"By the way, Emilia, are there any magic crystal stones left in the Mansion?"
Grin put down his spoon, his hand naturally resting on Betty's waist.
Emilia tapped her right cheek with her fingertip, as if in thought.
"Roswaal seems to have one more, but it has quite a few impurities and can't be used directly."
Grin was a bit disappointed; if there were a suitable magic crystal stone, he could take Betty with him.
Now, Betty's source of mana had changed from the Forbidden Library to Grin.
Maintaining Betty's normal activities required a constant consumption of massive amounts of mana.
If there were a magic crystal stone to act as a power bank, Grin's burden would be significantly reduced.
As if sharing a heart-to-heart connection with Grin, Betty gave his hand a comforting pat.
"Don't worry, Grin. If Betty modifies it, that magic crystal stone can be used."
"You can actually do that? As expected of Betty."
Grin leaned down affectionately and rubbed his head against Betty's hair.
"Stop it! You idiot Grin, Betty's hair is going to turn into a furball!"
Although Betty shouted for him to stop, she didn't make any move to resist.
Coo coo coo... Bang!
While everyone was playing around, a grey pigeon crashed into the dining room window.
Ram looked toward the sound, her gaze shifting slightly.
"It looks like something is tied to that pigeon's leg."
Having said that, she walked over quickly, pushed open the window, and with swift hands, caught the pigeon just as it was about to slide off the ledge.
Ram lifted the pigeon's wing and, as expected, found a tied note on its tiny claw.
Grin stood up alertly and asked, "Ram, what's the situation?"
Could it be a declaration of war from another Royal Selection camp?
No, that's not right; I haven't seen this part of the plot.
Ram took the note and released the pigeon.
After smoothing out the note and reading its contents, Ram's expression became somewhat playful.
"I see. This is written to you, Grin."
After saying that, Ram walked over to Grin and showed the note to him.
"Mine? It's not a love letter, is it?"
Grin's head was full of question marks; he wasn't in the habit of corresponding with anyone.
Taking it and looking, he saw Otto's name written clearly at the end of the note.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this..."
With an uneasy heart, Grin began to read slowly in a low voice.
[My dear friend Grin, seeing these words is like meeting in person.
Grin, we're rich! Hahaha!
After returning to the Royal Capital, I conducted a secret investigation of the market. Just as you said, someone is buying up war supplies, and the scale is gradually expanding.
I believe this is a massive business opportunity, so I decided not to pay back the loan for now and use all the funds to take a gamble! I trust your vision.
Although we have 400 gold coins, it's still just a drop in the bucket in the vast market, until I set my sights on a certain High-Grade Healing Potion.
Because there hasn't been a war recently, there isn't much stock of this highly effective healing potion on the market. One of its ingredients is a medicinal herb called requiem grass, and each potion requires 20 grams.
Do you know what I discovered? The high-grade Earth Dragon fodder in the Royal Capital is mixed with requiem grass!
So I first rented a few warehouses and used the rest of the money to buy up all of this fodder.
The amount of requiem grass I've sifted out so far is uncountable!
Now that Flügel Avenue is blocked, once the requiem grass on the market is depleted, I'll sell it at a high price!
Uh... but there's also some bad news. A greedy noble has been eyeing the requiem grass in our hands.
Fortunately, I managed to buy a week's time with the excuse of needing to sort it. To protect our shared property, please make sure to come to the Royal Capital within seven days!
Your dear friend — Otto Suwen.]
Grin slumped on the sofa and crumpled the note into a ball.
"That bastard..."
"Couldn't he just resell some protective gear or ironware? Why did he go and hoard some damn Earth Dragon fodder?"
Ram was puzzled by Grin's reaction, so she familiarly picked up the letter.
After looking at it for a while, a mocking smile curled on Ram's lips.
"Grin, your friend is even more of a troublemaker than you are."
Relying on Grin's foresight, Otto had bought a large amount of high-grade Earth Dragon fodder at a low price in advance, nearly reaching a quarter of the Royal Capital's stock.
At that time, the citizens of the Royal Capital didn't know that Flügel Avenue would be closed, thinking that fodder would continue to be delivered in a steady stream.
It didn't really affect ordinary Earth Dragons; after all, they usually ate inferior fodder.
But the Earth Dragons raised by the nobles might have to tighten their belts.
Because it was impossible for Otto to resell the high-grade fodder immediately; he still had to sift through it for the requiem grass first.
Grin had a bit of a headache: "He only had 400 gold coins, the price of two kilograms of tea. How could he cause such a big stir?"
These words stung Ram's heart again. Thinking of the ruined Little Crimson Leaf Tea, she wanted to hang Subaru Natsuki up and beat him.
"That kind of precious tea only has one small jar in the Mansion. Grin, you underestimate the purchasing power of 400 gold coins."
"According to the letter, buying all that high-grade fodder could fill at least three large warehouses."
Grin nodded thoughtfully; 400 gold coins were actually about the same as 4 million RMB.
He and Otto were good friends who had spent time in prison together, after all; he couldn't just leave the guy hanging.
"Emilia, can we set off early?"
Emilia sat up straight; she saw the worry in Grin's eyes.
"Of course. I also feel that we shouldn't just stand by and watch when it comes to Grin's friend."
Seeing Emilia was moved, Ram quickly spoke up to stop her.
"No way. The detour route you've chosen is a branch of Flügel Avenue, which is currently still covered in White Mist."
"The departure time was calculated by Lord Roswaal. Only then will the White Mist dissipate enough to allow for safe passage."
Grin's expression was grave. Roswaal's calculation likely came from his book of wisdom.
Although he didn't want to admit it, that crappy book did have some merit.
If the book stated they shouldn't leave now, going recklessly would surely result in a head-on collision with the wandering White Whale.
Ram walked over to Grin and began to clear the dirty dishes from the table.
"Don't worry, Grin. With the Royal Selection assembly approaching, no noble would dare to cause trouble at such a critical time."
"Besides, didn't your idiot friend buy a week's time? That's plenty of time for your fist to fly into those guys' faces."
After hearing Ram's analysis, Grin's mood finally settled down.
"Ram has a point. Emilia's safety is equally important. Let's stick to the original plan."
Dinner ended, and everyone gradually went off to attend to their own business... Late at night.
The night breeze, carrying the scent of flowers from the courtyard, quietly slipped through the half-open window.
Grin shivered and subconsciously pulled at the quilt, murmuring in his sleep, "So cold..."
Unfortunately, there was now another person under his quilt, making it difficult to keep both of them warm.
Betty claimed that since she had a contractor, she never wanted to return to the cold Forbidden Library again.
So she naturally acted as Grin's body pillow.
Betty, in his arms, was a light sleeper, and the slight movement woke her up.
Looking at Grin's slightly frowning sleeping face, Betty gave a doting smile.
"This defenseless face is truly reassuring..."
Grin was in a daze, his hands constantly groping in the dark.
"Where's my precious quilt..."
Hearing this, the Great Spirit girl happily snuggled into Grin's arms and said, "Betty is right here. I really can't do anything about you."
Grin didn't pay any attention. He grabbed the quilt with both hands and did a death roll, wrapping the entire comforter around himself.
Leaving Betty alone, stunned in the night wind.
After a moment of being dazed, she began to get angry.
"Dammit..."
Crack crack crack—
Betty's silver teeth ground together as she was about to give Grin's head a punch.
Suddenly!
Grin's face turned pale, his eyes were tightly shut, his brows were furrowed, and a lot of cold sweat broke out in an instant.
This was clearly the behavior of a normal person having a nightmare.
Grin's mouth opened and closed, and intermittent sleep talk came from his mouth.
"Wait... listen to me, I'm innocent. I'm not a lolicon at all. She's over four hundred years old, she's long been an adult..."
"In that case... I request to be shot with the smallest caliber bullet."
"Hahahaha, you want to kill me? With my 'Water-Skimming Kick', it won't be that simple! Ya-ha..."
"Ah!!!"
Grin screamed and sat up abruptly, gasping for air.
Just now, he had dreamed that he was about to be executed by firing squad, so he used a 'Water-Skimming Kick' to take off from the spot, only to be blown to ashes by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Seeing Grin wake up, Betty quickly stepped forward and hugged his head, gently stroking his hair and saying comfortingly:
"There, there... the nightmare has flown away. You don't have to be afraid anymore, Grin..."
Grin leaned against Betty's chest, all the strength leaving his body.
At this moment, Betty was only wearing a thin nightgown.
He could faintly feel two slight protrusions amidst that warm softness.
He shamelessly rubbed against the warm spot, causing Betty to cough lightly, her ears turning red as she raised her hand to press down on his head:
"Behave yourself... You guy, do you like clinging to Betty that much?"
Grin grinned mischievously, "Heh heh, I'd even accept being hit by a nuclear bomb now."