Magic Gems Gourmet

Chapter 282

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ED: LonelyMatter

Chapter 282 – After Returning to the Demon Lord’s Castle

It was well past dinnertime by the time Ain returned to the castle, with the sky full of stars.

Even compared to Strohm or the royal capital, he felt that the stars were closer here.

“Gah! It’s… freezing!”

Stepping down from the carriage in front of the Demon Lord’s Castle, he was met with the bitter cold he had expected.

He resisted slipping on the powdery snow beneath his feet and hugged his shoulders tightly to endure against the cold.

In the end, they left the dungeon after defeating the fused skeleton.

Perhaps because it was such an unprecedented event, Cain decided to first inform Sylvia, so they set off for home after defeating it.

“Today was productive. We saw monsters we’d never seen before. It was a good haul.”

“Ah, yes… I suppose. That last one was a pain, though.”

“Hm? Really?”

“No, no. I mean having to destroy the magic stones almost simultaneously, otherwise it revives. It was just plain troublesome no matter how you looked at it.”

There weren’t many options.

Honestly, he would have appreciated knowing any way to handle it besides brute force.

In the end, the method they used to defeat it was sheer force.

The two had timed it perfectly, striking their swords simultaneously.

“We defeated it, so don’t worry about it. You absorbed the magic stone, right?”

“I did, but it was no different from the skeleton itself.”

“…Well, that’s a new discovery, too. I don’t know why the skeletons fused this time, unlike when Sylvia and I went.”

It was cold for now, so Ain wanted to quickly get inside the castle.

Cain followed Ain, who was walking briskly as if sighing, “Oh well.”

His breath was whiter than it had been at Ist or Strohm, which made him realize how cold this area was.

Soon, they pushed open the massive doors and stepped inside.

His icy cheeks and ears, which had started to ache from the cold, gradually warmed up and regained their color.

“Welcome back. Both of you.”

“…Yeah, we just got back.”

Cain replied to Sylvia, who had come to greet them. Her voice was tinged with nostalgia.

“Ara? What’s wrong? You sound quiet.”

“Nothing. Just remembering the past.”

“The past…? Is it because Ain-kun is here?”

Cain gave a slight smile and continued deeper into the castle.

What was that conversation about? Ain watched with a puzzled look on his face.

“Sylvia-san? Is something wrong with me?”

“No, it’s just that when Mar-kun was here, I used to greet them like this, too.”

Just as the founding king was their child, so too was Ain.

Understanding this, he simply replied, “I see.”

“Dinner’s ready, so shall we all eat together?”

“Excuse me, I’ll have some too. By the way, that person hiding behind the pillar…”

A glimpse of her blonde hair and rapier flickered in and out of view.

There was no mistaking it. That was the guard Ain had brought alone—it had to be Chris.

The problem was why she was hiding.

“Did Chris do something while I was gone?”

“…She didn’t do anything. It’s just that she’s a girl, too.”

“A girl…?”

So what? He wanted to press her for a clear reason for hiding it.

But asking felt somehow pitiful, and Ain’s expression turned troubled.

“Well, yes. To put it another way, it’s like delayed puberty.”

“P-puberty…? Why now?”

“You know this already, but be kind to her, okay?”

“Well, I’ll treat her the same as always. Did you say something, Sylvia-san?”

Uncharacteristically, Ain stared at her with a fixed gaze.

But he couldn’t win against her with mere abdominal tricks. All he got back was a mesmerizing smile.

Just as he had with Warren, he was swept away effortlessly.

She eventually turned away, her obsidian hair swaying as she walked off.

The air behind her demanded silence—no one dared to speak.

It was as if the elf guard were hiding behind a pillar.

“…Chris?”

He couldn’t just not say anything.

What triggered her puberty? Ain couldn’t stop wondering about that, either.

But it didn’t feel like the right time to ask.

“Y-yes…!”

“No, no, no, you don’t have to answer so hastily. Can I come over there?”

“H-huh… A-ah… It’s fine!”

(What in the world did you say, Sylvia-san?)

When Ain returned from the Demon Lord’s castle, he startled everyone by turning into a Demon Lord.

But back then, Chris had approached him timidly, so the circumstances were different from now.

“Huh? Do you have any clothes like that?”

“They’re not mine. Sylvia-sama told me to wear these.”

It was an outfit he’d never seen before.

He had only seen Chris in a skirt a handful of times.

Right now, she was wearing only a pure white dress.

Because of its tight, form-fitting shape, it emphasized her eye-catching figure.

Looking closer, it seemed as if she were wearing more makeup than usual.

Her lips looked moist and vivid, unconsciously drawing Ain’s gaze.

Seeing Ain stare blankly in silence, Chris gripped the hem of her dress anxiously.

“I’ll change it off immediately—”

She turned away, head bowed, trying to bolt like a startled rabbit. Yet, unusually forceful, Ain grabbed Chris’s arm to stop her.

“It suits you. I’m not exactly the smoothest talker, so I’m sorry I can’t come up with anything clever to say.”

“—”

To her, Ain’s words saying it suited her were the most important.

If she had that… No, that alone was enough.

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