Mebius World Online – Mari’s VRMMO Diary, Embarking on a Laid-back Adventure as a Novice - Chapter 197
197. Mari-nee and the Unsettled Heart
How much time had passed since then?
Before I knew it, Mephistopheles was gone, and Gils and Vel were looking at me with concern.
Aware of my own awkwardness, I forced a smile and said, “It’s nothing,” before heading back to join everyone.
As the head of the family, I couldn’t let them worry any more than they already had.
After rejoining the group, we made our final checks before loading onto the ship.
Though, since we had used up most of our supplies, there wasn’t much left to confirm.
After spending half a day preparing for departure, we finally left Liberta.
Seeing us off were Herrell-san, accompanied by a small entourage, and Caleb-san.
However, there was no sign of Jade-san.
It was a clear day without a single cloud in the sky, yet the fog in my heart only thickened…
The ship sailed smoothly, and after a few days, we safely returned to Caldia.
Perhaps word had already reached them, as I could see the king’s carriage parked in the harbor town from a distance.
And there were even more people than before.
The cheers grew louder as we approached, and by the time we docked, the crowd’s excitement had reached its peak.
It seemed that word had spread about our efforts to aid Liberta in its time of crisis, unlike when we had simply returned from our diplomatic mission.
The crowd was so enthusiastic that several people leaned too far from the dock and fell into the sea.
Under the protection of the royal guards, we quickly boarded the carriage.
If we had stopped even for a moment, we might not have been able to move at all.
Riding in the king’s carriage were the members of “Luna Ma Ri A” and Estelle-san.
As soon as the door closed, the carriage set off and left the town in no time.
But instead of feeling relieved by the return of silence, the atmosphere in the carriage was tense.
The king, seated directly in front of me, stared with half-closed eyes, not uttering a single word.
The air was thick with tension.
It was clear that the king was furious.
Even more so than when we faced the Empress in the “Cave of Oath.”
This… didn’t look good.
Although we were originally sent to offer material support, I had joined the battle of my own volition due to the circumstances.
Still, I didn’t think that alone would have angered him this much.
He must have realized the truth about Hilt-san from the reports.
And that’s why he was silently pressuring me to stay behind in that situation.
…Sometimes, you just have to accept things, right?
Hoping to calm his anger even a little, I quietly shifted into a seiza position.
And so, until we arrived at the royal capital, I entered a state of “Seiza Online.”
Since the driver seemed to understand the mood and slowed down, my time in seiza was twice as long as last time.
By the time we reached the capital, my legs were completely numb, and I was in agony.
Time passed, and about two weeks had gone by in reality.
In the world of Mebius, two months had passed, and I heard from the king that Liberta had largely regained its peace.
As for the matter of Herrell-san’s rewards, the king was still in negotiations.
However, it seemed the goal wasn’t to extract more from Liberta, but rather to temper Herrell-san’s overenthusiastic proposals and find a reasonable compromise.
“That guy’s being awfully stubborn about this, it’s a real headache,” the king had grumbled in the small room, which was quite rare.
Caldia’s initial intent had been to provide material support, but things had gotten complicated because of us.
I… feel really bad about that…
During the negotiations with Liberta, I had one request for the king.
That was information about Jade-san’s whereabouts.
Given the circumstances of the last time I saw him, I couldn’t stop worrying.
But the reports were not promising, and even Herrell-san hadn’t seen him since then.
My heart remained clouded, and because of that, I was causing everyone else to worry, too.
Even though I tried to act like my usual self, my heart just wouldn’t cooperate.
In both Mebius and reality.
“I’m such a bad big sister for making my younger siblings worry…”
I let out a sigh as I removed my Blind Circlet.
I need to pull myself together a bit more.
Just as I resolved to do so, Maki entered the room.
She came to inform me that Yuuki-san from Caduceus Corporation’s PR department had contacted us…