Chapter 159: Household Affairs
Spring has arrived.
Normally, I’d want to show my face at the Striders Guild, but Rosalinde’s due date is near.
It’s still a little early, but it’s about the time when the baby could be born without it being strange.
Thinking of Rosalinde, I’m staying by her side.
Of course, I understand the argument that I could just use Teleportation magic to come back anytime, right?
But guys who are popular with women show consideration, not just practicality.
It’s not about what actually happens; the important thing is the pose of “I worked hard for my woman~”. It’s the process, not the result, you know?
So, to play the part of a wonderful dad, I made sure to always be by Rosalinde’s side…
The one who ended up getting the short end of the stick because of that was Tristia.
I’d been able to give her plenty of attention until now, but since Rosalinde arrived, I haven’t been able to spend much time with her.
I feel bad about this…
Rosalinde is overly sheltered, or rather, detached from the world, so she doesn’t hold much prejudice against the Mazoku. That’s seriously a relief.
Even now, Tris, Rosalinde, and I are having a meal together, the three of us… but, well, the servants aren’t looking too happy about it.
There are parts that can’t be helped, though…
It’s just that Tristia is exceptionally docile; the Mazoku are originally much more dangerous folks…
To be specific, most Mazoku are thieves or murderers. Since they are a race possessing a lot of Magical Power, it means their physical abilities are high, making them public enemies who can kill many innocent people single-handedly.
The Knights especially hate the Mazoku, because Mazoku robber-murderers drift in from elsewhere, and to exterminate them, the Knights have to surround them with multiple people each time and engage in fights to the death.
There are countless people whose colleagues or relatives have been killed by Mazoku.
I say this every time, but while this world is full of people who discriminate, the ones being discriminated against are often scum who deserve it.
…But, if I were to defend them, the Mazoku face discrimination far worse than anything Black people experienced in America, because living that way is considered normal for them.
Naturally, they can’t get normal jobs, so to survive, to feed their families, they have no choice but to become robber-murderers.
…You know, this place isn’t like the world of manga or anime.
It’s not the kind of story where there’s a specific bad guy or evil organization, and defeating them solves everything completely!
Going to demonstrate at the Ministry of Finance and bullying the middle-aged staff members won’t solve anything.
It’s the same as the French Revolution.
“Guillotine the evil king and everything will be solved! The country will become prosperous~!” There’s no way that would happen, right? Or rather, it didn’t happen, did it? The revolutionaries (lol) who guillotined the king just started infighting next, didn’t they? That’s just how the world works.
Or rather, fundamentally, getting rich by cheating and taking it easy! That kind of thing just doesn’t happen.
Even I struggled to become a doctor, and even after becoming one, every day was about studying. But because being a doctor is a difficult job that few people can do, I earned a lot of money.
Of course, I won’t deny that I was born into a rich family with an environment where I could study as much as I wanted.
However, it’s troubling to be told things like, “You’re rich, so you must be cheating and making money easily!”
99% of people in the world are living their lives, working hard and struggling in their own way. Instead of endlessly complaining about the special cases that make up only 1%, it’s better for you to just deal with the work in front of you.
“Lord Andrews, lately, the fever reducers and cough suppressants haven’t been selling well.”
“Ah, is that so. Then let’s put out the spring medicines.”
Oops, Tris was in the middle of her work report.
It seems the number of sick people in town is decreasing.
It’s probably because it’s gotten warmer.
The epidemic has mostly subsided, and the lives of eleven people from the Slums who came to my Apothecary were also extinguished. Unfortunately, I couldn’t save them.
…Here too, if I had used my magic to its full potential, I could have made sure everyone survived.
But for self-preservation, or rather, to hide the fact that I’m a Magician, I make sure to never perform treatments beyond what modern medicine can achieve.
What a complete scumbag I am.
Despite being a doctor, I abandoned lives that could have been saved, and yet here I am, able to smile at my wife and mistress like this. If that’s not shameless audacity, I don’t know what is.
Even so, to protect myself and my family, I chose to live by sacrificing others. I don’t regret it.
“…Are you always talking about work?”
Oh, Rosalinde.
“That’s right. During dinner, I make it a habit to hear the Apothecary’s business report from Tris.”
“Hmm…”
“Ah, sorry. It must have been a boring conversation.”
“N-no… You’re working hard, it’s admirable, you know?”
“Thanks. Right, Rosa, you should try to remember a little bit too. …It’s spring now, and the number of sick people is decreasing. So, it’s time to switch out the medicines for illness with medicines for injuries.”
“I see. Should I… help out at the shop, too?”
“Hmm… The customers would probably feel intimidated… Or rather, I have no idea what kind of work I should even let you do? What do noblewomen normally do?”
“Um… well? Noblewomen, you know, manage the household affairs? And entertain guests, and things like that?”
Ah, right.
So, it’s like being the “manager of the house,” huh.
It’s true that even in Japanese, wives are called “kanai” (household).
It seems like in this world too, their role is to manage things inside the house.
Well, although the gender discrimination is harsh, it’s a relief that there are properly meritocratic aspects too.
In this world, you see female Knights and female warriors relatively casually.
For better or worse, it’s probably thanks to “Magic Skill”.
However, there’s one problem…
“Can you actually do that?”
“Mmm… Impossible.”