Chapter 115: Should I Walk This Life Once More? (3)
“What?”
Ghislaine, fully aware of the situation, playfully responded with a grin.
Belinda smacked her chest in frustration and exclaimed, “I want that too! Give me cosmetics! A lot, please. It’s the age where I really need to take care of myself!”
“You said you didn’t need any before?”
“What are you talking about? I applied too, you know! Those thieving scoundrels blocked me from getting any. Hohoho, our Young Master is truly capable of anything!”
Belinda retorted shamelessly.
Ghislaine chuckled and tossed over a few cosmetics that were stacked nearby.
After all, she had prepared plenty, thinking to test them on various people.
“Yay! Thank you!”
She beamed, hugging the cosmetics tightly to her chest as she rushed off.
Following her, Kaor and the mercenaries boldly stepped forward.
“Please give us some too.”
“But men don’t use stuff like that. And you guys weren’t interested in grooming at all, were you?”
The mercenaries, except for a few odd ones, usually had little interest in their appearance.
Even if a rough-looking guy tried grooming, he’d just become a smooth, rough-looking guy.
Perhaps feeling unjustly treated being lumped together, Kaor nudged a nearby mercenary with his elbow.
“…I want to impress someone.”
“What?”
“I want to give it as a gift to a girl to win her over!”
“…Alright. It’s nice to be honest.”
Shaking his head at the overwhelming desire spilling out, Ghislaine responded.
“Take what you need, and share with the other mercenaries too. But make sure those who receive gifts report any side effects.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Ghislaine handed over several boxes of prototypes.
The mercenaries cheered and hurried out with their newfound treasures.
“Wendy, make sure to distribute some to the other servants in the castle. And have them report back on the progress.”
“Understood.”
Ghislaine also handed a few boxes to Wendy.
Other retainers, who had been watching, got one or two boxes too, laughing and chatting as they left.
Only Claude and the mages were biting their nails in anxiety.
Ghislaine looked at them sternly and said, “You can’t have any. We’re in a wager right now.”
“Ugh… that’s so unfair.”
The results of the wager were still pending.
However, as rumors spread that Gillian had seen significant effects, Claude and the mages couldn’t relax.
They had rushed there to check for themselves, but it was not happening.
“Let’s head back for now. There’s no need to be scared just yet. We still have plenty of time.”
Claude reassured the mages as they retreated.
After all, only one person had seen results. Gillian dealt with mana, so his improvement could be due to other factors.
The mages nodded at Claude’s words, calming themselves.
After the crowd swept through the office, Gillian came looking for Ghislaine.
She welcomed him with a smile.
“Oh, Gillian. Welcome!”
He was the man who stepped up and demonstrated the effects when everyone else refused.
Thanks to him, there were now more applicants, making testing much smoother.
The test has become much easier.
“Your skin definitely looks better. What do you think, is it usable?”
“Absolutely. I feel like I’ve become younger.”
Gillian flashed a confident smile.
His skin, now smooth, seemed to shimmer compared to before.
“So, what’s up? You should still have some cosmetics left that you received before. Is this a training report?”
“…Please give me one more.”
“Huh?”
“I want to send it to my daughter.”
“Oh, I see. Is this what it feels like to be a parent?”
Rachel hadn’t seen Elena for quite a while since they were together in Perdium.
It’s the parent’s heart wanting to send a nice gift to a daughter they can’t care for directly.
Ghislaine laughed, handing over several to let him use as he pleased.
“Thanks to you, I’ve saved a lot of people. It’s all Gillian’s doing. Once things improve in the territory, I’ll bring Elena and Rachel along, so just wait a little longer.”
“Thank you. If others try it, I’m sure they’ll be satisfied too.”
Gillian spoke with conviction.
Ghislaine smiled back at him.
Now that many people participated, they would finally see the actual effects.
“Hmm, speaking of which… should I bring some to Vanessa too? I’ve heard she’s been training non-stop lately.”
Ghislaine personally visited Vanessa, who was holed up at the training ground, focusing only on training and research.
She was currently working hard to break through to the 6th Circle.
Upon her unexpected visit, Vanessa was caught off guard and flushed.
“Ah, L-Lord… What brings you here all of a sudden…?”
“Whoa, you….”
Ghislaine was shocked at how Vanessa looked.
She had been so immersed in her training and research that her appearance was quite the sight.
Her hair was a mess, sticking out in all directions, and her clothes looked like they hadn’t been changed in days.
Clearing her throat, Ghislaine handed over the cosmetics to Vanessa.
“Have you heard the rumors? This is the cosmetics; try applying it when you have some time.”
“Yes, thank you!”
“And, well… while the research is good, make sure you sleep, eat, and wash up a bit too.”
Vanessa bowed her head slightly, smiling shyly.
It was her first time receiving a gift, regardless of what it was meant for.
As Ghislaine turned to leave her office, she peeked inside the training ground before closing the door.
She cautiously set the cosmetics down in a corner and slipped away between the stacks of books.
Then she plopped down between the hundreds of books and refocused on her research.
“Wow, how does she plan to read all of that? Does it all fit in her head?”
Mages can use Clean Magic to maintain at least minimal cleanliness.
So most considered it shameful to appear messy in front of others.
But Vanessa was so absorbed in her research that cleanliness was far from her mind.
“Then again, she probably never had a chance to study like this. Still, it’s really impressive.”
She had never neglected her studies, even while doing grunt work in the Mage Tower.
Now with the opportunity to focus solely on training and research, how delighted must she be?
“I’ll need to maximize her magic power soon. She’s become so dependable.”
Ghislaine returned to her office with a satisfied smile.
Then she gave a new order.
“Have everyone who needs it come in; anyone who didn’t receive it.”
Ghislaine’s command quickly spread throughout the castle.
People pouring in after hearing the late rumors surged in, and the prototypes ran out rapidly.
The response was explosive.
“Have you tried the one Lord gave? It’s amazing! Everyone’s in an uproar.”
“Oh my god, look at my skin! It’s plumped up in just two days. I feel like I’ve turned back ten years!”
“No way, maybe not that much… But I swear it feels like I’ve gone back about ten hours.”
“They say this is the kind of stuff nobles use; if I don’t try it now, when will I ever?”
“I heard the ingredients are super expensive. We should use it sparingly. If I had known this would happen, I would’ve brought back another one.”
“I need to conserve it. If I had known this would happen, I should have brought another one.”
Whenever people gathered, they bloomed into discussions about the cosmetics made by Ghislaine.
For those who had never taken care of their skin, the effects were so noticeable.
Ghislaine received steady progress reports from those who had used the cosmetics over several days.
“Good, most reactions are positive.”
The results were highly praised.
Not a single bad word was heard, and instead, they were lined up with requests for a few more.
The recognition of experiencing items usually reserved for nobles also contributed to the popularity of the cosmetics.
After all, no one hates expensive things.
As the atmosphere in the castle grew more lively, Claude and the mages became increasingly anxious.
“Damn! Have you seen the faces of the people lately? They’re getting smoother! Are you sure this really has no effect? What are we going to do?!”
Alfoy shouted nervously. Claude replied with an indifferent expression.
“Don’t worry. The results haven’t even come out yet. Why are you in such a hurry? Impatience is a deadly sin in gambling. Until the last card is revealed, no one knows what the outcome will be.”
“But everyone is just praising it! Their faces really seem to get better!”
“That’s just because they’re swept up in the mood. They might just look better because they got a good night’s sleep. And, maybe you don’t know, but those have some really expensive and good herbs mixed in. So they might look better temporarily.”
“What? Then it really does have an effect!”
Claude scoffed with a dismissive expression.
“If mixing all the good stuff guaranteed success, the Mage Tower would have succeeded a long time ago. Do you think just mixing random herbs would improve skin? Even good things can become poison if haphazardly mixed. That’s why nobles are cautious.”
“That’s true, but…”
“So just relax and take a good rest. No, think about it logically. It doesn’t make sense for the Lord to succeed in something like this, right?”
“Y-yeah.”
Alfoy nodded, showing a bit of anxiety.
Claude slammed his fist on the table with vigor and continued.
“We are intellectuals, intellectuals! We always judge rationally and with reason! We should not be swayed by such ignorant and irrational people!”
At those words, Alfoy seemed to regain his confidence, nodding and leaving.
Though still a bit anxious, Claude’s words were undeniably correct.
The lord was not an expert in any field, nor was he someone who built knowledge in many areas.
There was no way he could achieve such ridiculous feats consecutively.
As Alfoy and the mages departed, Claude shook his head and let out a sigh.
“Ugh, this is really tiring. Why do they gamble when they’re so weak-hearted? If they were scared, they shouldn’t have even started. Tsk tsk tsk.”
Watching him from behind, Wendy looked at Claude with eyes full of astonishment.
‘You were the one who tempted him!’
There was no denying that he was shameless and had a way with words.
Wendy shook her head and urged Claude.
Though contemptuous, he was still the Chief Officer of Penris Territory now.
“Chief Officer, we have a lot of work piling up. The next schedule is to check the construction status of the military supply warehouse…”
Suddenly, Claude started biting his nails nervously.
Wendy closed her mouth. It seemed he couldn’t hear what was said beside him given his state.
‘Damn, what should I do? It really feels like it’s working. Wow, this is insane. There’s no way this wouldn’t be successful, right?’
Wendy had been by Claude’s side every day.
Seeing the changes in her skin condition up close, she couldn’t help but realize that it was a total disaster.
‘I can’t even sabotage it!’
Honestly, she thought about interfering.
Being on the mages’ side, the methods were endless.
Since we’re on the same side, the methods were endless.
It was simple to just remove the water completely so they couldn’t wash at all, or to use decay magic to pollute the air.
‘If caught, I’d be locked up for at least 30 years.’
But knowing Ghislaine’s personality, it was obvious he would throw you in jail at the first sign of something strange, even without evidence.
Now that so many people had received cosmetics, it had become impossible to even sabotage things.
Not just the people working at the castle, but mercenaries and retainers had all taken some, so to stop them all, he’d have to act across the entire territory.
Unless you were a great mage, there was simply no way around it.
“Hah, crap. What do I do?”
As Claude paced nervously, he grumbled as soon as he locked eyes with Wendy.
“What, why! You traitor. I see you’re using cosmetics? Ugh, look at how smooth your face is.”
Wendy turned away with a mix of contempt and pity on her face.
From spending time together, Claude realized that dealing with her was a losing game.
Claude, feeling anxious, shook his head.
‘Surely, there will be side effects for some people. Cosmetics aren’t that simple. There’s no way the lord could have made such a product. I can check at the last moment.’
If just a few people experienced side effects, he could push the result as a tie.
Noblemen would reject anything that seemed even a little dangerous, which would devalue the product right there.
‘There’s no need to be scared yet since the results aren’t in. This tension is the thrill of gambling; I’ve really weakened. Heh heh heh.’
It was a classic denial of reality common among gamblers, but Claude didn’t realize it.
“Let’s go. We need to work.”
If he neglected his work due to the bets, he’d surely face a terrifying backlash.
The lord seemed bold but had an unexpectedly tenacious side.
Unlike Claude, who was struggling to deny reality, Ghislaine wore a satisfied smile as he looked over the piling papers.
“Zero side effects.”
Despite so many people using it for over a fortnight, there wasn’t a single occurrence of side effects.
He had expected it to take a long time, thinking he wouldn’t exactly remember the detailed manufacturing methods, but it succeeded much faster than anticipated.
It was joyous that he succeeded in making cosmetics, but what pleased him more was seeing people enjoy using them. It meant they had found some peace of mind.
Ghislaine contemplated for a moment before relaying a new order to his retainers.
“Everyone has been too busy working all this time. I plan to hold a feast soon. Even if time is tight, one must rest adequately to continue fighting.”
The retainers were all taken aback.
The lord who had never even held a simple banquet suddenly wanted to throw a feast?
‘What’s up with that crazed lord?’
Seeing the astonished retainers, Ghislaine continued.
“I’ll set the feast on the last day of the bets. Prepare drinks and meat so that the servants and territory residents can all enjoy it. Since some will have duties, the feast will last for two days.”
He intended to relax while checking the betting results.
In fact, victory for the lord was already a foregone conclusion.
Unlike crop yields that take time to show results, with cosmetics, he could see the effects on people’s faces every day.
With the news that even the servants could participate in the feast, excitement filled the air, while Claude and the mages wandered around, gloomy.
With a pitiful heart, they prayed to the goddess each day.
“Please let the world end. Send a demon lord or something.”
In their minds, losing the bet again was preferable to dying together.
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