Gift from the Guardian
Ever since Grandma Fel died, Grandma Suzuka has been acting strange.
It's not the same as mourning the deceased.
Of course, that may be the case, but...
I felt a sense of discomfort in the overall atmosphere.
When I visited Grandma Suzuka's house, she started looking out the window more often. And she didn't notice it until I walked over and called out to her.
In the past, when I came to visit, she would be getting ready for work or drinking tea, and would notice me before I entered the house.
The discomfort was also apparent while I was at work.
More often than not, her hands would stop in the middle of a task. It wasn't just that her hands would stop, but that they would suddenly stop as if time had stopped. At that time, she was smiling to cover it up, but when it happened again and again, I felt a sense of discomfort.
More than anything, the thing that made me feel the most strange was when I told her I was leaving.
When she first heard about it, Grandma Suzuka looked sad, but she agreed with my departure.
The next day, however, she acted as if nothing had happened, which made me feel more uncomfortable.
I was worried, so I looked at her with [God's Eye]...
Grandma Suzuka was suffering from dementia...
Apparently, it started to appear when Grandma Fel was ill.
I have memories of my previous life. Therefore, the [God's Eye] is mixed with medical knowledge from my previous life. However, it does not cover diseases that I do not know about, so it is knowledge from this world.
So at the same time as I was shocked, I was at a loss because there was no one I could talk to about this.
There is no known disease called dementia in this world...
There is no way to explain that it is a disease......
For a moment, I thought that my [Recovery Magic] would help, but then I reconsidered that this was a disease and [Recovery Magic] would have no effect.
Unavoidably, I reported Grandma Suzuka to the Guild master, who is Grandma Suzuka's daughter and is currently in the Apothecary Guild.
I was worried about how to explain this, and I told the Guild master but I didn't want to use the word [blur] to describe Grandma Suzuka as much as possible.
However, the Guild master seemed to have noticed.
She seems to have noticed something strange because she has had many opportunities to interact with her as a daughter, and recently the quality of the medicines that have been brought in has deteriorated.
She thanked me for my report, saying that I had corroborated her suspicions.
I asked, [What are you going to do now?], the Guild master replied, [I will take care of her as her daughter].
The following week, that is, the day of my apothecary training......
This day marked the end of my training with Grandma Suzuka.
When I visited Grandma Suzuka's house, everything was taken out except for the bare minimum of furniture.
The medicinal herb field outside was also neatly cut and turned into a normal field.
It seems that her work tools and materials were sent to the Guild master. She also said that Grandma Suzuka would completely retire as an apothecary and was going to be taken care of by her daughter's family.
It felt like it had been a while since the two of us had a quiet cup of tea to kill time.
The two of us would always make medicine together, and it was natural to hear about medicine from Grandma Suzuka during tea time.
It was the first time for both of them to spend time together in silence without having anything to talk about.
"Light-boy, please read this."
Taking a quiet moment, Grandma Suzuka handed me a letter.
I was surprised when I read it.
The letter was something like a suicide note sent from Grandma Fel to Grandma Suzuka. The contents of the letter were...
"I wonder if she predicted that I would end up like this...... She wrote that she wanted me to give my skills to Light-boy when I retired as an apothecary. At first, I didn't understand why, but there was no way Felticia would write such a thing. I knew Light-boy had something to hide."
I nodded quietly in return.
"I see. In that case, Light-boy, would you accept my [Apothecary] skill?"
I asked her, wondering.
"Is Grandma Suzuka okay with it? If I accept the skill, Grandma Suzuka won't be able to work as an apothecary anymore..."
Since she suffered from dementia, she has managed with the power of her skill until today. If I took it, she wouldn't be able to continue as an apothecary from now on...
"It's okay. I've worked hard enough."
She said quietly and stared at me.
"I understand."
I stole the [Apothecary] skill from her.
Grandma Suzuka stared at her own palm for a while, but then turned to face me.
"It's strange... I don't think I can do what I've been doing all this time. It's been a long time...... and I feel like I'm finally free from the heavy shackles......."
I wondered and asked back.
"Heavy shackles?"
"Yeah. That's right. To take charge of someone's life is to put heavy shackles on yourself...... Light-boy...... You're going to go through life with those shackles on you... Are you okay with that?"
I thought for a while before answering.
"It's okay. I've learned a lot from Grandma Suzuka until today... and I have Grandma Suzuka's skill. I'm sure your teachings and skill will help me when I'm lost."
Hearing that, Grandma Suzuka smiled and stroked my head.
Thus, my training as an apothecary ended.
I received that skill from Grandma Suzuka, who was called the [Guardian of the Baron Territory]......
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