Magic Gems Gourmet

Chapter 173

TN: Please read my translations only on my website since I never give my permission to any site to host my translations. And if you like my translations, please support this site on Ko-fi and Patreon to read several chapters ahead!

Enjoy~

ED: LonelyMatter

Chapter 173 – Looks Like a Tree Spirit

When he looked at the clock in the living room, it was already 2 a.m.

It seemed that Ain had been asleep for several hours, which also meant that Chris must have been in a difficult sleeping position for some time as well.

Feeling even more apologetic, he found some paper and wrote a note.

The note was short, just the time, and he was going for a short walk.

“…I wonder if just taking a deep breath will be enough to calm me down.”

Ain quietly opened the door to Chris’s house and descended the stairs, feeling the creak of the wood.

Perhaps because it was deep in the forest, the night wind felt somehow different than in the capital.

“Hmm, it’s even colder than before.”

He was glad he brought his cloak with him.

If he caught a cold after going out alone, it wouldn’t just end with Chris being angry with him.

Putting on the cloak, which clearly belonged to royalty, he let his body, which had just woken up, get used to it.

The stars were amazing. He didn’t know how to describe it, but they seem close?

The starry sky stretched out before him, and no matter where he looked, he could see the light of the big stars reflected in his eyes.

He was in awe of the elven village, finding it so fantastic.

“Let’s go to the spring.”

＊＊＊

When Chris and Ain entered the elf village, the first thing he saw was a spring.

Somehow, he felt like going to the water, so he followed the path he remembered.

There were no complicated paths in the elf village, so there was no problem with the route.

However, in addition to the fact that it was night, there were many trees lining the path, so there was a possibility that Ain would get lost.

“…Unfortunately, my sense of direction isn’t that bad.”

He chuckled and continued on his way in a good mood.

He had only experienced a few night walks like this, but when he did them as the Crown Prince, he felt like he was doing something naughty and didn’t feel bad about it.

In fact, he wasn’t even accompanied by his guards, so it was definitely a bad thing to do.

In the midst of all this… it might be a misunderstanding or his imagination, but he felt a warmth from the Marco sword at his waist as if it was protecting him.

Maybe even now, as a sword, it was protecting the second Demon King?

“Well, I think there is a possibility. Because even after they turned into magic stones, those two were still conscious… and besides, the Demon King Arche clearly rejected me.”

He might say that, but even if he used the wisdom of Ishtalica, there were things he couldn’t understand.

If that was the case, it was not impossible for Marco to protect him even after he became a sword.

However, since he didn’t have the means to judge this, he could only end up with his own delusions for the time being.

As Ain muttered to himself like this, he arrived at the spring without hesitation.

“Water… I wonder if it’s okay to drink it?

Well, it didn’t matter.

The poison wouldn’t work anyway, so he wouldn’t get sick.

Thinking it was safe, Ain scooped up some water with his hand and formed it into a bowl.

“Yeah. It feels natural.”

That’s a little too abstract, but it’s the best way to describe it.

It’s probably like spring water, but it’s gentle on the tongue, and the temperature was more pleasant than he expected.

After taking another drink, Ain sat down on a large rock nearby.

He thought he would relax a bit and then go back.

Just as he was thinking this, two shiny balls appeared and began to spin around Ain.

They were about the size of a fist and moved as fast as a dragonfly.

“Hmm?”

Ain, who had been absentmindedly looking up at the sky, noticed the appearance of the balls of light.

What? Are they attacking? He panicked for a moment and grabbed his sword, but when he focused his eyes on the balls of light, he could see the shadow of a small human figure.

“Who are you? Are you from the village?”

He was impressed with himself for keeping such a cool head.

When the balls of light heard Ain’s voice, they slowed down and stopped in front of Ain.

As they stopped, Ain extended his right arm.

“Amazing, amazing!”

“Wow… there is a strange creature here!”

Then, two orbs approached Ain’s right arm.

As the light faded, the small humanoid figures became clearly visible.

They had translucent wings on their backs and floated in the air with light movements.

“Hahaha… What is a strange creature? Even though we’ve just met, you’re already quite talkative, aren’t you?”

Hearing Ain’s words, one of them began to play, dangling from his finger.

It shook its body back and forth like a swing and laughed happily.

“I’m the older sister!”

“The older sister?”

“Yes, I am the older sister of this child!”

The one who said “Amazing, amazing” spoke to Ain first.

As the light continued to fade, it became clear that the small humanoid figure was a woman.

The one who said she was an older sister had blonde hair, and the one hanging from Ain’s hand had silver hair.

Both looked about twelve years old.

“What’s your name, older sister?”

“A name? I don’t have a name.”

“…Then should I just call you ‘Onee-chan’?”

“Yes, because I am an Onee-chan!”

Since she said it was okay, it was probably okay, but there was also something weird about just calling her ‘onee-chan.’

But since there was no other way to call her, it was the only way to call her.

“Well then, what kind of race are you, Onee-chan?”

He was also curious about their name, but he wanted to know what kind of creatures they were.

“Well, they called us fairies!”

“Yes, we are fairies!”

I see. They’re fairies.

Ain smiled wryly at their words and nodded his head in agreement.

Even when people say the word ‘fairy,’ it includes pixies, and there must be different types of fairies.

However, he couldn’t help but feel that it would be difficult to have such a conversation with these two.

It was quite an emotional reaction at their first meeting, but Ain had also been told similar things, so he had already made up his mind.

“Oh, you doubt me! You look at me with doubt in your eyes!”

“This is called ‘suspicion and doubt’!”

――They’re surprisingly perceptive.

Sensing Ain’s indescribable emotions, they appeared in front of Ain’s face with a very dissatisfied tone of voice.

The two fairies crossed their arms and furrowed their brows.

“It’s not like that. Even though you said you were fairies, it just didn’t click with me.”

“――Click?”

“Like this! Click!”

The older sister tilted her head in response while the younger sister stretched out her arms and legs.

The contrast made Ain smile.

“We really are fairies! We’re amazing!”

They thought about the meaning of Ain’s words but then gave up and insisted that they were amazing.

“So, what can you do, Onee-chan?”

He asked as if coaxing a child, and she replied confidently.

“Well then, well then! I’ll look into you!”

…and as she looked at Ain, she let out a difficult-looking “Mmm…”

Seeing this, her younger sister also made a similar gesture, but in her case, she got bored halfway through and climbed onto Ain’s shoulders.

Her too-free figure made him think of a stray cat in the capital.

“Hmm? Are you investigating me?”

“…I’m already investigating you! Be quiet!”

“…Ah, yes.”

Her concentration was disturbed, and she stamped her feet in the air.

When she finished, she seemed to be lost in thought again, and this went on for several minutes.

“――Yes, it really is a strange creature!”

“Yes, it is a strange creature!”

When the younger sister joined in and said that it was a strange creature, Ain was slightly confused.

“Eh…?”

He naturally let out such a voice and turned his eyes to the older sister floating in front of him.

“Why? Your father and mother. Why are they like you, strange creatures?”

“Only my father is a strange creature, you know? My mother is the most beautiful dryad of all, you see? Remember that, okay?”

Ain replied with a smile, but the older sister kept turning her head from side to side as if she didn’t understand.

“Huh…? That’s not true! Your mother isn’t a Dryad, is she?”

“…Huh?”

No, that doesn’t make any sense.

There was no doubt that Olivia was his mother, and although he was born in a special way, he definitely has Dryad blood.

What is she saying? He looks at the older sister with those eyes.

“The first person who gave birth to you… It wasn’t a Dryad! You’re a liar!”

“Hey, liar, liar!”

“First…? What? No way, you’re lying, right?”

Regardless of how she found out, if she said it was the first, then Ain had one thing he could remember.

It was definitely something from his past life, and it seemed that the older sister was investigating something that even Ain couldn’t remember.

Instead of being a fairy, she seemed to have some kind of power that was closer to a god. Contrary to her childish attitude, what she was doing was far beyond Ain’s common sense.

“You’re not a human I know! That’s why you’re a strange creature!”

Ah, so he’s called a strange creature because he’s a human from another world.

Just when he finally understood one thing, Ain’s interest shifted to the mysterious ability.

“I hate liars! Oh, but I’ll give you this!”

“I hate it! Bye-bye!”

“Wait, wait! That thing from before…!”

They suddenly appeared but then suddenly flew away somewhere.

After calling him a strange creature, they even went so far as to investigate his true nature, leaving Ain in a terrible state.

The tiny fairy figures, which were small to begin with, became even smaller and harder to see as they flew away.

Before long, they had flown off into the forest, leaving Ain in a state of confusion.

Even though they said they hated liars, the way they waved happily as they left was very impressive.

By the way, the last thing the older sister fairy left behind was a huge acorn about 10 centimeters in diameter.

“…What is it? This strange feeling of defeat?”

After making him feel like a joke, the fairies called him a liar and left.

Ain looked up at the night sky in the direction they had flown and gazed at his outstretched arm hanging limply.

In the midst of all this, there was one thing he understood.

“Fairies are amazing…”

Let’s not worry about their personalities for now.

If they’re only judged by their abilities, they’ve achieved some pretty outrageous effects.

“Oh? I thought I heard voices, so I came to check, and it was you?”

“…Cyrus-san?”

“Are you alone this late at night?”

Just as he had done at the chief’s house, Cyrus put on a light suit of armor and approached Ain, carrying a longbow and a dagger.

Perhaps he was on a night patrol, but he didn’t look particularly sleepy, and he came to Ain’s side with a light step.

“Good evening. ――There were three of us just now, but now there’s only one.”

Since he didn’t know how to count fairies, he counted them as people and told Cyrus.

“I see, so that’s it. Were the ones you talked to elves? I didn’t pass them by.”

When he asked Ain with a puzzled look, Ain began to tell Cyrus about the encounter earlier.

“I don’t know what kind of race they are, but they are two girls who call themselves fairies.”

He answered with a troubled smile, and Cyrus let out a surprised cry.

“So maybe they are attracted to someone of noble blood?”

“…Huh? What?”

“I-I apologize. The fairies Your Highness met were probably young tree spirits. They are very cautious, and even if the other party is an elf, they will not approach them…”

Are they tree spirits?

So that’s what they are… He thought they were like spirits that lived in trees, but he never imagined that they were such a precious existence.

“So they’re tree spirits… They just went off and talked about whatever they wanted.”

“Hahaha… I’ve never met one, but when I was a child, I asked the chief what they were like.”

He must remember.

Cyrus cleared his throat once and smiled sympathetically.

By the way, how many years ago was it when he was a child?

“It is said that when they find someone they like, they shake the trees and make the fruit fall. Then they talk to the person who picks up the fruit and repeats little pranks.”

…Hearing this, it was strange that it seemed to be nothing more than a pest.

However, Ain said nothing and listened to Cyrus’ words.

“If you only knew that, you might think they were a nuisance. But it is said that the tree spirits protect the people they like.”

“P-protect?

How can such a fragile body protect someone?

He wondered, but the fact that the mysterious ability revealed Ain’s past made him think that there might be more hidden powers.

“Yes. I heard from the chief that the tree spirit would protect the person. I don’t know how they do it, but I guess it’s just a legend.”

“I see…”

Ain said, looking at the huge acorn he had received.

“――What is that?”

“Ah, this was given to me by the tree spirit I mentioned earlier.”

“…I think Your Highness must have been liked by that tree spirit.”

If you like my translations, please support me on Ko-Fi and subscribe my Patreon to read several chapters ahead!