Chapter 57: They Don’t Call It the Root of All Illness for Nothing
Hi there I am Kikunoi Ageha, nearly six years old, and I have collapsed once again. How’s everyone doing?
Right now, I’m lying on my bed in nothing but pumpkin shorts while someone kneads my squishy face and pudgy belly.
How did it come to this!?
I mean, I fainted—so yeah, I get it.
“Manmaru-chan, you’re furrowing your brow. Try to relax.”
(*Eun: manmaru=plumpy plump. it's like an endearing nickname for a round chubby person)
“Hyai...”
That’s impossible.
Slender fingers, slick with sweet-smelling oil, are kneading the flab of my chin like it’s bread dough. I feel like a piece of meat being tenderized for deep-frying. But sorry, Lara-san—no matter how much you knead my body, it’s all fat. I won’t turn out tasty.
Well… anyway.
I collapsed again after overthinking things. Classic me. But this time, I woke up in about thirty minutes—quicker than usual. I’d like to think that’s thanks to the magic nerve training I’ve been doing.
When I came to, it was pure chaos.
Regulus-kun was sniffling and crying, while Kanade-kun held him, looking absolutely pale.
"I remembered what you told me to! I passed it on properly, so don’t worry!"
He looked up at Romanov-sensei and Rottenmeier-san, who both nodded solemnly.
I bet they even took notes or something.
Relieved, I watched as Viktor-san used his magic to scan me from head to toe. Thanks to that, we discovered I had stiff shoulders, poor circulation, and migraines. Lara-san added that maybe my frequent tantrums were actually from those migraines.
“Maybe you couldn’t express the pain in your head or shoulders well, so the stress just built up and made you irritable,” she said.
That theory floored Rottenmeier-san.
Turns out both the poor circulation and the stiff shoulders are tied to my obesity.
Back when I was nearly dying from illness, I looked happiest when eating, so no one really stopped me from overeating. They thought at least I’d have that bit of comfort—but it backfired.
Raising kids really is hard.
Not that I meant to console Rottenmeier-san, but according to Lara-san, there are actually quite a few noble children who’ve gotten fat for similar reasons. People mean well—giving them extra snacks because of their difficult circumstances. It’s kind, but depending on the child, it can backfire.
I guess I’m the textbook case of it going wrong.
Still, she said thanks to that, I did get proper nutrition—maybe too much—but that’s why my skin is so plump and smooth.
So here I am now, receiving an oil massage to fix my stiff shoulders and poor circulation.
It feels nice, sure, but showing my flabby body to someone else? It’s humiliating.
Especially when she pinched my belly fat—I seriously wanted to crawl into a hole. Not that I had the guts to run away in just pumpkin shorts, mind you.
When you're lying here like this, it's best not to think too hard. Try to empty your mind. I started counting the glass beads hanging from the chandelier since there weren’t any stains on the ceiling.
Then Lara-san’s fingers moved to my cheeks.
“Say, Manmaru-chan.”
“Fai?” (Yes)
“About what we were talking about earlier…”
“Faa?” (Wha--)
“Training artisans, protecting techniques, managing rights, and creating laws for them… what is it that you want to do?”
What do I want to do, huh...
I just want to share some of my needlework knowledge—new, useful things that the townspeople can turn into side jobs.
In this world, where technology hasn’t advanced much, mass production isn’t really a thing. Most stuff ends up handmade. That’s why craftsmen and creators are so important.
Especially for new techniques—they’re hard to invent, harder to pass on, and ridiculously costly to develop in the first place. Even just establishing something as a formal craft takes a lot of effort.
“So… you want to make laws to monopolize techniques?”
“No, the opposite. I want them shared widely—spread as far as they can go. But I also want the people who develop these techniques to be compensated fairly. That’s all. Everything costs something. You can’t live on respect alone.”
“I see…”
“Visible rewards lead to more motivation.”
That’s how innovation continues.
To do that, we need to promise compensation—or at least protect their right to ask for it—and maybe even protect the artisans themselves.
But this can’t be a law limited to Kikunoi’s domain. It has to be national. Otherwise, I can’t protect artisans and craftsmen once they leave my lands.
In my past life, there was something called Venetian glass—a beautiful craft.
Terrified of their methods leaking out, rulers forced the glassmakers onto an island, restricted all movement, and tried to monopolize the technique. Even then, other countries kidnapped these artisans just to get the secrets.
“I don’t want to treat Kikunoi’s artisans like that. If someone is forcibly taken, I’d fight through legal means to bring them back. No matter how big the other house is, I’ll fight fairly. But if we can just agree to pay the artisans or their sponsoring house, we could avoid those pointless conflicts, right?”
“Yeah… fair point.”
Lara-san looked a little confused at “Venetian glass,” but once I said it was “a craft from another world,” she seemed to understand—probably something Romanov-sensei had told her.
The problem is the law itself.
Isn’t this what’s called a “patent law”? But I was a civil servant in my past life, and this wasn’t even close to my area of expertise.
People assume civil servants are all legal experts, but really, they just know their own departments well. My specialty was social welfare, for the record.
Even living into my thirties, I barely scraped by. That’s the limit of my knowledge.
My best friend used to read light novels and would tell me all about them—how protagonists with modern knowledge time-traveled or reincarnated and then dominated in another world.
Yeah, well, here’s what happens when the knowledge is only halfway decent: not much.
Still, I guess I shouldn’t say it’s worthless.
Thanks to that knowledge, I can support myself now, and I’ve learned just how much people care about me.
Just being alive is already a huge win.
Anyway, I want that law—whatever it’s called.
How does one even go about making a law like that?
Lara-san gently pressed her fingers to my brow, smoothing out the crease, but then she froze.
When I looked up, her face had a guarded expression.
The room suddenly felt colder. Then she slipped her hands under my arms, scooped me up, and sprinted out of the room.
As my vision blurred with confusion, she abruptly stopped.
“Manmaru-chan, something’s coming!”
“Huh? What? What do you mean!?”
She clutched me protectively, and above her head, a swirling white vortex appeared—blinding light erupted and—
“That might be something I can help with!”
Even though we were inside, glittering stars rained down.
The vortex vanished, and in its place appeared winged sandals, silver curls, and a swirling white robe.
“Yo! Long time no see!”
“L-Lord Igor!?”
“Pumpkin shorts really suit you, by the way.”
Needless to say, I screamed.
FOR ANYONE WHO DOESN'T KNOW WHAT PUMPKIN SHORTS LOOKS LIKE:
Thank you for the translation!
ReplyDeleteIs there maybe a chapter missing? The last chapter and this chapter seem to have a jump, in between.
Sorry I meant to comment below ch 54 how my comment ended up here I don't know..
ReplyDeleteHI!!! OMG!! THANK YOU SO MUCH POINTING IT OUT TO ME. I fixed it already.
DeleteONCE AGAIN THANK YOU SO MUCH!!