The Afterlife of the Good Person (4)

"Bermont?" 

"Yes! Lord Lopez is actually the third son of the Count of Bermont. He married the eldest daughter of the Lopez family and inherited the title of 'Viscount.' As expected of someone with noble blood, he's well-versed in high society culture and has a keen interest in new things. Especially this moonstone necklace here. He was quite fascinated with it. The intricate craftsmanship over the rough stone is the very essence of the Viscount's style…"

The merchant rambled on about the necklace. I half-listened while I bought the necklace. The merchant smiled slyly and added this tidbit.

"Well, the current Count of Bermont is Lord Lopez' older brother. When the Count is away, Lord Lopez often stands in as the Count's representative. However, the people of Bermont don't like him much."

"They don't like the Viscount?"

"Well, it's a bit awkward for me to say, but… how should I put it… he has a pathological hatred of commoners."

"Well, well."

I clicked my tongue in a somewhat exaggerated manner as I looked around the stall again, then decided to be direct, no need to hide anything.

"You seem to be quite knowledgeable about the nobility. Is there any particular friendship between Baron Roald and Lord Lopez?"

"Friendship between the Baron and the Lord Lopez? Hmm, I'm not sure. The Baron is a vassal of Count Ertinez, and Lord Lopez is a vassal of Count Bermont… I don't know, really. But they're both nobles, so they might be friendly with each other, right?"

It seemed highly unlikely that any visible connection existed between them. I picked something off the merchant's stall and paid a bit more. The merchant grinned widely.

"I run an inn down that alley, so if you ever get hungry or need some company, feel free to come by."

"Of course! Take care, my friend!"

I turned and walked through the market, asking a few more people. Merchants, being so well-versed in gossip, often had a wealth of background information, especially those who had dealings with nobles. They often had the inside track on the behaviour and preferences of the upper class, so I was able to gather more useful tidbits than expected.

The jewelry I bought from the merchants was stored carefully in my bag and tossed into the warehouse. Surely, there would be a use for them at some point.

In conclusion, Lord Lopez seemed to be quite a haughty figure—probably the type to be used as a semi-antagonistic character early in the story.

I tapped the table lightly. After selling information to a few people and helping locals find jobs the previous day, customers had started coming in, having heard the rumours. Based on the information I gathered from the kids in the morning, I was able to satisfy them.

Since I had nothing else to do, I busied myself with the sausages and skewers, which sold well as appetizers. Cooking them wasn't difficult, so I had Leonardo work hard at it.

The guests, having enjoyed the plum candy as a palate cleanser, thought it was a good idea to leave some of the candy out in the shop for anyone to try. Modern marketing techniques were being applied right here. Maybe I should partner with the candy shop.

As midnight approached, the inn became quiet. There were no overnight guests today, just the diners. I called out to Leonardo, who was tidying up the first floor, rolling up his sleeves.

"Let's call it a night. Take a rest."

Leonardo nodded. He started to head up to the second floor but stopped halfway, looking a bit hesitant. Curious, I looked over at him, and a quiet question came from him.

"…Aren't you sleeping?"

"Later."

I waved my hand dismissively. I finished going over the ledgers and checking the inventory. I had a feeling this scenario was coming to an end soon. Now that I thought about it, didn't Vittorio get injured? I should prepare some medicine. I'll need to remember where the local physician's office is in Sinistra. And I would need to guide Vittorio and Leonardo to be in the right place when the carriage passed by.

I had been moving around the scenario area, handling various tasks, and I couldn't help but wonder if, perhaps, due to the butterfly effect, the scenario might not unfold exactly on schedule. The objective of this scenario, after all, was for Leonardo to rescue Vittorio.

That day, I spent the whole night worrying about this and that. In the early stages of a business, it's always overwhelmingly busy. When Leonardo woke up at dawn, he greeted me with an almost expectant look on his face. He added, however, a comment that seemed a bit out of place.

"Did you get any sleep? Rest is important."

"Ah, I was waiting for that line from you."

I chuckled and brushed it off. That day, I stayed put and didn't leave the inn. Leonardo seemed rather curious about that.

Then came a rather leisurely period. Since there were no customers at this early hour, we spent the time lounging around the inn. Then, a soft knock—tap, tap, tap—came from the back door.

It seemed like the "guardless" door wasn't as unguarded as I thought, as Leonardo noticed the sound. I waved my hand, signaling him to not worry about it.

"It's just the kids playing around."

I stuffed some candy and coins into my pocket and hung it on the door. The sound of kids giggling and running off with the stash faintly reached my ears.

Street kids. They had been hanging around near the gate and I asked them to let me know when a grand noble's carriage approaches from a distance.

"By the way, how about you and I go out for a bit?"

"The inn?"

"We'll keep it closed until noon. There aren't many customers in the morning anyway."

"Alright. Can you tell me why we're going out?"

I smiled faintly and replied, "Exploring Sinistra."

With that, I pulled Leonardo along and we headed out into the streets of Sinistra. Looking at the general layout of the scenario and the script so far, it seemed like 'Leovald' had some connection to the city. Leonardo seemed to know his way around the area, though he only seemed familiar with the general shape of the alleys. He didn't seem to know what shops were where or who lived where, but he clearly had a solid understanding of the terrain.

"Do you see it over there?"

"…A candy shop?"

"Pick out some of the new candy they have. Any flavour you like."

"Is this some kind of errand for a child?"

"This is all part of the guide. Go over, get familiar with people's faces, you know? And we're stocking up on supplies for the inn, so it's also a bit of work while we're out."

Leonardo, looking a bit uncomfortable, took the money I gave him and headed toward the Golden Droplet shop. Of course, I wasn't just doing this for fun—it was all for the scenario. I needed Leonardo to be positioned there when Lord Lopez passed by.

Sinistra was a well-paved commercial city, but there weren't wide streets everywhere that could accommodate the carriages of nobles. The roads with that kind of width were limited, and this one in particular connected directly to the city gates. The candy shop I had sent Leonardo to was located on this main street. I had heard that Vittorio often worked nearby as well. In other words, this wide avenue was the setting for the event in this scenario.

I heard the distant clatter of horses' hooves. I scanned the surroundings. People were bustling about, and the faint sound of someone shouting for others to clear the way reached my ears. Ah, and there he was, Vittorio. He was walking down the street with a large, hard loaf of black bread that I had given him the day before. Though it was tough, the large portion made it easy to share with the other street children in the same situation.

Ding. At just the right moment, Leonardo, holding a paper bag under his arm, came out of the shop. The carriage was gradually drawing closer. Then, as if on cue, Vittorio, who had been walking, accidentally bumped into someone in the crowd.

It wasn't intentional—Vittorio, being small and frail, hadn't seen the other person and collided with them, a completely unplanned and unavoidable accident. I watched idly, wondering if this was the work of the scenario.

"Get out of the way, you nuisance! Move!"

Everything happened like a storm. Leonardo dashed out like the wind, the startled horses reared, and the carriage jolted. People screamed in shock, and I, too, was startled, my heart nearly stopping for a moment.

Had he been hurt?

I should have looked in Vittorio's direction, but for a moment, I hesitated, my gaze fixed on the ground. Leonardo, rushing out in a hurry, had dropped the candy bag, and it was rolling on the floor. He had bought plum-flavoured and peppermint candies.

Even if it wasn't for that, everything happened so fast that I couldn't fully grasp what had just occurred. I was afraid the horses, spooked and rearing, might trample over someone, but somehow, both Leonardo and Vittorio were unharmed.

"Damn it!"

A furious voice came from the direction of the carriage. Through the narrow window, I caught a glimpse of Lopez, the young nobleman, with a long face and deeply set eyes.

"Do you even know who you just blocked? You fools… Are you out of your mind?"

Leonardo, who had hidden Vittorio behind him, stared at the nobleman silently. Though he was clearly below the noble in status on the street, his sharp gaze made it seem like he was looking down on Lopez as if reprimanding him.

"It was your fault for rushing the carriage in a crowded street. Why do you scold the child while ignoring your own mistake?"

"You insolent fool! Before that, who knows whether I almost hit an innocent child, or if I was nearly framed by that beggar who jumped in front of the carriage to get treatment money? Seeing this commoner boldly arguing like this, the latter seems much more plausible. This scammer…."

But the moment the nobleman sensed the growing murmurs from the crowd and saw Leonardo's stern gaze, his expression stiffened. Sinistra, being a particularly advanced city, had many wealthy commoners. They didn't tremble or shrink at the sight of nobility. The nobleman, feeling humiliated, said nothing further, lowered the curtain, and hastily urged the coachman to move on. 

"I don't have time to deal with such people. Let's go! Quickly!"

The carriage started moving again. As I watched the carriage roll away hastily, I turned to Leonardo. 

"…How's the kid? Did he get hurt badly?"

"He's got a few light bruises. But he looks more scared than anything. From his clothes, he's clearly a street kid. He could really use a place to rest for a while. If it's possible…"

"Yeah. Let's take him to the inn."

I nodded in agreement, knowing exactly what Leonardo was going to say. After sending Leonardo and Vittorio ahead, I stopped by the physician's to buy some herbal ointment for the wounds. I also bought some ice—though it was quite expensive, despite the cool autumn weather. They told me it was ice harvested from a lake last winter and stored in a cellar. It was probably the most expensive thing I had bought in Sinistra so far.

When I arrived at the inn, there were two people sitting together in an awkward but not uncomfortable atmosphere. I placed the ointment on one side and brought a basin filled with clean water.

"Alright, both of you, roll up your sleeves."

"Me too?"

"Yes, young master. I don't know if you noticed, but you've got a scrape too."

Vittorio already had bruises forming on his knees, and the abrasions looked painful just to look at. They weren't deep enough to have broken the skin or caused any serious injury, but he was still hurt. I gently cleaned the scraped areas, drying them before applying the ointment. Leonardo also had scratches on his arms and forehead, so I washed those with running water.

"It was Viscount Lopez. The man."

While applying the ointment to Leonardo's wound, I added the comment. It was something I had to emphasize for the sake of survival and the scenario. I needed to present the character's traits based on the information I had to ensure I'd stay alive.

"When he was young, his surname was Bermont. He married the eldest daughter of the Lopez family and inherited the title. The Lopez family has always been known for having daughters. From what I've heard, he's quite arrogant, looking down on commoners and people of low birth. You must've known that, right? Anyway, today I saw evidence of it firsthand."

"Evidence?"

"Oh, there's a scratch on your handsome forehead. How disappointing."

With a light exhale, I blew on Leonardo's wound after applying the ointment and turned my attention back to Vittorio. I hoped his injuries weren't too serious.