Kamisama Shop de Cheat no Kaori

Chapter 126. Three Companion And A Traveler

“Take two pills of this after meals, morning and night, for seven days without missing a dose.”

“This… is medicine? It must be expensive.”

“Well, pay what you can.”

“O… okay.”

The bearded man handed the sheet of pills to the other man, his face pale. It contained 30 pills. With trembling hands, he accepted it and carefully placed it in his pouch.

“There will be two pills left over; keep them as spares. If there are any left, take them the next morning. Absolutely do not give them to anyone else.”

“Huh? Why? If I’m cured, I’ll just stop taking them…”

“No. If you stop halfway through, this medicine can do more harm than good. You must finish it. If you can’t promise that, give it back.”

“O… okay. It’s some kind of secret medicine, right?”

“Yes.”

In reality, it was just an antibiotic, but if taken halfway, the surviving pathogens and viruses could mutate. It’s important to finish it to kill them all. Not that this old man is likely to take antibiotics again, anyway.

The bearded man glanced at Yaralai, probably thinking it was some kind of elven secret potion. After all, the sap resembling plastic is said to be used by elves.

He didn’t give him painkillers. A man should be able to endure that much. Besides, he seemed like a tough guy.

“So, shall we set off… Can everyone fit?”

“If Faf and I ride on the roof, it should be fine. The elf can run.”

“Oh… I’ll take that challenge.”

“Fine, it’s time to settle this—”

“We have injured people here. If you two fight, you’ll both be left behind.”

“That’s fine by me, but… it’d be stupid to get separated…”

“Can I be honest?”

“What is it?”

“If someone has to walk, I’d prefer it to be Hagg.”

“Why me?!”

I knew he’d be mad…

Without a word, I pointed to Hagg’s body and his hammer.

“Honestly, if we load all this, I’m not sure the tires will hold, so I’d prefer to unload the metal…”

“Hmph…”

Hagg frowned and looked at the nearly 30 people around.

“Heh heh heh. All the healthy ones can walk. The young ones have calmed down after drinking some water.”

“I’ll walk too.”

Hearing Faf and Yaralai, the villagers started saying, “We’ll walk,” “We’re fine.” It seemed it would only take a few hours to reach the village at a slow pace, so we decided to let them walk.

“We had a cart until partway… but the zebra collapsed…”

“Ah… the zebra cart.”

I still can’t get used to that oddity. But people in this region sometimes use zebras. They seem easier to obtain than horses.

When I asked Cherina about it during a walk around town, she said zebras aren’t usually sold. Horses and donkeys have established breeding and rearing methods, but zebras are more troublesome and end up costing more, so they rarely hit the market.

However, some rural villages have unique rearing methods, and such zebras occasionally make it to the market.

Curious, I asked them, and it turned out to be a zebra raised in their village.

Since both the cart and the village are along the main road, we decided to continue.

In the end, the elderly and the bearded man, along with a few housewives, ended up in the vehicle. The old man initially insisted on walking, but Yaralai persuaded him with some “physical language.” Walking after such an injury, with a fever, would be a death sentence.

In the air-conditioned vehicle, the elderly began to pray. Please stop.

I moved the car slowly, matching the pace of those walking. Faf was beside me, along with the young lady who first told us to flee.

She wasn’t from the village but a traveler who had the misfortune of getting caught up in this mess. However, she knew the roads better than the villagers and had been leading the younger villagers in their escape. She must have pushed herself too hard, as she had twisted her ankle and it was swollen.

Faf said there didn’t seem to be any bone damage, so we were cooling it in a bucket of water. I refrained from using ice, as that would be overkill.

“Um… I’m sorry I’m late in thanking you. My name is Utyce.”

“Hmm? Oh, don’t worry about it. It was just a coincidence. But you’ve had a rough time. Where were you headed?”

Just making small talk.

“I was headed to a country called Pilatus, said to be at the westernmost edge. Have you heard of it?”

“Oh… I came from there.”

“Really…”

Utyce was slender but had some muscle in certain places. If I had to describe her, she looked like a middle-distance runner. Not as thin as a marathon runner, but not as muscular as a sprinter. Her chest wasn’t too big or too small, probably an ideal figure for many women.

Her hair was green. It seemed like hair colors varied widely in this world. Perhaps we are similar yet different species.

This sporty Utyce looked around the car curiously.

“Are there many things like this in the country of Pilatus?”

“No way. This artifact is something I acquired through a special route. Of course, that’s classified, so I can’t talk about it.”

“Oh, right. I’m sorry.”

She bowed her head.

“No, no need to apologize.”

“Still, a carriage that moves without a horse…”

“Yeah, it’s amazing.”

I agreed, pretending not to know the details.

I wanted to subtly convey that I didn’t understand the finer points either.

“By the way, Pilatus… doesn’t exist anymore.”

“Huh?”

“Heh heh heh…”

Utyce looked dumbfounded at my mischievous statement.

“I’m not kidding. There was a revolution, and Pilatus disappeared in an instant.”

“That’s…”

“Ah, don’t worry. I don’t know what you were planning to do there, but it should be better now.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, the chaos settled down in just a day or two. It was handled really efficiently.”

“…”

Utyce fell silent. Hearing that the place you’re heading to has drastically changed would give anyone pause.

“Well, there’s no danger. Now, the fishing guild is leading a vigilante group, and crime has reportedly decreased.”

That’s what I heard in passing from a merchant a few days before I left. From what I saw, the atmosphere didn’t seem particularly grim.

“I could have kept it quiet, but I thought I should let you know.”

“Thank you. But if that’s the case, I’m surprised there aren’t more rumors.”

“Ah… if this carriage went full speed, it’d be as fast as a horse at a gallop.”

“Eh…?”

“And I left Tessa—oh, that’s the new country’s name—not long after the revolution succeeded. Most merchants haven’t caught up with the news. But the information will spread eventually.”

“I see.”

She fell silent again.

“What’s wrong?”

“…I was just thinking about what to do next.”

“Yeah, I figured. All I can say is that the new Tessa will be a good country… it’s going to be.”

“You sound very sure of that.”

“Yeah, by chance, I got to know the people who are building the new country. I’m sure they won’t lead it astray.”

I recalled the red one, the creepy one, the dark-skinned one, the sharp-eyed one, and… the one with the impressive chest. Well, the last one doesn’t really count.

“Thank you. I’ll take some time to think it over in the village, Akira.”

“Sure…”

I continued driving at a snail’s pace, carefully maintaining the ultra-low speed in second gear, almost cramping my leg. It was hard to keep up this speed.

“…Huh? Did I introduce myself?”

“The others called you that, so wasn’t that right?”

“Yeah, it’s right. I’m Akira. Nice to meet you.”

“Yes. Nice to meet you.”

“Heh heh heh.”

I decided to ignore the muffled laughter that occasionally broke out.