After I finished telling them my story, Lilia-san puts down the cup of tea she was drinking and exhales.
[...I see, so let me get this straight, Kaito-san was going to have a meal together with this Alice-san person... but ended up going to the monster racetrack in the Archlesia Empire... where you earned over 400 white gold coins... and happened to buy the Behemoth... And afterward, you were invited to the royal castle of Archlesia Empire as a guest of honor.]
[Y- Yes.]
[...Ahhh, my head hurts... Luna, it seems like my hangover is getting worse. I understood what the words mean, but it's like my head is completely denying to understand it...]
[No, I'm afraid that headache is from something else.]
Lilia-san holds her head in her hands as she looks down.
Indeed, even when I'm the one who told that, I also couldn't believe it... We were supposed to just be going to eat yesterday, but before I knew it, lots of things suddenly happened.
[...I've had enough... Kaito-san's scary...]
[My Lady. It may have turned big, but I doubt he intends to do that himself... Anyway, Miyama-sama.]
[Yes?]
[I think I heard that there's a game that spread from the world Miyama-sama is from...]
[A game? What is it?]
[Yes, it's that game called "lottery". You should come with me next time.]
[...oi, Luna.]
How should I say this… Lunamaria-san is still acting as she usually is.
Surprisingly, I think this person would closely get along with Alice, in the sense that both of them are no-good people...
[Anyway, Lilia-san. Can I request this of you? Can you put Bell's matter aside? Of course, I'll pay for his food and other stuff.]
[...Hmmm. Indeed, that child was quite attached to Kaito-san, and I don't think he would be a danger but... However...]
[Isn't it fine, My Lady?]
[Luna!?]
When it comes to Behemoths that are even called legendary magical beasts, as expected, even Lilia-san wouldn't give her permission immediately.
Anyway, I need to sincerely request her that... is what I thought, but an expected covering fire flew out of nowhere.
[If it's Miyama-sama, he should be able to take good care of it. And even if you were to refuse, you can't just throw out the Behemoth in the middle of nowhere and hope it doesn't know the way home, right?]
[That's certainly true but...]
[Fortunately, it's still a baby, so it wouldn't grow to be so enormous in a few years or decades.]
[...That certainly is the case. Alright... Kaito-san, you would have him sleep in the stables for the meantime, but we'll have an exclusive shed for him in the future.]
[Thank you very much!]
[However, I have one condition.]
[A condition?]
With Lunamaria-san's help, Lilia-san finally allowed me to keep Bell.
As I said my thanks, Lilia-san has a wry smile on her face when she told me that she has a condition.
[...Bellfreed's food and the cost for the construction of his shed... I'll be the one paying for it.]
[Eh? No, but...]
[I won't yield on this one... Let me return the favors every once in a while.]
[Return the favors?]
Hearing Lilia-san's words, I significantly tilted my head.
Lilia-san returning favors to me? Isn't it the other way around? If someone has favors to pay, it should be me since I've always been in her care. Even though I always brought her troubles...
[...I'm grateful to you, Kaito-san. Thanks to Kaito-san, I... the two goals I promised myself when I received my peerage... I've come closer to making them happen.]
[Eh?]
[Your presence here is more valuable than you realize, Kaito-san... Because you're staying here. That single point alone has given Albert Duchy the voice that rivals... or even surpasses those of any great nobles.]
[Does that help your goals in any way, Lilia-san?]
What are Lilia-san's two goals? I think I know one of them... that's she's trying to get Sieg-san's voice back.
However, I can't imagine her second goal. From Lilia-san's expression and the way she said it, I can somehow imagine that this is a long-cherished goal but...
[...One of them is as Kaito-san may have guessed, to get Sieg's voice back. This has been put on hold due to Sieg's own wish. While the other one is... The culprit who fed false information to the 2nd division back then. I want to find that out.]
[......….]
[The person who can switch the information that Knight Corps had... it would probably be a noble with quite a bit of power. Putting aside even when I was still part of royalty, even if I have this peerage of mine, even if I had found out who did it, they would have just laughed it off... In order to make them pay for their crimes, I would have to be an important voice for the country... And I need the power of a noble for that.]
[Ummm, about that culprit...]
[I still don't have any idea at this time. I may not even find it but I will still keep looking.]
Strong words told with certainty and determination.
The entity that once gave false information to Lilia-san's unit and caused Sieg-san to lose her voice.
It must be Lilia-san's longest wish to find this out.
[...It's not that I intended for this right from the start, and I feel really sorry that I'm using the power that Kaito-san has given me but... I still thank you from the bottom of my heart. I can't thank you enough, especially for letting me meet Chronois-san.]
[I don't know what to say about that one but.... I'm glad if I'm able to help Lilia-san, even if it's just by accident.]
[...Really, thank you very much. That's why, even if it's just this much, please allow me to return the favor.]
[...Yes. Thank you very much.]
Exchanging glances with Lilia-san, we thanked each other feeling some sense of embarrassment.
As if she was embarrassed, her face still red, Lilia-san turns to Lunamaria-san to switch the conversation.
[Even so, for Luna to side with Kaito-san so strongly... Are you up to something?]
[....H- Hahaha, don't say something stupid...]
[...She's up to something.]
[No, it's not that exaggerated... It's just that I want to discuss something with Miyama-sama...]
[Discuss?]
I also felt she was somehow acting strange, but it seems that Lunamaria-san had some purpose when she sided with me.
I'm very uneasy, but thanks to Lunamaria-san, I'm able to keep Bell, so let's listen to what she wants for the time being.
[...From the information I received, I heard that Underworld King-sama is developing a new magic tool right now... So, well, I'd really like to buy it if I could... and I was hoping to ask Miyama-sama to help...]
[...A- Alright.]
[Thank you very much!]
Where the heck did this zealot get this information from!?
The magic tool Kuro is making is probably the calculator I asked her before... But I haven't told anyone about it, so how did Lunamaria-san get that information?
Could it be that there's some kind of strange network among Kuro's followers?
Dear Mom, Dad—— Lilia-san allowed me to keep Bell. That was partly due to the help of Lunamaria-san... but it seems that Lunamaria-san got the information about Kuro making the calculator—— It seems that she got that information from somewhere.
//==========
By the way, Lilia and Chronois have been good friends since they got to know each other, and they would occasionally listen to each other's complaints.
Recently, after the invasion of the God of Fate, they were complaining about Kaito.
Next Chapter: "The Assault and the Restored Voice (temp title)