"Sup, Granny. I"m here."

Just as I was told, I immediately headed for Granny"s house after entering the Royal Capital. I opened the door and went inside. As I immediately smelled the familiar medicine herbs, my mouth slackened.
I felt like I returned.

"It took you a while, didn"t it? Did you make a side trip somewhere?"
"Where"d I find time for that? I came straight here."

I heard Granny"s voice from downstairs. When I looked down from the handrail, Granny beckoned me.
I was about to go down the stairs… but I found it troublesome and jumped down over the handrail instead.

"Alright…"

It"s around the height of a floor, so it"s not much different from jumping down from the ceiling.
When I soundlessly jumped down in front of Granny, she sighed in exasperation.

"Don"t save time on not using the stairs. Really, is it so enjoyable to surprise elders?"
"… Granny, I think you surprised me far more."

When I scowled in vexation, Granny returned, "Is that so?" feigning ignorance.

"That so. What was that? That telepathic communication. I don"t have a telepathic communication contract with you, Granny."
"I don"t remember making it either."
"Then how did you send me the telepathic communication! To begin with, it was outside my range. I don"t get why my voice reached."
"There are countless magics and secret arts in the world that you don"t know about. Just who do you think I am?"
"…"

Told so by a witch, I couldn"t say anything.
They"re called witches with awe precisely because they master in unknown magics and magical arts.
Among them, Granny is particularly well-versed in medicine making. That"s why she"s called the Medicine Witch.

"If you"re convinced, sit down."
"… Yeees."

I wasn"t particularly convinced, but I nodded.
She pointed at the desk where I usually sit with her chin, so I obediently sat down.
In front of me… pink tea was placed. Moreover… it"s not faintly pink. It"s totally pink. It"s shocking pink.

"It"s tea to recover from exhaustion. You must be tired from everything. Restore your stamina before returning to that child."
"… Thanks."

I picked up the tea that made me completely lose my appet.i.te. Even disregarding the color, today the viscosity was amazing. It seemed more like jelly or mousse.
At a loss, I poured it into my throat in one go like Princess.
It"s over once I hesitate. The hurdle of drinking the second gulp is high.

"… Sweet!"

I imagined it would be spicy or bitter as usual, but it was sweet to death.
It was so sweet my teeth hurt. Once I realized it was sweet, it became hard to swallow… This is… sweet violence.

"Uegh…"

Still, after I somehow managed to gulp it down, the cruel sweetness in my mouth didn"t disappear. Instead, the fatigue I"d acc.u.mulated disappeared.
I"m truly grateful for that… but I want water.

"Granny. Water, please… This is harsh."
"You always go on about how bitter or spicy it is, so I thought of specially making it sweet, but it looks like it"s not very good."
"Not very good… It"s not on that level. It"s a weapon, a weapon."

When I complained with a serious face, Granny nodded, "Hm," while handing me water.

"As expected, it"s a failure. I"m glad I figured it out before making that child drink it."
"Don"t experiment on me!"

And to say as expected.
To experiment on me despite knowing the result, Granny is much too ill-natured. I can only think she"s messing with me.
While dejected, I drank the water, was.h.i.+ng down the sweetness in my mouth.
Having done that, I felt a little refreshed.

"Phew… Today it was worse than usual. And, Granny. You mentioned you had some business with me."

I have no time to relax today. I want to quickly return to my master.
When I asked about her business with that feeling, Granny sat in front of me and smiled meaningfully.

"… I"m relieved. If you had killed the King of Sahaja, Wilhelm would fight the war under quite disadvantageous circ.u.mstances."
"Ah…!"

I gasped at the words said to me. While I was staring at Granny in shock, her mouth distorted nastily.

"Was my advice a little useful? Take a short pause. I said that, right?"
"…"

This time I became speechless.
―― Take a short pause. Those words are certainly the advice Granny gave me, but I never would"ve thought they"d come up at this timing.
… Or rather.

"Those words… were about Sahaja?"
"Oh, you didn"t realize it? Still, good job avoiding it. I thought it was practically inevitable."

The carefreely said words went round and round my head.
The advice I received from Granny. At first I thought it was about telling the Crown Prince about my existence, next I thought it was about going to Sahaja.
But it wasn"t either.
The correct answer was that time - the time I was about to kill the King of Sahaja.
It was about the choice of whether to kill him or not.
I recalled Princess and gave up. But had I not, I would have killed that man.
It was a complete coincidence that I could stop.
When I thought that, I s.h.i.+vered.
I might have caused war… It"s something I absolutely mustn"t do to Princess, who I accepted as my master.
Seeing me turn pale, Granny said.

"You really didn"t notice. Even though I"d generously given you advice, you didn"t use it…"
"…"

I had no words to return.

"Well, all"s well that ends well. You didn"t make a mistake at the crucial moment. That"s most important."
"I didn"t really do it by myself. Coincidentally, Princess"s face came to my mind… And so, I stopped…"
"That"s how important that child is to you. Well, nothing will happen for a while, so you can relax."
"For a while…"

Bothered by her way of speaking, I looked Granny in the eyes, and she said, "Isn"t it obvious?"

"This is not about the future. The King of Sahaja died. The next King will be Crown Prince Maximilian. Do you think that man will remain quietly in his country doing the King"s duties? He"ll aim at that child."
"… I bet."

Princess will marry soon, but that won"t stop Prince Maximilian.
All royals in that country are like that. They will stop at nothing to obtain what they want. It doesn"t matter if it belongs to someone else… Even if it"s a wife of another country"s royal.

"Tarim is moving too. Tarim got wind of Sion Nanaohgi being in Wilhelm. Tarim know his ability more than anyone else. They"re set on bringing him back… or killing him."
"… Ain"t it all troublesome things?"
"And while at it, in the south…"
"Oi!"

Is there still more? When I raised my voice so, Granny laughed.

"Well, it"s like that, so rest while you can. It"s only now that you can rest."
"It really doesn"t sound like a joke when a witch says that. Well, whatever. If that"s all for the conversation, I"m going."
"Wait."

When I stood up, Granny called out to me.

"What? Is there something else?"
"Rather than something else, this is the main topic. Tell Lidi to show here once before the wedding. There"s something I want to give her, and I want to see that child"s cheerful face once in a while."
"… Got it. I"ll tell her."

Granny dotes on Princess.
She must be lonely that Princess hasn"t shown here recently. I understand her feelings, and I"m sure Princess will be happy to hear it, so I obediently nodded.
Wanting to go back to Princess, I faced the exit.
Then I was again called out to from behind.

"―― Should I give you a new piece of advice?"

I looked back.
I couldn"t understand what Granny was thinking from her face.
I thought a little and then spoke.

"Don"t need it."

It would be the same as before. I wouldn"t be able to use Granny"s advice anyway.
Then I"d rather not know it.
I"ll do my very best without knowing it.
Seeing my face, Granny opened her eyes wide in surprise.
I see, she then laughed.

"It"s interesting seeing you waver. But it"s not bad that you can declare that you don"t need it either. I don"t know how much you can do, but do your best as much as you can."
"… Yeah."

I nodded with determination.
Then I left Granny"s house and this time headed to the Fafnir Castle, to my master, Princess.