Magic Gems Gourmet

Chapter 227

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ED: LonelyMatter

Chapter 227 – The Continuation of That Day

The sea that stretched out in front of Heim was calm.

It was eerily quiet, and the only sounds were the waves crashing against the ship and the sounds of El and Al swimming.

…And finally, the ship carrying Krone arrived at the port city of Roundheart.

“It’s changed so much, but I remember it.”

Although she had only visited the place a few times as a child, the whole scene was still etched in her memory.

Most of it had been destroyed in the war with Ishtalika, but the atmosphere had not changed.

But how would she get off the ship? The gangplank was already gone, and it was too high to jump off.

And then it happened.

“Kyuuu!”

El stuck out her neck and motioned to Krone.

“Will you take me with you?”

El replied with a happy smile.

Krone murmured, “Thank you,” put her foot on El’s head, and then carefully stepped off the ship.

“Thank you, El. Thank you for helping me too, Al.”

“Gyauu…!”

As she patted the heads of the twins who had come to her, Krone looked in the direction of the royal capital. There was a huge tree that she had never seen before, and she immediately recognized it as Ain.

“Well, how am I supposed to get there? It will be hard, but I guess I’ll have to walk.”

“Ara, Krone-san, you came all the way here by yourself?”

“…Sylvia-sama?”

Then, before she knew it, Sylvia was standing right next to her. With a ‘what a hopeless girl’ look on her face, she walked next to Krone and approached the twins.

“Are these the twins?”

“Yes, the older sister El and the younger brother Al… the twin sea dragons.”

“Ara, I see… come in. I’ll give you some magic stones we didn’t use.”

“Kyuu…?”

“Gyauu… Gyauu!”

The twins, who had grown up with the people in the royal capital, accepted the magic stone from Sylvia without any sense of caution.

Instead of accepting it, they swallowed it after it was thrown at them.

“Hmm… Ah, these children just shed their skin, didn’t they?”

“Shed their skin, you say?”

Sylvia muttered as she looked at the twins’ transparent scales.

“Yes. Because their scales are transparent, you see?”

“But the twins’ scales have been transparent for a long time, haven’t they?”

Sylvia looked at Krone, who looked blank and laughed, covering her mouth with her hand. She took Krone’s hand with her free hand and began to walk happily forward.

“U-um, Sylvia-sama?”

Krone is confused by the sudden movement, but Sylvia continues to speak to her, still smiling.

“You see, Cain was originally a little skeleton child.”

“Even though he’s so gallant now?”

“Yes. He used to follow me around and be so cute. After that, he gradually grew and evolved… and after hundreds of years, he finally became a Dullahan.”

“Hundreds of years…”

From her human perspective, that was a strange amount of time. Krone understood that it was only natural that he would become stronger.

“The same will happen to these children. I’m sure they’re growing to evolve.”

“The sea dragon is evolving… I’m a little worried that they might become too mischievous.”

“Don’t worry. Their master is much, much stronger. Now, let’s ride the horses to the royal capital.”

Sylvia must have come all the way to pick her up. As she urged Krone on, the two of them mounted a horse and rode off to the royal capital of Heim.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Even though we are here, you weren’t worried that the Heim soldiers might still be around?”

“That’s painful to hear.”

“My goodness. What are you going to do? If you were to get caught, they’d strip you naked, and… you know what they’d do to you, don’t you?”

Just thinking about it is horrifying. It was indiscreet of Krone; there was no denying that, but her desire to be near Ain won out.

“If it had come to that… maybe Ain-kun would have gone crazy again and saved you.”

“W-well, that’s not a very funny story.”

“Fufu… here we are.”

After riding for a while from the port city of Roundheart, they finally reached the gates of the capital of Heim.

“Good grief, Sylvia said she could sense the sea serpent, but I never thought you’d actually go in alone.”

“…Cain-sama, yesterday, about Ain…”

“It’s okay. I feel a bit responsible, too.”

Cain leaned against a rock at the city gate. When he noticed that the two had arrived, he called out to them as he sat down.

Looking down at his lap, the figure of the Succubus of Jealousy, the Demon King Arche, was sleeping with drool dripping from her mouth.

“Ku… Kah…”

Looking at the scene, it was easy to understand why Arche was a pacifist.

Krone was stunned for a moment, but then she turned her attention to Cain.

“The capital is quiet. The only danger is if Ain wakes up, but as long as that doesn’t happen, there’s no problem.”

“That’s right. I’ll give you a guide, so why don’t you go to the capital with him?”

“A guide?”

“Yes. Don’t worry. There’s no knight more loyal than him.”

The two dismounted from their horses. Then Sylvia took out something she had carefully tucked away in her pocket.

What she took out… appeared to Krone to be nothing more than a pale blue gem.

“I give you this, Krone-san. Please take it as a lucky charm.”

“Um, what is it? It looks like a gem…”

“Of course, it’s a secret.”

“…I understand. Then I will take it as a lucky charm.”

Sylvia replied with a smile, but when Krone saw that she didn’t seem to want to tell her, she gave up.

Nearby, Cain put his hand to his forehead and looked distressed, but he was probably remembering his past hardships.

“By the way, who is the person who will show me around?”

“He’s at the city gate. I know you know your way around the capital, but it’s not very ladylike for a young lady to walk around alone.”

This teasing exchange finally brought a smile to Krone’s face.

After thanking her for bringing her here and for stopping Ain, Krone bowed and then entered the capital.

“But who is this guide? Manipulating some random Heim soldier? …No, I don’t think they would do something like that.”

But it was hard to think of anyone else.

In the end, after a short walk, Krone still didn’t know who it was, and she walked toward the Augusto mansion, tilting her head in wonder.

“…I never thought I’d be back here.”

In addition to the aftermath of the war, Ain’s rampage created a spectacular scene.

When she was young, she thought Heim Castle was magnificent, but that awareness disappeared when she learned about the culture of Ishtalika, and the castle had now collapsed without a trace.

After all, it was Ain who now ruled the capital of Heim.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Krone-sama.

“W-who are… you?”

“Oops. I’m terribly sorry for startling you. My name is Marco… and I am an old knight in the service of Ain-sama.”

“A knight in the service of Ain…?”

Marco’s appearance was clearly that of a monster. At least, according to Krone’s knowledge, she could not remember having a monster knight as a subordinate.

However, the name sounded familiar.

“Could it be that Marco-sama was also summoned by Ain…?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

Then that was a relief. At least since Sylvia vouched for him, it would be wrong for Krone to doubt him any further.

After a sigh of relief, Krone made a polite bow and replied to Marco.

“Nice to meet you, Marco-sama. My name is Krone August. I’m sorry to have asked you to lead a woman like me on this occasion.”

“…No, please don’t be so modest. Besides, you can just call me Marco. Krone-sama.”

“That’s not right. I can’t be so rude to you…”

“I am a servant of Ain-sama. If that is the case, it is only natural that you call me by my name, Krone-sama. Now, let’s go.”

The former Ishtalika royal family might have some stubborn members.

Thinking back to her exchange with Sylvia the other day, Krone walked behind Marco with a resigned look on her face.

◇ ◇ ◇

However, Marco’s requests continued. He then asked Krone to change her tone, and Krone, confused, changed her tone.

She tried to change it, but he said it was still wrong, so she tried to change it to the tone she would use when talking to her subordinates, and Marco nodded in satisfaction.

“If you like, Krone-sama, would you like to hear a little of my old story?”

“…Yes, I would like to hear it.”

“I’ve already told you about the time I was on duty at Arche-sama’s castle, so… now I’ll tell you about what happened before that.”

“Is that when the former Demon King’s territory… no, when the former royal capital still existed?”

Considering his feelings, she rephrases it as the former royal capital. Marco was in a good mood when he heard this and continued to speak in a cheerful tone.

“Actually, this Marco. I already had a person to serve.”

“Eh? Didn’t Marco serve Arche-sama?”

“Sure. In a broad sense, I served Arche-sama and Ishtalika. However, there was another person who was my master.”

It was easy to understand when she thought of Dill. Dill served Ishtalika and was also Sylvird’s retainer. But even though it was confusing, his absolute master was Ain.

Considering their positions, Sylvird was on top, but in the end, it was a matter of the heart.

“My name, Marco, didn’t exist until I met my master. I named myself after him because I admired him so much.”

“…And what happened to your master?”

“I was unable to leave the royal capital due to a certain disturbance, so my dream of accompanying him was not fulfilled. After that… I heard that he died in the lap of the woman he loved.”

It must have been a bitter disappointment for Marco as well. Krone could feel his pain.

“However, that person left me a very important message at the end.”

“An important message?”

“Yes. Before he took his last breath, he left me with these words: ‘If I can be reborn, I want to become a demon king who can defeat them.’ I believed in those words, and for hundreds of years, I have been waiting at the Demon King’s Castle with my mission.”

“So if you’re waiting for the Demon King, is that what you mean by the Demon King Castle?”

“Haha… that’s right. The beast made my memory fade, but I was able to leave it as a deep-rooted obsession in my heart.”

What happened to Marco’s remorse after that? Krone hesitated to ask more and nodded deeply with a thoughtful expression.

“This is as far as I can take you. Everything you see is Ain-sama, and I’m sure that Ain-sama’s will is being fought for in it.”

Then he stopped right next to the Augusto Mansion. The Augusto Mansion had already been swallowed by Ain, and only a small garden was left.

This made the sadness grow, but Krone was satisfied that she had been able to come to Ain’s side.

“Thank you, Marco. I don’t know what to do, but I’ll try to talk to Ain.”

“Yes, please do that. I’ll wait a bit further away, so please call me if you need anything.”

“…Okay. Thank you.”

The two of them parted with these words, and Krone walked along the unsteady path, approaching the base of the tree.

She almost twisted her ankle several times but managed to hold on at the last moment.

“But where do I start talking to it?”

Should she touch the thick root? Or lean against the trunk? Or climb up the tree? …Unfortunately, none of these ideas are very good.

Krone walked around, wondering what to do. But today was a day when she was blessed with the help of others.

“Wow, amazing!”

“Wow… there’s a rare creature! It’s rare! Amazing!”

“…Yes?”

A glowing ball suddenly appeared in the sky… When Krone looked closer, she could see that there was a small human-shaped figure inside.

As the same thing happened in the elf village, Krone was confused by the two balls of light on her shoulders.

“I don’t know who you are, but isn’t it rude to suddenly call someone a rare creature?”

“Eh? But it is rare, you know?”

“…So what’s so rare about it?”

Even Krone, who was usually so calm, got a little irritated. As she showed this on her face, the two balls of light flutter around while giggling,

“I’m the older sister!”

“…The older sister?”

“Yes, I am this girl’s older sister!”

“And, and I’m the younger sister of the older sister!”

Well, if there was an older sister and the younger one is a girl, then she must be the younger sister.

Krone, confused by what she said, put her head in her hands.

“Hey, why? Why do you have a magic stone outside your body?”

“Hey, take it out, take it out!”

“Ah―H-hey, stop that!”

The two glowing orbs playfully teased Krone.

Then the person who called herself “Older Sister” entered Krone’s clothes and showed herself holding something she had received from Sylvia.

“That was given to me by Sylvia-sama!”

“Hey, why? Why are you still alive with the magic stone outside your body?”

“You’re a rare creature!”

“…Well, I am human, after all.”

However, this answer might not have been to their liking.

The two balls of light stamped their feet in the air and…

“I hate liars! This is your magic stone!”

“You’re a rare creature who lies! You’re just like World Tree-sama, you liar!”

“Huh… eh…? Th-That’s not true, you know? I’m a human being, you know?”

“You’re a rare creature! You’re a pixie, but you’re a human, and you’re a liar!”

Even though she knew they were saying something meaningful, she just repeated what popped into her head.

When Krone looked tired, she remembered what the girls said about the World Tree and spoke to them with a startled expression.

“Hey, you two? Do you know where the World Tree is?”

Even though all she could see was probably the World Tree, Krone said it as if she was talking about Ain.

However, it seemed that she made the right decision to ask the two girls for help, and they said,

“We know where it is! The lying World Tree-sama sleeps over there!”

“It’s over here, over here!”

“…Well, it’s worth a try.”

Following the light, which flew away freely, Krone walked forward with a light step.

After avoiding tree roots and ivy for a short while, Krone arrived at the place she was looking for, guided by the two.

It was a large space, close to the boundary between the trunk and the roots.

“This is it! The World Tree-sama is resting right now!”

“You can’t wake it up! You have to be quiet!”

“..I know. Thank you, both of you.”

She was also curious as to who the two girls were, but she decided that they were probably something like fairies.

And as she looked at the scene before her, she smiled like a goddess.

“This is a wonderful seat, Ain.”

The day Ain and Krone first met… the night tea party that Olivia and the three of them attended.

The same terrace seat as that day was near the trunk of the World Tree, which was overfeeding itself. The chair and the trunk had become one, but Ain sat on that seat.

Covered with thick tree roots and ivy, it was a beautiful scene with the afternoon sunlight filtering through the trees. After checking that there were several Star Crystals at the base of the tree, Krone sat down next to Ain.

“Well, shall we continue the tea party?”

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