“I think it was intentional. The person who made the medicine deliberately cut up the bug and put it in the bottle. I think the bug is also an ingredient in the medicine, Mr. Beichi.”
Beichi nodded in agreement. His gaze turned to the corpse of a bug that looked like a winged ant.
“I don’t know what kind of bug it is. I’ll have to call Brother Illuor first.”
It took Beichi and Illuor a whole day to figure out what the bug was.
“After consulting with my godmother, I think this bug is most likely a roundworm.”
“A worm?”
“Yes, it’s called the eternal bug because it lives forever. This, really. We’ve only heard about it, but this is the first time we’ve actually seen it.”
“Live forever? You mean metaphorically?”
When Judith asked, Illuor neither nodded nor shook his head, but instead let out a sigh.
“When their bodies become old, they return to a cocoon state and reconstruct their bodies. If successful, they are reborn as young adults.”
“Is that really possible?”
Erne frowned and asked, looking at the mutilated corpse of a bug inside the medicine.
“They say that it’s possible if it consumes enough of certain nutrients. However, they say that those nutrients can only be obtained by eating its own kind.”
So, long ago, the bard of the desert called the worm a greedy insect that sought eternal youth.
“I heard that because they only tried to eat each other, their population gradually decreased and eventually became extinct. Amazingly, they’re still alive.”
“It seems that they have created a youth-absorbing potion using the worm. The reason Baron Morbius only looks for people with brown hair and brown eyes is probably because of the worm’s characteristics. Baron Morbius also has brown hair and brown eyes.”
Fratricide.
It is a youth that is maintained by eating its own kind.
Judith shook her head in annoyance as she thought of Lionel, who had similar hair and eyes to her own.
“It seems certain that the priest did something.”
A seemingly young medium, a strange potion, a rare insect thought to be extinct. All the evidence pointed to the priest.
"However..."
“Why, is there something on your mind?”
There are so many, so many in fact, that I don't know where to begin and where to end.
A sigh escaped Judith's lips.
After giving Cain the information about the Fountain of Youth, I returned to my shop and closed up, gathering my thoughts.
Although it wasn't completely clear, I confided to Erne that I suspected that the priest had put a curse on me called contagion.
“So the medium who put a curse on you is like a priest?”
“Yes. I guess he guessed that I had a psychic assistant while experiencing the side effects of the magical transformation at that time?”
That's why he warned Lionel to be careful of me. It's only natural that he would be interested in me, with my brown hair and brown eyes.
I muttered, putting the pieces of the puzzle together in my head.
“Because if you approach me without any reason, you might get caught using some kind of evil spell to absorb someone else’s youth.”
But Lionel ignored the boy's warning. It seems he was a fiery frog who would become even more angry if told not to do something.
“But why did the priest target you?”
“It might be because I interfered with the sale of cosmetics made from the corpse at that time. The priests might have held a grudge because his money supply was cut off.”
“That makes sense.”
“If not, what was the plan to use me to do to Erne?”
“Well, I guess not. Both Roam and the purple-feathered medium have said they have no interest in me anymore.”
So we felt a little relieved.
“If he becomes interested in me again, it’ll be a headache.”
Erne frowned and raised his forehead.
“I'm the one with the real headache.'
Beichi nodded in agreement. His gaze turned to the corpse of a bug that looked like a winged ant.
“I don’t know what kind of bug it is. I’ll have to call Brother Illuor first.”
It took Beichi and Illuor a whole day to figure out what the bug was.
“After consulting with my godmother, I think this bug is most likely a roundworm.”
“A worm?”
“Yes, it’s called the eternal bug because it lives forever. This, really. We’ve only heard about it, but this is the first time we’ve actually seen it.”
“Live forever? You mean metaphorically?”
When Judith asked, Illuor neither nodded nor shook his head, but instead let out a sigh.
“When their bodies become old, they return to a cocoon state and reconstruct their bodies. If successful, they are reborn as young adults.”
“Is that really possible?”
Erne frowned and asked, looking at the mutilated corpse of a bug inside the medicine.
“They say that it’s possible if it consumes enough of certain nutrients. However, they say that those nutrients can only be obtained by eating its own kind.”
So, long ago, the bard of the desert called the worm a greedy insect that sought eternal youth.
“I heard that because they only tried to eat each other, their population gradually decreased and eventually became extinct. Amazingly, they’re still alive.”
“It seems that they have created a youth-absorbing potion using the worm. The reason Baron Morbius only looks for people with brown hair and brown eyes is probably because of the worm’s characteristics. Baron Morbius also has brown hair and brown eyes.”
Fratricide.
It is a youth that is maintained by eating its own kind.
Judith shook her head in annoyance as she thought of Lionel, who had similar hair and eyes to her own.
“It seems certain that the priest did something.”
A seemingly young medium, a strange potion, a rare insect thought to be extinct. All the evidence pointed to the priest.
"However..."
“Why, is there something on your mind?”
There are so many, so many in fact, that I don't know where to begin and where to end.
A sigh escaped Judith's lips.
***
After giving Cain the information about the Fountain of Youth, I returned to my shop and closed up, gathering my thoughts.
Although it wasn't completely clear, I confided to Erne that I suspected that the priest had put a curse on me called contagion.
“So the medium who put a curse on you is like a priest?”
“Yes. I guess he guessed that I had a psychic assistant while experiencing the side effects of the magical transformation at that time?”
That's why he warned Lionel to be careful of me. It's only natural that he would be interested in me, with my brown hair and brown eyes.
I muttered, putting the pieces of the puzzle together in my head.
“Because if you approach me without any reason, you might get caught using some kind of evil spell to absorb someone else’s youth.”
But Lionel ignored the boy's warning. It seems he was a fiery frog who would become even more angry if told not to do something.
“But why did the priest target you?”
“It might be because I interfered with the sale of cosmetics made from the corpse at that time. The priests might have held a grudge because his money supply was cut off.”
“That makes sense.”
“If not, what was the plan to use me to do to Erne?”
“Well, I guess not. Both Roam and the purple-feathered medium have said they have no interest in me anymore.”
So we felt a little relieved.
“If he becomes interested in me again, it’ll be a headache.”
Erne frowned and raised his forehead.
“I'm the one with the real headache.'
I muttered to myself. I had secretly asked Illuor, who knew a lot, about the word vampire.
“Snake pie? I've never heard of a pie made with snakes, but I'm sure some people eat them, right? Vampires? I've never heard that word before. Vampires? I don't know vampires, but I do know vampire bats.”
Of course, since there are only two specimens, I can't say for sure that the word vampire doesn't exist in this world.
'But if that word doesn't exist in this world, how does the priest know? Surely not...'
Ah, no, I guess not, I shook my head but still felt uneasy.
I scratched the back of my neck because my chest felt tight.
“I told you not to scratch.”
Erne grabbed my wrist and pulled me down.
“If you keep scratching, the wound won’t heal.”
The fever from the poisoning went away in one night, but the itching didn't go away. Beichi prescribed some ointment to apply to the itching, but it only lasted a short time.
“If this continues, who will suffer, Miss Harrington?”
“I know, I’m the only one suffering.”
“No, no.”
Erne shook his head as he looked at the bandage soaking wet.
“It’s not you, it’s me. I’m the one taking care of you.”
“How much nursing do you do? You’re being too pretentious, Erne. Think back to the nursing I did for you when you were sick after being attacked by the mummy.”
“You mean that time when Miss Harrington groped me under the pretense of nursing me?”
“When did I ever grope again?”
I pouted and tried to scratch my neck again, but was caught by Erne. He grabbed my hand and intertwined it with his.
“If you keep focusing on something ticklish, you’ll want to scratch more. Try thinking about something else.”
“Any other thoughts?”
“Yes, for example, the inventory we need to take with us today.”
Erne pointed to a large box on one side of the store with the tip of his chin. A long sigh escaped my lips.
'Looking at that makes me stressed and my throat itches more, itches more.'
***
Another empty room in the Rhineland Mansion was filled. Not with a person, but with an object.
It was called the warehouse room. It wasn't a warehouse, but it was a room used like a warehouse.
It wasn't intended to be used as a warehouse, but as inventory piled up, it naturally transformed into a warehouse.
“Miss Harrington, you’re here.”
Ryan, who was organizing inventory in the warehouse, pretended to recognize me and Erne, who had brought more inventory from the store.
"Ha."
A heavy sigh escaped my lips. If you do business, your inventory can pile up.
The problem was that the inventory consisted mainly of new products.
“Why isn’t it selling?”
I was racking my brain over the stacks of birch and orange-scented candles. Even if just one new product fails, it is a huge blow, but they failed one after another.
The people who made the candles together had a good response, but the actual sales were small. At first, I let it go, thinking that it was understandable, but when the new products that were released next also piled up in inventory, my worries were not small.
Sales did not drop off, thanks to pre-orders derived from the royal banquet and popular existing products.
However, if no new products were released to continue the popularity of incense, it was only a matter of time before sales declined.
With a mountain of debt to repay and many mouths to feed, it would have been a disaster if sales had dropped.
'And I have to take care of the inventory too. How much money did I have to spend on that?'
My worries deepened as I calculated the amount of money that had gone into the inventory.
***
“Baron Lionel Morbius has died.”
The cause of his death was old age. Lionel, who had not been able to drink the fountain of youth or suck blood, aged rapidly within a week and died looking like a seventy-year-old man, Cain said.
“I didn’t know he would die so suddenly, but I’ve already figured out most of what I needed to know from the Baron, so there shouldn’t be any major problems.”
“You came here to tell me that news, Marquis?”
“Well, I guess you might be curious about the news since you and your wife have been busy with this and that, and also...”
Cain trailed off. An ominous feeling of foreboding pierced Judith's mind.
"No way."
Judith looked at Cain with wavering eyes.
“Do I have to go for questioning again?”
“I’m sorry, but I think you had an argument with the Baron... But this time, please just testify as the victim. I have other issues.”
What other problem could there be besides being dragged to the police station for questioning? Judith tilted her head, but Cain looked at Henry, not Judith.
“I think Sir Henry should return to the constabulary.”
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