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yumemory[Location: Lakeside Town main road]
Akira: Then, should we head to the chief’s mansion?
White: The chief’s son is a bridegroom waiting for his wedding ceremony, is he not?
Snow: He must be busy with preparations at the moment.
Arthur: Indeed. That said, this is a pressing matter of the town. I think he could spare some time to answer our questions.
[Location: Lakeside Town chief’s mansion]
Snow and White: We cannot see him?
Chief: Correct.
The chief, who had asked for our assistance, nodded in a tired manner. We sought an audience, but the chief’s son refused to come out and see us.
Akira: Um, we know that he might be busy preparing for his wedding, but can we at least have a few minutes with him?
Chief: I said you cannot see him. Do not make me repeat my words. That aside, how is the investigation going?
Snow: We are currently focused on gathering information. We shall inform you if we discover something.
Chief: Are you saying that there is no progress yet!? Couldn’t you do it faster…!?
Chief: We have to turn him back to normal before the wedding!
Arthur: ...I understand that you are driven with anxiety at the moment, but that is not how you should be treating us.
Arthur: The Sage’s wizards are not your servants. Please be mindful of how you speak.
Chief: What…?
The lord looked insulted upon hearing Arthur’s firm words, but it didn’t last long as his expression turned to surprise.
Chief: You… Could you be Prince Arthur!?
Chief: P-Please forgive me. I will prepare your room immediately.
Arthur: That will be unnecessary. Today I came as one of the Sage’s wizards on a mission.
Chief: But... Are you not going to be present at the wedding?
Arthur: I will attend as a Sage’s wizard. However, I do not want my presence to cause a commotion, and so I have no intention of revealing myself as the prince.
Chief: ...I understand. I beg your pardon for my behavior, Your Highness. I was simply worried about the success of the wedding, as it is related to the development of the town.
Chief: If possible, I would like you to meet my son. He has not been in his right mind ever since he saw that strange fish….
Chief: I suppose what he saw was terrifying. He locked himself in his room and strongly refused to go out.
Akira: After seeing a strange fish?
White: My word, that is very unfortunate.
Arthur: We do not wish to force him. Leave us to investigate further. You, on the other hand, should grant yourself a good rest.
Chief: Yes,thank you very much, Your Highness. But why now of all times… At this rate, the town's development would be...
After that, the chief went to call his son to come out of his room several times, but it was to no avail.
[Location: Lakeside Town, main road]
When we got back to the main road, we were met with Chloe and Rutile who had finished their investigation.
Chloe: It seems like almost everyone who lives near the lake has seen the strange fish. They said it’s really big!
Rutile: But they also said that they haven’t seen it as of late. They’re wondering about its current whereabouts and are feeling uneasy because of it.
According to Rutile and Chloe, the townspeople's testimonies sound similar to one another.
“I saw a big strange fish,” “It has a weird color,” “I used to see it frequently, but lately it’s gone somewhere.”
Yet, we didn’t get anything about where it went.
Akira: Thank you for your work, Rutile, Chloe.
Arthur: We did not gain any information in the mansion, so what you’ve gathered is a huge help.
Rutile: Huh? Why is that?
Chloe: Was he not at home?
Snow and White: Regarding that…
Rutile and Chloe: He locked himself in his room and won’t come out…?
Snow: The chief must be disheartened. He looked utterly troubled.
White: To a large extent, he looked deeply concerned about the wedding ceremony.
Hearing that, Chloe frowned as if he had something difficult to say.
Chloe: ...About that, everyone was also asking us about the wedding. Probably because we’re already wearing suits….
Chloe: The bride is a prestigious noble’s daughter. And because this is an arranged marriage, both of them have never seen each other before.
Chloe: Their marriage can create a relationship between people in power, and that can be a huge advantage to the town’s development, but…
It was what we could’ve guessed. Looking at how panicked the chief was, we got the slight idea that that might have been the case, that this ceremony was more than just a simple wedding.
Their marriage will influence the town from hereafter. In other words, it was a marriage of convenience.
Rutile: When I heard that we could attend the wedding, I thought he was marrying someone he loves…
Rutile: …But it seems like I was wrong.
Rutile looked a little sad. His honest words were similar to what I feel, and I got sad as well.
White: Humans flock together to survive. ‘Tis unsurprising that they would prioritize family connections over heart-to-heart bonds.
Snow: The more prestigious they are, the more restricted they become. It would be far rarer for them to exchange vows with someone their heart yearns for.
Chloe: …...
My heart stung and I couldn’t help but cast my eyes down.
But Arthur smiled, as if to gently lift our feelings.
Arthur: In a way, it does sound like that. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will turn out badly.
Arthur: Regardless of whether we want something to happen or not, I have seen several instances where one would still be happy, even if in a situation like this.
Arthur: I met Master Oz so suddenly, and I became a Sage’s wizard without exactly wanting to be one.
Arthur: And these encounters became a chance for a new love to bloom.
[Location: Lakeside Town, lakeside]
We wrapped up our investigation in town and went back to the lake.
Rutile: Dr. Figaro, Bradley.
Figaro: Welcome back, everyone. Good work.
Bradley: It didn’t take as long as I thought. Did you find anything?
Arthur: More or less, yes.
Chloe: What did you guys find around here?
Figaro: We tried to investigate the lake itself, but it turned out to be something more troublesome.
Akira: Troublesome?
Bradley: It’s about this water.
Bradley who was crouching down scooped some of the water with one hand.
When I tried to look closer, he caught my forehead with his other hand.
Bradley: Only a peek, ‘kay? This thing’s not something you play with.
Akira: Huh?
Chloe: Is it poisoned…?
Bradley: I won’t go as far as callin’ it that. But it is turnin’ into something hazardous, something that muddles people’s minds.
Bradley: Sage and everyone else with weak magic, do yourselves a favor and don’t touch the water carelessly.
After hearing that, the lake before me suddenly turned into something scary. Figaro laughed at me as I slowly retreated.
