Magic Gems Gourmet Chapter 184

Chapter 184

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ED: LonelyMatter

Chapter 184 – Night Conversation Part 2

“There are several reasons, but the main reason was to preserve Ishtalika… I think.”

“…You mean the united kingdom of Ishtalika?”

Sylvird asked, and Beria shook his head.

“The land of Ishtalika. Although it now calls itself a unified kingdom, its origins go back to the first king, Arche-sama, and that was something Mark-sama valued above all else. For example, Mark-sama never referred to himself as the first king. That was because the people around him called him the first unified king. …Ain-sama, don’t you remember that?”

“Could it be the words on the tombstone?”

In the cemetery of the Demon King’s castle, the “Second King of Ishtalika” was engraved.

He thought it was something he could not give up, but as Beria said, he probably intended to do so.

“That’s right. Mark-sama was more afraid of the land of Ishtalika disappearing than anything else, and he desperately wanted to avoid that. That is why he hid his origin, thinking that it would cause even more confusion.

The relations.h.i.+p between the countries was probably even more fragile at the time of unification.

In addition, given the fact that there was a Demon King incident, the unified nation could easily fall apart if it became public.

Ain and Sylvird thought about it.

“So, Beria. In other words, you have been hiding this until now out of consideration for the feelings of the first king?

In light of the culture of Ishtalika, if you put it that way, you can’t be accused of a crime, and it could even be said that it was the right thing to do.

Still in the middle of his explanation, Ain softened his thoughts when he thought about that kind of culture.

“Yes. Of course, that is one of the reasons. –But there are other reasons I can’t talk about.”

“Can you tell me about them?”

“Yes. Of course.”

As Sylvird spoke, Beria took a deep breath and repeated the words, folding her hands in front of her chest as if in prayer.

“We red foxes can use our abilities in ways other than deceiving people, but we also have the ability to change our appearance as if we were reborn. I don’t know how long we live, but instead of worrying about our lifespan, this ability was very convenient… and for Warren and me, it was the most useful power of all.”

“I see – so that’s the kind of power you had.”

Ain nodded thoughtfully.

“Why was it useful? Because for Warren and me, it was the best power we could have to continue to serve Ishtalika.”

Beria said this and then turned her gaze to the national flag that hung in the room.

“Since we began serving the first king of the united kingdom of Ishtalika, Mark-sama, Warren and I have dedicated ourselves to this service for hundreds of years, until the reign of Your Majesty Sylvird-sama. At times, we were even given t.i.tles. Although I never had children with Warren, we adopted children and raised them as our own.

“Nowadays, information about successive t.i.tle holders is kept under strict control. However, if we go back two hundred years, the system was not yet in place, so there are some gaps in the information. –So what kind of n.o.bles were they?”

Beria speaks with a voice full of motherly affection as she looks back fondly.

“It was many generations ago, and we’re not related by blood. But is that okay?”

“It’s fine. Tell me.”

“Yes, I understand. But it’s just a small, ordinary baronial family. It’s an old and common t.i.tle, so it’s not even registered. …But we were able to make a connection with a n.o.ble family that still exists today.”

“A n.o.ble family that still exists today?”

“Yes. The daughter I adopted married a knight and became a famous family of warriors that still exists today.”

“B-Beria-san? Could it be that…”

Beria, giggling, didn’t say anything more, but her words were enough information to understand the situation.

“Well, let’s get back to the point. Warren and I have always used our abilities to serve, sometimes openly, sometimes by offering advice from the shadows. However, we did not understand the weakness of those abilities… the price we had to pay.”

Beria returned to the main topic and opened her mouth with a look of regret.

“It was as if we were forced to feel something new as if we were losing ourselves…”

When they heard this explanation, Ain and Sylvird looked at each other in confusion.

They waited for Beria’s following words, wondering what she meant.

“Perhaps it was more like a rebirth. Unlike the mother… the Chief’s curse, it was more like memories naturally falling away rather than being killed. That’s how I felt. But there was also a kind of obsession. It was like it was telling us to forget the past and suppressing us.”

“So it wasn’t like you were turned into something else?”

When Ain heard about the ability, he thought it meant “to transform,” but he was surprised to find that its content was completely different.

He was surprised to find that it was really close to reincarnation.

“By the time I realized it, it was too late. I should have written a lot of things down and kept my memories. I regretted it more than once. For example, we can’t even remember the faces of Arche-sama and the others.”

She pursed her lips as she made the saddest face of the day.

“And in the middle of all this, Katima-sama took Wilfried-sama’s book, and Christina-sama translated it. Warren and I were at a loss. Should we tell Your Majesty and the others what we had been silent about?”

But they didn’t.

“Perhaps we were irresponsible. Perhaps we lacked loyalty… but we could not do more than what was written in Wilfried-sama’s book. So we decided to keep our promise to Mark-sama. We decided to keep his worries to ourselves.

…From Ain’s point of view, there is an undeniable feeling of irresponsibility.

Even though they kept their promise to the first king, it is true that he wanted some information.

Although the feelings of hostility towards Beria have almost disappeared, the feeling of a gaping hole in his heart cannot be ignored.

“Then why did Warren-san send Chris to the Sea Dragon?”

At least they haven’t forgotten Wernstein.

Ain opens his mouth as if to question him.

“…That is…”

“Ain. It’s wrong to blame them.”

Then Sylvird interjects as if to defend Beria.

“Wrong?”

“Yes. Regardless of the content, I was the one who gave the final approval. And all the n.o.bles who agreed to send Chris during the previous meetings are responsible.”

“B-but…!”

“Umu… Ain. Today’s Ain is unusually emotional. I know what you want to say, but without the information that she is of royal blood, Chris is just a knight. Although she has a position, she is still only one rank below Lloyd in command. Besides, Warren was not in favor of sending Chris at the time.”

Ain jumps out of his chair when he hears this for the first time.

“I’ve never heard that before!”

“Of course you haven’t. There was no opportunity to talk about the content of the meeting. Besides, Ain was moving around like a wild animal at the time, and in the end, you neutralized Lloyd and went to Magna.”

“…..”

“Warren’s idea was to send a s.h.i.+p dedicated to the royal family to act as a s.h.i.+eld. The idea was to ignore all the damage to the fleet and protect the lives of Chris and the Knights… But that would have meant losing Ishtalika’s naval strength for the next few decades. Many n.o.bles were worried about that, and that’s why they didn’t agree with Warren’s opinion.”

Ain was confused when he heard this now.

Listening to the story, it seems that Warren was trying to protect Chris.

“Looking back, I thought it was an unrealistic plan for Warren, but now I see that’s how it was.”

Although he couldn’t protect her overtly, he was trying to keep her from going to her death.

Even though he was the Prime Minister, not all of his words were given priority. Especially in a case like the national crisis with the sea dragon, there was nothing he could do.

“Your Majesty, I apologize. I really wanted to tell you everything about my encounter with Mark-sama and the others, but it seems that my memory is not enough. Fortunately, Warren has not lost those memories yet. You can arrest both of us. So please wait until Warren wakes up before you make a decision.”

Beria stood up and bowed deeply.

In truth, many things still need to be explained, but if her words are to be believed, this seems beyond her abilities.

In other words, they would have to wait for Warren to regain consciousness, as she said.

Ain did not know what to do, but Sylvird replied that he understood.

“It’s true that we don’t have enough information to believe everything. If that’s the case, we can’t let you go completely free.”

“…As you say.”

“I order you to stay in Warren’s room. We’ll put a guard on you. Is that okay?”

Considering the circ.u.mstances, it might have been an extraordinary response.

However, Sylvird could not make any more decisions against those who had dedicated themselves to Ishtalika so far.

“――I appreciate your magnanimous words.”

Then Beria shed a single large tear.

“…But even if it’s vague, is it possible for you to tell me a little more?”

“Y-yes, if you want, of course, I’ll tell you, but… there’s a possibility that the story will become inconsistent and incoherent. In other words, it might just be a list of words…”

“Ah… I see. That’s how it is…”

Sylvird felt that he would be even more confused after hearing that.

He sighed and said the next words.

“I understand. Then, when that old prankster wakes up, I’ll ask him about it.”

When Sylvird spoke as if he was joking, Ain felt as if the tension that had been building up until then had eased.

“I’m really sorry. If I could, I would have told you many things, such as the story of my travels with Mark-sama and the others to unify the continent.”

――Eh? I really want to hear that, Ain thought.

It was a statement that piqued his interest, but if it was vague, there was nothing to do.

…The explanation was not given until it was clear, but this might be the limit.

Ain drank the cold tea and looked dazedly out of the window at the night view.

After that, it was late at night, so they decided to call it a day.

When Sylvird called Martha, he told her to bring a bed to Warren’s room.

He also told Lloyd to act as a knight in waiting.

Thus, from that day forward, Beria was to be confined to Warren’s room, and until Warren awoke, Martha and the other maids were to attend to Laralua’s needs.

…The rest of the story will be told after Warren wakes up.

Until then, Ain and Sylvird prayed that Heim would take no action, but their prayers were in vain, and two days later, they finally received some information.

The Kingdom of Heim was advancing on the merchant city of Birdland.

Once they have effectively taken control of Birdland, they will advance on Rockdam at full speed.

This information triggered a gradual change in Ishtalika’s future.

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