TJTPBFB 22

Chapter 22

“Are the Three Sacred Treasures Being Targeted?”

Luli was eating her jewel-themed meal when she suddenly felt something strange in the room.

She glanced around.

…It felt like someone was watching her.

Luli stood up quietly and checked every corner of the house before returning to the dining table.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
Lapis looked at her.

“Mm… it just feels like… this room is being watched by someone.”

The house was a small one-story place, and the living-dining-kitchen area was its center.

Every time she sat here, a chill ran down her spine.

Maybe this was another sign that her magical sensitivity was growing stronger.

As Luli looked up toward the ceiling—

“…That small thing up there—could it be a camera?”
Morga said as he tossed a snack into his mouth.

“It’s bigger than the ones used in the Kingdom, but… isn’t it for surveillance?”

“What? A hidden camera? Where?”
Luli lowered her voice and scanned the room again.

After walking a full circle around the house, Licia said,
“There are three of them—one in the Japanese-style room, one in the kitchen, and one in the living room.”

She looked back at Luli.

“Since when? Was Grandma being watched all this time?”
Luli whispered.

“Wait a sec,”
Frea lifted her staff and cast a spell over the room.

“For now, I’ve changed the images that these cameras are sending, so we’re safe.
I’m not sure who’s behind it, but… maybe government officials? Two men… hmm? The ‘Three Sacred Treasures’?
They’ve been searching for them and even ransacked this house once.”

“What?! Thieves broke into the house?”

“Looks like it. They came a few days before you moved in and searched the whole place.”

“You didn’t notice?”

“We weren’t here the whole time, you know.”
Eme looked at Luli.

“Then where were you?”

“We were checking around the backyard and nearby areas,”
Bron said as he waved his staff.

An image appeared in the air—
Several unfamiliar men were shown moving through the house, rummaging everywhere.
At the end, they set up small hidden cameras.

W–what?!

Government officials?
Does that mean the country already knows about the Jewel Kingdom’s existence?

But… it’s another world!
This isn’t The X-Files—who would actually believe something like that?

And the “Three Sacred Treasures”… that’s the mirror, the sword, and the magatama (jewel), right?
Then go to the Grand Shrine if you’re looking for those!

Luli glared at one of the cameras.
“Do you guys know what the ‘Three Sacred Treasures’ are supposed to be?” she asked.

“Well, the three sacred ones would be…
the magic mirror, magic staff, and magic pendant, right?
You already have the staff and pendant, Luli.
That means the mirror must be somewhere else.”
Chrysos replied.

“What kind of mirror? A hand mirror? A compact? Or a full-length one?”

“The princess always carried it in her palm, so probably a compact,”
Nel said, recalling.

“The pendant was the one that came with the letter, right?
And Foth was the one who found the staff.
So where could the compact be…?”

It hadn’t been in her grandmother’s bedroom,
and since even the thieves couldn’t find it,
maybe—like the staff—it was hidden somewhere special,
a place that couldn’t be found without magic.

As Luli finished her meal,
she looked toward Foth, who was happily munching on cookies.