Magic Gems Gourmet

Chapter 153

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ED: LonelyMatter

Chapter 153 – Received Message

When the silence of the night enveloped the royal capital.

In this season, when the green was beautiful, the air was still cool in the late hours of the night.

In contrast, there was a hustle and bustle in the castle.

A few hours had passed since he had gone to bed, and Ain was resting as usual.

However, his sleep was interrupted by a sudden visit from a servant.

Afterward, Ain hurried across the thick carpet to the castle’s meeting room.

“…..”

As Ain walked with a serious expression on his face, many thoughts raced through his mind.

It was inevitable that he couldn’t think straight, as an unprecedented incident had occurred in Heim, a country he had no intention of ever dealing with again.

After the meeting, Ain and the others had no idea that they would be so quickly distracted by the story of Heim.

“――Your Highness!”

“Ah, I’ll get right to it. Let’s go inside.”

“Yes!”

When Ain reached the meeting room he was heading for, he called out to the knight standing guard at the entrance.

Hearing his words, the knight opened the door to the meeting room.

Everyone in the room turned to look at Ain, and a moment of silence fell.

“Never mind, please continue.”

Ain said, then walked to the seats where the dignitaries were waiting at the back of the room.

As a result, the room quickly returned to its usual boisterous state.

In the meeting room, in addition to the usual faces, several nobles had also been invited.

Among them was Leonard’s father, who spoke volumes about the gravity of the situation.

“Sorry, I’m late.”

The seats were in the back of the room where he had arrived.

Sylvird and Warren sat there with serious expressions on their faces.

“That’s all right. It was a sudden report, and you must have had things to prepare for.”

After hearing Ain’s apology, Sylvird forgave him.

Because of the sudden report, Ain had been woken up in the middle of the night.

With a reason like that, it was no wonder he was late.

“Thank you.”

Ain sat down, grateful for Sylvird’s words.

Krone had not stayed at the castle today was yet to arrive at the scene.

“How far have you gotten in the story?”

Ain asked how far the conversation had progressed in his absence.

“Not yet. We just wanted to check the situation, so let’s start again from there.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Relieved by Warren’s words, he asked him to check the situation again.

“Well then, let’s start with the information we got from the spies about the dead.”

And so Warren began to recount the spy’s report.

“Although several noble families were affected, it is particularly noteworthy that the second prince of the Kingdom of Heim and Isis-dono of Roundheart are among the victims. The death of the former head of the Great General Family is also significant, and the situation has become even more serious.”

The woman called Isis was Ain’s grandmother.

The information about Isis sounds more shocking to Ain than the information about the second prince being killed.

“Warren-san, please continue.”

There were so many things that worried him, but first, he had to confirm the information.

Warren looked at Ain’s expression, so Ain immediately asked him to continue.

“…The reason the incident came to light was because the heads of all the victims were delivered to the castle.”

“That’s in bad taste.”

Even Ain felt sick at the thought of the crime that made him feel nauseous just to hear about it.

“The heads were delivered on the same night that Heim’s group returned to their homeland. In other words, it was last night…”

“So the incident happened while we were meeting with them?”

“Yes. I think you’re right, Ain-sama.”

It’s only been two days since the meeting ended.

And yet, it’s caused such an uproar, and he was plagued by indescribable emotions.

The fact that it happened during the meeting.

It was a simple judgment, but it’s clear that the crime was targeted at that time.

However, he had no idea what the motive or benefit was.

“…What do you think is happening to Heim right now?”

“There’s also the pent-up anger from the meeting, and then this incident so soon after returning home. I think they’re probably being swallowed up by immeasurable negative emotions.”

“As I thought.”

Ain sighs wearily.

Then, at the right moment, Sylvird opens his mouth.

“But we can’t just sit around and do nothing. That’s right, Warren.”

“Yes… I think you’re right, Your Majesty.”

“A country that claims supremacy over the continent. If an incident like this happens there, there’s no way the continent won’t be shaken.”

――War.

This thought crosses Ain’s mind.

Ain, who never had anything to do with wars, felt a bead of sweat forming on his neck.

“I don’t want to think about it, but depending on the circumstances of finding the culprit, it could lead to a war. Is that what you think, Grandfather?”

“That’s right. I don’t think the king will do anything. I hope that the culprit will be found within Heim, but if we think about the worst case scenario, it is undeniable that it will affect Euro as well.”

“Ain-sama, I think the same as His Majesty. If the culprit is not found in the next few days, this continent will plunge into war.”

“Yes, I really don’t want to think about it, but it might happen.”

“Therefore, Your Majesty, what we have in Euro are transport ships, albeit armed ones. We will send two large warships, is that okay?”

If it came to that, these ships could be used to evacuate Duke Amur and the people of Euro.

And since Euro was surrounded by many capes, an attack by warships from the sea would be highly effective even if Heim were to invade.

“No problem. I’ll leave it to you, Warren.”

“Yes, sir. Then I’ll make my own decision.”

When Warren nodded, Sylvird continued.

“If Heim is leading the army, I’ll leave it to you to decide whether or not to fire warning shots. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

Listening to their conversation, he could really feel that war was approaching.

He wasn’t sure if he could call it lucky, but Ain was relieved that it had nothing to do with Ishtalika directly.

Still, that feeling of tension would never go away.

“Grandfather, shouldn’t we use the royal authority to forcibly protect the people of the Augusto family?”

“I know. ――Warren, what about the Augusto family?”

“I think we should protect them. The situation is what it is, so as Ain-sama says, I think we should protect them, even if it’s a little forceful.”

In this case, not only the royal family but also several noble families, including the Roundheart family, were targeted.

In this situation, there is no guarantee that the Augusto family will not be targeted.

And if there were people who could assassinate the royal family, then the safety of Elena and the others was tantamount to being unsafe.

“I know it will be a lot of work, but I need you to come up with a plan by dawn.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll come up with some ideas.”

“Warren-san, once you come up with a plan, can you implement it right away?”

“Yes, leave it to me. It’s already past midnight, so I think we can do something today.”

Ain, relieved, reached for the water on the table.

If you think about it, he hadn’t had anything to drink since his woke up all of a sudden, so his throat was parched.

The water Ain drank was just water, but due to his thirst and nervousness, it felt like a treat.

After drinking the glass of water, Ain finally felt like he could breathe.

“But I wonder if the security was really that lax, or if the assassin was a powerful person?”

“Hmm… What do you think, Warren?”

Warren’s opinion when in trouble.

As usual, Sylvird turned to Warren for his opinion.

“Since it happened during the meeting, it means that the crime was committed in a short period of time. That means the theory that it was a powerful person is more likely.”

After thinking for a few seconds, Warren slowly spoke his thoughts.

“This is an unusual situation. Even if several nobles were murdered, it would be a case like no other in Heim’s history, and it would include members of the royal family and the general’s family.”

“The more I think about it, the more I don’t think it was done by someone from Heim.”

“Me too, Ain-sama. There are too few advantages and motives. At least, it’s not something an ordinary person could have done.”

“If you think about it like that, it would have to be someone from another country.”

Someone who could get into the castle in Heim and who had connections with some of the nobles.

Ain tried to think of that person as the culprit, but it clearly didn’t seem possible.

After all, if someone like that had been the culprit, he would have been found by now, and the case would have been heading towards a conclusion.

And the fact that there is no sign that the case is coming to an end means that it must have been someone from another country.

“By the way, Ain-sama. This is a bit difficult to ask, but I’d like to ask you a question this time.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

Warren looks at Ain with difficulty, but Ain answers as if to say not to worry about it.

“Isis-dono was assassinated. If that happens, what will Logas-dono and Grint-dono do? Could you give us your opinion on what will happen based on the personalities of the people in the past?”

“Oh, I see. You didn’t have to worry about that much.”

As a former family member, Warren thought about Ain’s feelings.

Although it wasn’t the same as before, Ain still seemed calm.

“I know it’s a little late to say this, but I can’t really think of her as family. I know it’s sad that she’s dead, but I don’t have any stronger feelings than that.”

Not wanting to speak ill of the deceased, Ain ended his talk about Isis at that point.

He then answered Warren’s question.

“That person was strongly influenced by… Isis-san’s words. For example, the day I met Krone for the first time. I was the main focus that day, but she said some words that pushed Grint and forced that person to do it.”

In retrospect, he was able to meet Krone and come to Ishtalika because of her.

Looking at the results, he couldn’t say he has any regrets.

Also, the reason he wasn’t sure how to call Isis was because he called Laralua ‘grandmother,’ and he felt a little uncomfortable calling Isis ‘grandmother’ now.

“So he might be stunned by the fact that her own mother is dead. But I think he will definitely think about taking revenge.”

Thinking back to Logas’ attitude towards Isis, it seemed natural.

“I see. Thank you for telling me. …Besides, since it’s a matter of royalty, it seems that the whole continent will be involved.”

Warren said it with a sigh as if he was really tired of it.

“I’m sure it will. I don’t even want to think about it.”

Then Ain replied to Warren with a wry smile.

After all, this was a topic that came up so soon after their return, and Ain and the others were even more exhausted.

“Good grief… we still have to deal with the problem of the red fox…”

After all, they had just finished their investigation in Magna.

As he thought about it, Ain let out a voice of dismay, but when he muttered the word red fox, his vision suddenly widened as if something had connected.

“Red fox…?”

Then Ain’s head began to work frantically.

Sylvird watched curiously as he began to think in silence.

“Ain? What’s wrong? You’ve suddenly become quiet…”

Sylvird spoke to him with concern, but Ain’s ears could not hear his words.

Ain concentrated harder than ever.

Warren also looked at him with concern, but since Sylvird’s words didn’t reach him, he decided to wait for Ain’s answer in silence.

After about a minute, Ain finally looked up.

“I think I have noticed something disturbing.”

This murder of nobles could be called abnormal.

Is there anyone on this continent who could carry it out without being noticed?

With this assumption, Ain remembered the Red Fox.

“What do you mean, disturbing?”

“Ain-sama, what exactly is this disturbing thing?”

Considering the information that the red fox had crossed the sea, it was somewhat understandable that they had chosen this time.

“Yes. That disturbing thing is…”

Isthalika should have no direct connection to this incident.

However, from these assumptions, Ain came up with a hypothesis.

He thought that the country of Ishtalika might have already been forced onto the stage.

It was still just a hypothesis, but Ain told them his words, hoping that it would remain just a hypothesis.

“――This assassination might be related to the Red Fox.”

Until now, he had been desperately searching for clues about the Red Fox.

But even for Ain, it took courage to say those words.

…Because the word “war” had burned itself into his mind and would not go away.

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