Noble Birth
The dawn before the victory procession in Marinella Kingdom’s capital.
Every time she woke, a scattering of fragments drifted up in Hilde’s mind, muddling her thoughts. As she skimmed those vast, impossible shards of memory, she would wake all at once and, for a few disorienting moments, be unable to tell whether she was still dreaming or already in reality. She had to gather herself in silence before she could move.
…….
Not long after she fell asleep, Hilde always found herself watching from the perspective of an observer. Energy, born from a single point, began to erupt as a blinding flash, as though it meant to light up the entire world. As the countless laws and principles of the universe came into being, innumerable grains of dust began to gather under every manner of force—gravity, universal attraction, and the like.
Centered around the core of a small proto-star ten kilometers across, those grains collided and formed a planet that grew ever larger. After a vast expanse of time, it had first become a seething sea of magma, but as the ages passed, it gradually transformed into an ecosystem where life could survive. Then another protoplanet drew near and crashed into it, shattering it apart; the debris scattered around the star, each fragment gathering only its own components as three inner moons of blue, yellow, and red.
After that, an eternity passed, and vegetation and highly intelligent life began to be born at the hands of the Absolute. Those who came first were called the Transcendents, and each was granted a power of his own. They maintained the planet’s peace and lived in voluntary devotion to the Absolute.
The world ruled by a single Absolute spent its days in apparent peace, a happiness so complete that no living thing could be said to suffer. But when the Absolute’s hand, once fair to every creature, tilted ever so slightly, dissatisfied factions emerged, and the evil that had slept beneath the earth began to churn.
As countless disputes raged between peace and war, the Absolute thought of one means by which the damage might still be undone. And according to the consequences of that act, peace returned once more among the created beings. Yet all of them were steeped in sorrow.
The Absolute that had held up the world was gone.
All at once, the Absolute vanished without a trace, and the Transcendents shut their doors. Over time, the dissatisfied factions, the humans, came to revere the Absolute by making a religion of it, and that reverence was passed down through books composed of its name and a handful of passages.
Was this the origin of the world? Or perhaps it was nothing more than her imagination. But for some reason, today in particular, Hilde felt an odd unease.
She looked out the window.
The three moons that normally shone separately over the world were, by some mystery, slowly overlapping one another in sequence, casting light across the dark sky.
— — —
Agatha, already seated inside the carriage, held out her hand to Hilde as she approached the door.
"Hilde. Come here, take my hand."
It was the afternoon, just after lunch. A carriage ordered by the royal family had arrived at Senium Central Church. It was a gift specially prepared by the royal house for Hilde and the saint, who had been inconvenienced by the crowds still swarming around the church.
Anyone who obstructed the dazzling carriage bearing the royal crest would immediately be treated as defying the royal house, and so it was a convenient way to travel to Ozenris, the capital of Marinella, where the victory procession would be held.
Click. Click.
Reporters thrust artifacts toward Hilde as she boarded the carriage, snapping photos without pause. The scene of Hilde, dressed in the same ordinary priestly robes as the saint, climbing into the luxurious carriage looked like a painting come to life.
"Huuuh. This is seriously over the top, isn’t it? I can barely keep my eyes open from how dazzling it is the moment I step outside."
Irene let out an exhausted sigh.
"Still, isn’t this your everyday life, Saint? You get dragged into church events every year, so shouldn’t you be used to it by now?"
Hilde answered. Although she was serving as Irene’s escort, she had been attending school until last year, so she had not taken part in guarded events where safety was already guaranteed.
"It feels worse lately. I shouldn’t be saying this, but I’m already sick of it. It’s probably because of what happened with the hero’s party."
Irene waved a hand dismissively. Lately, as the number of people making donations to the church had increased, so too had the number of visitors. Day after day, the church’s communal prayer hall and reception rooms had rarely been empty.
"Still, the priests all seem busy but happy. I even saw the pope’s mouth practically stretched to his ears yesterday."
Hilde thought of the pope she had seen yesterday at the reception, smiling alongside a famous guild master. She didn’t know the details, but it was probably the first time in years the church had been able to keep its maintenance costs covered.
"He’s probably relieved they’ve finally stopped running a deficit. The church is funded purely by donations, after all. Senium’s mostly commoners."
"The more we build our name through the hero’s party, the more attention we’ll get,"
Hilde said, thinking of the game’s ending. She knew this world had drifted further and further from the game, but in the game, once the Demon Lord was killed in the demon realm, that was the end. Probably because she’d been too lazy to create any post-credits scene or the like. Naturally, nothing beyond the ending had ever been shown—not what happened to the continent after that, not anything.
Was the purpose of the hero’s party simply to kill the Demon Lord? At that thought, a chill ran over the instinct buried deep inside her. Something profoundly unpleasant felt as though it was about to happen.
Agatha, who had been quietly listening to the two of them, finally spoke.
"More fame is not always a good thing. If there are people who acknowledge you, there will surely be people who try to use you for their own gain."
"Hmm... so you mean the more famous we become, the more careful we should be?"
At Hilde’s words, Agatha nodded.
"Especially you, Hilde. You’re still young. At the victory procession, many nobles will be in attendance, and nobles are not ordinary people. They always wear a kind face in front of others, but behind that smile they’re already gripping a knife to secure their profit. You must be careful with yourself at this procession."
"Haha... who would dare lay a hand on someone from the hero’s party?"
Agatha always worried about Hilde as though she were truly still a child. She had been just as anxious when Hilde said she was going to join the hero’s party, and as a mother, that was something Hilde understood well. But how many years had she lived, including her previous life? It wasn’t as if she would be so easily shaken. With the church and the title of hero’s party companion behind her, even nobles would have a hard time treating her lightly.
The saint draped an arm over Hilde’s shoulders in a familiar gesture and grinned at Agatha.
"Don’t worry. I’m the one protecting Hilde this time. And just in case, Lady Agatha’s coming too, right? I’m already worried about how much attention Hilde’s going to attract, but do you really think anything serious will happen?"
Tch. I’ve lived longer than my mother, and they’re still treating me like a child.
Hilde gave a snort of laughter. Still, what of it? Being worried over was not so different from being cherished.
At that moment, the royal driver outside called out.
"We’ll be arriving at the Senium teleportation office shortly. Please prepare to disembark."
Agatha and Hilde each gathered a small bag. They were expensive artifacts enchanted with subspace magic.
"Hilde, this is your first time in Ozenris, right? Let’s go sightseeing together. I’ll show you some good places to eat!"
"Maybe for Hilde, but the saint is on restriction today. You still have a lot to practice as the representative for the victory procession oath. You need to memorize the ceremonial sequence sent by the royal family."
At Irene’s words, Agatha said firmly, "No." Normally Irene would have thrown a fit, but Agatha was not someone that tactic would work on.
The saint’s eyes glistened as she pouted her lower lip.
"...That’s a real shame. Still, it’s only for today, so it’s fine. Then I’ll tell you about a really good cake shop—can you buy me one from there?"
Suddenly remembering something, the saint began to drool. She insisted it was a famous shop where the line stretched for an hour, and if they didn’t hurry it would sell out. She unfolded a map from her bag, circled the upscale inn where they would be staying for a while in Ozenris, and marked the restaurants and snacks she wanted to try before handing it to Hilde.
Agatha gave Irene a frosty look, but she couldn’t very well say anything about the saint’s attitude toward the daughter who was visiting the capital for the first time.
A short while later, they arrived at the Senium office, took the intercity teleport, and reached the capital, Ozenris. The royal carriage’s escort ended there.
Unlike Senium, the instant they arrived in Ozenris, the interior of the building was adorned with extravagant decorations. An expensive red carpet was laid all the way to the far door, and along the walls were mounted taxidermied heads of wyverns and other imposing monsters.
In truth, Ozenris’s office was the official route used by foreign envoys when they entered the country. It was the face of the Marinella Kingdom, so of course they would put effort into it.
"Good day. It is an honor to welcome the heroes. I am Kedin Onenrose, director of the Ozenris office. If you do not yet have a place to stay, I would be happy to guide you."
"Thank you. We already have an inn booked."
Even though he was only the director of the office in the capital, he greeted the saint’s party with impeccable courtesy, as one would expect of at least a middle-ranking noble. As they came out of the teleportation room, people who had visited the office for business began whispering among themselves.
"The saint and the holy knight are here now, huh?"
"They must be here because of tomorrow’s victory procession. They practically glow just standing there!"
"Is the person next to the saint really that holy knight? That beautiful woman actually overpowered the captain of the knights?"
Even the things they said in low voices reached the ears of Hilde and the others, who were anything but ordinary people. When Director Kedin Onenrose clicked his tongue and cautioned the residents for their poor manners, many of them averted their eyes.
"I apologize. That was rude of us."
"Not at all. In a sense, it’s only natural. I understand that the hero’s party is fascinating to the public."
"Haha! Just as the rumors say, you’re incredibly kind! I hope you enjoy your time in Ozenris."
Hilde and Agatha felt their stomachs turn at the saint’s performance. Under the office director’s escort, the party left the building without much commotion, walked down the main street, and arrived at their destination: the inn. Though it was a triple room, it was far larger than the one they usually stayed in at the church. Inside, there were three separate rooms, all extremely clean, and the bathroom was as large as a spa, with an artifact installed inside the tub so the water could be drawn quickly. In the living room, there was even a massage chair newly developed by an artisan workshop.
Hilde’s eyes widened in surprise at a structure she might have only expected to see in the modern era.
Maybe resting here is better than going out to play.
Before long, the saint had finished unpacking and came over, her voice tinged with dejection.
"I really wanted us to go have fun together. But don’t mind me and go enjoy yourselves. Let’s hang out after the victory procession... ."
The thought of maybe just staying here and lazing around vanished in an instant. Irene was even drooling a little, so it seemed she really did want that cake she had mentioned earlier.
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