CH 50

“Hey! Open the medicine box again. Hurry up.”

When she opened the lid with a fierce urge, he picked up one pill and put it in her mouth. 

“I can’t just leave you. I’m sure you won’t eat it after just tasting it. So eat it in front of me.”

The bitter smell poked her nose.

Her forehead frowned. She didn’t want to eat it right away, and she couldn’t open her mouth at all because of the awful smell of medicinal herbs. 

“Aa, do it. It’s good for your health.”

Redan’s worried eyes had the power to convince her mouth open even if she didn’t open it right away.

She was embarrassed. 

“I’ll eat it on my own later—”

She turned her head to say no, but his fingers slipped into her mouth and forced the pill in.

With only the pills left.

“Uph!”

As soon as it touched her tongue, she was about to spit it out in surprise and shock at the terrible taste but then he covered her mouth with his hand.

Hmph! 

“It’s okay, Serdel. It’s just a little bitter. Just close your eyes and chew quickly. You can’t spit it out! Do you know how expensive this is?” 

Uph hmph! 

“Even if it’s disgusting, they said it only contains precious herbs, so I ordered it and waited for two weeks! Besides, not everyone can buy this. So just swallow it! Swallow it!”

“Uhh—!”

“Ah, really. How come you were like this when you were young, and you still can’t take medicine now that you’re all grown up!” 

Redan’s nagging continued, but she couldn’t hear it well because her ears were ringing. 

Uph, uph, she forcibly resisted the feeling of nausea that was about to force her previous meals out of her. After recovering from that, she managed to push the pill down to her throat. 

She suffered a lot.

To the point where she didn’t want to eat it again. She almost cried.

After confirming that she had finished eating, he took out a chocolate and put it in her mouth.

She felt like her stomach was calming down because of the sweetness. 

Wiping his palms with a handkerchief, he continued to click his tongue. 

“I won’t let you go if you just hide it somewhere and don’t eat it. Hey, rat! Make sure your owner eats this well. If she doesn’t eat or tries to throw it away, bite her nose. I don’t know if you’ll understand what I’m saying.”

Just in time, he pointed his finger at Dell, who came inside through the window, and shouted.

[That human poo— Why do you always call me rat?—]

“I’m going to check if you ate them!”

Redan ended his tirade with a threat and walked out.

Serdel still felt faint. It felt like a rough typhoon had swept through. 

She felt exhausted.

Apart from the traumatizing taste, her energy quickly recovered. There was definitely a difference from eating potion.

It felt like her body was being cleansed.

It felt like every muscle was renewed.

[Nuna?]

Dell, who jumped onto the desk, shook his tail.

‘Oh, how did it go?’

Dell sighed a lot.

[It was hard. Dell is tired because he had so much work]

He lied down while blinking. 

She put a candy in Dell’s mouth, who’s whole being exuded exhaustion.. 

Even then, maybe it wasn’t enough, since he kept opening his mouth.

Eventually, it was only after eating a few more pieces  that Dell began to relax by rolling the candy around his mouth. 

[I think I’m going to live now]

Phew—.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Not too long ago, he revealed the fact that he built his own network using birds. 

From the mind-connected birds, and from the worms they call Dell received an unbearable amount of information. Serdel and Dell realized that their plan had a huge flaw.

In particular, bugs with miniscule brains just relayed what they heard regardless of who was speaking.

It was impossible to properly collect information amid the indiscriminate bombardment of words.

In the end, Dell and Serdel stopped asking for the animals help, and decided to move themselves, although it would be somewhat dangerous.

[I caught a lot of Lerre bugs on my way home and left them in the offices of aristocrats] 

‘Lerre bugs?’

[Oh, you don’t know about Lerre bugs? It’s a transparent grass bug that sleeps for more than a year after living a busy life for just a month. Compared to other insects, their brain capacity is larger, so they’ll be more discriminating when getting information. And when they’re asleep, they don’t have any willpower, so it’s easier to deal with them.] 

It’s her first time hearing about them. 

[And they’re delicious! When I was in the forest, it was my staple food. I had no strength to hunt, I was hungry, and that was the only thing I could eat] 

Serdel stroked Dell’s belly.

[Hehe. I have engraved the voices of the nobles into my mind and listened closely, so I can get information more easily now.] 

Ah! The boy straightened up.

[While we’re at it, we looked at the memories of nearby trees, grass, and flowers. Wait a minute.]

Woohoo, Dell is truly amazing. When Dell, who had closed his eyes, focused, his eyebrows shuddered.

Instinctively, Serdel also closed her eyes. The memories Dell saw began to flow into her mind. 

This ability was only possible because of their connected souls.

The amount of information was huge.

Flowers had little memory due to their short flowering period, but trees had memories from recent times to decades ago.

Her head was pounding furiously, working through all of the information.

‘Dell, we don’t need memories from too long ago.’

There would have been no deep or controversial conversations in the garden. It’s been a while since she and Dell had begun looking through the memories.

When she opened her eyes again, the dawn was rising.

At the same time, she had a splitting headache.

‘Ugh.’

For a moment, her forehead felt distorted from the pulsing of her brain.

The headache gradually disappeared, perhaps because the energy of the pills remained in her body helping her recover.

‘It’s mostly a waste of time but it’s not like I didn’t have any harvest at all.’

There was no clue regarding the Countess who she wanted the most information on.

She didn’t think it would be easy, but she couldn’t help but feel like it was all in vain.

But it was funny on the other hand.

Redan was like this, too, which was the exact reason why he was able to preserve for such a long time.

It seemed that she could finally understand the madness inside him. 

In addition, she was able to realize that she didn’t know much about Redan.

Because he is Serdel’s family and brother. Even if they don’t get along well, she thought that they knew each other well because of the memories left in her body. 

‘But it was an illusion.’

A shuddering shock enveloped her. 

“….”

‘Well—’

Knowing doesn’t change anything. Now, she had little desire to know more about him. 

It was enough to know only as long as it would not interfere with her work, and it was enough to maintain that kind of relationship.

‘Yes, that’s the most appropriate.’

As she turned her gaze away, suppressing her complicated feelings, she saw the box of medicine and chocolates that he had given her. 

Serdel’s hand gained strength.

The medicine that seemed able to make even the devil cry, and the way Redan force fed it to her was the worst. 

‘But— I’m not angry.’

Because he showed concern about her in his eyes, voice, and actions.

She couldn’t bear to be angry.

In addition, the chocolate, a sign of consideration, was very sweet and delicious.

Unknowingly, she opened the lid and put a piece of chocolate in her mouth.

The sweetness spread out.

One more. She ate another piece and softness filled her mouth.

The more she ate, the more complicated her mind became.

Eventually, Serdel put both of the boxes in the desk drawer. 

*****

There are now ten days left before the official exploration sets off. Originally, they should have left earlier, but it was delayed as they changed their business partner to the Marquis of Spendar. 

This was because the weapons preparation and manpower that they decided to prepare were not yet fulfilled.

But they couldn’t say anything about it. Since it was a relationship that they formed in a hurry, they had no choice but to understand.

However, only Serdel, who had something to gain, was growing more nervous day after day. 

Just in case the forest situation has changed. Her mind became more nervous, but she didn’t show it.

In addition to this, there were so many things that she had to pay attention to.

[The mercenaries’ preparations are progressing steadily.] 

Beyond the communication channel, Edwan’s expression darkened.

[Contracts were also concluded sequentially. After I finish the interior and the plates by next month, the display case and the items will come in.]

As expected, he’s competent.

[And I think it would be good to differentiate it from other mercenaries, so I have entrusted the production request to the workshop for the products Nuna came up with.]

His uprightness was thorough in terms of work, so he did not make an exception to the schedule he had once planned.

He kept it sharp. 

[However, rumors are circulating among mercenaries in relation to me. They seem to know about a wealthy sponsor but don’t know who it is, I think I’m under surveillance. For the time being, I think we should be more careful about our actions. Please forgive me if I can’t contact you often.] 

Edwan bowed his head.