Even a Rolling Stone... (2)

About two hours later.

In front of Nathan and Erzena's house.

With a genuinely reluctant look on my face, I gripped the door handle and spoke.

"Are you absolutely certain about this? Even now, I could arrange fine lodging for you."

But Elaine and Hanna would not be moved.

"It's fine. Right, Your Highness?"

"Mm-hm!"

If anything, the two of them stared at the door with eyes full of anticipation, looking ready to dart inside the moment it opened.

At the sight, I heaved a deep sigh, and Erzena beside me whispered quietly.

"Erzena. I pray your plan works."

"Don't worry. With this, those two will give up right away."

Two hours earlier, she had defied everyone's expectations and said this to me:

— Take the Princess to your home.

— What!? N-no, you know perfectly well what state the house is in...

— All the more reason to go. That's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the most certain way.

The best way to break a stubborn person's resolve is to show them the brutal truth, unvarnished and complete.

If I wanted to bend Elaine's determination to stay at my house, she would simply have to see the truth with her own two eyes.

Namely: that my dwelling was, by any standard, no environment fit for a princess to live in.

This was by no means advantageous to me, either.

Because it meant laying my entire private life bare — showing Elaine exactly what kind of squalor I lived in.

But there was no other way to change her mind.

Please, let this monstrous method work.

Praying that desperately, I opened the door.

"Very well, then. Please, come in."

— Creeeak.

"Pardon the intrusion!"

"...Ugh."

The moment the door swung open, Hanna and Elaine barreled inside before anyone could stop them.

"Wow, it's no Royal Castle, but it's bigger than I expec— huh? Huh?!"

"...Mm?"

And there it was, laid bare before them: the wretched state of my home.

The same disaster zone as before, utterly unchanged by Erzena's arrival, greeted all four of us.

Blankets strewn carelessly across the sofa. The coffee table had been wiped down, barely, but it sat bare and forlorn without even a tablecloth.

Old wallpaper that hadn't yet been stripped, and window frames furred with dust.

The only clean spot was the space in front of the fireplace — the little corner where Erzena and I occasionally sat together and talked.

Everywhere else was no different from a few days ago.

"..."

"..."

Hanna and Elaine slowly turned their heads to look at me.

The look that said, This is your HOUSE?

It was precisely the expression Erzena had worn the first time she'd visited our home, days ago.

I had braced myself, of course.

I'd even had my preventive inoculation, courtesy of Erzena.

So why, then, was my face burning?

"If I'd had the time, I would have cleaned."

I tossed out the cowardly excuse, but no answer came back.

There was only the look on Hanna's face — a blend of half contempt, half pity.

"I-it's the truth! Please believe me!"

A harsh truth is a double-edged sword.

It shocks the person hearing it — but it deals a fair amount of psychological damage to the person telling it, too.

At the sight of me, Erzena broke into a knowing smile.

"Well, as you can see, Nathan's home isn't exactly the finest of environments. Now you understand, don't you?"

"Erzena..."

But when the two women's gazes swung next toward her, Erzena herself faltered.

"W-what? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Hanna held her silence for a moment.

Elaine couldn't speak to begin with, but her mouth stayed closed all the same.

Still, their eyes said everything.

You've been living HERE for days? You — a former Saint?

Disbelief. Shock. And even, of all things, pity.

You, of all people, should have kept the place up.

They stared at Erzena, faces churning with tangled emotions.

"Ahem, cough! Well... you see, I wanted to clean, but Nathan kept insisting I shouldn't..."

Erzena, flushed red just like me, cleared her throat and offered her own defense.

"I-if I'd had the time, I would have done it. Really!"

A harsh truth is a double-edged sword.

And the responsibility for it didn't rest on me alone. My cohabitant held a fair share of the stake as well.

Well, either way, this is a good opportunity.

Having now witnessed the sorry state of the house, surely they couldn't keep insisting on staying here.

"Well, as you can see, this is no place for Her Highness to stay, so allow me to show you to more suitable accommoda—"

Just as I hurried to tack that on,

"This won't do. That elf lady was right."

Hanna murmured in a low voice.

— Fwap!

Suddenly she rolled up both her sleeves, pulled a cord from her pocket, and began cinching her hair back tight.

"We're starting a deep clean right now! Everyone, out of the house!"

"...I beg your pardon?"

Now?

She wanted us to leave when the sun was already setting?

I'm the one who lives here?

But Hanna declared, resolute:

"I, Hanna Meyer, maid of the Royal Castle and personal attendant to Her Highness, cannot stand by and look at this pigsty a second longer!"

"A-a pigsty!?"

Erzena suddenly shrieked as though her trauma had been struck.

"What's wrong with pigs!? They're adorable, and clean, and utterly lovable!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

A brief silence.

It was I — the only one present who knew the truly, truly horrifying truth about the Sow Saint — who spoke up.

"Miss Hanna. My house has a second floor and a basement; it would be a great deal for one person. Don't wear yourself out for nothing — just let me find you some other—"

"Three hours."

"...Pardon?"

"That's how long it took me to clean twenty-four rooms of the Royal Castle, including Her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Highness's chambers, plus the entire third floor."

In those blue eyes, the flames of professional passion were blazing bright.

The girl, armored in unimpeachable work ethic, spoke.

"Give me three hours. Go get yourselves a meal or something. I'll have the whole place finished by the time you're back."

Ah.

In that moment, I understood.

There was simply no getting through to them, was there.

They fully intended to stay in my house even if the sky came crashing down.

Erzena must have felt the same, for she pressed a hand to her forehead and sighed.

"Haaah... I suppose there's no helping it."

"...I'm afraid so."

Refusing them beyond this point might well have come across as rude.

This was a request from royalty, no less — and having already escorted them all the way to the house, it would have been absurd to turn them away at the threshold.

"...Miss Hanna. Then, since the day is already late, would you please just prepare whichever room Her Highness will be staying in?"

"That'll take fifteen minutes! Where do you keep the broom?"

In the end, it was Erzena and I who buckled.

— BANG! Clatter-bang!

An inexplicable racket echoed through the house on what should have been a peaceful evening.

— Swish-swish-swish-swish.

From behind a closed door on the second floor came the ceaseless sound of sweeping — a sound this house hadn't heard in a very long time.

"...How on earth did it come to this."

"I was just thinking the same."

Erzena and I crouched in front of the fireplace, staring blankly into the flames as we muttered.

"I certainly didn't hope for it to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠turn out this way."

"I was just thinking the same."

"All I wanted was for her to stay somewhere more comfortable."

"I was just thinking the same."

Elaine shuffled over on tiptoe, sat down at my right side, hugged her knees in the same posture as the two of us, and murmured.

"Hnnnngh."

[I was just thinking the same.]

Now that Hanna had stormed the second-floor room armed to the teeth with cleaning supplies, there was no one left for Elaine but us.

"Haaaaah..."

"Haaaaah..."

Erzena and I let out identical sighs and scooted slightly to the side.

Three young people crammed onto a carpet that had grown far too small.

We were too exhausted to grumble anymore, and simply gazed blankly at the fire — until Erzena spoke.

"Well then, Her Highness's lodging is settled, so next comes her going to work at the Immigration Office with me."

"...I'm sorry, what?"

I turned to her in surprise.

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"You said it yourself earlier, Nathan — this is her first time outside the Royal Castle. Then there's no better place to shatter those preconceptions than the border, is there?"

I turned the idea over in my head for a moment.

Actually... she might be right.

My original plan had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been, while Elaine stayed at my house, to make the surrounding area familiar to her as safely and gradually as possible.

Strolling through the market together after work, taking gentle walks down quiet streets first — the slow, careful approach.

But the method Erzena had just proposed might prove far more effective.

After all, the border was precisely the one place where one could meet an endless stream of people of every description and species.

For Elaine, simply being present at the Immigration Office would throw an enormous range of experiences her way.

There was no reason to refuse.

So long as the Princess herself agreed.

"Prin—"

I stopped myself mid-word.

I need to be careful with that form of address from now on.

If I kept calling her by her title, her position at the Immigration Office could become badly compromised.

For now it was only the three of us, but the day would come when she'd be out and about with me — and if, out of habit, the words Your Highness slipped out at that moment...

Every eye on the continent would turn our way.

Erzena's case proved the point.

Call her "Holy Maiden" and people recognized her instantly.

But call her by name, and remarkably few ever caught on.

In this region, where the Holy Order's influence ran thin, hiding her divine power was all it took for her to pass as nothing more than a beautiful woman.

The same trick had to work for the Princess.

Her green eyes I can find some way to cover, but the form of address has to change right now.

Change needed to begin this very moment.

"Elaine."

— Startle.

Erzena flinched and turned to stare at me — then, catching on to my intent, her expression softened.

Elaine, who had been gazing blankly at the flames dancing in the fireplace, lifted her head.

"If it pleases you, then starting tomorrow, why not come to the Immigration Office with Erzena and myself?"

[...]

"If you want to know the world, there's no better way than to walk straight into it."

The eyes that met mine wavered.

Elaine was hesitating.

With only the final step remaining before the world, she was wrestling with her last doubt.

Then Erzena's voice added one more word of encouragement.

"You've come all this way — taking one more step forward wouldn't hurt, would it? Princess... no — Elaine."

Only then did Elaine realize it.

That ever since Elaine herself had pushed away her hand at the Immigration Office, the woman before her had not once revealed her divine power.

[...]

It was a kindness as clear as day.

"Otherwise, Nathan would be stuck keeping only me company, you know?"

"...Hnngh."

At that remark, Elaine's face flared up in indignation — and at last, she nodded.

[I'll go. Let's go together tomorrow morning.]

She finally found her courage.

Heaven only knew where it had come from.

"Well, you heard her — she's agreed. You can hardly refuse this, Nathan, can you?"

Erzena stuck out her chest with a flourish.

At the sight, I smiled faintly and said to her,

"That surprises me."

"What does?"

"I half expected you to oppose the idea. I never imagined you'd actually help her like this."

"Ha."

A short laugh burst from her lips.

"Maybe embracing even the stones that roll in is simply the role of the stones that are set in place."

With a bittersweet smile, Erzena turned her gaze back to the fireplace.

"How could I turn away someone who's been nothing but rejected her whole life..."

I regarded her in silence for a moment.

A stone set in place.

There was a self-deprecating thorn buried in that phrase.

So she isn't entirely delighted when someone new arrives.

Given her position, the appearance of a newcomer could hardly be welcome.

It meant a greater chance of someone discovering that she was hiding from the Holy Order here at the Southern Border.

And if word spread that the Princess was here, onlookers would inevitably flock to catch a glimpse — which could expose her own whereabouts as well.

And yet, despite all of that, Erzena had reached out her hand to the Princess.

Why?

It couldn't have been pure altruism.

Even at the office, she had kept a subtle wariness toward Elaine.

Perhaps it was a sense of kinship.

Or perhaps it was simply Erzena's nature.

Whichever it was, what reached me was an emotion I could scarcely put into words.

And so I said,

"Thank you, Erzena."

"...I'm sorry, what?"

She blinked at me, flustered.

"F-for what? What for?"

As though some weakness of hers had been struck, her face flushed red in the firelight.

At the sight, I couldn't help but laugh.

"Everything. All of it."

Come to think of it, meeting you began with the most wretched of misunderstandings.

But looking back now, it was thanks to that that I was able to harden my resolve.

It had been barely a week since she arrived here.

And in that time, Erzena had already come to fill a great role at the Immigration Office as a gifted healer and counselor.

— Anyone feeling worn out, come see me. One prayer and even your muscle aches will vanish.

— Oh dear, no need. Go home to your wife and say this: 'I'm sorry, darling. I love you.' That alone will solve every problem you have.

Her restored divine power, and her boundless experience hearing confessions back in her days as a Saint, were proving tremendously useful.

So much so that when the Taste Officer blundered into heartbreak, or the Smell Officer agonized over knocking off early, she was the very first person they sought out.

"Ahem. Cough!"

Having finally recovered her composure, she answered while fanning her hands again and again.

"I-if you're that grateful, then... have another meal with me sometime. Just the two of us."

"Elaine's not invited?"

"One day alone is perfectly acceptable. Take her to eat with Miss Hanna."

At the sight of Erzena answering with her lips stuck out in a pout, I finally burst out laughing.

"Yes, of course."

There was no reason to refuse.

Just then, Hanna shouted down from the second floor.

"All done cleaning! You can come in now, Your Highness!"

It had taken exactly fifteen minutes.

Meanwhile, in a secluded alley somewhere in the southern reaches of the continent.

From a pitch-black corner where not even moonlight reached, the voices of two men drifted out.

"Hey. It's all loaded?"

When the first man asked in a slightly anxious tone, the other answered from across the shadows, brimming with confidence.

"No problem at all."

"Just like he said — this thing can't get so much as a scratch. He told us it's unstable."

"I know, I know. Quit worrying. There's no way this gets found."

— Thud. Thud.

Out of the darkness came a large man, carrying a heavy, substantial crate.

"Forget everything else — all we have to do is get it to the Western Active Volcano Region. That's it."

"But the Southern Border of the Crossline Kingdom has the Five Senses Officers, and—"

"Relax. I've got countermeasures for all of them."

He flung something into the darkness with a flick of his wrist.

— Tap.

A lean hand snatched it out of the air.

The other man caught the fist-sized metal capsule and slowly turned it over, examining it.

"Pull this one job off, and we're set for life."

Greed flickered in his eyes, wavering in the torchlight.

"We just have to succeed once."

Etched onto the capsule were these words: