A Small Act of Resistance

Cultivating poppy pods without the right knowledge was difficult.

They were prone to root rot.

The pods were nutritious, but unless you were selling them as drugs, the effort outweighed the return.

When drugs had last circulated, the king at the time had stamped out the distributors with ruthless thoroughness to prevent a recurrence.

Unfortunately, that was as far as the country went.

It seemed they hadn't had the capacity to extend care to the victims.

I'd thought the cultivation methods had been lost along with it all.

The pod in Yohane's hand was immature, but large.

How much of the drug could be refined from just this one?

And there were bags upon bags full of them.

This was, by any reasonable measure, beyond what a single merchant could handle.

The smart move would be to report it to Jacob and leave it all in his hands, come what may.

But people sometimes let their emotions take the lead and stop being smart.

The way Alexia had no choice but to charge in, even knowing she couldn't win.

Alone in his room, he opened the strongbox.

Inside were the ledger, a bag stuffed with gold coins.

And a single sheet of parchment.

On it, a girl and a boy had been drawn side by side, looking close.

The painting was terribly crude, drawn with cheap pigments boiled from plants or ground stone mixed with oil.

The parchment itself was poor quality, its edges on the verge of crumbling with age.

Yohane gazed at the picture for a moment, then placed it carefully back inside.

"If I'd had the kind of money I have now… would you still have died?"

That murmur was addressed to no one. He closed the strongbox.

Unaware that Azu was standing just outside the door, listening.

The next morning, at Elza's suggestion, all five of them, Finn included, gathered in Azu and the others' room.

"From here on, we need to be careful or things could get dangerous. Let's put together a proper plan."

"What a pain."

"You might be fine winging it, Finn-chan. But you wouldn't throw away your fortune and your standing over this, would you?"

"No chance."

Yohane answered Elza's question.

"So what's the plan? You said you had something in mind."

"Drugs are, as the name implies, a type of medicine. The effects are terrible, sure. But depending on the active compounds, it should be possible to neutralize or weaken them."

"Fighting poison with poison. With the real thing on hand, it's not impossible, but…"

"Right. And we happen to have an alchemist who knows her way around medicine. I was thinking we could spread whatever she comes up with through Luido."

As things stood, the only evidence they had against the masterminds was the confession Finn had extracted.

The poppy pods could be enough to mobilize Jacob, but the stash under the church floor had likely been removed by now.

That wasn't enough for a killing blow.

They could weasel their way out of it.

Worse, they might try to pin the blame on Yohane's side.

They needed to drag those people into the open.

Thanks to Finn crushing their operatives, the enemy couldn't move immediately.

If a drug-neutralizing substance spread on top of that, they'd panic and slip up.

"Won't they just run if you push that hard?"

"They've stockpiled a mountain of poppy pods. Factor in the facilities and manpower to refine them, and they've invested a staggering sum. I understand how people who chase money think. They can't just walk away from that."

"Now that's persuasive."

"Money-grubber…"

"What's wrong with that."

Yohane cleared his throat.

"Finn, they haven't seen your face, right?"

"Of course not. Nobody saw me except the ones I took down."

"And those guys won't be getting any visitors. So aside from Azu, none of us are known to them."

"Um, that's right."

"Azu can be handled like this, no?"

Alexia stepped behind Azu and undid the tie holding her hair back, letting it fall loose.

That alone dramatically changed her appearance.

"And if she wears something other than her usual adventurer gear, like this… and puts in that gold hair ornament from before…"

What Alexia pulled out was a jumper skirt.

They removed Azu's equipment and slipped it on over her clothes. If you didn't remember her face specifically, she could pass for someone else.

Her conspicuous silver hair drew less attention too, once the gold hair ornament redirected the eye.

"Azu-chan looks so cute!"

"You think so? What do you think, Master?"

"Suits you, I'd say."

She was wearing Alexia's clothes, so it was a little baggy, but that actually made her look like she was trying to be grown-up, which was endearing.

When Yohane complimented her, Azu shrank back in embarrassment.

Finn clicked her tongue at the sight.

"So, what's the actual plan?"

"Right. First, we have Ramiza-san develop a drug that neutralizes the poppy pods. Then we use it to make sweets."

"Sweets?"

"That's right. We add sugar and sell them cheaply at cost. Street stalls are thinning out, and anything sweet is a luxury right now. If we tried handing out medicine, nobody would take it."

"Is it safe to mix in?"

"That'll depend on Ramiza-san's skill… If there are toxicity issues, I'll call it off."

"I think it's a good idea."

That was Elza.

"We can start small, let people taste-test it. If eating it is enough to protect the children from harm, then we should do it."

A fitting opinion from Elza, who had sold herself into slavery for the sake of children.

The drug's damage was worst on children.

Their organs were still small, and the aftereffects would torment them.

"First we need to find out if it's even possible. We can't stop them from distributing the drug. But we don't have evidence to get the city administration to act, either. And we'll be crossing a dangerous bridge. Are you all okay with that?"

"Yes, absolutely."

"No objections."

"As I said, I'll lend a hand."

"I've come this far. I'll see it through to the end."

With everyone's agreement, Yohane resolved to move forward.

"Then let's get going. Finn, Elza, come with me. You two seem to know your way around medicine."

"Poisons, more like… but fine."

"Understood!"

He left the house with Finn and Elza.

Alexia and Azu would hold down the fort.

"In the meantime, practice making sweets."

While he was at it, he gave those instructions to the two of them.

There were plenty of ingredients in the shop. Sugar wasn't cheap, but it was a necessary expense.

"I'll do my best."

Azu was brimming with determination.