Magic Gems Gourmet

Chapter 266

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ED: LonelyMatter

Chapter 266 – The Next Morning, Reports of Interrogations, etc.

When morning came, Ain felt surprisingly refreshed.

Although Chris had ended the conversation, it seemed to have been more refreshing than he had expected.

He sat up in bed, stretched his arms, arched his back, and let out a deep sigh.

The morning air filled his lungs, instantly waking him up.

“Oh, you’re awake?”

“…Huh, Krone? When did you get here?”

Seeing that Ain was awake and looking comfortable, Krone looked up at him from beside him and spoke.

Before he knew it, she was lying down next to him.

“A little while ago. I was actually going to wake you up, but you looked so comfortable, so I decided to sleep with you.”

“You should have woken me up.”

“…You seemed tired yesterday, so I thought it would be okay to let you sleep in today.”

She shifted her position slightly and rested her head on Ain’s thigh.

It was a sweet gesture, but she must have looked very tired when she came home yesterday.

Ain replied, “Thank you,” and stroked her head and cheek. He raised her face by placing his hand on her chin.

“Ugh… You’re rushing me.”

“I couldn’t help it.”

They kissed lightly and laughed together.

He wrapped his arms around her back, and she clung to him. They held each other tightly.

Eventually, when they were both satisfied, they naturally separated. Krone got out of bed first.

“Should we do today’s work in the afternoon?”

She must have heard about yesterday.

Thinking about what was bothering Ain, she implicitly told him to take a break.

“…No, it’s okay. I’m fine now, so I’ll do it in the morning.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve let go of a lot of things, and I think this is for the best. Probably more than you think… I feel refreshed now.”

She stared intently into Ain’s eyes to confirm that he was not lying.

Finally satisfied, she nodded with a smile and no longer tried to stop him.

“What did Arche-sama say?”

“Oh, I heard a little about why Arche-san went berserk and the circumstances surrounding it.”

“Hmm… That’s the kind of story a scholar would want to hear, even if it meant selling all their possessions.”

That was probably true, Ain thought with a wry smile. He nodded and thanked Arche for her help last night.

Then he wondered what had happened after that.

“After that, Chris kidnapped Arche-san. Did you hear what happened?”

“I don’t know the details, but I heard that Arche-sama was taken to Chris-san’s room.”

(I see. So she didn’t end up having a late-night snack in the dining hall.)

As someone who was partly responsible, he felt a little sorry.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

Ain changed his clothes and tidied up before heading to his office as usual.

Nothing had changed much, but that was the best thing of all.

Even at a time like this, he continued working on the Baltic strawberry matter while waiting for new information from Lili.

In addition to the Ist Trading Company matter, there was the dragon worship issue.

Then there was the plan to flush out the culprit. As usual, there was a mountain of work to do.

Perhaps it was better that he didn’t have time to relax and think about useless things.

“No, there was also the matter of Alma.”

The investigation team included people from Ishtalika.

Formed a little while ago, they were working with Tigre on the investigation.

He smiled wryly, remembering that this matter was still pending.

“That’s strange. I feel like I’m busier than when we were dealing with the Red Fox. Is it just my imagination?”

He was busy back then, but now he often has to work on his days off, too.

He definitely had less free time.

“When I was trying hard to become Ain’s attendant, I spent at least twice as much time studying.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Katima was probably the most talented woman if you focused on one point.

But overall, Krone was probably more impressive.

As always, she seemed reliable, and they joked around with each other.

“Hey, Ain, do you want to go to the festival?”

She asked while working on her paperwork.

“The festival with the fake eggs?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The festival originated from a lie about eggs being brought from Heim and offered to Sylvird.

“…I like festivals, but I don’t like the commotion.”

They were after Ain’s sword.

It was unclear if the two were connected, but if so, then Ain was also being targeted.

(Nah, I don’t think I can go to the festival.)

The recent attack had definitely made the enemy more cautious.

However, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t attack. If they did, it would be a battle involving the people.

Even Ain, as skilled as he was, wanted to avoid that at all costs.

“Once they arrive in Laguna, they’ll take the water train and horse-drawn carriages to Strohm. From there, they’ll take the water train to White Rose, where they’ll be handed over to the royal family in the plaza.”

“Is that really okay? Won’t the castle become a target?”

“Yes, that’s why, after that, the royal family will announce that it will be transported to Ist…”

Ist, the holy land of researchers.

That made sense. With all its secrets, it’s possible that its security measures were equal to or greater than those of the castle.

Even though it was a lie, it seemed somewhat credible.

“We’ve asked Majolica-san for his cooperation, so there won’t be any leaks.”

“Oh, that’s right. Majolica-san has the title of professor emeritus, doesn’t he?”

When Ain first visited Ist, that title helped him greatly.

In the end, though, Oz, who had given him advice, turned out to be an enemy. Still, it’s true that Majolica helped him.

“Heim, too, but I’ve gotten a lot of people involved.”

“That means it’s become that important. At least we’ve made some progress thanks to Ain.”

“…That’s the most important thing.”

The information we obtained was limited to the lower ranks.

He had no choice but to think so.

“Did you hear anything about yesterday? I thought Lili would report back.”

It’s the result of the interrogation.

He had left it to Lili and Dill, so he wanted to ask them about it.

A day has already passed, so they should have contacted him by now.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot.”

Krone said apologetically as she took a letter out of her desk drawer.

She stood up and brought it to Ain’s desk.

(I don’t think Krone would forget…)

She paused intentionally.

That must be what she was thinking.

“Krone is really kind, isn’t she?”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

Realizing that she had been found out, she smiled shyly.

She handed the letter to Ain, kissed him lightly on the cheek, and left.

“Did you read it?”

“Yes, I did.”

Hearing his reply, Ain took the letter out of the envelope.

She quickly read the greeting and skimmed the main part.

“To cut to the chase, there were no discrepancies between the information obtained by you and the information obtained by us.

After that, we conducted our own investigation, but we did not find any additional information.

Therefore, based on the above, we contacted Warren-sama.

We also asked him how he wants to deal with them.”

“…I see,” Ain muttered.

As expected, Lili and the others worked quickly. She was Warren’s direct subordinate, after all.

“To summarize, by the time you read this letter, we will have already left Strohm and transferred them to the prison cell designated by Warren-sama.

Also, everyone except those interrogated by Ain-sama himself has been taken to prison—no, they have already been dealt with.

If you need more details, I will provide them later.”

(…Dealt with, huh.)

The details were being kept secret, but that’s only natural.

In fact, if they hadn’t been dealt with, their judgment would have been questioned.

They attacked Crown Prince Ain, who was supposedly engaged.

Such an act cannot go unpunished.

“That is my report, but Warren-sama also has a message for you.

He said, “Please leave the dirty work to me.”

It seems that not only Warren-sama, but also His Majesty, is deeply saddened by yesterday’s incident.”

Ain was delighted.

At the same time, he felt a little regret.

As the leader of the country, so-called dirty work would inevitably come his way.

It was probably kind of them to leave it to him.

However, he wondered if they still didn’t see him as an adult. This made him feel even more regretful.

Seeing Ain’s dissatisfied expression, Krone spoke to him.

“Take advantage of what you can. But don’t forget that you have responsibilities too, and do your best. You can’t do everything from the beginning, and you won’t gain much from it.”

“…Not much to gain?”

“If you’re only concerned with your own satisfaction, then that’s fine. But remember, your work is connected to the people of Ishtalika. Even though it’s difficult to do everything perfectly, I think you should strive to gain as much as possible.”

That was true. In other words, don’t expect too much.

Having high aspirations was important, but that alone wouldn’t make you king of a country.

“I’ve just realized once again that there’s no one better than you as my attendant.”

“Fufu, I don’t know anyone better than me.”

She brought fulfillment to his public and private life.

While working, the two of them chatted amicably and finished their work for the day.

Soon, Tigre would arrive in Ishtalika after finishing his preparations.

This time, it was not a report but part of Warren’s plan.

There was no time to rest. Ain slapped his cheek to snap himself out of it.

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