I Reincarnated Into A Single-Celled Organism!

Mara had an awkward expression on her face as she served Abigail and I tea. She seemed to have an expression like she wanted to talk with me, but her responsibilities and position in the mansion didn’t make it appropriate. We were seated on a porch that overlooked the impressive estate. One could barely see my bachelor’s estate through a recently formed break in the woods I had carved out in the morning.

Mara wasn’t the only one present. The steward, Pierre, was there, as was another maid I vaguely recognized from my first visit. The woman named Penny was there as well. She was giving me looks as if I was covered in filth. A clear look of displeasure. Abigail’s face gave nothing away as she casually sipped from her cup.

“You mentioned a job?” I cleared my throat, finally cutting into the silence that had permeated the setting since the servants set the table.

“You don’t need to worry too much,” Abigail replied. “Any honorary job title will do. Especially since you can’t help us out with our financial crisis, I won’t expect much from you.”

“Hmph, you’re going to let him be lazy? Doesn’t it feel like he bought his way into noble lineage? Any paragon would pay ten times so much and feel grateful to serve the Capala household! To offer him your hand…”

“Penny, we’ve been through this.” Abigail couldn’t help but sigh. “I’ve done exactly what the family has asked of me. However, this is ultimately my decision.”

“I’m sorry?” I interrupted. “What financial crisis?”

Abigail winced slightly before shooting Penny a dark look. “I was hoping to bring this up rather delicately, but since it has already been brought up…”

Penny shrugged. “You’re the one who didn’t tell him the conditions of accepting this betrothal. Had you chosen one of my brothers, they would have gladly helped.”

Abigail sighed. “It’s no secret that the Capala family has had a few rough years where our gardening output has been lower than expected. I came with the hopes of turning things around, but a year isn’t very long, and the previous tenant…ahem… let’s just say the treasury is not at the numbers we were led to believe.”

“Simply put, Abigail is broke,” Penny finished.

Abigail shot her a look, but she glanced back unapologetically. “I currently cannot touch my parent’s inheritance, and this branch appears to be on the verge of bankruptcy. The reason we’re down to a barebones staff is that I already can’t afford to maintain the servants I have. Without input, this branch will be shut down within two months.”

I frowned. “What does this have to do with me?”

“You’re part of the Capala family now, and you’re my future husband, in name at least. You also just won the jackpot prize of 50,000 kilojoules during the tournament. With that income, we can afford to keep going for another ten months, no, a year! This was also the reason I selected someone who won the tournament because I knew they would have the money necessary to help us out of our predicament.”

“I don’t have the money,” I cut in.

“I see, well, we can… wait…” She looked at me with penetrating eyes. “What did you say?”

“The 50,000 kilojoules… I already used it,” I responded awkwardly.

I had already poured the money into the debtor mark. I was worried that if I held onto it, I’d end up spending it. Save the money and use it to make more money? That sounds like something some upper-middle-class guy would say. For my entire childhood, we lived paycheck to paycheck. We never answered a number we didn’t know because it would undoubtedly be a bill collector. Whenever payday came, my parents would run out and buy everything they could before the money was gone.

I never wanted to be like them, so the least I could do was immediately drop it into my debt. I didn’t want to end up owing anyone anything. The sooner I could clear that debt, the more relaxed I’d be. Everyone in the room was staring at me in complete disbelief.

“H-how?” Abigail finally managed to get out.

“You already knew from the first day… I’m in debt.” I lifted my sleeve and revealed the bond insignia.

It was half gone now, while the timer had only moved a short distance. I’d consider that good progress.

Abigail’s expression turned strange. “So, you used a bit of it on that… how much could a commoner honestly owe though? Even if it’s not all of it… surely…”

“It’s all of it…” I coughed. “It’s more accurate to say it wasn’t enough.”

“How much did you owe?” Penny cried out, a shocked expression on her face.

“I owed 100,000 kilojoules. I’ve paid half of it now, so I have another 50,000 to go.”

“Fifty…” Abigail muttered.

“Thousand…” Penny finished.

Abigail shook her head. “A scam! Forcing a loan of that size on even a paragon is practically suicide, let alone a commoner. Whoever convinced you to sign this loan was someone of poor repute. Just give me their name, and I will renegotiate the terms. Once I put a little pressure on them, not only will they forgive you the rest of the debt, but I’ll get a large amount of what you paid back.”

“Really? Her name is Mirage.”

“Mirage? Peculiar name… it sounds familiar…” Abigail frowned.

“Mirage Sagebush? I believe they call her a warden*?”

“Sagebush? Wa-warden Sagebush?” Abigail looked shocked once again. “That… how could you end up owing her so much money?”

“I-it’s my fault!” Mara cried out, causing everyone’s eyes to turn to her. “Ah, I mean, he became trapped in a Schrodinger’s box…”

Mara quickly explained the event. She didn’t specifically mention Erika or Tyler, instead making it sound like she just happened across Mirage in the street. The conclusion was the same though. Mirage got me out of the box and I was branded with a 100,000 kilojoule debtor’s bond. Penny seemed to be in shock, but Abigail seemed to recover much quicker.

“I see, you shouldn’t blame yourself. Your… brother would be dead right now if you had not gotten her service. All of the wardens are extremely powerful. No one knows how far down their evolutionary paths they’ve traveled, but every single one has a unique and strange path that makes them extremely difficult to deal with. They are all eccentrics who do whatever they want. They also represent the power and strength of the lord. Even the Capala family can’t afford to offend a warden. How much time do you have to pay off this debt?”

“Around ten months?”

“This…” Abigail shook her head. “I’m not sure how the Capala family can help you…”

Her words ended when Penny broke into a snicker, causing Abigail to give her a stern look. “What? You decided to pursue this commoner because you thought you’d get the 50,000 kilojoules he won. Instead, you end up owing another 50,000 kilojoules. You can’t even afford to help yourself. How will you be able to help your fiancé?”

“You don’t need to worry about this.” I shook my head. “I never intended to burden you with my debts.”

A complicated expression appeared on Abigail’s face. “Even though I hoped for an advantage, I won’t shy away from this. Since I brought you into this hope, I would feel shame if I couldn’t protect you. I would become the laughing stock of the city if my fiancé was suddenly turned into a slave.”

I felt a strange bit of warmth hearing her say that. I had expected her to marry me to use me. I didn’t expect her to be willing to help me with my problems. I didn’t have any expectations that she would, but her regret did seem real. If she had the 50,000 kilojoules, I had a feeling that she would pay off my debt.

“I’m not afraid of work,” I told her. “I already had an idea about what I wanted to do.”

“Oh?” She lifted her head with curiosity.

“I’d like to work in the shop.”

Penny let out a soft chuckle. “You? Work with ingredients? You do realize that alchemy is an art? Such ingredients can’t be handled by anyone. It requires tons of memorization. A bumpkin like you, I’m afraid even if we gave you fifty years, you wouldn’t be able to memorize the necessary material.”

Abigail gave me an apologetic look. “I’m afraid I’ll need to agree with cousin here. Martial talent and alchemic talent are two different fields. To work in the shop, you’d need to recognize thousands of different plants at a glance. You’d need to know their age, quality, and current market price. Just memorizing our stock could take years, but you also need to be looking out for new ingredients. Only an elder who has spent his whole life working with ingredients is qualified.”

“Alright, it sounds like you doubt my aptitude. In that case, how about giving me a week to study, and then testing me? I imagine there is a test for this kind of thing?”

“A week?” Penny laughed openly now. “You think a week is enough?”

“I already have some knowledge, I just need to review. Is there a place where I can review the information? Books?”

Abigail and Penny exchanged a look, but then Abigail spoke up. “You don’t need to go anywhere. This is the ingredient branch of the Capala household. You just need to check out our private library. There are countless books describing ingredients there. Are you sure about this?”

I put on a smile. “Just lead the way.”

“Alright, if you insist, then I will schedule an exam next week.”

*: Warden was originally sentinel, but I liked the name sentinel for the eye/ear boxes he puts out, so this is a retcon in naming that may or may not have been fixed.

** As an aside, I wish I had named it pharmacology/toxicology instead of alchemy. Fixing that retcon would be annoying though. Just a heads up I might do it though.