When Carat told us to sit down, we gathered around a round table. However, even after ten minutes of looking at each other and waiting for Carat to open his mouth, the child hesitated and couldn't speak.
'Did he come to tell a difficult story?'
If a young child can't take his luck off, the first thing to do is to create a good atmosphere for him to speak.
'What shall I talk about?'
It was the first time I met Carat alone, so I didn't know exactly what to talk about. So, we decided to start a casual conversation by discussing what had happened a while ago.
"Yes, Carat. I'm invited to the ball?"
Then Carat finally spoke up with a surprised face. "Really?"
"Hmm, but a partner is a must-have. The problem is that I don't have anyone to dance with me. Isn't that sad?" I clenched my fist and put it to the corner of my eye, pretending to cry.
However, Carat's eyes, which had been slumped without saying a word, suddenly began to sparkle. I asked him playfully, "Shall we just go with Carat?"
Carat's lips parted slightly. Listening to the sound of his wheezing breath, I continued nonchalantly, "Do you know any noble adults around you?" In fact, I didn't think that Carat, a commoner, would know any male aristocrats. It was just a casual remark to lighten the atmosphere.
"An aristocrat who knows well?" But Carat's expression was the brightest I'd ever seen. "I know a good person to be my partner! What a great teacher!"
"...Teacher?" It was a great compliment, unlike the ice boy who often wears a cold expression. And a teacher?
"Yes! Teacher! Let me introduce you, a great teacher!" "Do you want to draw...? Is he an aristocrat?" I turned around carefully so that Carat wouldn't feel bad.
The Malton family, like the orthodox imperial aristocracy, valued bloodline. Although the invitation did not explicitly state that only nobles were allowed, they were people who would consider it obviously rude to bring someone who was not a nobleman.
"...Hmm. I guess so." However, Carat's expression became a little puzzled. I looked at Carat with a puzzled look.
"I think he's an academy professor." "It's similar."
I nodded. However, in the case of professors at the academy, they are often buried in scholarship and do not know much about my notoriety. Moreover, most of them were low-to-middle level nobles, so they didn't have to run into me.
'That should be fine. He wouldn't care about my notoriety either.'
"Thank you, Carat. Then I'll ask you." I smiled at Carat softly.
Carat clenched his fists and asked me, "Trust me, Mel! And I have one last question for Mel. That adulterous man, Duke Hessmann."
...You're only saying this in front of me, right? Carat, a commoner, shouldn't be taken away by the small-haired Lennox for insulting the nobility. I nodded nervously.
However, Carat continued without hesitation. "Has he ever asked Mel out on a date?" "What?" "Have you ever given me flowers?" "Not once." "Have you ever taken me to a restaurant?!" "No, I don't." "What about a gift!"
Ah, a gift. I stopped.
"Come to think of it, he gave me a bracelet with a strange aura that day." I kept it in my clutch to return whenever I saw him. In the past, he would often give me accessories. It was not a design that ordinary aristocratic children would like. Doesn't it look like a magic artifact?
"You must wear this necklace." If I didn't wear the necklace he told me to wear, I would be called out. Oh, of course, now everything he gave me was completely thrown away as soon as I became possessed by this world.
"I gave it to you. Did you give me something weird or tell me to take it out..." "Garbage! You scum!" Carat screamed with a terrifying expression.
I was stunned. Somehow, Carat seemed to have a higher combat power than before.
"I'll come with Escorter tomorrow." "Yes." "I'll bring you a nice gift as well." "Carat is a gift to me." I patted his head and replied lightly.
Then, the boy's fox-like face became even paler.
'I'm ashamed of myself.'
I patted his hair and laughed.
That night, Carat's letter arrived again on the side of Isak, Matapju. The tower was immersed in silent darkness, and Isak was checking his business in his usual neat posture. There were incidents of artifact explosions outside the imperial palace, abduction of noble children, and disappearance of wizards. He was so busy with work that he didn't open Carat's letter right away, but just put it on the table.
Rasmus, who was sitting on the couch inspecting the magic item, spoke quietly. "Apparently it was a thief."
"Who?" "Princess Meldenique of Babyloa! How can someone who officially has no mana show illusion and mana heavy bombing? Did they hire a wizard? No, that's weird too. How does she hire a great wizard?" Rasmus spit out his words.
However, Isak dismissed his words lightly. "There's a lot in the world that you can't see."
Rasmus was silent for a moment, glancing at Isak's expression, scratching his chin and narrowing his eyes. "Better..."
Isak raised his eyes and stared in Rasmus' direction. Insidious. If you were to describe that expression, you could say that it was "insidious." Isak rubbed his eyebrows and looked at him with a tired face.
"Why?" "I really didn't expect the lord to go to the academy." "..." "Who goes to such lengths to catch a suspected thief?" "I did it." "Meldenique, did you care about her?" Rasmus remembered how pale Meldenique had been when she made the cotton candy and the look in Isak's eyes. There was definitely selflessness in it.
"No, I don't." "You went there on purpose to help her." "Not so good."
Another short answer! Rasmus fumbled the cravat around his neck in frustration. Rasmus, a man who only knows straight ahead, decided to deliver the final blow.
"You gave her some mana so that she wouldn't fail, right? You helped her!" "If she touches the mana by mistake and goes out of control, the people there could die." "I didn't even think she had a lot of mana to run away... That's what we don't know. If you've already used the Vessel of Mana, you'll have a lot of mana." Rasmus shook his head and clicked his tongue shortly.
"...Is that why you are really selfless?" "Hmph." It was a cold answer.
However, even the unsuspecting Rasmus noticed that Isak's smile was on the corners of his mouth.
"Cha-am, it's spring..." Isak was no longer willing to spend time arguing about useless emotions. He turned his head as he quietly turned the papers.
"I know about Duke Hessmann." "I put a watchdog on him. But Lennox, this human being was a bit strange." "Why?" "Suddenly he joins the Intelligence Guild, he keeps looking for a killer, and he has a graveside... Moreover, they are continuing to follow Princess Meldenique's footsteps." Rasmus glanced at Isak's strangely changed expression, and quickly teased again.
"I thought something would happen to you two soon."
Isak put down his pen. "There was also a weird incident."
"Tell me." "There is a report that a mage who was searching for a bowl of mana has gone missing." "..." "It is said that the missing wizard is so eccentric that he often hides himself, but the place where he disappeared is near the Duke of Hessmann."
'The wizard who was looking for the mana bowl disappeared near the suspect's mansion?'
"That's very strange." Isak's hand stopped rolling the pen.