-haired maid, Sera, walked in carrying a tray with tea and teacups.
She poured the tea, checked it with a silver needle, tasted it for poison, and left the room.
Perhaps the heat from earlier hadn't cooled yet, because the countess still hadn't collected herself.
She'd even forgotten she was wearing a mask and tried to drink her tea.
In my heart, I wanted to receive the rest of my reward from earlier, but information I needed to convey first came to mind.
"Do you remember the Lowest-Grade Mana Recovery Potion I made?"
"Yes, I remember it as an impressive potion that used five ingredients."
"The process may have been impressive, but its grade was the lowest. Because of that, you have to drink a whole cup for it to take effect."
Countess Veloz's eyebrows rose, as if something had occurred to her.
"Back then, the maid only drank a single spoonful. Since it was to check for toxicity."
"Sera definitely said she felt her mana rising."
"There are two possibilities. Either I bribed her in advance, or she had no mana to begin with and lied even though she couldn't confirm the effect. But since I'm a diligent alchemist who doesn't do things like bribery, it would be the latter."
She let out a small laugh at the "diligent alchemist" part.
Her smile was pretty.
"I didn't know a diligent alchemist sold drugs on the black market. So what are you trying to say? That I should fire the lying maid with no mana?"
"If someone has no mana, they can ignore a written oath."
"Is that true? But how do you know that, my benefactor?"
"Because I have no mana."
Countess Veloz covered her mouth and drew a short breath.
She seemed more surprised than when I'd told her the secret about being able to ignore written oaths.
"Could the reason you wear a mask also be related to having no mana?"
"...That's right."
The truth was that it was to hide my identity, but I agreed because this seemed like a better way to deceive her.
"Then, if I were to cure your illness, could you show me the face behind the mask?"
If she cured my Petrification Disease?
Would I show her only what was under the mask?
"I could even show you what's under my underwea-, mmph."
What I'd meant to say only in my head slipped out of my mouth.
As if she'd imagined it for a split second, she turned red past her cheeks all the way to her ears.
"I mean... I could show you what's in my hea-, my heart."
"I-is that so.... What a shame."
"Anyway, that's not what's important."
I quickly changed the subject.
"The maid called Sera has no mana, and it seems she can break a written oath."
"I still can't believe it. When I bought the written oath from a mage, they definitely said no one could break an oath. Show me yourself."
"Countess Veloz suffers from a skin condition. ...How about that? I broke the oath, but there's no reaction from the written oath, is there?"
"It's true? Then, just one, just one more check."
Countess Veloz took a piece of paper from a drawer.
The material looked unusual, so it seemed to be the paper used for written oaths.
After writing something diligently, she held it out to me.
"It's a simple oath. An oath that you must not read the contents written on the oath aloud. Even if you break it, the penalty is only about as much as a light shining from your body."
To prove that written oaths didn't work on me, since I had no mana, I read the written contents.
"I like the countess's breasts. I want to bury myself in her ches.... Countess?"
"Hoo, pfft!"
"I'm being serious. If that maid goes elsewhere and talks, it'll be a big problem."
In the main story, Sera had probably revealed the secret.
She might have even told whoever was behind her.
Since only a few people would believe the words of a maid.
"What happens if she talks?"
"If she talks...."
The skin condition had already been cured.
And perfectly, at that.
No matter how hard the maid Sera ran around talking, the moment the countess showed her face once in public, it would all be dismissed as lies.
In that case.......
"Since it's come to this, let's go after whoever's behind her."