To be honest, when he saw the words appearing on the desktop, Gawain was nowhere near as calm as he looked—though he had said just minutes ago that the Goddess of Magic ought to thank him, he truly had not expected her to actually leave him a thank-you...
Is this the Goddess of Magic's "personality"? It really feels quite different from Amun or Nariter Duvall...
Yet despite the jumble of thoughts rising in his mind, he controlled his expression well. After all, there were several people in the room, and he still needed to maintain his dignified image on such occasions.
"Ancestor," Heti noticed what Gawain was doing at the desk and could not help asking curiously, "what happened... huh? What happened to the desk?"
Gawain lowered his head and glanced at the desktop. This newly replaced desk had first been carved with a thank-you by the Goddess of Magic, then casually scraped away by him, leaving a conspicuous crater in the middle. The Emperor's personal desk was clearly ruined now, which made him feel rather regretful. "Just now... there was a mosquito."
The three Grand Chancellors present were dumbfounded. "..."
That was obviously not easy to believe, but since their ancestor/His Majesty the Emperor said there had been a mosquito... then there must really have been a mosquito.
"Ahem, later, this desk..." Gawain coughed twice, hoping to bring this awkward topic to an end as quickly as possible. "Mm, have the desktop replaced."
"Yes... Ancestor." Heti nodded, then hurriedly—and rather stiffly—followed Gawain's lead and ended the current topic. "Then, regarding your plan to travel to Tarlonnd..."
"That is exactly what I wanted to discuss." Gawain immediately nodded and picked up where Heti had left off. "According to the agreement made earlier with Tarlonnd's 'representatives,' I should be setting out