Chapter 56 Blue Magic Gem
With everything settled, Princess Ellen asked again.
"Ricardo. Do you have anything to say to me?"
"...My deepest apologies for all the rudeness. From now on, I will not interfere with Your Highness's dealings with Tsukumo Kreis."
Ricardo bowed his head, his hands clenched tightly on his knees, clearly frustrated.
"Very well. There will be no next time."
The princess nodded, satisfied.
Finally, everything seemed to be resolved.
I stood up, ready to leave, when Yuruyana scurried over to the princess.
I knew what they'd be talking about, so I'd head out to the hallway first.
To kill time until they were done, I put on the watch I'd been meaning to fix but hadn't had a chance to, shoving it in my pocket.
"Ehh!?"
From inside, I heard the sound of Yuruyana's true gender finally being revealed to the princess.
"No way! You're a boy, and so adorable!"
"I apologize. I meant to tell you sooner, but..."
"...Next time, come in disguise. I won't believe it until then."
"Understood..."
I wondered if "disguise" was even the right word in this case.
Lost in thought, Lord Osric came out of the room first.
"Well, that was a surprise. I thought that kid was Kreis's girlfriend. My people were getting all worked up, thinking you were showing off. Misunderstandings and grudges... how amusing."
Lord Osric roughly patted Ricardo's rounded back before straightening up.
"Kreis. To apologize for the trouble, and to help restore Your Highness's trust, we'd like to offer our cooperation if there's anything we can do."
"Cooperation?"
"That said, we probably don't have anyone who can outmatch Kreis in skill or knowledge. Do you need any equipment, materials, anything?"
Maybe the head Arcanist of the Court Arcanist Order has some idea how the cooling system actually works.
In that case...
"You guys in the Arcanist Order also research beasts, right?"
"Yeah, recreating beast magic is one of our research goals."
"Then, if you have any Ice Crawler magic gem stock, I'd like to get some."
"Ice Crawler? Sure, we should have some. You'll need to file a request to get them, so give me a few days. I'll have them delivered to your shop."
Lord Osric grumbled, "The bigger the organization, the more annoying the paperwork gets," before cheerfully taking his leave.
* * *
I was only at the Royal Castle for half a day, but I felt exhausted like I'd been there for days.
I felt a little dizzy.
But even though I was back, I couldn't rest.
This was urgent.
While handling the usual daily stuff, I was also designing and estimating the adjustments and exterior for Princess Ellen's room, placing orders with the factory that helped with the dryer... Two or 3 days just flew by in a blur.
"I hate paperwork the most..."
"I know the feeling..."
When you sell stuff, you also have to deal with the tedious work of entering income and expenses in the ledger.
I wonder if anyone actually *likes* doing this.
"Maybe the Court Arcanists are better at money stuff. Like, that Ricardo guy looks like he knows how to study."
"True. He seemed free, I should have asked him to help."
But if I called him just to be an accountant, he'd probably get in a bad mood again, and that would be a pain.
"Even so, I've never seen Tsukumo get seriously angry before."
Come to think of it, although I was often exasperated by Yuruyana's actions, he'd never actually gotten angry.
Maybe it was because I'd dealt with guys who were even more of a handful.
"I thought it was true that the quiet ones are the scariest when they get angry."
"Quiet? Me?"
"Because you only ever speak about a third of what I do."
"It's just that Yuruyana talks a lot."
"I won't deny that I talk a lot. See? Even if I break a plate, you forgive me."
I don't even need to *forgive* ── I just heard about this for the first time.
When are you talking about?
"...Just add a little more."
Lately, I've been stuck cooling the shop nonstop, leaving the chores to Yuruyana.
I can't really scold him.
He's good at timing when I'm least likely to blow up.
"You're surprisingly gentle, huh?"
Yuruyana sweetens his words with a fake, teasing smile ── like he's pretending to mean it.
It might work on the butcher, but that won't faze me.
Just as I'm about to shake my head in disbelief again, the doorbell rings.
Yuruyana instinctively turns with a bright smile toward the entrance.
"Welcome──eek!"
"Hey there. Hello."
Standing there is Lord Osric, dressed like a worn-out adventurer──tired, yet still with that roguish flair.
Yuruyana rushes to grab tea, flustered.
"It's genuinely cooling today. No wonder the princess wants to implement this at the palace."
"Ah, I didn't expect you, Your Highness, to come all this way yourself."
Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure she said 'deliver' rather than 'let me deliver.'
"Just a little break. What do you think──does this look like a palace Arcanist on a leisure trip?"
Unlike the other day with Princess Ellen, this isn't some noble disguise hiding her true regality.
Her hair, once perfectly tied at the palace, now looks dull.
Loose strands stick out wildly from half-hearted styling.
The dark, round sunglasses look bizarrely lighthearted, giving her the vibe of some shady gentleman lurking in the seedier neighborhoods of town.
"Yes. I thought it was some kind of unpaid debt collector coming for me."
"Haha! Actually, I come around here sometimes. It's interesting──nothing like the noble district. Hey, Ricardo, get in here already!"
When I glance at the entrance, I see...
"..."
Ricardo, dressed like a petty thug, slips in with a face full of frustration and embarrassment mixed together.
If someone saw Lord Osric and this kid, they'd think he was a gang boss and his lackey without a doubt.
"Boss, did I really need to dress so sleazy? Tsukumo Kreis isn't dressed like this, you know."
"If you keep dressing all grown-up, people might think you're hustling or getting kidnapped, and I'll get questioned for neglecting my duties."
It seems there's no option for him to stop wearing that playful fashion.
He's probably just teasing Ricardo.
"Here you go, your ordered item."
As he placed the wooden box on the counter with a hand adorned with a gaudy ring studded with a large gem, it looked more like a shady deal than anything else.
I'm running a legitimate store here, you know.
"...I've received it, alright."
When I opened it, the blue gem emitted a cool light.
"Wow, it's beautiful."
Yuruyana, who had brought the tea, peeked from beside me and exclaimed in awe.
"You should touch it. It's cold and feels nice."
At the suggestion, he eagerly handed it over, placing it in the outstretched palm.
"Really, I want to walk around with this. Is this the material for an air conditioning unit?"
"Yeah. Um... you integrate this here, cool the air drawn in from here, and then release it from there."
"Not a clue what you're talking about."
He spread out the design he had been avoiding and tried to explain, but she just furrowed her brow and shook her head.
As usual, he has no interest in Arcane Circuitry.
It's just like how I can't remember a thing when someone explains medicine to me.
I guess we're quite the pair.
"Did the two of you come all this way just to deliver this?"
"I thought we could chat with Kreis again while we're studying society. I hope we're not too busy."
"No worries. I'll get a chair for you."
"No, it's fine, really. I'll stay here. This tea is delicious."
When I tried to get up from the counter, I were pushed back down and made to sit.
Even among nobles, he's pretty high-ranking, yet he's too used to the ways of the lower town.
Now this guy, he sure comes around a lot.
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