Episode 22.17-18

"Welcome back. Now then, let's begin."

"Begin what."

"Like I told you, stamina restoratives making. The special kind."

Ten herb saucers and one tureen have been put on the table.

"Come, first pour Pure Magic Water into the tureen."

Afterward, Lecan did as Shira instructed, but it turned out he was making a tremendously high quality stamina restorative which demanded unbelievable precisions and delicate workmanship from him.

His hand must not shake in the slightest once it gets the ingredients out on the saucers. Everything was done through the use of <Move> magic.

The herbs are soaked and heated using magic. Extremely precise control was required in order to squeeze out their efficacy to its utmost.

Every step of the process was all practical use of the things Lecan had learned from Shira. However the degree of perfection demanded was on a wholly different level than anything before.

<Recovery> has to be put the instance the herbs melt in the Pure Magic Water. Lecan had to bring his concentration to the absolute limit in order to ensure that.

All that enormous work only netted him one piece of Stamina Restorative.

"Alright. Do it again."

"Wha?"

"Do what you just did again. I won't say a word this time, okay."

"No. I'm tired. It's late. Save it for tomorrow."

"I'm telling you to do it now."

Lost to her pressure, Lecan cast <Recovery> on himself and went on to make another piece of Stamina Restorative.

"Alright, well you managed to get a passing mark somehow. Good work. Come here again tomorrow morning, doesn't have to be early. Got it?"

"Got it."

Eda was worried when Lecan got back. Understandable since it was dead at night. He was awfully tired, but Eda's <Purification> made it felt like a lie, he felt so much better. He went to bed after having a meal.

The next morning, he went to Shira's house slightly late.

However, Shira is nowhere to be seen.

(Weird. She told me to come herself.)

He looked at Jericho.

Jericho is staring at Lecan with a troubled look on its face.

It's holding something on its hand.

Jericho handed that something to Lecan.

It's letters.

Two letters.

One for Lecan, another for the town lord.

Shira had never left Lecan with letters before.

He opened the letter addressed to him while having a bad feeling about it.

<Some business came up, I'm going on a trip.>

<Go deliver the letter to the town lord.>

<He'll surely tell what you should do then.>

It was a puzzling letter.

<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka.com >

The town lord groaned while holding his head down once he was done reading Shira's letter.

Looks like something quite shocking was written there.

"Lecan. Do you have any idea what's written here?"

"No."

"Read it."

Lecan read the letter.

In there, Shira wrote how she would be away from the town, and that she named Lecan to deal with the envoys from royal capital as her substitute.

"Envoys from royal capital?"

"We received a letter directed to me yesterday. The sender was the Undersecretary of Internal Affairs, under the Prime Minister Office."

"What the heck's that."

"Ah, I said exactly that too. Prime Minister Office governs over every administrative matters in the kingdom. Decrees issued by the king are enforced by the Prime Minister. Prime Minister Office is literally this kingdom's pillar."

"Hou."

"Secretary of Internal Affairs is the position responsible for maintaining public order of every town in the kingdom as well as local administrations, only below the prime minister. Undersecretary is a position that carries out the Secretary's orders, there is only ever one person who assumes the position."

"I don't get it."

The town lord Crimus Ulban let out a deep, deep sigh.

"When a small time town lord like me with nary even a court rank goes to the royal capital to pay taxes and petition for highway maintenances, I'm only afforded an audience with the subordinate of the subordinate of that subordinate of the Undersecretary of Internal Affairs."

"Hou."

"In other word, this town is hanging on a lifeline held by that subordinate of the subordinate of that subordinate. My head would easily part from my body if I so much as slight Undersecretary-dono. Or it could turn into a situation where me losing my head would have been a preferable outcome instead."

"I see. I get it now."

"How are you able to respond so lightly. Don't you realize that Undersecretary-dono is coming to this town!"

"Sounds like a pain."

"Ouch ouch. My head, the pain. Not to mention the one accompanying him. It's a first class priest of Royal Capital's Elex Temple."

"Is he great?"

"You're going to force me wring out that neck of yours one of these days. Listen here, this town has a temple. Temples are not under direct control of town lords. The authorities and influences held by temple heads necessitate even town lords to bow before them at times."

"Hou."

"To be frank, Ceres Temple is way over this town, it being the third rank in the hierarchy and all. Due to that, I have to make sure to always stay on the temple head's good side. That temple head is a second class priest. Practically trash from the perspective of first class priests."

"Hou. That old man is trash huh."

"Do not say it! Don't you dare say that out loud to the temple! And above Ceres Temple's first rank priests are, obviously, the All Priest of Ceres Temple, but even that All Priest is only about equal to third rank priests of Elex Temple in the hierarchy."

"That's so confusing."

"Someone in my position can't even possibly imagine the extent of authority and influence held by a first class priest of Elex Temple."

"Guess he's really really great."

Crimus let out many deep sighs that day.

"Anyway, two VIPs that could easily blow away this entire territory just from sneezing at them are coming to this town. Entrusted with the prime minister's words in hands."

"Should have sent someone of a lower position if they're just delivering messages."

"That shows just how much weight they put on this errand."

"What's their errand?"

"Guide Skalabel the Herb Master is planning to visit this town to see apothecary Shira-dono, they are here to coordinate his visitation."

[Episode 22 Magic Instructor Dorost] End/ Next [Episode 23 Envoys from Royal Capital]