Magic Gems Gourmet Chapter 17.3

We were led to the back of the throne by His Majesty……A large cloth hung there, or rather, a luxurious item exquisitely embroidered with gold thread.

Hidden behind that cloth was a door and past that door was a large room with several large sofas inside.

“Everyone, please have a seat. We’ll serve your tea now.”

“Here you go Princess, Ain-sama.”

While Martha-san handed out tea, Mother and I were guided by Chris and sat down on a sofa nearby.

I wasn’t able to take a long break after the meal, so I’m glad to be able to sit down.

Drinking some of that tea, that was handed to me, calmed me down quite a bit.

“Haaa. This is a really nice tea, Martha-dono. Well then, Ain-sama……If it’s alright with you, is it possible to show us your status card? “

Warren-san asked me to show them my status, but I’m not sure if it’s alright to show it this easily.

For now, let’s send a glance to Mother.

“It’s okay to show it to them, Ain. There’s nothing to be ashamed of in it.”

“Alright. Then, let’s see……”

I took out my status card from my chest pocket.

I feel like I haven’t seen it in forever……But, there’s no way my status have increased.

Ain

[Job] Houseless Child

[Level] 9

[Stamina] 235 =>180UP

[Magic] 341 =>300UP

[Attack] 74 =>52UP

[Defense] 40 =>19UP

[Agility] 95 =>70UP

[Skills] Toxin Decomposition EX, Absorb, Auto HP Recover, Gift of Training.

I couldn’t help but wanting to retort.

I don’t know when my level increased, and it sort of feels like my status growth is quite strange.

Also, what’s Absorb? When did I learn that?

I don’t know what the deal is with all this, but I can’t help but feel overwhelmed.

“M-Mother……”

“It’s alright, Ain, there’s nothing to worry about.”

“No, it’s something else I’m worrying about, can you look at this first?”

And so, I handed my status card over to Mother.

” ! ? Ara……? I wonder what happened here……?”

Well, it’s to be expected, it’s a mysterious phenomenon that’s too much, even for my Mother.

“What’s wrong, Princess?”

Ahh, this is a bother and Chris-san might’ve already noticed it, so let’s just show it to everyone.

“I don’t know how this happened, but my stats have grown quite rapidly. However I don’t know the cause, so I’ll just show it to you for now.”

Saying that, I placed my status card in the middle of the table.

“What do you mean by rapid growth……HOOO?”

“For a five years old, this is……moving in the direction of a Battle Mage, one who’s good as a vanguard.”

“Let me see! “

The three men approached to see my status card.

The first two people seemed to be surprised, and were most likely already thinking about which direction to take for my further education.

But I wonder what kind of job is this Battle Mage, Lloyd-san spoke of.

“Fumu, these are not bad stats at all. It’s a waste that they decided to disinherit you……This is……!”

The King seemed to be surprised, ahh, did he see it?

He probably saw my Toxin Decomposition EX, right? I already know it’s a failure of a skill, so please don’t be too surprised.

“Warren, Lloyd! Look at this.”

“You mean the skill, Your Majesty? ……Oh my. Hoho, this is rather……”

“……We should be grateful to the Roundharts, Your Majesty. If things had gone poorly, this could have ended up as a huge ‘issue’.”

Following Warren-san, Lloyd-san looked at my status.

Please stop, this might be a trash skill, but it’s not something worth getting into a fight with the Roundhart family over, right?

“Olivia. Could it be that you thought this far?”

“Even in Ishtalika, there shouldn’t be a single person who can use it, so that’s why my Ain is such a great boy.”

I don’t really get it, but thank you, Mother.

“……So, it’s such a skill, after all.”

Chris-san nodded convinced after looking at my status card.

Saying ‘It’s such a skill after all’, please stop it, because it hurts.

“Hey, Warren. Before anything else, there are some doc.u.ments that need to be prepared, you understand? “

“Of course. I’ll start on those as soon as the conversation is finished.”

“Lloyd, check the level of security in the castle. Raise it as you see fit.”

“Right away, Your Majesty.”

Aren’t they overreacting a little too much?

I’m somehow getting scared……

And what are these doc.u.ments that they need to prepare?

“Martha and Chris. I think you should already know this, but treat this as confidential.”

“As you wish.”

“Yes.”

“M-Mother, why the confidentiality?”

As expected, this is a bit too scary, so I turned around and asked Mother, please help me out here.

“Ain is an amazing boy, so it’s alright.”

“I don’t know what’s amazing about me, but…… Okay.”

“……Excuse me. Ain-sama, how much do you know about your skill? “

“About which one? If it’s Toxin Decomposition, well…… I do know a little bit.”

“No, it seems you don’t understand it at all! “

Whoaa, Warren-san suddenly raised his voice, taking me by surprise.

It feels like he’s about to take a bite out of me.

“We’re honestly grateful towards the Roundhart family. Who would’ve thought this could happen…… To disinherit a son whose ability could become so fearsome depending on how it’s used.”

“Ain-sama. Your skill might not be as incredible as you might want, but it isn’t as cheap of a skill as you might think. For now, don’t disclose it to anyone.”

Following Warren-san, Lloyd-san somehow praised me.

I wonder what the heck is going on?

“……certainly this isn’t a skill that improves one’s stat values but… Olivia……The Roundhart family, how should I say it…………are they stupid? How did they not know how to take advantage of this skill? Isn’t there a limit to how stupid one can be?”

“You can speak openly, Father. The people in that house couldn’t understand how great it was. To be honest, I was very surprised about that.”

“I suppose so. But even if the Roundhart’s are a warrior family, aren’t they being a bit too ignorant? “

They were being quite rude, speaking ill of the Roundhart family without end. I couldn’t say anything since they were speaking like it was as a matter of fact.

“…………When my mother-in-law, Isis-sama, learned of Ain’s skill, she said in a murmur: 『A failure』. That’s why I never gave them any explanation or advice on it. I didn’t feel like teaching them anything after showing an att.i.tude like this.”

After hearing Mother’s words, the King and Warren-san, as well as Chris-san and the others held their head in their hand.

“Princess. Then, ever since he was born, you knew their treatment towards Ain-sama would be bad…… were you thinking about coming back to Ishtalika ever since then? Even with the Sea Crystal issue, don’t you think you were a bit too prepared?”

“Since I knew Ain wouldn’t be happy staying in that house, I probably could have taken steps to make Ain’s situation more ‘favorable’. But I just wanted Ain to be happy. Regarding the Sea Crystals, I was simply researching them in my free time, and at first, I did so thinking purely about Ishtalika. But I was glad that it could become useful for a time like this.”

Mother replied with a smile, as if she had successfully pulled off a prank.

“Seriously, the Princess is just……”

“Martha-dono. I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve sighed today.”

Both Martha-san and Chris-san were sighing.

“……Uhmm, you said it’s amazing, but I’d like you to tell what part exactly is so amazing…… If at all possible.”

“……Gohon. Let me explain, Ain-sama.

Warren-san cleared his throat, it seems he will be the one explaining it to me. Ohh, please do.

“‘Poisons do not work on you, Ain-sama. This, you understand, right? “

“Yes, that I know. But it’s only that they don’t kill me……”

Ahh, I made a Star Crystal the other day.

It seems it might be a valuable skill in that regard.

“Certainly. That is great on its own…… but I think Ain-sama’s Toxin Decomposition EX will probably even nullify diseases.”

“Diseases? “

“We still don’t know if it’s just what the body cla.s.sifies as poison, or if it’s what you, Ain-sama recognize as poisonous. However, we believe most of the diseases and poisons can be broken down. With this, many people can be saved.”

“T-That’s…… true.”

“There are a number of poisons that cannot be detoxified. If we can detox them, the demand for such a skill will naturally occur.”

That never even crossed my mind.

Since it has EX attached, I don’t think there will be a poison that can’t be detoxified, and the same might be the case for diseases.

“Another example would be a place that can’t be entered without being cleansed…… A dangerous, difficult to enter place that holds valuable resources within. There are many such places in Ishtalika. Although there are some that might be a bit too dangerous to allow Olivia’s child to enter, there are many options available, like securing a mine, or something similar.”

“Hahahahaha! It sure helped us out that the Roundharts were fools, Warren-dono! “

“Indeed, it worked out for us that they were ‘big fools’, otherwise it might’ve ended up having a huge impact in their nation’s power balance.”

I feel a bit fl.u.s.tered since the skill I thought of as garbage, turned out completely different and I’m even receiving a lot of praise.

But even so…… not being able to realize its usefulness, I guess I was also a fool……

It’s a complicated feeling.

“Speaking of which, Mother…… Some sort of absorption skill has been added, do you know what it is?”

Since I started to feel a bit ashamed, I tried to change the subject.

“Ahh, about that, since you’ve grown up, your race skill has developed, Ain. It’s okay, there’s no problem with that. And about the Absorb skill, it’s something you should’ve been able to use for a long time now, but it just appeared recently on your status card.”

“R-Race? “

What is a race skill?

Are the humans in this world also able to use skills like Absorb?

I’m not sure I’ve used it before it was listed on the status card.

“Ain-sama, there are a few things I want to confirm about the Absorb skill. Is it alright if we talk about it? “

“S-Sure, what is it, Chris-san?”

After thinking about the Absorb skill and asking Mother, Chris seemed to have something to add, and spoke to me.

“I’m sorry, but could you hold this and imagine it as a drink?”

What Chris-san picked up was a small magic stone…… It was about the same size as the ones I saw at the street stall in the Roundhart port city.

Seems like Chris-san also had that bad habit of imagining the magic stone as a drink.

It was similar to the magic stone I saw before, and it also had a sweet smell.

Wasn’t the power of a magic stone poisonous? Well, I guess it’s harmless since Chris-san gave it to me.

“Sure, I don’t mind. But, isn’t it better to just lick it instead of imagining it? “

“Y-You’re licking it? The magic stone……? There should be no problem as long as you hold it in your hand, but if you place it inside your mouth……”

“Well, it’s sweet and delicious like a candy, these magic stones.”

……When I told them that it was like a candy, the air in the room came to a still.

“Princess. Could you explain this?”

“Hey, Ain? Licking magic stones is something dangerous…… I already told you about them before, right? “

I obediently decided to explain to my Mother.

“……It was at the street stall when I went together with you, Mother, at the port town and I was told about the magic stones. I reflected on my actions at the time. However, the magic stones gave off a sweet smell, so I licked one.”

“I see……I understand, I’m not angry, Ain. That’s why you don’t have to worry, I only wanted the truth.”

“I beg your pardon, Princess. Do you have any information about the magic stone sold at the port town?”

“Just that was a cheap magic stone of 500G, so it probably was from a Big Bee.”

If I remember correctly, a Big Bee is a large bee-like monster about 80cm in length.

It’s not too aggressive nor is it too strong, but they have a strong fertility and make big hives.

Therefore, they must be frequent targets of subjugation, and the magic stones obtained after such a subjugation would be sold at places like that street vendor.

Since the amount of those magic stones in the market is large, and they’re not particularly strong, they’re sold at a negligible price of 500G.

“I see. Actually, this is also the magic stone of a Big Bee…… how does this one smell, Ain-sama?”

She then took another magic stone out.

And then, she brought it to me.

“This one smells like Ripple1. Like Ripple with honey, and a sweet and sour smell of pulp! “

It smelled the same as Ripple Juice, making me swallow down my saliva.

“……So, this one smells like Ripple, huh? It’s from a weak monster similar to the Big Bee, I see, so it has that smell……?”

While I was excited about the smell of the magic stones, Chris looked like she realized something.

……I wonder if it’s going to be something bothersome?

“Ain-sama, I might be able to explain your rapid growth in stats.”

For real?

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Editor’s Notes:

1 – Kudos to Kari for this one, it’s a brand name for a drink. When I search for it a Ripple brand from California pops up, Kari found this though: