novelraw Chapter 92
Chapter 92
Episode 92
'Is this…… really going well?'
A bead of cold sweat trickled down my back.
The bastard clearly didn't seem to believe my insistence that I wasn't 'Shari Azrael' one bit.
But then again, he wasn't trying to strangle me while telling me to cut the crap.
In any case, it seemed like he was willing to play along for now, but......
"What are you doing, not handing it over right now, Shari Azrael?"
The bastard urged me on again as I stood there spaced out.
"C-Calling me someone else's name is a bit……"
"Then spit out your real name."
As I mumbled in a reluctant voice, the bastard's eyes suddenly glared menacingly.
"N-No, it's nothing!"
I quickly shook my head.
I should be grateful just to have escaped a situation where I could be killed at any moment. I was asking for too much.
But a sudden thought occurred to me.
'Have I... truly escaped?'
Because as soon as I'd barely crossed one mountain, another one was waiting for me.
"U-Um, it is truly regrettable, but…… I do not have any Sleep-Inducing Potions I can give you right now."
"Useless. And you call yourself an apothecary."
At my difficult confession, the bastard cut me down without holding back.
Hidden by my hood, I glared as hard as I could at the shameless bastard.
There was no way I'd have any Sleep-Inducing Potions left.
I'd given him every last one I had left after finishing the Sealed Monster Quest.
'No, I gave him nearly 200 of them. He's already chugged them all?!'
I gave them to him as a consideration, telling him to sleep well after all his hard work.
Instead of being grateful, he was repaying my kindness with enmity. Belated anger surged up at the bastard.
"Most normal people don't exactly look for Sleep-Inducing Potions……"
I finally grit my teeth and retorted in a fairly mild tone.
At that, he stared at me blankly, then suddenly let out a 'Pfft' and burst out laughing.
[Crown Prince Kassel Ludwig feels a bit of amusement toward you.]
Just as I was baffled by the system window that popped up along with it, the bastard spouted.
"Then hand over all the health potions and antidote potions you have."
I was wondering when this would come up.
His damn thug-like extortion.
I'd experienced this so many damn times in Hailey, so I acted calmly, without panicking.
"Yes, fortunately, I can give you those potions right now."
With those words, I fumbled in my pocket and took out two potion bottles.
[High-Grade Health Potion x1]
[High-Grade Antidote Potion x1]
I was going to pull out Mid-grades, but I decided to be generous.
As I placed them on the sofa table between us, he sneered as if he'd been waiting.
"Looks like there are days when you're somewhat useful. Though the quality of the potions is still low-grade."
"Payment is upfront."
"Hah."
But at my following response, the bastard let out a scoff, as if he was dumbfounded.
[Crown Prince Kassel Ludwig feels flabbergasted by your words.]
Even if that system window popped up, my firm resolve remained unchanged.
'If you think I'm just going to be extorted like before, you're sorely mistaken.'
In fact, my claim that I wasn't 'Shari Azrael' wasn't just something I made up.
I wasn't an NPC belonging to Dover Village anymore, like when I used to wait on him.
The developers had temporarily transferred my affiliation to Berun Village for my temple employment.
Besides, I wasn't employed by Adam any longer, so my commercial sales activities were perfectly legitimate.
'……But what if he still tries to kill me, even after all this?'
With his shattered personality, it was entirely possible.
Suddenly anxious about the ominous system window, I hastily shoved my hand into my pocket and fiddled with the tranquilizer dart.
At that, Kassel frowned slightly.
"Why have you been... since earlier, in your pocket…… Hah, forget it."
He trailed off, then suddenly dissed me.
"You're just as filthy greedy for money as I'd heard."
"Pardon? Who did you hear that from……?"
I was dumbfounded. I was extremely curious who would slander a good, ordinary citizen like me in such a way.
But the Male Lead bastard seemed to have no intention of answering, instead cheaply using his status to pressure an ordinary citizen.
"How dare you try to bargain with the Crown Prince of the empire?"
"I am most humbled, but I am a poor apothecary from a lowly village. If I do not receive payment, I will starve to death!"
"……"
"I beg you, Your Highness the Crown Prince, take pity on your subject and show me your vast generosity……!"
As I said that, bowing my head low as if in a deep kowtow, the bastard finally shut his mouth.
Now that he was reinstated as Crown Prince, he had a duty to care for the empire's citizens.
'The Crown Prince extorting a poor commoner? Just you wait. I'll report this to the newspapers immediately.'
Vowing this, I fumbled to gather the potions I had put out.
"If you do not have the funds on you right now, then perhaps next time……"
"Who said I don't have money?"
Kassel snapped back, his pride seemingly wounded by my words.
"……How much is it."
"Five million coins."
"Are you kidding me?"
I seized the opportunity and answered immediately, and the bastard's face twisted viciously.
"The market price for an S-Grade Health Potion is three million apiece, and you're trying to charge me five million for just two High-Grade potions?"
"The cost of living in the capital has risen sharply recently…… I implore you to understand, Your Highness."
The market price is whatever I, the only apothecary in the capital, say it is.
As I whined without batting an eye, Kassel's jaw tightened.
"I don't know where you learned that X-like way of talking while I wasn't looking."
He seemed a bit annoyed, grinding his teeth and muttering darkly.
I was just happy. Happy that I could screw him over, even just a little.
He glared at me fiercely for a while, but soon began to rummage irritably inside his clothes.
"Take it."
Clink!
A moment later, a bundle of money was thrown carelessly onto the table.
"I am most humbled, Your Hiiighness!"
I hurriedly snatched it up, lest the bastard change his mind.
[Crown Prince Kassel Ludwig has paid 5,000,000 coin for the potions.]
'I finally got it back. My five million coin!'
My eyes filled with joy, I stared at the system window and celebrated my successful revenge.
I was the type to jolt awake in the middle of the night, fuming, whenever I thought about the five million coin I'd so meaninglessly lost because of him at the black market auction.
Of course, I don't sleep, but anyway.
The bastard looked at me with eyes full of contempt, but I didn't care one bit.
However, my joy was short-lived.
Kassel's next words sent my mood plummeting straight to the floor.
"From now on, bring them to me every single day you're in the temple."
"Every single day…… you say?"
"That's right."
A reluctant expression naturally formed on my face. It was only natural.
If it's 'every single day'......
'Is this bastard planning to stay in the temple?!'
I desperately tried to recall the game's original story.
What Kassel did right before the Hero Selection Tournament.
After coming to the capital with Adam's knights, he immediately infiltrated the Imperial Palace and retook his power.
In the game, that period takes about two weeks.
And then about two weeks after that, the tournament is held.
In the two weeks before the tournament, it wasn't clear what Kassel did.
I could only guess that he'd be busy taking care of work at the palace, catching up on sleep, and recovering.
But now that everything had been drastically moved up, I couldn't be sure of anything.
Finishing my thought, I opened my mouth and cautiously recommended he return to the Imperial Palace.
"……Instead of going through the trouble of buying potions from me, why don't you get a prescription for a potion addiction remedy from the palace physician?"
My own safety was one thing, but I was also saying it out of concern for him.
Just then, the bastard suddenly tilted his head.
"I'm certain I never mentioned anything about potion addiction."
"……"
"Why are you spouting such nonsense?"
My heart sank. I belatedly realized my mistake and bit my tongue.
I'd been so absorbed in recalling the original game scenario that I'd forgotten I was currently in the middle of a life-or-death masquerade.
At the Male Lead's animalistic senses, which didn't miss that momentary blind spot, I struggled to squeeze out an excuse.
"It's just the combination of items you just bought from me…… it seemed like you were overly dependent on potions, so I made an assumption."
"What would someone like you know?"
[Crown Prince Kassel Ludwig feels strong displeasure toward you.]
A single mistake was making the situation turn rather sour.
I bowed my head low again, almost prostrating myself on the table, and begged.
"I-I have committed a sin worthy of death, Your Highness! Please forgive me."
"If you committed a sin worthy of death, then you should die."
"Aargh!"
At that moment, just like before, the back of my hood was grabbed forcefully.
I was forced to lift my head by someone else's strength.
As if grabbing the back of someone's head wasn't enough, the bastard started to shake the hood lightly.
"Why the hell won't this damn thing come off?"
"Uwaah! Hey!"
He was trying to pull the hood off, but there was no way it would come off.
As a result, I was forced to headbang against my will.
I don't know why he's so obsessed with seeing my face.
But the situation, where he had no way to verify my denial, seemed to displease him greatly, and the heinous bastard spouted whatever he felt like.
"Do all apothecaries walk around with robes attached to their bodies like this? It's bizarre beyond words."
"I-It can't be helped, because of magic……! Sir!"
"Why, did you also injure your face as a child, leaving it half-necrotic?"
"No. When I was born, my parents met a sage, and he advised them I'd die young if I showed my face before I turned 40……"
"I wonder if that damn magic will break if I set it on fire."
Cutting off my nonsense, the bastard muttered something terrifyingly dark.
He was more than capable of acting on it, so I turned pale and shouted desperately.
"Aaak! I-If you kill me, it won't be good for you either!"
"Why wouldn't it be good for me?"
"Because I'm the only apothecary who can cure the Saintess's chronic illness……! And if you commit murder in the temple for no good reason, the church won't just stand by! ……Sir!"
"……Still nothing but a sharp tongue, I see."
Thankfully, my pitiful shout must have worked, as the bastard finally let go of the hood he was holding.
'This humiliation. I'll get my revenge. Definitely.'
I will never bow my head to him in supplication again.
I scrambled to my feet, pressed myself against the back of the sofa, and glared at him with wary eyes.
Then, the bastard opened his mouth.
"I'll ask just one thing."
Don't ask.
Before I could answer that, Kassel beat me to it.
"If I pay you more money than the temple gives you, can I hire you?"
It was an unexpected question.
But I'm suffering this kind of humiliation even when I'm not employed by him.
If I were to actually be hired and paid, I couldn't even imagine how much he'd work me to the bone.
'Even if you paid me a billion, I would never sign a contract with you, bastard.'
I take back what I said about getting disgustingly entangled.
Until the ending, I'll absolutely help only from the shadows, without revealing myself.
Shuddering, I completely revised my game plan and immediately let loose a sarcastic remark disguised as a refusal.
"How could a lowly apothecary such as myself possibly serve someone as noble, great, beautiful, and holy as Your Highness the Crown Prince……"
"Well, I can just negotiate directly with the Saintess. If I offer to trade a palace physician for free, she might even welcome it with open arms."
"Of course, it's possible, Your Highness. How much compensation were you thinking of offering……"
"Hah."
I hadn't even taken a second to flip my stance, and the bastard scoffed.
I, too, felt miserable and upset at my own fickle, motor-mouthed appearance.
But there was no choice.
'After all the trouble I went through to get into this temple……'
I have to finish the quest.
He spoke as if he knew my purpose for being in the temple and was trying to stop me, so I had no choice but to accept for now and buy some time.
Time to run, of course.
Holding back tears, I begged for mercy.
"However, I tend to prioritize my promises to the client who hired me first. If you would please show your vast generosity and wait your turn……"
Knock, knock, knock.
Just then.
Just when I was thinking I couldn't stand this groveling anymore, a knock rang out at the perfect moment.
Kassel's sharp gaze, which had been fixed on me, snapped to the door.
"……Your Highness, are you perhaps in there?"
When the room's occupant didn't respond, a sweet, pleasant voice gently revealed itself.
"It's me, Saintess Liv. I've come because I have something to tell you."