Magic Gems Gourmet

Chapter 233

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ED: LonelyMatter

Chapter 233 – Epilogue of Childhood Part 3

The day Ain returned was a real celebration. The people of the castle and the knights also celebrated Ain’s return in a big way.

By the way, there was someone who was too happy about Ain’s return. That’s right, it was Olivia.

She was so happy that she cried, and she didn’t just hug Ain but went as far as to wrap her roots around him.

That night, everyone celebrated Ain’s return, and a dinner was held in the great hall with the vassals present.

After dinner, Ain gathered the most important members of his retainers, including the Glacier family, Lili, Varra and her sister, and they talked.

Later that night, Ain and Krone had a pleasant conversation in Olivia’s bedroom.

And then the next morning.

Perhaps sensing Ain’s return, a message came in that the girl was about to wake up.

“Mother… is it really necessary to get ready like this?”

“Of course. You’re my precious Ain, so let’s go see her dressed nicely.”

Olivia moved close to Ain so that their bodies were touching, and she began to brush his hair.

“When you put it like that, I can’t argue with you…”

The place was Ain’s room. It was around 8 o’clock in the morning, and Ain was enjoying being in his own room for the first time in a long time.

However, Martha contacted him to say that the girl was about to wake up, and Olivia was happily brushing Ain’s hair.

“Hey, come to think of it, isn’t Ain still a World Tree?”

“Hmm, I wonder?”

“That’s right! Let’s check the card, shall we?”

“The card…? Ah, you mean the status?”

Olivia smiled when Ain guessed what she was thinking.

Then Ain stood up and went to the desk, and…

“I think I put it in here… Here it is.”

With a simple movement, Ain picked up the card he was looking for and returned to Olivia’s side.

“…Ara.”

He looked at the card with Olivia. What was written there was…

Ain von Ishtalika.

[World Tree of Gluttony, King of the Magic Stones.

[Race] World Tree.

[Level] ――

[Strength] 9999+α

[Magic] 9999+α

[Attack] ――+α

[Defense] ――+α

[Agility] ――+α

[Skills] World Tree of Gluttony, Poison of Seduction, Curse of Solitude.

“Yes, yes. So Ain was still a World Tree.”

(The Demon King Ain has become a World Tree of Gluttony. It’s not human at all… And what is the King of Magic Stones…?)

He just wanted to be human, but this wish could no longer be fulfilled.

Olivia seemed to be pretty happy, but was that because she was a dryad?

(+α… I guess that means I can add to it when I absorb it, like when I went berserk…)

“Ara, ara, Ain is getting more and more charming, isn’t he?”

“…T-thank you very much.”

Although he didn’t know what it was the Dryad woman found so charming, the word “Yggdrasil” must have that kind of influence.

She strokes Ain’s head with a look of genuine happiness on her face.

“But the skills were somehow integrated into the World Tree of Gluttony, weren’t they?”

“It is a skill used by the existence known as the World Tree of Gluttony. It seems that the Dark Knight and the others were gathered in it. But I wonder if the next two are…”

“I think they’re skills that were acquired from Anon.”

The end of things with Anon was not a particularly satisfying experience. After all, the World Tree of Gluttony was lurking in the background at that time, and it had half stolen Ain’s consciousness.

“…So this is the thing that seduced Arche-sama, is it?”

“The fact that it’s in me is really complicated, though…”

“It’s not like all blades are bad because they can hurt people… So you shouldn’t worry so much, Ain.”

Then, sensing that Ain was struggling with complex emotions, Olivia gently hugged him from behind.

Ain’s mood suddenly took a turn for the worse, but thanks to Olivia, he was able to regain some composure.

“I can’t go visit her looking like this.”

“…I’m sorry. It’s my fault for suggesting you look at the card.”

“It’s not your fault. It’s all my doing.”

Ain muttered to himself, gathered his resolve and stood up to look at Olivia.

“How do you think it looks? Is it neat and tidy?”

Ain asks Olivia for her opinion, sensing that he is almost finished.

She smiled like a saint and said…

“You always look wonderful, but you might look even more wonderful today. Now go and see her. If you go, she might wake up right away.”

“Haha… thank you very much. Mother! I’ll go then!”

◇ ◇ ◇

When Ain went to her room, Krone and Martha were standing at the door.

“Sorry, I was late because I was getting ready.”

“…Ara, Ain. You look very gallant.”

“Really? I’m glad you think so―Martha-san, is it okay if I come in?”

“Of course. Please do. Then.”

With that, Martha opened the door.

“Krone-sama and I will be waiting here, so please go in, Ain-sama.”

“…What? Just me?”

“Go on now. I’m sure she’s waiting for you, right?”

“…O-okay, stop pushing me like that…”

Krone pushed Ain, who was still hesitating, into the room, and then Martha closed the door after making sure he was inside.

“…Is that okay, Krone-sama?”

“Martha-san. What do you mean by ‘Is that okay’?”

“It has been decided. I mean, even if you leave Ain-sama and the girl alone…”

“To be honest, I don’t feel good about leaving them alone. But she was the first person who gave her life to Ain-sama…”

Then Krone looked at Martha with a wry smile despite her mixed feelings.

“When you say ‘life’… do you mean the other day with Arche-sama?”

“Yes, that’s right. So her feelings are not that different from mine―then I can’t interfere with them.”

“…You’re so kind.”

“Fufu, but… I’m only giving it to her today. If she wants more than that, it’s going to be a big problem.”

Today, Krone’s expression changed constantly.

One minute, she seemed to be in a complicated situation, and the next, she was laughing happily and letting out a cheerful voice.

“By the way, what do you mean by a big problem?”

“Well, everything… just everything.”

◇ ◇ ◇

Meanwhile, Ain, who was pushed inside, looked at the just-closed door and took a few deep breathed to calm down.

“…Alright!”

It was not very manly of him to act like this at this point. Thinking like this, Ain approached the large bed placed in the back of the room.

Sitting on the small chair next to it, Ain called out to her, who was now breathing in a regular rhythm.

“Chris. I’m back.”

“…..”

But Chris still didn’t seem to have woken up from her sleep and only opened her ears to Ain’s voice.

“What’s that? Only your ears are moving… you’re quite dexterous.”

Maybe he found the movement amusing because Ain laughed happily.

Then Chris’ ears gradually started to move, and she answered Ain’s voice.

“…I have heard. That you risked your life to bring Arche-san back.”

Chris had resurrected Arche the other day by stabbing the magic stone with her sword.

Hearing that Chris had risked her life for Ain, who was so dear to her, made Ain feel a deep sense of gratitude as well as an overwhelming sense of guilt.

“You know… you also went a bit overboard with that ritual you performed in the audience chamber. Well, so did I.”

Ain muttered to himself as he gently brushed away the hair that had fallen on Chris’s cheek.

He did this quickly because Chris seemed to be a little ticklish.

“Both master and follower are running wild, so we’re giving grandpa a hard time… Wait, that means Krone too, right? …Yes. It seems Dill was the most reasonable of the bunch.”

He laughed, showing his appreciation for Sylvird’s spirit.

But Ain and the others could not do anything about it because that was just how they were.

“Mmm… mmm…”

“Chris. It’s morning, you know.”

Chris then moved her eyes and rolled over in her sleep.

As her body turned to look at Ain,

“…H-huh… where… am I…?”

How long had it been since they last spoke?

It couldn’t have been more than a month, but it felt like they hadn’t spoken in years.

As Chris’ consciousness awakened, her eyelids opened slowly.

“This is Chris’s room.”

“…My… my… room…?”

“Haha. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Chris like this.”

A cool breeze came in through the open window, and the happy chirping of birds could be heard.

The curtain seemed to encourage Chris to wake up, and the breeze suddenly picked up.

“Hey, wake up… I said…”

The wind must have reached her face.

Chris raised her upper body with a look of annoyance. Then she rubbed her eyes and woke up from her sleepy eyelids.

“Ain-sama…?”

“Yes, it’s me… Chris.”

She spread golden thread on the pure white bed in her loose clothes and looked at Ain.

As she slowly collected the drops in her eyelids, they suddenly began to flow out, one by one.

“I… I tried my best.”

“Yes.”

“Ain-sama is waiting for me. Thinking of that, I tried my hardest… harder than anything else in my life.”

“Yes.”

“But I couldn’t win… and I was carried back to the capital as if I was running away…”

“Yeah.”

“So… so I thought I’d do what I could…!”

Then it happened. Her eyelids gave way completely, and she couldn’t stop crying.

She soaked the pure white bed with her tears and reached for Ain as if to hold him.

“I’m sorry… I couldn’t come to you, Ain-sama… I’m sorry…!”

“Yes.”

Ain took her hand and gently put his arms around Chris, who was crying like a baby.

Then, as if she couldn’t hold back any longer, Chris let out a loud cry into Ain’s chest.

“U-uugh… Uwaaaaa… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

Because of her lack of strength, she was unable to go to the place where her lord was fighting, which hit Chris hard.

“That is not true. It was I who lacked strength. It hurt, didn’t it? I’m sorry I made you go through something so painful.”

“N-no, it wasn’t! It was because I was weak…!”

“But you know, I…”

Ain gently stroked Chris’ back as she cried and spoke.

“I was able to come back because of you, Chris. So thank you. And… I’m home, Chris.”

On that day in early summer, Chris was finally able to see Ain again. She blamed herself for her own powerlessness and vented her loneliness at the time when Ain was not there.

In the end, however, she felt nothing but joy that Ain had returned, and she cried like a newborn baby in Ain’s chest.

There was no word that expressed such happiness as “I am home.” Chris continued to reveal her feelings like this for a while.

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