Chapter 202: Worried, and Being Worried

***Arc 9 One Who Sent Off, Chapter 202 Worried, and Being Worried***

The morning sun was shining through――the time when she would normally be awake had long passed.

She raised her small but feminine naked body.

Covering her face with her hands, Bery Argan sighed.

"......Aahh"

'――What have I done?'

The words of lamentation were voiceless.

Though she had been awake for a long time, she didn't feel like waking up.

She tried her best to pretend to be asleep, but she still couldn't fool herself.

"Ehehe, good morning..."

Perhaps realizing that her arms had been untangled, Krische spoke in a soft, muffled voice.

Krische yawned a little, then raised her naked body to lean on the Bery and stretched.

"...?"

She tilted her head towards Bery, who covered her face with both of her hands, she straddled her thighs.

Then Krische looked at Bery's face from above her covered hands.

"What's wrong?"

"*sigh*...it's nothing."

As she gave up and released her hands, Bery looked at the girl straddling her.

She put both of her hands on Krische's cheeks and kissed her lightly and smiled.

"...Good morning, Krische-sama."

"Yes, good morning Bery."

In a good mood, Krische said that, pondered for a moment, then smiled as if making a significant discovery.

"Krische, had just learned something for the first time"

"......Um?"

"Krische thought it was something only a pair of opposite sex did, but even between women they can mat——muggh."

But before she could finish, her mouth was immediately covered by a palm.

Berry leans closer to her face and looks at Krische, her face red.

"...I understand what Krische-sama is trying to say. The meaning is certainly correct, but that word is extremely inappropriate——it's like calling the dish being served as bait. ...Never say it out loud."

"Understood", Bery asked, and Krische, whose mouth was covered by her, was surprised but nodded her head.

Bery narrowed her eyes at Krische and sighed again.

"...Geez. Let's get changed and prepare dinner. Krische-sama is hungry right?"

When Berry let go of the hand covering Krische's mouth, she said that with a wry smile.

"Ehehe, yes. Krische's stomach is really empty..."

Krische answered shyly but honestly.

Dusk——the main road connecting the royal city and Wolfenheit.

Inside the carriage on the way home.

"But you sure are really good at giving speeches. I respect you for being able to say things that you don't really mean."

"That's rude. I didn't say anything I didn't mean."

Kreschenta was as usual, sitting sideways in the carriage in a bad manner, leaning against the wall and tapping her foot against Selene's thigh.

Just where was the queen who smiled kindly just a few moments ago?

She stared at Selene with a mocking smile.

"It's true that I want them to do their best, it's true that I don't want the soldiers to die, and it's true that I don't want the territory to be ravaged. If I say what's in my heart, that's what will come out."

"Ah, yes, yes...I beg your pardon for that."

Selene responded with an exasperated tone.

According to the plan, Krische would defeat the Holy Empire of Elsren last.

Naturally, it would be a longer defensive battle than in the south and west, and the burden on the soldiers in the east would be greater as they would have to maintain the front line on the defensive.

A defensive battle was essentially a battle against morale.

Putting aside if one was on the offensive side, the psychological burden of continually warding off the opponent's attacks was extremely heavy, and the longer it goes on, the decrease in morale becomes more apparent.

Moreover, being attacked by three countries, with no end in sight and uncertain reinforcements.

The mental fatigue of the soldiers who had to continue to resist the enemy's offensive in such a situation was incomparable to the commanders who knew of the Alberan's strategy.

No matter how rare Nozan Verreich was as a commander, he couldn't eliminate all of that dissatisfaction and fatigue.

There, Her Majesty the Queen personally inspected the battlefield and gave a speech.

As soon as the defeat of Gulshan was reported to the capital, they immediately started moving and headed east.

The purpose of this visit was to give hope to the soldiers, to let them know that the war would not last long, and to restore the morale of the soldiers who had been depressed, Kreschenta should be called a great man after all.

She repeated the speech not only in Wolfenheit, but also in every town she stopped at along the way.

They were not all the same, they were all different in content.

Cities that sent out many soldiers, cities that had many refugees, cities that gave a lot of financial aid, cities that didn't even have the economic capacity to do so——she most probably had information about cities all over the kingdom in her head.

No, in some cases it's not even a city, it's even a small town or village.

The words she used and the words she spoke varied greatly depending on the city, and depending on the situation in the city, rather than cooperation she conveyed only gratitude to the people.

A different speech in every town——even the soldiers who were her escorts who were listening looked at her in amazement, and their respect for her only increased, and some even moved to tears.

"I'm different from an incompetent person who just reads out what has been decided. Just saying some random appropriate word according to the situation, that's what a politician is. It's easy to please the stupid people and soldiers, you just need to say what they want to hear."

With a little flourish, Kreschenta pointed to her own eyes with her fingertips.

She easily shed tears. Even when she talked to wounded soldiers, she seemed to be fighting back tears——no one could see through her acting.

Her acting was so realistic that even Selene would believe it if she saw it up close.

Whatever the case may be, Kreschenta was still the same as Krische.

Although the direction of the two might be different, they were both beyond the norm.

"You and Argan-sama should respect me more. Heh, if you bow your head and ask me to teach you, I can teach you how to give a speech."

"Hmm, right. You're an idiot, but I honestly respect that. I'll praise you."

"Muu..."

Selene patted Kreschenta's head and smiled, and Kreschenta glared at Serene sullenly.

"Could you please teach me next time, Your Majesty The Queen?"

"That's what I don't like about you."

Selene chuckled and her shoulders shook, and Elvena, who was sitting across from her, looked exasperated.

The unknown power relationship in the Christand house was something that she knew about, considering that they had known each other for this long.

Her Majesty's true appearance was rather pleasing, and Elvena smiled quietly.

"But the cheers and respect... it's really amazing."

The person next to her who spoke up was Anne.

Kreschenta tilted her head and looked at her.

"Just saying the words they want. It seems like something simple, but it's difficult... In doing so, Her Majesty gave hope to many people and saved their hearts. Once again, I was moved to witness the greatness of Her Majesty the Queen."

Perhaps recalling the scene, Arne was crying tears of emotion.

"How many times do you change your perception..."

This was already the seventh time this had happened.

Kreschenta looked a little annoyed and asked Selene to help her.

Selene looked back at Kreschenta with a slightly amused smile and said, 'Isn't it fine, she's impressed'.

Ever since they started this trip, Anne has been praising Kreschenta every day.

It was like a professional jester——but Anne had no such intention, and it was just her frank and honest impressions.

"Portraying your own action as evil while behind it Her Majesty is concerned and concerned for the people...I am proud to have been able to serve Her Majesty with all my heart."

"I-I understand how you feel. Please leave it at that. I've heard so much that I'm tired of it."

"Yes, my apologies. I just really wanted to convey this feeling..."

Anne sniffed her nose, and Elvena from beside her wiped her eyes with a handkerchief.

True to her words, Selene looked at Kreschenta who looked tired of it and smiled bitterly.

Kreschenta probably didn't really care about the people if you look at it without considering the profit, but Anne seems to think that this was Kreschenta's inability to be honest.

Certainly, if you look at her normally, it's not surprising. Although Kreschenta's words were often harsh, she was a sweet and kind girl to those close to her.

If you looked at the actual actions and results, that's exactly it——it's hard to say that Anne's understanding was completely wrong.

Selen once again patted Kreschenta's troubling head.

"Hehe, that's good. Bery will prepare a delicious feast when we get back."

Kreschenta turned around while glaring at Selene.

She lies down on the chair and rests her head on Selene's thigh.

"Argan-sama, I wonder if she's thinking about gloomy things again and making things worse."

"...Worried"

"Who would? It's just that, it'll be troublesome if she does."

Selene smiled bitterly at her words and thought while stroking her Kreschenta forehead.

"My...how stubborn. I guess it would have been better if we had left either Anne or Elvena in the estate."

She thought about leaving Arne or Elvena alone, since it would be difficult to deal with the situation alone, but she was told that leaving a servant to take care of a servant would be putting the cart before the horse.

Bery was stubborn and wouldn't listen.

Although her fever could not be called mild, it had calmed down considerably over night, so she gave up, but Selene was still a little worried after all.

Bery took care of the estate and the Christand house almost by herself, and even helped Selene and Kreschenta with their work in her free time, so she hadn't had any time off lately.

The work she is doing at the estate and the Christand house was quite a lot, and if it were a normal person, they would be crying every day working until late at night.

She forgot to question it from time to time, but it was a superhuman amount of work to say the least, and Bery also being Bery was a little weird.

However, Bery must have been feeling tired at this point, and the fever was probably due to accumulated stress.

She heard that Bery occasionally caught a mild cold, and that she was quite sickly to begin with.

Selene took a deep breath as she realized that she had forced too much on her.

"Since we're not there, work should be a lot easier than usual, but I'm worried about whether or not she'll be able to rest properly. It's just her personality is"

"...Really. I'll have to give her a lecture when I get back. She had a fever at a critical moment, even though she's a servant. It's proof that she can't manage herself."

"What not an honest girl...Well, I don't think she wants to hear about self-control from you, Kreschenta."

When no one was around, she rolled around, fell asleep, and had a hard time waking up in the morning.

Kreschenta the embodiment of selfishness itself——even now she's kicking the wall while receiving a lap pillow and puffing out her cheeks.

When Selene crushed the puffed cheeks with her finger, Kreschenta made a silly sound, and Selene laughed amusedly, while Kreschenta glared at her in dissatisfaction.

"Fufu, you're sad that Bery isn't here, right?"

"That's not true. Are you making fun of me?"

"I just said what I thought. Please forgive me."

She smiled as she stroked Krschenta's head.

"Well, tomorrow we will be in the royal capital. We have to make sure she gets some rest when we get back. Krische will probably come back after a while..."

Krische overwhelmingly defeated Gulshan's army of 100,000 men in less than half a day with half the number.

According to the messenger's report, it wasn't even a battle, and even Krische didn't seem to be very tired.

It wasn't like she felt safe after letting her move freely, but Selene no longer had any major worries.

The psychological pressure was relieved to some extent and she was feeling better.

"I want to do something about Argan-sama's anxiety. If you take your eyes off her for a moment, she will look absentmindedly. We need to do something about it."

"...You're not worried after all."

Her cheeks puffed up again.

Selene giggled and poked her cheek.

At the same dusk.

The two of them cooked side by side in the morning, cleaned the estate, took care of the horses and Suiko, and took a bath.

The two were happily enjoying their usual lives.

"How is it? Krische thinks Krische can adjust it but..."

Her tongue is a pale blue, with a geometric pattern on it.

It was an activated magic formula.

Krische asked as she removed her fingers from Bery's tongue and took a look.

Bery closed her eyes and moved her tongue, then licked the honey off the back of her hand.

After tasting it, she poured magical power into the magic crystal in her hand——Taste Piririn.

"...Right. It might take some time to get used to it though."

What was carved into it was a magic formula for sensing sweetness and sourness.

Krische carved it in the morning and trial and error it for a day, and the results were excellent.

However, there was still a slight difference between what was etched on the tongue and what was felt from the magic crystal.

So, Krische added a magic formula to fine-tune it, and made subtle changes to the details.

Bery smiled at Krische, who looked worried, and said it's okay.

"It's the same as cooking. You don't have to aim for the best results right away, you can take as much time as needed. Just being able to taste even a little makes me feel really happy."

"...Yes. Ehehe."

Krische smiled as Bery patted her head and climbed into her lap.

"Krische wishes Krische could have looked into it more quickly..."

"From what I've heard, it's something only Krische-sama can do. Even if I, who has learned the logic, tried to do the same thing, it might take me the rest of my life to do it..."

On the desk, she looked at the diagram Krische had drawn on the parchment and said that.

The countless grains that Krische described were drawn there, but it was difficult to understand even for Bery.

At least Bery couldn't perceive it, so she'll need to create a tool to see it first.

Something like an extremely high-precision lens that magnifies vision, or a magical formula that amplifies perception.

Only by obtaining the mean Krische's perception, would one finally reach the starting line.

And even if one could make it to the starting line, it would take countless years to find the specific factors in food——just imagining it was a monumental task.

She didn't think it was impossible, but at least she didn't think it was something that could be done overnight.

"...Maybe someday this kind of research will become more popular."

"Hmm, is that so?"

Bery blurted out and Krische tilted her head.

"Yeah. Krische-sama knows the story about alchemy, which tries to create gold, right?"

"Yes. They're the ones who keep repeating things Krische doesn't really understand."

"Hehe, it's a lot of trial and error. What they're really looking for may be these particles that Krische-sama is talking about."

Bery said, pointing to the diagram drawn by Krische.

"For example, if everything is made of these particles, and some combination of them forms an object, then there are only two things left. If we had the means to observe them and change them in a stable way, we might be able to transform mere stones into gems, copper into gold and silver."

"That's...certainly."

"Even among alchemists, it is rare to find someone who truly aims to transmute gold itself. That is true, but in short, they are looking for a way to change matters at will."

Berry held up her finger and smiled.

"Obtaining a tool that allows them to observe these particles that Krische-sama is talking about, and the special technique that allows one to interfere with the details. If we create an environment where even people who doesn't have Krische abilities can conduct research, I'm sure many technological revolutions will be born.''

Bery thought while saying this and took out a silver coin from her pocket.

"If that happens, it seems like money will become more conceptual. Instead of trading in precious metals like now, it may become something with advanced techniques, or something like bond trading..."

Bery suddenly noticed the gaze and looked down, and Krische stared at Bery and smiled.

"Is something the matter?"

"Ehehe, Krische is glad Bery seems to be having fun."

"Ah......"

She thought about what was said and blushed.

She hugged Krische a little embarrassed.

"Bery sure thinks about a lot of things, huh?"

"I was interested in a lot of things...However, unlike Krische-sama, I just guffawed at everything, How embarrassing."

"...guffawed?"

"Like a mouse, only taking a bite of the delicious food."

When she pretended to bite into Krische's head, Krische squirmed as if tickled.

"I don't want to deepen my knowledge of various things, but just the basics. It's broad and shallow. ...I guess cooking is the only thing I'm passionate about."

Bery chuckled and patted Krische on the head, and Krische also smiled happily.

"...Krische's glad glad Bery put so much energy into cooking."

"Yes....I think so too."

Krische raised herself a little and slowly pressed her lips against Bery's.

After a while.

After she pulled away, she stared at her.

Then, suddenly, Krische turned her gaze to the shelf――to the restocked bottle of nightcap wine.

Bery's cheeks flushed as she noticed her gaze.

"...Bery, drink a nightcap again today?"

Her eyes widened at the words he heard.

She looked back at Krische's face and said, 'What a bad person,' as if troubled.

She tugs at Krische's slightly red cheeks.

"Uuu..."

"...A nightcap is something you drink when you can't sleep, okay?"

While saying that, she thought about it and spoke to her in a whisper.

"...But, if Krische-sama wants to drink, then I have to accompany Krische-sama."

'How about it?', when asked, Krische too thought about it.

And she shook her head vertically.