Walking down the palace corridor with Marie-san at the lead. Besides her, two other maids and two knights follow along, and as we proceed with the white robes worn during the audience fluttering behind us, everyone we pass steps aside and bows their heads.
What’s with this situation, I wonder? Ever since that incident, the people in the palace have been treating me with increasing politeness. It’s not like there’s anything I can do about it, there really isn’t. Among the people working in the palace, I’ve firmly been recognized as the 【Saintess】. I’ve resigned myself to it, but I still haven’t gotten used to this kind of treatment. Suppressing the urge to let out a sigh, I walk quietly down the hallway. Our destination is a certain room within the palace.
When we arrive at the door of said room, Marie-san knocks. After responding to a voice asking who’s there, the door opens from the inside. Passing by Marie-san, who steps aside, I enter the room where two girls are waiting.
One of the girls bows with elegance, while the other does so with somewhat awkward movements. At that signal, the door to the room closes. The knights who accompanied us wait outside, leaving only me, the two girls, and the maids including Marie-san inside. In this women-only space, preparations for a tea party have been set up.
“Greetings, Sei.”
“Greetings, Liz. And…”
I turn my gaze to the girl standing beside Liz. Her lips are pressed into a tight line, making her look nervous.
“Should I say ‘nice to meet you’ for now?”
When I ask that, Aira-chan gives an awkward smile.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Misono Aira.”
“Nice to meet you too. I’m Takanashi Sei.”
Maybe her nervousness rubbed off on me, because I feel like my smile might be a little strained too. For now, the greetings are done. Standing around like this will only make things more awkward, so let’s sit down.
“For now, how about we take a seat?”
“Indeed, that sounds good.”
Urging the two of them, we head toward the round table that’s been prepared. Once seated, Marie-san brews tea with fluid movements and places it in front of me. After taking a sip, I look at Liz and Aira-chan again. The reason we’ve gathered today is none other than to bond with Aira-chan.
After that whole commotion, it was decided that His Highness Kyle, the First Prince, would be removed from anything related to the 【Saintess】. Additionally, to take responsibility for the incident, he’s apparently been confined to the palace for a while. With His Highness Kyle set to graduate from the Academy in a few months, it seems his confinement will likely lift just before the graduation ceremony. As for Aira-chan, it’s been decided that His Highness Rain, the Second Prince, will take over responsibility for her in place of Kyle. All of this was explained to me by His Majesty the King after the commotion settled and everything was sorted out. Well, I am one of the involved parties, after all.
Kyle’s entourage has similarly been placed under house arrest until the graduation ceremony. Fortunately, since they were all originally exceptional students, missing school until then won’t affect their graduation.
Among them, Aira-chan was the only one not sentenced to confinement. The official reason is that she wasn’t directly causing a ruckus back then. Sure, being hoisted up as a figurehead and acting at the behest of those around her was an issue, but considering Aira-chan’s circumstances, it was decided they couldn’t hold her accountable. And that makes sense. Like me, Aira-chan is a girl summoned from Japan through the 【Saintess Summoning Ritual】. What’s more, at her age, she’d still be under the protection of adults back in Japan. It’s hard to blame her for becoming dependent on Kyle and the others, who took care of her after she was suddenly summoned to this world and left all alone. Well, there were some political factors involved too, and that’s why Aira-chan wasn’t punished.
The problem is that all the people who’d been around her up until now are under confinement. According to Liz, since no one besides Kyle and his group could get close to Aira-chan before, she barely had any acquaintances outside of them. Leaving her in that state would be irresponsible, so it was decided that Liz would stay by her side from now on. While Rain is her official overseer, given what happened with Kyle, it was thought that Liz, being a girl, would be more suitable. This plan worked out well, and it seems Aira-chan finally made some female friends. Thanks to Liz’s support, a lot of misunderstandings have been cleared up too.
With that, she’s been able to lead a peaceful school life, and once things calmed down, this tea party was arranged. A few days after Liz started spending time with Aira-chan, she apparently said she wanted to meet me. In a broader sense, we’re from the same homeland, and ever since she noticed me during that commotion, she’s wanted to talk. She’s curious about how I’ve spent this past year, it seems. So, that’s why we’re here today, to chat about all sorts of things.
“I’ve heard some of it, but it seems things at the Academy have settled down quite a bit.”
“Yes, they’ve finally calmed down.”
“I heard you’ve been busy with a lot of things, Liz. Thanks for your hard work.”
“Thank you.”
When I offer my appreciation, Liz smiles bashfully. I’ve heard it was really tough for her to mediate between Aira-chan, who’d been misunderstood, and the other girls. There are still some who hold grudges, but thanks to Liz’s efforts, most of the girls have followed her lead and are getting along with Aira-chan. There’s also the fact that, as the fiancée of the First Prince and the daughter of a marquis, few would openly defy Liz when she asks for something. It seems there’s a clear hierarchy even within the Academy. That said, she hasn’t forced anyone, and knowing Liz, she probably handled it skillfully.
“How about you, Misono-san? Have you settled down a bit?”
“Yes. Thanks to Liz, every day has been fun lately.”
When I direct the conversation to Aira-chan, she smiles happily too. From what I hear, now that she’s made some female friends, she’s really enjoying being able to have girl talk like she did back in Japan.
“And you, Sei? Have things calmed down for you?”
“Well… I suppose you could say they’ve calmed down, but…”
“It seems the 【Saintess】 title has really stuck, hasn’t it?”
“Don’t say it…”
I slump in disappointment at her words, and Liz giggles. As Liz pointed out, things have settled into me being treated as the 【Saintess】. I can reluctantly accept being labeled the 【Saintess】, part of it’s my own doing, after all but I’m getting a little fed up with the VIP treatment. Do you think a commoner like me can handle a situation where everyone bows their head just because I’m walking down the hallway? No way! Liz understands how I feel inside. And because she understands, she teases me about it.
“But it sounds like things are going to get busy from now on.”
“Really?”
“I might have to travel to the provinces for a bit.”
“That’s…”
While my treatment has settled down, piecing together the rumors I’ve heard, it seems things are about to get a little hectic. The subjugation in the western forest the other day brought some resolution to the monsters around the capital, but the provinces are still a concern. It seems requests have been coming to the civil officials, asking for knight detachments to be sent to the provinces now that the capital is stable. The swamp we saw in the western forest is currently under investigation, but given the monster activity in the provinces, it’s likely something similar exists there too. If that’s the case, it’ll be my turn to step in and purify it, meaning I’ll probably have to head to the provinces soon. Liz seems to have caught wind of this too, because after a brief mention, she picks up on it. Her smile fades, replaced by a look of worry and guilt.
“So, are you quitting the research institute?”
“No, it seems I won’t have to. The director said he’d figure something out.”
“Oh my! That’s wonderful news.”
“Yeah. I owe the director my thanks.”
Hearing that I won’t have to quit the institute, Liz smiles happily again. It seems she was worried about me too. Maybe because she knows how much I love my work at the institute? As Liz and I laugh together, I hear Aira-chan murmur, “Um…” Tilting my head to see what’s up, I notice her open her mouth with a slightly tense expression.
“Takanotsume-san, have you been working at the palace since you came here?”
“Yes, that’s right. I’m a researcher at the Medicinal Plant Research Institute.”
“Could I hear a little about it?”
“Sure, I don’t mind, but…”
When I ask why she wants to hear about it, she says it’s for her future reference. Until now, she’d been living in the palace as the 【Saintess】 under Kyle’s protection, following his instructions. But after that commotion separated her from him, she started wondering how she should live from now on. She could keep going as she has, but she’s been hit with a vague anxiety about whether that’s okay. Mid-conversation, she mentioned, “I don’t have any accomplishments,” which suggests her unease stems from being called out for that during the commotion. She seems particularly worried about what she’ll do after graduating from the Academy.
“What about you, Misono-san? Is there something you’d like to do?”
“Well… if possible, I’d like to study magic a bit more.”
“Magic, huh? How about joining the Court Mage Corps then?”
“That’s a splendid idea.”
Liz chimes in enthusiastically at my suggestion. There’s an entrance exam for the Court Mage Corps, of course, but with Aira-chan’s current skills, it shouldn’t be a problem. Plus, it seems she has a talent for magic. Generally, having aptitude for even one elemental magic is considered good, but Aira-chan has aptitude for three elements, which is apparently incredibly rare, Liz excitedly called her a once-in-a-century prodigy. However, due to Kyle’s policy, Aira-chan has only leveled up her holy magic so far, leaving her other elements underdeveloped. That’s why she wants to study magic more.
“With that much magical talent, I think you should definitely join. The people in the Court Mage Corps are magic experts, they could teach you a lot. I even take magic lectures from the corps commander myself.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Since you’ve got the talent, you should nurture it. Plus, the Court Mage Corps sometimes goes on subjugation missions, so you could build some accomplishments too, right?”
Hearing this, Aira-chan seems pretty motivated to join the Court Mage Corps. Liz’s persistent encouragement probably helped too. Above all, she seemed drawn to the idea that I occasionally visit the corps for the commander’s lectures, meaning we’d get to see each other more often. When I mentioned that, her eyes lit up like crazy. I guess having someone from the same world around really is reassuring, huh?
After that, with more input from Liz, Aira-chan decided to join the Court Mage Corps after graduating from the Academy. Her expression then was a complete turnaround from when we started talking—bright and beaming with a clear, radiant smile.