Maseki Gurume - 016

I Finally Understood.

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"I'm back, Father."

After a short break, Ain came with Olivia to meet her father, the King of Ishtalika.

The place was a meeting room, about 20 tatamis in size, and as its name suggested, a meeting was currently taking place.

The moment Olivia entered, the meeting room became quiet and everyone's attention turned towards her.

At the far end of the room was a gorgeous-looking chair...... and a large man sat on it, Olivia's father and Ishtalika's King, Silvird.

On his sides sat a strong-looking man, and a well-dressed elderly man.

"……Excuse me, can you pinch my cheek?"

"(I guess that's the expected reaction, Your Majesty. After all, the daughter that had married into a foreign country had suddenly intruded into this meeting.)"

Ain felt a little sympathy for the King of Ishtalika.

Not even the King would have imagined something like this happening.

So, it was only natural that he would want to check if this was really happening by having his cheek pulled.

"Or maybe a punch?"

"Understood...... fuun-nuaaa! "

The strong man that was sitting next to Silvird proceeded to hit him in the cheek.

The man really put his heart on it, and he hit the King after making a long swing.

"(E-Ehhh......Isn’t the common practice to pinch the cheek? There's no need to go for a hit, right? Also, that person who hit him...... wasn’t he overly enthusiastic about it?)"

"Umu, seems like I'm not seeing things. This appears to be real."

"(It took that to understand this? Or rather, is His Majesty alright? It doesn’t look like it even hurt him.)"

Ain was surprised by the King, whom despise having received such a strong punch, had apparently incurred in no damage at all.

"Ara, father? What's gotten into you for suddenly asking people to hit you? Well, I guess you're still young."

Ain was like, 'Isn’t it your fault?' However, he only thought it and didn’t say a word.

Or rather, this was a very strange atmosphere to even put those thoughts into words.

"Princess, like I said, if you were to come so suddenly, it's obvious His Majesty would be confused."

"However, even if I tried to give a notice in advance, this happened all too sudden, so it's the same."

"As I King, I don’t want to lose myself in front of my subjects. Sorry but, how about we end this meeting here, alright? "

In a completely different atmosphere as the mysterious one before, Silvird faced the people participating in the conference and commanded them.

He couldn’t think on anything other than this.

　＊

After the members of the meeting decided on not mentioning the return of the Second Princess Olivia for the time being, the meeting ended.

Right now, only seven people remained in the room.

Ain and Olivia, and also Chris and Martha......And Silvird, alongside the elderly man and the strong-looking man that were by his sides before.

The location had also changed, and now they had moved to an audience room, simply because the story was a serious one.

The sparkling marble floor so spacious, and the incredibly fluffy carpet made Ain feel a bit uncomfortable.

Silvird then sat in a gorgeous throne, looking so dignified, signaling the story to begin.

"Speaking honestly. I'm confused...... My daughter, the daughter who went to marry into another continent suddenly broke into my meeting."

Ahh, I understand you, Your Majesty, Ain thought in sympathy.

"I guess you're right, I too admit this was a sudden occurrence. It was only list night that I decided to come back."

"Last night? ......I haven’t received any reports. Lloyd, Warren...... how about you?"

Silvird spoke to the two men sitting by his sides.

The strong man was apparently Lloyd, and the elderly man was called Warren.

"Neither have I, Your Majesty."

"I'm the same as you, Your Majesty. The Knight Order was not contacted......But, I'm curious if that was the case for Chris-dono."

After Warren answered, Lloyd continued.

Lloyd was quite perceptive, and he directed his gaze towards Chris.

"Yes, I've been working as the escort of the Princess since last night. That's why I have a rough understanding on the situation."

"Please don’t look further into that, Father. I instructed the Steward's office and Chris to not say anything about coming to pick me up."

As she had promised, Olivia followed up after Chris, so that Silvird was somewhat understanding of the situation.

"……Then, I won’t ask further questions on that. If you were only following my daughter's orders, then any of those who were involved in this will not be questioned. That's all for this issue."

"Thank you very much, Father."

"Haa...... just when I recently thought trouble will continue, now even my daughter has come back, Warren."

"Your Majesty. If you really want to complain, you should show a stricter attitude."

"As he says, like this, we can see that you are happy, Your Majesty. You're delighted with the Princess' return, aren’t you? "

"(It's just my first impression but, looks like these two are His Majesty's most trusted subjects.)"

Silvird complained to Warren.

Both Warren and Lloyd said that Silvird was pleased, but to outsiders it might look different.

To be honest, he was not angry, but one could only think of that expression as a grumpy one.

"Seriously, you're just a bad subject who can’t understand my heart."

"Then, I'll do my best from now on."

Warren replied like he didn’t really mind those words.

They had worked together for a long time, therefore, it felt as if they could understand the small changes.

"......Now then, I would like you to answer one thing before telling me the reason for your return. Who is that child there? "

Returning to the conversation, Silvird glanced at Ain, and then asked Olivia who he was.

"Ain, it's alright, so can you introduce yourself? "

"Yes. ……This is the first time we've met. I'm……My name is Ain…… my previous name was Ain Roundhart. Olivia here is my mother."

As one would expect, Ain hesitated to use a casual tone in front of the King.

Thinking about it, he usually spoke politely, but he was a bit embarrassed to speak in such a way at his age. TLN: Using 'boku' instead of 'ore'.

"Child......A child, huh? ......Olivia's child......"

After Ain's introduction ended, Silvird was visibly puzzled.

"Ara, father? Are you really going to do nothing after your grandchild introduced himself? He's your first grandchild, you don’t have to look at him with such an expression, he won’t do anything."

Being told so by Olivia, Silvird noticed he was looking at Ain with a frightening expression.

Then, with his eyes lowered a little, he spoke.

"I am Ishtalika's King, Silvird Von Ishtalika. Nice to meet you, I am your grandfather."

"Yes. I know, I heard about this last night......"

"T-The Princess' child...... you say?"

"This was surprising. So, this child...... is the one who was written about in Olivia-sama's letters. His Majesty has been eagerly waiting for the moment to see him, Olivia-sama's---"

"Lloyd. I wonder what you're talking about?"

Silvird then was being teased again by Lloyd.

The atmosphere now was much easier to stand that he had expected.

"I'm not wrong...... right, Warren-dono? "

"Indeed, was it a few months ago? I remember we got a letter from Olivia-sama saying her son had received the gift of training. At that moment, you were so happy but I don’t think anyone but us noticed."

"Ahh, that's it, that's it, His Majesty was also saying he was proud his grandson was growing well. But this Lloyd was surprised that he got the Gift of Training even though he was so young."

"Please, stop, I admit my defeat."

"(it doesn’t really show in his attitude, but I guess he's the type to have a sweet spot for his family.)"

"Hahaha! You defeated His Majesty. We'll have to make sure you receive some punishment, Warren-dono."

"Same goes for you, Lloyd-dono...... well then, first of all, I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Ain-sama, my name is Warren Lark. I've sworn loyalty to Ishtalika serving as a Prime Minister. It might only be a short time before you go back to your home country but...... you can rely on me for anything."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, my name is Lloyd Glacier. I've sworn to use my life to protect Ishtalika as Grand Marshal. If you don’t mind, and if you have the time before you go back to your home country, I'd love if we could get to train together."

Both of them were heavyweights in Ishtalika.

Ain notices that the faces in this room are of some grand people, the King of the country, the Prime Minister, and the Grand Marshal. And next to Ain was the Second Princess, the Vice-captain of the Royal Guards, and Martha, a top among the servants.

"Now that your greetings have concluded, shall we continue? Father, about the reason why I have returned home."

"Yeah. I wanted to go to another place and talk to Ain a bit slowly, but this much should be enough for now."

"Ara ara, typical of you Father. Well, I'm sorry, since I decided on this so suddenly, I couldn’t tell you in advance."

"……Let's hear the reason."

Not only Silvird, Warren and Lloyd, but also Chris and Martha became tense.

Although Chris had been with her since yesterday, she still had yet to hear the reason for the separation.

"I separated from Logas Roundhart. I'll not be returning to Heim anymore, and of course, I'm not going to hand over Ain to them."

"......Lloyd. Sorry but, can you hit me again?"

"With all due respect, Your Majesty, I'm the one who'd like to receive a hit."

Raising their voices, the two people hit each other looking like a cross-counter.

Silvird too, delivered the punch with incredible power.

"P-Princess......? Speaking of separation, you are speaking about a divorce between husband and wife, right? "

The only person who remained calm in appearance, Warren confirmed.

"Yes, I'm taking about divorce."

"WHAT'S THE REASON!? Was there a reason for that, Olivia? ......Did something happen? "

Silvird looked more stirred up than ever.

With this, Ain confirmed he was really a person with a soft spot for his family.

Most likely, he was worried about the reason for the separation, to the extent it was almost out of character.

"I simply thought Ain wouldn’t be able to become happy if he was there. And with Logas doing always as his parents (mother) told him, I couldn’t bring myself to continue sharing my life with him."

Olivia began her explanation of the reason.

The preferential treatment Logas gave to Grint, and the cold attitude of Ain's grandmother, Isis.

She explained to everyone present that she just couldn’t stand everything that had happened so far.

"(Haa……And I've got half the blood of the people who were doing that. Even if they don’t accept me, I hope they'll at least let me live.)"

Ain, on the other hand, was thinking about his origins.

With how the Roundhart family had treated her precious daughter, he thought they might come to hate him.

"……You, did well in coming back, Olivia."

"……Yes."

Silvird, probably trying to suppress various emotions, called out to Olivia with a pained expression.

"Lloyd-dono, is a budgetary meeting needed? "

"At all. As a matter of fact, with Heim being the opponent, there's nothing of particular note if we make a preemptive strike. It's true that Logas-dono is quite skilled, but they only have that, so there's nothing to be afraid of."

"(Are, I think I heard some sort of dangerous conversation just now.)"

"But, as a member of the Knight Order, I don’t think I would like 'Heim' to be destroyed. Isn’t it enough to attack the Roundhart house? "

"……Hey, what are you talking in front of me? "

As one would expect, it was a dangerous conversation, and Silvird had to step in to stop it.

"I won’t let the Roundharts or Heim to be destroyed. Just catch that man and cut his head in the square under the castle."

'Aren’t you the most dangerous, Your Majesty', Ain was about to retort.

"It's a bother to go such lengths to do that......no, I just didn’t like it so that's why I came back home without telling you, Father. Let's stop with all that, okay? I don’t want to remember anything about that either."

Probably, a part of Olivia didn’t want to get involved with them anymore, so she calmed down the three people who were having that dangerous conversation.

"If the Princess says so, let's stop with dispatching the military......"

"The Princess has always been kind, hahaha! "

"As for this matter about Heim, let's shelf it for now. For the sake of Ishtalika...... she even went to Heim to marry."

"Ahhh, enough with that. Can I tell Ain about the reason why I married into Heim? "

"(Ahh, that's right, the reason why mother came to Heim.

That's one of the things I wanted to know.)"

"Ahh, it should be fine. The secret deal has broken down, so I don’t mind you talking about it to anyone present."

When Silvird gave his permission, one of the questions Ain had would finally be solved.

"Well, Warren. Would you please explain it?"

"As you wish. The reason for this is quite simple...... it was for the rights on some resources."

"Our country is large and vast, and we continue to prosper thanks to our high technological capabilities and culture. But exactly because of its prosperity, there is one problem."

"A problem...... can it be, the population?"

Martha, whom until now had remained silent, spoke her thoughts.

"Just as Martha-dono says, it's the population. The train is a given...... but now, all sorts of magic tools are used in daily life, their use range from boiling water to powering a small ship. Magic tools have become common existences in our lives, however, there isn’t enough mineral ore to make them."

"Sea Crystals? Certainly, it's an urgent issue...... Ain-sama, do you know about Sea Crystals? "

Obviously, not being able to understand the contents of the talk at all, Ain was grateful for Chris' comment.

"No, this is the first time I've heard that name. What kind of mineral ore is that?"

"Allow me to explain all that. Sea Crystals are basically the bones of the monsters in the sea, they are made after many years have passed after they die. We put the melted Sea Crystals in the magic tools."

"(Such a material exists?)"

Just by listening to its description, it seemed to be a valuable material.

Even Ain wanted to get a more thorough explanation.

"Uhmm, what effect does the melted Sea Crystal have?"

"The melted Sea Crystal can memorize various magics, and can control magic stones. Like the magic tool to boil water, or the magic tool to blow a cold breeze, it can remember and control all kinds of magics."

Prime Minister Warren explained in detail.

"(I see, pretty much everything a home appliance can do is memorized in the Sea Crystal, or rather, for air conditioners to even exists in this country......)"

Ain was surprised by the magic tools that worked like air conditioners.

The level of culture in this country was several times higher than he expected.

"I more or less understand how it works."

"That's fine. Now, let's go back in the story a little. As the population has grown, the demand for magic tools has also increased greatly. However, in the waters near Ishtalika, almost all the Sea Crystals discovered had been mined out. But at that time, a huge amount of Sea Crystals was discovered in the sea near the Roundhart port in Heim."

If it's from the monsters in the sea, why don’t they go on a hunting expedition? Ain though, but the answer was immediately spoken.

"Even with our knowledge and technology, the conditions for the formation of Sea Crystals are unknown. There's only one thing that is currently known about them, and that is, Sea Crystals don’t form on the ocean floor that's too far from land."

"(Ahh, I see......)"

"Fortunately, Heim's magic tools are different from ours. In our case, the melted Sea Crystal stores the magic, and it controls and operates the magic stones that serve as raw material. On the other hand, in the case of Heim, there's is nothing to control...... they have no Sea Crystals like us. Even with no control function, when the magic tool is activated, it will just boil the water or blow wind. But there will be nothing to control the magic stone."

"(I see, yeah, I don’t understand, what's the difference between controlling and not? Will the efficiency of the magic stones be different? If that's all there is to it, I don’t think this is a big enough reason to marry a princess to another country) ......I'm sorry. Can you tell me the difference when the magic stone is controlled and when it's not?"

"Ah, please forgive me. An uncontrolled magic stone will leak a small amount of magical power of the monster it came from. The magical power of monster is 'poisonous' for humans, so as a result, the life span of the person operating it gradually shortens and their growth is hindered."

In other words, every time you use a magic tool from Heim, it eats you away little by little.

If one were to hear that, they'll think twice before using them.

"In our country, almost every person owns magic tools. Therefore, it was not possible to allow the use of such type of magic tools. Of course, we're doing research on new models, but it isn’t looking promising so far."

"……Then, the Princess married to Heim just because of that? "

It was the first time Chris heard of this fact, and she didn’t feel good about those contents.

Ain was happy that she felt that way about Olivia.

"That's right. And thanks to that, we demanded from Heim the Sea Crystal mining rights. What the asked us in return was our backing, due our difference in national power. With our backing, Heim could become stronger in the continent."

With this, Ain solved some of his questions and wonders.

In other words, Olivia made a secret agreement to use herself for the sake of Ishtalika.

"When Ain-sama was chosen as the next head of the family, we were supposed to make public the relation of Olivia-sama and Ishtalika. Since this was a troublesome issue that would affect the relations with other countries, we were watching the time to make it public. At the same time as that announcement, the Roundhart family would be changed from Earl to Marquis, and when you Ain-sama became an adult, you would be bestowed the rank of Duke."

The fact that they got a princess from a country like Ishtalika couldn’t be made public carelessly.

If it became known to the extremists, it was believed Heim would have to go to war against all the other countries at once.

Given those circumstances, it seemed reasonable them waiting for the right time to make it public.

"Uhmm......Was it necessary to have made such secret agreement? Certainly, the situation in the continent is stable right now, so I don’t think they needed our backing right now. Still, this sort of break-up is......"

What Martha said was true. To be honest, it would be better to think Ishtalika wouldn’t cooperate anymore.

It was hard to think this man, Silvird, would forgive such a thing.

"I don’t know what they are thinking. What are your thoughts, Lloyd?"

"To be honest, I don’t know. It will certainly be a pain for us, but it will be more for Heim......"

"About the Sea Crystals, it's alright."

"......Olivia, what did you say? "

　……Mother? What on earth are you going to say?