The Royal Capital Barga (20)
She had come to the temple on an errand in the Saintess's place.
It was the temple where she had been born and raised, yet she could not bring herself to defend what had happened this time. To do something so pointless and expose the Saintess's existence…
The bishop responsible for the whole mess had, regrettably, been stripped of his rank and sentenced to what they called "confinement" — which amounted to hard labor. Specifically, he was to take charge of the library's book-sorting work, a task he had already been doing. Was it really a punishment if it was work he was supposed to be doing anyway? That thought crossed her mind, but the one who had ordered the labor sentence was the Saintess herself.
Truly, she had a kind heart.
"You've come?"
Word of her arrival sent the Archbishop rushing out to greet her in a fluster.
"Have you been well?"
To her, the Archbishop was like a father, so she offered the greeting with careful respect.
"Yes. What brings you here today?"
At present, the temple in the royal capital was quietly pouring support into the Saintess in hopes of earning her forgiveness. The aid was so abundant it was hard to spend it all, yet the hearts of the faithful could find no peace. The Saintess had closed her heart and would not come to the temple.
"Nothing particularly urgent. This time, I would like you to procure a large quantity of evening primrose for us."
The temple had given the Saintess a great deal of money in support, but money alone was not enough to secure the volumes she needed. The flowers were, after all, something the nobility enjoyed as a kind of premium tea for various reasons.
"I'll have them sourced at once."
The Archbishop spoke to the aide at his side, and the man scrambled up from his seat and hurried off. It was a scene that made the temple's current state painfully clear.
"Everyone seems so crushed."
"How could they not be?"
The Saintess had, in her own way, forgiven them. That was separate from any desire to set foot in the temple.
"No matter how long you wait, the Saintess will not come."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. We should count ourselves lucky she hasn't left already."
She remained only because she still had experiments to run and things to enjoy in the capital. Had those not existed, she would have left the moment she heard the rumors.
"Her position is that forgiveness and visiting the temple are two entirely different matters."
"I can understand that."
Regret showed plainly on the Archbishop's face. He already knew, so he did not bother asking her to persuade the Saintess.
Of course, even if she had received such an order, she had no intention of obeying it. She knew full well why this situation had come about, and she considered it nothing more than the temple reaping what it had sown.
She had planned to spend a little time with the Archbishop, collect the requested goods, and head back — when an unexpected visitor appeared.
"Good day to you."
Priest Daniel…? She had no idea why someone who ought to be at the main cathedral was here, and her eyes went wide.
"What are you doing here?"
He approached and held out a letter. She accepted it with a doubtful expression. Frankly, he was a man whose reputation fell far short of his actual ability…
"Th-this is…"
She read the letter's contents and could scarcely believe them. The feeling was simply, Why this man?
"Aren't you a priest?"
"I was. I used to be a priest, yes."
After roughly two months of grueling training, he had raised his skill to that of a Holy Knight, won the selection tournament, and claimed the post.
"I can hardly believe it."
In a mere two months, he had defeated knights who had trained for more than a decade? Was he some kind of genius…?
"So you're a Holy Knight…"
And not just any Holy Knight — one appointed to serve the same Saintess she served.
"You mean to come along with me later, then?"
He shook his head with a solemn expression.
"I must first ask the Saintess her will."
Would the Saintess refuse a Holy Knight appointed by the main cathedral? It was possible, but…
She understood then why he had been so cautious.
"You said you made advances toward her?"
Priest Daniel bowed his head so low it nearly struck the floor. For a reason like that, there was every chance the Saintess would turn him away.
"And knowing that, you still applied?"
In her opinion, the wiser course would have been to live quietly and stay far from the Saintess. So why go through the training and volunteer?
His explanation that followed made a certain amount of sense, and she thought she could also guess what the Cardinal at the main cathedral had been thinking when he sent him.
Only… the main cathedral simply had not known the current situation between the capital and the Saintess.
"Y-you should tell her yourself."
Even if he was refused, it seemed better that he deliver the news in person. She was, after all, only the Saintess's attendant. She had no right to decide — everything had to be the Saintess's choice.
"Will it be all right?"
She knew what he was fretting over.
"I couldn't say."
She herself had only been with the Saintess a little over three months. In that time she had learned a great deal about her, but there was still much she did not know.
"Will you go yourself?"
He hesitated, then nodded.
She offered him several pieces of advice. First, do not go dressed as a priest or a Holy Knight. Wear the most ordinary clothes you can. Start with an apology, and explain your reasons clearly — simple counsel of that sort.
"Thank you…"
The two of them waited a long while, collected the goods the temple had procured, and left.
After a simple lunch with my sister, we came to a clothing shop.
"The clothes here are good."
Ever since Lady Gerlach had bought me clothes, I had naturally started wearing skirts more often. I was going to become a man again someday, but for now I was a woman, so I might as well get used to it.
"The prices here are reasonable, and the quality is solid."
In truth, the prices were on the expensive side. I could afford them only because I had money to spare at the moment. I didn't care for the church's methods, but I was grateful they were throwing money at me so earnestly in the name of apology.
Back in my adventuring days, I would never have set foot in a place like this…
"Yuli, this place looks way too expensive."
"It's fine. We've got plenty of money."
I led my sister into the shop. Skipping the first and second floors, we went straight up to the third.
Last time I had been dragged around by Lady Gerlach with no room to breathe, but today I had the leisure to look around properly.
"There are a lot of pretty clothes, right?"
"I wouldn't know."
My sister was a woman, but she had lived a bit of a tomboy's life. A shop like this was probably a first for her, so of course she wouldn't know.
"Come on."
My sister and I headed toward the pretty clothes and browsed them one by one. Lady Gerlach had mainly looked at simple one-piece dresses, but taking my time, I found the selection was quite varied.
There were separates — skirts and tops — and even pieces with something like a light corset built in to cinch the waist.
"What about this one?"
I held out a dress I thought would suit my sister's figure. The color was a bit bright, and it had that waist-cinching feature.
"Well? Well?"
Had I gotten a little too excited? My sister frowned.
"Not really."
"Yeah? Then I'll find something else."
My sister and I spent a long time hunting for clothes and trying them on.
But around the tenth outfit or so, the staff started giving us pointed looks… Apparently they were getting annoyed that we kept trying things on without buying anything.
"Yuli, try this on."
"H-huh?"
While I was diligently picking out clothes for my sister, she thrust a garment at me.
"Put this on."
Her eyes were blazing. Clearly, making her change clothes over and over had finally made her angry.
"O-okay…"
We cheerfully picked out clothes for each other… and I ended up buying one top and three skirts, while my sister got two tops, two skirts, and one dress. At roughly six gold apiece, the total came to an eye-watering sum.
"So expensive…"
"But the fabric quality is good."
They would last longer than ordinary clothes, at least.
"We've already bought them. Too late for regrets."
"Yeah…"
"So don't hoard the clothes I bought you — wear them often."
"But it feels wasteful…"
I understood that feeling, but…
"Not wearing them is even more wasteful."
"Yeah…"
By the time we finished shopping, quite a while had passed.
"Shall we head back?"
"Yeah."
My sister looked thoroughly satisfied; her expression was bright.
Arms full of packages, we set off toward the Meyer mansion. A suspicious-looking man trailed us for a stretch, but the moment we turned toward the Upper District, he immediately turned on his heel and left.
"Good thing."
If he had kept following, dealing with him would have been a hassle.
"Yeah."
My sister had been a little tense without a sword on her, or so she said. But now there was nothing left to worry about…
"Let's go home."
"Yeah."
We arrived at the Meyer mansion and went straight inside.
"Did you enjoy yourselves?"
The young master must have seen us come in; he was coming down the stairs.
"Yes, thanks to you."
I exchanged a brief greeting with him, went to my room, and put away the things we had bought. Then I took out the seeds I had carefully tucked in my pocket and moved them somewhere else. After that, I headed for the mansion's study.
"Is there anything in here about storing seeds?"
I searched through the books on the off chance, and found what I needed in a volume on farming.
"First dry any moisture on the seeds, then store them somewhere cool? And it's even better if you keep them between sheets of paper or cut off the air?"
Pretty straightforward. Back in my room, I spread the seeds out to dry at once. Then I pulled out some unused memo paper.
"It's been a while since I folded paper…"
In my previous life, paper had been so abundant you could fold it for fun. Not so in this world. Paper was fairly widespread, but still expensive enough that you couldn't just waste it freely.
Drawing on my past-life memories, I folded the paper into little pouches.
"All set."
I was just stretching, ready to rest a little, when a knock sounded at the door.
"Come in."
I spoke without looking toward the door.
Creak — the door opened.
"Saintess."
Hm? That was Sister Mary's voice. But why was she calling me Saintess? I had told her to use my name, and she normally did unless something special was going on.
So why the change in address?
Something was up.
"What is it?"
"There is an urgent matter."
An urgent matter…
I turned in my chair to face the doorway.
Sister Mary stood there. And behind her was someone else.
A large build, and red hair that looked as if it were blazing…
Why on earth was he here?