I Was Caught up in a Hero Summoning, but That World Is at Peace - Chapter 2438: Spreading Aftermath ㉚
<Author’s Notes>
Due to personal matters, there will be a break tomorrow. The next update will be on the day after tomorrow.
After fainting from sheer shock and being mercilessly revived by magic several times, Marie was left slumped over with an expression that practically screamed “So this is what despair feels like”.
She wanted nothing more than to escape reality the way she had when she went shopping with Kaito, but that had only worked because she’d been in a dreamlike daze back then. In her current state, there was no way…… More than that, even if she tried to convince herself this was all a dream, the intense pain stabbing through her stomach insisted with everything it had that this was, without a doubt, reality.
[……M- Marie-sama…… please, get a hold of yourself……]
[T- Thank goodness I didn’t eat breakfast…… If I had, I definitely would’ve thrown it all up…… E- Eris-sama…… w- w- what…… w- what am I supposed to do……]
Eris offered words of concern, and Marie looked up at her with desperate, pleading eyes. This situation was already far beyond anything she could handle. She had no idea how to deal with it, or even how she should be acting.
That was why she desperately wanted advice, anything that might help her break through this madness, from Eris, a noble of far higher standing and an undeniably gifted young woman.
But hearing Marie’s question, Eris had a painfully troubled expression on her face.
[……My apologies. But in this case…… even I can’t begin to imagine what should be done……]
If this were about one of the Six Kings, they could still work with it. Of course, that would still be a tremendous ordeal, and Marie’s stomach would still be screaming, but Eris would at least be able to offer some amount of practical advice.
But Shallow Vernal was on an entirely different tier. There were very few who had ever even spoken with Shallow Vernal directly, so there was simply no answer Eris could give.
Particularly if matters escalated to offering a golden ripple to Shallow Vernal, it would no longer be just a matter for nobles or nations. It could even affect temple authorities and believers of the Godism Church. This could easily become a situation on a global scale.
In fact, not only Eris but Chris as well was holding her head in distress. There was no avoiding the fact that a golden ripple tree would be bestowed upon Marie, and of course, there was no way to avoid having its fruit presented to Shallow Vernal.
Naturally, there was also no way for them to step in as intermediaries. They couldn’t think of a single method to help Marie in this impossible situation.
[……Ah, well, I’ve already thought of a few ways to handle this. It’s not like I came here to bully Marie-san after all……]
[P- Phantasmal King-sama……]
A saving hand extended from an unexpected direction…… hearing Alice’s words, Marie’s eyes brimmed with tears as she turned toward her.
Seeing that, Alice gave a sympathetic, wry smile before beginning her explanation.
[First of all, there’s no avoiding the fact that a golden ripple tree will be granted to you, so just accept that part. As for the very first golden ripple it produces…… give it to Kaito-san.]
[To Kaito-sama……?]
[Yes. I’ll explain everything to him myself, and then we’ll have Kaito-san deliver it to Shallow Vernal-sama. That way, Marie-san won’t have to deal with Shallow Vernal-sama directly.]
Alice paused there, raised her gaze toward the ceiling, and spoke upward.
[……That works for you, right, Shallow Vernal-sama? You’re monitoring things since I stepped in anyway, and you’re listening to this conversation too, aren’t you? I’m sure you’d be happier receiving it from Kaito-san rather than Marie-san, and afterward, you two can eat it together or whatever you want. So no issues, right?]
As soon as Alice finished speaking, glittering particles of light appeared on the ceiling. They gathered, forming the shape of a hand, which gave a firm thumbs-up and then vanished.
[……Well, since it seems Shallow Vernal-sama is fine with that, let’s go do it that way. As long as we toss anything related to Shallow Vernal-sama at Kaito-san, he’ll handle it nicely somehow.]
[U- Understood.]
In truth, if anyone was suited to dealing with Shallow Vernal, it was Kaito. In the first place, Shallow Vernal wanted the golden ripple because she wanted to eat it with him, so if he brought it to her, she would have absolutely no complaints.
With the biggest concern, the offering to Shallow Vernal, settled at last, Marie allowed herself the smallest hint of relief but……
[……Well, do your best with everything afterward. With this being an item to be presented to Shallow Vernal, you guys will probably only be able to grow them in very small numbers, so as for what you’ll do with the golden ripples afterward, you could just discuss that with Chris-san. I’ll help with some information control…… but I don’t think you’ll be able to avoid becoming the center of attention worldwide……]
[A- Abuh……]
[Well, if things get completely hopeless, you can always go cry to Kaito-san, you know?]
[S- Such discourtesy…… I- I- I- I could never……]
[……To be honest, crying to him really is the optimal solution here…… but I’ll leave that choice to you.]
In reality, Alice’s suggestion, “crying to Kaito”, might very well be the best possible solution. If Marie abandoned shame and pride and begged him outright, things would almost certainly move in the best possible direction.
Depending on how things went, Kaito might even offer to take the golden ripple tree off her hands entirely…… but whether because she was too inherently earnest, or because she still hadn’t grown close enough to him for that level of reliance…… Marie didn’t choose that optimal answer.
<Afterword>
Serious-senpai : [……Hmm, but honestly, if you think about it, clinging to Kaito in tears might be the fastest and cleanest way to resolve everything…… If Kaito moves to help Marie, Alice won’t just give advice, she’ll step in with full force to support him…… and there’s also a certain God who can pretty much fix anything after something happened……]
