Agne had dropped to her knees, begging for forgiveness. But after a few curt words from Ceres, she flew into a rage.
Walking away after mocking her had felt satisfying. However, as soon as Ceres faced the debt papers, the settlement amount lingered stubbornly in her mind.
“Tsk.”
Ceres clicked her tongue softly and sank into thought.
Was there some better option? Was there really nothing in this house that could be transformed into money?
“Ah.”
Then something came to mind.
“Would that sell for anything?”
Without another thought, Ceres swept her hand through the air. Just like before, a crack split open in empty space and formed a dark rift.
A moment later, she pulled out a luxurious wooden box.
“Hmm.”
Inside lay a tiny stone, smaller than a fingernail. It glowed with a clear blue light, and even at a glance, it looked cold.
“Kai said this was valuable.”
“I got this from a monster in the snow mountains.”
“What is this?”
“A mana stone.”
Grace knew that creature well.
No one remembered when it began, but for a very long time, it had been called the “Ruler of the Snowy Mountains.” A colossal serpent as large as several mansions combined.
The serpent would descend on villages whenever it pleased, devour people, and slip away without a trace. It all ended when Kainel, who had long been determined to kill it, severed its head.
“If it’s a mana stone, shouldn’t you give it to Arti?”
Grace was fully aware of how rare mana stones from ancient monsters were. But since she wasn’t a mage, it was of little use to her.
She had only said it because Artia, the master of the Magic Tower, would make better use of the stone.
“Why should I?”
“.....”
Kainel shook his head firmly as if the existence of the Magic Tower’s master had never crossed his mind.
“If you don’t want it, forget it. I’ll just throw it away.”
“Hey, I told you to give it to Arti.”
“I said I’m throwing it away.”
“Fine, fine. I’ll take it.”
“If you pass it to that guy without me knowing...”
“Geez, both of them are equally petty.”
Arti refused to hand over the teleportation scrolls until the very end. And Kainel shoved a precious mana stone onto her, despite knowing she had no use for it.
Thinking back on those old memories, Ceres chuckled amusedly and looked at the stone again.
“How much would this go for?”
It had been valuable back then, but there was no telling if that was still true. And more than the price, she had no idea where something like this could be sold.
“...Maybe a junk shop?”
This counts as junk, right? It has been three hundred years, after all.
“A-a junk shop? That’s not it, Lady Grace! Ah, really! You don’t know anything except healing. I’m getting worried...”
For some reason, it felt like she could hear her disciple grumbling again.
“So it’s not a junk shop?”
She had spent her entire life treating people and was hardly familiar with how the world worked. Things like this had always been handled by someone else.
Knock, knock.
Ceres quickly slipped the mana stone back into her subspace.
Click.
The one who stepped into the room was Antonian. Hasn’t he been playing with Julia moments ago?
“Where’s Julia?”
“She’s reading.”
Seven-year-old Julia was much smarter than expected. Though she never received a proper education, she already learned to read, which genuinely surprised Ceres.
“Who taught you?”
“Books.”
“...You taught yourself just by reading?”
“Yes.”
...Is she genius?
Now that Julia was no longer being fed poisonous herbs, the child stayed awake much longer. She even gained some weight compared to before.
The problem was that Ceres couldn’t use her time-manipulating ability on Julia.
She’s too young.
If she were an adult whose growth was already complete, there would’ve been no issue. Rewinding her body to before she ingested the poison would’ve resolved everything easily.
But for Julia, those three years were a crucial period when her entire body was still developing.
To turn back that period?
That would be the worst.
It could create an imbalance between her physical age and the age of her internal tissues, leading to even worse consequences.
Fortunately, I do know how to treat it.
It would take time, but the treatment wasn’t impossible. Rather than risk a reckless gamble, she decided to follow the proper method and treat the child slowly.
I have enough medicinal herbs.
The herbs needed for the treatment were already overflowing in her subspace, so there was no need to gather anything else.
She felt grateful again to Artia for creating the subspace. The herbs needed to treat the child were quite expensive.
Given her current situation, many of those herbs would’ve been impossible to obtain. Even if she knew the cure, she wouldn’t have been able to begin at all.
“Where did all those herbs come from?”
The only problem was that people kept asking about where she had gotten the herbs.
Antonian and the maid Jay couldn’t hide their confusion when Ceres bringing in piles of herbs from unknown sources.
“I gathered them myself.”
“You did? When?”
“A long time ago.”
“.....?”
It wasn’t a lie. “A long time ago” simply meant three hundred years in her case.
“L-Lady Ceres, I’ll prepare it.”
“It’s fine. This requires careful control of the heat.”
“Pardon?”
“I’ll handle it, so go do your own work.”
Seeing Ceres personally brewing the herbs, everyone was startled and rushed to stop her, insisting they would do it instead. She was never one to take initiative like this.
Even so, Ceres calmly continued preparing the medicine.
“When did she learn about herbs?”
Antonian couldn’t hide his suspicion at first either. Ceres was suddenly mixing unfamiliar herbs and brewing them to feed to Julia. There was no way he could just stand by and watch.
“What are you doing? Are you crazy? Do you even know what you’re feeding Julia?”
“Giving medicine to a sick child is crazy now?”
“What kind of medicine is that?”
“Gupio leaves. They draw out toxins built up in the body. Cello fruit restores weakened vitality. I brewed it together with Altsuhiral seeds and dried Kakas leaves. Those two will help remove toxins that have spread to the brain.”
“...What?”
“Do you want me to explain it again?”
“...No.”
At first he was unsure, but since anyone could see Julia’s condition improving noticeably, he no longer questioned Ceres’s treatment.
Still, one doubt remained.
When did she ever learn something like that?
“A long time ago.”
Hearing the same answer again, Antonian let out a long sigh.
She doesn’t have her memories, so what does she mean “a long time ago”?
She was clearly hiding something, yet he couldn’t figure out what it was.
Lately, just looking at Ceres left Antonian deeply unsettled. Was she really the same sister he had always known?
She does seem much better now, at least.
Before she lost her memory, just being near her had made him feel suffocated with unease. And as if to prove it, he even witnessed her attempt to take her own life.
But now, whenever looking at her, he didn’t feel that anxiety at all.