“Once, there was a king chosen by fate, but, unbeknownst to him, a cruel fate awaits him.”

This is the first passage that we found.

The second, third, and the fourth are to follow.

“He was wise, courageous and most of all, he cared for his subject, a true gem that shines among the people and led his kingdom to prosperity.”

“Still, opposition arises, war broke out, and the faction that he dearly cherished, the wife that he loved, and the people that he trusted one by one betrayed him.”

“Upon returning from his quest, an expedition to find miracle upon his reach, he met with his very own blood and flesh usurping him and tried to dethrone him but still, he fought with his head held up high.”

I knew it…

“And so, the chivalrous king succumbs to his wounds inflicted by a treacherous comrade. In his fleeting moment, he could not imagine anything but the regressing regrets.”

Upon hearing the passage, everyone started contemplating and they are trying to make out of the words it contains.

It is as the story stated, a king rises and fall despite being prosperous and chivalrous in his life. It was the people around him who dragged him to death and the sole reason why he fell. It was not a war with the other kingdoms. It was solely because of a conflict inside his kingdom.

However, what does it tell us in this situation?

“Anyone figured something out about it?”

Everyone shook their heads in unison and I can only sigh as I am the same. I know of the story but the whole story is already vague in my head. The passage itself doesn’t have much to tell of the situation but at least there’s a clue in here.

Daisy tugs on my clothes and in response, I immediately gave her a glance.

“Asagao, in the passage, it is said that the king is a true gem that shines among the people, right?”

“It does. Among all the people, he might have shined the brightest. You could say that it might be the one that caused the people around him to yearn for him and to the point that some yearned for what he achieved. That’s only a guess.”

“I see, it is true that a king must always shine for his subject to look up to. He is a figure of a ruler and also the ray of hope for them.”

“What do you want to point out?”

“It’s how your brother, King Ashfon, shines when he is front of your people, it is how like my father becomes like the sun whenever he faces his subjects, it is like how the other kings and queen all around the world.”

I get what Daisy is trying to tell.

I know well how the people of our kingdom look up to Fonfon in respect and in return, Fonfon also respects the citizens. He sits in his chair every single day not to dawdle around but to do an actual work for our kingdom.

He doesn't live in luxury but lives a life full of woes ahead.

The reason he is able to push through is that he knows that there are people who look forward to a new tomorrow in his leadership, a tomorrow where they are led into a future of prosperity.

Traveling around, I also learned that the other kingdom’s kings and queens are doing their best for their subjects. That’s why this world was in unison when we first came.

However, the king in this story met an ill fate…

“Daisy, even we knew about that, the answer, the one thing we need right now is an answer.”

“I know that. I just wanted to tell that since…I too wanted to know how to lead people like how my father did.”

“You did want to before Higan came?”

“Ah, please don’t tell her that everyone! She might find it extremely cheeky of me.”

Did Daisy just imply that she was aiming to be the beast queen too before Higan came? I guess that’s normal if you are a daughter of a former beast king.

It made me think how Daisy felt when her father was dethroned through a tradition. Did she decide to just become a follower of Higan so just she can still serve her kingdom?

Stolen story; please report.

“Shines like a gem…Asagao, the miniature model…there’s a throne room where a gem sits on, right?”

“Now that you mentioned it…”

Mimi gave her insight and pointed at the model of a castle in the miniature kingdom in the middle of the room. Everyone immediately rushes to the miniature model and peer inside the castle bisected in half to show the interior.

Deep into the grand hall is a throne where the most beautiful gem sits. Beside the gem, lining up from his side throughout the hall are several gems lower in quality.

“Such a beautiful gem…can we keep that?”

“What are you saying…? Obviously not, okay?”

“Eh? Would be a good ornament though…”

I didn’t know that Mimi is interested in accessories. May I should buy her some later to make up for this one since it looks like she really wanted it.

Well, the question now is…

“What do we do with this?”

I tilt my head in puzzlement as I ponder for the answer or what to do now with these clues. I don’t even know if they are actually clues or not but I know that there is some sort of connection.

Suddenly, Topaz tugs on my clothes. Why do they love this cute gesture of tugging one’s clothes?!

Topaz squints her eyes as she stares at me in an awkward disappointment.

“Eh?”

“That scale there, it has something to do with everything, right?”

“Ah…”

“I think all of us had that figured. Why are you still spacing out, Asagao?”

“You’re scolding?!”

“I mean if we don’t get out of here, you can’t learn to cook the food in the book I gave you earlier.”

“I love how that motivates you…”

All that said, I glance over the scale where I found the first passage earlier. Even the twins, Daisy, and Mimi had the whole thing figured. It seems I am the only who tried to uselessly waste time by thinking of the obvious.

I approach the scale where an ornate crown sits on one of the scales. I took out the five pieces of passages and place it on the empty scale. I was expecting it to tilt but to no avail, nothing happened.

I look back at everyone but they all have this exasperated countenance while forcing a smile.

“W-Was that wrong?”

Everyone nodded in unison from my query. I felt a little embarrassed because that was too idiotic of me! Why would anyone think that five pieces of paper can tilt a single crown in a scale?!

“Sorry…”

“Aw, that’s fine, Asagao.”

Hibiscus consoled me as she places a hand on my head and everyone followed and places their hands too. They started rubbing my head to cheer me up but all I can feel is nausea from all the shaking.

“That was adorably dumb of you. Asagao, we are going to use the gems to scale in the crown. There are a lot of precious stones lying in the miniature kingdom and we might be able to figure out the exact weight for it.”

Casablanca explains while picking up a gem inside the castle, one of the gems that are lined up in the throne room and places it on the scale. One gem wasn’t enough to even move the scale but it makes more sense to use the gems.

“Also, there’s a parchment attached in the crown. Here, see it.”

Daisy handed me the parchment that she was referring to. It seems they found it within the crown that I wasn’t able to see. The only thing I saw was the passage placed in the other scale and never looked inside the crown.

Since I feel like they left me out for something, I grumpily read what’s written on the parchment.

“What makes a king and his kingdom? What’s weighs equal to the greatness that he holds?”

It was simply like that.

Something the weighs equal to the power that the king holds. It means we really need something heavy to put on the scale. If that was true…

Wait, they knew that we need something heavy in the first place and it seems that they found this parchment beforehand.

I gave them a sharp glance upon this realization.

“Casablanca, did you see one of the books earlier in that shelf?”

“Yes, it was quite disturbing, no?”

“Ahahaha!”

“Ahahaha!”

The twins immediately averted their eyes and started talking about something else while trying not to catch my glare. Mimi started poking on the miniature kingdom together with Topaz and Daisy starts examining the shelves.

“You girls…”

They are messing with me at times like this…

“Anyway, let’s gather all the gems from the miniature kingdom and try putting them into the scale.”

“Wouldn’t papers suffice?”

“…Cut it out please.”

They are rubbing it on my face!?

“Anyway, let’s get on with it!”

At my urging, the giggling girls start gathering the gems throughout the miniature kingdom and gather it on the scale. Since there are possibilities that these are not just the gems, I started searching for more by peering at every nook and cranny of the kingdom.

This will be the problem that may arise because each and every gem has varying size and weight so we need to carefully examine what to throw into the scale to get the exact weight equivalent to the crown.

“Asagao, we are over the weight threshold.”

“Already?”

“Is there any gem left there?”

“None.”

Since I can’t find any gem in the narrow street of the city, I decided to just see how to handle the weight distribution.

In total, we have over one hundred and fifty gems at our hands, including the gem that represents the king. We thought that we must absolutely throw in this gem to find the exact value the equals the weight of the crown.

However, after an hour of juggling all the gems to fit into the scale for the right weight, we’ve reached the limits of our concentration and we have become mentally exhausted after trying to discern the gems weights.

“…Asagao, don’t you have anything to snack on or to drink there?”

“I have in my dimensional storage. Want me to bring out everything?”

“Not everything! Topaz is going to eat everything!”

Topaz immediately pouted as Daisy scolded me. There seems to be a dissatisfaction with the decision as Daisy opposes on bringing out all the food and Topaz glares at her in protest. However, I agree with Daisy as we need to at least ration our food.

“I’m against it! When there’s food, one need to replenish their energy as much as they can!”

“Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask this, Miss Topaz. Aren’t you letting yourself get spoiled like this?! Is there no control or discipline existing in you?!”

“Food is served, I am grateful for all the people involved in its creation. Whether the one who cooked it or for the life that was taken for its creation.”

“Why are you getting philosophical?! And your words sound a little off!”

“People worked for it! It’s the foundation of our energy! We eat what is served for us to keep us going.”

“…Ah.”

As Topaz argues with her, Daisy then stops for a moment with a blank eye.

I wonder what does Daisy wanted to eat.

To be honest, I did say that I’ll take out everything but I can at least feed us for at least five days with my stock of food in my dimensional storage. I rarely take them out but they are freshly cooked. The problem is really rationing in if we factor how Topaz eats.

I wonder how long we are here in this place too.

Suddenly, Daisy stood up from her seat and runs towards the scale. She then started throwing the gems out of the scale in a hurry.

“Daisy?!”

Everyone was alarmed by her sudden action and we make our way towards her to stop her, however, she immediately snaps an answer to us.

“The king! The king does not need these shiny gems to be a king! These gems are equal to none for him!”

“What do you mean?”

“What does make a king a king?! It’s obvious! Without them, a kingdom won’t stay intact, without them, a king has nothing or no one to lead!”

“Who are you talking about?!”

“His people, the citizen, his subjects, they are the very foundation of a kingdom! Their whole weight equates to a ruler as they are mutually prospering!”

The king and his people…

Both works for each other as the king mandates and leads the people and the people work to make the king’s goal to be realized.

As these thoughts sink into our head, Daisy then yells.

“We don’t need these shiny gems, what needed to become equal to the king are the pebbles!”