Chapter 151
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ED: LonelyMatter
Chapter 151 – [Side Story] A Cat, A Bird, and Sea Dragons
This is the story of when Chris was trying to escape.
“Good heavens… what a troublesome creature-nya. That sickly, clumsy elf!”
Katima expressed her feelings about Chris, who had tried to escape several times.
“Um… Katima-sama? I think Chris-sama just wanted to get to the prince’s side as quickly as possible…”
“I know that-nya. But first, getting better is the top priority-nya. …Hey, doesn’t ‘sickly clumsy’ sound good-nya?”
“No, I don’t know?”
She let out a loud snort and replied to Ememe, who was flying next to her.
Ememe, who was lightly shielding Chris, was carrying a large wooden box in her talons.
“Come to think of it, my master said something similar, that the body comes first. By the way…”
Ememe was about to say something when she shook the wooden box slightly.
“What’s in it?”
“It’s a magic stone-nya. You could also say it’s the crystallization of my allowance-nya.”
Then Katima replies with a haughty air.
The wooden box is filled with many magic stones purchased with Katima’s allowance and the money she earned from her research.
“I regularly feed the twins magical stones like these-nya. Don’t you think they are growing up well thanks to this-nya?”
“U-um, well… they are certainly big, but what’s the reason for feeding them magic stones?”
“It’s for growth-nya. Monsters absorb magic stones to become stronger-nya. There’s a reason why the previous sea dragon grew to that size-nya.”
“Really? What’s that reason?”
Ememe looks at Katima happily as she moves her wings.
“You asked a good question-nya! Sea dragons are born with immense strength-nya! Of these, the ability to control ocean currents is the best weapon for underwater monsters-nya! That’s why they can live for a long time, even in the harsh environment of the sea, up to a hundred years-nya!”
Pleased with the question, Katima began to explain in a good mood.
“But that means they eat a lot of monsters-nya. So they eat a lot of monsters, but that causes a chain of events where the strong monsters become even stronger-nya. As a result, it becomes a national crisis for Ishtalika-nya.”
She replied quickly, but the answer was simple.
Because they were born strong, they grow up fast. That was the story.
“I see, I see! It’s more ordinary than I thought!”
“…What are you saying after listening to me-nya?!”
Ememe was kicked by Katima’s soft paw.
“O-ouch! That hurts! Katima-sama!”
“Goodness… There won’t be a next time-nya!”
“Y-yes…”
After a light sigh, Ememe continued to carry the wooden box.
The port where the twins were waiting was almost there, and Ememe was excited to see how they would eat the magic stone.
“Hey, Katima-sama~”
“Hmm? What is it-nya?”
If one were to describe their relationship, it would be as friends.
Ain and the others honestly felt that they had finally bonded.
For Katima, the harpy Ememe was the one with the easiest attitude, if not the family.
“By the way, what kind of magic stone is this?”
“I’ve been stocking up on these small magic stones called baloon grasshoppers lately-nya.”
“What are they?”
“They are grasshoppers, but they float in the air-nya. They’re about 150 cm long, though, so they’re big and kind of creepy-nya.”
“Eh-ehh… Why are you feeding them a stone that’s so disgusting?”
She felt more sorry for the twins who had to eat such a stone.
She’s sure they don’t mind, but it’s a difficult feeling for Ememe’s own sense of values.
“That floating thing is their skill-nya. That’s why I buy a lot of it and feed it to the twins-nya.”
“What? Are you trying to make the twins float in the air?”
“Nyahahaha! That’s not a sea dragon anymore-nya!”
“That’s not funny…but…are you serious?”
Looking at Katima, who was laughing happily, Ememe asked her to continue, looking stunned.
“Of course it is-nya. But there is no sign that they will learn the skill-nya…”
“…What do you mean?”
“Basically, you can only absorb the strength of monsters that are the same or similar to you-nya. Things like the balloon grasshoppers and other creepy-crawlies are just too weak to be of any use-nya.”
“I see. So you’re saying you can’t expect much from them.”
“Nyaaaa! That’s not how you say it-nya!”
As before, Ememe, who has just been kicked by a paw, looks surprised and approaches Katima.
“Y-you just said you had no intention of doing that, didn’t you? Why did you kick me?”
“Nya?”
“It’s too late to imitate a normal cat now! It’s impossible!”
Just imitating a cat won’t have any effect.
Ememe pointed this out as if it were obvious.
“Hah… Ememe is as detailed as ever, isn’t she-nya?”
“Isn’t that a bit unreasonable…?”
“Oh, I can see the twins now.”
“As usual, you’re not listening… but that’s okay.”
These two always seemed to talk about random things.
They just seemed to have free-flowing conversations, but for some reason, they got along well.
Anyway, the two of them finally arrived at the harbor where the twins were waiting.
When the twins saw Katima and Ememe, they jumped out of the water and let out a scream of joy.
Then they swam over to them, looking very happy.
“Kyu! Kyu!”
“Gyaaa…!”
“Oh, I’m here again today-nya!”
“But they’re really huge, aren’t they?”
No matter how many times she saw them, she’s still amazed at how big the twins were.
They’re still just kids, so she’s sure they have a great future ahead of them.
“By the way, how big do you think the twins will be?”
“Look, they’re eating-nya! …Nya? How big will they be, you ask?”
“I was just wondering how big they’ll be when they grow up.”
“Hmm…”
As soon as she arrived, Katima threw the magic stone at the twins and handed it to them.
When she heard Ememe’s question, she crossed her arms in concern.
“To be honest, I don’t know-nya.”
“What? Even you don’t know, Katima-sama?”
“I think they still grow at a different rate compared to the sea dragons of the natural world-nya.”
“Um, what does that mean?”
Even when Katima says something about the sea dragons of the natural world, Ememe’s harpy brain can’t keep up with the understanding.
“In short, the difference is the growth of the sea dragon that has been growing in the natural world for a year, and the growth of these twins over the same period of time. If you compare them, it’s clear that the twins are bigger, right-nya?”
“O-oh, I see what you mean. But why are they bigger?”
“That’s easy to explain-nya. If you can eat as much magic stone as you want, you’re bound to grow big-nya.”
Hearing this, Ememe patted her wings as if she understood.
“I see! It’s because they’re growing up!”
“Umu! That’s it-nya!”
They’re growing up and eating a lot.
There’s no mistake about that, so Katima nodded deeply.
“Well, you never know-nya. If it grows well, it could be twice as big as the previous sea dragon, right-nya?”
“…How big is that?”
“Hmm, maybe a little over three times the size of a battleship-nya?”
Hearing this, Ememe thought of the battleship of Ishtalika.
“That’s huge! It’s not just big, it’s huge!”
“Fufufu. Isn’t it-nya? I can’t wait to see what they’ll be like in the future-nya.”
“So these twins are strong already?”
“They must be pretty strong-nya. Here, eat some more-nya!”
When Katima threw the magic stone at them, the twins chewed it happily.
It was small for their bodies, but they seemed to enjoy it as a snack.
“How strong are they?”
“Hmm… I think they’ll be stronger than the previous sea dragons in a few years-nya.”
“Aren’t they growing too fast?”
“Thanks to them, there’s been a lot of good fishing in Magna lately-nya.”
The safety of the fishermen was guaranteed by the extermination of the monsters.
It was only natural that the fishermen could go out to sea more than before.
“Gyauu!”
“Oh, are you going to give me a souvenir again today, too-nya?”
With a clatter, a large sea crystal was placed on the ground.
Since it was to be liquefied and used as a magic tool, even one of these was a considerable amount to catch.
“Thank you-nya!”
Seeing Katima’s happiness, the twins also squealed happily.
The twins were smart and could understand when others were happy.
“Shall I carry it for you?”
“Please do-nya. Speaking of the twins bringing things in, they should accept it as usual-nya.”
“Okay!”
When the sea crystals were packed into the wooden box in which the magic stone was brought, Ememe put a lid on it.
By the way, the place to bring it is the national processing plant.
“I wonder if there are sea crystals at the bottom of the sea?”
“I think so. But we can’t go there yet-nya.”
“Hmm, I see, I see.”
The twins had also eaten all the magic stones.
However, since there were no signs of anything unusual, today’s research results were also a failure.
“It didn’t work today either-nya. Well, we’ll just have to keep trying without giving up-nya…”
“That’s right. Let’s keep trying!”
As the two of them put their energy into the future, a servant came running from the path they had come from.
He was clearly a castle servant, and Katima wondered what had happened to him.
“Is something wrong-nya?”
She called to the approaching servant.
But the servant seemed to have trouble speaking, perhaps because he had just run and was having trouble catching his breath.
“Hah… hah… I’m sorry. Katima-sama…”
“It’s okay to take it easy-nya. You should rest first-nya.”
“Katima-sama is so kind.”
Seeing the way she cared for the servant, Ememe spoke happily.
“I think I am always like that-nya.”
“Eh?”
“What do you mean by eh-nya?”
There were several things that came to mind, such as the paw kick earlier.
Because of that, Ememe couldn’t agree that she was always nice.
“I’m sorry. It’s all right now…”
Just as Katima was about to call out to Ememe, the servant finally caught his breath.
“So, what’s the matter-nya?”
“Chris-sama has escaped again…! Martha-sama wants your advice, Katima-sama.”
When she heard this, even Katima was at a loss for words.
She was so stunned that she couldn’t even speak.
“…There is no other choice left-nya.”
“N-no other choice…?”
“Wow, that sounds cool!”
The servant and Ememe had different attitudes, but they both waited for Katima’s words.
“Since there’s no other way, I’ll mix up the numbing drug-nya. There’s no other choice but to mix it into her food-nya.”
“”…Eh?””
The two who had heard the rest of the story now showed the same look of surprise.
“Now that we’ve decided, I’ll go make the potion-nya. Ememe, I’ll leave the sea crystals in your care-nya!”
“Ah, Katima-sama! Wait for me…”
Then Katima began to run toward the castle.
The servant bowed to Ememe and quickly followed Katima.
“See you later, El-chan and Al-kun!”
“Kyuuu!”
“Gyauu!”
And so, with the sea crystals she had received from the twins, Ememe went to the processing plant before returning home.
In the end, the medicine that was made was something that Katima was proud of, saying, “Even a common wyvern would be defeated with one shot.”
Although it was made so that there would be no after-effects, it was extremely effective and should have worked on Chris.
However, Chris’ later comment was, “It was hard to walk!”
Even the renowned researcher Katima was surprised by this fact.
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