Chapter 68
Once Maki had woken Chiharu, they quickly ate the breakfast that Sera had prepared . Then they rushed off to Arthur’s office .
“Ah, there you are . I’m sorry, you two must still be tired . ”
Arthur looked quite tired himself . Grudo and the prime minister were also present . Aeris, Zynis, Edwy, Kaider, and Nyran were absent .
“Aeris was so excited that he went to prepare the airship . Edwy, Kaider, and Nyran are probably making personal preparations . As for Zynis…well, you know . ”
Arthur had read the question on Maki’s face . And then he continued .
“Maki and Chiharu . I heard about what happened in the dwarven dungeons . To be honest, I can hardly believe it . Are you really all right?”
“So far, nothing has happened . ”
Maki and Chiharu showed him that they could move around just fine . Arthur seemed to be relieved at this . But then he looked at them seriously and said,
“But if what I heard is true, I think there is even less reason for me to allow you to go to the other territories . ”
“Is it because of Van?”
Chiharu asked .
“Elves are not even that annoying . Well, no, they are . But not nearly as annoying as those bird people . ”
Arthur said as he massaged his temples .
“So, whose idea was it for us to go?”
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Maki couldn’t help but wonder this .
“It was Edwy . ”
“Edwy?”
“And Kaider and Nyran agreed with him . ”
Maki and Chiharu looked at each other . That was odd . Hadn’t Edwy been so worried about them?
“After he returned to the castle, he felt the warmth of the people who had been worried and hoping for the Saintesses return . Something about it all felt strange, and then he met Van and made his decision . ”
“He decided that after feeling their warmth?”
“I don’t understand . ”
Arthur saw how confused Maki and Chiharu were and he chuckled .
“Apparently, the Saintesses he knew from the road were too different from the Saintesses the people here knew about . Every time they would talk about how worried they were and how relieved they are now, he would want to say, ‘no’ and ‘they are not that weak . ’”
Arthur put his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his folded hands .
“He said that if you were left in the castle, you would just get involved in some trouble again and eventually escape . And that it would be better if you were close by . ”
How rude! Maki and Chiharu thought . But they were smiling . Close by . Chiharu repeated quietly . Not kept away where they were safe . But, close by .
Of course, it was still out of concern for their well being . But now they wouldn’t have to feel like they were being imprisoned . Both Maki and Chiharu’s eyes were shining bright and gentle .
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So, my son has returned a little more mature than he used to be . Arthur thought . Edwy was now capable of brightening the faces of women .
Bam!
“Saintesses! The airship is ready for you!”
“Wait, wait . First, they have to be told where we are going so they can prepare!”
Just then, the door opened and two elves entered .
“Van . Aeris . This is the room of a king…”
Arthur narrowed his eyebrows . Zynis followed the other two and he apologized with a smile .
“I’m sorry . I tried to stop them . ”
Aeris finally collected himself and looked at Maki and Chiharu with gentle eyes . When they stood next to each other, it was easy to see the resemblance between uncle and nephew .
“Maki and Chiharu . I won’t force you…”
“Uncle!”
“I won’t force you . But would you consider accompanying us to the elf lands?”
Chiharu recalled something . When Aeris had first made this request in this very room . Two months had passed since then . But now she could fulfill that promise . She turned to Maki . Maki nodded .
“We’ll go!!”
“We’ll go!!”
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Everyone seemed to be relieved . Then Van said,
“Everything will be prepared for you there . The only thing you need is the clothes on your back!”
It was just as Sera had said . Why was he like this? Maki thought it was funny, but Chiharu turned an expressionless face towards him .
“The clothes on our back? How many days will it take for us to get there?”
“Well, two days to the south lands and only one day from there . ”
“So, that’s three days . What are we supposed to do during those three days?”
“That…you can just continue as you are . ”
Damn researcher! Chiharu looked at Van with cold eyes . Van took a step back .
“Besides, why are we going there?”
“Because of…um . To collect the miasma…”
“And what are we supposed to do on the way?”
“Uh… You can stare into space…”
Chiharu’s eyes turned even colder . Then she turned to Arthur, who was chuckling quietly . He quickly stopped .
“Did you hear that…?”
“Well, I think it’s true that we only need to be there . At least he’s not lying to us . ”
As Chiharu looked Van down, she left Maki to finish the conversation .
“As we heard about this yesterday, we talked about it as well . And we’ve been wondering about how we can participate . ”
“How? What do you mean, Maki?”
Aeris looked at her quizzically .
“It’s like Chiharu says . We don’t want to stare into space as mere tourists . ”
“I see . However, it really is enough that you gather miasma . ”
“But we do that automatically . ”
Aeris thought about it for a moment .
“You could help the cook…”
“Uncle! How can you ask that of the Saintesses . ”
“But they make a really good soup . ”
Maki was starting to find these two rather amusing together . However, there was no time . Maki turned towards Grudo .
“Grudo . Are you going too?”
“Aye . Kaider is enough as a dwarf representative, but I want to see the dungeons and magic stones . ”
“Then Chiharu and I will work under Grudo as Magic Stone Researchers . ”
“Magic Stone Researchers?”
The others all repeated in unison .