Seeing the identical reactions from father and daughter, Kiki snorted and climbed onto Vivian’s head, lifting his chin as high as he could.
[That’s right! This great one is a divine beast. Communicating with nature to locate a mere mine is child’s play!]
“He says it’s easy for him! He can talk-talk with nature!”
[Not “talk-talk.” Communicate!]
“T-to… communicate!”
“Is that truly possible?”
Even listening to the comedic exchange between the two—no, between one person and one divine beast—Jean could not laugh.
His eyes and mouth hung wide open. It looked as though he wanted to smile at the wonderful news, but shock overwhelmed the joy.
[Of course it’s true. So make sure you continue serving me properly, human. If your treatment satisfies me, I may occasionally bestow blessings like this again.]
“Thank you so much!”
Jean leapt to his feet and lifted Kiki high into the air from atop Vivian’s head.
“As expected, Divine Beast, you are incredible!”
Kiki started to snap at him for daring to touch his exalted body so casually, but the corners of his mouth twitched upward instead.
And when Jean began spinning around in circles the same way he used to do with Vivian, the little monkey burst into delighted laughter.
“Oh. He likes it.”
[H-Hehe… I do not! D-did you really think I’d enjoy something so trivial?!]
Kiki let out a shrill cry and wriggled free from Jean’s grasp, his face flushed red—though the black fur covering him hid it well.
“Vivi, ask the Divine Beast if Daddy made a mistake.”
“Mmm… it’s okay! I think he likes it!”
Vivian’s claim was proven correct by the fact that Kiki merely awkwardly smoothed down his fur instead of angrily denying it.
Jean briefly wondered whether finding a divine beast adorable counted as disrespectful, then cleared his throat and sat back down.
“Ahem. Divine Beast… I only know what kind of gem is in the mine, and even the location is vague. I don’t know the name of the mine at all. Could you still find it?”
[Hmm. If it’s a mine no one even properly knows about, then it probably doesn’t produce anything especially valuable. Tell me what gem it is first.]
Kiki answered lazily—then froze in surprise.
Jean was staring at him with eyes burning with desperate longing.
His lips trembled as he spoke.
“...Diamonds.”
If he could obtain that alone—
then his plan would all but succeed.
One day before Jean de Lambert regained his memories.
“Damn it. If things are going to go wrong, they really go all the way.”
“What happened?”
Edouard, the merchant who had taken in the wandering Jean, wore a deep frown from early morning.
News had arrived that his longtime rival had acquired a diamond mine.
Unlike that man, Edouard prided himself on conducting business with at least some conscience. He utterly despised the sort of scoundrel who would do absolutely anything for money.
And yet fortune had smiled on that very man.
At the worst possible timing, too—while they were competing for an imperial contract.
“A diamond mine? Can something like that really be discovered so secretly? If a new vein had been found, wouldn’t word have reached you months ago?”
“They say it was discovered in an abandoned mine that had been discarded for being unprofitable. Everyone thought it was just an ordinary vein. Who would’ve guessed it held diamonds?”
“Must’ve been an abandoned mine inside that bastard’s territory. Still, for the information to reach us this late…”
“Exactly. Apparently it was found in Serenville.”
…That was the entirety of Jean’s knowledge regarding the diamond mine.
On the very day he had intended to investigate further, a splitting headache struck him and his memories returned, overturning every priority in his life.
But Serenville was the most developed mining region in the Empire, with more than twenty mines in operation.
Even excluding the active ones, there were over ten abandoned mines. There was no way he could buy all of them without proper information—not that he had the money anyway—and if he started digging around too openly, others would inevitably catch wind of it.
That was why he had prepared himself for a search that might take as long as ten years.
But if Kiki could truly locate the diamond mine, it would save an unimaginable amount of time.
“The mine is somewhere in Serenville. Ah—Serenville is the name of the duchy we live in. Belluang, where we went yesterday, and this village are both under the Duchy of Serenville. If you look at the map here…”
Jean spread the map out where Kiki could see it clearly and pointed at several abandoned mines.
“Here, here, and here probably aren’t it. Their owners only temporarily shut them down, so it’s hard to call them truly abandoned. And this one used to be a gold mine, so that’s probably not it either. Diamonds and gold usually aren’t found together.”
It was the conclusion he had reached after gathering information throughout Belluang the previous day.
“There’s also an abandoned mine around this area. Well, it’s not exactly nearby since you need a carriage to get there. Anyway, that’s probably not it either. The conditions there don’t match the formation of diamonds at all.”
[Hmm. Then there are only about six places worth investigating. The more distant ones may take some time to examine, human.]
When Vivian relayed the message, Jean smiled as though that alone was more than enough and bowed deeply.
“Kiki. Your shoulders are going to dislocate from all that pride!”
Kiki’s puffed-up shoulders immediately drooped.
Before Jean left, Vivian’s daily life had consisted of little more than playing around.
Jean was a noble in title only; unlike true aristocrats, he had never forced her into studying from childhood.
Peter, who used to play with her, was gone now—but Kiki had appeared in his place.
Vivian had regained the peaceful routine she had lost.
“You know you’re not allowed outside the garden, right?”
“Don’t worry, Daddy! I’m all grown up now!”
At the words of a daughter who had not even lost her baby teeth yet, Jean burst out laughing.
After he left to do cleaning work, Vivian sat in the garden with Kiki and began picking flowers.
“I’ll make you a flower crown~”
[A flower crown?]
“Mhm! You weave flowers together like this and this, and it becomes a crown!”
[Hooh. A crown! Truly fitting for a divine beast such as myself. Hurry and make it!]
“Geez. Stop rushing me.”
Her hands moved skillfully as she gathered colorful blossoms and intertwined their stems.
It was exactly the same method Jean had taught her when she was even younger.
Even after she had been left alone, she often made flower crowns while waiting for her father to return, so Vivian had become remarkably good at it.
Beside her, Kiki busily offered commentary every second.
“This flower would look better next to that one. No, this one’s nicer than that.”
“You talk too much, Kiki.”
[And you are far too insolent!]
“Anyway, done!”
[Ohh. It looks rather impressive.]
“Hehe. Your head is tiny, so it was quicker to make.”
The tiny flower crown perched atop the baby monkey’s little head looked so adorable it made Vivian want to squish him in a hug.
Unable to hide her pride, she wrapped Kiki tightly in her arms.
[Kiiieeek!]
Kiki shrieked reflexively.
And yet, despite the scream, he made no effort to escape and remained quietly in her embrace.
“Hehe. You like hugs too, Kiki?”
[I do not.]
“Then why are you sitting so still?”
[This noble body does not enjoy being restrained by anyone! It’s just… when you hold me like this, it feels…]
“Feels?”
Kiki lifted his head from Vivian’s arms.
Meeting those ruby-like red eyes, Vivian frowned ever so slightly at the vague image of someone that surfaced in her mind.
[...Familiar.]
“Huh?”
[Vivian. You really are a strange human.]
“Did you just insult me out of nowhere?”
[Could your mother perhaps have been royalty?]
“My mom? Nope! Royalty are suuuper important people. But my mom is just my mom, and my dad is just my dad.”
[True enough. Royalty wouldn’t live out in a rural place like this.]
“He keeps insulting us!”
Vivian and Kiki bickered back and forth, but before long they were laughing together again as they ran around the garden.
Kiki insisted that if Vivian made one, she had to wear one too, so she crafted another flower crown for herself and placed it on her head.
The sight of the little girl and the monkey sharing matching flower crowns and playing together was utterly peaceful.
