Vol. 3 - Chapter 39 - The saint and the wicked-tongued young lady
First of all, about Shirohime, there was nothing other than for her to take antibiotics everyday to be cured. About this point, there was a risk of being infected if Shirohime and Haku stayed together. So I explained this to Shirohime and left Haku in the care of Sagami Co. for a few months until the disease was cured.
If only we had a vaccine, I wouldn\'t have needed to go all through that trouble. As expected, the immediate need for medical department expansion was indispensable.
"Nevertheless, Dorahachi, Sheena, and Haku. My company isn\'t an orphanage."
It was really hard to convince Haku to stay away from her mother for a while, and she only agreed in the end when we promised that we would let them meet once a week. Of course, there was a risk of infection, but we decided that the risk could be minimized for a short time.
However, when I introduced her to the good-for-nothing dragons, Dorahachi and Sheena, the staff members specializing in shoulder massage, strangely they got along with each other as if they were of the same kindred spirit. Well, I guess that much was fine with the kid.
With my heavy gait, I finally arrived here.
From today onwards, the private investigation of the slime incident would begin.
Straheim was the land of beginning for me, a character called Gray. I was not patient enough to endure when a perverted bastard no one knew appeared out of nowhere and began to do as he pleased. That was why I wanted this case to be investigated.
So, why did I ought to carry around those two burdens? Both Iskandar and Georg should have enough knowledge that, if hypothetically speaking, both of the imperial princesses turned into slime, there would be no return.
"I\'m Gray. I received the summon, so here I am."
"Please just wait a minute."
The gatekeeper entered the mansion by running. Meanwhile, I was taken to the same reception room as last time.
In the room, Emperor Georg, Lilinoa, and a girl in her late teens with glossy silver hair in a ponytail each sat at the centre table with a sullen look on their faces.
I\'m surprised.
From the position of the girl sitting next to Georg, she must be Iskandar\'s youngest daughter—Imperial Princess Olivia.
The girl\'s eyes, nose, and mouth were all arranged in perfect shape and position, forming a beauty that convinced me that she had the bloodline as Lilinoa, who was extolled for her immense beauty.
So far, it wasn\'t so unexpected to have beautiful men and women in the royal lineage. What I couldn\'t take my eyes off of were those long ears that I\'d been seeing so often lately. That was a sign that she was mixed blood with the fairy race, just like Sheena and the others. In other words, she was a person with both Iskandar\'s and fairy\'s blood.
"Don\'t stare at me! It\'s disgusting!"
Is that the first thing you are going to say? I was really worried about the future now. Well, I guess I didn\'t have any choice except to endure it until the incident this time was resolved.
[Woah! I also want to be stared at by such eyes from a beautiful onee-chan!]
I turned to the Emperor while cajoling Mura\'s usual perverted commentary, which was in full swing as ever.
"Sorry for that. Then, let\'s begin our investigation without waiting any longer."
I really didn\'t care about the victory or defeat with Iskandar. I had no orders to take him with me, and it was fine as long as they lived in Sagami Co. until the case was solved. For the time being, I would treat them as VIPs, so there shouldn\'t be any problem.
"Gray, I need you to listen to me without getting angry, okay?"
"It depends on the contents of what you are going to talk about."
"It is the verbal message from that old monster: \'Lillinoa and Olivia are to accompany you everywhere until the case is solved. I will understand immediately whether it\'s true or false when I enquire about them later,\' or so he says."
"Or so he says", the hell. He was the one who kept forcing trouble everywhere.
"I received... the message."
"T-that\'s why, you must be mad, right? However, certainly, it\'s safer for them to be together with you. This time for sure, I think that brute has some point there."
He was hitting a sore spot. Indeed it was a fact that I was the strongest in Sagami Co.
"I understand."
Since the Emperor had approved of it, I had no right to refuse. Besides, there was no point in discussing it any further either.
"Lily, Your Highness Olivia, please follow me."
There was no need for honorifics when we were going to be living together.
Lili responded by clinging to my arm. For a while, Olivia\'s eyes turned round in shock. Then, she looked at me with what looked like a deathly glare.
From this reaction, it seemed that for her, Lilinoa was also an important family member that she must protect. That might be the sole salvation in this abnormal situation.
"I don\'t have spare time. So let\'s immediately begin the investigation."
I would do so without being told. I didn\'t want to remain as a guard forever either. I wanted to solve this case quickly and be released.
Taking a slight sigh, I moved my legs.
This extravagant attire, no matter how you saw it, was eye-catching. I returned to Sagami Co. and asked two of them to disguise themselves.
Specifically, I asked them to change their hairstyle and clothing. I also had them change their voices with a voice changer. This way, no one would think they were royalty.
As a final note, I had strictly ordered them to call me Shirabe Sagami. They both knew my real name. So, I would be troubled if they accidentally slipped my name in front of the students.
Once the disguise was completed, Lilinoa strongly insisted that she wanted to greet the others, so we headed to the break room of Sagami Co.\'s first research institute.
"Lili-san, it\'s been a while!!"
As expected of the same girl, as soon as we entered the room, Lyase rushed in immediately as she noticed us and began to hop around holding hands with Lilinoa.
"Yeah, it\'s been a while, Lili."
When Roche, who was in the middle of lunch, raised his right hand, the rest of the staff stopped their chopsticks and forks and simultaneously looked at us.
"Yeah, long time no see."
After bowing politely, the researchers came over and started to talk with Lilinoa.
Of course, they were talking about their personal lives, but some of them were even talking about the development of scientific technology.
Leroy was also eager to meet Lilinoa. However, he wasn\'t present here, probably because he was busy studying my toy. The man was so absorbed that he couldn\'t see what was going on around him.
"What does this mean?" Olivia asked me as she looked at Lilinoa in a daze.
"Hmm, you are probably getting the wrong idea, but I think the main reason Lili is willing to help with this investigation is so she can see the staff here again."
"But Lili is a royalty!?"
"Everyone knows that."
The one with good sense had probably already realised it earlier, but the rest of the members had also recognized this definitely during that undead incident. Still, the reason why she didn\'t change her response might be because she fully understood that she would be hurt if she did so.
"........You guys are absolutely crazy."
"Maybe. Then what will you do? Will you report it to your esteemed father or your esteemed brother?"
"......." Olivia looked down at me with a fierce look in her eyes.
I was a bit immature. This was definitely an overstatement. She was also being toyed around by that crazy bastard, just like me.
"You still haven\'t had lunch, right? The far right side of the building is the cafeteria. Let\'s eat together," I grabbed Olivia\'s right hand and tried to lead her away.
"Insolent fellow! Don\'t touch me!" she brushed my hand away and sat down in a corner by herself.
I shrugged my shoulders and ordered today\'s Sagami Co.\'s deluxe menu, a teriyaki chicken set meal, for three people from the kitchen staff.