Chapter 84: Hometown of Prodigal Sons (part one)

Harold and I returned from Castle of Light to Gilbert’s workshop, and told Tirnanog and Gilbert, who were left behind, about our conversation with Earl Nibelheim.

Harold was embarrassed, so I omitted how the parent-child reconciliation went down.

Well, if I talked about how he cried for over thirty minutes, then I would also have to tell them about how he washed his face and did other things.

『Umu, even so, using the stone dust, huh. To think there is such a trick.』

“No, no, no, such too-good-to-be-true stories will not come easily like this, right?”

“My dad is not a man who will do something like a scam. That guy is very awkward to the extent that it’s irritating.”

Tirnanog seemed impressed, but Gilbert didn’t seem to believe it right now.

Looking at him like that, Harold spoke to him.

“With this we have all the ingredients, and it seems that the fundraising and the other things are going to go well……but, after all, what is Aniki going to do?”

“Hm? What about me?”

“Because you were brooding about it. When will you go to Master?”

Gilbert sighed deeply.

“I have been making excuses for so many years that I couldn’t face my old man until this was finished, but I cannot do it anymore.

The prototype of the small dish is going to be finished soon, so I can’t make excuses anymore.”

Gilbert stroked the dish on which the legendary monsters were drawn with his fingertips.

“I thought my connection with my old man has broken forever.

Broken things cannot be restored.

Just like my old man’s important decorative dish which I broke.

So at the very least, I would like to make it again with my own hands.”

As if it was somebody else’s problem, Gilbert divulged things he had been keeping inside his heart personally.

Although certainly broken things couldn’t be restored to their initial state, Turm elder decorated the wall with that dish which was patched with gold preciously.

Hm? Oh? Somehow Gilbert’s perception seemed to be slightly off.

Perhaps Gilbert didn’t know that the dish he broke had been restored?

“By the way, Gilbert-san, the dish that you broke has been restored neatly.”

“Hah……? How did he do something like that with a porcelain that was broken so finely?

For porcelain restoration, it cannot be done just by gluing.

The drawing is too fine to be using glue, then is it that?

No, whichever it was, you will need lacquer. There is no lacquer on this continent, so what can substitute for it……?”

Gilbert had bit the bait.

As someone who had dedicated his life for porcelain, it was a conversation that made him concerned about the details.

However, I smiled meaningfully, keeping my silence.

Seeing my action, it seemed that Harold and Tirnanog also arrived at the same idea.

“Speaking of which, he said that it was restored with gold, right~.”

“Hah……what do you mean, Botchan!?”

“Nothing~, if you’re searching for the answer, you should go to Master~.

Since it was a lengthy conversation, I don’t remember the details~~”

『Yes, I also feel like I heard it from the shop owner, but I wonder what he said about the technique.』

“Hehehe, you’re curious, right, Aniki?”

“What is this! You’re ganging up on me!”

The more we talked about the restoration, the more Gilbert’s face turned into a troubled expression.

I saw that it was the time, so I gave him the last push.

It was the few words that became the deciding factor to push Gilbert’s back who really wanted a reason to go home.

“It’s mended very beautifully, you should try going to the back of Turm Wand Store.

Rather than listening to us amateurs, the expert Gilbert-san certainly would like to see it with your own eyes, right?”

When I pointed it out, Gilbert widened his eyes.

From the throat of Gilbert who was furrowing his eyebrows, sounds that were similar to a chuckle gradually came out.

The chuckles gradually grew louder, and finally he let out a loud laughter while looking up to the sky.

“Hahaha……you got me! I give up!

I have to go and see the workmanship of the restoration.

I was looking for reasons not to return, but now I got a reason to return home!”

“I mean, Aniki, you couldn’t get close to the back of the store even though it’s nearby, just how cowardly are you!”

“Who cares! I have that kind of personality, okay! Aah, you’re so noisy, I get it, I get it!”

Like that, Gilbert began to prepare for his homecoming while complaining.

He wore an overcoat, a hat, and put away the important dish carefully into his bag.

Everyone might have noticed that as he lowered the hat over his eyes, his mouth slackened in his happiness, but no one mentioned it.

“I give up. I’m still nervous about seeing him, but somehow I’m getting excited.

No way, I didn’t realize that I actually really want to see my old man.

Ah—……what, that was……everyone, thank you very much.”

With a shy appearance that was unlike him, Gilbert muttered so.

Perhaps he was too embarrassed to hear our replies, so he took his bag and started walking quickly.

We saw him off silently, but we were staring at him with warm gazes.

Gilbert’s footsteps towards Town of All Kinds of Goods were light, and his back looked somewhat proud.

☆

Harold suggested taking a late lunch after seeing off Gilbert’s homecoming.

I was thankful for his suggestion as I had missed lunch today as well.

The menu was a specially made yellowish-brown colored onion tart that Harold bought from Gizella-obasan.

“I was also curious about this, I thought that I should buy it next time.”

“Hehe, glad to hear that!”

Harold cut the tart neatly.

Oh, speaking of which, there was something I wanted to ask him to do.

In order to use them in the investigation of the aforementioned ruin, I had to charge the wands for underground exploration such as Digging in large amount.

Since the porcelain-related works had also settled down, right now might be the best if I wanted to borrow his help.

“Say, Harold.”

“What is it, what is it? You don’t have to worry, I’ll give you the most delicious one, you know?”

“No, it’s not about tart. It’s fine if it’s after we finished eating, but I’d like to ask for mass filling for wands.”

“Ooh~, that’s fine. What kind of wand?”

I tried counting as to what was the minimum necessary wands.

At times like this, the experience of exploring in the Ruins of Visitor was useful.

At that time, I could entrust some magic to Klaus, but now I had to do it all alone.

“I need you to charge Digging, Glam Sight, Magic Mapping, and then Levitation and Feather Falling.”

“……There’s probably not enough material to charge a large volume right now, but if we get back to my place I may be able to manage something.

Even so, that’s an amazing amount of wands. Are you going to search for gold or diamond veins this time?”

“No, that’s not it……ah, that’s right. Incidentally, I need a recommendation for a cooling system offensive wand.”

Hearing the word ‘offensive’, Harold’s face turned stiff for a moment.

“Seriously, what are you planning to do, Erica?”

“That is……it’s going to be long, so let’s eat first.”

“Heeh~? Well, I’m also hungry, so thank you.”

Harold shrugged his shoulders and distributed the sliced tarts to me and Tirnanog.

At that time, the window was hit by the wind and rattled violently.

“I wonder if the window fitting is bad because it’s old.

I give up. If he’s seriously using this cabin as a workshop, he should have repaired it first—uwah!?”

Harold who was peeking outside the window became speechless.

From the gap of the slatted shutter which he lifted, I saw the appearance of a dragon descending down from the sky to the ground.

By the way, I felt like I saw a dragon like this during the launching ceremony.

“What is that!?”

『It’s a dragon. Looking at its size, it’s the 10-meter class.』

“It looks like a gray dragon. The scales are beautiful.”

“Why are you so calm! That’s not it, why isn’t the dragon patrolling the airspace and instead it’s falling down!?”

“I wonder. If it isn’t patrolling, then maybe it’s sightseeing?”

『Umu. I guess it is sightseeing.』

“No, it’s not!”

While bantering with the panicking Harold, a lightly dressed young boy was getting down from the back of the gray dragon gracefully.

“Ah—, it’s Auguste-sama after all……”

“Heh!? By Auguste, you mean the Crown Prince of Ignitia? Why is such an important person coming to the country side like this?”

“Well, maybe he’s looking for something.”

『Don’t you mean someone?』

Tirnanog stared at me meaningfully.

He was looking for me.

For certain, I felt that was the meaning of that stare.

Auguste stroked the forehead of the gray dragon and whispered something.

The dragon flew in response to Auguste’s instructions, after turning over in the sky several times, it flew away somewhere.

He gazed at the footprints on the ground and then approached the workshop without hesitation.

My whereabouts was completely exposed.

I opened the door of the workshop and decided to invite Auguste in.

“Greetings, Auguste-sama. Is there anything I can do for the prince of the whole country to be in a remote place like this……?”

“Oh yeah, of course, I came to meet a certain duke’s daughter who has hid herself in this remote place.”

Auguste showed a carefree smile.

He looked around the interior of the workshop curiously over my shoulder.

For now, it seemed that the working golems were taking a break at the back of the workshop, but I wondered how much did he know.

When I thought about that, Auguste’s gaze suddenly stopped at one point.

Looking back, there was Harold, who was tense and rigid.

Auguste had a delighted expression on his face, similar to a cat who had found a bird.

“U-um, I’m……”

“Wait a moment. Let me guess. When I arrived at this city, I have seen someone with similar face.

I’m sure that he was called Harold II, the Earl of Nibelheim.”

“Eh, why is my dad’s name……”

“Learning the face and name of a person is my job. I’m Auguste Ignitia.”

Harold grasped the hand that Auguste presented out in a terribly scared state.

“Uum……I’m Harold.”

“You have the same name as your father. Nice to meet you, Harold III.”

“Y-yes.”

Harold nodded as he shrunk on himself, worried stiff.

It was understandable. No doubt that he was thinking why a prince like him suddenly came to a place like this.

“Well, you don’t have to be that tense.”

“Although he looks like a perfect prince, the inside is like a curious and mischievous kitten, so even if you’re a little rude, he will smile and forgive you, Harold.”

“Hahaha, Erica. Rather, the only one who says rude things to me is you.”

Auguste imitated me and nudged me with his elbow in a playful gesture.

After laughing for a while, he stared at my face suddenly and gave me a gentle smile.

“It seems that your troubles have been sorted, huh.”

“Oh my, does it showed on my face?”

“Rather than your face, it’s your attitude. Because your facial expression is rather difficult to read.

I thought it was something serious since you were a little absentminded sometimes during the launching ceremony.

Because this is you we’re talking about, you were stuck in a troublesome matter again, weren’t you?”

“I’ve been seen through. As expected from Auguste-sama.”

“I have to keep an eye on you properly, because it’s dangerous.”

It seemed that Auguste treated me as a problem child.

I was saved that he cares, or rather, there were aspects that I was grateful for.

“Aa~h, I’m too late, huh. I thought I could kill time or something.”

“So you’re thinking of using other people’s trouble to kill time, huh.”

“Because even if I say ‘trouble’, it seems to be more of a conspiracy.

With this massive workshop, you pulled the Nibelheim’s successor to join in your conspiracy.”

Auguste said that with a look like a mischievous child, and looked around curiously.

Harold seemed to become even more wary of Auguste’s attitude, which changed frequently like a cat.

To begin with, it was troubling that what he said was not incorrect.

I also felt that Auguste seemed to feel excited to explore the workshop at the moment.

What should I do. Even though there were so many things that we couldn’t show off to outsiders yet.

No, wait.

I wondered if Auguste should be integrated into the plan as well.

Thinking that way, his position and popularity were very useful.

“Auguste-sama, since I also have something to discuss with you, how about we continue our conversation while eating and drinking?

You’re just in time, we were about to slice the tart.”

“That’s a good suggestion. I’m in.”

“Then, please go over there. I hope the taste suits your mouth.”

I pointed to a room where we were preparing lunch a while ago and urged Auguste.

At the same time, Harold was hiding behind Tirnanog and was looking at the situation.

“Harold, I wonder if you can brew us tea. You know the location of the tea set, right?”

“Eh? Yeah, alright.”

“Because it’s something to serve to the prince with, please choose the best one.”

“Yeah? Ah……aah, I see! I understand, leave it to me!

We will offer a rare beauty that Auguste-sama has never seen before.”

Harold realized the true meaning that I wanted to say and nodded vigorously.

He seemed to have changed from his state a while ago and was full of spirits.

Auguste tilted his head and seemed puzzled.

“Are you planning something after all?”

“Now, I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

“Is it a new kind of tea leaves? No, this doesn’t look like a workshop that processes tea leaves.

Then, something in the tea set……”

“Please look forward in seeing it.”

I made a business smile on my face, standing in front of Auguste to guide him as he continued his deduction about the truth of our conspiracy.

Now then, we were able to draw his interest.

If he looked at the real porcelain, he would definitely sink his teeth into it.

And now to make him an accomplice, huh. This was my time to shine.