Chapter 49 – Chapter 3: Deseo and Dienbus – 1
“Because we have arrived in Deseo. “I have to go do my job.”
“…”
“Tia has to go get medicine for Lee and Ritz, right?”
It was a very sudden breakup.
To be honest, the time I spent with you wasn’t long.
In terms of days, it’s only about 12 days.
But it felt longer than any other time.
It feels like I’ve been with you for a long time…
As we were about to break up like this, I felt something was regretful.
“Yes, but…”
There was nothing wrong with what Uncle Posao said.
Initially, the companionship was only promised up to Deseo.
No, we started walking together from the beginning when he followed me as he pleased.
Anyway, that goal has been achieved, so from now on I have to get the medicine on my own and return to Brisden.
Because it is a trip to revive Ritz.
“… That’s right. “I have to go save Ritz.”
“If it’s Tia… Ha, you can do it. Obviously.”
“Of course!”
Uncle Posao held out his hand.
The fingers were covered in hair, the joints were large and swollen, and the hands were soaked with sweat and were damp.
However, it contained a warm farewell.
Kwaak.
I held his hand tightly.
“Well then, Tia… “I’ll go.”
“Yes. See you in Brisden!”
“See you again? That means… I mean, you’re coming to see me… ?”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Well, at least once… “Maybe we can go to the general store?”
“… Hehe. Well, thank you for saying that. Then. This much…”
The man took his hand away and looked down at me for a moment.
But soon he turned his head and walked out of the alley.
Hwieeeeeing-.
The wind blows through the alleys.
When the man’s big back became invisible.
He felt like his chest was filled with wind.
I suddenly feel empty.
Should I have asked you to have dinner with me?
Should I have been honest and said thank you for helping me all this time?
I really don’t know.
Uncle Posao hasn’t changed much from before.
She was consistently fat, moody, and dull.
However, I felt like I really reflected on ‘what happened back then’ and tried hard to change.
Because I want to return my relationship, which had already fallen into disrepair, back to being ‘friends’.
I felt a sincere desire to try something hard.
“…”
I understand.
This feeling of disappointment was because I didn’t hear ‘those words’.
Maybe now…
Hwiooooo-.
I turned in the direction where the sea breeze blows.
The sun is already setting.
I put my hand in my belt pocket.
When I was having a hard time, watching this reminded me of the doctor’s words that told her to take heart.
“Ritz.”
I held the bloody bandage in my hand.
I closed my eyes and thought of the Ritz.
I’m waiting.
I hope I come back.
Please, wait a little longer.
I’m going back soon.
“Yay!”
Puffing out her chest with confidence.
I stood up with all my might.
And ran vigorously.
Towards the first night of Deseo.
* * *
“Dienbus… ?”
The pharmacy owner frowned as if he had heard an unfamiliar foreign language.
“Yes! Dean Booth. Is there any?”
“What is that?”
“Yes?”
And then he mumbled in an uninterested voice.
“I’ve heard of NBUS, but is there such a thing as DINBUS? What, are you decoding Enbus?”
“That’s right!”
“Where on earth are you going to use it after deciphering it? “I don’t sell things like that.”
“… Is that so?”
I lost all my strength.
In fact, it wasn’t the first time I received an answer like this.
Befitting its reputation as the world’s largest port city, Deseo also had a place called ‘Pharmacy Street’.
It was literally a street full of pharmacies.
There were more than 20 pharmacies here that were said to be great even if there was only one in the village.
Of course, I thought there would be a D&B booth in one of these places.
But that was a mistake.
I went to all the pharmacies and asked if they had DN booth, but most of them didn’t even know what it was.
People who knew only answered that there was no such thing.
Then I looked around to see what the pharmacy was handling.
They were selling ‘beauty products’, not ‘medicine’.
Hair dye, gel to make the skin beautiful, makeup for the eyes, nail polish for the nails, bath salts, pigments used in makeup, lubricants for message, perfume that can be smoked, etc.
It’s a huge store that can’t be compared to Ritz’s pharmacy.
The only things on the shelves were things that had nothing to do with ‘medicine’.
There was also a pharmacy that handled strange supplies.
A sleeping pill that causes deep sleep, a stimulant that improves work efficiency, and an aphrodisiac used to seduce the opposite sex.
And without even thinking about it, I went into a corner hidden by a red curtain… Huh. I ended up seeing something that was a little embarrassing.
I heard it was a pharmacy. Actually, there was no ‘medicine’ in sight.
There wasn’t even a basic treatment using the rubes herb that Ritz mainly used.
I also questioned whether a pharmacy without over-the-counter medications was a pharmacy.
However, the owners said that selling such ‘cheap’ medicine would not make much profit, and that it would be better to sell expensive beauty products.
I shouted in anger.
“Hey. So, if those noble nobles get sick, where should they get medicine?”
“Khaha! This girl really knows nothing! Why do nobles visit pharmacies when they are sick? “I’ll call my personal doctor.”
“… “Then what about other ordinary people?”
“Beggars? Beggars don’t have money to buy medicine, and the only money they have is small amounts. “How much is the rent on this street? Can a store be maintained by selling something like that?”
The owner pointed to the pharmacy street.
“Look around this floor. They all sell beauty products like me. Why? Those who failed to attract the attention of the nobles have already disappeared!”
“If there is no medicine… “How are sick people supposed to live?”
“Is it my business?”
As if he really wasn’t interested, the pharmacy owner leisurely leaned back in his chair.
“Then why do you get sick when you don’t have money to call a doctor? Did someone threaten to hurt you with a knife?”
“What on earth is that…?” … ?”
“Haha! Still, Deseo is a very equal and nice city! Even low-income people can get treatment as long as they have money, right?”
Money.
The city was following that logic.
Strangely, the people of this city truly believed that they lived in an equal world.
This is because money was absolute power here.
Nobles are not the same nobles.
You have to have a lot of money to be a noble.
Even if you were from a low-class background, if you had a lot of money, you could buy a noble title.
In other words, ‘nobility’ in this city was not a noble status that had been passed down from generation to generation, but rather a medal proving that one had ‘a lot of money.’
The village chief, Uncle Joseph, Ritz, and even the prostitute sisters.
When talking about Deseo, I always mentioned ‘money’.
I had heard rumors, but I had a guess.
I didn’t know I was this crazy about money.
“Really… “It’s absurd.”
“Hey. It seemed like she came from a remote area where she really didn’t know anything, so I was especially generous and told her something good. If I just went next door, wouldn’t they ask me for money to hear this kind of story? “There is no one as kind as me in Deseo- haha!”
Then the pharmacy owner added.
“Miss. If you want to live in Deseo, keep these two things in mind. ‘Nothing is free in this world’. ‘There is no good will without a cost.’ Moreover, these days, even pickpockets are willing to pay to learn the skill.”
It was a shockingly Philistine story.
It didn’t seem like a lie.
The entire city was buried in such an incomprehensible atmosphere.
Everyone wanted to hear only the jingling sound of money and see only the sparkling gold.
“It looks like she needs some medicine. Then, why don’t you try using the ‘Deseo-style negotiation’ that I taught you? I have good information. Let’s see, in moderation… “How about 1 gold?”
“…”
1 gold.
It is an amount that can never be spent lightly.
I decided to think of it as the value of learning at least one useful method that can be used in this city.
He took a gold coin out of his pocket and threw it to me.
The owner snatched the coin with great skill and sniffed it.
“Ha-. The gold flower smells like sweet apples. “I never get tired of the smell of money.”
“Please speak quickly.”
“Great. If you leave the pharmacy street and walk straight, you will see a strange house with a lot of white boxes piled up. There – this is the house where an old friend of mine lives. Although he is from Deseo, he lives quite confidently like a customer. If you ask there, they will tell you whether it is a DN booth or not. For your information, there are beggars sitting at the front door of the house, so if you go in through the back door and say you came through ‘Rudis’ arrangement,’ you will be able to meet them right away.”
“… Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, sir. Please use it again next time.”
Boom!
I closed the store and went out into the street.
It was so scary that it gave me goosebumps.
The moment you give money, the name changes from ‘lady’ to ‘customer’, the tone of speech changes to polite in an instant, and even the voice becomes softer…
The pharmacy owner’s mental state is not strange.
I only treated them that way because I had ‘money’.
Everyone in Deseo was like that.
First, I followed the information provided.
Before long, I was able to find an alley where white boxes were really piled up.
It’s a small, shabby house that you can often see in the city.
In front of it, people were waiting in a long line.
There was even a sign saying ‘Opening Closed’ on the front door, and even though night was getting deeper, people didn’t think about leaving.
It seemed like he was probably going to wait until tomorrow morning to get treatment.
I took a wide turn down the alley and went back.
As the pharmacy owner said, there was a back door that was tightly locked.
I knocked hard on the door and said, ‘I came here through Rudis’ arrangement.’ After a while, someone came down and opened the door.
It was a young man wearing glasses.
“Who are you?”
“I… “I came here because I needed medicine urgently.”
“Please come in first.”
It was an ordinary doctor’s house.
When I looked up at the shelf, I saw a lot of familiar medicines.
There are many recovery medicines that Ritz often made, as well as various medicines that I have never seen before.
Medicines that could not be found in the fancy pharmacies were actually found in such a shabby house.
Really… It is a city that is difficult to understand.
The owner of this house was a ‘doctor.’
If you think about the shabby appearance of the people waiting in front of the main gate.
It seemed that this doctor had a lot of customers not because his skills were exceptional, but because he was a doctor who treated the lower class who had no money.
The young doctor pointed to the shelf.
“What medicine do you need?”
“Dienbus.”
“Dienbus…”
As soon as she heard that, the doctor adjusted her glasses with an embarrassed expression.
“I’m sorry… There is nothing like that here.”
“They said the doctor at the pharmacy would know better, right?”
“Yes, of course I know. I know, but… In my life, I only know that Dienbus exists, but I have never actually seen it.”
When something feels out of the ordinary.
The doctor turned to me.
“And you are the first person to ask me if I have that medicine.”
