I Shall Survive Using Potions! Volume 1 Page 15

  I had a backup plan in case they tried to catch me of course: I’d already made an extra strong batch of tear gas, which would cause a good deal of confusion and chaos to take over me. Since they didn’t have any way of knowing what it was, they’d probably think a demon had suddenly appeared to wreak havoc or something. I’d drink something to neutralize the effects of the gas, then change my clothes and the colors of my eyes and hair once I managed to get away.

  “We heard you would be coming. Right this way, if you please.”

  The elderly servant who opened the door acted as my guide, leading me through the back garden and into the mansion before showing me inside a room. She didn’t even bat an eye at the sight of a little girl wearing a sketchy mask. She was a pro, no doubt about it... I guessed I should’ve expected that from someone who worked for a big name business.

  The daughter in question was lying down in bed inside the room, her parents and brother sitting beside her in chairs. There were no guards to be seen. The jaws of the people inside dropped when they saw me enter the room. They were expecting the messenger of the Goddess to be coming here, and they got a little girl wearing a weird mask instead. But could you really blame them for being a bit surprised?

  “Wait, are you who I think you are?” I blurted out in surprise when I saw who was already sitting in the room. The person in front of me was the same guy who’d given me a lift all the way to the capital.

  “Huh? Are you...Kaoru?”

  Even after I’d gone out of my way to wear a mask and change the color of my eyes and hair, the merchant figured out who I was in an instant once he heard my voice.

  ““What are you doing here?”” we said in sync.

  “Wh-Why are you here, Kaoru?” the merchant asked, eyes wide open.

  “Well, you know... I was just thinking of healing your daughter’s illness is all.”

  “Wait... D-Does that mean you’re the messenger of the Goddess then?”

  This was a guy who really understood the value of information. He’d already heard rumors of me, even though they shouldn’t have spread this far yet.

  “Yeah, something like that.”

  The merchant was at a loss for words, while his wife and son could only stare blankly.

  Oh, whatever. I’m taking off the dumb mask. Wait...how come the lady who showed me inside just flinched when she saw my face? She looked like she couldn’t have cared less when she saw me all incognito with my mask and cloak! Is it my eyes? Is the look I always have in my eyes really that bad?! Well, I’m used to it by now, so it doesn’t bother me that much... Yeah...

  “Have her drink this.”

  The merchant took the small bottle I offered him with trembling hands. Taking every care in the world not to spill it, he placed the bottle to his daughter’s lips and had her drink what was inside. The pained expression on her face softened with each passing second, and the color returned to her cheeks. Her breathing calmed and soon steadied itself at a stable rhythm.

  “““Ohhh...”””

  The merchant, his wife, his son, and their servant all let out voices of admiration. Everyone here could see that the daughter had made a complete recovery.

  “But why would the Goddess give her blessing to us?” the merchant asked me, his voice shaking.

  “Well, you really helped me out back then. That, and I know all about how you feed people down in the poorer areas of town.”

  He’d been giving blessings in his own way to the downtrodden and unfortunate till now, but even the rich and those in power needed help sometimes. Some of them were even good people too.

  I was wary of those with power since I could only imagine them trying to use me for their less-than-wholesome motives. Still, I’d need to make myself some friends in high places if I wanted to have someone who had my back here. Thinking as much, it might be about time to go about looking for someone just like that...

  “Ah... Ahhhhhh!” the merchant, Johann Abili, had broken down in tears.

  Everything he’d done until now had come back to him as a way to save his daughter. Even though there were times he’d talked against the Goddess, she’d still understood all the same. His faith and conviction had saved his daughter.

  “Thank you for everything, dear angel...”

  “Oh, no, please. You can just call me Kaoru, like you did before.”

  “But... Ah, I see... Yes, I suppose that would be for the best.”

  That’s a smart businessman for you. He caught on quick.

  “So, what shall we do about the offering?”

  It was true, I was accepting offerings from everyone I’d healed so far. Though, it wasn’t like I wanted to take money from people who didn’t have much to begin with; just their gratitude. It could be anything from a single radish they had in their kitchen, to a wooden good luck charm that their kid had made. One mother and child really didn’t have anything to their name, so I ended up patting and rubbing up against the little girl in question as payment, calling it “healing for the soul.” I ended up leaving them about twenty silver coins at the end of that particular trip. This was also a form of preparation on my part for if I ever ended up doing as such for a noble or some other wealthy person. I’d been doing this free of charge all this time, and it’d be pretty lame on my part to suddenly ask for a mound of cash for my services. That was why I decided to have people give me whatever they could that was within their means.

  “Hmm, what should we do... Oh, I know!”

  This may have been really good timing actually. There was something he could get me that I thought I’d be needing soon enough.

  “Do you think I could get some new clothes? More specifically, I’d like an outfit I could wear to fit in with other nobles.”

  My old hand-me-downs I’d taken from the baron’s daughter were beginning to get a little worse for the wear, I’d say.

  “Ha-hah! I’ll devote the efforts of the entire Johann Abili Trade Company into doing it!”

  “No no, you don’t have to go that far!”

  I ended up having my measurements taken by the servant after being moved to another room.

  “I’m counting on you, Ameri!”

  “Yes, sir! Even if it costs my life!”

  C’mon, guys, I just said you don’t have to go that far...

  Afterward, the merchant went back to the way he talked with me back when he’d given me a ride on his cart, thank goodness. I guess I should get to remembering his name, huh. Let’s see... Johann, I think it was.

  Chapter 7: An Angel

  It’d been two weeks since I visited Johann. Achille had been acting weird ever since this morning, stealing glances at me before quickly looking away and breathing heavy sighs.

  Hold up... Has he finally fallen for my womanly charms?

  And no, that wasn’t just me overthinking things! In fact, how couldn’t I think that? You’d have to be blind not to notice how suspicious he was acting.

  Everyone at the workshop kept praising my cooking, and I understood why they lived the messy lifestyles they did. I was interested in what they were researching so I’d often glance over their shoulders while they worked, and sometimes even asked questions. I didn’t try and scold or be hard on them like other girls would probably do. I was probably the ideal wife for broke researchers like them—as long as they could get past the fact that I was flat as a board and the look in my eyes could make children cry inside. Even if they thought I looked to be around twelve, it would only take around three more years until I came into my own as a woman. I didn’t expect I’d even get a centimeter taller than I was now, but I was at least counting on my chest to fill out a tiny bit more. Until then, I’d just keep helping out with whatever they needed as their fiancée. That said, my physical body was fifteen years old. I thought it may be a little too early to actually start looking for a spouse now. I wanted to travel around this world and enjoy seeing what it had to offer. Marriage could come after that.

  Though Achille was
an aristocrat, there was almost no chance he was going to be inheriting any sort of title. People like him would usually aim to be a knight or a diplomat or something, but not Achille. I really had thought he was a good guy, but I just didn’t know if he was husband material. When I thought about spending the rest of my life with him, it was like... Well, it didn’t sound bad carving out our own happy niche in the world, setting up our own little workshop and having a bunch of kids, but there was still so much I wanted to do...

  “Hey, Kaoru... You got a second?”

  “Y-Yes!”

  It’s happening!

  “There’s actually something I wanted to ask you...”

  “Yes...?”

  Achille paused, thinking over his next words.

  “Kaoru... Would you, um... Would you be my fiancée?”

  I knew it!!!

  Behind us, Alban and Brian dropped the tools they were holding.

  Wait, you guys too? Am I finally at that point in my life where I’m popular with all the boys?!

  “F-For just a day!”

  Oh, of freakin’ course!

  And so, I asked for an explanation, and an apology.

  Of course I was going to have him apologize on getting my hopes up then crushing them all in one fell swoop. It wasn’t like I was expecting anything to happen though! I was totally planning on turning him down! I was just a bit disappointed, that was all!

  According to what Achille had to say, in ten days there was going to be a birthday party for Cedric, who was the oldest brother, and also the successor to the family name. However, this wasn’t just a party, but a chance for Cedric to find a potential spouse as well. He apparently had himself a fiancée ever since he was a child, but she’d passed away due to illness two years ago. He’d finally managed to get over that sadness, and was ready to start looking again. Thanks to the sudden boom in girls trying to marry lower class aristocrats that was sweeping the neighboring country, this party was supposed to be packed full of the daughters of aristocrats, affluent merchants, and even the third and fourth daughters from the families of earls and marquis.

  Why is that even a trend in the first place though...

  Anyway, Achille’s dad was thinking this might be Achille’s lucky break to find a third daughter of some baron to get engaged to, or maybe even the daughter of a merchant, which was why his father was being pretty strict about making sure he came to the party. The second oldest son had already found a fiancée too.

  Achille wouldn’t look half-bad if he cleaned up and wore some fancier clothes after all, and that wasn’t mentioning the huge implications it would have for any merchant’s daughter coming from a commoner background being able to marry into aristocracy through him. His parents had let him do what he wanted till now, but it seemed like they were beginning to get worried, hence the fact that he couldn’t go against them and turn down showing up for the party.

  Achille was still having a blast with his research, according to the man himself, and wasn’t even thinking of marriage yet. He knew he wouldn’t be able to keep up his current research if he suddenly tied the knot with someone, which was where I came in apparently.

  “You only have to pretend to be my fiancée at the party, please! That way I can get past this somehow!”

  You kidding me?

  “I’m just a commoner though.”

  “And I’m not much different, being the third son of a lower class aristocrat. My parents wouldn’t have anything to complain about if I brought you, Kaoru!”

  “Psssh...”

  “Please, I’m begging you! I won’t complain, even if this all goes horribly wrong! Just think of it as helping a guy out!”

  He kept on begging and eventually I gave in. I did turn down his offer to get me a dress though, and told him I had an idea of where I could find one. Achille seemed a bit doubtful, but was convinced after I swore to the Goddess herself that I wouldn’t stand him up.

  I also made sure to add a condition of my own: I wanted him to treat me as a girl he was trying to get close with, rather than his actual fiancée. If word spread that I was engaged to someone, it could affect me down the line when I actually began looking into snagging someone to marry myself. I didn’t want to be known as the girl who broke off an engagement because of something like this. That was super important to me, so there was no way I’d back down on that!

  Achille looked a little bummed out when I said as such, but said he understood. All that was left now was for him to have his family get my invitation ready. This just may have been that chance I’d been waiting for.

  All right, I’m gonna get out there and make my move!

  I asked Achille to give me the rundown on pretty much everything I could think of: the party we were going to, the Lyodart household (which was the family he belonged to), his brother Cedric, his servants, any encounters he’d had with viscounts; the whole shebang. The first ingredient to any good strategy was information after all.

  “Hi there. Is Johann here?”

  The employee was thoroughly taken aback when Kaoru asked for the owner of the company by name.

  “Do you think you could tell him that Kaoru is here to see him?”

  For some reason, the worker felt like they shouldn’t go against the young girl’s words and went to the back to fetch the owner. If he said to turn her away, then they would just turn her away and that would be that. Still, something inside them was saying they shouldn’t make that decision themselves—and a merchant should always respect their intuitions.

  “Glad to have you here, Kaoru! Come on back. Fancy some tea and snacks?”

  Good, he’s still talking normally with me. Whew.

  The worker who showed me in seemed pretty relieved about something. If I had to guess, it was almost like they were glad their intuition was right on the money.

  “I’ve got your dress, shoes, and everything else you’ll need all ready for you. Is it almost time to put ’em to good use?”

  Nice one, Johann! You’ve got some good intuition on ya!

  “I’ll be attending a viscount’s party nine days from now, so I was hoping you could let me change outfits here before I go. I’d also like to request a carriage, if that would be all right.”

  “Just leave it to me! This sounds like it’ll be fun, so I think I’ll tag along as well—but in a different carriage of course. I’ll be sure to pretend like I don’t know you.”

  Seriously?

  “But what about an invitation?”

  “Just who exactly do you think you’re talking to? I’m the owner of a vast trading corporation who also happens to have a daughter at the perfect age to look for suitors. It’s only a matter of time before they send one our way, and even if they don’t take the initiative, all I have to do is say that we wish to attend and they’ll send one of their stewards rushing our way to get us one. My daughter was completely healed by the angel the Goddess sent after all. This could be a good chance to get back into mingling with high society. If we’re talking about a party in nine days, it must be that birthday bash at the Lyodart household, am I right?”

  Wow, he already knew... That’s the owner of a huge company for you.

  “Oh,” Kaoru interjected, “I’ll be getting my own accessories ready, by the way, so no need to worry about that.”

  “Huh?”

  Achille von Lyodart, the third oldest son of the Lyodart household, seemed restless as he nervously scanned the party venue.

  Is she here yet? No, still don’t see her...

  It wasn’t like he was doubting her, but he was uneasy about whether some sort of unforeseen trouble or accident could keep her from coming.

  Cedric, the guest of honor for today’s party, was already in attendance, along with the rest of the Lyodart family. It appeared most of the guests had already arrived as well. This wasn’t like parties back in Japan, where the host would give a speech right at the beginning. Carriages and wagons were the de facto method of transportation here, and were
also the reason guests would often be late arriving to these soirées. That’s why most people would chat and mingle for a certain amount of time before the hosts got into their speeches and whatnot, which was why it could be said the party had already begun.

  Right as Achille’s nerves were about to reach a breaking point, a small girl showed up at the party.

  Viscount Lyodart was suddenly made aware that the conversations he’d been hearing around him had died out, and the party had gone completely silent.

  Did something happen...?

  Not only was this a party for his oldest son, but a chance for him to find a suitable partner for himself. He couldn’t let someone come in and rain on their parade.

  The viscount turned his gaze to look where all the stupefied guests were focused, finding the source of the commotion to be a twelve-year-old girl. She had glossy black hair that came down to her shoulders, and a face that was quite pleasing on the eyes. The look in her own eyes was a bit sharp, but that showed how strong her will was as an aristocrat. And that outfit! Words couldn’t describe the beauty of that pure white dress that adorned her figure. It was enough to make anyone think she was a member of royalty—and that wasn’t even mentioning the jewels on her necklace and hair ornaments. Just how much could something like that be worth!

  No, it wasn’t a simple matter of price here. There were just some things in this world that one couldn’t buy, no matter how much money they managed to save, and it looked like that could perfectly describe the various accessories she wore.

  She was still a young girl, not quite of age yet, but that only meant it was a matter of waiting a few years. She had the type of beautiful, graceful figure that would make anyone more than happy to watch her mature from as close as they could get. Her eyes seemed to reveal how intelligent and sadistic...er, strong-willed she was, and who knew how many hundreds of gold coins her jewelry cost...