Thank you always! This is an exposition chapter. There’s some overlap with “Short Story 02,” and due to personal circumstances, there are also some contradictions. I plan to revise the contradictory parts in the short story later.
One month after the 【Saintess Summoning Ritual】.
Long after the sun had set, with darkness cloaking the world outside, two men relaxed over wine in a detached residence of the Valdek Count family in the capital. One was Johan Valdek, the second son of Count Valdek and resident of this estate, who also served as the director of the Medicinal Plant Research Institute. The other was his childhood friend, Albert Hawk, the third son of the Hawk Frontier Count family and captain of the palace’s Third Knight Order. The two often shared drinks at the Valdek estate, but recently, Albert had been too busy with monster subjugations to find time. This meeting at the estate was their first in a month and a half.
“By the way, I heard someone new joined the institute recently.”
“Hm? Oh… yeah.”
Catching up after a month and a half, Albert brought up the new researcher at the institute during their chat. He’d mentioned it casually, almost as an afterthought, but Johan responded with a wry smile. Though he tried to play it off, Johan suspected Albert had made time to visit despite his busy schedule specifically to ask about this.
“What’s she like?”
“Pretty normal, I’d say.”
“Normal?”
“Same as the other researchers we’ve got.”
Johan answered just enough to stay on topic while dodging what Albert really wanted to know, a typical move. He always teased the straight-laced Albert like this. Knowing the game, Albert returned a wry smile and urged him to continue with a look. Satisfied, Johan gave a proper answer.
“So far, she hasn’t complained about the palace and has been diligently doing her job.”
“I see. Seems they pissed her off right after summoning her. I heard the Internal Affairs folks who dealt with her were pale as ghosts, saying they’d angered the Saintess.”
“Yeah, apparently. Because of that, those usually stuck-up Internal Affairs guys have been unusually humble this time.”
“Really?”
“Yep.”
The day of the 【Saintess Summoning Ritual】, Albert had been away from the capital on a subjugation mission, so he only knew the aftermath through rumors. Upon returning and hearing various tales, he learned that one of the Saintess candidates was now at Johan’s institute. Figuring it’d be faster to ask Johan directly than rely on gossip, he carved out time to visit the Valdek estate.
Johan explained how he ended up taking in the Saintess candidate, Sei.
A month ago, a woman with black hair and black eyes started showing up at the institute daily. At first, Jude, one of the researchers, handled her. But in a lab full of men, a woman interested in herbs quickly drew attention, and soon most of the researchers were interacting with her. Seeing Sei’s rare hair and eye color, uncommon in this kingdom, Johan felt a pang of unease. Just a few days prior, he’d run into his older brother in a palace corridor and heard about the 【Saintess Summoning Ritual】. Two women had been summoned: one with brown hair and black eyes, the other with black hair and black eyes. Recalling this, Johan contacted his brother immediately. The next day, after reporting that a black-haired, black-eyed woman had been frequenting the institute, he was urgently summoned to the palace.
In the designated palace room were his brother and a high-ranking civil official. Sitting on a sofa set, Johan listened as they explained that the woman visiting the institute was indeed one of the summoned candidates. They asked if the institute could take her in if possible. Why should a mere institute on the palace’s fringes care for a potential Saintess? A figure as crucial as the king, perhaps more so, given she might hold the kingdom’s fate? When Johan pointed this out, the official, wiping sweat from his brow with a handkerchief, answered haltingly.
Sei’s impression of the kingdom had tanked due to the First Prince’s actions right after the summoning. After he left, she tried to leave too. Not just the room, but the kingdom. Those present managed to stop her, guiding her to another room, and a high official’s desperate persuasion kept her in the palace for now. Historically, two Saintesses had never appeared simultaneously, nor had the ritual summoned more than one. The prevailing palace view was that one of the two might not be a Saintess. But with no precedent, both could be, and letting either go was too risky. The palace wanted to keep them both. Meanwhile, Sei seemed to like the palace herb garden and had been visiting daily. The official hoped she’d bond with the researchers, improving her view of the kingdom.
“So basically, they want us to clean up Prince Kyle’s mess.”
“The original plan was to assign her a teacher to learn about this kingdom. Oh, and Prince Kyle’s apparently attending the Royal Academy now.”
“Probably figured since he pissed her off, they’d let her do what she wants for a bit to smooth things over.”
“Most likely. We don’t exactly have time to be this leisurely, though… Knowing you, you probably gave Internal Affairs a hard time, huh?”
“Of course.”
Johan grinned and raised his glass.
Hearing the official out, Johan understood the palace’s reasoning as a noble and saw no issue with taking Sei in after observing her at the institute. But he didn’t like their attitude of dumping it all on him. So, he put on a troubled face and rattled off reasons to refuse. Even if she came to the institute during the day, it was far from the palace, wouldn’t daily trips be tough? Some researchers stayed overnight due to that, but what if she asked to do the same? Letting her stay in such a grimy place could be a problem. Renovating a room with the institute’s budget wasn’t feasible, and so on. Listing more excuses, he said it couldn’t be done, and in the end, all his demands were met. While securing full support for the Saintess candidate, he slipped in broader institute improvements. His brother, sitting beside him, twitched at Johan’s maneuvering, but Johan ignored it. Sei’s room was renovated with top priority, finished in an unprecedented week before she moved in.
“But it’s weird. They were so desperate to keep her happy, yet Internal Affairs left her alone in her room?”
“Alone?”
“According to the researchers, she complained about it herself. Said she was guided to a room after being summoned but was left there with nothing to do.”
“What’s that about? That’s not what I heard.”
Albert’s words made Johan raise an eyebrow. At the palace, Albert had heard the candidate fell ill and was bedridden after the summoning. In truth, the time difference between Japan and Slantania played a role, it was midnight in Japan but morning in Slantania when Sei was summoned. Exhausted from work, she collapsed into bed right after being shown to her room. Her sickly pale skin from overwork and dark circles from sleep deprivation made her look worse. A maid, seeing her sleep like the dead, panicked and reported to an official. Shocked by the contrast to her earlier fury, he assumed the summoning had taken a toll and called a court physician. The diagnosis was fatigue, not illness, and the official arranged rest for her. This fiasco delayed the report of two candidates to the king by a day, partly due to the official’s reluctance to admit his blunder.
“I see. Yeah, her complexion was awful when she first came to the institute.”
“How is it now?”
“Now? It’s gotten a lot better, I’d say.”
Hearing Albert, Johan recalled Sei’s initial state being pale enough to be mistaken for being sick, as Albert noted. Now, after some time, her skin stayed pale from staying indoors, but the dark circles had faded significantly, no longer screaming “unwell” at a glance.
“Good. …Is she eating properly?”
“Eating? What’s with you, acting like her dad?”
“Shut it. Recently, there’s been trouble with Prince Kyle’s candidate not eating much.”
“Oh?”
“The head chef’s tried everything, but she’s so picky they’re worried she’ll collapse.”
“Yeah, ours doesn’t eat much either.”
“Is small portions normal in their country?”
“Who knows? I’ll ask her sometime.”
For the two summoned from Japan, Slantania’s overly simple seasoning, few spices, and mostly raw ingredient flavors didn’t suit their tastes, naturally reducing their appetites. Concerned for Aira, the other candidate, the First Prince issued various orders, though they weren’t helping much.
“Prince Kyle’s pretty invested this time.”
“Well, there’s a lot going on…”
Albert trailed off, but Johan had an inkling of what he meant.
Slantania had three princes. Traditionally, the eldest became king, making the First Prince the crown prince. But the Second Prince was exceptionally capable, and lately, factions supporting him as crown prince had emerged. With the Second Prince uninterested and the king dismissing it, it wasn’t a big issue, but the First Prince, aware of his inferiority to his brother, was sensitive about it. Volunteering to oversee the 【Saintess Summoning Ritual】 was likely a bid to impress the nobles. Unfortunately, angering Sei backfired, adding pressure on him.
“Is the Prince still handling the Saintess stuff?”
“Yeah. His Majesty was troubled by this screw-up, but swapping him out now could cause future problems, so they’re watching for now. Luckily, your candidate stayed. They’re probably hoping he can redeem himself.”
“Succession disputes mess up a country.”
Johan sighed, foreseeing chaos if a succession fight erupted atop the miasma crisis. The First Prince could be impulsive and headstrong but was warm-hearted, liked by many. With the Second Prince and aides supporting him, there’d been no issue with him becoming king. This incident dented his noble reputation, but avoiding the fatal mistake of losing a candidate left room for recovery, per the king’s view.
“Still, two of them… Did the ritual really work? Historically, there’s always been just one Saintess.”
“It definitely worked.”
“What’s your proof?”
“Monster spawns have been dropping lately, bit by bit.”
Since the ritual, nearby monster appearances had slightly decreased. Knights on regular patrols felt it, existing monsters didn’t vanish but spawn rates slowed, reducing their numbers. This led knights to believe the ritual succeeded and a Saintess was in the palace. This was reported to the leaders too. With the mage commander still unconscious and unable to identify the Saintess, it was unclear if one or both were her, but the palace’s gloom had lifted.
“Good. Hope things calm down for you too.”
“Yeah. Everyone’s pretty worn out.”
“Next subjugation’s the western forest, right?”
“No, east first. West’s after that, then a longer break. It’s trickier than east or south, but not a hotspot for strong monsters. I’ll wrap it up smoothly.”
“There’s no way you’d mess up, but be careful.”
“Got it.”
At that moment, a flag was raised, unbeknownst to either of them.
Sorry for missing Wednesday’s update. Writing this chapter took time to squeeze out the background I’d planned in my head plus new details. It ended up wonderfully long. Sorry if it’s a chore to read… orz
I plan to write background as backstage chapters, so there might be overlap with previously posted short stories. I might move the short stories to a side category like extras.
I considered shifting these interludes (now backstage), but it’d chop up the main story and confuse things, so I’ll leave them here for now.
Thanks for all the title suggestions! After thinking it over, I’ll stick with this for now.