Isekai Journey Of The Magic Archer

[Eon's POV: ]

The only reason this emperor of ours was acting like this was because of the people currently present in this place.

They were mostly comprised of the people of the nobility and royalty of the other nations and from their point of view, the empire was a place that considered itself superior to anything and everything in this entire world.

The emperor of the Roxana empire was someone who considered himself a supreme monarch and looked down upon most of the things present in this world.

That's the image the emperor had among the people outside of the empire and it wasn't too wrong, to be honest.

He certainly considered himself better than most people in most fields however, instead of arrogance, that was his pure confidence.

He, in fact, was better than most people in most things and that fact was something he had to maintain.

'His words aimed to look down on the principality that he in fact cherished was for not the heads and royal family of Lakmer but for the people present here.'

As Rein says, they are all bastards.

"Can we answer one question at a time, please? This is a little… too much, even for us."

"Hump! No, it's not! Just answer what we asked! We still have more questions for the two of you!"

Empress Madeline was upset with us because we couldn't show up during our last dinner meeting.

'I was going to show her how to make the northern tribal Salmon stew, but, then some important work came up with the action house so neither of us could show up to the meeting and Mom had to go there personally to apologize.'

She had been upset over that incident ever since then and she had already sent me a death threat-like letter… which I replied to with the best of my abilities, but it was of no use.

'School started and we had to depart, leaving the dinner meeting and that salmon stew thing up to the next chance of fate.'

Even right now, she looked upset and I knew he had put up a barrier and others couldn't see what had been going on inside here, but still, this look on her face… was quite cute, something I shouldn't think about.

"Madeleine. Let's give them a chance to explain themselves. Even I couldn't answer the question if you look at me like that."

The emperor spoke up in his usual tone and only now did Rein understand the things that were going on.

'She was confused, and I would have told her myself after a bit, but thankfully, it looks like she figured it out-'

"Ohh! Now I get it! You all are here to look after Princes and the Princess! Of course! You are here to cheer for them!"

Or not. She was dumber than I knew.

"Ah, that's right. We are here to cheer for the four of them! I wish Julie and Sophie could have come with us…" Empress Vera said in a cheerful voice that by the end had become a sorrowful one.

She wanted to have the eldest princess and the youngest one here with them as well… and from how she said all four of them…

"Prince Charles is here? He is participating in this event?!"

"Yes~! My little Charlie found some cute girl and is participating in the event at her order~! Hehe, I dragged all of them here just to watch them, and they came hoping they might also find among the other participants.

We were looking forward to seeing you create something amazing in this competition but since the two of you are here and not down there, looks like things won't be as fun as we all thought."

"Ah…"

Shit.

What the hack.

Now this is beyond what I thought.

'Looks like there will be another variable in winning the competition.'

Prince Charles was here.

The eldest prince of the Roxana empire, elder brother of Prince Claudius, the unique free spirit, the (Possessor of canceler), and someone that was probably the most talented among all the imperial hairs was here.

'He was someone that possessed an abundant talent in many things, similar to the emperor, however, he had no desire to fall into the eternal boring cycle of work by becoming the crown prince or the emperor.'

He had long declared that he had no desire to become the ruler and had set out for his own adventures, and, right now, he was a <SS> rank adventurer who was world-renowned for his discoveries and achievements.

'Everyone knew about the Adventeuer that could do anything, like, quite genuinely anything. So, if he was here with someone that could force him to join such competition, it meant the competition had just increased by a little fraction.'

He was amazing… like, really amazing from all the things I have heard of him and the data I have on him.

"Enough about Charlie! Answer my question first! What was so important that you had to cancel the dinner arrangement with me?! Do you know how sad I was?! Making the empress sad is a capital offense! You can be imprisoned for doing something like this!"

Empress Madeline was really angry… damn.

"I apologize once again for what I did, Empress. However, the matter was urgent. 

Some of the creatures that guard the storage area under Hiraani somehow managed to evolve and break free from the barrier of the headmaster, and, since it was an absurd occurrence, we were investigating if it was some kind of artificially caused accident. 

Mom suspected someone had done it intentionally. However, even after our thorough investigation, we found no evidence that the employees had been the reason for the accident.

It took us a long time to figure out the reason behind the accident was the upcoming night of Blood Moon and the environmental conditions itself, but, from what I concluded, there was something more to the story than that…"

"Blood moon? Is it coming back?! How do you know that?! And when?!"

"Yes, and no. I only have a prediction and it's only fifty-four percent credible. I am working on it, however, if I am right, the night of the blood moon should start thirty-three days from now. The headmaster is working on finding out the more accurate information on it, and he should have it by the time we finish this event."

"Ah, now I understand why he suddenly called the Astrological Society meeting on this day. so it was about the night of the blood moon. Hmmm, indeed. It is going to be difficult."

"But how did you find out something that not even the headmaster knew about Eon? What secret source do you have that tells you these kind of things?!"

Empress Ania was curious about my source… well, how should I tell her my source is one of my skills? 

She wouldn't even believe me if I told her something so absurd.

"I cannot say that. However, I believe my answer was enough to earn a pardon?"

I was looking at empress Madeline, Rein and I both were actually.

She was angry at her as well.

"Hmmmm. I am still upset but the reason sounds good enough to skip a meal with us. I will let this one go this one, only if you promise to teach me some new things when you are free."

"Ah, of course. I had been thinking of giving this to you as an apology when I see you, however, this seems to be a good enough moment."

I took out a thin book that seemed to be a notebook with a golden cover and attractive patterns made on its cover, and, as soon as she saw this thing, her eyes brightened up.

"No way… is this…?"

"Yes. A complete one as well. Took me quite a while to piece everything together but this is one of a kind in the world."

There was a myth among the famous chefs of this world that there existed a golden book written by the previous apostolate of Pochimi, the god of cooking. However, the book was broken into pieces and only pages were scattered all around the world.

Few people knew about the importance of these pages and, I had to recreate them after finding the information on them by myself.

'It took me a month to create just one of these copies, and since I poured my heart and soul into making it just like the original copy, this one was the near-perfect replica of the original book that contained all fifteen recipes-

"Hmmm? There are only fifteen?"

"Hmmm? Aren't there only fifteen?"

"No? I know for sure there are eighteen of them. I have heard this directly in a revelation from lord Pochimi… well, technically, someone else asked him that from me, but he confirmed there were eighteen of them. And, from what I see here, three that I had never even heard about are missing."

What the hell?

"Looks like I made a mistake then… I apologize…"

There were eighteen? That's why this thing looks so thin, damn!

I should have known! 

"Ah, haha, no no Eon. I am happy with just this much~! There are nine recipients I have never tried before here~! That's more than enough to earn my approval~!"

She was happy with this much?

Really? Because I certainly am not!

"I will get the remaining three of them. I promise."

"Huhu, then I wish you keep this promise. Take as much time as you can. Fining something none has even heard about in past centuries won't be an easy task."

Of course it won't but I will find them. 

I will definitely find them even if I have to use my questions and other powers of Lucy.

"Ah, looks like the head and others are here already. Our conversation will have to wait for a while." The emperor spoke up and caught all our attention.

"What? No! They still have so many questions to answer!" Empress Vera still wanted to know about our time as the house captains and the reason we were here instead of being down there. 

Well, I wanted to dodge those questions anyway, so this was better for me.

"We can have a chat with them after a while in private, Vera. Greeting the honorable heads and that swine cannot wait."

"Awwwwwwwww… alright."

She seemed sad, Empress Madeleine seemed happy, and Empress Aina was cheerful after hearing Emperor August curse at someone. She was also a weird one.

"Alright then."

He dispersed the barrier, and right at that moment, the guard at the door announced the arrival of the royal family of this principality and the current head of the place, the representative of the people that had some unique relationship with the emperor…

'Huuu. Good for now.'

Now at least have some time to think about some good excuses.