Maseki Gurume V01C05 Part 1 of 2

Inhuman power and Magic stone shop

The season changed, turning to early summer.

It was a great day with the sun shining brightly. Chris walked in the castle, a letter in hand, feeling troubled.

It was a letter addressed to Ain, however, due to special circumstances, she struggled about whether to hand it to him or not.

Thinking 'for the time being, I need to find Ain', she continued walking.

"Nyahahahaha……!  For the Prince to, For the Prince to, such a ……Nyahahahahaha! "

"All in all, I see it as a success, so isn’t it good?"

"There are monsters that fall under the category of national disasters, nya. I wonder what would happen if you were to suck their magic stones, nyaa……? "

Ain aimed to change the opinion of Olivia in Heim, so he was filled with joy.

Right now, they were at the courtyard, and he was doing something together with the laughing Katima.

"Huh? What are you two doing? "

In fact, Ain was planning to go outside the castle with Chris and Lloyd after this.

There was still the matter of the letter, but Chris thought it was a good start finding him this soon.

"Fufufufu! Eight painful months. But out research has finally paid off, nya! You can applaud! "

"Co……Congratulations……? "

Chris, taking into consideration Katima's mood, clapped her hands while wearing an expression of not understanding what was going on.

"I see……come to think of it, it's been already eight months."

Ain was basked in deep emotions, thinking it had already been eight months since his arrival here.

He remembered the many things that happened in these last eight months.

How Chris and Lloyd became his teachers under whom he learned the way of the sword, how he trained to control the power of his Absorb skill, and many others; all in all, Ain's life in the castle was quite lively.

Besides, over the winter, Ain had turned six years old, growing moderately in height.

Looking at him having grown up and recalling the first time when he saw him, Chris naturally smiled.

"By the way……What's this research about? "

"I'd like to explain in detail, but right now I have another job to do, nya! Chris! I leave Ain in your care, nya! "

"Eh? Ahh…… Leave it to me."

Suddenly, Katima left the same as she always is, like a storm.

Her appearance of holding a wooden box as she made her way out, made it look as she was quite busy.

"Ahh, Chris-san. How did the meeting go? "

In response to those words, Chris's expression turned sour.

"……It wasn’t a report that I was happy with."

Rather than depressed, it seemed she was tormented by negative emotions such as anger and regret.

It is said that a powerful beautiful woman is threatening, and one could indeed feel that presence from Chris.

"One of Warren-sama's men is hiding in Heim. And according to his report──"

Apparently, the Roundhart family had been crushed, becoming commoners, but the story didn’t end there.

"I see. Punishment for breaking the secret agreement. Still, is that all? "

"……No. In virtue of giving birth to a child with the Holy Knight skill in Heim, Logas-dono was bestowed the peerage of Viscount. His desired household name remained as Roundhart."

When he heard that, Ain nodded deeply and looked at the sky before speaking.

"Just as I thought. I didn’t think the country would just throw away the Roundharts."

The man named Logas was the Chief Commander and a famous general who made a name for himself in the neighboring countries.

Thinking about everything he had done so far; Ain was certain they wouldn’t simply discard him.

"Apparently, he lost his territory, but got a mansion in return──This is just too much……! "

It was a naive attitude that screamed that they looked down on Ishtalika.

Or at least, this is what she wanted to say. But-

"We don’t really care about it. Both me and Okaa-sama are just happy with having severed our ties."

But with that being said, Chris's expression was still stiff.

The punishment given to them was just essentially a demotion to Viscount and the confiscation of his territory.

With a punishment of this level, not only Chris's but also Silvird and the others' anger would not go down.

"They must've given a punishment of this level since they know we wouldn’t start a war."

They knew that since Ishtalika followed the will of the First King, they would have a lenient attitude towards this.

But from Ain's point of view, he wondered why the other countries had too much trust towards this fact.

"But, Warren-san has taken retaliatory measures, right? "

"──Yes. Of course, our diplomatic relations have been severed. If a ship from Heim arrives here, it would be dealt with accordingly. Also, there's the matter with Euro."

Olivia's trade deal.

The detailed conditions were also reported at today's meeting.

"To provide technology related to the transactional value of the mining. In the end, Euro also made another request."

"Request? What was it? "

"Euro is doing business with us. They wanted us to announce this publicly."

In other words, to be their backer. Euro asked for this, although it wasn’t near the level where they made it a demand.

But even with this made public, the other countries should become vigilant.

Rather, this being such a reserved request made Ain smile lightly.

"With such fruitful results, our ship is scheduled to head to Euro soon."

"That's what's important── Well then, it's about time to go meet Lloyd-san……Huh? Chris-san. What's with that letter? "

"……A-Ahh……this is, you see……"

She was too careless.

She felt she should've kept the letter in her pocket before calling out to Ain.

But it was too late now. Chris was at a loss as to how to answer.

"Can it be a letter from Heim, by any chance? "

Ain easily noticed the matter at hand after seeing her twitch in response. 

"Hmm……You don’t have to worry, it's not like it bothers me……"

He sent a lifeline to Chris, who was feeling lost and asking for help with her eyes.

"──Actually, this is not a letter from Heim, but Euro."

"What? A letter for me from Euro? "

She resigned herself. Or rather, she decided to speak about it.

Ain, on the other hand, wore a puzzled expression.

"About Euro, I don’t have any acquaintance there……"

"I……I'm sorry. It would be more correct to say it's a letter from a certain Heim noble sent via Euro."

"A certain noble? Do you know their name? "

Ain furrowed his brow after hearing such an unclear answer.

"……In its place, they added the following statement. 『I always carry with me the flower that you gave me, Ain-sama』, do you know someone who would say that? "

Eh? Was something like that? Ain tried hard thinking with his arms crossed.

"Haa……I was worried, but it seems to be some tomfoolery. I will dispose of this letter."

Was this harassment from a Heim nobleman? Chris clicked her tongue thinking this was the case.

At that moment, she tried to store the letter in her pocket, but-

"──Can it be? Sorry, Chris-san! I want to see the letter after all! "

He realized there was only one possibility.

There was at least one person whom he had given a flower before.

"S-Sure……It's not a problem to show it to you……"

Chris then handed the letter over to Ain, who suddenly became fidgety.

Ain cut the seal with his fingernail and took out the piece of paper inside in excitement.

"Haha……Speaking of flowers, it is that one after all."

He spread out the paper, reading the letters written in it.

And then, his expression softened, as if being immersed in a nostalgic memory.

"『That night. I lost myself in that time, more blinding than any sparkling gem. However, the single flower that you gave me reminds me of that dazzling time』──Or so she says."

"A-Ain-sama? That sounds somehow like a love letter……Is that what's written in it? "

It was a letter that purposely crossed countries and was delivered with hardships.

If the contents were just those of a love sentence, Chris would feel it anticlimactic.

"It also says 『I apologize for not stating my name. But after receiving a reply that you accept me in Ishtalika, at that time allow me to properly introduce myself again』 afterward."

Ain felt embarrassed by the passionate contents.

With a smile, he tried to hide his shyness, and then returned the letter to Chris while in high spirits, who then also looked through it.

"Are you sure it isn’t a love letter……?"

Just as Chris said, the diplomatic relations had been cut off, so that's why it had to be sent via Euro.

"......Will you be giving a reply? "

"I will. Okaa-sama also thinks she's a good person so I'd like her to come here as she wishes."

After those words, the confused Chris suddenly felt better.

If the other party was in friendly terms with Olivia, then it was a different story.

"If Olivia thinks like that about her, then I will also welcome her. Let's inform Warren-sama."

She made a mental note not to forget about this girl.

After that, she remembered the conversation between Ain and Katima.

"By the way, what's this result of eight months of research you were talking about with Katima-sama? "

"Ahh, that's──Here it is."

After being asked by Chris, Ain took one big fang-like thing from his bosom.

It was a special item whose surface was covered with metal.

"You know about the Phantom Hand, right, Chris? "

"I do. It's supposed to be the main skill used by the Dark Knight……by the Dullahan."

A third arm created using magical power.

This was the only Dark Knight skill that Ain could use and had been training so far.

The attack power, durability, and arm length changed depending on the amount of skill of the user, and depending on how much magic was put in it, the Phantom Hand could exert an amazing power.

"So, you see, this claw was specially made by Katima-san, and when combined with my Phantom Hand……"

Immediately, Ain put power into his body.

Then a black tentacle-like arm appeared from his back, and the claw was attached to the tip.

"We were experimenting before you came, Chris-san, and if I put this on and pierce with it a monster, I'm able to suck the contents of the magic stone while the monster is alive……"

"Haaa……What a dangerous thing you've developed."

She couldn’t even say she was surprised since they spent eight months developing this dangerous thing.

As usual, this was a prince with plenty of things to talk about.

Realizing this, Chris simply said "How amazing", in a dry voice. Then Ain continued.

"Ahh, its name is Dark Straw. Isn’t it perfect? "

"……Allow me to refrain from answering that, please."

I see so that that was the reason why Katima-sama was laughing like a maniac.

After the ambiguous response and having those thoughts in her mind, Chris guided Ain to Lloyd.

◇ ◇ ◇

Lloyd had prepared a carriage and was waiting for Ain and Chris by the main gate.

Where were the three of them going and what would they do there? ──the place was a forest, located a few dozen minutes away from the Royal Capital.

After some time, the horse-drawn carriage with Ain and the others arrived at the destination, the forest near the capital.

"The weather is nice, and the air in the forest feels great."

"Fufu……Yeah, I think so too. Now, please come this way."

After getting off the carriage, the scenery was of deep greenery and one could hear the singing voice of the birds.

"A beautiful place, isn’t it? You wouldn’t think there would be monsters."

"Dangerous monsters do not live here. Still, don’t let your guard down."

Hearing Chris's advice, Ain tensed up a bit.

The reason they came to this forest today was to let him experience a fight against monsters.

With the training in the ways of the sword reaching a certain point, the need for him to gain new experiences also arrived.

"Alright, let me be at the lead, Ain-sama, please stay close to Chris."

"Understood."

In front of Ain was Lloyd. And Chris walked next to him.

These two had the highest strength in all Ishtalika, so with that power also came a great reliance.

"Lloyd-san. What kind of monsters live in this forest? "

"In here, Forest Rats, Large Hornworms, and Green Slimes often appear."

Not missing a beat, Chris complemented on that information.

"All these three kinds of monsters are about 1 meter in size. They aren’t very strong monsters, even while swarming."

"I see. I'm relieved then."

He felt at ease.

After all, he didn’t feel it would be a great idea to try and beat a strong opponent right from the start.

"This is easier than your training against the castle's knights. And you've become able to fight fairly even against those knights, Ain-sama. So, with that being the case, these wouldn’t be opponents you'll be struggling against."

──Or so Lloyd said. Then immediately after.

"This is just perfect……That's a Forest Rat! "

A large rat emerged from the shade of a tree.

The gray-haired body looked like an ordinary rat, but it had two tails instead of one, and its claws were quite sharp.

In general, it looked like a normal rat.

"Ain-sama. First, think about how you'll fight it──"

"No, it's alright. I'll think about how to deal with it as I fight."

"……Luck be with you."

After expressing his denial of Chris's proposal, Ain stepped forward.

He pulled out the iron dagger and calmly held it.

(Alright, let's do our best.)

Fuuu…… Ain breathed deeply and calmly as he looked at the Forest Rat.

The next moment, he took a step and dashed out at the Forest Rat.

"Come, this is Ain-sama's first battle. I don’t believe he will have many problems dealing with this."

"I suppose. But despite these are opponents being a step below the castle's knights, I was worried he might not know how to deal with them……"

The pair watched with joy over their Prince's, Ain's first battle.

However, their expectations of some hardships were easily betrayed after some tens of minutes.

The reason, Ain was easily coping up with the monsters.

──Some tens of minutes later.

After defeating the first Forest Rat, Ain continued fighting against many other monsters.

"……Lloyd-sama. It seems that the monsters here aren’t putting up a fight against him."

"Umu…… To be honest, I expected this to some extent. After all, he can go toe to toe against the castle's knights in swordsmanship."

Chris and Lloyd were watching Ain from behind.

And from there, they could see that Ain wasn’t struggling against the monsters at all.

"Yeah, it's different from fighting people, but…… he seems to be managing himself."

While saying that, he finished defeating a Green Slime.

At first, he was puzzled about how to fight the monsters, but Ain immediately got a knack on how to deal with them.

"Also, it helps that there aren’t but weak ones here."

One of Ain's pleasures was investigating the taste of the magic stones.

Neither the Forest Rat nor the Large Hornworm had a good flavor.

However, Green Slimes appear to be different.

"Green Slimes look like melons and have a great flavor……"

Lloyd, who was listening to him from a distance, laughed out loud after hearing his thoughts on the training.

"Hahaha! Ain-sama! It looks like they weren’t good enough."

When a man as large as him opened his mouth and laughed, it gave the impression that the whole forest was shaking.

"Since the opponent wasn’t a person, at first I was confused about how to attack."

"I guessed so. And they might be desperately trying not to be defeated by you, Ain-sama."

If they ran away from an opponent their reputation might get damaged, and the other monsters in the forest will attack them.

In the first battle, Ain didn’t have a bad experience.

"Still, I'm glad they were this strong today."

"That's the most important thing. From the next time on, let's go to a place with slightly stronger monsters."

"Ahh……Come to think of it, how strong is a really strong monster? "

In Ain's mind, the strongest monster was the Demon King…… and then, the Dullahan.

"Let's see, for example, there are dragons that are larger than our battleships."

"……Let's forget I asked that."

As he said so, Ain looked over to the Green Slime that was nearby.

Ain, wanting to test out that technique once, took out Katima's special fang out of his pocket.

"Ohh, that, are you……"

Chris noticed it. The thing she saw in the courtyard for the first time.

"Since I got the chance, I want to try and test it in an actual battle. Is it alright? "

"I don’t see the problem. I would like for you to show us your new skills."

Lloyd was also curious about the results of the rumored research.

Thus, he gave an affirmative reply. After jumping with joy, Ain made the Phantom Hand appear and attached the fang to it.

"Lloyd-sama. Apparently, the name of that thing is Dark Straw."

"U-Umu……As for its principle, I don’t think that's a wrong name……I see……"

Leaving aside whether he thought it was a good or bad name, he just looked at it with a wry smile.

Not paying attention to the other two, Ain stretched out his black tentacle──no, his dark straw.

"Alright……GO! "

It surged through the air in a weaving motion, making it hard to imagine it being a technique used by humans.

That tentacle, created by absorbing Ain's magic power, stretched out with the fang pointing towards a Green Slime.

……And then.

"Hm──!? "

Being pierced, the body of the Green Slime shook.

Just as the Green Slime's magic stone gradually lost its color, something similar to a pale, shining bubble passed through the insides of the Phantom Hand.

"That's the life force of the magic stone……I see so that's why a straw."

"Y-Yeah. A straw, huh……?"

It was a great skill with a remarkable effect.

The shining bubble-like things stopped once the magic stone turned colorless.

"I'll have to say it's richer and more delicious than sucking it directly."

After returning to the castle, I'll have to tell these results to Katima-san, he thought.

……This technique was extremely strange, but there was no doubt about its usefulness.

The black tentacle from the back of a little boy, which was unusual in itself, pierced a monster and sucked the contents.

The two people who were watching this had emotions beyond description.

"──Well then, Ain-sama. Shall we end for today?"

Lloyd proposed. He couldn’t remain in a daze forever.

He looked at the sky, the sun beginning to set, and then turned to his side to Chris, who nodded quietly.

"I guess you're right. Thank you both for your precious time today."

Ain bowed his head.

They answered Ain with a gentle smile and then they returned to the carriage they came on.

This was his first fight against monsters. And if one asked about the results, the answer would be, a success.

◇ ◇ ◇