852 Corvo's actions - Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

The day after I retrieved the medicine from Mane, I was busy preparing medicine as usual when the information I had asked to be investigated regarding Mane came in. First, it seems she hasn’t appeared at any other apothecaries' shops but mine. It was discovered what Mane was doing at the commercial guild. Apparently, she asked the guild master for information on the apothecaries in this town. Yet, she hasn’t visited any other apothecary shop. This means she might have been investigating my shop? Either way, this is information from the past. However, the next piece of information made Mane's actions understandable. Someone saw the siblings, who had been gathering those herbs, selling monster materials at the adventurer's guild. They said there was a small child and a woman dressed like a bear with them. This woman dressed like a bear is undoubtedly the same bear-girl who accompanied Mane to my shop. In other words, the small girl with the siblings must be Mane. Without the bear-girl, I wouldn’t have known the connection between Mane and the siblings. The reason they came to my shop was likely that they heard about my medicine from the siblings and suspected something about it, leading them to purchase my medicine. "Heh." It was a wise decision. I’m glad I had the medicine collected immediately. If it hadn’t been, it might have been examined at the royal capital’s laboratory. Had that happened, I wouldn’t have had any excuses. However, the problem remains as to what has become of Mane now. There’s a good chance she’s still alive. I should have eliminated her, no matter the cost. Yet, the situation isn’t the worst it could be. Even if Mane is alive, there’s no evidence linking her injuries to my orders to the men. I’ve also retrieved the store’s medicine that Mane had possessed. All that remains is to replace the medicines displayed in the shop with effective ones. For that, I need herbs. I was supposed to purchase herbs from the siblings, so I currently have no stock. But the siblings have returned to town. What happened to the herbs? Usually, they would bring herbs in exchange for the medicine I made. But if Mane made the siblings' medicine, then mine became unnecessary, eliminating the need for them to bring herbs to me. Even here, Mane gets in my way. But a contract is a contract. There’s no information about them selling herbs to the commercial guild. They should still have them. I stood up, left the room, and headed towards the district where the siblings lived. This area is lined with nothing but shabby-looking houses. It should be around here. I’ve been to their house once when they begged me repeatedly. Here it is. The house is familiar. I knock on the door. The one who answered was the sister. "Corvo? Why are you here?" "I heard you'd returned to town. I've come to collect the herbs." "Bothering to come all the way to our house?" Yeah, that's right. I bothered to come here for this. "I need them urgently." "I'm sorry, but we don't have any herbs." "What do you mean?" "We've sold the herbs to another apothecary." Selling the herbs, are they? "Who did you sell them to?" "To a child-like, but very skilled apothecary. She even made the medicine that cured my sister, which you couldn't, and now she's getting better." So it was Mane after all. Even here, she's meddling. Furthermore, she made medicine for the siblings, my income source, and healed the illness. She even took the herbs meant for me. "Thank you for everything, Corvo." The woman bowed deeply. "My sister's illness is cured. From now on, we won't be able to provide any herbs, so please don't come to our house." "But our contract—" "Yes, we were giving you herbs in exchange for making medicine, but since we no longer need the medicine, we can't give you herbs." Once the illness is cured, there's no reason to collect herbs. Do I have no choice but to let go of someone who would bring me herbs for free? What should I do? "Then, if I raised the payment a bit and continued to collect—" For poor people, slightly raising the purchase price should do the trick. "I’m sorry. We’ve already agreed to sell them at a fair price to an acquaintance of hers, so we’re fine." The emphasis on "fair price" was hard to miss. "Thank you for everything up until now." She bowed her head again and shut the door. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Who do you think I am? I’m the lord’s son and an apothecary. This is frustrating. I've lost my cash cow. And it’s all because of Mane. I should have eliminated her. Now, it's about the herbs. If Mane is alive, she'll definitely come back. In preparation for that time, I need to produce more medicine. If only I had known the relationship between the siblings and Mane sooner, I could have instructed the men who attacked Mane to also collect the herbs. ...Wait a minute. I did instruct the men to rob them of money. There’s a chance they might have collected the herbs along with the money. I return to my shop to tell them to call the men who attacked Mane once more. The next day. "You can’t contact the men?" "Yes, they aren't at their usual place. No one has seen them recently." "Find them quickly and bring them to me." "We'll increase the searchers and find them." "I'll be out for a while, so have them wait in the guest room once you find them." I gave instructions and left the room. Damn, this is annoying. The next destination is the commercial guild. I planned to check if the men had secured the herbs first, but since they can't be found, I'll need to take other actions. "Ah, Mr. Corvo." A man called out to me. He works at the commercial guild. He’s one of my father’s subordinates. "What brings you here today?" "I need herbs." I handed him a list of herbs. "As soon as possible." "Some are in stock, but others are not." "Get them ready quickly." "If you give us about ten days—" "That's too slow." "Even if you say it’s slow, the herbs out of stock inhabit dangerous forests. We have to place a request to the adventurers’ guild, and they'll begin collecting. Even if we hurry—" "I understand that." I'm not an amateur either. I am well aware of where herbs grow. "I’ll pay double or triple the standard rate. Just hurry it up." This is not a matter of money now. It’s a race against time. "We'll try to speed up, but we can’t promise anything. Without experienced adventurers, identifying the herbs will be impossible." Not just any adventurer will do. If they can’t distinguish herbs from weeds, they'll only bring back trash. The siblings never did that. This is also Mane's doing. "If you're in such a hurry, maybe try obtaining them from other apothecaries?" That’s true. I hadn't thought of that. I instructed him to deliver the herbs they had in stock to the shop and left the commercial guild for the apothecaries. "Why aren't there any?" "That particular herb is being monopolized by you, Lord Corvo." That's right. I had restricted other apothecaries from producing this to ensure it was sold exclusively at my shop. I never expected this to backfire so thoroughly. Which means visiting other apothecaries would yield the same outcome. Perhaps I should close the shop temporarily, claim there are no stocks or herbs, and that I can't produce the medicine. But then, sales would plummet. And more importantly, if my father hears of it, it would become a hassle. For now, it’s information on Mane that I need. I returned to my shop and checked the information. There’s still no trace of the men who attacked Mane. I also haven't obtained the necessary herbs. No apothecaries have information about Mane. Both the commercial guild and the adventurer's guild had no new information. While pondering my next move, there was a knock on the door. "Come in." A man entered the room. "What is it? Have the men been found?" "No, but someone saw a bear in town." "A bear?" What is he talking about? There's no way a bear could be in town. There are guards at the city gates, after all. And even if there was a bear, what does that have to do with me? "It’s about the woman dressed like a bear who was with the Ministry of Magic’s Mane." Now that he mentions it, there was a woman dressed like a bear with Mane. "Apparently, there was a small child with that woman dressed like a bear." Mane. "When did this happen?" "Today. An acquaintance saw the woman dressed like a bear walking around. It was such an unusual outfit that it stuck in their memory." Which means Mane is safe. This isn’t good. I might have to use it. I opened the drawer of my desk and looked at the vial.