Chapter 256: Far Thunder

About a month had passed since the discovery of purification magic.

August is just around the corner, and the hot days are continuing. The season is already in the height of summer, and the little insects are buzzing.

The past month has been strangely busy.

This is because letters addressed to me from various aristocrats of the kingdom have started to arrive again. Just when I thought I had finished the rush of thank-you letters for the May royal social, it was time to shift to gathering information for the annual regular social.

My father told me that he was trying to find out what was going on with Quardenze Wilk, who had been very active in King's Landing, for better or worse, but to be frank, this was extremely annoying. King's Landing, so please don't send me letters all the time. Usually, my father is the only one who participates in social gatherings.

It takes time to finish even a single letter if it affects the social interaction, and it is essential that I keep my father in mind regarding the content of the reply. Thanks to this, I could not leave New Nellie City at all. Could have, I would have gone to Nambonan to talk to Raveh directly.

I guess I'm done with …… For now.”

I exhaled as I finished processing the morning letters, which had become my daily routine as of late.

I had not received any new letters in the past few days, as the start of socializing was just around the corner. I hope the letters I just finished will put a stop to this.

The amount of letters I have handled since my return from the May social until today must have exceeded the total number of letters I have written so far. I feel like my letter-writing skills have improved dramatically in just a few months.

It was a lot of work, but I guess it's comforting to think that there was something to be gained. While I was thinking about this, a soft, fragrant aroma wafted through the air.

Master, here are some sponge cakes.”

It was Eve who said so, already in a state of “Wait” At the table.Her voice is very cheerful.

The reward for the great work of verifying the purification magic and confirming the acquired magic is the sponge cake. Eve, who has been captivated by the taste of sponge cake since she was fed it once, looks forward to the sponge cake baked several times a week.

I think I'll take a smoke break.

When I approached her to take a break, Eve happily sat back down in her chair. She would not be allowed to misbehave and leave her master to eat alone first.

I'm not allowed to leave the master alone and eat alone first.

There were only two slices on each of our plates. I had just had breakfast a few minutes earlier, so I guess they didn't want us to eat too much.

Still, I'm glad.

I'm glad to hear that, “Eve whispered, looking cute for her age.

Since the discovery of the purification magic, Eve and I have been working together almost every day. I think it's because of this that the distance between us is rapidly shrinking. It is a great progress that we can see each other without any hesitation.

I wonder how many times we've enjoyed tea together, and I pick up my cup of tea as we exchange the familiar banter.

Do you want me to check the magic again today?

No, I'm off today.

Eve's check of all the magic she had learned was steadily progressing.

I have already verbally confirmed what kind of magic she has learned and made a list of it. Recently, the main thing is to take that list with me to the castle to check the activation of the magic.

The reason I go all the way down to the castle is to maintain confidentiality. I am sorry to say that I don't trust my mother, but I cannot reveal anything about Eve's magic just yet. Be treated as the best-kept secret of the Quardenze. What will happen in the future is undecided, but for now it is necessary to keep it hidden.

However, as far as I could tell from my interviews, Eve had not learned much magic.

The most valuable source of information was her mother, Rave. I wanted to go to Nambonan City, and if that was too difficult, I would call her to come and meet Eve.

“Good night, sir?”

It was the civil servants working in Nambonan who put a stop to Raveh and Eve's reunion.

According to them, Raveh's mental health is quite unstable. Normally, he lives an uneventful life, but when he suddenly remembers something, he gets frightened or starts crying. They also say that he is extremely afraid of losing trust in me, his protector. Well, it may be natural, considering what happened in the past.

That was what the civil servants were concerned about. If I reveal my true relationship with Eve, it means that the lies that Rave told me will be revealed. I don't blame Rave, but she herself must have felt torn apart. Staff suggested that she might not even be able to listen due to the shock of the revelation.

I felt that I was being overly concerned, but I also thought that I should not easily ignore the opinions of those who were watching Rave closely. And since it was reported that the confirmation of the acquired magic could be carried out in parallel in Nambonan, we decided to leave it to them for the time being.

The report staff from Nambonan arrived at a pace of once a week, and the interviews seemed to be progressing well. They seemed to be making good progress, and they were able to confirm the existence of purification magic over there. There was any other magic that would be useful.

After confirming most of the details, I would reunite with Eve and ask her for a more in-depth discussion.

I'm going to see Eve again and ask her for a more in-depth discussion.I have to see my father off today.I don't have time to go down to the castle.

Father leaves for King's Landing in the early afternoon. Usually to attend social gatherings to assess the current state of the Levios Kingdom and to decide on a course of action for the invasion of Spiaseik.

This time, he is going to meet up with some Quardensee nobles in a noble territory a little further on after crossing the Ovieto River, and they are going to the royal capital together.

…… Oh, these sponge cakes are left over souvenirs?”

I had wondered why the sponge cakes had appeared when I hadn't given any instructions, but the reason for that was self-resolved. He must have had them baked in large quantities to give to my father as souvenirs. Both Fanny and Plume love sponge cakes, and they were well received in King's Landing.

I'm sure there are many people who would love to eat them.

I'm not going to tell you how to do it.One mage is coming up to the castle to report to his father, but Eve does not have to see him.

Some of the civil servants are specialists in magic. They work on the acquisition of magic, its improvement, and new developments, and they are also in charge of magic sharing activities in the territory.

They are the masters who guide the way of magic. When checking all the magic Eve had learned, she called in a few experts.

Oh, I understand.

Eve was not very fond of them. When I told her that she didn't have to meet with them, she showed a blatant look of relief.

There are a number of female mages in the Quardenze family, but the mages called to New Nellie City were all men. This is not an attempt to harass Eve, but the result of a simple subtraction.

The target of the hearing was Eve and Rave. And since I was glued to New Nellie City, I had no choice but to leave the handling of Rave to the civil servants and mages of Nambonan City. However, it is not good for Rave's mental health to have a large number of male civil servants and male mages. So I ordered that female mages be sent preferentially to Nambonan City, and as a reaction, male mages gathered in New Nellie City. For Eve, this was a huge disappointment.

Eve is not fond of the officials who work for Quordenze. She seems to be able to talk to the male employees of the pioneering association, so I think she is afraid of adult men who are rude, serious, or formal in their delivery. It not limited to …… Men? They also tend to avoid maids, etc. Who come from knightly families, so perhaps they are not good at respectful and honest adults.

However, the old mage men and older brothers who are avoided by Eve are by nature a very good-natured sort of people. Because learning magic involves interaction between people, it is important to have not only a delicate sense of magic but also good communication skills in order to make a living at it. However, in front of me, the next head of the family, they quickly turn into honest officials. The friendly magic confirmation time was not going to happen. For Eve, it was a hard time .

I'm sure Eve has had a hard time these past few days,” He said. You should take a good rest today. If you want to see Minute or Mimon, you can go visit them.

I will.

Tell them I was worried about you. Minit must be anxious about having her first baby her. I'd really like to go see her……. “

The birth mother's defenses prevented me from going to see her.I've heard about her recent condition through her letters, but it seems that the birth is finally approaching.

I've heard stories in my past life about people being unable to hold their wives after witnessing a birth, and I'm sure all of the birth mothers want to keep me as far away from them as possible.

I think that the birth attendants would want to keep me away from them as much as possible.

Eve accepted my request with a little puffiness in her chest of hers.

I heard the other day that in Eve's hometown there is no superstition about jealousy of babies. Therefore, even pregnant women get along well with their fathers, and it is rather recognized as an important time for the couple.

Eve is the only one who can sympathize with my desire her to be closer to her.For this reason,I have recently started using her to deliver messages to pregnant women.She seems to like that role,so no one is missing out.

She says, “Please tell Mimon I'm here. 'Mimon isn't the first to have a baby, but she's not without anxiety, you know. Both …… Minutes and Mimon are important to me. I want them to be happy and I want to make them happy.”

Yes.”

Then I held my hand out toward Eve and activated the magical spread of favors with as little output as possible.

Of course, I care about Eve as well.

So feel free to impregnate my baby, or rather, make a baby …… I would like to say so out loud, but as expected, I won't go that far. That is being rebuilt, will be Babel.

“Eve would have been cooperative about the …… Magic. Many of us appreciate what he's done this time around.”

Is that so?”

'Oh. To be honest, Eve has not been well received by the people of the castle. When I ordered them to do something for her, they didn't look at me favorably. It makes me feel a little better.

For Eve, the reputation of those serving at Quardenze was of no interest. So I'm going to make sure she's interested,” She added.

That's one of the reasons they're going to put more effort into the search for her mother her than ever before.The civil servants' motivation is completely different from before.

Then Eve's expression turns from jubilation, to despair the next moment, and finally to motivation.

I'm more than willing to help!”

I knew Eve was not so bad after all.

The point I was trying to make was that the Quardenze officials were not taking the Rave search very seriously, because Eve's attitude her was not good enough.Because Eve's attitude her was bad and pissed me off”.

At first Eve was happy that her search resources would increase, but she regretted it when she realized that the reason they were decreasing in the first place was because of her low opinion of herself. His mother, and voluntarily offered his cooperation.

The civil servant in charge of the search reacted strangely. Perhaps he has found some clues. Or maybe he's been keeping quiet about it until now…….”

What?

Maybe there will be something to report soon.”

Well, the story about Eve's attitude is not true. Well, the story about Eve's attitude is not true, Rave is in Nambonan City, and the whole story is coated with lies.

But the logic of this lie must be made clear to Eve.

Master. I will do my best!”

I sense a fighting spirit in Eve. She is very motivated.

I'm glad you want to do it, but I'm taking the day off.

I'll do my best.

“Yeah, yeah. Well, say hello to Minute and Mimon for me. I have to see Father off today.

“…… Yes.”

I share the sponge cake I have n't touched yet with Eve, who is looking rejected.She did a deft trick and happily ate the sponge cake with a disappointed look on her face.

After Eve went to the castle to play, the family gathered for lunch.

Afterwards, they moved together to the entrance of the castle to see their father off.

My father hugged my mother tightly, and then hugged Fanny as if to receive her.My turn came last.

I will return in the middle of September. I will be back by the middle of September. Until then, you take care of New Nelly.

Yes, I'll take care of it. I'll be in touch with you. …… And, Father, please be careful. We still have not heard from the Levios family that they have defeated the priest.

It's been quite some time, and yet we haven't heard that they have either missed or defeated the priest.

Don't worry.The main ancestral soldiers are waiting for us, so there is no way we will be overtaken.

This time, he was taking an old man from a branch of his family with him. He was reluctant to go out of the territory, but they could not disobey his father. It may look like elder abuse from the outside, but for their own safety, they had no choice.

Regardless of whether or not they have experience in combat, the walls of their ancestors are always very thick.

Before we leave, let me say it again: ……”

Then my father turned his attention to my mother for a moment.

'…… There is no need to rush to a conclusion on this matter.

Which is he talking about, the purification magic or the invasion of Spierzeig? Well, the fact that he can speak out here means it's probably the latter.

I understand.

It has to be handled with care, I know that.

Then good.”

Then my father gently places his hand on my shoulder and pulls me into a light hug.It was not as strong as a hug, but I could feel the heat of his body.

I'll see you at……”

My father got into his carriage and left the castle with many soldiers in tow.

One day, about two weeks after his father's departure, the news of his grandfather Gulfis' defeat came.

The news of his grandfather Gulfis' defeat reached Newnery Castle.