“Vi, Viscount! It’s growing! Your hair is growing!”

“What?”

The butler hurriedly held up a mirror and stood in front of the viscount.

“Gasp!”

As the butler said, hair began to grow little by little from the area where the medicine was applied.

Viscount Glump shed tears of emotion at the apparent visible effect.

“T-This isn’t a dream, is it? Right?”

“Yes! It’s real! It’s real hair, viscount!”

It was not a very appealing sight to see him shed tears with purple medicine on his hair, but the faithful butler rejoiced as if he was joyful too.

After embracing in delight for a long time, the viscount belatedly accepted the letter from the Valfruga Duchy with both hands politely again.

It was a distinctly different attitude from before.

‘What I had sent you just now was a sample of the hair loss medicine made by our Duchy. The effect will last for two weeks, and if you wish to purchase more of the item, please contact the Valfruga Duchy.’

Two weeks?

This joy only lasts two weeks?

He rose from his seat stoically.

Then he looked back at the butler and ordered.

“Send someone to the Duchy of Valfruga to buy all this medicine immediately!”

*  *  *

Please do not repost. Read only at Dropped Inks.

It was a success.

I smiled at the mountain of letters.

It was worthwhile to spend a lot of money distributing samples to the nobles.

In addition, the aristocrats who did not receive the samples also flocked to the Valfruga Castle after seeing the effects on the people around them.

“How are the sales going?”

“It’s to the point we can’t sell anymore due to shortage of supplies. It’s already fully booked for the next two years.”

Treon said while organising the letters.

“Everyone was very anxious. Some even asked for the medicine urgently, saying that they would even pay ten times the original price. They even tried to bribe me with money. I never thought this day would come……”

A strange light shone on his face, as though he had remembered the Duchy in the past where it was once gloomy as no one ever cared for it. 

The atmosphere was about to become serious, so I deliberately asked in a playful tone.

“How much money did they offer you?”

The amount that Treon whispered to me with a smile was much larger than I expected.

I asked back in amazement.

“So did you accept it?”

“No way.”

“Well, still.”

“Rather than accepting the money and disrespecting madam, I believe that faithfully following your decision will give me a greater benefit than such a small sum of money.”

“What……Have you settled on registering the patent?”

“I’ve even received the Emperor’s seal long ago.”

As expected, Treon was reliable in that way.

“By the way, you shouldn’t make the medicine yourself, you have to hire someone. What will you do?”

“Of course, we should hire locals.”

What’s the point of having a lot of money?

Even the locals should have a lot of money to be able to circulate it. 

“They can rest when they’re sick, adhere to their working hours, and receive a bonus if the sales are good.”

I counted with my fingers and listed the conditions of the job I wanted to create.

Treon, who heard me, gave a strange look.

“Why?”

“Madam takes very good care of her employees. The salary you offered is already quite high.”

“Because when their welfare is taken care of, workers would have a strong sense of responsibility.”

I wanted to make a lot of money, but I didn’t want to build a black company.

A boss who doesn’t even pay the minimum hourly wage while making them work overtime until midnight.

When someone said they would like to take a break because his fever rose to 38 degrees, the boss said that young people these days lack effort. 

The boss who bought a new car while delaying their salary for two months, saying that the company’s circumstances were difficult.

Someone was about to be homeless in the middle of winter because they couldn’t pay their rent.

‘And yet, I remained there for a full year.’

Because if I quit there, I really had nowhere to go.

I shook my head as I recalled the bitter past.

Now was not the time.

*  *  *

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In any case, as the money from selling hair loss medicine came in, the housekeeping in the castle became lively.

While I was busy dealing with the housekeeping in the castle, a letter from the informant merchant arrived. 

I came down to the village along with Bircher after hearing that they had found and brought the person I was looking for.

“The atmosphere is much better than when I first came, isn’t it?”

The streets during spring were clean and lively.

The shop owner’s expression brightened, indicating that business was doing well.

“It’s all thanks to you, madam. Thanks to madam hiring residents to produce hair loss medicine, there are only a few people without a job in the Duchy anymore. This village was brought back to life because of you.”

Bircher said, as if it was natural.

I heard people talking as I walked down the street.

“Oh, aren’t you working today?”

“I got off work early because I wasn’t feeling well.”

“You can do that? I’m jealous. We have to go to work every day unless there is a heavy snowfall and the store collapses.”

“Yup, the madam told me not to overdo it and leave work early if I get sick. I’m not saying this because she’s our madam, but she’s really sweet and kind. Sometimes, she even greets me when we run into each other.”

“You mean the duchess? Wow, I envy you. Hey, is the castle going to hire people again? I want to work there, too.”

My face flushed at the compliment.

I quickly passed by them.

Bircher noticed my expression and smiled mischievously.

“Are you embarrassed?”

“……A little.”

“Oh well. You heard them, you give a good job.”

“It’s a normal thing, not a great matter.”

“Huh, of course it is. You care a lot! Madam pays better than the average aristocrat family! Please don’t overwork!”

“I want people to continue working, so I have to be nice.”

“Exactly! Usually nobles wouldn’t hire people like that, but it’s amazing that madam takes care of them that way! It’s all thanks to madam.”

I felt like I would melt if I listened to it any more.

I quickened my steps and entered the bar where I was supposed to meet the informant merchant.

Although I had a completely different appearance from the bar in Martech County, the informant merchant, who was dressed in shaggy clothes, still welcomed me with open arms.

“Ah, young miss! Long time no see!”

“Is he really here? Where’s my request?”

“I’ve prepared it in advance.”

The informant merchant led me to an empty lot behind the shop.

‘Anway, I’m glad the money I paid initially was enough.’

I sighed with relief.

Even though I was making quite a bit of money now, it was better to spend less money.

“I investigated based on the information you gave me, and there was only one person who fit it. But the name was different from what you have told me.”

“Hmm…”

“Well, there’s no mercenaries who use their real names anyway. I thought it would be better for you to see and judge for yourself.”

“Alright.”

The Benesch I met after following the informant dealer was a little different from my imagination.

What Benesch usually said in the original story went something like this.

‘Dirty aristocrats!’

‘Luc, don’t be like those filthy aristocrats.’

‘I hate nobles. Pigs who are completely selfish and only know how to fill their own stomachs.’

I imagined him as a passionate commoner who dreamt of a revolution, but he was surprisingly ordinary.

He even seemed timid as he kept glancing at me before looking around.

‘Will he change as time goes by?’

I tilted my head and said to the man.

“Can you show me how to swing a sword?”

Regardless of his personality, the important thing was how well he can teach the sword.

“Y-Yes!”

The man, who was very nervous by my words, went further from me and headed towards the centre of the open lot.

Then he took a deep breath and began to swing his sword.

“Hmm……”

Perhaps it is because I didn’t know swords well.

It just seems like something was missing.

Even considering the time flow, the clumsy swordsmanship skills could not be felt as a ‘solid’ or ‘neat’ skill as described in the original story.

“Madam. You are not impressed?”

Butcher looked at my face and asked.

“Yes.”

With that kind of swordsmanship, it’s much better to just have Bircher teach.

After all, we cannot surpass 20 years of time.

“Still, that’s a very good swordsmanship for a mercenary. He must have trained really hard by himself. I think he will be a good swordsman in 10 more years.”

“Better than you?”

“I think that would be difficult. Unless, he was scouted by an aristocrat and learned formally.”

“What’s the difference between learning under a noble family?”

“It is very different. Most mercenaries learn their swordsmanship in real combat. You can say the method is more wild and anomalous. On the other hand, famous nobles have a systematic training method for each family. That’s why the swords of nobles and knights are much neater and solid.”

Suddenly, one possibility passed through my head.

What if Benesch was an aristocrat rather than a commoner?

“Wait, informant. Are there any nobles like the Benesch I’m looking for?”

“There is no aristocrat named Benesch.”

“The name doesn’t really matter.”

I explained everything about Benesch as much as I could remember.

After hearing my explanation, the informant merchant thought about it for a while before responding.

“He doesn’t have a three year old daughter, but there is someone similar to the person you talk about.”

“Who is it?”

“Logan Rothrun, the youngest brother of Count Rothrun. But I don’t think he’s the person you’re looking for. He was famous for his swordsmanship in the past, but now he lives in isolation. It’s been over three years since he’s held a sword.”

Hold on. His daughter is three years old now.

Does he live in isolation because he lost his daughter?

Either way, it was worth a gamble.

“Then find out if he has a daughter. She should probably be staying in an inn by now.”

I remembered that he found his daughter at an inn.

“Well, we did what we are asked to do, but…Can you pay the price even if you already spent the money?”

“Don’t worry, so please find it as soon as possible. Oh, and information about Logan and Count Rothrun as well.”

A few days later, an informative letter arrived.

I quickly glanced at Logan’s information.

It turned out to be a common love story.

A pitiful forbidden romance of the century between an aristocrat and an ordinary maid.

The two fell in love, but the prestigious aristocratic family could not accept such an ordinary maid as a family member.

In the end, the maid was expelled from the mansion, and the young master, who was separated from his beloved due to family pressure, lost his will to live and became a hopeless man.

But there was one fact that neither the Count of Rothrun nor the young master knew.

It was the fact that the maid was pregnant with the young master’s child.

The maid, who was kicked out of the mansion, survived by helping with chores in a store and gave birth to a child.

The maid died right after giving birth to the child, and the child was raised in the hands of the store owner.

‘No wonder. Was this what he meant by he regretted being away from his daughter?’

Perhaps in the original story, Logan found his daughter belatedly, but his daughter soon died of illness. Logan blackened and became a mercenary king.

The last line of the letter read:

‘I’ve confirmed that Logan Rothrun has a daughter. As the client said, she is three years old.’

I cheered when I saw the letter.

Found you. Our Luc’s teacher!

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