Chapter 46
46
[I heard the late Prince Nuanok was a madman? I heard he touched the sacred tree to find Spinelle's landfill and died from a curse.]
[That's right. He died driving a stake through my father's heart. Prince Nuanok was a man whose greatest wish was to restore your son's honor until his death.]
[But I heard that might all be just rumors?]
[What do you mean?]
[Actually, Prince Nuanok was said to be brilliant. Enough to become a leader in the Senate at a young age. Would such a person have done something foolish?]
I had certainly heard such rumors in society.
'I don't know which story is true, but it's worth checking.'
I could summon his soul with Bune's Special Ability, but it's a waste to use a demon's Special Ability on something uncertain.
'The father knows best about his son's affairs.'
I decided to test Chairman and grinned.
The next day. I grabbed the wall at the corner of the hallway and looked around, swiveling my head.
The Territory of Dubled's grand conference had been going on since yesterday and had only just ended.
I watched the vassals leave until the very end, but Chairman wasn't among them.
'Then he's still near the conference hall.'
Sure enough, as expected, Chairman was walking down the hallway at the end.
I ran to him with a delighted expression.
"Grandpa!"
"...What brings the Little Miss here?"
"To see Grandpa."
"Me?"
He narrowed his brows and looked at me.
"Leubu got up yesterday because of you. I'm supposed to thank people I'm grateful for."
I spoke as childishly as possible and held out a chocolate to him.
He stared at me intently before opening his mouth.
"I don't need it."
"Why?"
I asked in surprise, and he chuckled.
"If you look so reluctant, how can I take this?"
Oops.
I must have looked reluctant.
This was the most delicious chocolate from the Duke's candy room.
I had eaten them all little by little, and this was the only one left, but I was offering it up.
"Then Leubu will share it with you half and half."
"There's no need to take care of me like that."
"But Grandpa is skinny. The other vassal grandpas have big bellies like thiiiis, but Chairman Grandpa is skinny like thiiiis."
"......"
"Worried."
Although I had a sneaky scheme to test him about his son's affairs, it was true that I was worried about him being thin.
Chairman had lost his wife early and also lost his only son a few years ago.
Even though there were servants in the mansion, there would be no one who genuinely cared about his health and tried to take care of him.
Perhaps that's why his complexion wasn't good.
In addition, he had skipped meals several times during the conference, while the other vassals had eaten regularly.
I peeled off the wrapper of the chocolate, broke it in half, and held it out to him.
Chairman's eyes flickered slightly as he looked at the chocolate.
Chairman took the chocolate from me and carefully put it in his mouth.
"It's sweet. It's been years since I've eaten something like this. I only tasted it a few times when my son was alive."
'He's talking about his son!'
I thought it was a good opportunity and quickly chimed in.
"I know. His name is Louis, right?"
"How does the Little Miss know my son?"
"He's very smart. Like Annie and Ishak."
"Yes. My son also attended the academy for gifted children at a similar age to the young masters."
With this, I had started the conversation I wanted.
Chairman seemed happy to talk about his son.
That was probably because no one had asked him about his son.
Chairman was as fearsome a figure to ordinary vassals as Duke Dubled was. There would be no one brave enough to chat with him. They wouldn't want to get caught in the crossfire by reminding him of his son.
I pretended to escort Chairman and walked along with him, asking him in detail about his son.
"Annie is good at math, and Ishak is good at swordsmanship. What was Louis good at?"
"My son studied geology at university. He investigated the properties of the land."
"I see."
"He had no interest in family matters or politics at all. I didn't like that about my son. So I pushed him a lot..."
Chairman's eyes clouded over.
Most parents who lose their children first deeply regret it like this.
"If only he hadn't had a father, he could have lived freely."
I felt sorry for him and gently took his hand.
"No. Louis would have liked having a Dad more."
"How does the Little Miss know that?"
"Because Leubu doesn't have a mom and dad, so I know."
I answered casually.
"Kids who have moms and dads cry out 'Mom!' when they fall. But kids who don't can't do that. That's very sad."
"......"
"And if Leubu dies, there's no one who will miss me. But Louis does. It's better to have a mom and dad than not to have them."
I looked at Chairman.
"Grandpa loved Louis a lot, so Louis loved Grandpa a lot too."
The hand holding mine tightened.
'Oops, this isn't the time for this.'
I need to ask about Spinelle.
I shook the hand of Chairman, who was staring blankly at me.
"If Louis studied the land, does he know which land produces gems well?"
"Of course. He said he found the Spinelle landfill. He had a carriage accident on the way to confirm it, but if that hadn't happened, he would have found it for sure."
"But people said Louis lied..."
As I asked carefully, Chairman's face twisted.
"That's nonsense. All the data he had was lost in the carriage accident, so he couldn't prove it."
"I see."
"Yes. I still can't forget my son's voice, so happy that he had found the Spinelle landfill."
Chairman was a person who prioritized reason over emotion.
The fact that such a person could answer so firmly meant that he was convinced that Louis Nuanok had really discovered the landfill.
I hummed inwardly.
'Then all I have to do is hear it directly from him.'
That night.
I pretended to be asleep in bed and only got up quietly after Leah left the room.
Then I checked for people's presence.
Okay, no one's here.
I grabbed Etwal and said inwardly.
'Bune, manifest in human form.'
Then a faint light gathered around Etwal in several curves, and Bune appeared before my eyes.
I smiled brightly at Bune, who had expectant eyes.
"You've been waiting a long time for the jewel, right?"
"Even waiting was a pleasant time."
He lightly tapped my cheek with his fingertip.
I took out the Tears of the God I had hidden in my pocket and held it out to him.
Bune, who had been quietly looking at the jewel in my hand, swallowed a trembling breath.
Then, he very carefully brought the hand holding the jewel to his forehead.
"Finally, my master..."
Master?
I blinked, wondering what he meant, but Bune bent down and met my gaze.
"Since you have granted my wish, I will also grant your wish. Now, what is your wish?"
"Call Prince Nuanok."
Bune's eyes softened as he looked at me.
He lightly kissed my eyes. Instantly, my head spun. It felt like all the blood was draining from my body.
In that instant, the window rattled!
The pure white moonlight that entered through the window shattered along Bune's outline. Soon, he became increasingly faint.
[Someday... if the Little Miss... needs me... let's meet again.]
A kind voice with an unidentifiable meaning flowed into my ears.
And what appeared before my eyes was-
"I greet the Little Miss."
It was a plump man with a receding hairline.
'Huh?'
I blinked in confusion.
Seeing my expression as if asking if he was really Prince Nuanok, he scratched his head and said.
"I am Louis Nuanok. I came at Bune's command."
"Bune just left...?"
"The flow of time is completely different there and here. What seems like a moment could be a very long time, or eternity could be a blink of an eye."
After saying that, he asked with an embarrassed face.
"Are you disappointed? Most people who meet me after seeing my father are."
"No, I'm not disappointed. I'm just surprised."
Chairman has a sleek appearance and an elegant atmosphere, like a black panther if compared to an animal.
But Louis Nuanok looks like a gentle bear.
"You look a little different, but if you look closely, you're similar."
Louis Nuanok smiled at my words.
"Thank you. But why did the Little Miss look for me?"
"Louis, you know a lot about Spinelle, right?"
Then his eyes sparkled instantly.
"Yes! The Spinelle on this continent is special. Unlike Spinelle from other places, it can conduct Divine Power. I wondered if it was due to environmental differences, so I repeatedly researched it. At first, I compared the density of the soil, and it was really interesting...!"
Then he rattled off difficult explanations. After listening to him blankly for nearly ten minutes, I clapped my hands!
"Just the point!"
"Ah... I've fallen into a habit my father disliked again."
He scratched his head with a naive smile.
"To put it simply, there are no Spinelle mines or landfills."
"What?"
I widened my eyes in surprise.
"But the Selbon Merchant Group has a mine, right?! And the Temple has a landfill too."
"There is no place in this world where Spinelle itself is buried. There are only naturally formed transformation sites."
He counted off on his fingers one by one.
"There are three conditions: it must be a volcano, it must be a habitat for Elza trees, and it must have Divine Power."
"......"
"In places that meet these three conditions, rocks are transformed into Spinelle with a certain probability."
Oh my god.
Then that means you can infinitely create Spinelle just by burying rocks in the ground.
Is this how it feels to find a mine where you don't have to worry about diamonds running out?
Louis Nuanok said to me, who had a blissful expression.
"Currently, there is only one undisclosed place that meets those conditions. It's in the Territory of Dubled."
I recalled the words Mina used in these situations.
'I hit the jackpot.'
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