CH 86

After I finished brewing the potions for the shop’s stock and the ones Lewin requested of me, I took a sip of tea and breathed a sigh of relief. All things considered, I finished today’s work surprisingly quickly.

I took another sip of tea as I zoned out since I had nothing else left to do for now. It was nice to have these calming moments where there was nothing to do, but… recently, Lewin hadn’t been coming by to visit, so it had been a bit lonely around here. Last time he came, he said he wouldn’t be coming by for about one month, so I already knew that he wouldn’t be coming. Nonetheless, the conversations with Lewin were always so fun that I found myself waiting for him every day in a way that was unbefitting of my age.

“…Thinking of Lewin has reminded me that, since I don’t have anything left to do today, I might as well go visit the Healer’s Guild.” (Irene)

These past few weeks, since the Healer’s Guild stopped sending any delivery requests, I hadn’t gone there recently. Perhaps it’d be nice to see Brandon’s supplicating face every once in a while; it’d become good conversation material for the next time Lewin came by.

Having decided that, I made some quick preparations and set off. I had already told Lewin the rumors I had heard last time, and there was a good chance that Brandon wasn’t at the Healer’s Guild anymore. Even if he wasn’t there, I was curious as to what had become of the Healer’s Guild.

If Charlotte was going to return to the Healer’s Guild, I wanted to reach out to her and become friends again. But, after she was forced out of the Healer’s Guild, I didn’t think she would be returning. I walked slowly, turning these thoughts over in my head as I arrived at the Healer’s Guild.

“…Oooh, this is a sorry sight to behold.” (Irene)

“Kukuku. Perhaps the poor quality Medical Herbs I delivered last time had something to do with it.” (Irene)

If that was the case, there was value in doing so. When I researched the matters of the Healer’s Guild, I found out about how they were treating Lewin and how overboard their harassment of him was. But if Brandon was no longer there, I might as well stop going after him. Although the Healer’s Guild had reaped what they sowed, it was true that a great number of people would be in trouble if the Healer’s Guild wasn’t functioning anymore.

With that thought, I entered the barren Healer’s Guild. As I saw from the outside, I could pretty much count the number of customers in the place on my two hands. In fact, there were more guild employees in sight than customers. Holding in my spiteful laughter at the awful state of the Healer’s Guild, I walked up to the reception desk.

“Welcome. Are you here for a medical examination today? Or perhaps buying medicine or potions?” (Healer’s Guild Employee)

While I was a little impressed with the receptionist woman’s seemingly unaffected customer service in spite of the devastating state of the place, I spun the typical roundabout lies so she would let me see Brandon.

“It’s neither of those things. Actually, a little while ago, I received a summons from Brandon-san, the Guild Chief here. Would you be able to arrange a meeting for me? …Ah, here are my credentials.” (Irene)

I pushed the forged certificate towards the receptionist woman so she could see it, but after she checked it, she frowned. For a moment, I thought she might have caught on that it was a forged certificate, but judging by her expression, it was likely something different.

“…Um, I’m terribly sorry to say this, but…” (Healer’s Guild Employee)

“What is it? I won’t understand unless you tell me clearly.” (Irene)

“…Brandon isn’t here anymore.” (Healer’s Guild Employee)

I couldn’t stop the corners of my mouth from lifting slightly when I heard those words. I tried to forcefully suppress those emotions of happiness, but I ended up laughing out loud.

“AHAHAHA!! What’s that? Where’d that guy disappear off to?” (Irene)

I totally forgot to act, and the receptionist woman was surprised to see me laughing so hard. Now that Brandon wasn’t here anymore, there was no need for me to keep up appearances.

“How about you just tell me instead of staying silent? I’m the one who got summoned here, so don’t you think I have the right to know?” (Irene)

“…Ah, um. I suppose so. Just the other day, Brandon was forced to resign from the Healer’s Guild. I haven’t heard about where he went after that, so I wouldn’t know his current whereabouts.” (Healer’s Guild Employee)

“…Hm? Was he arrested as a suspect or something?” (Irene)

“Um, no… I don’t know the details, but I don’t think he was arrested or taken away or anything like that.” (Healer’s Guild Employee)

“Is that the case… how unfortunate. Thank you for telling me. I’ve heard some good information, so I’ll be off now.” (Irene)

“Unfortunate…? Eh?! Don’t you need to see the Guild Chief?” (Healer’s Guild Employee)

“Ah. I was here to see “Brandon”, not the Chief of the Healer’s Guild.” (Irene)

Turning my back on the baffled receptionist woman, I left the Healer’s Guild.

Kukuku. Brandon, that bastard, he was forced to resign. Last time when I looked into the situation, he had really messed up way too bad, so I’d say what happened to him was reasonable. However, I thought he would be taken away or arrested, so the fact that he wasn’t was quite disappointing to me. I wanted to visit him while he was rotting in jail so I could laugh at him then… but it couldn’t be helped. That receptionist woman said that he resigned “just the other day”, so he should still be in Grezesta.

I could just look around for a bit and go laugh at him in person. If the other side resorted to violence first, I could just directly give him a spanking.

Also, I should probably report this information about the Healer’s Guild to Charlotte…

With the way the Healer’s Guild was going, the new Guild Chief would probably be dismissed soon too, so I decided to just provide Charlotte the information and then let her decide what to do with it.

With that in mind, I headed to Grezesta’s red light district in search of Brandon.