Chapter 294 The Meaning of Experiments
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
After I’d finished revising the plans for the multi-use facility, I decided to visit Mei, who had locked herself in the laboratory to tinker with ingredients for herbal baths and lotion-infused hot water.
”Mei, it’s me,” I called.
”Come in,” she answered.
Technically, that little hut had been built for my research, but at some point Mei had become its rightful owner. The absurdity of needing her permission to enter my own hut made me chuckle as I opened the door. Inside, Mei was fussing with Stella’s hair while the woman sat with a basket of laundry balanced on her knees.
”Stella-san, you’re here too? …What exactly is going on?” I asked.
”Well, I was just hanging out the wash when Mei-sama caught me…” she said shyly.
”I finished a new formula,” Mei explained. “So I roped Stella into testing it for me.”
”In other words, the usual routine,” I said.
Mei had a habit—well, more like a daily ritual—of dragging Stella into the hut to serve as a subject for her new concoctions.
”That girl, Stella, she’s led quite a life,” Mei said as her fingers worked. “She hides it well with medicine, but her hair and skin are ruined from overuse. If she were damaging herself out of pride—cutting away her own body just to please her customers as a courtesan—I wouldn’t say anything. But that’s not it. Her attitude feels more like, ‘I don’t care what happens tomorrow.’ Watching her, I can’t help worrying.”
”You’re right,” I admitted. “I don’t know her past, but joining a group that follows Grelego’s ideals isn’t something you can do without that kind of resolve. You have to be ready to die, if it comes to it.”
”Her past aside, here’s my question: can I borrow her as a test subject for my beauty products?”
”A test subject?” I asked.
”If I don’t frame it that way, she’ll be too polite to accept. So I’ll call it an ‘experiment’—a pretense to restore her ruined hair and skin. Though of course, the pretense is for my sake too.”
”…Still need a pretense to feel safe?” I asked.
She gave a short laugh. “Yeah. That’s the one thing I can’t handle—arigatameiwaku.” T/N: pun on arigatameiwaku—”an unwelcome favor.”
I remembered a conversation from when Stella had just started working as a servant. Mei had spoken of her fear of being thanked, the reason she had once earned the title “Witch of Novak.” A past I could never touch or undo. As I turned that thought over, Mei stopped her hands and looked up at me.
”So? You’ve been standing there watching me. What brings you here, Neil?”
”Oh—right. Actually, I was thinking of building a public bath in the post town.”
”A public bath, like the ones in the kingdom where everyone bathes together? Do you think that’ll catch on here in the empire?”
”We won’t know until we try. But I’ll need to get creative if I want people to accept it.”
”Ah, so that’s where I come in. All right, what do you want me to make?”
”For now, a few kinds of herbal baths… and a lotion bath.”
”A lotion bath?” she asked, frowning.
”It’s practically essential in the women’s side of a public bath. Without it, you risk a riot.”
”A riot? How did the topic of bathing suddenly lead to riots?”
”Let’s just say a woman’s passion for beauty knows no borders.”
”Hmm… that sounds half convincing, half absurd. But fine, I get it. Like those society ladies at the banquet—only ten times more dangerous. I agree, avoiding that scenario is vital. And you know, I’ve only ever made products applied to hair and skin. Mixing something into the water itself could be interesting—no risk of uneven application.”
”I’ll leave the beauty part to you. It’s not exactly my area.”
”Sure. Sounds fun. But first I’d better finish this up—Stella’s laundry won’t dry if she doesn’t get it on the line before sundown.”
”Then why’d you drag her in here in the middle of it?”
”Sorry, sorry,” she said breezily.
Her apology was as insincere as ever, but she knew I wasn’t seriously angry. Some things weren’t worth pressing further.
”By the way, Stella, you’re from the kingdom, right? What are public baths there really like?”
”Um… sorry. They only have them in towns. I grew up in a village, so I’ve never used one.”
”Too bad. I wanted to hear firsthand what lotion baths and herbal baths are like.”
”Maybe Sia-san would know? I heard she traveled through the kingdom before coming to the frontier,” Stella offered.
Sia—Estesia—had helped us with the Golarf affair, and since then I’d started calling her by the nickname she preferred. Even so, I still tacked on “-san.” Any closer, and frankly, it felt dangerous. Her affection toward me was… different from others. Heavy. Sticky. Enough to make me keep a bit of distance.
”Hmm. Would Estesia-san really go to a public bath?” I muttered.
”She told me once she’d tried a herbal bath in the kingdom. Nobles there often invited her, she said,” Stella explained.
”Ah, right. I’ve heard that in the kingdom, nobles conduct business by first inviting someone to bathe, then talking in the salon afterward. Even Sia couldn’t refuse a foreign noble’s invitation.”
”Exactly. She said herself, ‘If it had been an imperial noble, I’d never have gone.’”
”Then maybe I should ask her. Stella, when you finish hanging the wash, could you bring Estesia-san over?”
”Of course. I’ll see to it. …And that’s done,” Mei said.
She had finished applying the new medicine and now circled Stella, checking the results from every angle.
”Good, no spots missed. Once you’ve hung the laundry, wash this out. We’ll call Sia after.”
”Yes. Thank you for everything,” Stella said, bowing deeply before leaving the hut.
”Hear that? She thanked you. So much for your ‘test subject’ cover,” I teased.
Mei tilted her head. “Strange. I thought I had the reputation of a witch who’d indulge in a little wickedness just to satisfy her curiosity. I was sure she’d never notice.”
”Maybe because this formula was tailored for her, not the masses?” I said.
”True, I adjusted it for Stella,” she admitted, “but it’s not as if others couldn’t use it. Still, putting it on the market? Impossible. The cost alone would make it affordable only for nobles or the richest merchants.”
”Then why not just sell it to them?” I asked.
”This potion is meant to restore hair and skin left neglected and ruined,” she said. “Nobles rarely allow themselves to reach such a state. Well—” she gave a faint smile, “I’m proof it’s not impossible, but still, very few would want it.”
”Fair point. No market, no product.”
”If only I could keep the price low enough for commoners,” she sighed. “But some of the ingredients are minerals, and that makes it difficult.”
”If it were plants alone, I could grow them practically for free,” I said.
”Even if you don’t flood the market directly, you’ve already pushed the limits. Keep this up and you’ll be glared at again.”
”I know, I know.”
I’d let success get to my head, growing whatever I pleased. The result: I’d earned the hostility of a certain noble.
That noble was none other than the lord of Viscount Pelant’s territory, at the northern edge of the Empire near the Republic’s border.
When the idea of building a bakery in the frontier settlement came up, I decided to cultivate Dhru Wheat—a grain said to grow only in Pelant’s lands. At first it seemed safe: the bakery served only the settlement, and though people had begun to take notice of our little town, bread alone wasn’t news enough to travel far.
What betrayed us was Shiown. Word spread that commoners could now taste dishes once reserved for the nobility, and among them was bread made with Dhru Wheat. Once that reached Pelant’s ears, the truth was out.
”Never imagined he’d send someone all the way from the northern edge of the Empire to our settlement in the south,” I muttered.
”It only proves how seriously he took it,” Mei replied. “A letter alone wouldn’t have eased his fears.”
The settlement often drew lords in person, but Pelant never bothered with the journey himself. Instead, he sent a messenger. Not a steward, not even a retainer—just an ordinary servant. Worse, the man carried no letter, only Pelant’s name as authority.
”That poor fellow,” I said. “Just a servant, yet saddled with a duty far above his station.”
”You’re missing the point,” Mei said flatly. “It’s not about the servant—it’s about Pelant sending one as his proxy. It means he’s mocking you. This isn’t just an insult; it’s a deliberate humiliation.”
”Maybe so,” I muttered, “but it’s Pelant we’re talking about.”
Empire nobles cared about appearances. Their reputations might not always be shining, but their masks rarely slipped. Everyone knew the truth, of course—that behind the silk and jewels lay corruption. Outwardly, they looked clean; inwardly, filthy.
Pelant, however, was different. His reputation was openly foul. Harmon once whispered during a tasting, ‘It’s a wonder Grelego hasn’t done him in already. He’s that vile.’ Think of the most classic villainous lord, and you’d have Pelant.
Normally, a man like that would have been devoured by his peers long ago.
”Neil, I know you don’t care about noble pride,” Mei went on, “but others do. If you’re mocked, then Count Atmiras’ house, and all who serve it, are mocked as well. Keep that in mind.”
”I know,” I said. “I don’t plan on giving in to meaningless demands. I just don’t want negotiations dragged out with pointless posturing.”
”And that’s why you agreed to Pelant’s demand without conditions?” she pressed.
”It wasn’t a big demand,” I shrugged.
”Ordinarily you’d counter with a demand of your own.”
”All he asked was that I not sell Dhru Wheat outside. Since I wasn’t doing that anyway, nothing changed. Better to leave it at that than risk endless back-and-forth with Pelant.”
”That’s not just about him. You’d have done the same with anyone.” She sighed. “Still… I can’t blame you for wanting to avoid repeated negotiations with Pelant. Nothing good ever comes of him.”
”Exactly. And I’ve got other problems to deal with. I don’t need more trouble on my plate.”
”Other problems?”
”Convincing a priest to settle here,” I said.
”Oh right, the clinic’s nearly finished. So he’s arriving soon?”
”Next week,” I groaned, burying my head in my hands. “Next week already.”
”You’ve been saying how badly you wanted a priest skilled in healing magic,” she reminded me.
”I wanted a high-ranking healer, not an inquisitor tagging along!”
When talk of inviting clergy began, I’d envisioned them as physicians, not missionaries. The Theocracy, naturally, wanted to send religious officials. After endless rounds of negotiation between them and my father, we reached a compromise: the priest would serve as a healer.
But one condition was non-negotiable—the inquisitor would stay in the settlement as well. And that was what gave me a headache.
”Why send an inquisitor when he’s not even coming as clergy?” I demanded.
”It’s the frontier,” Mei said calmly. “There’s history here—large-scale monster attacks, remember? From their view, sending an inquisitor as protection makes perfect sense.”
”So they don’t trust our defenses?”
”Not so much mistrust,” she said, “as doubt. They wonder if we’d protect outsiders with the same devotion we show our own. The inquisitor is their insurance.”
”If that’s all it is, I could live with it,” I muttered. “But I doubt it’s only that…”
Notes:
• Stella – Female. A young woman from a village in the territory of Count Cordis. Her appearance is that of a young girl with a fixed smile, reflecting her traumatic experiences. She was renamed Remia by the brothel owner in Malm. Her relationship with others is marked by survival and adaptation, as she endures sexual exploitation and bullying. Her inner thoughts reveal a deep sense of despair and disconnection from her original identity.
• Grelego – Ally of the empire. The one who judges those who harm the empire.
• Harmon – An experienced hunter and guard who came to the settlement and stayed. He is part of a hunting group with Demar, Dominic, Jott, Victor and Kilk. He knows Nick and Lewya, and discusses business ideas with Nick. He first appears in Chapter 220.
• Count Atmiras – MC’s family
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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