Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

Still, it seems the princess puts great importance in her conversations with Ailneige, as she replied that we can come any time.
And so, after having a short idle chat, the time for serious discussion came; only Ciel, the princess, and our upperclassman (on the inside) remained in the room.

「I hear that magic cores are in low supply; is that true?」
「That’s… that is correct.」
「The stampede this year was apparently small, was it?」
「That’s what I heard. I was only told about the periodic stampedes recently, however…」

So it was also hidden from the princess? Perhaps there simply was no need to tell her until now. The princess doesn’t seem to be one to resolve stampedes, and she probably isn’t in any position to command.

Besides, even hearing about the monster stampede might be stressful for the young Princess Leshimiiya. And with it happening periodically, at worst, she might not be able to feel at peace living in the capital.

In short, just because she’s the princess doesn’t mean that she knows everything.
She surely doesn’t tell us everything she knows either, and it’s not like we want to know everything. Nonetheless, I told Ciel to ask a leading question just for good measure.

「That they are being triggered on purpose, you mean?」
「… T-That’s…」

Shaken, Princess Leshimiiya turned her eyes towards Fithuille. Perhaps she’s thinking that it would be bad for Fithuille to learn this.
She immediately concealed her panic, but when the princess couldn’t find her next words, Fithuille spoke in a curt tone.

「Thuille already knows, so no need to worry, princess.」
「I… I see. I understand.」

Somehow forming a response, the princess then took a silent but deep breath before showing a look of understanding. I’m sure she has complicated feelings about Fithuille knowing this when she was not informed until recently, so it’s impressive that she could quickly compose herself.

Fithuille being a bodyguard directly assigned by the king and an individual capable of seeing through Ailneige’s abilities might have a part in it, though.

「That’s right. Officially, Ausente triggers stampedes to periodically cull monsters and minimize the potential damage if a naturally occurring stampede ever breaks out.
However, the truth is that it is done in order to keep up with the enormous magic core demand.」

Stampedes certainly do occur periodically if left unattended, but it takes years of neglect. So it’s certainly strange that this occurs practically every year.
It was why I suspected this to be the case in the first place, and it seems like my hunch was correct.

「And because of the stampede that ambushed you, there are fewer monsters this time.」
「That’s likely the case…」

The one to benefit most from this issue is probably the Elbert family that Princess Leshimiiya previously warned us about. We don’t plan on getting involved with the politics of things, so I won’t ask for confirmation.

Carelessly touch on politics, and the next thing we know, there’s already war on the horizon.

Even our smallest requests can be practically taken as an order. So there will probably be people asserting that a foreign ruler’s daughter is intervening in their politics.

「For the main topic, would you, as a representative of Ausente, like to purchase magic cores?」
「Purchase magic cores? But―」

Princess Leshimiiya was about to say something, but her words were cut off. Normally, an individual offering to sell magic cores would not be able to withstand the demand of a whole country. That’s probably what she was about to comment on, but because we were the one making the offer, she held her words.

「This is the magic core I hope to sell.」

Saying so, Ciel put a towel on the table, on which she then carefully placed a large magic core on top of. Because the core might roll off otherwise. Seeing this, the princess’ eyes were wide with shock, and she was at a loss for words.

Fithuille’s eyes shimmered for a moment, but she quickly returned to her usual expression.

Monsters of every shape and size possess a magic core, and you can roughly identify their rank by the size of the core.

The sizes can range from small ones, which can fit on your palm, to big ones like these that need to be carried with both hands. However, the most important thing is actually the magic power contained within, as there are small magic cores that hold a lot of magic power.

When utilizing it for a sorceric tool, you can use it as it is, or, if it’s too large, you can process it to shrink in size while still retaining the same amount of magic power.
After all, small cores that can hold a lot of magic power exist, so this is basically creating that artificially. As for the details of the actual process, I have no idea.

「Is this… an A-rank monster’s magic core?」

Finally returning to reality, the princess inquired with a hushed tone.

「Likely an S-rank monster’s magic core. The monster was beyond A-rank in strength, but classification gets fuzzy above A-rank.」

S-rank monsters are creatures of the same level as true dragons and, excluding the den, do not appear anywhere near human habitation. Even in the den, the strata they start appearing in are physically far from human habitation.

The S-rank monsters on the surface are not creatures that just any mortal can defeat, and defeating them would make you something beyond normal mortals. S-rank monsters are just those kinds of creatures. And since they can use magic, they’re generally doing things beyond mortal comprehension by default.

Anyway, the gap between A-rank and S-rank monsters is a large valley that includes this as one factor, and the magic core Princess Leshimiiya is seeing right now is from a monster generally considered to be just between A and S-rank in strength.

It honestly could be around S-rank, but since I don’t actually know, it’s just a hypothetical for now.

「This monster, where did you…?」
「There are many in the lower strata of the den.」
「But the monsters appearing in the den should be only A-rank at most…」

Princess Leshimiiya sounded as if she couldn’t process the reality in front of her. Is it really shocking that this is from an S-rank monster?

No, I suppose it should be. After all, in terms of pure strength, an S-rank monster is much more devastating than a sizable monster stampede. An army that can quell a stampede could be annihilated by a single S-rank monster.