Volume 2 - CH 302

Chapter 7-22. Side – Houen – Reluctantly.

Since my speed of movement is fast because I was flying in the sky, I spent very little time traveling.

But since I will need time to read books, I will let myself spend the whole night researching today.

Currently, I have visited all eight used bookstores.

There are no more places that I know of.

If there is one left, it is …….

“The House of Nobility …… or the Castle of Salettana, or maybe…….”

I mean, there’s no other option.

Because books are fundamentally expensive, they are often bought by the nobles and then passed on to the general public.

Some nobles throw away old items, so you can’t even look at old documents unless you are a person who has such a hobby, or you go to the archives in the castle.

Considering this, it is not a good idea to go to a noble’s place.

The obvious choice would be to go to a castle where old books could be found.

With our current connections, it would be easy to get in and have a look.

But ……But ……!

As for me, I basically don’t want to meet any nobles or royalty!

These people are really pushy in their recruiting!

I just want to live a normal life, and I don’t want to be thrown into such a grim place.

For an adventurer, I have a good sense of etiquette.

It’s the knowledge from my previous life!

Well, that’s enough whining in my head, let’s get ready to go ……

Walking along the ramparts in front of me, I arrive at the gate.

I could just fly over, but as expected, that would be treated as trespassing.

I decide to walk normally here.

As I passed through the gate, two soldiers came out in front of me.

But since they were people who knew me, I was able to go inside immediately.

“Thanks for your service.”

“”Yes!””

The two soldiers straightened their posture, putting their feet together in a zap.

I’m not your boss, so you can make it easy on me. …… Well, whatever.

I guess that’s all that’s left. ……

Anyway, let’s head over to where Kreis is.

If it were me, I would be able to get through.

I proceeded without thinking too hard, but unfortunately I was stopped. ……

Apparently, things don’t go that easily.

“Excuse me, Houen-sama. Where are you going?”

“I was going to Prince Kreis’ place. Is there a problem?”

“Do you have any appointment with his majesty?”

“It’s urgent.”

“I’m sorry ……, but without an appointment, whoever you are…”

“Houen—-!”

Just as the soldier was about to say no, a small child jumped out from the stairs behind him and tumbled down.

When I looked over to see what it was, there it was, unmistakably Prince Kreis.

Maybe he was in a hurry, he fell down when he reached the bottom of the stairs, but he got up immediately and came running toward us.

The butler Vasti was running from behind him to stop Prince Kreis with a pale face.

What the heck now, …….

“Houen! Houen!”

“W-what’s- is there something wrong, Prince Kreis!”

“Rei-Rei- Reizen woke up! He is awake!”

“What?!”

At this timing?

How the hell did he know what triggered it!

What the hell is going on!

“You saved me the trouble of calling you! I just need you to warm Reizen with the flames of Houen as soon as possible! Otherwise he’ll fall asleep again!”

“I-I see. That’s why you’re in such a hurry …….”

“Ph-Prince ……! Wheeze …… wheeze …… chough chough.”

Is this old man okay……

Well, it’s hard to find an old man who can match the pace of a child, isn’t it?

I would like to work on the old man if it were true, but right now, Reizen is more important.

Prince Kreis also pulls my hand along more and more, so I try not to be left behind by him.

We ended up ignoring the soldiers, but that’s okay.

It saves me a lot of time.

“Prince Kreis! May I ask about Reizen’s condition now!”

“Yes! He woke up a little while ago! But he says he is cold and sleepy! The fire in the fireplace doesn’t make the room any warmer!”

“……. And his condition?”

“He is fine!”

As long as he’s well, he’ll be fine.

All that remains is to keep him awake or …….

Not sure if I can do that, but I’ll do what I can.

When we opened the door with a ding and went inside, it was a very warm space.

There must have really been no fires going out.

But the air feels a little stuffy …….

Maybe I should ventilate it.

And there was the sight of Reizen wrapped up in a cloth in front of the fireplace.

He has a very sleepy look on his face, but he seems to be fully conscious.

When he saw us, he gave us a forced smile.

“Prince Kreis, I’m sorry, but I’m going to open the window.”

“What!? If you do that, Reizen will fall asleep again!”

“The air is bad. It is poisonous to your body and you need to change the air.”

“No wa-…. Is that so. ……”

“Reizen, bear with it for a minute.”

We open the door that we came in through, and the windows at once.

With the wind blowing through, the room was cooled and fresh air came in at once.

In about thirty seconds, the warmth passed away somewhere, telling us that the air had been exchanged for the most part.

Shortly after that, I closed the doors and windows and then activated one of my skills.

“[Fire Blarge.]”

Several balls of flame appear in the room.

Since the balls are just drifting in place, they will not hurt anyone as long as they are not touched.

However, they are dangerous, so I put them on top of the room where they cannot be reached.

This should make him warm again after a while.

By the way, Reizen is …….

“……fuh~……”

“Are you up? Are you okay?”

“I’m so sleepy………. But I can get up now.”

“Geez. We’ve been having a lot of trouble without you, you know. I can’t tell you how many times I died in the Zenki-village.”

“Eh? Zenki-village?”

He wasn’t there, so there’s no way he could have known. ……

If I tell him now, he’ll probably fall asleep in the meantime, so we’ll talk some other time.

“I don’t know how long you’ll be awake, so I’ll be brief and tell you what’s going on. I’m researching the devil right now.”

“The devil? The one who made the magic crystal is also them, right?”

“That’s likely the case. And the devil was in Lequam’s body.”

“It came out from the corpse. But I don’t know why the devil was in Lequam’s body. I think it was not taken over by the devil.”

“Ah, another problem has surfaced after conversing with you …….”

Come to think of it, there are so many things I don’t know about magic crystals and Lequam.

I don’t know where I’m going to go to start searching …….

“……, oh, by the way, …….”

“Hmm? What the heck, if there’s something you need, let me know. I’m stuck here.”

“Well, I met a witch girl when I was looking for the Centipede magic crystal.”

“…… witch girl ……?”

“The witch knew about the magic crystal. Then I guide her where the crystal is and she fiddle with it.” 

My thoughts stop for a moment.

There shouldn’t be anyone who knew about the magic crystal.

That’s exactly what I was thinking since Reizen told me that.

She  knew it and did something with it? 

“You idiot! Why didn’t you say something like that earlier!”

The first clue!

I finally found it!