That night, the knight department classroom was crowded with countless students.
Students from other departments and even seniors had gathered,
And an emergency meeting regarding Quartz Apothecary was held.
Lizbette stood before the lectern and said,
"Then let us proceed with the plan to open a new apothecary beside Quartz Apothecary and compete with them."
At that, the students cheered and began assigning roles among themselves.
Those who would provide funding.
Those who would gather apothecary products.
Those who would gather servants to operate the shop.
In the middle of that, only Trine was thinking about something else entirely with a serious expression.
'Could it be Yuril?'
Even if Trine was oblivious, he was not so oblivious that he would fail to recognize her outright.
She was the only person who would say, "Even though you ran away."
And he had once heard that Yuril had tried to become a pharmacist like her mother.
If it really was Yuril, then it made perfect sense for her to hate Trine.
...However, Trine eventually shook his head and denied his own thoughts.
'Let’s not make stupid assumptions. There is no way Yuril would come all the way here for my sake and open a shop.'
Trine was currently afflicted by poison and lacked confidence.
That was why he concluded that it could never be her.
While he was groaning to himself like that,
Lizbette looked at Trine and asked,
"Trine, is it fine if you are formally listed as the shop owner?"
"Hm? Why?"
"The promotional effect will be certain, and if you are a noble, you should have at least one source of income."
Trine himself had no particular intention of becoming hostile toward Quartz Apothecary.
However, everyone was looking at Trine with solemn expressions,
So he could not bring himself to say no.
In the end, Trine reluctantly answered,
"Fine... What the hell, let’s try it."
***
The fact that the apothecary Yuril bought was close to the Academy was purely a coincidence.
It had only turned out that way because she chose a shop where many rare ingredients circulated.
On top of that, she had been told Academy students rarely came out to the village,
So the fact that Trine came to visit less than a week after opening was truly a coincidence.
If this was truly a coincidental connection, then it was a terribly persistent one.
...No, more importantly, the problem was that she had not known the knight department students would be this stupid.
"Are they really idiots?"
Yuril murmured as she looked at the newly built shop across from her apothecary.
A two-story shop that had risen overnight where there had clearly been an empty lot.
The building itself could somehow be made through alchemy, so that was one thing,
But it was twice the size of Quartz Apothecary, and there seemed to be more than ten clerks.
The countless students were even handing out pamphlets directly in front of the shop.
'Grand Opening! 80% Off All Products!'
To think they would do something this absurd solely for the purpose of keeping Yuril’s shop in check.
No, she truly did not care about that.
The greatest problem was the shop’s name.
'Trine Apothecary.'
There was a high chance Trine had already noticed Yuril.
There was no way he, knowing that, would take the lead in plotting something like this.
In other words, she thought perhaps Trine had merely been dragged into it, but...
It seemed that was not entirely the case.
"Welcome! Blowout sale until Quartz Apothecary goes under!"
For some reason, Trine was personally shouting in front of the shop with a megaphone in hand.
Yuril grew slightly irritated.
"Did he really not notice me?"
Of course, she had wrapped herself in recognition-obscuring magic to hide her identity from him,
But even though she had openly misspoken yesterday, he was acting like this.
She felt foolish for having been so nervous that he might recognize her.
Just then, one old regular customer entered Yuril’s shop.
"Welcome."
"It is a complete mess outside."
"They will exhaust themselves and collapse on their own soon enough."
In truth, "Trine Apothecary" was not causing that much damage to Yuril’s shop.
After all, an apothecary was not simply a place that sold products, but a kind of hospital.
What mattered was the skill to examine a customer’s condition and prescribe the appropriate treatment.
There was no way rookie students would have such skill.
In fact, for half a day, most of the regular customers had still come to Quartz Apothecary.
"You came to buy medicine for stiff shoulders again today, correct?"
"Same as last time, please."
At that, Yuril held out the handmade ointment she had prepared in advance and said,
"Mr. Ramba, your skin is sensitive, so I reduced the mint content compared to last time."
"As expected, miss, you are the best."
The old man paid while grumbling.
"A young lady like you suits the Academy far better than riffraff like those brats."
"They are all still immature children."
"If they are brats, they should act like brats and stay quiet."
The old man looked at the students outside the window as if they were pathetic and murmured,
"To begin with, sending students to save Princess Sia was absurd."
"Is that so?"
"Their parents must have been trying to give their children some achievements by sticking their spoons into rice that was already cooked."
"Perhaps."
In fact, most commoners who did not know the circumstances did not believe the newspaper articles.
Students could not possibly have accomplished such a difficult mission.
If they were children from the knight department, there would be children from high noble houses among them too,
So it was only natural to believe there had been some kind of deal.
From Yuril’s point of view, it did not particularly matter, so she merely gave suitable responses.
However,
"That bastard named Trine, in particular, is definitely a fraud."
At that thoughtless remark, Yuril unknowingly felt a little irritated.
"A commoner entering the knight department makes no sense to begin with, does it?"
...No.
Trine was the man who suited being a knight more than anyone else.
Putting aside her own relationship with him,
She could never accept someone else denying him.
However, she could not say something rude to a customer, so she replied calmly.
"Yes, well, I suppose so."
"He is probably a fallen noble pretending to be a commoner to launder his status."
"That possibility is not impossible either."
"Look at that bastard’s face. At a glance, he looks like a lazy young master from a noble family who has never suffered once."
Yuril could not bring herself to refute those words.
That idiot was still shouting outside the window with a megaphone,
And with his frail build and expression, he was far from looking like a hero.
But Yuril knew.
The word that suited that boy least was "laziness."
"In any case, we village residents are on your side, miss, so there is no need to mind those brats."
"Yes, thank you."
The moment the old man left the shop,
A mailman hurriedly entered the shop this time.
"Miss Yuril! This is bad! Recovery herbs are completely sold out, so I could not buy any!"
"Those common recovery herbs? Why?"
"They said the Trine Apothecary bought them all up."
"Are they really idiots?"
Monopolizing recovery herbs, the most important ingredient for an apothecary, was not a bad idea in itself.
However, according to the other regular customers,
They could not even properly process a single recovery herb and were only selling ready-made products.
In other words, they were merely wasting money and pointlessly harming the village residents.
Yuril crossed her arms, frowned, and murmured,
"This is a problem. I do not have much stock either."
At that, the mailman asked with a somewhat troubled expression,
"What should I do? Should I at least go to the next village?"
"No. I cannot trouble you that much."
If Elford had been here, she would have instructed him,
But she had told him not to come for the time being in case Trine noticed.
In the end, Yuril had no choice but to resolve it herself.
Yuril closed the shop for a moment and headed to Trine Apothecary.
Ignoring the gazes around her that fixed on her,
She stood directly before Trine, crossed her arms, and stared intently at him.
At that, Trine panicked and stepped back a little as he asked,
"W-What is it?"
"What are you doing?"
For a while, the two of them glared fiercely at each other.
In the tense silence that even silenced the people around them,
Yuril soon abruptly held out her palm.
"Hand over the recovery herbs you are monopolizing."
"I refuse. We bought them because we need them too."
"Is that so? Then let me hear what you intend to use them for."
"Since this is an apothecary, of course we need them."
Yuril took one step toward Trine and pressed him.
"Do you know how to preserve recovery herbs? How to process them? Their compatibility with other medicinal ingredients?"
Overwhelmed by her force, Trine took one step back.
However, unexpectedly, answers flowed smoothly from his mouth.
"Recovery herbs have to be dried in sunlight for three days before storage.
When used, only the leaves are crushed, and the stems have to be discarded.
They pair well with most medicinal ingredients, but as long as they are not mixed with, um, what was it, Coriola..."
Yuril’s eyes widened a little.
It was a stiff answer, like someone reading from a textbook.
However, it was clear that he had studied on his own, even if hastily.
It seemed he was still pointlessly serious about everything.
When Yuril remained silent for a moment,
Trine awkwardly asked,
"W-Was I wrong?"
Yuril drew in a deep breath and said,
"Will you take responsibility if the village residents cannot receive treatment on time because of you?"
At those words, Trine’s pupils shook slightly, but he soon replied calmly.
"If it is that urgent, you can send those village residents to our shop."
At that, Yuril grabbed Trine by the collar without warning.
"Do you know how to make gout medicine?"
"Do you know how to test allergic reactions?"
"If a seizure reaction occurs, what measures should you take?"
In the end, when Trine could not answer at all,
Yuril roughly shoved Trine over.
"Do you think an apothecary is a joke? Are you going to let even the village residents die just for this childish game?"
At that, the other students around them rushed toward Yuril all at once.
"Hey! Why are you coming into someone else’s shop and acting tyrannical?"
"You know this is clearly interfering with business, right?"
"If you do not leave immediately, we will call the knight order!"
Yuril ignored those voices and turned around.
"I am truly disappointed in you."
***
After Trine Apothecary closed.
Trine remained alone in the apothecary, groaning.
"I feel like this and that has all completely failed..."
At that, Hwaran spoke to him.
'No. Everything is proceeding smoothly.'
Trine took out Hwaran and glared at her cover.
"Do not be ridiculous. How does this look smooth to you?"
'They say the ground hardens after rain, do they not?'
"Whatever the case, we cannot cause harm to the village residents."
Trine shouldered the bundle of recovery herbs that had been piled in one corner of the shop.
"At least these should be returned to Quartz Apothecary."
Trine left the shop,
Confirmed that no one was around,
And quietly headed to the back door of Quartz Apothecary.
Then, just as he was about to secretly set the bundle down at the back door-
"What are you doing?"
Suddenly, the shop’s back door opened, and the clerk appeared.
"Ah, um, well..."
While Trine panicked and stammered,
The clerk saw the bundle of recovery herbs and sighed.
"Come in."
Trine quietly followed the clerk into the shop.
As he sat awkwardly before the table,
The clerk soon brought out tea and sat across from him.
"What exactly are you trying to do?"
"I just thought monopolizing the recovery herbs was too much, no matter what."
"It is fortunate that you realized it now."
While the clerk took a sip of tea,
Trine carefully said,
"Um, I am asking just in case, but are you Yuril?"
At that, the clerk calmly set down her teacup and said,
"No. Who is that?"
"R-Right? Hahaha, it is nothing."
Trine scratched his head awkwardly.
"In any case, if you stop discriminating against the Academy, we are willing to back down."
"I refuse."
"Why? Do you have some ill will toward the Academy?"
"Because the demand from the Academy is so high that it interferes with treating the village residents."
At that, Trine made a slightly surprised expression and said,
"...I did not know there was such a reason."
"I am not confident that I can do it as skillfully as the previous owners of this apothecary, so it was an unavoidable choice."
"That is impressive. To think you care about the village residents that much."
"It is nothing impressive. It is only natural for a pharmacist."
"No. I genuinely think it is admirable."
Trine smiled without realizing it and continued speaking.
"For some reason, your way of thinking resembles the person I like."
"...Is that so?"
"She said that, at the very least, she did not want anyone around her to be unhappy."
"That is a pointless thing to say."
"No. At least I think they are the most wonderful words in the world."
Without warning, the clerk kicked Trine’s shin beneath the table.
While Trine groaned in pain,
For some reason, she grew angry with her face suddenly bright red.
"Could you stop saying such embarrassing things?"
"Ugh, what? No, I am sorry?"
After clearing her throat once, the clerk said,
"In any case, that is the reason, so I absolutely will not lower the prices."
After a brief pause, Trine asked,
"If the Academy finds another supplier for medicinal ingredients, will you lower the prices?"
"If that is possible, I will consider it."
"Understood. Then I will try to find a way."
Trine held out his hand for a handshake.
The clerk stared quietly at that hand for a moment,
And was soon about to reach out with her own hand.
-CRASH!
Suddenly, the shop window shattered,
And a small, round object flew inside.
"W-What is that?!"
Trine instinctively sensed danger and sprang to his feet.
Then he threw himself over the clerk and wrapped her in his arms.
Trine’s intuition was not wrong.
The object exploded.