Chapter 107 - 9

The boy who ran to Princess Rinne was the Prince of the dwarf kingdom, Torin Blaine. He had met Princess Rinne when his father, the king of the Dwarf Kingdom, went to Cirlus Kingdom. At that time, Prince Torin was amazed by Princess Rinne's genius in magic tools and artifacts. Without him knowing it, he harbored affection and respect for her.

"Long time no see, Prince Torin." Princess Rinne greets Prince Torin politely. She was in his kingdom and didn't dare to get too close to him.

"Princess Rinne, I've told you many times you don't need to be so polite." Prince Torin smiled bitterly. He then realized that he was being watched by many people.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I am the second Prince of the Dwarf Kingdom, my name is Torin Blaine. I welcome the students of the Piqmentia Grand Academy to the Dwarf Kingdom." Prince Torin smiled and looked at the faces of the students.

"Prince, we'd better talk inside. The king has prepared a banquet for them." Dioq reminded Prince Torin who looked too excited.

"You're right! Please come in... I will escort you to the banquet." Prince Torin walked in leading them to the banquet hall.

Along the corridor, the students were amazed by the blacksmithing technology of the dwarf kingdom. Some of the servants and guards were golems that were similar to humans. The banquet hall is at the top of the building, so they had to use an object that lifted them with gravity magic. The concept is similar to an elevator on earth.

"Wow! This brings us to the top quickly!"

"Awesome!"

The students shouted with joy after having their first experience of using it. Prince Torin and Princess Rinne smiled at their behavior.

Soon they arrived at the banquet site. A large hall that was enough to accommodate a thousand people. Inside the hall a middle-aged man with a face resembling a prince Torin was waiting, he had long yellow hair that was neatly tied. His posture is similar to dioq, he is the king of the Dwarf Kingdom, Auva Blaine. Next to him was a girl who was the same age as the academy students. She has long dark yellow hair with an oval face. Her posture was somewhat different from that of most Dwarves. She was slightly taller though not as tall as the Princesses of the human kingdom. Because of her small stature, she looks very sweet and adorable.

"Gustave, Merlick, welcome back to the Dwarf Kingdom." King Auva rose from his seat and greeted King Gustave and Merlick. Then he looked at the students behind them.

"I was the king of the Dwarf Kingdom wish you welcome to our kingdom. Especially for the heroes who were summoned from another world. For tonight, please enjoy the banquet that we have prepared for you. Tomorrow you will be given a schedule for your study tour in this Kingdom." King Auva laughed looking at the students. He was very friendly to the students.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" The students answered in unison and began to enjoy their banquet.

While they were gathering to enjoy the banquet, the Princesses and heroes made their circle. Of course, Princess Iris is not included in it. As usual, she's with Clara, Ziel, and Lilith.

The yellow-haired Princess who was previously with King Auva walked slowly towards the circle of Princesses.

"Excuse me, may I join you?" The yellow-haired Princess asked fearfully.

"You are?" Princess Aishia asked because she didn't recognize her.

"Of course, Princess Melkia." Princess Rinne answered first before she introduced her name. In addition to knowing Prince Torin, Princess Rinne also knows Princess Melkia because they both came together to the Cirlus Kingdom.

"I am the first Princess of the Dwarf Kingdom, Melkia Blaine. I am honored to be your acquaintance." Princess Melkia introduced herself to everyone. She had no peers within the kingdom and she should not be recklessly befriended by outsiders. Because of that, she was confused about how to socialize with them. Moreover, she is also the type of girl who is shy with strangers. One by one the Princesses introduced and the heroes followed.

"Princess Melkia, are everyone in this kingdom a blacksmith and a magic tool creator?" Hikaru asked out of curiosity. According to otherworldly novels and manga that he read, dwarfs usually worked as blacksmiths.

"Most of them chose to work as blacksmiths, but there were also others who chose other jobs." Princess Melkia smiled in response. Not long after chatting with them, the shyness and awkward atmosphere that was bothering her slowly disappeared. Right now she could chat with them as she would chat with a friend.

"Then are you also a magic tool creator?" Megumi acted like they had become close friends. Her cheerful and friendly demeanor makes it easy to get close to anyone.

"She is a great magic tool creator." Princess Rinne answered Megumi's question.

"I'm not that great! Princess Rinne is even better! I learned a lot from her when we visited the Cirlus Kingdom!" Princess Melkia accidentally raised her voice. The surrounding students who were enjoying the banquet looked at her. When she realized she was the center of everyone's attention, Princess Melkia immediately hid among the Princesses. While hiding, she accidentally saw the sun pendant around Princess Freya's neck.

"Eh!?" Princess Melkia trembled to see the pendant. She narrowed her eyes to get a better look.

"Princess Melkia." Princess Rinne's voice immediately woke her up.

"Ah, what's wrong Princess Rinne?" Princess Melkia is confused because the Princesses and heroes are looking at her.

"What are you doing standing looking at Princess Freya. Ah, or maybe because of the pendant? You noticed it didn't you?" Princess Rinne quickly found out the reason.

"Yes, the human region is indeed extraordinary. You guys still have artifacts of that level. We so-called blacksmith kingdoms don't even have one." Princess Melkia smiled bitterly.

"Ahaha..." Princess Freya didn't know how to respond.

"You also have the same thing with you." Princess Melkia then glanced at Princess Aishia's wrist.

"Ah, this is someone's gift and not mine." Princess Aishia shook her head. Her expression was sad.

"I'm sorry if I reminded you of something sad." Princess Melkia immediately noticed it.

"It's okay. You're not guilty at all. I'm the one who got carried away by my emotions." Princess Aishia returned to her usual expression.

(Where did these Princesses get their artifacts from! We don't even have any of that)

Princess Reina, who had been silent for a long time, muttered enviously in her heart. She was annoyed to see the two princesses one by one getting a fortune.

"Hmm... Both are indeed artifacts. It's not from the same person, is it?" Princess Reina muttered in a slightly louder voice for them to hear.

"Eh!?" Princess Freya was shocked and trembled at her words. Princess Aishia next to her became suspicious with her exaggerated response.

"What's wrong Freya? You look shocked?" Princess Aishia was suspicious of her response.

"Ahaha...it's nothing. There's no way this could be given to the same person right? Even the mana emitted is different." Princess Freya averted her eyes from Princess Aishia. She started to sweat coldly from her forehead.

"Suspicious..." Princess Aishia narrowed her eyes at her. Then she realized this time it was the two of them who were the center of attention of the other Princesses. They all laughed in unison.

"You guys are close as usual huh. There's no way you two fight over a guy, right?" Princess Reina quipped Princess Freya. She realized that something was wrong with her earlier response.

"Of course not. That aside, have you seen my brother and Prince Albert? I haven't seen him since I got here. He brought my father's Claimh Solais to be repaired here." Princess Freya tried to change the subject.

"I saw him out with Prince Albert. I don't know where they went but they seemed to be in a hurry." Princess Rinne saw the two of them when they entered the banquet hall. They looked at the banquet hall for a while then immediately left from there.

"Where do they go?" Princess Freya mumbled to herself. She looked worried for his brother.

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Princess Aishia tried to calm her down.

On the other side of the banquet hall, Clara and the others were also enjoying their meal.

"Hmm... This food is delicious, but somehow it doesn't taste as good as someone I know." Princess Iris muttered without her realizing it, but her voice was heard by Clara who was eating beside her.

"I agree with you." Lilith nodded in agreement. Ziel pretended not to hear their murmurs.

"Whose dish are you referring to, Iris?" Clara asked curiously. Because her face made a smile that she never showed her.

"No one, it's... Just a royal chef, really a royal chef!" Princess Iris answered stammeringly.

"Then why did you answer nervously? You're not what you used to be, iris." Clara tilted her head at Princess Iris' reaction. She was increasingly convinced that Princess Iris was hiding something.

"It's just your feeling. Instead of talking about it, don't they look like they already know each other?" Princess Iris pointed at Merlick, King Gustave, and King Auva. But it wasn't them she was talking about. She talks about Kalya which is at their table. King Auva looks familiar with her.

"You're right, I'm also curious about their relationship." Lilith immediately responded to Princess Iris's words. They both looked at Ziel who was enjoying his meal.

"Is there something strange on my face?" Ziel looked back at them.

"Nothing!" They answered and averted their gazes at the same time. They looked more familiar than before. If Princess Iris found out that Lilith was the one who used her to hurt the students, she don't know what she would do.

"You two became very close. You also became closer to Ken, right?" Clara said a little lonely. She felt abandoned by her friends.

"It's just how you feel. You're still my best friend." Princess Iris realized what she was feeling. She grabbed Clara's hand on the table. Clara smiled broadly in response to her actions.

Ziel who was eating suddenly looked outside the building but soon he focused back on his food.

***

This is when Princess Melkia gets acquainted with Princesses and heroes. King Auva was chatting with Merlick and King Gustave. While they were chatting, King Auva saw an elf passing by their table.

"Princess Cattleya?" He asked hesitantly and was afraid of mistaking people. But in his mind, he was sure because she was one of the most beautiful elves in the Elven Kingdom or maybe one of the most beautiful creatures in the Clorius continent.

"Ooh, King Auva. Long time no see." Kalya replied briefly.

"It's you Princess Cattleya. Long time no see. How are you? Ah, you better sit down first." King Auva stood up and invited Kalya to sit down. Meanwhile, the other two people at the table had different reactions. Merlick smiled bitterly knowing that while King Gustave was surprised that one of the teachers in the academy was a Princess.

"Thanks." Kalya then sat on the chair. She did it out of respect for him as an old acquaintance.

"Currently the Elven kingdom is very closed to outsiders. So I can no longer visit there. What is going on in the Elven Kingdom?" King Auva asked curiously. He didn't know anything about the incidents in the Elven kingdom. That meant the divine races had very well sealed off the information so it wouldn't leak out.

"I can't tell you. This is an internal matter of the Elven Kingdom and I'm no longer a Princess right now so please stop calling me that." Kalya feels sad when reminded about it.

"But..." King Auva still stubbornly wanted to know. But he stopped his words because of a roar from outside the building.

Roooooaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrr!