I Opened an Illegal Animal Hospital in Another World - Chapter 35

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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35

Chapter 10. Let’s Start a Business! (1)

“Let’s go, Ron!”

I shouted while riding piggyback on Ron’s shoulders. With a voice that rivaled a triumphant general.

“I got it, so please keep your feet still….”

The kidnapper, Ron, complained. Then Ella immediately said:

“Your speech is too casual for a criminal.”

“Instead of being grateful that we didn’t put a dog collar around your neck and hand Lady Shana the leash….”

Ella was scary.

“Whether Lady Shana stomps her feet, kicks you, taps your head, or pulls out what little hair you have left….”

“It’ll all fall out within a few years.”

She seemed ready to pluck it all out if it didn’t fall out naturally. While riding piggyback on Ron’s sturdy shoulders, I leaned my head to the side to examine his face. I had neatly healed the wounds from his beating, but there was nothing I could do about his pale complexion.

“You must have… really suffered….”

“You must have… really been through a lot…”

“I’ve decided that as long as I live, I will never oppose the Wentworth family.”

“Let’s cut him some slack, Ella. Ron says he’s old.”

Ella snorted. While Ella was kind and gentle enough to always have a smiling face, she was more stubborn compared to the straightforward Maria. She was the type to hold grudges for a long time.

I sometimes acted defiant or spiteful toward Maria, but I never did that with Ella. Because she was scary to cross, given how long she held grudges.

“Being the alpha of the Gray Wolf Clan, he’s naturally old as dirt. That’s why I said his hair doesn’t have much life left in it. And whether he’s old or young doesn’t matter. What matters is that he’s the perpetrator and Lady Shana is the victim.”

Ron couldn’t voice his objections out loud, but he wore an expression that said it was unfair to keep his mouth shut. He was quite expressive.

“Not even being grateful that we spared his life….”

“When merciful Lady Shana would forgive his crimes with just one sincere apology, he should be kissing her feet….”

“Ungrateful… not even appreciating that I spared your life…”

“I am truly grateful.”

“When the merciful Lady Shana would forgive your sins with just one sincere word of apology, even kissing her feet wouldn’t be enough to show your gratitude….”

“What?”

“What a stubborn personality. We only asked you to cooperate in investigating the situation on Rierem Street, but you begrudge even that despite being a criminal?”

“Coming to the manor for some questioning and then forgetting our kindness….”

Ella didn’t know when to stop. If Maria had been here, she would have cut it off appropriately, but unfortunately this outing only included me, Ella, and Ron. I looked for something to change the subject.

“Does Ron have a tight grip on Rierem Street?”

“Just speak comfortably….”

I felt quite sorry for this old wolf beastman.

Yesterday, Ron who was captured and brought back to the manor with me apparently had a long and intimate time with my parents, Maria, Bailey, and Ella. That was the official story, but it probably wasn’t the whole truth….

‘Let’s not pry….’

However, I couldn’t help but sympathize with the kidnapper who had aged drastically in just one day.

“But Lady Shana.”

“…I’m more comfortable this way. Sigh, what am I to do with such softness….”

I pretended not to hear Ella quietly resolve “I need to pull myself together more!” I also ignored Ron’s shoulders trembling at those words.

He looks like he didn’t sleep a wink all night, but even if I’m left alone with Ron, let’s not ask what happened….

“But yesterday among the children, there were others besides wolves, right?”

“Did those children become Ron’s organization members too?”

“I’m asking if you brought them into your gang.”

Ella said, “Our young lady has exceptional vocabulary. Please understand through feeling.” Ron groaned and muttered, “What does ‘through feeling’ even mean?”

It’s all the same thing anyway.

“Yes, they became gang members….”

“…Somehow I feel like I’m being slandered.”

“….”

I called out to him quite stylishly, but Ron’s expression only soured. He seemed to have grasped from the atmosphere that I was teasing him.

“Anyway.”

But Ron wisely changed the subject instead of arguing with me further or asking Ella why I was acting this way. I realized that all three of us weren’t particularly good at listening to other people.

“There are plenty of empty buildings suitable for opening a hospital on Rierem. Sometimes vagrants occupy them, but they can be driven out quickly.”

“Yeah, we’ve become accomplices…”

“Ron is the organization boss…”

“…Somehow I feel like I’m being sold out.”

“Ron, the boss of the Gray Wolf organization on Leerem Street!”

I called out to him with exaggerated flair, but Ron’s expression just looked sour. He seemed to have picked up from the atmosphere that I was teasing him.

“Anyway.”

But Ron wisely changed the subject instead of pressing me further or asking Ella why I was acting that way. I realized that the three of us weren’t particularly good at listening to what others had to say.

“There are plenty of empty buildings in Liarlem suitable for opening a hospital. Some might be occupied by vagrants, but they can be easily evicted.”

“It’s not like I’m going to kick anyone out to claim it….”

“I misspoke. By occupied, I don’t mean they live there permanently. They just duck in occasionally to borrow shelter under the roof.”

The slums referred to Rierem Street and its surrounding areas.

From what I overheard by eavesdropping on adult conversations, Rierem Street was considered decent by slum standards. There were fewer vagrants and drug addicts, and more people lived together in groups.

My parents would gather the vagrants, clean them up once, then bring them to the cleaned buildings for treatment.

Since I was doing treatment and purification simultaneously, I didn’t realize it, but there must have been quite a few patients addicted to drugs.

‘I wonder if their addiction symptoms were cured too?’

Withdrawal symptoms aside, I thought drug dependency was more like a habit. Since breaking habits is a matter of willpower rather than illness, probably no one else could cure that, right?

Anyway, the role I assigned to Ron was to guide me to a suitable location for establishing a hospital on Rierem Street.

“First, here.”

“This is the entrance though…”

“It’s the safest.”

“Let’s go deeper inside!”

Ron let out a deep sigh.

“Are you always this fearless?”

Ella shrugged her shoulders.

“She’s a spirited person.”

“Raised by A-rank mercenaries and daughter of a 7th class mage, so she can’t be ordinary…”

“His Grace the Duke is also as skilled as the Royal Guard captain.”

“Is that family insane?”

I punished Ron for his rude remarks by grabbing and pulling his hair. Ron didn’t even look at me, as if it didn’t hurt. You who don’t understand the preciousness of hair will cry in the not-so-distant future.

“There are many empty buildings, but not many with intact roofs. The deeper you go inside, the more true this becomes. The areas closer to other streets are decent, but the further inside you go, the less likely you’ll find buildings to your liking.”

“We can build a roof.”

“…”

“If there isn’t one, we can construct it.”

“But that would take a long time!”

“We’ll have to do construction anyway. We can use twice as many workers to shorten the time.”

Ella grumbled that working at our house had completely numbed her sense of money. Her mouth was smiling though.

“Then you don’t need my guidance, do you?”

“You don’t.”

Ella said coldly. I patted the dejected Ron’s shoulder.

“No, I needed it.”

“Lady Shana said we need to win you over since you have to bring in customers.”

“…”

Ron’s shoulders drooped a little more. My view, riding on his shoulders, also lowered accordingly.

“Are there no more beastmen with the epidemic?”

“I need to look for more too. I don’t know all the beastmen either.”

Ron hesitated for a moment, then spoke seriously.

“Thanks to you, children who were dying could live. I’m truly grateful.”

“Don’t mention it. When Renate comes later, I’ll ask him to buy me something delicious.”

Ron chuckled deep in his throat. I tried to recall his face, which I hadn’t seen since that day. It’s not easy to forget a handsome face, but it had been so long that only the shocking impression from our first meeting remained.

‘How petty, he said he’d come back but never came even once.’

Would it kill him to show his handsome face once in a while?

“How about here?”

“Oh, a three-story building…”

The building had no roof. As I stared intently at the building, Ron hastily said,

“You said no roof was fine!”

“It’s not the rainy season right now…”

And we’ll finish construction quickly… Ron got so flustered that it was funny, so I kept staring at him teasingly, which made him blurt out more desperate words.

“The building right next door is my shop. It’s reasonably deep inside, not too dangerous or dark, and since it’s my shop, mostly beastmen come and go, but if they’re allies, the security isn’t bad…”

It was funny watching him break out in a cold sweat. I shouted cheerfully,

“Let’s go with this place!”

“Right. I’ll set it up immediately.”

“While construction is ongoing, I can see patients at Ron’s shop!”

“What?!”

“Why, don’t you like it?”

When I asked from above his head and Ella asked from beside him simultaneously, Ron froze stiff. He really was fun to tease.

“…Do whatever you want. I was going to nag that it’s not a suitable shop for a child to frequent, but you’re not someone who’d listen to me anyway…”

“Lady Shana, please get off the amusement ride now.”

“Okay!”

Ron muttered quietly, “Treating a person like an amusement ride…”

Ella lifted me up with her slender arms and handed me over to Ron. Ron looked at Ella with a puzzled expression, but Ella didn’t even pretend to see him and spoke to me.

“You’re wearing all your security devices, right?”

“Yes! Here!”

3 bracelets, 5 rings, 1 necklace, and protective spells were engraved inside the robe. That wasn’t all. My parents had hidden many things in various places, probably worried I’d look like some rich person showing off money if I only wore jewelry. I don’t really know everything either.

Ron muttered with his face turning pale.

“How much is all that worth…”

Ignorance is bliss.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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