Chapter16-A Girl’s Precious Gift

"Sorry, I've already used up the main ingredients," Owen said apologetically. "If you want to eat more, you'll have to wait until next time."

Jane pursed her lips, noticing that everyone was looking at her, and her eyes instantly turned red.

"Whoa, it's just some food. No need to cry if you can't have any," Owen was startled.

He couldn't let a guest leave on an empty stomach—that would ruin his reputation!

"How about this, I'll fry some French fries for you. It'll be quick."

"Thank you, you're so kind."

Owen found some of the best-looking large potatoes, peeled and sliced them, then started frying them in oil.

The others watched as Owen casually took out these god-tier magical fruits, filled with mana, and used them so extravagantly. They were all shocked beyond words.

Soon, the aroma of French fries filled the air.

Owen generously made several large plates.

"That's too much!" Jane's eyes widened.

"It's fine, potatoes yield a lot each harvest and aren't worth much. Eat as much as you like," Owen said with a smile.

Once again, the others were left in a daze by Owen's apparent wealth and nonchalance.

"A good harvest."

"Not worth much."

Any one of these precious items, if taken to the auction house, would spark a frenzy!

"Delicious!" Jane's eyes lit up after just one fry. "It's so good!"

She felt the mana within her body start to resonate.

At the same time, Jane regretted her earlier hesitation even more.

"Oh my god, am I just a purebred dumb pig arcane beast?"

"Ugh, I really want to slap myself!"

Thinking this, Jane actually slapped herself twice, leaving Owen dumbfounded.

He turned to Flora and asked, "Is your friend alright?"

Like, mentally unstable or something?

To his surprise, Flora's eyes widened.

"Mr. Owen, how did you know she was sick?"

"..." Owen was speechless.

"Mr. Owen, you could tell I'm sick at a glance!" Jane said, ignoring the fries. "With your abilities, can you tell if my illness can be cured?"

Owen's expression turned awkward.

He had just been making a casual remark.

But seeing Jane's hopeful gaze, Owen didn't have the heart to refuse her outright.

"Fine, I'll just give her a quick check-up," Owen thought. "And then I'll say some general health advice to comfort her."

He nodded. "Alright, but I'm not a professional doctor, so I can't guarantee that I can cure you."

"No, it's okay even if you can't completely cure me." Jane was instantly moved. "Mr. Owen, just your willingness to check my condition is a great honor."

Why was everyone here so overly polite?

Feeling compelled, Owen had Jane sit down in front of him.

"I need to know more about your basic condition first. Where exactly do you feel unwell?"

Flora, aware of the situation, explained, "Mr. Owen, once when Jane was helping some villagers who were robbed, she had an accident."

Owen listened attentively, not interrupting her story.

It was supposed to be a minor task.

A few villages on Jane's family estate had lost a lot of chickens and ducks.

"It was my fault for being careless," Jane sighed. "I thought it was just a normal chicken thief, or at worst, a low-level little fox arcane beast."

"But it turned out that the thief was an evil warlock!"

"A warlock?" It was the first time Owen had heard the term in this world.

"Yes, Mr. Owen, you must know that warlocks are people who specialize in necromancy, demonology, and curse magic."

Recalling her injuries, Jane's expression turned indignant.

"He was stealing chickens and ducks for experiments to test some kind of pathogenic potion."

"After I found him, I destroyed his base."

"It was only after I returned home that I realized I was sick."

"It's a strange disease. I started with coughing, then grew weaker, and when I began to recover a bit, I often couldn't catch my breath."

So that's what happened.

Carefully analyzing it, the coughing and shortness of breath suggested damage to the respiratory system, though it probably wasn't severe.

With that in mind, Owen thought he had an answer.

Jane likely had a reaction to the warlock's potion, causing severe allergies that developed into asthma due to prolonged lack of proper treatment.

"Jane, at the beginning of your symptoms, aside from coughing, did you also sneeze, have a runny nose, and feel itchy? Was it worse at night or early in the morning, with tightness in your chest and difficulty breathing after strenuous activity?"

Jane gasped.

"Mr. Owen! How did you know?"

Flora also looked shocked.

Caesar exchanged glances with Pablo.

Could it be that Lord Owen also knew how to treat illnesses?

"Come with me."

Owen knew his diagnosis was correct and immediately straightened his posture. "I have the perfect medicine for this."

Jane followed without hesitation.

Flora trailed behind them.

They followed Owen to a small shed next to the backyard.

When they entered, they were completely stunned.

The shed was filled with tools and instruments they couldn't recognize, along with numerous glass bottles labeled with strange symbols.

Owen took out a bottle of potion.

"Drink this first. It'll help your lungs feel much better."

It was a basic antibiotic.

After the system's thorough and intense training, brewing antibiotics was a breeze for Owen.

Jane took the bottle without hesitation and drank it down in one gulp.

Moments later, she took a deep breath.

"I feel so much better!"

"Haha, I really feel so much better."

Owen silently marveled: "It's truly a different world; their physiology must be completely different from Earth's. Antibiotics work instantly."

But as long as it worked, that was good enough.

He took out a few pills.

"Take one every night before bed. After finishing the entire course, your condition will be completely cured."

"Yes!" Jane's eyes brimmed with tears as she carefully accepted the pills.

The thought of her long-standing illness being cured so easily made Jane want to cry with relief.

After respectfully giving Owen a knight's salute, she took out the most valuable thing she owned.

"Mr. Owen, you must accept this!"

"This diamond armor is something my family made for me after I was injured. It can alleviate my symptoms."

"It's also the most valuable item I have. Now that my illness is cured thanks to you, please accept it as a token of my gratitude. I hope you won't find it too modest."

Owen's eyes widened as they had never before.

Oh my god!

What is this?

Diamond… armor?

And it's still warm from the girl's body?!

Looking at Jane's serious expression and the massive, glittering chestplate in her hands, Owen suddenly had some doubts.

Wait, did I transmigrate to a proper magical world, or is this one of those worlds that starts out normal but later turns into an adult fantasy that needs to be fully censored?

"Mr. Owen," Flora explained, "Jane's family is like this. The more precious and personal the gift, the better it expresses their gratitude."

Jane earnestly added, "Actually, my underpants are also enchanted items, but they're not as precious as the armor."

"Mr. Owen, if you want, I can take them off right now."

"Ah! No, no, this will do!" Owen's scalp tingled as he quickly took the heavy chestplate and stuffed it into his bag.

Kidding—he had principles!

It was just a basic medicine; he couldn't possibly go as far as to take a girl's underwear, right?

Seeing Owen accept her gift, Jane breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you for bringing me to meet Mr. Owen, Flora."

Jane patted her now bra-less chest and vowed, "Once I'm fully recovered, I'll help you deal with those who bullied you."

"Thank you," Flora replied softly. "I can manage for now."

"What do you mean, 'manage'? Didn't you almost lose an arm?" Jane said angrily, pulling up Flora's sleeve.

An ugly scar marked her arm, as if it had been seared by something.

"Don't do this." Flora suddenly felt a pang of sadness.

She had wanted to leave a good impression on Mr. Owen.

Now he would definitely be disgusted by her scars.

"Why are you getting hurt again?" Owen sighed. "The last time we met, you were also getting beaten up."

"Roll up your sleeve and let me take a look."

"I just happened to have some scar removal potion prepared."

Treating one or treating two—might as well handle it while he was at it.

"Thank you so much!" Flora felt her gratitude for Owen surging to an indescribable level.

She regretted it a little now.

Although the gifts she brought were precious, they couldn't compare to Jane's diamond magic undergarment.

If she ever got another chance to visit, Flora vowed to make an entire set of red and blue gem-encrusted magic lingerie to give to Lord Owen!

The cool potion was applied to her wound.

It was something Owen concocted himself based on the system's formula.

It was especially effective for burns that were still in the recovery stage, before scarring had set in.

Moments later, the scar on Flora's arm visibly faded.

Owen patiently applied it a few more times.

Her skin gradually returned to its original smooth and healthy texture.

"Not bad." Owen was quite satisfied. "It seems that people in this world absorb Earth's medications exceptionally well. Something that normally takes three weeks to remove a scar was gone on the spot."

Seeing Flora's delighted expression, Owen felt a surge of satisfaction from healing others.

Curious, he asked, "Who hurt you, anyway?"

For someone to leave such a large scar on the arm of a duke's daughter, they must be a formidable figure.

He'd better steer clear of them in the future to avoid getting beaten up too.

"Who else? It was the Lord of Flashing Town, Viscount Lewis!" Jane said indignantly.

"He's always had a bad relationship with Jane's father. This time, they clashed over a newly discovered fire crystal mine."

"Before that, Flora and her foolish sister almost couldn't reunite with the Duke because of that old man Lewis."

"Stop it." Flora quickly covered Jane's mouth. "Mr. Owen must not want to hear about these boring matters."

Owen nodded.

Although he sympathized, he had no intention of standing up for Flora.

Are you kidding? He was just a humble pub owner. Where would he get the guts to go up against a viscount?

But while he couldn't beat people up for Flora, giving her some advice was still within his capability.

Owen asked, "So this… whatever his name is, he's just a viscount. Flora, your father is a duke, and his status is much higher."

Flora sighed.

"That's because Prime Minister Bec favors him."

"Prime Minister Bec issued a new mining law, forcibly transferring the ownership of the mine to Viscount Lewis."

Her mood grew even gloomier as she spoke.

The actual situation was even worse than what she described.

If things continued this way, in less than three years, most of the Duke's wealth would be devoured by Viscount Lewis.

Seeing Owen deep in thought, Flora felt a glimmer of hope.

Could it be that Lord Owen really intended to help her?

Such immense grace—how could she ever repay it?

"I have a good idea." A light bulb seemed to go off in Owen's head. "Everything the Prime Minister is doing is like dancing on the King's landmines."

"Dancing on landmines?" Flora had never heard this phrase before and began to ponder its meaning.

"The Azul Kingdom can only have one master." Owen glanced outside, where Caesar was engaged in conversation with Pablo.

Flora understood instantly!

Her eyes lit up.

Of course!

The King himself was just outside!

Even if she simply presented the facts as they were, the Prime Minister would surely face punishment!

"Thank you so much!" Flora said. "Mr. Owen, you've shown me the power of wisdom!"

"On behalf of the Duke's estate, I thank you for your assistance!"

"I'll tell my father, and he will be sure to express his gratitude properly."

With that, she rushed outside.

Jane looked at Owen with admiration.

"Mr. Owen, are you the emissary of the God of Wisdom?" Jane asked curiously. "How else could you solve the Duke's dilemma with just a few sentences?"

"Hahaha, I'm just an ordinary person, not some divine emissary." Owen felt embarrassed by the praise.

He didn't think there was anything special about what he'd said.

Wasn't it just common sense?

Standard advice, really.

…

Outside, Caesar listened to Flora's complaint with a stern face.

He was very displeased.

Whether it was Prime Minister Bec or this unknown viscount, he had decided to deal with both of them.

"I will take care of this," Caesar said, his single sentence almost making Flora cry with relief.

She never expected that by visiting Lord Owen, she'd also inadvertently solve her father's predicament!

It was all thanks to Lord Owen.

But Caesar's thoughts were on something else.

"Never offend Mr. Owen. As long as his requests aren't excessive, I'll grant them."

"Besides, I've been meaning to suppress certain people's probing actions."

With this thought, a faint smile appeared on Caesar's lips.

"Luigi, bring out the gifts we prepared."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Luigi began taking items out of his magic pouch.

Seeing the King present gifts, Pablo signaled his daughter to bring out their prepared items as well.

Flora and Alice exchanged glances and also started taking things out of their pockets.

As for Jane, who had already given a gift, she gritted her teeth, took out her money pouch, and poured out all the gold coins inside.

When Owen returned to the backyard, he was nearly blinded by the treasures piled on the ground.

There were shining gold lion statues.

Mermaid figurines inlaid with blue sapphires.

Wands that emitted starlight.

Luxurious, glittering fabrics that looked wonderful to the touch.

Not to mention the several chests of gold coins, silver coins, pearls, and gemstones!

Owen was completely stunned.

What happened here?

Did a dragon pass by and accidentally drop its hoard?

"Mr. Owen, thank you for your hospitality," Caesar said.

"I've never had such delicious food before. And considering my breakthrough, while these gifts may not fully express my gratitude, I hope you'll accept them."

"I'll make sure to send more suitable treasures in the future."

Pablo also expressed his thanks to Owen.

Amidst the voices of gratitude, Owen happily accepted the mountain of treasures.

As for the drinks, everyone politely declined.

In their view, merely eating Owen's pizza had already given them a boost. Now that their gifts were gone, they felt too embarrassed to drink at Owen's pub without offering something in return.

After the group left, the backyard returned to its quiet state.

Only then did White, the white rabbit who had been hiding, hop out.

It went straight to the remaining French fries and began munching on them.

"..." Owen watched the rabbit eat the fries, stunned for a moment. "Bunny, are you gaining weight or pregnant? Why has your belly grown so much?"

White choked on a fry, letting out a few coughing sounds.

The cat Avel looked on mockingly.

"Always staying in the backyard, eating all the time and not exercising. This won't do!"

Owen had an idea.

"I made a good profit today. Tomorrow, I'll take the two of you into town to have some fun."

The next day, Owen packed a bag of gold coins and headed down the mountain early.

The small town was bustling.

Shops and taverns lined both sides of the street, and there were many inns and pubs.

Owen wandered around for a while before deciding to check out a local tavern.

As soon as he entered, the lively atmosphere made Owen envious.

"Ah, why is this pub so full even during the day?" Owen perked up, eager to learn some business tips.

"The wine tastes quite ordinary."

"But the waitress serving drinks—what a figure!"

"Huh? Is someone singing too?"

The pub had a small stage, where a young man in vibrant clothing sat holding a lute. With a slight pluck of the strings, music filled the pub.

"Ah, could that be a bard?" Owen became excited.

It was his first time hearing a bard sing.

His anticipation skyrocketed.

The rest of the tavern quieted down.

The bard began to sing as he played.

"The stars shine and shine, never stop shining."

"All the stars, shining and shining."

Huh? What is this?

Brother, what are you even singing?

Owen's face was full of confusion. This song was on par with a children's rhyme back on Earth.

The lyrics, melody, and rhythm were all incredibly simple and boring.

But to his shock, the rest of the tavern, including the owner, started clapping along, seeming to enjoy what they were hearing.

At that moment, Owen realized something.

Not only had these locals never tasted good food, they'd never heard good music either!