Volume 3 Chapter 8 You See, I Told You
The meeting with Mr. Heim continued without Lene, and the negotiation was settled with the inclusion of the magic stone and the first fatigue Healing Potion to be added.
Now that the job is set, all that's left is to make it and deliver.
"Hey, Lene, let's head back──wait, she's not here."
Peering into the nap room, I found that neither Lene nor Aine were there.
Geez, when I focus on one thing, I tend to neglect others──it's a habit of my wife.
Still, it's fine, but I wish she wouldn't leave all the work to me.
Stepping outside, I saw her starting a bonfire a little ways off.
She said it was getting warm already, but why?
"Lene, the work talk is over. Wait, why am I the only one working?"
"Ah! Oh, sorry, Ryuuji! I got so absorbed, hahaha! Stop! Stop!"
I sneaked up behind Lene, who was crouching down to observe the bonfire, and gave her a tight hold and a good tickle on her sides, making her squirm and let out a cute squeal.
Phew, she's so ticklish.
"Hey! Don't flirt in front of a loner! It's painful to watch!"
"Oops, sorry, I wasn't thinking."
After playfully toppling Lene without a hint of remorse, I left my twitching wife on the ground and decided to check out the bonfire too.
"What are you doing, really?"
"I'm demonstrating how to burn coal! Look! Check it out!"
Aine explained, then plucked a small piece of coal from the heart of the bonfire.
Wow, it's really burning.
And the smoke is something else.
"Ah! The smoke is harmful~, so please don't inhale it! It'll hurt your throat!"
"Well, I don't particularly like or dislike the idea of inhaling it. But still, why didn't you just dry it out before using the coal?"
According to what Aine explained earlier, that seems to be the case.
She said it's transformed into something called 'ossified coal.'
By the way, 'drying out' is when you heat up an object in a kiln or something to change its properties.
I don't get the specifics, but Lene once told me it's about separating the stuff inside the object.
"In Goldmont, we never used coal as is! I thought showing the actual burning spot would convey its charm better!"
Aine, her fists clenched and eyes shining, is passionately explaining the features of coal and ossified coal, but unlike Lene, I'm not that into it, so it's not really sticking in my head.
...Still, I guess it's nice that she's explaining all sorts of things to us──
"...But is it okay? Explaining all this to us. Won't Goldmont Kingdom's technology leak to Beistein Kingdom?"
"Huh? Is that a problem? I'm planning on becoming a citizen of Beistein Kingdom anyway~, so I'm not worried about it."
"Huh, no confidentiality agreement or anything? Or, I mean, how did you manage to leave Goldmont with such top-secret tech knowledge?"
Normally, you'd think they'd manage their talent to prevent cutting-edge tech like this from leaking out.
I'm even under strict orders from Her Highness the Princess not to blab about the production method of my 'gift.'
"Confidentiality agreement...? I kind of remember being told something like that, but then again, maybe not..."
"......Hey"
I was sweating on my back because of Aine's way too casual attitude.
This guy is seriously dangerous!
There's no way this wasn't why she got fired from her research job.
"Ahaha! Well, the details don't matter much! As long as I can share the charm of coal with as many people as possible, I couldn't be happier──"
Before Aine could finish her sentence, I stepped forward and knocked away whatever was flying at us with my staff.
With a dull metallic clang, something pointy like a sharp stick embedded itself into the ground.
"Wait, what!? W-what is that!?"
"See? I told you."
While trying to hold back my urge to blame Aine, I cautiously kept my eyes on the stick at my feet, still alert to where the attack had come from.
It was wet and slippery.
"...It's coated with poison. They were clearly targeting Aine... Lene, where exactly is the enemy?"
"Over there, maybe. They were trying to move silently, but I can hear them loud and clear."
Lene, back in action, pointed to a thick tree growing in that direction.
Looks like the enemy is hiding behind it.
"...Elves can be a real pain. They can even hear my footsteps."
Maybe resigned to their fate, a small girl suddenly appeared from the other side of the tree.
She had jet-black hair that was cut just at her shoulders and wore clothes that matched her hair, designed for easy movement.
She looked younger than Suzu, probably about one or 2, maybe 3 years old.
From her expression, she seemed pretty confident.
Were those thin boots meant to muffle her footsteps?
"You've really gone through a lot. Did you come all this way to take down chatty Aine?"
I asked the girl directly, no holding back.
For a brief moment, she squinted her eyes, but then let out a sigh. Pulling out a big single-edged knife from who knows where, she held it casually in her right hand and nodded slightly.
"I'd love to say you have no right to know, but let's just say you're half right."
"What do you mean by half?"
Even though I kind of understood what she meant, I raised my staff and asked anyway.
As my gaze met Lene's, the girl smirked slightly, her lips curving up.
"Isn't it obvious? Since I came to seal your mouths, you guys are targets too."
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