Volume 11 - Chapter 1

The Apothecary Diaries

Sanban (Number Three) #

Casual Chat

I will update it with the atmosphere similar to the early serialization.

A crowd is gathering at the port.

Rahan watched the returning ship from inside the carriage.

It’s been about a year since the imperial brother returned to the center. Among them was Rahan’s family.

“Lord Rahan. May I park the carriage here?”

The one asking politely is Sanban, she’s the same age as Rahan, but she wears men’s clothes and tightly ties her hair. The reason her name is a number is because Rahan’s adoptive father (Rakan), can’t remember names. She’s one of the children picked up from somewhere, and that’s Sanban.

Sanban is the daughter of a former merchant family. When she ran away because she disliked the marriage partner her parents had chosen, she came to Rakan to sell herself. Normally, she would have been sent back, but being a daughter of a merchant, she had business acumen.

Currently, Rakan’s debt is being repaid by Rahan and Sanban’s side jobs. She dresses as a man because she doesn’t want to be underestimated as a woman and because of her rebelliousness against being forced into marriage.

And since she is Sanban, there must be Ichifan, Nifan, and currently up to sixth (San means three). Occasionally, Rakan forgets Rahan’s name and calls him ‘Zero’. Sanban has decided not to return to her parents, so she has abandoned her name and calls herself Sanban.

“That’s right. Let’s park the carriage right by the harbor. If we mention Father-in-law’s name, they should let us through.”

“Understood.”

Rahan takes out a metal plate engraved with ‘R’. Originally, it should be held by the head of the household, but Rakan might lose it. Therefore, Rahan is holding onto it.

“With this, I can take over the house anytime.”

Someone joked. However, if he were to do such a thing, it would be Rahan who would be completely crushed. It’s incomprehensible that he would look like such an unfilial child despite working hard to repay the debt.

“By the way, isn’t there anyone else who can drive?”

The one holding the reins of the horse carriage is Sanban herself. They are conversing through a small window for communication, so it’s a bit difficult to talk. There are guards accompanying them, but they are on horses, not in the carriage.

“Oh, um, yes. It would be wasteful to arrange for a carriage outside, so it’s more efficient for me, who happens to be available, to drive, isn’t it?”

“That’s true. However, there’s always a driver when it’s the first or second.”

“Is that so?”

While they were talking, they arrived at the port. People were already disembarking from the ship. It’s easy to find Rakan. The place where the voices are louder is where the imperial brother is. Conversely, the place where there are strangely few people and it’s quiet is where Rakan is.

“Yes. Excuse me, please let us through.”

Rahan quickly heads towards where Rakan is. There’s a burly man on the other side of the crowd.

Rakan is weak in vehicles. He’s fine with carriages, but apparently not with ships. Since Rahan also gets seasick quite badly, he feels a strange blood connection at times like this.

“Lord Rahan.”

The one calling out is Rakan’s adjutant, Onsou. The journey to the Western Capital for about a year seems to have been tough, as he looks even more haggard than when they last met.

“Father-in-law seems to be of no use at the moment, so I’d like to send him back. Is that alright?”

“Yes. Thank you. I will inform His Majesty on my behalf.”

Onsou had a rather relieved expression.

He asked the guards to carry his foster father, who had turned pale, to the carriage. Frankly, he didn’t want to be in the same space mixed with stomach acid and filth.

Rahan rolled Rakan into the carriage and climbed onto the coachman’s seat.

“Ra… Lord Rahan?”

“It’s a bit cramped, but bear with me. I might end up vomiting if I stay in the same space as Father-in-law like that.”

Apologies to Sanban, but Rahan couldn’t ride a horse alone. Nor did he have the stamina to walk home.

“Ah, I wanted to greet His Majesty, but it can’t be helped. Let’s do it next time.”

Now, even if he headed towards that crowd, he could only become one of the masses. Rahan knew he was a plain little man far from standing out in appearance. To make himself bigger than he appeared, he had to showcase his abilities and provide the opponent with enticing information. Simply dressing up in inappropriate luxury and boasting would be futile and rather ridiculous.

His Majesty was a person of discerning eyes and not easily deceived. Rahan wouldn’t tolerate it if his inner beauty didn’t match his outer appearance. In that regard, His Majesty was a creature of heaven, Rahan’s ideal.

“A year, huh? I wonder if I got one of those seeds.”

He remembered his step-sister as an afterthought. He wanted to meet Maomao right away and talk, but he had to deal with the luggage in the carriage, so he gave up.

“Lord Rahan, should I contact Maomao-sama for you?”

Sanban said to Rahan.

“Can I rely on you?”

Usually, if Rahan had simple messages to send, Sanban would often write them for him. Maomao didn’t know Sanban, but Sanban knew Maomao’s situation one-sidedly.

“Yes, we must get them to pick those up as soon as possible.”

Sanban said in a strangely muffled tone.

If you asked what ’those’ were, you would know as soon as you arrived at the mansion.

In front of a mansion with strange chess piece sculptures, two women were waiting.

“Lord Rahan!”

A slender woman approached the carriage.

Her name was Yao, and she was taller than Rahan, but still only seventeen. Behind her was a woman named Enen, who stared sharply with her eyes.

These two were Maomao’s colleagues, and once, they stayed at the mansion to repay a favor to Maomao, but it ended in failure.

For some reason, these two ended up staying at the mansion.

“How was Maomao?”

Their worried faces were very charming because their appearances were also well-formed. But that’s all there was to it. Rahan shouldn’t get any closer to Yao. The alarm in his head continued to ring.

“I just went to pick up Father-in-law. Unfortunately, I couldn’t pick up my step-sister. Didn’t I tell you that before I left?”

He kept his istance from her. Otherwise, she would be afraid of Enen’s gaze.

“I see.”

Disappointed Yao.

“I see.”

For some reason, Enen was glaring. Looking at the dejected Yao, it seemed as if Rahan was at fault. What on earth should she do?

“Do you have any other business? If we keep standing here chatting, we’ll keep the Lady waiting indefinitely.”

Sanban said with narrowed eyes.

“…Right. My apologies.”

Yao also narrowed her eyes and looked at Sanban. Enen had a dry smile on her face.

“And as promised, we were worried until Maomao-sama returned, so we discussed staying here. I will arrange for a servant, so please prepare your luggage.”

Sanban said with a refreshing smile.

“As long as Maomao-sama returns, there will be no regrets in this mansion.”

For some reason, Rahan’s sixth sense told him that this place was going to be a battlefield.

“…Indeed.”

Yao seemed to be thinking about something.

“Could you wait a few more days? It will take some time to pack up as the stay has been long.”

“Oh, I thought your capable maidservant would quickly tidy things up. Also, according to the rumors, your relatives are also heading to the Western Capital. Shouldn’t they be given priority over Maomao-sama?”

“Oh, about that, my uncle seems to be staying in the Western Capital for now. It seems there’s a fuss at home about that, and it looks like I have no place to go.”

For some reason, despite the polite exchange, sparks were flying between Yao and Sanban. And Enen was simply glaring at Rahan.

Rahan just wanted to get away from there and got down from the coachman’s seat. Then, she called out to a nearby servant.

“Is Father-in-law’s bedroom prepared? Prepare some gentle porridge and non-greasy sweets. Some fruit water would be nice too, make sure it’s chilled.”

“Understood.”

“Then I’ll take care of the remaining work.”

Rahan briskly walked away from the scene, as if he wanted to escape from it.