Chapter 164 – …Huh? (3)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“…?”

Looking at the woman who had suddenly begun to cry, Alon could only feel endless bewilderment inwardly.

She had merely stared straight at him, then suddenly started shedding tears.

Did I… do something?

All sorts of thoughts flashed through his mind for an instant, but of course he had done nothing.

No, he had not even had time to do anything.

His confusion lasted only a moment.

“I am sorry. Um, something suddenly got into my eye.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“…I see.”

At the explanation that came slowly from the woman, he could only answer stiffly.

No matter how he looked at it, it seemed less like something had gotten into her eye and more like she was crying because she was sad.

But since she herself said that was the reason, it was awkward to question her, so he decided not to press the matter.

“…Let us begin with introductions.”

“Yes. I am Rina, the merchant chief who leads the Teal Forest Merchant Company.”

For a moment Alon tried to recall whether he knew anything about the Teal Forest Merchant Company, then quickly gave up.

It does not seem to be a very famous merchant company.

All he knew was the information he had heard from the servant earlier.

“I heard you wanted to speak with me regarding gold craftworks. Is that right?”

“Yes, that is right.”

“Then let me hear the details.”

Wiping at the corners of her eyes again, she nodded.

####

Thirty minutes later.

“Marquis.”

“What is it?”

“Did your discussion go well?”

“It ended decently enough.”

“Oh, really?”

At Evan’s reaction, as though that were unexpected, Alon asked,

“Why are you making that face?”

“No, it is just that talks with merchant chiefs do not normally end this quickly. And this is about gold craftworks, is it not? I know there are usually many things to adjust.”

“Well, you are not wrong.”

Alon nodded in agreement.

The value of gold craftworks was certainly high.

Gold itself was expensive, and on top of that, the value of a craftwork varied wildly again depending on the artisan who handled the gold.

Of course, even if he did not know every detail, Alon still knew the ordinary common-sense parts that applied in this world.

“To be honest, I was a little surprised too.”

“Why?”

“Because it ended so quickly.”

In truth, Alon himself had been baffled the whole time by how smoothly the matter had gone.

The terms were too good.

Of course, good terms were not a bad thing from his point of view.

But the better the terms were for Alon, the worse the benefit for the other side ought to be.

Trade was always about weighing each side’s gains and losses and finding a balance point.

If one side got something good, there always had to be something else it accepted in return.

That had held true in every one of the many deals he had made with merchant companies until now as well.

And yet this time, even before the negotiations began, many of the terms were already one-sidedly favorable to Alon.

…Something is strange.

That was the part that bothered him.

The negotiations had ended successfully, but no matter how he thought about it, Alon found it difficult to grasp what exactly that merchant company was getting out of this deal.

Well, if I really think about it, it is not as if the other side will lose money on the deal… but even so, there were definitely areas where they could have pressed for more. Did they not give up too much?

He was about to keep thinking, but soon, as usual, he gave a small shrug.

The result had been good.

It was not a contract that would cause him any loss, so there was no need to brood over it that deeply.

…Though I still have no idea why she cried the moment she saw my face.

That part was troubling enough by itself.

“Ah, now that I think of it, Marquis.”

“What is it?”

“I heard the Vice Tower Master may have discovered a new formula.”

“…Really?”

The news came before he could sink any deeper into thought, and Alon rose from his seat to head to where Penia was.

####

The chief of the Teal Forest Merchant Company who had just spoken directly with Alon, or rather Elven Queen Magrina, had sunk into a sea of thought.

Perion, who had dropped his human disguise and followed her as an escort, watched her with a somewhat strange expression.

The reason was the attitude she had shown earlier.

…What was that?

Perion could not understand her behavior today at all.

There had only been one reason she, a queen who ordinarily should never leave Greynif, had come out to seek Marquis Palladio.

To determine whether Marquis Palladio was the first elf or not.

But Perion had inwardly thought that this trip would not produce much.

According to Filde’s expectation, she being the magus who had reached the most exalted position among the elves, even if Marquis Palladio really was the first elf and even if he recognized Magrina as both queen and younger sister, he could not reveal that familiarity.

In other words, so long as such a restriction existed, there was no way for the queen to know whether Marquis Palladio was the first elf or not.

That was why, unlike the queen, who had insisted that she would judge it by seeing his face directly no matter what, Perion had remained skeptical.

And yet.

…Why did Her Majesty shed tears?

Right now the queen was wearing an extremely serious expression as she thought, but he had definitely seen it.

The single line of tears that had fallen from her eyes the moment she saw Marquis Palladio’s face.

“…”

Perion could say with certainty that he had never seen the queen like that before.

She never revealed private emotions before others.

She was certainly a benevolent queen, but more than anyone, she bore and fulfilled the duties of a ruler heavily.

Did she truly sense something from Marquis Palladio?

By some unknown method unavailable to him?

But even if that were true…

Perion looked at her once more.

By now Magrina had already returned to the serious face of a sovereign.

Not as a younger sister showing fragments of emotion related to the first elf, but clearly as a king.

Just as Perion was thinking of satisfying his curiosity even at the cost of discourtesy.

“Perion.”

The queen, who had remained silent from the moment they left House Palladio until now, suddenly opened her mouth.

“Yes.”

Perion swallowed instinctively.

Several emotions had crossed the queen’s face just now.

They had vanished in an instant, but there had clearly been a trace of regret, sorrow, and a quiet smile upon her face.

After a short pause, Magrina gave her order.

“…Place the Dark Leaf beside him.”

“…The Dark Leaf?”

“Yes.”

The Dark Leaf.

If Pagade were those who protected the roots, then the Dark Leaf were the elves who protected the queen from the shadows, each and every one of them made up of Sword Masters.

They were, in effect, the queen’s direct guard unit.

“Then that means…”

“Yes. That is right.”

“…How did you realize it?”

Perion’s expression clearly showed that he could not understand.

Magrina recalled the gauntlet Marquis Palladio had been wearing.

Something only elves could use.

No, more precisely, something only the first elf.

…Only her elder brother had used.

The moment she saw it, tears had escaped Magrina without her realizing it, but that was not the only reason she became certain Marquis Palladio was the first elf.

“I have my own method.”

“…”

Smiling in answer, the queen drew an object from inside her clothes.

It was an old ring.

A ring with faded places all over it where it had failed to fully withstand the passage of time.

One that, ordinarily, should have absolutely existed as a single item in the world.

“My own method.”

“…”

The Ring of Restriction that Alon had first obtained in the labyrinth was resting on her palm.

The ring she had received from the first elf.

At that same time, Alon was.

“Hm. So the merchant chief of the gold craftwork company gave away everything she could, then cried and laughed all on her own?”

He was going over what had happened earlier together with Penia.

“Well… the order is reversed, but that is roughly the feeling of it.”

“It was not anything like a forced contract or something… right?”

Just as a look of sympathetic understanding was starting to rise in Penia’s face.

“What exactly do you take me for…?”

She hastily waved both hands.

“Ah, no, no, no, I did not mean it like that. Haha… Then maybe… maybe the merchant chief just has something like mood swings?”

“…Hm. That might be it.”

“That is unfortunate at such a young age.”

The conversation, which could not clearly be called comfort aimed at anyone in particular, came to an end.

It was dusk.

####

As Hidan saw it, the regular Blue Moon meetings were basically somewhat noisy.

More precisely, they began quietly, then became louder and louder as time passed.

At any rate, they had always proceeded like that, and Hidan had never been especially uncomfortable with it.

Whenever the meeting became too loud or overheated, the Red Moon would moderate the situation appropriately.

But right now, Hidan felt extremely uncomfortable.

The reason was.

[Everyone heard it, did they not?]

[A birthday gift…]

The gift for the Great Moon’s birthday.

Or rather, to be precise, the matter of the gift for the Great Moon’s birthday.

[Deus, let me say this in advance, no absurd gift.]

[I know.]

[Are you sure you really know?]

[Yes. I intend to prepare something within proper bounds.]

[Hm. The same goes for me. I also intend to prepare something very proper.]

[The same goes for me. Elder Brother must not be made uncomfortable.]

The moons had started subtly checking one another.

[Hm, everyone has thought it through well. It seems all of you understand that we must never burden him by giving too large a gift.]

[Yes. I know that too.]

Hidan looked over the other moons, including Yutia.

All of them wore easy smiles.

Looking at them like this, their words might truly seem sincere, but Hidan, who traveled all around in order to report, knew.

The five moons were absolutely not preparing proper gifts.

In other words.

[That is right. We should give something within proper bounds.]

[Yes, I think the same. Within proper bounds.]

[I understand it correctly. Proper bounds….]

[…I do as well.]

[Me too.]

In this conversation where the same word kept being repeated, everyone except for the sunny Gold Moon was hiding their true intentions while watching one another.

To give the Great Moon a better gift than the other moons.

That was why.

Do we really have to go this far…?

Hidan secretly swallowed a sigh, feeling as if all the energy had been drained from him.