Chapter 31

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter Title: The Lady Only Deals in the Real Thing 38

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The Lady Only Deals in the Real Thing

Chapter 38

I roughly rubbed at my eyes.

'Don't cry. Where do I even have time for that?'

In my previous life, I used to cry sometimes.

Out of resentment or frustration, or because I was worried about Grandfather.

But in this life, I know that crying doesn't solve a damn thing.

Besides...

'Looking back now, in my past life, I basically sold out Grandfather. ...At least, that's how he must have seen it.'

I wonder what Grandfather felt when he opened his eyes to find himself back at the ducal estate he'd left behind.

When he asked where his little granddaughter had gone, Hugo and Rozanne Viscountess surely didn't tell him the truth.

Uncle's granddaughter? Oh, that little chit who bolted after we shoved a few coins in her hand?

Something like that.

'I won't make that mistake again. So no crying. Don't get weak.'

I scrubbed at my eyes until they stung, then turned and walked out.

'Still, praying in the sanctuary did calm me down a bit.'

I gave a quick nod to the robed priest standing at the sanctuary entrance. He hesitated for a moment before nodding back.

On the way back to the pawnshop, I fiddled with my necklace the whole time.

For some reason, today I missed Grandfather more than usual.

'I'll dream of Grandfather tonight.'

But the moment I trudged back to the pawnshop...

"What the..."

The magic device was completely disabled.

The window lock was undone.

I grabbed the back of my neck at the sight of the pawnshop, now spotless with the thief nowhere in sight.

'Yeah, that's right.'

That magic device was defective. Damn it...

Tonight, I'm dreaming of catching thieves.

Velkato Sanatorium.

The nurse in the single VVIP room on the top floor of the grand building wondered to herself.

'What on earth did this patient do for a living?'

He was clearly an old man, yet he had the build to fold two or three young folks like paper and toss them aside.

And his eyes? Even without doing anything wrong, they made you want to apologize profusely.

That wasn't all. He'd paid a full year's fees in cash upfront.

Not content with that, he'd demanded absolute secrecy.

Putting it all together, the nurse's conclusion was...

'He's a loan shark. A big-time one at that!'

She shuddered as she opened the door to his room.

"You're here. Leave it and go."

His voice was terrifying too.

'What projection...'

She barely managed to set the jet-black medicine and newspaper on the console table before backing away.

She desperately wanted to just leave it as he said, but duty as a nurse meant she had to fulfill her obligations.

The fate of a wage slave.

"S-sorry, but I have to confirm you've taken all your medicine before I can leave..."

"Ah, right. That's how it is. My memory isn't what it used to be."

His booming laugh made the room vibrate. It was less a chuckle and more a tiger's roar.

A loan shark who scared you even when smiling did indeed have memory issues, as he'd said.

But his prognosis was surprisingly good. The disease wasn't progressing—in fact, he even seemed to be improving outwardly.

Was it thanks to that jet-black medicine she'd never seen before?

'Memory-related illnesses only get worse, never better. It's incredibly rare for them to improve.'

A healthy body breeds a healthy mind, they say.

Or maybe this patient was just powering through on sheer willpower instead of the medicine...?

As the nurse pondered, she heard the sound of gulping.

Finally, time to go! But when she looked up...

The glass was empty. That wasn't the point, though.

"Uh..."

The way he turned the newspaper pages was peculiar.

Using just his thumb and index finger to flip through them swiftly—like...

"Ah. Habits are scary things. Must be from counting money out in the field."

'Loan shark confirmed!'

"I-I confirmed you've taken it all! I'll be going now!"

She bolted out with a clatter, and the door slammed shut.

Michele stared at the closed door for a long while before lowering the newspaper.

They clearly mistook him for some loan shark, but he saw no need to correct them.

To hide his identity? No.

It was so the terrified nurse wouldn't notice him swapping the water glass for the one with the black medicine.

"..."

His reflection stared back from the surface of the black medicine.

Michele searched his face for traces of his granddaughter.

"Give me Grandfather's seal."

Those innocent, bright smiles hiding a shadow in her pale purple eyes.

"I thought she didn't take after me at all."

Those eyes, at least, were just like his.

The eyes were the one thing he wished hadn't taken after him.

Michele let out a short sigh and opened the window. Rain blew in through the barely cracked pane.

"...I'll handle it. So don't worry about a thing—just rest easy, got it?"

The face of Elisha, murmuring that she'd guard the pawnshop no matter what, faintly came to mind.

Michele gave a wry smile and poured the black medicine out the window.

Clink—

He set down the empty glass and gauged the date.

"Come to think of it..."

He couldn't leave this place.

"We suspect Mendax disease."

It wasn't a curable illness.

So all he could do was hope Elisha made good use of what he'd taught her.

Michele had taught Elisha all sorts of things.

How to read emotions, keep books, count money fast, negotiate advantageously, and...

"By now, Helena, Emma, and even Cresens must have stopped by the pawnshop."

How to win people to your side.

But perhaps that last one didn't even need teaching.

"I wonder how many people you've made your own by now."

"I'll guard it well."

Elisha's words echoed in his ears.

The memory buried deep grew slowly clearer.

"Yes. You have to guard it well, Elisha."

Gazing at the rain, Michele said what he hadn't back then.

"Yourself."

That's all I want.

The official announcement came: the permit renewals were proceeding.

The people of Ashen Street had known already, but they were still uneasy.

"Ashen Street's on the priority list, deadline's midnight tonight. Can you believe this nonsense?"

Emma groaned and shook her head.

"Still, thanks to you, Elisha, we found out a few days early. Lucky break."

"Do you have a guarantor, sis?"

"Yeah. I'm one of the rare mages who still keeps in touch with family. My little sister's coming over. She lives so far away, almost missed the deadline."

Emma grumbled, then brightened.

"Then Michele's coming after a while too? Tell him to drop by if he does."

"...Ah, Grandfather's away right now too—says he can't make it in time."

"What do we do then?"

"So we're getting help from someone else."

"Ah, got it. Was hoping to see Michele's face after so long."

Emma shrugged and asked,

"Anyway, what brings you here? You bought a ton of magic devices last time. More debt collectors or thieves?"

"Ugh, don't even ask... Oh, sis, you've got some defective ones here."

"Defective?! Impossible—nothing like that exists in Emma's dictionary!"

I handed her the gloomy mana orb, and she gasped as she took it.

A thin, threadlike purple light streamed from her fingertips.

It was my first time seeing magic in action up close—fascinating—when Emma tilted her head.

"Hmm? Nothing wrong with this."

"Really? Huh, then why...?"

I explained the thug knight incident and the thief getting freed.

Emma pondered deeply, then picked up the magic device again.

This time, geometric patterns floated at her fingertips.

"Hmmm... Ah, I see. There was holy power interference."

"Holy power?"

Those two looked anything but holy.

'Wait, could it be...?'

"The thief had a holy artifact on him. I snatched it midway, but could that have affected it?"

"Hmm, but the energy I'm sensing is more direct. Less elegant and subtle like a holy artifact—more like someone dumped holy water all over it?"

"Then that thief must've been hiding some holy water spray! Argh, no wonder he was wearing that baggy robe."

Next time, I'll strip him bare!

I listened to Emma while plotting disaster for anyone who might overhear.

"Yeah, that's closer. It's got a really intense vibe."

Emma frowned as she probed the mana orb with her magic power, eyes closed.

"But that thug knight... Ugh, weird."

"How so?"

"Just a weird guy."

"Right? His speech was super odd. He extorted me so politely."

Can magic read personalities too?

Amazing what magic can do, I thought.

"No, not that kind of weird... This guy's got something he absolutely shouldn't."

Huh? Something he shouldn't have?