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~Chapter 53~
“Get lost when I tell you to, you crazy idiots!”
“Argh! That’s unfair!”
“Sir Joseph, we all know you’re trying to act clever again!”
“Damn it, shut your mouth! Clever? What kind of nonsense is that?!”
“I also want to repay Lady Pharmacist for her kindness!”
“That’s right! That’s right! She was my savior who rescued me from these stinking guys!”
“Ha! You’d probably repay kindness with betrayal, so get lost.”
Joseph practically breathed fire and steel from his mouth, and the other knights refused to back down.
Watching this ridiculous chaos, Noxian asked in disbelief:
“Shariette. What on earth did you do to those guys?”
“Not exactly a savior… I just gave them a little help.”
“Help?”
Shariette lifted an imaginary vial and made a spraying motion into the air.
“Deodorizer.”
…To explain why this battlefield of madness had erupted, we need to go back a little earlier.
About a month earlier.
“Crow! Wait, please wait a moment! Look at me, please!”
Shariette, who had just finished another tense day with Eden in the pharmacy and was heading up to her room, spotted Joseph rushing toward her.
His red hair was a mess, as if he had dried it too roughly and rubbed it all over.
“The deodorizer you gave me the other day—can you make more of it?”
His aqua-colored eyes sparkled brightly.
The “other day” meant the time when Joseph had helped Shariette avoid being splashed by filthy mop water.
He had ended up taking it on his own head, looking like a drenched sewer rat. Out of moral obligation, Shariette had made him a medicine to erase the smell.
“I can make more… The smell still hasn’t gone away?”
That shouldn’t be possible.
She leaned forward on tiptoe and sniffed his hair closely.
What? Perfectly clean.
“…Oh, uh, yes! It worked really well! That’s why! That’s why I came! I need more!”
Joseph flinched back, then blurted out his real reason.
“Can you make enough for the entire knight order?!”
Shariette blinked.
“The entire order fell into dirty water?”
“That’s not it. But honestly, mop water would be better than this.”
Even after forcing the knights to wash and scrub two or three times a day, the stench never left.
Especially after monster hunts—the blood and carcass smell lingered for days.
At least the Rubellots had magic stones to control temperature and humidity, so they barely managed in the summer.
“Hey, then why can’t those magic stones get rid of the smell?”
“I don’t know, why don’t you invent it?”
“If I could, I’d use it on you first.”
Anyway, a miracle had appeared to solve what everyone had given up on.
Joseph had returned soaked and reeking, taken one vial of Shariette’s deodorizer, and suddenly walked out fresh and clean.
The knight order was turned upside down.
They immediately tested it with everything:
“No more monster blood or guts smell!”
“No metal smell, no sweat smell!”
“Even boots worn for a week don’t stink!”
This was revolutionary!
“Thanks to the Crow, Pendragon, Rubellot—no, all of Aylard—will know peace. Truly!”
Shariette ignored the overblown flattery and quickly did the math in her head.
“It’s simple enough to make… but if it’s for the whole order…”
She had never done mass production before. It would definitely need more hands.
“…Clause 3, Section 2. The employer must provide whatever is necessary for the employee’s duties and daily life. This includes both material and immaterial support.”
“Huh?”
“Immaterial support.”
She pointed at the pharmacy, then at Joseph.
“Pffft! Yes, yes, I understand. How many workers should I drag in?”
Joseph, remembering how he had once been worked like a mule in an apothecary, instantly understood.
He brought in a line of laborers, and under Shariette’s direction, mass production of the deodorizer began.
“Don’t touch it until it boils.”
“Cut that smaller!”
“Don’t mix up the order—Tallen solution first, Silos solution second.”
“Stop! Look at the scale! Read it properly!”
After many little mishaps, Shariette finally tested the finished product and nodded.
“Mmm. Good. It’s complete.”
“Woooooaaah!”
In the end, it became a story of the greatest happiness for the greatest number.
Shariette enjoyed her first real experience of mass production, especially with obedient, capable workers.
The knights were thrilled to be freed from their foul odors.
Even the special-duty knights who handled secret missions came sneaking in to grab bottles.
“It hides body scent—this medicine was made for us.”
“Perfect for missions. We won’t forget your contribution to Rubellot, Lady Pharmacist.”
It all sounded unnecessarily solemn, but the results were undeniable.
It was a happy story for everyone—except one person.
That person was Noxian Rubellot, who hadn’t been included in the “Escape from Smell! Let’s Go, Apothecary!” project.
“I sent you to work, and while I was rolling around in the Setora Mountains, my personal doctor was having fun with the knights? And you didn’t even bother to report it.”
Joseph felt wronged, but since it was true he hadn’t made a report, he lowered his head.
“So then, when are we choosing your personal escort?”
Shariette suddenly poked her head in.
After fists, kicks, swearing, and threats had been used to chase away the other knights, only those with no disqualifications were left—the female knights.
One of them, after hesitating, suddenly raised her hand high.
“Please choose me!”
…Would this give her a higher salary?
Shariette frowned, suspicious at the strangely high enthusiasm.
The knight who had stepped forward had short, dark brown hair cut to her chin.
“Janet Miller.”
Her posture was sharp and disciplined, showing her spirit.
Noxian flipped through the file Joseph had handed him. Finding nothing to complain about, he passed the file to Shariette.
Janet Miller
-
5 years in the order
-
Family: 1 younger sister, 1 younger brother
Beneath that were details of her physical abilities and service evaluations.
Shariette barely skimmed the file before nodding.
Honestly, the idea of having an escort itself felt strange, so it didn’t matter who it was.
“Then, Sir Miller, I’ll count on you.”
When Noxian gave his approval, Janet marched forward, bowed with a crisp angle, and said:
“I will protect you with my life.”
“No, no, you don’t need to put your life on the line.”
Shariette waved her hands frantically.
Life wasn’t something to be spent on this kind of thing!
With a subtle expression, Janet corrected herself.
“Then I’ll protect you with my sword.”
Shariette interpreted “sword” as something like the key to her medicine box, but the others in the room knew the true weight of those words.
Joseph flipped through the file again and asked:
“Sir Miller, what’s your reason for applying?”
Janet glanced at Shariette before answering.
“My younger sibling likes Lady Shariette.”
Then, noticing Noxian’s gaze, she quickly added:
“My younger sister.”
Even Shariette looked puzzled at that.
“Your sister?”
“Yes. I heard you showed her kindness not long ago.”
Shariette’s face grew even more confused.
Janet, watching her expression, smiled faintly.
“You bought her flowers, and even gave her medicine.”
Ah!
Shariette finally remembered. That hardworking little girl.
Shariette nodded, understanding.
“I only corrected her price because it was too low. And I told her what to watch out for when collecting herbs. She looked promising. She even knew things I didn’t.”
Janet’s faint smile grew more visible.
Joseph was stunned.
Among the knights, it was said if Janet Miller ever smiled, you should go buy a lottery ticket—because Janet Miller simply never smiled.
“That’s why she said she liked you.”
