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Chapter 18
“First of all, we agreed to take 3 million Ecle as the request fee.”
At Kendrick’s words, Hobbes tilted his head.
“I thought you said you wouldn’t accept a request fee.”
“It seems our precious customer insisted on paying.”
Precious customer.
Since when did he refer to clients like that?
While Hobbes stared at Kendrick in disbelief—
“Whoa?! Could it be that you met the client from that request I handled?! The one who signed a contract with the Vice Commander?!”
Gale, who had been thundering over, jumped into the conversation.
“That’s right. They asked me to thank you.”
“Ahahaha! It wasn’t even that difficult a mission to deserve thanks!”
Gale laughed brightly.
With Gale still buzzing behind them, Hobbes continued his question.
“We’ll handle the 3 million Ecle request fee on our side. Did they mention what to do with the remaining money?”
“The remaining money…”
Kendrick briefly recalled Janette from earlier.
She had hesitated, looking troubled, then suddenly widened her eyes as if something had surprised her.
Then she paused again, as though reconsidering something deeply, before speaking.
“They said they would invest it.”
“Invest?”
“Yes. All 27 million Ecle… into the Velpia tea leaf farms.”
“Velpia… tea leaf farms?”
Hobbes repeated it in disbelief.
And it was understandable.
Velpia tea leaves were notoriously low-grade. Nobles wouldn’t touch them, and even wealthy or middle-class citizens avoided them.
They were the kind of tea only the poor drank.
Because of that poor reputation—and the low profit margin—almost no one cultivated Velpia tea as a dedicated business.
Most people only grew it temporarily on unused land and sold it as a side income.
And yet, investing 27 million Ecle into such farms?
“Um… are you sure Lady Janette didn’t get scammed somewhere?”
“Well. That’s for you to find out now.”
Great. I shouldn’t have asked.
As Hobbes muttered in regret, Kendrick added:
“Anyway, proceed with the investment into Velpia tea farms as she requested.”
Kendrick was also uneasy, but he didn’t want to dismiss Janette’s will.
There must be a reason.
He decided to trust her—for now.
That Night
What was that earlier?
Unable to sleep, Janette absentmindedly touched her left wrist.
Earlier—
“Then what should we do with the remaining 27 million Ecle, customer?”
“Well, about that…”
Just as she was about to answer Theo’s question—
A faint light flickered on the inside of her left wrist.
「Salvation」
The small word shimmered into existence on her skin.
At the same time, information began pouring into her mind.
“Did they find a cure for an unknown infectious disease?”
“Yes! And that cure is said to be… Velpia tea leaves.”
“Who would’ve thought that worthless tea would be used as a medicine for an epidemic…”
“The problem is exactly that. Since no one cultivates Velpia tea on a large scale, the supply is extremely low.”
“That is indeed a serious issue.”
Janette immediately understood.
This was a scene from the original story.
Which meant it was a future event that would inevitably occur.
So that means…
Without hesitation, she decided to invest all 27 million Ecle into Velpia tea farms.
If things unfolded as she remembered from the original plot, the value of Velpia tea would skyrocket in the future.
And more importantly—
If we prepare in advance…
We might prevent a situation where people can’t receive treatment because there isn’t enough tea.
No other option seemed better than investing in Velpia tea.
But still—
Why did that scene appear at that exact moment?
As if someone had placed the information directly into her hands.
And that glowing word—“Salvation.”
No matter how I think about it, it must be connected to that word…
They said blessings each had special powers depending on their phrase.
Could this be the power of her blessing?
But that was as far as she could guess.
I should investigate blessings later.
Deciding to visit the library, she closed her eyes.
Chapter – “Buttocks”
“Ah, that necklace. I haven’t seen it before, miss?”
While checking the tea caddy in the kitchen cabinet, Janette was spoken to by Sandy, a kitchen maid.
“A necklace?”
Ah, this.
A necklace with a blue gemstone was peeking out from under her clothes.
It had slipped out while she reached up toward the high cabinet.
“Did the Margrave give that to you too?”
Sandy’s eyes sparkled as she asked.
Janette nodded awkwardly.
“Yes, that’s right.”
It was a lie, of course.
It had actually been a gift from Theo during a previous outing.
Separate from the official gift sent in the Margrave’s name.
He said it’s a protective necklace and told me to wear it all the time.
If the blue gem was shattered, Theo would receive her location.
A kind of emergency GPS.
It seemed he wanted to prevent situations like the Cien incident, where she might be directly harmed.
Fortunately, nothing had happened that required it.
Life had remained peaceful since that day.
Sandy’s eyes sparkled as she watched Janette smile gently at the necklace.
“Miss. That… wasn’t actually from the Margrave, was it? Could it be from someone else? Like… a hidden lover?”
“Sandy!”
The senior kitchen maid quickly scolded her.
Sandy flinched and lowered her head in panic.
“I-I’m sorry, miss!”
Instead of saying it was okay, Janette simply smiled warmly and nodded.
If she reassured Sandy here, it might make the senior maid look unnecessarily harsh.
Sandy quickly returned to work, while Nia—the one who had scolded her—approached cautiously.
“I apologize, miss. That child is still young…”
“It’s fine. I’m not bothered, Nia.”
“Thank you for your understanding.”
“Still, I feel relieved that you manage the kitchen staff so well.”
At Janette’s praise, Nia blushed.
The mistress of the annex, Julieta, disliked people and rarely praised anyone.
So the servants naturally grew happy even at small compliments.
“I’m just doing what I’m supposed to do.”
“Doing what you’re supposed to do properly is not easy either.”
Nia’s face turned even redder.
“Thank you very much, miss.”
She returned to her work with renewed energy.
Janette smiled faintly, then checked the tea caddy in her hand.
We’re almost out of tea.
The tea stock in the storage was probably running low as well.
Food supplies were handled by the head chef, but tea was Janette’s responsibility.
Tea was considered a luxury item rather than food, so it made sense.
Even the storage required a special key to open the tea cabinet.
Originally, that key belonged to Cien, but after Janette arrived, it became her responsibility.
Maybe I should order a wider variety this time.
She could choose teas the young lady liked and add a few new ones that might suit her taste.
Studying tea really helped.
She had once copied a botanical guide, learning about poisonous herbs, medicinal plants, and tea leaves.
Because of that, she was confident in selecting suitable teas for the young lady.
Taking out her notebook, she began listing new tea orders.
This should be enough.
Now I just need to handle it carefully.
As she turned around—
“…Huh?”
Her eyes widened at an unexpected sight.
