Beach Treasure Hunt (2)

As soon as the blonde professor declared the beach treasure hunt, Ethan and I joined Gyeotmwa’s hero party.

Even excluding Prince Antonio, who wasn’t a participant in the class, the hero party of ten naturally had to split into two groups due to the rule of having between 3 to 5 members per team.

And the way those two groups divided was… naturally like this.

“Then I’ll team up with Saintess Celista, Miss Silena, and Luke to work with the Hero. The rest of you, excluding Antonio, make exactly five, so that should be fine, right?”

“Understood, Princess Seraphine.”

One group consisted of Gyeotmwa + Gyeotmwa’s harem + Luke, Seraphine’s bodyguard.

The other group was me and Ethan + Natalie and Thomas + Agnes, with Prince Antonio tagging along regardless of the team size.

In a way, this was an expected outcome, so there was no reason to object. Though our group had a higher ratio of males, everyone was already paired up in some way, so it wasn’t a problem.

“We’ll check the eastern shoreline. I have a feeling there might be more there.”

‘I’ll handle the key points on the east side, so don’t overlap and go somewhere else.’

“Understood, Hero Gyeotmwa Josyegigot. Then we’ll search for treasures along the western shoreline.”

‘Don’t come over to the western points either.’

After exchanging this kind of conversation that only Gyeotmwa and I could understand, we parted ways. As soon as the hero group disappeared, Ethan was the first to ask for my opinion, as usual.

“Lilith, where do you think the treasure might be hidden?”

“…I have a few places in mind, but perhaps we should hear Prince Antonio’s opinion first?”

“…Are you referring to me, Lady Rosewood?”

“Yes, Prince Antonio.”

If it were just me, Ethan, and Agnes, I could freely share my thoughts. But right now, the highest-ranking person here was Prince Antonio.

Naturally, it was most reasonable to hear Antonio’s suggestion first, followed by Ethan, then Agnes, and finally me.

Moreover, the core of this ‘treasure hunt’ event wasn’t about how many treasures we found, but about strengthening the bonds between the party members through the activity.

Rather than recklessly dragging everyone around to search for treasure points, it was better to listen to everyone’s opinions and enjoy searching various places together to boost camaraderie.

Even though Ethan and I weren’t part of the hero party, the other three (excluding Antonio) were, so increasing their familiarity now would be quite helpful for the future Demon King subjugation.

“W-well, I think…”

“……”

“……”

“……”

Perhaps due to the nervousness of being watched by Agnes, Prince Antonio hesitated to voice his opinion, seemingly burdened by the thought of giving a “wrong answer” in front of someone he liked.

“U-um, since it’s the sea… maybe they’re hidden underwater…? Ahaha…”

“Underwater, you say?”

“Underwater…?”

“…Tch.”

At Prince Antonio’s suggestion of “underwater,” Natalie and Thomas looked slightly doubtful, while Agnes let out a shallow sigh, seemingly disappointed after having some expectations.

Seeing this, Prince Antonio’s face stiffened-it was honestly a bit pitiful.

“Underwater? Does that even make sense? If you hide treasure underwater, it’ll just wash away with the tide. Are you stupid?”

“I-Is that so…? B-but on such a wide beach, there might not be an easier place to hide treasure than underwater…”

“I think Prince Antonio’s opinion has some merit. As he said, hiding treasure only in the sand on such a vast beach wouldn’t be much fun.

Besides, the 200-meter radius the professor mentioned includes a significant portion of the sea, so I suspect a few might be hidden somewhere in the water.”

“Y-yes, that’s exactly what I meant, Lady Rosewood!”

“…Hmph.”

It didn’t seem like Antonio had any grand reasoning behind his suggestion, but he eagerly latched onto my additional explanation to restore his honor.

Agnes was still looking at him with dissatisfaction, but I had no choice but to help him here.

Not because I had any particular goodwill toward Antonio, but because, at this point, he was the man most likely to make Agnes happy.

“Since we’re on the topic, why don’t we go in and search for ourselves? The beads the professor showed us were magically treated, so maybe they’re secured to prevent them from being washed away?”

“Following Lilith’s suggestion to search doesn’t sound bad. We have plenty of time before sunset anyway.”

“Yes, understood!”

“…Sigh, fine.”

“……”

Prince Antonio fidgeted nervously under Agnes’s indifferent attitude, but the group eventually agreed to search underwater.

While everyone searched diligently from their positions, I checked a few spots where the glass beads were hidden in the original game. In one of them, I found a magic bead tied to seaweed.

“…Prince Antonio.”

“Ah, Lady Rosewood.”

“Have you found any magic beads?”

“…I’m sorry. My thoughtless suggestion has caused everyone unnecessary trouble. I feel especially guilty toward you, Lady Rosewood, for trying to help me…”

“Just a thought, but have you checked the area with a lot of seaweed near the shore?”

“Ah, no. Not yet…”

“I feel terribly rude asking this, but could you search there for me? I’m not very confident in deeper water.”

“……Lady Rosewood?”

“If you find any treasure there, you can claim it as your own. I’ll go search shallower areas elsewhere.”

“Lady Rosewood? What do you mean…?”

Even if Prince Antonio wasn’t the most perceptive, he should have understood such an obvious hint.

To avoid revealing that I had given him advice, I quickly left. Not long after, I heard his voice from the seaweed patch I had just searched.

“I-I found it!”

“Huh?!”

“You found it?”

“…Really?”

At Prince Antonio’s triumphant shout, the rest of the group gathered around him.

Seeing the magically glowing bead in his hand, they didn’t hold back their praise.

“Th-that’s amazing, Prince Antonio!”

“Your prediction about underwater treasure was correct after all.”

“Impressive, Prince Antonio.”

“Now that we’ve confirmed this is the treasure the professor hid, we can search for similar beads from now on.”

“I-it was really here… Th-thank you, Lady Rosewood…”

“I merely agreed with Prince Antonio’s reasonable suggestion. Since you were the one who found the bead, there’s no need to thank me.”

“R-right… That’s true…”

Antonio wasn’t so oblivious as to reject the situation I had set up to boost him, so he awkwardly laughed and emerged from the water with the bead.

Seeing the bead in his hand, Agnes also muttered something, seemingly embarrassed.

“…Well, good job. I’ll give you that.”

“Th-thank you, Lady Agnes!”

…Somehow, it felt like Agnes and Antonio’s bond had grown stronger than the hero party’s camaraderie.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

The treasure hunt that started in the morning continued into the evening.

Though we spent some time searching for the underwater treasure Antonio suggested, everyone else seemed to have good instincts, as they each found a magic bead on their own.

-Rustle.

“Ah, here it is. I thought the rock formation looked a bit different from yesterday.”

Ethan noticed the slightly altered rock placement and dug beneath it to find a bead.

-Tap, tap, roll…

“…Found it.”

Agnes picked up a large seashell while walking along the beach, tapped it a few times, and a bead rolled out.

-Rustle.

“Ah, there’s one here too.”

Thomas, the tallest in the group, used his height to retrieve a bead hanging from a palm tree.

-Dig! Scrape! Dig!

“I found one too!”

“…How on earth did you even find that?”

And then… Natalie, who suddenly started digging into the ground like a dog and unearthed a bead through some inexplicable intuition.

Considering that Prince Antonio’s bead was technically the one I found, everyone had now found at least one bead.

“I’m glad everyone found theirs. With this many, we probably won’t face any grade penalties.”

“…Come to think of it, Lilith, you’re the only one who hasn’t found one yet.”

“I’m fine. The points for collecting beads are tallied for the whole group, so even if I didn’t find any, it wouldn’t affect my grade.”

“……”

Prince Antonio quietly averted his gaze, seemingly feeling guilty that I was the only one without a bead.

Well, considering that Antonio’s bead was originally mine, his reaction was understandable.

“Ahem, actually, about the bead I found earlier… The way I found it was…”

Apparently, his conscience was bothering him for shamelessly claiming my bead as his own, so he cautiously began confessing.

Of course, if he revealed the truth now, the only thing waiting for him was Agnes’s plummeting affection, so I had to stop him at all costs.

“Prince Antonio.”

“Ah, y-yes?! Wh-what is it, Lady Rosewood?”

“Are you hungry? It seems like it’s about time for dinner.”

“…Ah, um. H-has it gotten that late already…?”

“Actually, before coming to Pliana Beach, I heard about a restaurant. If no one objects, how about having dinner there?”

“Sounds good, Lilith. We only had a quick lunch because of the treasure hunt.”

“I-I agree with Lady Lilith’s suggestion!”

“…I don’t care where as long as we eat.”

‘…Phew.’

I successfully steered the conversation from Prince Antonio’s confession to dinner and inwardly sighed in relief.

…Why is helping someone else’s love life so exhausting?