Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Gallahan and Clerivan sat facing each other.

Clerivan had surprisingly offered Gallahan the place of honor. He accepted Clerivan’s direction and sat in the plush chair, though he felt awkward about it.

Gallahan wetted his dry mouth and said, “I know you must be busy, but I came to seek your advice.”

“You didn’t need to go through the trouble of coming all the way here. You could have summoned me over to the Dyurak Merchant Guild.”

“This isn’t about the coroy-flannel business. I’ve come seeking advice on a personal venture.”

A personal venture by Gallahan Lombardi?

Clerivan found himself intrigued. The words “business” and “Gallahan” did not quite seem to fit together, given that Gallahan usually spent his time buried in books in either the library or his study.

The coroy-flannel project had been more or less forced upon Gallahan, and now he was planning a personal venture?

Clerivan thought he might need to reassess his opinion of Gallahan.

“I am not sure how much help I can be, but please feel free to ask,” Clerivan said, his tone uncharacteristically generous.

Honestly, if it had been anyone else, he would have rejected such a request by claiming he had no time for idle chatter.

However, he had a soft spot for Firentia and her frail-looking father.

Even Gallahan seemed surprised that Clerivan had so readily agreed to listen. His eyes widened in astonishment.

“I’m not saying that I’ll listen to your proposal because I have all the time in the world, Sir Gallahan,” Clerivan said sharply.

“Oh! I’m sorry. So, what I wanted to say was...”

After clearing his throat, Gallahan began to explain with a cautious tone. The explanation was a bit more organized than the rambling one he had given Firentia earlier in the day. However, it was still long-winded, and Gallahan found himself speaking for quite a while.

When his lengthy explanation finally ended, Gallahan’s throat hurt, but he was too busy watching Clerivan’s reaction to notice his own discomfort.

Clerivan remained silent, which of course made Gallahan panic.

Is my plan really that terrible? Enough to leave a man speechless?

As time passed, Gallahan’s shoulders drooped further and further. Then, Clerivan suddenly broke the silence.

“This is amazing,” he said.

“What?”

“Of course, there is room for improvement.”

“Y-yes. Of course. What would you improve?” Gallahan asked.

However, Clerivan did not immediately provide an answer.

“I have one condition,” he said.

“What is it?”

“Allow me to join your venture.”

Gallahan blinked in astonishment. He wondered if he had heard correctly.

“To reiterate, Gallahan, your business idea is impressive.”

“You mean... it’s good?”

“Yes. Honestly, it’s quite astonishing,” Clerivan said, forcing himself to acknowledge that he had underestimated Gallahan Lombardi. “But that’s why I would be quite bitter if my advice helped your venture become a huge success without my being a part of it. If you accept my condition, I’ll share the points that need improvement.”

Gallahan’s face lit up in a broad smile but quickly turned serious.

“But aren’t you under a contract with the Lombardi family? This is a personal business and not associated with the family...”

Gallahan wanted to accrue assets that were independent of the Lombardi name. He wanted the power to protect Firentia from the coming feud over the next head of the family. As much as he needed Clerivan’s help, he could not rely on the Lombardi name.

Clerivan’s face broke into a very satisfied smile.

“Such caution is even better.” Then, as if to reassure him, he said, “My contract with the Lombardi family is not a lifelong contract but a fixed-term contract. Additionally, I have a clause that allows me to engage in other ventures, so there is no need to worry.”

The new contract had been drawn up when he transitioned to the position of educator at the patriarch’s request.

“In that case, I would be more than happy to have you on board! Let’s do this together, Clerivan!” Gallahan responded, extending his hand.

After a moment of hesitation, Clerivan reached out and shook his hand and continued in a more relaxed tone.

“We’ll sort out the profit sharing later. For now, let me share some areas where we can improve the plan.

Gallahan nodded fervently. He resembled Firentia during a lesson, which made Clerivan chuckle.

“This business should target the commoners, not the nobles.”

“The commoners?”

This was the exact opposite of Gallahan’s initial plan.

“Yes. Therefore, the store’s location should naturally be the Heslot Marketplace, not the Sedaque shopping district.”

The Heslot Marketplace was located on the opposite side of the Sedaque shopping district. It was a vast commercial area in the heart of the emperor’s territory. Unlike the relatively quiet Sedaque shopping district, the Heslot Marketplace was always bustling with foot traffic from all over the empire.

“And...”

The meeting continued for quite some time. Had Clerivan not had another meeting to attend, it might have gone until sunset.

As Gallahan stood up, looking slightly weary from the intense discussion, Clerivan asked, “Was it the patriarch?”

“What do you mean?” Gallahan replied.

“The person who suggested you come to me for advice.”

Clerivan was already more than half sure. He assumed Lulac had nudged his youngest son in his direction to provide support.

But Gallahan smiled and shook his head.

“No. It was Firentia.”

“What...?”

“Actually, I haven’t been able to talk to my father about this yet. I was afraid I would get scolded for daydreaming—and also because this is strictly a personal venture. That’s why I was mulling it over alone when Firentia asked about it. She mentioned that I should talk to you.”

Then Gallahan expressed his sincere gratitude to Clerivan, though he felt somewhat awkward about it.

“It shows how well you have been teaching my Firentia. Thank you for that.”

Despite receiving a parent’s heartfelt thanks, Clerivan could not bring himself to smile. The child could have mentioned her teacher simply because, to a student, their teacher knows everything.

However, Clerivan couldn’t shake the image of Firentia’s bright, perceptive eyes from his mind. He had a strong sense that Gallahan coming to him was not just a matter of coincidence.

***

As soon as my father left for work early in the morning, I headed over to Doctor O’Malley’s lab.

Fortunately, since it was early, Estira was the only one there.

She must have been feeling down after missing out on the recommendation letter—and from Jason’s taunts. Yet, she continued diligently with her work as if nothing had happened.

My resolve to help Estira strengthened even more.

I opened the door quietly and entered the room. Estira, who was busy cleaning the lab desk, greeted me warmly.

“Welcome back.”

“Good morning, Estira!”

“You seem to be in a good mood today.”

“I came up with a great idea!”

“A great idea?” Estira asked as her eyes widened.

“A plan to get you a recommendation letter.”

“Lady Firentia...”

Estira looked moved by my effort.

“Estira, you know the book you showed me last time?” I asked.

“My grandmother’s recipe notebook?”

“Yeah, that. Can you show me that again?”

“Sure. Just a moment,” she said.

I had asked many questions during my frequent visits for wrist treatments. At first, it was to establish our relationship, but I also wanted to learn as much as possible about her. One of the things I discovered was about Estira’s grandmother.

Although she was from a small rural village, her grandmother helped people using various local herbs and traditional family remedies used in places without doctors. This had exposed Estira to herbs from an early age, and she had developed a desire to help sick people.

Estira fetched an old, well-worn notebook from her desk in the corner of the lab. I took the book and flipped to a page in the middle.

“Can you explain a bit more about this remedy?”

Estira looked at the section I was pointing to and said, “It’s a remedy my grandmother made when people in the village sprained their ankles or injured their shoulders at work. She would make the medicine and have me take it to them.”

Estira smiled fondly as she read her grandmother’s handwriting.

“This remedy has been passed down orally in our family for ages, so it’s not documented in any official medical books... It’s great for reducing swelling and alleviating some pain.”

“How about this? This isn’t for eating, is it?”

“That’s right. You soak a cloth in this remedy and apply it to the affected area.”

Although I had only skimmed the notebook before, my memory was correct. I asked a few more important questions that had not been documented.

“Can this remedy be used for a long time?”

“Yes. Since hard labor often leaves people with aches and pains, some people use it every night for months.”

“What about the smell? Is it unpleasant?”

“No. It actually has a sweet scent. The primary ingredient is dried tree fruit.”

Perfection.

I kept my excitement in check and spoke calmly.

“Let’s change this around a little bit. Can you make it more concentrated, like the Melcon remedy we worked on last time?”

Estira immediately nodded at my suggestion. She didn’t even ask who it was for.

“Of course.”

She looked at me with eyes full of trust.

I gave Estira a big smile. If everything went according to plan, we could safely get Estira into the Imperial Academy.

“Oh, and do you know of any herbs that give a cooling sensation when applied or ingested?”

“For a cooling sensation... There is a tea leaf called hipsi.”

“Oh, hipsi!”

I had tasted it before. It had a refreshing, minty flavor like peppermint leaves.

“Can you prepare a concentrated extract of that as well?”

“Why the hipsi, though...”

“Well, just like how food tastes better when it smells good, the same is true for medicine. It’s important to give the impression that it’s working.”

“Oh, that’s true...”

Esitra's eyes were full of admiration. I shrugged nonchalantly as if it were no big deal.

“I’ll get the beeswax and oil and have them sent here. We’ll mix the two concentrated extracts into that.”

Swelling-reducing and soothing herbs, refreshing tea leaves, and beeswax. The thought of the medicine those ingredients would create made me smile.

An ointment with a tiger on the label.

Back in the day, it had been called a cure-all ointment, used for everything from arthritis and headaches to nasal congestion. I was going to recreate it.

And with that, I would get Estira into the academy.

Plus we had those two glowing recommendation letters! There’s no way elderly folk like Grandfather and Brochel could resist the appeal of such an ointment!

If we succeeded in making it, I would only have one remaining concern.

Was Grandfather’s bad knee the left one or the right one?