I had Cell dispose of all the gifts in the end.
The battle with the outsider had made a mess of them, and many had been sent anonymously to begin with. Returning them all to their senders would be impossible, so he would sell or get rid of them.
I’d considered having Erza and Ina deal with them through their employer, but they were specialized in vegetable produce, so they wouldn’t be able to handle expensive gifts.
Not because of a lack of ability, that is. Erza had said, “That would be encroaching on others’ territory.” Indeed, it wouldn’t make a very good impression if they started selling things outside their field of expertise for a quick buck.
But Cell was nobility, and he had connections. All of the gifts were expensive items, so who better to deal with them than a noble? With those thoughts in mind, I left it all to him.
Once that was over and the mansion was back to normal, I relaxed in the salon.
Aurum appeared and asked me, “Got a minute?”
“Sure. What is it?”
“It’s about…her. Nihonium.”
“Hmm.” I sat straight up from my deeply reclined position in the slightly worn-out sofa, in order to face Aurum at eye-level, and asked, “What about her?”
“You’re planning to help that lady, right? Naturally.”
“Well… Yeah. I’m just going to do what I always do.” I’d helped Aurum at one point, so I figured that was all I needed to say.
“Can you wait a little on that?”
“Hm? Why?”
“Because I’m planning to take her to a few dungeons.” Aurum looked more serious than usual. She was the kind of person who lived carefreely, much like Alice, so I noticed when she was especially serious.
“Do you have an idea, or something?”
“I think she needs to see the outside world for a while.”
“Do you?”
“I’m always happy that I did.”
“Okay,” I assented.
She seemed surprised. “That was easy. Are you sure?”
“Well, you said you have an idea, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’m letting you do your thing. You’re both spirits, so if you think you know what’s best for her, then I have to trust you.”
“Thanks.”
Right after we’d come to that mutual agreement, a new voice cut in to our conversation, “In that case…”
“Whoa!”
“Eep!”
Aurum and I were both so surprised that we fell over.
“You should help me first.” It was Neptune. He spoke gently, with an unceasing smile on his face.
“When did you barge in?” I demanded.
“Not telling!”
“…Are the girls here?”
“Ahaha! Come on, they’re not with me 24/7.”
“They’re not?”
“Forget that,” he brushed me off. “If you need to wait on this thing, prioritize my thing. You said you’d help with Tennessine, remember?”
“Right…”
“Sir Sato.” This time, Cell had appeared from the opposite direction.
“Whoa!”
“Eep! A-Again?”
Aurum and I were surprised once more.
“What now, Cell?” I asked him.
“I’d like you to fulfill your promise to me.”
“To you? Oh, about the money-printing dungeon?”
“Indeed.”
“Did you deal with the political issues, or whatever?”
“Without incident.”
“I see.”
I’d made promises with both Neptune and Cell, and they’d demanded I fulfill them at the same time. At this point, I had to be grateful for Aurum taking Nihonium off my hands.
“Please,” Neptune insisted. “There’s nobody else I can ask.”
“The implications of this are global,” Cell pressed me. “I need your help, Sir Sato.”
Both of them gazed intently at me.
Well, where do we begin?
Neptune. Cell. I looked back and forth between them.
Finally, I asked, “Where is Tennessine?”
“Thank you! Now that you’re coming, my problems are basically already solved.”
A big smile spread across Neptune’s face, while Cell looked bitter. I felt bad for him, but this was nagging at me.
This was the first time I’d ever seen Neptune without his girls. I’d chosen him because of how unusual that was.
Just what kind of dungeon is Tennessine?