"Our Saint has returned!!!"
A thunderous cheer erupted before me.
Rang's gaze turned to me on its own. Her face said she needed an explanation for what was going on.
I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly and said.
"It's nothing major. Selling soap turned out to be quite profitable, so I had enough to spare some food for the hungry. I just did a bit of modest charity work."
I'd only done what was perfectly natural.
There were people starving to death, and I had food. In a situation like that, was there really a person who wouldn't help?
"......What are you saying?! Modest charity work?!"
But the man at the front vehemently denied my words.
"I remember! A child starving to death and riddled with disease. A little one so foul-smelling with sickness that nobody would approach for fear of catching it -- and you, walking up alone as if it were nothing!"
The man at the head of the group. A rough-looking fellow who was surprisingly sentimental beneath it all, pleading his case passionately.
"The child was so weak they couldn't even swallow food, and ended up retching all over your clothes. And yet you apologized, saying you hadn't been considerate enough, and promised to bring back porridge that would be easier to swallow!"
The intensity in his eyes was almost too much.
"That was when I realized. The clergy who preached austerity with their mouths while adorning themselves in gold and jewels. How foolish I had been, feeling sanctity in the sight of such people."
Eyes that showed not just goodwill, but bordering on religious devotion.
"For there existed a person who walked among the lowest of the low, who mingled with the most wretched and filthy, and yet no matter how soiled the body became, carried within it a radiance that could never be dimmed."
He bowed deeply once more and cried out.
"If you are not a saint, then who in this world is?!"
......I wanted to die of embarrassment.
If I'd actually done something extraordinary, maybe I could accept this.
Honestly, wouldn't anyone have done the same? If a child was starving to death right in front of you, helping was the normal thing to do.
Dirty, diseased -- you save them first and worry later. The kid threw up on me and what, I'm supposed to slap them? The normal reaction was to apologize for giving them food that was hard to digest.
"On top of this, to help the children grow up at least somewhat properly, you built a childcare facility all on your own......"
"It was just one tent."
He was making it sound as if I'd built an orphanage. I wasn't well-off enough to put up an actual building.
Still, I did want the kids to grow up playing freely.
I'd set up a temporary facility, hired a few people to help, visited when I had time, copied some picture books from Earth, and taught them games like tag and whatnot.
Anyone would have done the same if it weren't me.
"For those who had no choice but a life of crime, you taught them magic and academics, helping them find employment through education."
"......That was just a few lectures I gave when I had time. I had no experience, so they weren't that helpful."
I had come from the modern world with its advanced science, true.
......But honestly, I hadn't been the most diligent student back in my school days. I knew in theory that studying hard could get you into a top university, but actually doing it was easier said than done.
All I had was superficial knowledge, but I did at least know basic math. I'd just shared what I knew.
"For those of us who thought of nothing but survival, enduring pain day after day! You are the one who brought us a better tomorrow, a happier future, a dream, Saint!"
"......Are you even listening to me, sir?"
He was on the verge of writing a biography all by himself.
If I'd actually done something remarkable, I could have taken the praise with pride. But getting this kind of reaction when I'd done essentially nothing was more embarrassing than anything.
And on top of that, I wasn't here alone.
I'd brought a subordinate with me. If he gushed like this in front of my employee, I'd be too mortified to look them in the eye.
That was what I was thinking when.......
"......As expected, Boss truly is something else."
Oh right, this one was cut from the same cloth.
Rang, whose habit was to break into spontaneous praise.
Also not exactly a normal personality type.
Exuberant to a fault.
The man's eyes lit up when he spotted Rang. Perhaps sensing a kindred spirit. He launched excitedly into stories about me.
"Did you know, little miss? The Saint you're traveling with is someone who can even defy death itself."
"......Of course! I knew it all along!"
......I was going to lose my mind.
"I knew it all along" -- what was that supposed to mean?
Why would you genuinely believe something so absurd?
"When the Saint breathed life into a person drowning to death, even the reaper was too frightened to stay and retreated. When he held a person choking to death in his arms, life returned as if by miracle......"
I sighed and said.
"That wasn't a miracle. It was CPR and the Heimlich maneuver, so please stop. She already sees me as an unreasonably incredible person, and you're making it worse."
"The Heimlich maneuver? What is that, Saint?"
"It's a first-aid method that was widely known back home. When something's stuck in someone's throat, you compress the abdomen to dislodge......"
"A great magic that can bring people back from the dead was something everyone in your homeland could perform?! As I thought, you truly descended from the heavens! I knew it!"
"......"
There was no getting through to him.
I gave up trying to explain at that point.
Even if I said I wasn't a saint, he wouldn't believe me. I'd learned that through accumulated experience by now.
'I'd better just get to the point.'
Rang was egging the man on, wanting to hear more about me.
I calmed Rang down and called everyone together.
"......The reason I came here today is that I have a favor to ask."
I felt a pang of guilt asking a favor when I hadn't done much for them. But there was no time to spare.
I looked at everyone and asked carefully.
"Would it be possible to introduce me to someone from the Alchemy Guild?"
***
A place nearly impossible to enter without personal connections.
A place where even distinguished nobles had to wait months for a commission, and the fees were astronomically steep.
Well, the cost issue wasn't a major concern.
Unlike the Rotan Trading Company's head, a branch chief of the Alchemy Guild would have business sense. A little seduction with modern knowledge, and there was a high chance they'd smell the profit and accept my commission.
So the problem was getting in the door.
"I'm fairly confident in my negotiation skills. But it's obvious that a commoner with modest assets would get turned away at the front gate."
You couldn't negotiate without meeting the branch chief first.
And if some nobody commoner showed up out of nowhere, loudly claiming they couldn't pay in coin but had valuable information?
Obviously they'd just get thrown out by security.
"That's why I need help. There are people here who've worked as information brokers, and plenty who've dealt with mages through mercenary work. I was hoping someone might have a connection."
If anyone could make an introduction, please raise your hand.
When I said this, the person who raised their hand was...... a truly unexpected individual. Well, it was a relief that someone had a connection, at least.
"To think I can be of service to the Saint!"
Of all people, it had to be this man who had connections to the Alchemy Guild. What kind of coincidence was this?
"......You said there's no time, yes? Let us depart at once. I, Rockwood, shall attend to the Saint with the utmost devotion!"
The scarred man's eyes sparkled.
Mr. Rockwood, exuberant as ever.
He excitedly led the way.
"......Had I known this would happen, I'd have prepared a carriage. Oh, would you care to ride a horse, perhaps? I might not be able to arrange a carriage, but a horse I can manage. I'll go hunt one down right......"
"......Just lead the way, please."
"Yes! As you command, Saint!"
Statements that made his head spin just from listening.
Rang's spontaneous praise had been bewildering enough, but now it felt like Rang had multiplied into twenty copies.
Listening to Mr. Rockwood's mad ramblings as they walked.
Mr. Rockwood, exaggerating my exploits roughly twentyfold, and Rang listening to every word with earnest attention.
Walking through the dizziness until, before he knew it, they'd arrived at their destination.
[Alchemy Guild, Wizton Branch]
The figures who appeared to be guards frowned at the sight of them.
"......What do you lot want?"
The man looked them over with undisguised displeasure.
Top to bottom. Appraising them, sizing them up.
"If you're here to beg, do it somewhere else. This isn't a place where beggar bastards can set their filthy feet."
The reaction was expected, but still unpleasant.
No matter how in-demand and how predominantly noble the membership was, wasn't this a bit too discriminatory?
There had to be limits to how selective you were with customers.
"Beggars loitering around is bad for business. If you don't want to die, take this and give your thanks before you leave."
The guard tossed scraps at him, as if dispensing charity.
The slum residents who'd insisted on tagging along, saying they wanted to be useful to the Saint. Their clothes were in rough shape, so being mistaken for beggars was understandable. Understandable, but.......
The bread the guard had been snacking on.
Covered in saliva, the scraps hit him squarely in the face.
If you were going to give charity, at least hand it over properly. But this was tossed carelessly, as if the filthy lower class were too disgusting to touch.
"......This is bad."
I let out a sigh.
Not because of the guard's callous and discriminatory attitude. Not because the prospect of negotiation and cooperation seemed grim. That wasn't why I sighed.
What I was worried about wasn't myself.
It couldn't have been about myself.
"......I really didn't come here for this."
I preferred peaceful resolutions.
Explain that we had an acquaintance inside the guild, use that person to contact the branch chief, then negotiate with the branch chief directly.
That plan was apparently going to need a complete overhaul.
"What? Not leaving yet?"
Because the point of no return had already been crossed.
The guard wore a bewildered expression.
Still not grasping the situation.
And Mr. Rockwood smiled.
The slum folk all smiled warmly too.
They were, to be sure, nothing more than beggars from the slums.
But there was one fact that ought to be remembered.
"Well, well. Would you look at that."
In the slums, the weak did not survive.
"Someone who insults our radiant Saint. Clearly a demon, yet the outer layer looks just like a person."
Surviving meant being strong.
"I'll have to peel off that skin and check the inside!"
......It was time for physical negotiations.