~Chapter 66~
“Get your head straight, won’t you?!”
“I’m dying here!”
“Vice-captain, if I don’t make it, please don’t tell my family…”
Noise that was never heard inside the mansion echoed in the distance.
The clash of metal, the sharp shouts of effort, the loud commands—familiar voices exchanging words.
“Is this a safe place?”
It sounded like the unspoken end of the question was: Here?
Janet nodded.
“You’ll see soon enough.”
It was the knights’ training grounds. Not as large as the one at the Rubenshire fortress, but still impressive. The entire annex of the mansion was dedicated to housing and training knights.
“Someone’s going to really die at this rate.”
“Has something happened with the young lady lately?”
From the loudest corner came the sound of a black-haired woman swinging her sword.
It was Nixia.
“Why now, when Lord Noxian isn’t even here…”
“Ah, there goes another one.”
The knights muttered as her sparring partner hit the ground.
Shariette recalled what she’d once heard when she had gone out with Nixia before.
“Come to think of it, I never showed you before.”
“Even if the two of us teamed up, we still couldn’t defeat the young lady.”
So that’s what they meant.
Shariette watched in awe as Nixia knocked down one knight after another.
“Oh? Pharmacist!”
“How did you get here?”
A few knights approached, smiling in recognition. Shariette also smiled warmly back.
“She’s being shown one of the safest places in Rubellot,” Janet answered from behind.
The knights’ faces lit up with pride.
“Ah, of course.”
“And speaking of earlier, I heard you treated the newcomers who got injured? We were going to let them sweat a little, but thank you for helping.”
‘Idiot.’
Janet frowned at the knight’s clueless remark.
Shariette calmly replied,
“It wasn’t me. Miss Anette did it.”
“Miss Anette? …Ah, you mean the royal guest?”
The two knights exchanged looks, then glanced sideways at Janet, uneasy.
‘What, did you eat all your common sense?’
Janet’s sharp glare could have pierced through them, but Shariette continued honestly,
“Yes. There was a badly injured man, but thanks to her, he was healed completely.”
The knights tilted their heads, still doubtful, but agreed politely.
“If even you say so, then she must be remarkable.”
“So she had that kind of power? That’s surprising—I thought she was just a delicate young lady.”
Replacement. Uselessness.
Even though her mind told her there was value beyond usefulness, such words naturally echoed in Shariette’s heart.
She tried to turn her eyes away, focusing instead on Nixia’s duel.
At that moment, one of the knights spoke again.
“Oh right! Pharmacist, could you make that ointment for me again?”
“Huh?”
“It was all stolen from our supplies. These sword-wielding bandits take everything!”
He pointed at his fellow knights, whining.
It might have sounded like a joke, but it wasn’t.
Still dazed, Shariette answered,
“I’ll stock enough in the supplies for everyone.”
“Ah, too bad! I wanted it all to myself!”
“But wouldn’t healing power be more efficient than ointment?”
“Healing power?”
“It’s not troublesome, not complicated, no side effects, no need to consider different body types. Quick and certain.”
The two knights looked at each other, then back at her with raised brows.
“She may be amazing, but we can’t exactly carry her around with us everywhere.”
“…!”
“Exactly. There are too many of us for that.”
Ah… that was true.
So simple, so obvious.
Shariette felt as if she had been struck in the back of the head.
‘At least they’re idiots in a useful way.’
Janet revised her earlier judgment.
“Oh please, even without anything, a bit of spit can heal us. The pharmacist just—”
“Don’t believe his bluffing!”
By then, the knights who had just finished training spotted Shariette’s white hair and rushed over.
“Oh, hey! Pharmacist, you’re here?”
“Move! Lady Shariette, you remember me, right? Thank you last time—I was saved thanks to you!”
She nodded, though she couldn’t recall every face.
Janet bent close and whispered,
“You made the same face when I first mentioned Alissa.”
“What kind of face?”
“A face that says: I don’t think I did anything special, so I don’t remember.”
Was she a mind reader? For the first time that day, Shariette smiled at her loyal guard.
Janet gestured toward the knights.
“Look at them. They just finished training, but there’s no smell at all. Amazing, right?”
The men sprayed themselves with deodorizing solution, showing it off.
“Oh, and that eraser solution? The maids from the main building stole it all.”
“I wanted to ask for more, but I felt bad for bothering you too much.”
They whined about how the medicines Shariette made had been snatched away.
“Right, and honestly, we’re afraid of Sir Joseph and our lord noticing.”
“Afraid?”
“Well, if I were them, I’d smack us too—since we all swarm the pharmacist and beg for medicine.”
It was the same as before.
Warm, cheerful, straightforward.
Proof that her “usefulness” had not disappeared.
Shariette’s mind cleared, realizing she had been thinking too narrowly.
By then, Nixia had finished her seventh duel and walked over, sword resting on her shoulder, smiling brightly.
“Shariette!”
The noisy group fell silent at the sight of their lady.
‘Maybe she finally feels better now.’
‘No… she just noticed Shariette’s here.’
Shariette carefully called her friend’s name.
“Nixia.”
Even more than Marianne, Nixia had been distant lately. She hadn’t joined meals and had even avoided Shariette.
Even Shariette, usually slow to notice, had felt it.
Just then, Janet stepped forward and whispered to Nixia.
“My lady, I have something to report.”
“Oh? Isn’t this Sir Janet Miller—the one who never answered when I asked a question?”
Still, Nixia tilted her head to listen to the whisper.
“…So that’s what happened today?”
Nixia’s face grew cold.
Shariette realized Janet was reporting today’s incident.
‘But why tell Nixia and not Lady Marianne?’
Maybe because Nixia needed to know more?
But the result was unexpected.
“Do you remember everyone who was there?”
“Yes.”
The knights fell silent and stood straight.
The air felt different than Shariette had expected.
“With Noxian away, I’ll report directly to Father. No—focus on guarding. I’ll speak myself. Where is Sir Joseph?”
“Our master assigned him other duties.”
“Tch.” Nixia clicked her tongue and turned toward Shariette.
“Shariette. You should know this.”
Pinching her soft cheek, she spoke seriously.
“When an injured man was brought to you, it was because you’ve been given permission to handle the lives of our family and knights.”
“…!”
“Miss Maze was sent here for another reason. She hasn’t been granted the right to freely use her powers or perform medical acts in this estate. To put it simply—what happened today was overstepping her authority.”
Shariette froze. She had never considered it this way.
Now she understood why those two knights had looked so puzzled earlier, when she mentioned Anette.
Their expressions had said it clearly:
That can’t be right.
