She was seriously serious.
I could feel the desperate need in her eyes and this was the most sincere I had seen her today.
I didn't know what someone from a core duke's house was doing here, but whatever it was; I don't know why, but I wanted to just help her.
If it was within my power, that is.
Looking straight into her beautiful eyes, I nodded.
"If I can, I will be happy to help you however I can. But..." There was also something I wanted from her.
It was simple actually, so I knew she will be happy to do it.
"I was away from my family for a long time, you know that, right?
Practically, we don't know a thing about the capital or even the main city here.
Will you... escort us to the capital if you have time?"
A bright smile covered her face on these words, and she nodded happily.
"Of course~! It would be my pleasure to escort a hero~!"
She was genuinely happy right now and that bright smile on her face... there was something different about it.
Well, whatever.
"Thank you~. So, what do you need?" I asked with a confident smile and looked at the trio that were just watching us happily.
What were these three up to again?
"Yes~! T-thank you big sister~! Do tell whatever y-you need. Hehehe..." Zoe was good with hiding her emotions, same for the crow and my dear butterfly.
'Excellent control of emotion but... that was the sloppiest acting I had seen in this life.'
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtNot that they will open their mouths if I pressure them. Those two little babies were smarter than me sometimes.
Shaking my head at them, I looked back at her as she started speaking with the same emotions towards her old crow.
"Not many know this Eon but, I am the daughter of grandpa's mother's older sister.
So technically, I'm his aunt, but well, let's ignore that one.
Currently, my grandma is suffering from a incurable desires and not even [Elixir] or [Holy Water] could cure that one.
It's been a month since I started searching for its cure and I luckily found it!
Here, take a look. I went through hell to get my hands on this ancient tome of medicine."
She said and took out a very old-looking book.
And though it looked really old, strangely, I knew this one.
"<33 Divine Cures of Eir>..." I mumbled blankly, and her eyes widened in shock.
"H-how do you know this book?" She asked, unbelieving of what I had just said.
Well, it was natural. The book in her hand was an old copy that had survived in the outside world while I had real ones preserved perfectly in our library.
"I know because I have read it. And I know all 33 ones in that book. They are actually quite impressive.
But, which one does your grandma have? All the cures in that book are for curses, not some incurable disease."
I knew all of them because I had made every one of them to prepare for my test.
Not that I ever got the chance to use any.
"It's number 21. And... what do you mean you have read this? How do you even know this language?
Even my eyes could barely make up all these strange words and most importantly, what... do you mean by curses?"
She was looking at me suspiciously, and there was a new kind of worry in her eyes now.
"Well, it's just as I said. I know the language in that book because I have studied it for a long time.
If your grandma has [Embrace of Keres] that your eyes would have told you and the cure is number 21 [Fewesi], then it's naturally some evil sprite's doing.
What did your grandma do to make a (Blue) ranking creature angry?"
I knew her grandma, well everyone in the empire knew one of the few (tier-8) mages.
Well, an (Evil Spirit) was one of the creatures that held high intelligence. As high as a human, in most cases.
And they loved the places they stayed, hating the disturbance in their home.
They didn't attack other creatures if they stayed away from their home after some warning but, if they do intrude on their territory, this type of situation was normal.
We won't know what hit us and they would curse us.
A slow-acting curse that didn't affect the body that an [Elixir] or [Holy Water] could fix, but affected the subconscious and make the cursed one fall deep into sleep, eating away at their vitality.
She knew all these things and from her sudden horrified look, I could understand just what might have gone wrong.
"G-grandma... I-I... but that..." her mind suddenly went chaotic, and she started blaming herself for whatever might have happened.
I had lost my grandma and master but, she still had her in whatever state she might be in.
I studied medicine for the sole purpose of helping the ones in need and here; I had the chance of saving someone important to her.
"Don't worry, Reinelle. You must be here to find the special herbs that grow in this part of the forest, right?
Well, we don't have to do that now." I said while patting her head, which was the same size as mine.
But it was soft and her short purple hair was fun to play- yes, so she calmed down on my warm touch and looked at me with tears lingering in her eyes.
"W-what do you m-mean..." She wasn't letting those tears out, not at all.
She was also a strong one emotionally, something that I found cute.
"Well, I have already made all the cures in that book, and luckily, I have [Fewesi] with me.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThank the fate you found me today, dear lady.
I'm sure your eyes will be able to tell you about this more accurately." I took my hand from her head and took out a bottle with thick yellow fluid in it.
"I don't know what might have happened with you two but, something like an evil spirit's curse is nothing for this holy cure.
Even a noble demon's curse would be ineffective against it.
And I'm quite confident in my medicine-making skills, and that's something I'm more proud of than my archery."
Brushing off the tears from her eyes and making my goal of seeing her blush once again true, I set back down and looked at her warmly.
Her ability as a witch to see the truth was something more amazing than I could think and I knew it from the fact that Lucy acknowledged this ability.
She looked at the bottle with her eyes shining with dark pink light and while she was at it, I turned my head and looked at the trio that was looking at us warmly.
All three of these basterds were acting so still that I wanted to think they weren't here at all.
But I knew they were here, I knew they were enjoying this show between us and watching such warm scene with almost teary eyes themselves.
These fking bastards... get ready you two, it won't be easy.
I smiled at my two partners and that smile, that signature happy smile that we all knew, made them flinch.
Celes was sitting on Zoe's head while the old crow was resting in her hands comfortably as she stroked him gently.
Damn old bird... it also understood this smile of mine that was directed at all three of them and not just two.
Even if he was her companion, there was no way in hell I wo-
"Holy heavens?! What the hell are you, you bastard?!" She shouted in her loud voice, and those three were freed from my sharp eyes.
This was their lucky day if I said so myself but, why the hell was she so loud?!
For nature's sake, I was sitting just before her and she was shouting her lungs out cussing at me out of nowhere.
I looked at her to see just what made her forget the sorrow and grief and shout like that.
And when my eyes fall on her, an excited face full of pure admiration, envy, and respect, entered my eyes.