Emilia explained her situation and the current state of the Kingdom of Lugnica.
The previous emperor had suddenly passed away, and the rest of the royal bloodline had all died from a mysterious illness. Lugnica was now being temporarily governed by a Council of Sages.
As a nation covenanted with the Divine Dragon, they had to follow the prophecy of the Dragon Tablet, find the five "Dragon Priestesses" chosen by the dragon, and select the next king from among them.
A candidate chosen by the dragon would cause the insignia to react when they touched it.
And Emilia was one of those candidates.
At that moment, the insignia in Emilia's hand began to glow faintly.
"I see! No wonder you wanted to get this back so badly!" Natsuki Subaru said in realization.
"Hmph. Just making an insignia glow? I can do that too," Aqua muttered under her breath, unconvinced.
She had been annoyed with Emilia from the start.
The reason was simple: Emilia also had healing magic.
Right now, Aqua couldn't use her goddess powers, and her healing magic was useless.
She was worried that Kazuma would think she was too useless and let Emilia take her place.
Unforgivable!
Satou Kazuma, however, was inwardly celebrating.
My bet paid off!
Emilia really is someone important!
She's a candidate for the throne!
If Emilia actually became queen, their group could tag along and live a life of luxury!
Although Kazuma's heart yearned for adventure, a life free of worries sounded pretty good too!
But...
Kazuma glanced at Aqua. A new idea began to form.
The chosen candidate can make the insignia glow?
Perhaps...
...I can package Aqua as one of the candidates?
After all, Aqua did have the ability to make any object she touched glow.
"Emilia, have all the candidates' identities been announced?" Kazuma asked.
"No. Including me, only four candidates have been confirmed. There's no information on the fifth candidate yet."
Emilia shook her head.
"I see."
A very meaningful smile spread across Satou Kazuma's face.
"I don't know how to thank you all. If you are willing, I would like to formally invite you to my benefactor's domain. Lord Roswaal and I will host you properly!" Emilia said with great sincerity.
She had explained earlier: Roswaal L. Mathers was her official sponsor in the royal selection, and he was also Lugnica's Court Mages.
"Will there be good food there!?"
Hearing this, Aqua, who had been pouting just a moment ago, suddenly had stars in her eyes.
"I'm sure there will be plenty you'll enjoy!" Emilia said with a gentle smile.
"Kazuma! Let's go right now!"
Aqua was bouncing with excitement. Her sense of crisis over Emilia's healing magic had completely vanished at the promise of food.
"Wait a minute..."
Natsuki Subaru interrupted.
"We... we have one more place we have to go!"
Subaru was, of course, talking about Felt and Old Man Rom's hideout.
He knew that if they just left, Felt and Rom would be murdered by Elsa. Subaru couldn't let that happen.
In the previous loop, he had sensed that Felt and Rom weren't bad people. They didn't even know what the insignia was. They had only accepted Elsa's commission to save money and escape the slums.
"Where do you need to go? Do you need my help?" Emilia asked.
"We have to go..."
The words got stuck in Subaru's throat.
To Emilia, Felt was the thief who stole her insignia. Moreover, he couldn't talk about "Return by Death."
He worried Emilia might have a heart attack just like Kazuma did.
Just then, Satou Kazuma spoke up.
"I think we should pay a visit to that thief's hideout. According to our investigation, her name is Felt."
"Stealing is wrong, but since I have the insignia back, I don't really want to pursue it," Emilia said, shaking her head and looking in the direction Felt had fled. She seemed to be from the slums, perhaps forced to steal to survive.
"I just think something is strange," Kazuma explained.
"Even though this is proof of candidacy, the insignia itself looks ordinary, not particularly valuable. Also, your candidacy hasn't been made public, right, Emilia? So they shouldn't have known what it was. And yet, Felt's target was very specific. I don't think this is a simple matter."
"Kazuma, are you saying... they were intentionally trying to steal this insignia?"
Emilia's expression turned serious.
"That's right. Which is why I think we need to investigate."
"Lia, I think he has a point," Puck said, turning to Emilia.
"Okay. Then, Kazuma, please lead the way!" Emilia nodded in agreement.
And so, the group set off for Felt's hideout.
Along the way, Subaru was worried about dragging Emilia into danger...
...but Kazuma quickly explained.
When it came to combat power, they didn't need to worry about Emilia at all.
During the first loop, when Kazuma was asking around about the Demon King, he had seen several massive ice spikes embedded in the city wall near the plaza.
Based on the gossip at the time, Kazuma deduced that those were from Emilia's magic, which she used while chasing Felt.
Elsa was fast, but from what Kazuma had observed, she didn't seem to use magic, relying purely on physical skill.
With Emilia joining them, dealing with Elsa shouldn't be a big problem.
-------
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