I received feedback that there wasn’t enough background detail, so I’ve prepared this backstage chapter. I’m also considering using these backstage sections to explore the protagonist from the male characters’ perspectives.
The story rewinds a bit.
In a room within the palace of the Kingdom of Slantania, a heavy atmosphere hung over the gathering.
“Let’s hear the report, then.”
The one who spoke, his face stern, was the Prime Minister, Dominik Goltz.
At a conference table seating eight on each side sat the kingdom’s Minister of Military Affairs, Minister of Internal Affairs, other ministers, the captains of the knight orders, and the commander of the court mage division. At the far end, separate from the rest, sat the king. The next to speak was the Minister of Military Affairs, Josef Hawk, his low, weighty voice echoing through the room.
“The situation remains unchanged and unfavorable. The knight orders have been taking turns subjugating monsters, barely holding the line, but at this rate, it’s only a matter of time, likely within a few years before the forests overflow with them.”
Monsters emerge when miasma gathers beyond a certain density, and the thicker the miasma, the stronger the monsters that spawn. Miasma forms relatively commonly, though the mechanism behind its generation remains a mystery. It tends to accumulate in dark, uninhabited places like forests and caves. If it merely accumulated, that’d be one thing, but monsters born from it move toward villages and towns, causing human casualties. However, defeating monsters thins the surrounding miasma, and continuous subjugation can prevent it from thickening further.
In peacetime, regular knight order patrols were enough to keep monsters from spilling out of miasma-prone areas near villages and towns. But every few generations, this kingdom faced an era where miasma thickened far faster than monsters could be defeated. That era was now. The knight orders had increased their subjugation frequency to cope, but with miasma growing year by year, their efforts only grew more frantic. The consensus among the Minister of Military Affairs and the knight captains was that they could hold out for another year or two at most. If they couldn’t, monsters would overflow from miasma-heavy areas, overwhelming villages and towns nearby.
Following the military minister, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Alphons Hummel, spoke up.
“We’ve been receiving reports from nobles across the regions that dealing with this is becoming increasingly difficult.”
While the knight orders handled subjugation around the capital’s forests, local nobles managed their own territories by ordering their people to do the same. These “people” weren’t farmers but mercenaries stationed in various regions. These mercenaries formed groups, and lords hired them to defeat monsters in exchange for rewards, maintaining local safety this way. But with the recent surge in monster numbers, lords were struggling to keep up with the payments, making it harder to manage. Mercenaries risked their lives, low pay wouldn’t motivate them even for their own homes. When mercenary groups couldn’t act or weren’t enough, the palace knight orders would normally step in. But right now, they were stretched thin dealing with the capital’s surroundings, leaving no resources for the regions.
The prime minister, his brow furrowing deeper at the ministers’ responses, turned to the commander of the special task force, Michael Huber.
“How’s the search for the Saintess going?”
“…Unfortunately, we still haven’t found her.”
Huber’s voice was equally dark and heavy.
Whenever an era of thickening miasma arrived, a maiden known as the Saintess always appeared somewhere in the kingdom. Her ability to purify miasma was powerful, allowing her to slay monsters one after another. Historically, her appearance had suppressed overflowing miasma, helping the kingdom survive such times.
Based on this long-standing pattern, they’d assumed a Saintess had appeared somewhere this time too, and the special task force had been searching nationwide. They’d expected to find her quickly, but against all odds, three years had passed since they started, and she remained missing. With the looming threat of ruin drawing closer, the task force scoured every corner of the kingdom, even revisiting places on the chance she hadn’t been born yet. Still, no Saintess.
A heavy silence fell over the room.
“Shall we cling to a legend, then?”
The one who muttered this was Yuri Drevess, commander of the court mage division. His whisper, louder than expected in the quiet room, drew every eye at the table to him. Glancing around, Drevess calmly lifted the documents in front of him.
“There’s a ritual called the 【Saintess Summoning Ritual】.”
“That… Sure, it’s a well-known story, but isn’t it just a fairy tale?”
“No, it’s real. The details of the ritual are written here.”
“What!?”
“I found a grimoire from the time it was performed in the forbidden library. It’s recorded there.”
“Is this reliable?”
“I can’t say. The method’s documented, but the steps are complex. It requires a lot of mages too. Success or failure is a fifty-fifty shot, I’d say.”
“That’s…”
“But I think it’s better to try it than to sit here waiting for the monsters to overflow.”
The 【Saintess Summoning Ritual】 was a ceremony devised in an ancient era much like this one, when no Saintess appeared despite thickening miasma. Created using all the knowledge of the era’s sages, it summoned a maiden destined to become a Saintess from a distant realm. It sounded exactly like what they needed now. However, it had only been performed once back then and had lain dormant ever since, making its success uncertain even if followed to the letter. It demanded numerous tools and mages, costing a fair amount just to attempt. In peacetime, it wouldn’t be worth it, but with the deadline looming, such trifles didn’t matter.
The king, who’d been listening silently, spoke.
“Perform the 【Saintess Summoning Ritual】. The mage division, begin preparations immediately. Everyone else, continue your duties.”
Thus, for the first time in centuries, the Kingdom of Slantania would conduct the 【Saintess Summoning Ritual】.
The 【Saintess Summoning Ritual】 succeeded.
Through it, a maiden was summoned from another world. But a problem arose: there were two of them. According to records, whether appearing naturally or summoned, there had always been just one Saintess. Was only one of the two the Saintess? Were both? Or neither? The only one who might’ve judged this, the court mage division commander, collapsed from the ritual’s backlash right after it was performed and remained unconscious.
The problems didn’t stop there.
The kingdom’s leaders learned there were two Saintess candidates the day after the ritual. Its success was reported to the king immediately by the First Prince, who’d overseen it at his own insistence. His report stated a Saintess had been summoned, with no mention of numbers. The leaders thought they could finally breathe easier, but the next day’s news left them clutching their heads. Apparently, for some reason, the First Prince had spoken only to one candidate, abandoning the other on the spot. Worse, the ignored candidate, angered by this, tried to leave the castle. Thankfully, quick action by the knights present convinced her to stay, but it wasn’t hard to imagine her impression of the kingdom had soured considerably.
“What is that boy doing…?”
The king’s voice, tired and indeed utterly exhausted rang out in the room.