Chapter 133 (2/2)

Hikaru told her about how the ladies called out to him after she left with Paula.

「Lavia?」

「Where did you talk?」

「At the inn where they were staying. Why?」

「Lavia?」

「It's nothing… So this is jealousy… Such a complicated feeling.」

「Hmm? Come again?」

「Here you go!」Paula said as she brought tea.

Lavia returned to her straight face. What did she say? Hikaru wondered. It didn't look like she was going to tell him, though.

Paula poured tea into Hikaru's cup, and he took a sip.

「Okay, where do I start? So first I headed to Margrave Grugschilt's place.」

Hikaru told them about how he found a Quinbland spy at the Margrave's mansion who then led him to Unken.

「Wh-What?! Old man Unken was the Pond guildmaster?! I thought he was just an a.s.sessor! So he's a Quinbland spy?」

Paula was confused. It seemed she had experience asking Unken to a.s.sess monster materials back at Pond.

「I know there's a lot to unpack here, but they're not that important.」

「I'm pretty sure they are!」

「You might not have to worry about your pursuers anymore.」Hikaru told Lavia.「Unken said he'd go beat the king up, so I didn't have to smack the guy myself.」

「So you really were serious about punching the king, huh?」Paula said.

Of course I was. He tried to lay a hand on Lavia. I had to pay him back. He only gave up on the idea out of respect for Unken, who was willing to throw his life away.

「So no one will come after me anymore?」

「I think so. Margrave Grugschilt and Gafrasti are making their move as well. Ponsonia will be in a state of chaos for a while. Also…」

The Four Stars of the East gave him information, albeit an unreliable one, which made him hesitate whether to tell the girls or not. As exchange for the information he provided, Selyse told him:

The king is apparently a drug addict.

In exchange for rare pleasure, he'd hallucinate and become obsessed. That's why he invaded Quinbland. Selyse accordingly got the information from one of her contacts, a maid working the castle.

Neither Hikaru nor the Four Stars of the East knew that it was because of the drugs—provided by the Grand Chamberlain—that the king panicked when one of the members of the special forces returned. But since the king's attending physician was under the patronage of the Chamberlain, the secret never went out.

「Also what?」

「Ah, no, it's nothing important. Anyway, I think you're safe now.」

「…I see.」

「That's great!!」Paula exclaimed.

「Why are you more ecstatic than Lavia?」

Lavia and Paula exchanged looks and giggled. It looked like friends.h.i.+p between the girls deepened while he was away.

「What happened after that? If that was it, you would've made it back sooner.」

「Well actually, I went to Quinbland's capital.」

「Quinbland?」

「Unken asked me to deliver a letter to the Emperor. That's why it took me a while to get back.」

「You make it sound easy, but don't tell me you actually snuck into the Emperor's bedroom.」

「Huh? I did exactly that.」

Paula and Lavia looked dumbfounded.

「It would've taken too much time otherwise. I couldn't prove that Unken's letter was genuine, and I don't even know how to make an appointment with the Emperor.」

「That's true…」

「So this is what Hikaru-sama is like…」

「Yeah. Common sense doesn't really apply to him.」

「I would prefer if you didn't make it sound like I lack common sense.」

He was a little upset. Lavia should know he met with Forestia's Queen even. He couldn't say it out loud as Paula was around.

「That reminds me. I received a gift for delivering the letter and giving the Emperor some information.」

Hikaru took out a letter box tied with a string.

「What's that? It looks like it's made of fine quality leather.」

Lavia untied the string. Paula peered at it with great interest from across the table.

「Apparently it's called a Dimension Dragon Letter Box or something.」

Lavia almost dropped the box, while Paula spat out her tea.

「Ugh, that's disgusting…」Hikaru said.

Paula choked, trying to clear her throat.

「That was your fault, Hikaru!」Lavia rebuked.

「What? How?」

「I-Is this really a Dimension Dragon Letter Box?」

「That's what the Emperor said.」

Lavia carefully place the box on the table, as though handling a bomb.

「I thought this thing only appeared in legends.」Lavia said.

「Same here…」Paula concurred.

「Wait a minute. Please explain.」Hikaru said.

Lavia sighed.「There's a legend in the west about a hero who exterminated monsters. He got a Dimension Dragon Letter Box as loot.」

「I've heard about it in urban legends. When the item was put on auction, it fetched for an exceptionally high price rarely seen in history.」

Hikaru was always clueless. He was starting to suspect that his source of information, Roland, didn't know much about anything else besides the art of crossing worlds.

「It's not exactly a practical item, though.」He opened the box and flipped it over. A half-eaten bread came out of it.「Oh, it's the bread I forgot to eat three days ago. It was inside all along.」

「Hikaru…」

「Hikaru-sama… What are you doing to a national treasure…」

The girls cringed. For Hikaru, the item was barely practical—if you turned it upside down, things inside would be flipped as well, and time pa.s.sed all the same inside the box. Kaglai even said so himself.

Then the bell rang, announcing the arrival of a visitor.

「Looks like someone is here.」Paula said.

「League, I guess?」

「I don't know.」Lavia replied.「No one had visited since Claude dropped by a few days ago.」

「I'll check it out.」

Hikaru got up and headed down the stairs, yawning. A familiar face was standing on the main street.

『So you're living in the academy town, huh? Ah, the springtime of youth.』Selica Tanoue said in j.a.panese.

Note:『』for when they speak in j.a.panese.

<script>