130 Overdid It
"I do think we overdid it, but I regret nothing."
I'm back in the castle now. Muttering while laying in the bed in the room given to me.
As for what happened afterward.
We stayed until the guards came and then joined the other four elves.
They had also moved out after confirming the guards' arrival. Then we resumed our shopping spree.
By evening, we went back to the castle and then our rooms after speaking to the gatekeepers.
Looks like Reikana is out. Of course.
Apparently she immediately went to the sites along with her personal guards after receiving Serena's message.
The first to arrive at the sites were the princess's personal guard scouts in order to secure control there.
Our timings didn't match. We left right as the guards arrived so the princess never saw me there.
I'll be honest here. I can't face her after dumping her this mess. I don't want to.
(She must be angry. To think I'd get scolded at this age... Hm? Wait I'm 15...)
My mental age is still 28 even now. Still can't match with my physical body.
(Should I apologize like an adult... but I don't wanna, that's too pathetic... but...)
This depends on how Reikana takes the matter, so there's really no point in mulling over it.
As I brooded over things I did, night fell so soon.
Meals got brought into my room. Along with the elves' shares. And the princess'.
Reikana came back with a rather sour face.
Looks like she's totally convinced it was our doings.
"First of all, I'd like to express my gratitude. Thank you very much for eliminating the syndicate."
She said her thanks right away.
I patted my chest in relief. Didn't seem like she got offended.
But a warning came right after.
"But please, I beg of you to please refrain from taking on another big undertaking in the future."
Her face kept its beauty as she glared at me.
"Please inform us beforehand if it were an emergency. Sudden unanticipated turns of events put a tremendous burden on us. I humbly beseech you."
She entreated while bowing deeply, making me feel bad.
"My bad. Really, my bad. I'll be careful next time."
I apologized for now. But this ceremony thing is in two days anyway, there's no way I'd get in another trouble. For sure.
(Hm? Kinda feel like I raised a flag there... welp, whatever.)
"Then let's have our meal. I also would like to hear more."
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She threw us questions during meal.
Why did we do that. How did we gather intel on the syndicate. How were we able to overthrow such a huge force.
I only told her our motive. And no comment-ed the rest. I mean most of those were the elves' accomplishments, and I don't plan to talk about them.
I don't mind if Reikana asked Serena and Serena answered her.
However, she just kept talking to me.
"I had no idea the underside was suffering from such a tragic situation..."
The princess's eyes turned serious when the topic touched upon the matter with orphanage.
That's when I asked her my doubt.
"Why would a princess dispatch her own guards and even went to the site herself? Couldn't you just ask the empire's guards? You're sixth on the succession right, yeah? I don't see the point in trying to win a favor."
Once we got back to the castle, I asked Serena what was the message she sent to the princess.
The syndicate sites, that they were destroyed and captured and that we left the clean up to her.
That's it. Serena never specified who was the sender. The princess should have reserved some doubt there.
And yet she went all in. There must be something more than just 'Intuition' at play.
I wasn't just brooding earlier. I was ruminating over things.
It's related to Goldeuro. I concluded. I gotta confirm here.
After all, I'm being tasked to crush the guy's 'Secret Weapon'.
"Yes well, it does have a relation indeed. We believe that this syndicate was connected to Goldeuro-niisama. We had received reports of this syndicate utilizing magic orbs. A puny organization could not possibly have their hands on such expensive objects. Thus, despite lacking evidence, we had been monitoring them for a contact."
"...Hey? What's a... magic orb?"
"I don't blame you for not knowing. Allow me to explain."
I listened while recalling the rainbow light stone the leader guy had on him.
Magic orbs are jewels that have accumulated mana inside.
Those jewels have letters embedded with mana that can activate a phenomenon called 'Magic Formula'.
Even those with low amount of mana can cast high power magic with these orbs.
It's simple to use. One merely pours a bit of mana into the orb and then will the direction where it shoots out.
After which, the magic formula will be activated by the mana and fly out of the orb.
"An orb can hold a great amount of mana but they're disposable. Hence the high prices. Jewels are used as mediums, and if the processing isn't done thoroughly they turn into scraps. Only the experienced possess the technical expertise to make them and they cannot be mass produced, adding more to their value."
(Oh craaaaaaaap!)
I went and crushed that magic orb thing. That explains the huge explosion.
The container got smashed right before activation, unleashing all the mana inside, causing a secondary explosion.
I was drenched in cold sweat during our dinner.
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