Magic Gems Gourmet

Chapter 174

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ED: LonelyMatter

Chapter 174 – The Morning of the Second Day

Last night, Ain was able to hear a significant story.

Now, if someone were to ask if he could tell it to someone else, the answer would, of course, be ‘no.’

By the way, he wanted to make it clear that the meaningful story was not about the tree spirit. In other words, it was about the Wernstein family.

“Fuaaa…Sleepy.”

Ain enjoyed a walk last night in secret from Chris.

When he returned to Chris’ house, careful not to make a sound, Ain took out his non-leather coat and rested on the sofa, using it as a blanket.

He also felt like taking a bath but resisted the urge to use it without permission.

Besides, he didn’t know where the bathroom was, and he didn’t feel comfortable searching the house.

“Ah… it’s the morning sun. It feels like another world, and it feels good.”

Looking at the sunlight rising from deep in the forest, he realized that it was just dawn.

He didn’t know how long he had been asleep last night, but he thought he had slept for a few hours.

Ain, who had returned from his walk, went straight to sleep on the sofa, but he still didn’t sleep for four hours.

Fortunately, he felt he had managed to get some rest by adding up the time he had fallen asleep.

“Chris… doesn’t seem to be awake yet.”

In her case, if she saw Ain resting on the sofa when she woke up, she would probably be so surprised that she would faint.

The fact that there was no sign of that happening means that Chris is still in her dream world.

――What should I do now? Ain thought.

He was still a little sleepy when he woke up, but when he saw the sunrise, he was already satisfied.

He wondered if he should go back to sleep for a second time… or maybe even a third time?

He didn’t feel like going back to sleep, so he thought about what he could do to pass the time while he waited for Chris to wake up.

He thought about doing some light swings, but it wouldn’t be good for the elves in the village to see a guest from outside swinging a sword.

So he gave up the idea.

…And then it happened.

The living room where the confused Ain was waiting. A door at the end of the room opened slowly.

“Ahh… morning… sleepy… I’m still sleepy…”

――Chris, she’s not good with mornings.

No, she was probably just relaxed at home. It wasn’t like that when they were at Ist.

While mentally supporting Chris, he saw her rubbing her sleepy eyes.

She was wearing a light nightgown, and some of the buttons on the front were undone.

Perhaps she had taken her hands off the buttons because she was having trouble sleeping, but he would have preferred her to put them back on when she got up.

Instead, Ain wanted to be praised for his mental strength and for not letting his base desires get the better of him.

Ain was probably undergoing a transformation as well.

“Well, Chris, good morning.”

After hesitating about what to say, he decided to greet her this way.

Chris lets out a surprised “Huh?” and stared at Ain with wide-open eyes.

“A-Ain-sama! W-why are you in my house…!”

I see, that’s how she’s going to react, Ain thought.

At the unexpected answer, he put his hand to his mouth, thinking that this was his chance to play a trick on her.

She seemed to be a bit sleepy and had forgotten that she came to the Elven village with Ain.

“We just got here yesterday, remember?”

But in Chris’ case, she really seemed to believe the joke.

With a heavy heart, Ain gave up on the prank and pointed out that what happened yesterday was normal.

Seeing Chris looking confused, Ain got up from the sofa and approached Chris.

“Look, you’re going to catch a cold if you keep wearing that even when you get up. And, sorry. I want to take a bath. Can I use yours?”

Seeing Chris’ figure, which was a bit too much for his eyes, Ain approached her and covered her with his own cloak.

Inwardly, Ain also felt a certain tension, but he didn’t let it show as he approached her.

“Ah… Y-yes. Of course… And… well, thank you…”

When Chris replied to Ain, she pointed gently towards the kitchen.

“I see. That’s the bathroom, right? Then I’ll borrow it for a while.”

As Ain approached the place where the luggage had been left, he picked up his own clothes from inside.

Chris seemed to want to say something, but in the end, she just grabbed the cloak Ain had put on her.

For Ain, it was just perfect because he wanted to take a bath.

He used that as an excuse to leave the room.

It was a good idea that made him want to praise himself. With a raised corner of his mouth, Ain went in the direction Chris had indicated.

When she saw Ain leave, Chris opened her mouth.

“…Ah.”

“That’s right. Come to think of it, we left yesterday morning and came to the elf village…”

It seemed that her mind was gradually waking up, and she remembered the events of yesterday.

Taking advantage of the fact that Ain had gone to the bathroom, Chris sat down on a chair and did the ‘sitting gymnastics’ pose, then tucked herself completely into Ain’s cloak.

“Yes. After we rested a bit, we went to the chief’s house…”

Ain had a conversation with the chief and then came back to this house a while later.

She remembered that after that, Ain leaned his elbows on the table and fell asleep…

When she remembered that far, she seemed to gradually understand the situation and covered her face with her hands.

“I screwed up. I think Ain-sama probably woke up in the middle of the night, gave me the bed, and went to rest on the sofa…”

When she looked at the sofa, there were signs that someone had been lying there.

Since there were only Chris and Ain in the house, it was clearly Ain’s.

Realizing the solid evidence, Chris buried her head in her hands and thought, “I made a mess.”

Last night, Chris, who unusually used wind magic, carefully carried Ain to bed.

After she finished carrying him, she rested nearby, intending to keep watch. In other words, there was nothing wrong so far.

“Ugh… I should have stayed awake… What a shame…”

The fact that Chris was lying on the bed and the covers were even pulled up meant that Ain must have carried her there.

She blamed herself for not remembering anything and said the wrong thing by saying that she should have woken up.

“――Hahhh. I’m going to change my clothes. And I need to heat up some breakfast…”

Like Ain, she rummaged through her luggage and got her own clothes, then went to the bedroom.

＊＊＊

Maybe it was time to take a break.

About an hour after they had finished Martha’s special meal, while the two of them were chatting about what the Chief was doing, a visitor arrived at Chris’ house.

“――I’m sorry to come so early in the morning…”

The visitor was Sierra.

She was carrying many bundles of paper and books in both hands and was struggling to walk.

She opened her mouth a little and breathed several times, looking tired.

“No, it’s okay since we already ate… but you have a lot of stuff.”

When Ain replied to Sierra, Chris smiled wryly, took the package from Sierra, and put it on the table.

“Thank you, Chris. ――Your Highness, I have a report to give you. The Chief is not feeling well today, so I brought the materials that were prepared last night.”

――I’m sorry.

Sierra apologized and bowed.

“Even though it was a sudden visit, I was able to listen to the Chief for a long time last night. Maybe that’s why she’s not feeling well.”

As always, even though he was the Crown Prince, Ain was a worrier and a humble person.

Still, he thanked Sierra for collecting the materials.

“But thank you. You’ve collected such an amazing amount of material…”

On the table were piles of paper that would surprise even Krone’s office, as well as a mountain of old, worn-out books.

Hearing that she had collected all this in one night, Ain was quite impressed.

“It’s no big deal. I just collected the things Your Highness needed, as instructed by the Chief.”

Despite her small stature, Sierra seemed to be a capable woman.

Perhaps that was why she was entrusted with such close work to the Chief.

“――I also have a message for you from the Chief.”

She wiped the sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief from her pocket.

After a short breather, Sierra told Ain about it.

“It’s quite simple, but the chief would like to invite you to dinner at her house tonight as a gesture of welcome.”

Chris was the first to react to her words.

“Sierra? I think you know…”

She chose her words carefully so as not to be rude and opened her mouth as if she were in trouble.

Sierra then answered as if she had guessed what Chris was going to say.

“I know. You want to say something about security, right?”

“Yeah, something like that…”

“I’m going to make sure that everything is checked from start to finish. Also, the only people who will be present will be myself, Cyrus-sama, and a few young warriors. I’ll also adjust the distance between the seats.”

“I guess that’s okay then…”

She must have trusted Sierra more than the other elves.

Although she still had some reservations, Chris nodded as if she was convinced.

“That’s all that matters. …Then, Your Highness. I will pick you up after the evening. So please enjoy the time until then.”

“Ah, I understand. I’m looking forward to the elven cuisine.”

“Well, I’ll pass that on to the cooks.”

She nodded happily and replied with a lighthearted laugh, then headed for the door.

In addition to the occasional creaking of the wood, the distinctive sound of hardwood being stepped on echoed through the living room.

“I’ll be back to show you around later this evening. Please enjoy your time at Elven Village.”

Sierra’s manner made a different impression on the castle’s servants.

Both were equally refined, but while the castle’s servants felt like a painting, Sierra’s mannerisms gave a sense of satisfaction, like watching an old, famous play.

In short, they’re both amazing, aren’t they?

He looked at Sierra’s back and muttered to himself as if it was someone else’s business.

“…It’s really an amazing amount.”

“Haha, that’s right… Looks like we won’t be able to check everything by tonight.”

He turned around and looked at the pile of documents Sierra had brought with her.

He picked up some of them and saw that they were written in Elven.

“Sorry, I can’t read them myself.”

“Ah, that’s right… ――I understand! Leave it to me!”

As expected, Chris-onee-san was the person to rely on when it came to the language of the elves.

Chris happily wenr over to Ain when Ain asked for her help.

“Speaking of which, Ain-sama. I noticed something last night.”

“Last night?”

“Yes. It’s about the creatures that appeared in Euro…”

Hearing this, Ain looks into Chris’ eyes.

“…Really?”

“Yes. I think you probably remember the story as well. After all, you heard it at the place we went together.”

“The place we went together? Sorry, can you give me more details?”

“It’s the Ist. In your conversation with Professor Oz, you must have received a document with this title.”

Chris picked up a piece of paper, took a pen from her breast pocket, and started writing.

The content of the document was about a research topic that Ain also remembered.

“…’Experiment on the monsterization of another race. Aiming at the artificial demon king.’ I see; now that you mention it, what they’re doing is the same in terms of artificially creating monsters. Thank you, Chris. That’s good information.”

Ain patted Chris on the head, having suddenly received a valuable clue.

It seemed to be an action he wasn’t aware of, and while he did it naturally, he walked towards the window, lost in thought.

In reality, it can’t be said that they’re artificially creating monsters, but it’s definitely information that seems to be related.

“Haee…! E-eh…!”

Chris was stunned for a moment. She watched Ain’s back as she walked away and felt her pulse quicken.

Chris put her arms around her head and put her hands on the spot where Ain had patted her.

She was confused as to why she had been patted, but she was also genuinely happy.

“And when I think about it, the two attendants of Raviola-sama are exactly like the old story Professor Oz talked about…”

If you add the fact that they crossed the sea and replaced the hostile relationship with a human and a red fox… and the forces of the Demon King, it actually fits too well.

“Yes. When we get back to Holtra, I’ll have to contact Professor Oz and ask him to come to the capital. I’m sorry, but I guess I’ll have to postpone all other business for now.”

The closest town to Elven Village.

As soon as they return to Holtra, he decides to call Oz right away.

Now that Anon has been confirmed as the Red Fox, this knowledge may not be necessary, but he wanted to hear the old story in detail.

He also decided to ask Oz himself for details about the past story of the attempt to create an artificial demon king.

Like the sun shining down on the elf village, this investigation seemed to be going smoothly.

Nodding deeply to himself, Ain looked at Chris, who was still looking confused. He went over to the documents, wondering what she was doing.

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