"So, Mine was sold to the country bordering the northwest of this country, in other words, the other side of the sea? In that case, they would have to travel by land..." (Kaoru)
As I muttered this, Reiko came from beside me...
"Traveled by land to secure human resources. It was truly a land route[1]..." (Reiko)
Shut up!
Anyway, I found out a lot about what happened when he was sold by Mine and what happened over there.
Well, at the time she didn't know she had been sold and she apparently thought she had been adopted by a wealthy shop owner.
Even after she found out about the situation, the new director of the orphanage didn't know anything and just thought she'd been deceived. Until she told me the truth...
"Hey! That old man... No, that old bastard is the root of all this! I'll definitely get your revenge someday..." (Kaoru)
"No, he was caught and punished a long time ago!" (Mine)
Despite the exchange, the interrogation went smoothly. Of course, that was only natural, since the other party was completely cooperative.
So, the next place to gather information was over there.
Yes, at the Lord's place.
I needed to see the records of when they interrogated the manager here, and I needed to make sure we had a proper discussion.
At the time, the lord apparently arrested and punished the manager, but he couldn't do anything more than that.
...But that couldn't be helped. It was not because the lord was slacking off or taking advantage of bribes.
A feudal lord could not send officials to other countries to investigate, nor could he interrogate or arrest merchants from other countries.
And of course, they would also unilaterally take back, without any evidence, children who had been adopted through the proper procedures but who were now foreign nationals.
After all, the orphanage in his own country had received a fee and had adopted the child through the proper procedures, and the paperwork had been properly signed by the lord's subordinate. If he were to intervene in a clumsy manner, the other country would file a complaint with the royal palace of his own country, putting the lord's position in danger.
There was no way we could do anything about this.
……However.
We were not from this territory, nor of this country.
If we did something, we could just say, "They're from a different country; it's nothing to do with us."
And the Lord would naturally think that we had "the backing of a powerful family", and that we had hidden guards and a watchdog secretly watching over us in case any trouble occurs. Not a "fake watchdog" like Leia, but a real watchdog.
...Yes, if we did something without anyone stopping us, it would mean that the supervisors had judged it to be "No problem," which meant that "To parents' house, it was something trivial that they could handle and would not cause any problems."
In that case, I would bet on the lord being a good person "as a noble" and someone who would be considerate towards orphans.
Even if we lost, we wouldn't lose anything on that bet...
Ok, let's go ahead and file a petition.
Permission to meet was readily granted.
When Little Silver applied for tax exemption, we simply submitted a petition and had a messenger deliver a reply letter, but we did not meet the lord in person.
However, this time the messenger delivered not a reply letter, but an invitation.
Yes, an invitation. Not a summons or anything.
Well, I guess he's trying to be humble because he thinks we're the daughters of nobles from another country or something. Besides, this time it's not something he can give permission for just by reading my petition, so it's only natural that he'd want to meet us in person.
...And so, at the appointed time, we went to the lord's mansion. Just me and Reiko.
Well, if we're just talking then I'd be enough, but if things got rough, it would be safer if Reiko was there.
When trying to escape from a situation surrounded by a large number of enemies, unlimited magic would surely be far more convenient than potion abilities.
If we got into a big fight with the lord, we would obviously not be able to continue living in this town. In that case, we would have to escape with Mine and Aral. So, as long as we didn't do anything too reckless, we wouldn't have any choice but to use magic!
The limitations of potion ability were made abundantly clear the other day.
Just to be on the safe side, I had Mine and Aral hide in the basement. There's a toilet in the basement, so there was no need to worry. I also told Mine to teach Aral how to read and write and other things.
And then, after being guided by the servants and meeting and greeting the lord, the first words he spoke to me were...
"I hear you sell some exceptionally tasty dried fish and meat. Please deliver some to us!" (Lord)
What is that?!
No, it's delicious though.
It was soaked in a potion-made juice and made using the method that Reiko learned. The umami components are concentrated through chemical reactions, resulting in an indescribable taste. It was different from the ones that were simply dried by the local fishmonger, butcher, or old man at the market!
...But that's not what we're here to talk about now!
"...Y-yes, I'm extremely honored and humbled..." (Kaoru)
Saying that, I gave a suitable reply...
"Oh, come on! There's no need to talk so formally. It's a hassle, so just talk normally." (Lord)
Apparently, he wasn't a very fussy person when it came to etiquette and customs regarding hierarchical relationships.
I too had had the experience of speaking casually with members of the royal family, so if he said so……
Poke poke!
I know, you don't have to poke me like that, I'm not going to speak to you in a casual manner!
Damn it, Reiko, you think I'm that stupid?
No, let's leave that aside...
"Yes, I will deliver it later. If you like it, please order it from now on. However, we will all be traveling for a while, so the next delivery will be after that..." (Kaoru)
"What, you're going on a trip? Going home or something? For how long?" (Lord)
Ok, that's a good introduction.
"I was just thinking about going and rescuing the children who were wrongfully abducted under false pretenses..." (Kaoru)
"Wh-what!" (Lord)
The lord was so surprised that he almost rose from his chair.
Well, that was surprising, coming from two little girls saying something like that.
"…………" (Lord)
He was quiet, but I guessed he was thinking about a lot of things in his head.
I hope the conclusion turns out as I predicted...
"...Let me hear more." (Lord)
Alright!
"...That's why I would like to have the records of the interrogation, especially information about the other party... And also, the secret deal of the lord's consent……" (oaru)
Now, how will the lord respond? It seems like a good idea, but...
"...I don't mind showing you the records, but I can't turn a blind eye to it!" (Lord)
Huh?
Damn, I should have done this secretly without telling the lord!
But, if the orphans who were supposed to have been sold were still around, they would be discovered and investigated right away... No good, this is getting a little bad...
"Who would turn a blind eye to this?! It's official! Due to my position, I can't give specific orders, but I declare that my territory fully supports the orphan support organization Little Silver in their efforts to save orphans!!" (Lord)
...What?
I had heard that he was a "good person for an aristocrat", but isn't this just a "good person"?
Author's Note
The day before yesterday, on June 9th, the sixth volumes of the comics "Potion" and "Roukin" were released simultaneously!
The sixth volume of the book version of "Potion", which went on sale on the 2nd, is also now on sale! (^^)/
Translation Note
[1] 陸（リク）ルート (riku-ruuto, land route) it sounds similar to "recruit".
I apologize if the quality seems degrading. So far, almost no one makes correction, so I don't know if there's something that needs to be corrected but I feel like there's always something wrong. Also, since I have some other projects, I probably won't have time to recheck the entire chapter by myself.