Virtuous Cycle
Virtuous Cycle
The countess's tear-stained face contorted with shock and bewilderment at the count's wailing.
But however great that surprise was.
It could not compare to her son Henry's.
Henry was staring at his sobbing father with a look of utter, open-mouthed shock.
But whether he stared or not.
With his Honesty level at 100%, the count's mouth showed no sign of stopping.
"Your talent was simply too outstanding!!! You grew up being called a genius ever since you were little!! I never once doubted that you would inherit the family business and build a company even greater than my own!! But music, of all things! Why on earth did you say you wanted to pursue that worthless, unprofitable music! Do you not realize what a waste of your talent that is?! I only scolded you because I thought so!!"
The count clutched at his own chest.
Perhaps it was because he looked utterly desolate.
Henry hesitantly rose from his seat.
"F-Father."
"I wanted you to set your mind right and carry on the family legacy!! Because you possess a talent greater than my own! Because you are my pride and joy!! I pressured you, hoping with all my heart that you might succeed the family! But now, I regret it all!! Why did you hang yourself?! How could you, before your parents' very eyes—!! How could you have done that?! Not a single day since you died has been a happy one! Henry! I haven't been able to feel happy for a single day!"
"Darling!!"
The countess embraced the count and began weeping alongside him.
The count's monologue did not stop.
"You don't have to carry on the family anymore. I just wish you would live on... as my son, Henry!! Call me a devil if you wish! Hate me if you must! Son! Please, just stay alive! Don't die, just stay healthy... just live on like that!!!"
Henry's face was a complex mess of emotions as he watched his sobbing father.
After a long moment of deliberation, he finally turned his head away.
"It's too late anyway. It's already too late..."
Oh, come on!!
You frustrating little shit!!
You get a fucking bam, too!!!
[Raising Honesty level to maximum!!]
"I wanted to become a son you could be proud of!!!!"
Henry collapsed to the floor, wailing as well.
Now it was his father, Count Leuvaton, who was stunned.
"I wanted to make you happy using what I'm good at!! I can't live without music!! I was only happy when I was handling instruments!! I wanted to become the most famous, successful musician and help you, Father!! I wanted you to look at me and tell me you were proud of me!!"
"You are already my pride and joy!! There was never a single moment when you weren't!! Fine!! Do your music! If it moves your soul, then do it, my son!! Nothing else matters now! As long as I have you, that's enough!! That's all I need!!"
"Why?!... Why didn't you say so sooner?! Why!!"
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, my son!!"
Henry threw himself into his father's arms.
And the three family members began sobbing all together.
I quietly released the Absolute Hypnosis I had cast on the son and father.
And I waited until the family had finished their weeping.
After a long while.
The family, having poured out all their tears, slowly rose from the floor.
"This is embarrassing, Saint."
Count Leuvaton spoke to me with his eyes swollen and puffy.
I smiled and shook my head.
"On the contrary, it was a wonderful sight, Count. Affection hidden away only festers. From now on, be honest and reveal your hearts to one another, just as you did today. You must put effort into sharing what is good."
"We... we will certainly do so. Thank you."
"Come here."
I took the hands of the count and countess.
Their son had attempted suicide, after all.
There was no way their bodies were in a normal state.
As expected, the countess had developed problems in her stomach and digestive system, while the count was suffering from severe hair loss and vision problems.
I healed all of that.
"Ah!..."
"S-Saint..."
"Do not resent each other, but stay together. If you understand and yield to each other, your lives will grow richer for it."
"Thank you. Thank you!! Saint Amael!!"
"Do not tighten your grip on your son. Squeezing a lump of clay does not help it hold its shape; it only leaves fingerprints."
"I have been foolish, Saint!"
I turned my head from the weeping father and looked at the son.
"Do not give up on music. But at the same time, do not give up on the family business."
Arts are a tough field. Especially in this era. Do we have YouTube here? A music streaming platform?
Even with genius-level talent, it's hard to make a living.
"Do not abandon either, but instead consider connecting your music to the family business. A car that can play music while you drive. Wouldn't that be magnificent?"
At my words, the son, Henry, trembled, his eyes flying wide open.
A tremendous inspiration seemed to have struck his mind.
"Th-thank you! Saint! Thank you! Those words! I will certainly remember them!!"
With a satisfied smile, I withdrew from the family.
"I will be taking my leave now."
"S-Saint!! At least a meal!—"
No thanks.
After going through something like that, they need time to talk amongst themselves.
Besides, you're already healed. As clients, you have no more value to me.
Instead, go out into high society and spread the word!
That's how other nobles will come looking for me, and that's how I'll attach myself to more noble families!!
"I shall depart. May your home always be filled with laughter."
"Thank you! Thank you!!"
After exchanging farewells, I made my exit from the noble family's estate.
Phew!
That should do it, right?
The rumors will spread now, and then other nobles will keep trying to use me.
Then I'll naturally become the designated saint for noble families, and the slum-dwellers will curse and abandon me.
Even Old Man Yodel.
Even the people of the Lilia Order will distance themselves from me.
That's the ticket!! I'm now completely distancing myself from divine punishment!!
***
After the saint had left.
For the first time in a long while, the Count Leuvaton family shared a cozy meal, just the three of them.
Perhaps it was because they had just finished weeping their hearts out.
Or perhaps it was because the saint had healed all three of their bodies so cleanly.
The deep emotional rift that had festered for so long had vanished without a trace, as if it had been washed away.
"Father."
"Yes. Henry. Speak."
"It might be late, but still... I will take over the automobile business, starting now. I will study and strive to carry on the family legacy."
"No. You don't have to say that to make me happy. Henry. Do what you wish. If you want to do music, you may do so."
"No, Father. The Saint's words keep lingering in my mind. A car that plays music. A car you can listen to music in while you drive. Wouldn't that be something?"
The count, who had been smiling contentedly at Henry's words, took on a serious expression.
"Indeed... we need to create a unique selling point. It does seem like a good direction."
"What would we need to make it possible to listen to music inside a car?"
"We'd need to make the phonograph much smaller. Small enough to fit inside a vehicle. What's more, people would get bored listening to only one or two types of music, so we'd need to allow them to select and listen to various pieces of music as they desire."
"It must be small. It won't be possible unless the size is greatly reduced. It'll have to be much smaller and easier to handle than the current phonograph."
"Shall we miniaturize a jukebox and place it in the car?"
"That wouldn't be a bad idea. But we'll need a more fundamental solution than that. We'll need a miniaturized music storage medium. It has to be portable and lightweight, and the sound quality of the stored music must be far clearer than the phonograph."
Watching the father and son converse so enthusiastically, the countess smiled.
"This is wonderful to see. Truly. Both of you. Ah. It really feels like a dream. To have the chance to eat together as a family like this again."
At the countess's words, Count Leuvaton smiled gently.
"It seems to me, my son, that repaying the grace we have received from the Saint should come before developing a car that can play music."
"You're right. He did say he was purifying Slum District 3, didn't he?"
"He did. So how about this?"
"What do you mean?"
"We build a new tire factory there. The location isn't bad. The only problem was that it's a crime-ridden area, so no one had thought of doing business there. If we can solve the public safety issue, District 51's geographical location connects most closely to the outskirts outside the capital."
"Now that I think about it, you're right!"
"The raw materials for tires come from the Tramata Kingdom, and if they pass through District 51, the route into the capital is much shorter! Even aside from repaying his grace, it's a rather good business plan!"
Henry and the countess nodded.
"Not bad at all! That's really good!"
"I must meet with Jonathan Karma immediately tomorrow. I need to speak with him."
Count Leuvaton kept his promise.
The very next day.
He went to find Jonathan Karma.
When he discussed the matter, Jonathan was overjoyed.
"Hahaha! This is truly excellent! Please, come on in! If you move in, we can provide the elixir essential for operating your factory at half the market average price!"
"Half price, you say?"
"Considering the distance, we could even lay a direct underground supply line. The reason it's feasible to offer you elixir so cheaply if you set up your factory or business in Slum District 3 is because of that."
Count Leuvaton's eyes darted around intensely.
His entrepreneurial instincts had caught a scent.
"I hope you will keep that promise."
From that day forward, Count Leuvaton completely overhauled his tire factory establishment plans.
Enormous amounts of elixir were consumed daily to run a factory; getting that at half price would be an unbelievably lucrative business.
News that a factory was being built in the previously empty District 51 spread far and wide in an instant.
Naturally, curious people were flooding in.
And when asked why he was building a factory in the slums of all places, Count Leuvaton answered with a smile.
"I can get the elixir essential for operating the factory at half price."
The rumor spread.
And the number of companies wanting to come and set up factories in the slums began to increase, one by one.
To the public officials who managed Slum District 3, it was a bewildering turn of events.
"Now isn't the time to stand around, is it?"
"Gather the laborers! We'll need to mobilize them for factory construction!"
"So as not to disgrace the name of the Healing Saint, we shall follow his rules in his territory. Wages will be the same as those offered by Karma Company!"
A daily wage of 1 Saled.
Jobs were suddenly on the rise.
The poor in the slums could find work without much difficulty.
Factories began springing up everywhere, and the poor were paid for demolishing their old homes, received compensation, and even got to move into new residential areas being built by Karma Company.
Hope.
The word hope, once unimaginable in the slums, slowly began to spread.
People ate well, slept well, and had work to do.
The streets were no longer filthy, and people no longer looked down on them.
Bodies grew healthy, and above all, the thought that tomorrow would be different from today was what set people in motion.
"The Healing Saint is truly, truly remarkable. He cured my son's illness in an instant—one he'd suffered from for 13 years. Something the clergy of no other order could treat!!"
"I must give an offering. To stand idly by after experiencing such divine grace is a failure of human decency."
The nobles, who had heard of the Count Leuvaton family's ordeal, continued to summon the Healing Saint through Cecilia.
And those who thus experienced his miracles never forgot the grace and repaid it without fail.
More offerings.
More capital poured into Slum District 3 and the Lilia Order.
"We cannot just sit on this! Letting all this money sit idle is a sin against the Goddess!!"
High Priest Yodel took great care in spending the influx of offerings.
He circulated official documents to Lilia temples in the southern provinces, widely recruiting priests with outstanding healing abilities.
There was no way the Saint could care for all the sick alone forever.
Gathering the recruited priests, Yodel established a treatment center inside the Magic Tower Temple.
It was no exaggeration to say it was the finest treatment center in the empire.
All sorts of high-grade medicines and various magical potions were supplied without sparing any expense.
"Send only the truly critical cases to the Saint! Those who cannot be cured by miracles alone or by medicine! The Saint must also rest!!"
A virtuous cycle.
An endless virtuous cycle was taking shape.
Everyone was happy.
'For the love of—!! Why?! Why?! I wanted to become a corrupt saint cozying up to the nobles, so why aren't you cursing me and leaving?! Don't you care about money?! Stop donating, I said!!'
All but one.
Far from people cursing him and leaving, he was now loved by nobles and commoners alike. Only Saint Amael was unhappy.