MFWSP 76

Chapter 76

“Saintess?”

“Yes. They’re calling her that not just in the Duchy of Serbe, but even in the capital.”

David answered my question.

“Is she actually healing the sick?”

“Yes. Several people have claimed that they recovered from their illnesses after meeting the young lady. They’re telling quite exaggerated stories, saying she saved those on the verge of death or made the crippled walk again with just a kiss. However—”

David glanced through the documents he had brought as he continued.

“In the cases I’ve compiled, there’s no record of her curing age-related ailments or diseases. All the patients were injured either by monster poison or due to the malfunction of magic stones.”

I turned to Ray, who was standing beside me.

“What do you think? Could this be a rumor spread by the Serbe family?”

“No.”

Just a few days ago, Ray had told me that if she were Grace, she would have fabricated rumors of curing incurable diseases. But now, she shook her head firmly.

“Even if some details are exaggerated, it’s probably true that she healed people.”

She spoke while skimming through the documents David handed her.

“There are too many varied cases for it to be fabricated. The patients include commoners, knights, and nobles, even people who had no connections whatsoever to the Serbe family. Those parts about kissing and such are probably nonsense, though.”

“Then that settles it.”

“Yes, it seems she has a Spirit Tree Fruit.”

I nodded, and David, agreeing, pointed to the bottom of the document.

“Many patients have stated, ‘The saintess held a mysterious stone.’”

“So, the question is, what exactly did she get her hands on?”

I let out a sigh.

Spirit Tree Fruits came in an enormous variety, and most were unknown to the world.

Having studied as many types as possible, I could guess their nature to some extent by color and shape, but to be honest, I wasn’t confident.

“Ha. Why does she always have to pick the strangest things to do…”

I sighed again.

This was within the realm of what I had anticipated. I already knew Grace had sent people to the Black Valley.

I had simply hoped she would fail.

That her guide would fail to find the Spirit Tree, or that even if they were lucky enough to succeed, they would return with nothing of real value.

Among Spirit Tree Fruits, many would kill the person carrying them the moment they left the valley, or would lose their power after a single use.

“May I ask you something? I’ve been quite curious about it for a while now.”

David asked cautiously, gauging my reaction.

I instinctively knew what he was curious about.

“You want to know why Grace Serbe and I dislike each other?”

“Quick as always, my lord. But that’s not all.”

David responded with his characteristic smiling eyes.

“It’s like the two of you know each other’s plans, isn’t it?”

He winked at Ray, seeking her agreement. Ray glanced at me, but her silence was effectively an agreement.

Both of them are sharp, as always.

“We just… think alike, I suppose.”

When I deflected, David looked back at Ray.

It was a silent request for her to interpret my vague answer.

“He’s hiding something but doesn’t want to say it.”

Ray shrugged as she answered.

“Besides, that answer is a lie. Just looking at your actions, the two of you aren’t alike at all.”

She added,

“The Duke is the type who shows one card out of ten while calculating how to use the remaining nine. The young lady of Serbe, on the other hand, learns one thing and dresses it up to look like ten. You can tell just by the titles she’s chasing—saintess, prophet, and so on.”

“Depending on how you look at it, she’s dangerous. The type to recklessly use power once she has it.”

They continued the conversation on their own without demanding further answers from me.

Their analysis was frighteningly accurate.

Just as David said, Grace was dangerous.

If the fruit she possessed had any lethal potential, it would be horrifying. Even if it didn’t, using it without properly practicing its application could lead to severe side effects.

Even I was only at the stage of lightly testing the magic of two fruits I currently possessed.

Just as I was about to instruct David to find out exactly what the fruit looked like, loud footsteps came from outside.

“Ah, my lady? You can’t just barge into the study—”

“Hmph, Iris told me to come to her anytime if it was urgent, okay?”

The moment I heard the voice outside, both David, Ray, and I let out a sigh. We didn’t even need to see who it was to know.

“I brought news from the social circles!”

Demeira practically kicked the door open as she entered.

“I told you not to keep making trouble for the staff.”

“But this is really important news. Isn’t that helpful for you?”

Demeira asked with a wronged expression.

After practically threatening Louis and Celine after the banquet to reclaim her position in society, she had been faithfully attending various gatherings over the past few days, diligently reporting back on what she heard and saw, just as I had instructed.

The problem was her excessive diligence.

Day or night, she would visit me, reporting every little thing—from who wore what at today’s tea party, to who liked whom, and who recently got a new pet.

Attempts to have David filter her information first had failed.

Partly because David, swearing on his life, refused to be Demeira’s chatterbox, and partly because Demeira insisted on reporting to me directly, bombarding me with looks begging for praise once she finished.

“Demeira, I’m really busy. Unless it’s news about Grace Serbe—”

“The Serbe lady? I just saw her at the Viscount Wymer’s tea party a bit ago!”

Demeira’s eyes sparkled as she shouted upon hearing my words.

“Celine’s younger brother was bitten by that new pet I told you about, remember? It’s a breed mixed with a fox monster, and the infection was severe, but the Serbe lady healed him.”

“…Don’t tell me—you saw her heal him?”

David, Ray, and I all widened our eyes and stared at her in unison.

“Yeah. She was chanting something like a prayer while doing this.”

Demeira grabbed Ray’s hands in both of hers and mimicked stroking them.

“I don’t remember the exact words of the prayer… Oh! But she was holding a small, pretty stone in her hand. They said it was some kind of tree fruit.”

“A stone! That’s it! The Spirit Tree Fruit!”

I exclaimed, standing up in excitement.

“Oh, right! That’s what they called it! They said she found a fruit with healing powers using her own abilities.”

“What did it look like? Try to remember!”

“Hmm… It reminded me of that obsidian necklace I used to wear. The one with all the diamonds on it. The one that Ray took away, saying the Penton family had to sell it to pay off their debt to Apellemyon.”

Demeira tilted her head as she described it.

“Oh, and the air felt heavy the moment she started healing. Just for a second, but it was hard to breathe. Celine’s brother was terrified, but he was fine once it was over.”

“Number 12.”

I murmured.

So that’s what it was—the fruit Grace had found.

Finally, the pieces fell into place.

“Number 12” was a fruit I had seen in my first life. To be precise, I had retrieved its remains and used it for my twelfth experiment.

It suppressed the power of other objects using strong magic. It didn’t have direct killing power, but if misused, it could have severe side effects.

“David, gather and record all the information you can on everyone Grace has healed, including Celine Wymer’s brother. We might need to track them down later.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“And Demeira.”

“Yeah?”

“You did very well.”

“Really? I was actually helpful?”

“Yes.”

As I raised my hand to pat her on the shoulder, she lowered her body so that her head came under my hand.

“…What are you doing? Are you a dog?”

“People call it a puppy nowadays, okay? Besides, I’ve always liked physical affection. My father and mother never gave it to me, so you have to, at least.”

With a strangely happy expression, she remained still for a few seconds before leaving the study when I gestured for her to go.

“You’ve grown close to her. It’s not quite like sisters, nor like master and servant… but she really admires you.”

Ray commented.

“You’ll need to keep patting her often.”

Though her tone was gentle, her expression was unnaturally stiff, as if she were suppressing laughter.

“…Do you want to go laugh it out in the hallway?”

“Ah, no. I’d like to, but there’s something I need to report.”

Ray barely managed to smooth out her expression as she glanced at David.

“Ah, right. Now that this pressing matter is settled, shall we continue our discussion from this morning?”

I rummaged through the documents David had brought, pulling out a few maps.

Several mines in the northeastern part of the Empire were marked with X’s.

“As if playing the saintess wasn’t enough for Grace Serbe…”

I tapped one of the marked mines with my index finger.

“Now she’s trying to start playing money games.”