“We must take the past as nourishment, but we must not be consumed by the past…….”
Seeing him recite it so fluently, it seemed yesterday’s special lecture had been helpful after all. Philosophy began with knowing the past.
As I walked while bringing the muttering Cesare along, our destination began to come into view. An old man was sitting in front of a smithy.
It was Zeke. In my memories, he had been middle-aged, but now he was in his sixties.
However, there were things that had not changed despite the passage of time. Perhaps because he had swung a hammer so much, his entire body was well-built with muscle, and burn scars remained here and there.
I recognized him, but he would not recognize me. When I bowed my head lightly, Zeke looked at me.
“Hello. I came looking for Master Craftsman Zeke.”
Zeke stared at me, then sprang up from his seat. He looked slightly surprised.
“You came back…….”
He spoke as though he were addressing someone he had waited for a long time. Could he have recognized me?
At that moment, Zeke pulled me into a tight embrace. In a tearful, overflowing voice, he shouted, “Hyung came back!”
Hyung?
Both my Disciples and I widened our eyes at the bewildering form of address. It was not something that should come from a man in his sixties.
To begin with, I was not his Hyung. I was the younger one.
“Hyung, Zeke waited so long for you! Why did you only come now? Let us hurry and go buy candy!”
At that moment, someone came out of the smithy. It was a woman who looked to be in her thirties, and she blocked Zeke’s path.
“Good grief, Father! You are doing this again. Please let go of the guest!”
“Noona, give me candy.”
“I am your daughter, Radi! No, first I will give you candy, so please let go of the guest!”
When the woman called Radi placed a piece of candy in his hand, only then did Zeke let go of me. The way his mind became completely absorbed in the candy made him look exactly like a five-year-old child.
……What on earth had happened to Zeke?
Radi let out a deep sigh, then bowed her head to me with an exhausted expression.
“I am sorry. My father must have startled you. Are you guests?”
“My name is Dane Balanus. I came to buy a sword.”
Radi looked surprised when she heard my name.
“Are you perhaps from Balanus Domus?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
“To think you would come again……! Father was very grateful to you. When I was little, someone named Dane saved me too.”
Now that she mentioned it, I remembered. There had been a small child who had followed us around. Had that child grown this much?
Radi looked pleased for a moment, but soon her eyes became somewhat sorrowful.
“I wish Father could have greeted you properly himself……. Right now, he cannot even recognize guests.”
“It is all right. What happened to the master craftsman?”
“He became senile.”
Senile.
Zeke, who had forged countless sharp masterpieces and received both jealousy and admiration from blacksmiths, had become senile.
Meanwhile, perhaps because she found Zeke fascinating, Xenia was touching him here and there. Her face looked as though she were itching to bring out her Tentacles.
Separate from the pity I felt, this had become troublesome. What the Viscountess wanted was Master Craftsman Zeke’s sword.
When I glanced back, Cesare looked deeply shocked. The shadows under his eyes seemed to have grown even darker.
“What…… does that mean? I listened to a special lecture all night.”
He looked as though he had lost a Domus. Cesare strode toward Zeke and growled as though threatening him.
“Old man! You are not crazy all the time, are you? You come to your senses for a little while, right? No, stop stuffing your face with candy!”
“Waaah, this Hyung is scary……!”
Zeke sat down weakly and began sniffling. At the sight of a local Scoundrel bullying an old man, a headache began to throb in my head.
After grabbing Cesare by the ear and pulling him back, I bowed my head to Zeke and Radi in apology.
“I am sorry. This fellow admired the master craftsman’s weapons, you see. Is there perhaps anything he made in advance?”
“They have all been sold. Sometimes, when he comes to his senses, he seems to make things……. But I am not certain.”
It was a complete mess. First, it seemed we would have to report the situation to the client. Swallowing a sigh, I spoke to Radi.
“We have been rude in several ways. Could you tell us where the post office is?”
We moved to the post office. I sent Viscountess Herbert a Mana Carrier Pigeon, saying Zeke was unable to work.
Before long, a reply came back. The answer was, “I do not need any other sword. I need Zeke’s sword.”
“The Viscountess still wants Zeke’s sword.”
“Then should we look for someone who bought a sword from Grandpa Zeke? Could we not just take it from them and bring it to her?”
I calmly answered Xenia’s pure and violent question.
“We must not take it by force.”
“Taking it is the fastest way.”
“It is a fast way to go to prison. If we do anything, we would have to buy one, but I do not know whether anyone would sell their beloved sword so easily.”
Even I would not readily sell my own sword. Meanwhile, Cesare was still drooping.
Judging from how he had tried to escape the special lecture several times overnight only to come back, it seemed he had been looking forward to a new weapon quite a bit.
Then Cesare violently ruffled his own hair and opened his eyes wide.
“Why did that old man have to go senile……! They said things like this get fixed if you hit them! Originally, everything gets fixed if you hit it once!”
“By that logic, your Alcoholism should already have been cured.”
I managed to calm Cesare down, but I had many concerns as well. Diseases caused by aging could not be healed even by magic…….
“First, let us return to the smithy. I also have something to ask Radi.”
She had said that Zeke occasionally returned to his senses and worked. I also wanted to know how often he regained his mind.
When we returned, Zeke was still sitting in front of the smithy. He had been playing jacks, and he welcomed us with a bright face.
“Oh, Hyung! You came back! Lift me up high!”
Lift him up high. I had done it for my Disciples when they were young, but still.
I did not know whether it was possible with my current strength. Zeke seemed to weigh about as much as Cesare.
At that moment, Cesare lifted Zeke up with ease.
“Old man, I will lift you up high a hundred times, so please come to your senses!”
“High, high. Hyung, higher!”
Clear, innocent laughter rang out. When Zeke was lifted high, the roof of his mouth briefly became visible.
“Cesare. Keep holding him there. Mr. Zeke, please open wide and say ah.”
Zeke obediently listened. When I looked closely, it became even clearer. Blue spots were scattered across the roof of his mouth.
My companion, who had been a Master of Balanus, had been well-versed in medicine and medicinal herbs. Thanks to him, I had been able to pick up various bits of knowledge over his shoulder.
At that moment, Radi came out from inside the smithy. When she saw Zeke being held up high, she smiled warmly.
“Oh my, you were playing with Father. But Mr. Dane, why do you look like that?”
“I have some knowledge of medicine, so I examined Mr. Zeke’s condition……. This may not be senility.”
“What? Then what is it?”
Radi asked in a startled tone. I pointed to the inside of Zeke’s mouth and said, “Do you see the blue spots on the roof of his mouth? They are symptoms of Dreamchild Disease.”
Perhaps she had never heard of it before, for Radi looked puzzled. She also seemed flustered.
“Dreamchild Disease is an illness that returns the patient’s mind to childhood, but it can be treated.”
“Really, truly? How can it be treated?”
“If you brew medicinal herbs into tea and have him take it steadily, he should recover. First, please buy a few things from the herbalist.”
“Yes, of course!”
When I told her the names of several medicinal herbs, Radi hurried away. Xenia’s eyes shone as she asked me, “Wow, there is a disease like that? I did not know. I have never heard of it.”
I felt no sign of anyone nearby. Even so, I whispered low to my Disciples.
“Of course you have never heard of it. I made that disease up. This is not an illness. It is a poisoning symptom. Someone fed Mr. Zeke poison.”
Dreamchild Poison had to be administered steadily over at least half a year to take effect.
Therefore, the person who had poisoned Zeke was highly likely to be a family member or colleague who spent every day with him.
“I will treat Mr. Zeke for one week. During that time, protect him. If he shows signs of improvement, the culprit may try to harm him. Also ask Mr. Zeke about the candy.”
“Why the candy?”
Xenia tilted her head and asked.
“Because Dreamchild Poison has a sweet taste. That is why it is usually mixed into sweet things and fed to the victim.”
It bothered me that Zeke was so particularly attached to candy. I also did not feel I could trust Radi enough to ask her.
During that time, Radi returned after buying the medicinal herbs. Her face was full of joy at the thought of treating her father.
“You said it had to be brewed as tea, correct? Come this way. I will show you to the kitchen.”
When I signaled to the Disciples with my eyes, the two of them took positions on either side of Zeke. It was a truly reliable sight.
I followed Radi into the smithy. At that moment, I heard a ringing sound as pieces of iron struck against each other.
A man was sitting in front of the anvil. Was he in his mid-twenties? Judging from his clothes, he seemed to be a blacksmith. Radi spoke to the man.
“Um, Garwen! This gentleman told me something good. Father is not senile. He said it is an illness……!”
“An illness? And who is this person?”
Radi explained in detail, but Garwen’s expression gradually darkened. He glanced at me suspiciously.
“I cannot trust the words of someone I have never seen before. I also cannot allow Master to drink some unknown tea.”
Garwen displayed strong wariness. Radi, who stood between us, grew flustered and tried to mediate.
“These are all medicinal herbs. And Father said the people of Balanus could be trusted.”
“How do we even know these people are really Balanus?”
Garwen’s words were a valid opinion. I took the metal plaque from my belongings and showed it to him.
“We are an organization officially registered with the Administration Office, so you may confirm it through them.”
After seeing the metal plaque, Garwen looked less suspicious than before. However, he was still showing wariness.
“After brewing that tea, you drink it too. I cannot let our Master drink anything suspicious.”
Garwen said that and left. Radi spoke as though apologetic.
“I am sorry. He only reacted that way because he is worried…….”
“I know, so please do not worry. If he drinks it three times a day for about a week, he should show some improvement. I will take care of it.”
If the culprit was one of the two of them, they would likely take some kind of action. Protecting Zeke well for one week. That seemed to be the key.
***
Three days had passed since we came to Zeke’s village. During that time, I had been brewing herbal tea three times every day.
As I was boiling medicinal herbs in the kitchen, I heard Zeke’s voice from the entrance of the smithy.
“Xenia Noona! Let us play house, play house!”
After spending the whole day together, Zeke seemed to have opened his heart to my Disciples quite a bit.
Though his mind had not returned even once during that time. According to Radi, he became normal for about one day a month.
“Damn it, how long do I have to play this childish game?”
“Hyung, you play house too! Xenia Noona will be the princess. Cesare Hyung is just a Mercenary.”
“I graduated from being a Mercenary, all right? Make me the emperor.”
Cesare and Xenia were faithfully protecting Zeke. Perhaps thanks to that, there had been no movement targeting Zeke.
There had been no one targeting me either. Personally, I rather hoped they would attack, but the other party remained quiet.
At that moment, Garwen entered the kitchen. His eyes shone quietly and fiercely.