"Are you here because you're about to elope with this guy? After robbing me of my money that's like my blood?"
Owen said this as he brushed off the dirt on the hem of his clothes.
As if he didn't care at all what kind of reactions Cassion and Diana had.
"I'll say this again. I didn't steal your money. Something like that is your specialty, isn't it?"
"What?"
"I'm right. All this time, you've been selling me fake medicine while tricking me into thinking it's real medicine. Didn't you?"
Diana growled icily at Owen and, in an instant, his expression froze.
However, it stopped there. Just an instant.
His hardened expression eased up and his lips soon opened with a, 'Hahaha!' He laughed riotously at her face.
Even his goons behind him giggled and laughed along with him.
Seeing this unpleasant sight, Cassion glanced down at them.
Owen guffawed with his mouth wide open and while clapping his hands together.
"Ahaha! And I was wondering why our dear Young Miss ran away… But I get it now, I get why you ran away."
The man's impudence made Diana clench her hands into fists.
"So you're admitting to it? That you gave a child fake medicine?!"
When Diana yelled out in frustration, Owen responded by covering his ears. He then picked out one ear with a pinky finger, blew on it, then continued speaking calmly.
"Ah, don't shout. It's noisy. And really though, it's thanks to me that your sister got a little better, right?"
Since she's going to die anyway, it's best to let her die comfortably.
He added the insinuating whisper was meant to provoke her, as though it was a small spark being ignited upon dry firewood.
"Son of a…"
With a cold expression, Diana reached into her chest pocket.
It was to find the weapon she always carried with her.
However, it's a fact that Owen and his lackeys had spent a long time working together with Diana.
So of course, they knew what she was trying to do right now.
Owen chuckled as he backed away.
"Oh goodness, I'm so sca—"
The man had backed away, but only to make a show out of it, and he spoke sarcastically at her—yet couldn't finish what he was saying.
To be more exact, his mouth got shut for him.
But instead of it being Diana, as she was still reaching into her pocket, Cassion, who was next to her, smacked the man right across the cheek.
Slap—!
Owen's head jerked to the side with a blunt sound.
Trickle.
All he could feel was a certain throbbing, then down came a trickle from his nose.
Soon—drip, drip—more drops of bright red blood fell to the ground.
With a numb, paralyzing sensation to his head, Owen stood there in a daze, blinking as he looked to the side.
There was a look of horror on his face, but Cassion, the person who had stricken the man, remained calm.
"Diana, calm down."
On the contrary, even after hitting someone like that, he was even calming someone else down with a relaxed voice. Diana was incensed beside him.
Diana glared at Cassion, who tried to mollify her.
How can I stay calm when I'm absolutely livid, huh. This was what her glare was saying.
Understanding this as they made eye contact, Cassion leaned down and whispered.
"You're not alone anymore. Don't bear with your resentment alone."
At the gentle whisper, Diana's pupils shook.
She turned away to look into the distance, then she bowed her head.
Indeed, it's as he said.
She was not alone.
Right now, she had a colleague beside her who could help her exact her vengeance, and there was also a ducal princess willingly said that she would provide her shelter.
Diana's brown eyes scanned through the air, looking for something.
At the mouth of the riverbank, there where the logs were piled up.
All she could see were those piles of logs, but Diana knew who was there beyond.
Her shelter. Her guardian. Her lady.
'Yeah, the reliable person on my side is over there… Let's not get too worked up.'
The anger that had soared to the top of her head was as sweltering as lava. However, she didn't want to show an ugly appearance to the ducal princess.
Stay cool, stay relaxed.
Diana tried to cool her head, then after, she looked at Owen. He was still frozen in place, standing there in a strange posture.
Meanwhile, Owen's head also slowly faced forward.
His movements were awkward, as though he was a rusty gate.
You could practically hear him screeching.
The sight of two streams of red blood from his nostrils and down to his lips was worth seeing.
Owen stared back at Diana and Cassion dazedly, and after, his chin slowly began to shake.
The crimson stream reached his dark neck.
A reddish hue also started coloring his skin, climbing to make even his face bright red.
His face was so red that it felt like they were looking at an open flame.
"W-W…Why you!"
That's all Owen said. Then, he beckoned to his lackeys.
Even while stunned and nervous, the men reacted to Owen's signal and immediately pounced at the two.
* * *
Blunt sounds quietly echoed across the riverbank.
Beneath the bleak sky, five men versus one pair of a man and a woman were entangled in a fight.
Seeing them up close was frightening.
However, those who were sitting far away, behind the logs, watched the scene leisurely and didn't feel any danger at all.
Somehow, it wasn't a matter of proximity, but a matter of who exactly those people were.
The people sitting behind the log piles were me, Blanca and Logan.
'I guess that duo isn't all that brutal.'
Rather, as we stayed back without helping, I knew that things would get bloodier if this side, including me, were to join in.
"Aww, he missed. If you miss like that, how will you go on?"
In fact, it's enough to think that Blanca would be more ferocious out there, seeing how she made such a comment with a glint in her eyes.
Flipping through the fake bills in an indifferent manner, Logan was the same.
I leaned over with one elbow on a pile of logs while propping up my chin on that hand, observing Cassion and Diana's movements.
I was worried about them getting overpowered, but they took the lead much easier than I expected of them.
What's this, they're making me proud.
'My kids grew up so fast.'
With that kind of feeling.
My gaze towards Cassion and Diana flashed with a bit of satisfaction, but then one bulky log got flung through the air.
"Aaaargh!"
There was a man who tried to sneak up on Diana and Cassion with a blunt weapon, but he instead let out a pained groan because he got hit by that log.
Well, maybe rather than a groan, he let out something close to an anguished scream instead.
"…What did you just do?"
Logan asked me, baffled.
It's beyond me why he had such a look on his face.
Shrugging my shoulders, I replied casually.
"I mean, that guy was sneaking up on them from behind, you know. Shouldn't I help a bit?"
Since this was a real, hands-on experience, it would be great if they could work this out on their own, but…
If I'm going to raise those kids up to be strong, I can't exactly let them get their heads bashed, now can I?
Unconvinced by my explanation, Logan shook his head. Then, as he recalled something, he opened his lips again.
"By chance, is it allowed to throw just anything with that much force?"
"I don't know about just any other thing, but… For the most part, until the point of memory loss is fine."
"Alright, good to hear. Then, shall I poison them to induce a bit of memory loss? I think that's a good step to protecting ourselves, too."
Hm?
I don't know how he came to that kind of conclusion. Even so, the look in Logan's eyes was sincere.
I looked to the side at Blanca and wordlessly asked just what kind of development was this now.
Perhaps because she had already shown her face to me so she had her veil pulled up, but…
With her silver eyes curved into arcs, she answered.
"Logan's specialty is making poison, you see."
Ah, so that's it.
It wasn't the answer I wanted to hear, but this enough was an interesting piece of new information.
'Then in the original novel, did Logan make that poison?'
It's only natural to come to this conclusion. But as I thought until here, another question arose.
For example, Logan's job description and specialty were two different things.
"Logan is a doctor though."
Doctors were supposed to heal illnesses, yet poison was a cause of such illnesses.
It didn't make sense to give both the illness and the medicine. Wasn't it strange to do both at the same time?
"The process of making medicine and poison is similar. The knowledge to save someone can also be used to kill someone, don't you think?"
"Ah, that…"
Actually makes sense.
Come to think of it, I know someone similar from my second transmigration.
Among my brothers who were sage transcendentals, there was one who was adept in handling both poison and medicine.
He could make deadly poisons, but at the same time, he also made miraculous elixirs.
After drinking such a thing, if your pressure points could also be dealt well, then it's possible to massively improve one's own inner strength with just that elixir.
'Yeah, I've learned a thing or two as well.'
The recipes to those kinds of elixirs were usually kept secret. And because the way to make it was just in that one particular way, not just anyone could successfully make it.
However, he taught me how to make some of them.
I don't exactly know why he did, but if I had to come up with a reason…
'Maybe because he pitied me? If not, then I wonder if it's because of a main character buff.'
That's the best reason I could think of. Anyway, I forgot about it because I didn't have a need for the elixir in the third transmigration.
Now though, it might be helpful to have it on hand.
For myself. Or perhaps, for Cassion.
"If you make the poison… Then you can make the medicine for it too, can't you?"
When I asked Logan, he nodded back.
"Well, it's not outside my skill set."
"Oh, then there's something I'll ask you to make later, so can you make that medicine for me?"
Of course, the elixirs that'll be made would be limited.
Since the worldbuilding here was vastly different, there's naturally many ingredients that didn't exist in this world.
However, there were certainly things that did.
Although an elixir that would be made with much rarer ingredients would work better, still, elixir was elixir.
For a moment, Logan didn't answer.
He glanced sideways at Blanca.
Just like a cat making a probing glance towards its owner.
Blanca only smiled without answering verbally. A momentary flash of exhaustion appeared on Logan's expression, but after that, he carefully asked one question.
"It's not some strange medicine, is it?"
"Do I seem like a person who'd ask for such a thing?"
"..."
…Yeah, I do seem like that kind of person. Isn't this a bit regrettable? A moment of silence passed over.
Pfft.
But it was soon broken as Blanca giggled.
Trying and failing to hold back her laughter, Blanca's lips trembled in her mirth.
Logan's silence looked like a positive sign.
I glanced at her for a second, then I turned to Logan again.
Hesitating for one moment more, he eventually nodded.
"Yes, if that's the case, well… I'll try to make it."
"This sounds fun. If you need any ingredients, I'll prepare them all for you. In return, please show me the medicine once it's done, yes?"
When Logan answered, Blanca added this.
I said yes since I was going to ask Blanca to get the ingredients anyway.
I'm feeling quite satisfied.
Like an ox that took one step back and caught a mouse in the process.
'It would be really nice if we can successfully make the elixir…'
With this thought in mind, I slowly turned my attention back towards Cassion.
t/n: sage transcendental: a sagely person who, through meditation or some zen-like cultivation, has reached the highest point of purity, becoming sort of a demi-god figure with extraordinary powers. these beings usually dwell deep in the forest or mountains, away from civilization, and far out of reach of earthly matters.