Because of the sudden movement, dizziness attacks me.
Uu, my body feels heavy⊠thereâs no power in my body.
What? Do I have a fever? My eyelids are heavy as well.
Pechi.
N~ Something is on my forehead, isnât it?
Itâs not unpleasant, it feels rather comfortable.
This soft and warm feeling is somewhat immensely healing.
Is it just my imagination or has my body became lighter? No, it might not be just my imagination⊠I feel like the heavy eyelids are lifting up naturally.
Thus, I slowly open my eyes.
âŠâŠ Dream? Iâm seeing an unthinkable spectacle.
Un, itâs a dream. Letâs sleep one more time.
I must be probably half asleep. Thatâs right! Thatâs the case! Good night~
ăI understand already! Itâs not a dream, right! Itâs all right to escape from the reality just for a bit, isnât it!?ă
Black and white object was squatting and looking at me with reproachful gaze beside my pillow.
The adorableness which was enshrined there wasâŠ
ăItâs a panda, isnât it? Like not a stuffed toy, but a living thing, right?ă
Why, a panda? Were there pandas in this world?
And, why, is it sitting beside my pillow!? I donât understand whatâs what, though!?
ăOkusama!? Have you woken up!?ă
While the confused I and the panda blankly staring were staring at each other, I heard Bertaâs surprised and relieved voice.
Light leaked from behind the door Berta has opened, and the dim room became a little brighter.
Un, seeing it in a bright place, itâs a panda, after all. Maa, thereâs no doubt itâs adorable, though.
ăOkusama, do you remember?ă
Berta follows my gaze and asks while looking at the panda.
About the panda? If I remembered I wouldnât be this surprised! I was rolling in confusion!
ăRight now⊠is it a night? Where is Wirbel?ă
ăYes, Okusama has collapsed during the day and has not woken up until now. Wirbel-sama was concerned about Okusama at your side all this time, but it was already late at night, so I send him to sleep in another roomă
ăIs that so, is Wirbel fine?ă
ăYes, he was very worried about Okusama, but heâs fineă
Hearing Bertaâs words, my heart felt relieved.
If Wirbel is safe then, maa, panda or two are nothing.
No, I donât need two, though? Itâs true! Donât go suddenly multiplicating, okay? I beg you!
Now then, now that I have calmed down, letâs remember.
Why did I collapse?
Certainly, we went to the mines in the morning, right?
I was guided by Gill whom I entrusted the town and the mines.
Wirbel and Berta also rode in the carriage together with us.
We arrived at the mines which were slightly away from the town and met the workers who were busy working there.
Everyone was lively, they had bright expressions.
When I arrived, I was welcome in the same way the town citizens welcomed me and received everyoneâs smiles.
Because Gill requested I say a few words of greetings, I told them that a little carelessness leads to serious injury, so they should be careful.
For some reason, Gill was so impressed by my suitable speech he burst into tears.
Although the miners did not cry, they had a similar reaction to Gill.
I wonder why? As Iâm accustomed to very low evaluation, I couldnât conceal the embarrassment. I was a bit puzzled, wasnât I? Is it because I got used to it? Iâm not an M, though!
Now then, the problem is the gem, but after properly hearing about it, it was apparently still being mined, Iâm told that itâs stuck on the minesâ inner wall.
I thought it wouldnât be possible to carry it out because of its size, but that wasnât apparently the only problem as there was the problem of digging it actually up first.
I wanted to go to the mines at once, but because it was most likely dangerous, I left Wirbel together with Berta back in the carriage and let some of the Knights accompany me.
I wanted to leave all of the Knights behind to protect Wirbel, but that was denied, so Dominic and Carl who Iâm familiar with followed me inside.
I had the unit Captain who seemed to be most reliable stay with Wirbel.
When I tried to soothe Captain who was looking very uneasy and displeased withăI will be all rightăhe repliedăMines are very dangerous, so please be earnestly careful pleaseăwith a serious face.
N? Was there some hidden meaning?
When I tilted my head, Berta gave me a supplementary explanation.
ăMines are(Okusama is) very dangerousăthatâs what he was apparently trying to say.
No, no, how rude! I wonât do anything, you know!? Eh? Destroying it with magic? Thereâs no way I would do something like that!
Dominic! Carl! Even Gill, please donât look at me with uneasy expressions like that! I wonât destroy it, okay! Even if I do, it wonât be on purpose, you know? tte, Iâm just joking, alright! You donât have to part with me with tears! Good grief!
I took the tragic three and set foot in the tunnel.
I had all the miners take a break from mining. Maa, just in case.
Guided by Gill, we advance quite far into the tunnel.
ăOkusama, here it isă
When Gill raised his lantern fueled by magic over his head, a turquoise gem buried in a rock wall shone.
Because the light of the magic is similar to sunlight, it will probably have the same turquoise color outside.
Then, Gill held out a lit candle next.
ăItâs red, huhă
ăYes, the color changes in this way depending on the lightă
A color changing gem.
Iâm afraid to say that Gill and the miners have not made a mistake.
This is the âpyroxeneâ?
I had seen the crown jewel up close when I was young.
If to say if itâs similar it is, but the size is so different itâs hard to say.
Besides, itâs not possible to carry it to the capital in order to compare.
It must be first dug out of there, but the miners told that itâs too hard and they canât dig it up.
Now then, what should I do?
ăIs it really that hard?ă
ăYes, besides, itâs of this size so if we forcibly destroy the wall, the tunnel will be in danger of collapsing.ă
I see⊠that is troubling.
After all, I should probably report to Ojisama.
If this really is âpyroxene,â it would be better to leave such precious gem to Ojisama to deal with.
Thereâs nothing I can do if it canât be moved.
ăItâs very beautiful, but itâs slightly oversized, isnât it?ă
I look at the gem buried in a wall.
Although it has not been polished yet, itâs surface is beautifully smooth.
It has a lovely oval shape, strangely smooth for a natural mineral.
In the first place, what is âpyroxene?â
The first King had already this âpyroxeneâ on his crown.
The first king of Morgenrot was a swordsman called the founding hero. Itâs said that he saved the world together with the magician Joerg Ballschmiede who also helped with the founding of the country.
Was the âpyroxeneâ attached to the crown also found like this?
However, the crownâs jewel is not this large.
Itâs probably impossible to process this very hard gem into a smaller one. Or, would it be possible with magic?
I trace that shining smooth surface with my finger.
Beautiful⊠while absentmindedly staring, a light suddenly erupted from the place I was touching.
What? As soon as I thought, the strength of the light increased, it was so dazzling I couldnât open my eyes.
ăOkusama!!ă
I heard Carlâs worried voice from behind, thatâs where my consciousness suddenly snapped.
Thus, I woke up lying in this bed with a panda poking my head.
ăThatâs right. Okusama has collapsed in the tunnelă
ăYeah. I made everyone worry, didnât I?ă
I must have put in chaos everyone that time.
I have also made Wirbel worry a lot.
Nevertheless, what was that sudden light? And, this panda?
It surely is not really a sacred beast, is it? No, but, why a panda? As expected, I donât understand.
Itâs unknown whether Berta understands the situation more than I since she has an equally confused expression, but she has probably tried to gather information while I was collapsed.