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『Ain, what are your thoughts about the letter?』
『’What a bothersome thing they’ve done’ is all I can think of.』
『You’re not thinking of accepting, are you?』

Why is Ciel even asking that? To start with, the idea of marriage is out of the question for me.
Or so I thought, but knowing Ciel, she’s likely suggesting that if it’s something I truly desire, she wouldn’t be against supporting it.
Additionally, I sense she’s inquiring with an understanding that I wouldn’t accept.

『Absolutely not. I can’t see myself marrying to begin with, and I don’t even want to think of befriending the author of such a letter.』
『I see, I see! Then, it’s okay for me to be angry, right?』
『Sure, as long as you don’t cause any harm.』

Ciel started venting out in my mind, so I let her be and continued talking with Mother.

「It’s alright to ignore this, right?」
「Yes, of course. You can ignore it, or even proclaim war against them if you wish.」

The use of the word “war” is really scaring me.
However, if I think of this as a country’s princess saving a prince of another country and being repaid with a courtship that condescendingly assumes that she must be of lower status…
Depending on the era, that could definitely cause war.

Heck, that might really cause a war now. The only princess factor I have is my Song Princess Job, though.

If this were between two countries, it might start off with a protest. But if we go with Mother’s sensibilities, this would be a fight between our family and the Ostente royal family.
If you consider it as a squabble between neighbours, it could actually happen.

「Jokes aside, it was unquestionably disturbing.」
『Right! That’s right!』
「In that case, do you have no plans on going to Ostente?」
「I don’t quite see the connection, but is there something going on there?」

That kind of letter just came from the Ostente royalty, so why should we even go to Ostente? I can understand if we’re throwing the gauntlet, but if that’s not the case, then it would be better to just forget about it.

「Right, there is. It’s unrelated to the prince in question, but there seems to be a slightly troublesome person at Ostente.」
「A troublesome person?」
「To be specific, there’s an individual trying to commit a taboo.」

Is it just me or does that slightly troublesome person sound more like a really troublesome person.
If it’s a taboo according to Mother, it’s probably not something arbitrarily considered forbidden by mortals. It must be something forbidden by the gods, unlikely to be a laughing matter.
It must be dangerous enough to warrant divine punishment actually befalling them.

And regarding the source of this information, considering how she’s asking us to do this even though it seems to be second-hand information, it must come from a very trusted source. I’ll just ask to be sure.

「Is it from the Creator God?」
「Yes, yes. I was told about it a while ago, but since I can’t depart this place easily, I just left them be.」
「That… doesn’t sound like a matter that should just be left ignored to me…」
「It doesn’t really matter; committing a taboo will automatically enact a divine punishment.
It’s simply that it would be a waste to just lose those capable enough to commit taboos to begin with, that’s all.」

I don’t know what divine punishment entails, but it probably results in death or something just as bad.
And from how casually Mother said it, her lack of humanity is clear to see.
At the same time, I’m probably not that different since my first thought was they’re just getting what they deserve.

Or maybe this much detachment is just necessary to be a statesman? There are probably tyrants in my old world’s history who don’t think of their citizens as people. Not that I’m sure of it.
Well, no, even back then, if I were to hear news of someone from a neighboring country dying from a lightning strike, I’d probably be distant and think, “That’s scary. I hope that doesn’t happen to me.” at most.

Hmm. Human emotions are complicated.

「In other words, we just have to stop that person?」
「No, not at all. Simply give them a warning if possible.
And also collect whatever was made, I suppose?」
「Come to think of it, what is the taboo?」

Even if I’m told to collect whatever it is, I can’t do that when I don’t even know what qualifies as a taboo in the first place. Mother blinks several times before saying, “Oh that’s right,” and explaining in detail.

「It’s the invention of a better substitute to magic cores, I suppose.
Things that, if made, will eventually eliminate the need for magic cores. Creating such a thing is forbidden in this world.」

The development of alternative energy would be considered the invention of the century in my old world.
In this world of sorcery and magic, it might be possible to actually create a safe and low-cost alternative, and it’s sure to contribute greatly to humanity’s advancement.

However, if magic cores become unneeded, that would mean the elimination of a major source of income for hunters. Moreover, it would also lessen people’s willingness to hunt down monsters that have no value outside of their magic cores.
If that happens, that could result in the overpopulation of certain monsters, resulting in stampedes.

Most of all, monsters that are only worth their magic cores are all low-ranking monsters.
In that case, low-ranking hunters will lose the ability to earn, and the total number of hunters could decrease. And if hunters decrease, that raises the chances of the monster population increasing.

Still, these human issues are probably not relevant to the problem.
What the Creator God and Mother likely find most problematic is how the underutilization of magic cores would weaken the purification process.
…Now that I think about it, it feels like monsters are more important components of this world than humans are.

I should stop delving into this.

「Is the issue with magic cores going out of use because it would weaken the world’s purification process?」
「Yes, yes. So you knew about it.」
「Tur taught us the gist of it.」
「Then it should be plenty enough to understand. It’s the reason why that act became taboo. So, would you go there?」
「I can’t help but imagine the inevitable trouble simply going there would cause.」

Well, that was a sudden turn of events. It seems like we’ll be going to Ostente after all!

The taboo is quite interesting. It’s like banning the invention of a highly efficient wood harvester because the resulting mass deforestation will not leave enough trees to use up carbon dioxide. But also like “Nope, can’t make alternative energy, gotta use this specific stuff”. I honestly find it refreshing how straightforwardly against they are on this certain path of advancement.

From Fii’s reaction, the taboo seems to be common sense, and people are being warned when they’re close to achieving it, so it’s not like they don’t care about humans. But Fii, in particular, is highly transparent about the world (and her land) being her top priority, mortals be damned. Cut more trees to further the economic development of the nation? Nope, you’re lucky that I even let you cut any trees. Develop the land and the city? Nah, this is a place for spirits, not for you people.

I just find it refreshing, since most “protector of nature” characters are made so safe and friendly, mostly on the “protect nature but also compromise for human development because we should all coexist.” With Fii, it’s “Nature is first and foremost. You don’t like that? Rules of nature, beat me and you can do as you like. Not that you’ll win.” Once again, in other stories, Fii would be a villain the main character needs to overcome.

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay healthy, stay safe, and have a nice day~!