Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: The Wildcat's Meal
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There was no way that lynx of a boy, who dodged the servants at every turn, had managed to snag any snacks. He was probably busy sorting herbs instead. Even if he had eaten something, he wasn't the type to halt the prince's meal just because he was full himself.
The boy had figured it out. That His Highness had already dined at the main palace. And even that the prince's physical condition was off from the norm.
Evan himself, who had been by the prince's side, hadn't even noticed that His Highness felt queasy. Yet this kid had picked up on it in a mere instant, then deliberately led them to the greenhouse and prepared plum tea to boot.
The oblivious baby kitten that was their prince simply let his friend fiddle with his hand, none the wiser. But upon closer inspection, wasn't that boy giving a massage?
In the end, Evan sighed softly to himself, thinking there was no one else to make sure the lynx got fed. He opened his mouth.
"Your Highness, if it's all right with you, may I eat here?"
"Oh, Sir Evan, you're hungry! I'm sorry I didn't notice. Sit down and eat comfortably."
Evan had never before suggested eating first in front of the prince, so he worried His Highness might find it odd. But Lianus nodded along without a shred of suspicion, thinking, If you're hungry, you should eat, and brushed it off just like that.
Evan was relieved at the prince's lack of perceptiveness as he unwrapped the neatly packed sandwich and placed it on the tea table.
How am I supposed to get him to eat this?
Evan pondered how to naturally get Nihil to eat the sandwich, stealing a glance at him.
Nihil, who happened to meet his eyes, tossed out a casual remark.
"Why are you staring like that? Don't worry, I won't steal your dog foo—"
Before Nihil could finish, Evan—stung by the words "dog food"—shoved a sandwich into the boy's mouth.
"Hhow'sh the dog fhood tashte, you damn lynx bashtard."
"……."
Evan grinned smugly after sharing the "dog food."
Yeah, what was there to agonize over? Just stuff it in his yap, and he'd eat it on his own.
As Evan flashed a forced smile at Nihil—who was grinding his teeth around the sandwich—Nihil looked up at him, held the bite in his mouth for a moment, then released Lianus's hand he'd been kneading. Without a word, he began chewing.
Evan had inwardly fretted that he might spit it out, but seeing the boy eat it obediently without protest made him think the kid must have been starving. His resolve softened once more.
The oblivious Lianus gazed warmly at his guard knight and friend, pleased to see them getting along so well.
Nihil polished off the sandwich in just a few bites, wiped his hands clean with a napkin, and resumed fiddling with Lianus's hand.
"But Nil, if it hurts, can you be gentler?"
"…Should I stop if it hurts a lot?"
Nihil paused at Lianus's complaint of pain, drooping his eyebrows in feigned disappointment.
"N-no, it's fine! It doesn't hurt at all. You can keep going."
Lianus shook his head vigorously. He wanted to indulge his friend's every whim. It stung a little, but he'd endure it.
Evan chewed his sandwich, watching the two little ones with a subtle expression.
One was putting up with the pain, while the other was putting on an act of disappointment just to keep massaging.
Evan puzzled over how to describe their odd dynamic, then realized it was simply what happened when the all-knowing one and the clueless one showed consideration for each other. He figured he'd be witnessing plenty more bizarre scenes like this in the future.
To rescue the prince from the pained winces and feed the lynx some more, Evan held another sandwich to Nihil's mouth.
Nihil furrowed his brows slightly at the sandwich thrust before him but obediently took it into his mouth all the same.
Evan felt a touch of pride, like he was watching a wild animal cautiously accept food from a wary hand.
Lianus wiggled his newly freed hand a few times before downing more plum tea. It was surprisingly palatable. Nihil seemed to like it too, so they might be drinking it often from now on.
"Nil, do you like plums?"
"…Yeah. I just crave it sometimes."
Nihil's reply came a beat late. Truth be told, the plum tea had been prepared for Lianus from the start.
That said, if he had to choose, he preferred plum tea over milk tea anyway.
"By the way, Rian. Did something happen today?"
"Hmm, nothing much… Oh, I asked His Majesty about what you mentioned. No one's brought you up at the main palace yet. The countess only mentioned that I'm looking after you a lot—nothing else. And Karus didn't say a peep even when His Majesty asked."
"Anything else?"
"This morning, I was talking with His Majesty, then attended imperial studies, and I overheard him discussing state affairs over mea—er, with him."
Lianus nearly slipped about dining with His Majesty and quickly changed tack. Nihil had already pieced it together but played along, nodding attentively as if hearing it for the first time.
Lianus began explaining in detail what he'd heard.
"……So it seems the grand duke is investigating."
"That's why you brought holy water."
"Huh? Holy water?"
Evan flinched, carefully rolling the holy water vial in his palm, at Nihil's words. Lianus, clueless, just tilted his head.
"It's nothing. They need a magic beast?"
"I'm not sure if it's a magic beast or demonkin, but that's under the grand duke's jurisdiction. Now that we know it's involved, we can't meddle. The grand duke seems stumped without leads, so the investigation's dragging. Our kingdom has no ties to the Eastern Empire, so they were hoping to open trade relations this time around. Shame."
"So it's not about needing a magic beast or magic stone?"
"I don't know the full story, but the grand duke's trouble stems from fearing it's demonkin. If it's demonkin he can't track, it must have considerable power or influence."
"Hm, it was a magic beast, not demonkin."
"Huh?"
"And I already smashed the magic stone, so I can't give it."
"……Huh?"
"Truth is, I blew up the pirate ship too."
"Wha… what?"
Lianus's mind blanked, unable to keep up with Nihil's disjointed explanation. Nihil emphasized it again, enunciating clearly.
"I blew up the pirate ship."
"Wha… why?"
"I was being kidnapped."
"Wh-what?"
Kidnapped? By whom? Nil? On a pirate ship?
The additional details only deepened Lianus's confusion. Evan, who already knew Nihil was behind the pirate ship explosion, felt a headache brewing from the unhelpful explanation and massaged his temples.
Nihil tilted his head.
"Am I getting arrested now?"
"N-no! Why would you be? Um, good job…?"
Lianus, at a loss for words, blurted out praise by reflex. After all, he'd taken down bad guys, so wasn't it a good thing?
Leaving the still-befuddled Lianus be, Nihil extended a hand to Evan.
"Hand it over."
"……."
Evan hesitated a moment before passing the small vial of holy water. Nihil set it on the table and rolled it around as he spoke.
"The knights know I blew up the pirate ship. That's why they mistook me for demonkin… I killed the magic beast and destroyed the ship, but I'm not demonkin. And for the record, there were no demonkin on the pirate ship."
"…Nil, could you explain in more detail? I have no idea what's going on."
Lianus's pupils shook wildly. Nihil tapped the vial, unscrewed the cap, dripped a drop onto the back of his hand, and held it out to Evan demonstratively before continuing.
"I was in deep sleep because my body hurt, and when I woke up, I was at sea."
"Huh?"
"In short, I got kidnapped while asleep."
"????"
Lianus had never imagined the pirate ship incident—which he'd thought unrelated to him—would resurface from his friend's mouth like this.
Nihil glanced at the flickering shadow in the greenhouse corner, then recounted the events step by step.
"They probably picked me up to sell because of my unusual hair color… Anyway, I'd been asleep a long time, so I woke up starving. And I'd lost some things. So I was in a bit of a bad mood."
Evan suspected Nihil's "bit" wasn't the same as his own "bit." It was a good thing he'd fed the lynx on time.
"So I was a little… on edge. Then the thing lunged at me."
"Lunged?"
"The magic beast."
"……."
Lianus blinked rapidly, piecing together the situation from Nihil's words.
Evan felt cold sweat trickle down his back. Though the lynx spoke in a calm, measured tone, Evan felt a firm conviction that one should never provoke him in that state.
Nihil shook his head at the two, as if to dispel misunderstandings, then continued to Lianus.
"Let me say this first: I don't kill living beings carelessly. That form of magic beast is just a lump of congealed mana energy, and I was really in a foul mood then. So I'm not at fault."
"Right! Nil's not at fault! The magic beast was bad."
"Exactly. The magic beast was bad."
Nihil nodded vigorously in agreement. It was utterly shameless.
Evan narrowed his eyes and asked.
"So how did you kill it? Magic beasts are tricky even for knights."
Magic beasts weren't overwhelmingly strong, but without aura, physical attacks barely worked, and they regenerated endlessly until their core's mana was depleted. One had to patiently whittle away the mana with aura or magic until it ran dry.
"Normally, you drain the mana bit by bit until it dissipates, but the core was visible to me, so it wasn't hard."
Evan's eyes widened at Nihil's nonchalant bombshell.
"You can see that too?"
"Mana is a form of transformed mana, after all. Mages or aura knights could find the core easily enough with the trick. The energy around it feels different. If you want, I can teach you—just catch some live magic beasts."
"……."
"Nil, you're amazing!"
Evan was speechless, but Lianus gazed at Nihil with sparkling eyes, like a child hearing a hero's tale.
Nihil wanted to share more to meet those expectations, but there wasn't much else to tell.
"Anyway, I was hungry, and those kidnappers pissed me off, so as soon as I spotted land, I blew up the ship and escaped. The magic beast was in the stern's underground hold. If the mana traces you found match that location, it's the one."
Evan sighed deeply and pulled out writing tools from his pocket. With the lynx around, his workload seemed to double.
"…I need to report this, so more details, please."
But Nihil shook his head at Evan, who was about to write a report.
"No need for a report. The shadow's too thick."
"……Shadow?"