Saintess (6)
The knight at the temple’s main gate was different from when we had left. Fortunately, showing the token the holy knight had given me that morning let us enter without any trouble.
“The temple seems rather bustling.”
“Isn’t it because of the exchange meeting?”
“I know that.”
He slumped his shoulders at my words. Why was he reacting like that? He wasn’t a dog.
After we had lingered around for quite a while, a nun appeared.
“You’ve returned.”
It was the nun who had attended me from last night through this morning.
“Ah, thank goodness. Um, are you busy?”
“No. I am assigned to the Saintess.”
“I-Is that so?”
“First, I must inform you that your room has been changed.”
“The room?”
I was a little curious about the sudden change. But thinking about it, since I had to hide my identity, staying in such a luxurious room had been a bit strange.
“Yes. Guests from the Academy have arrived, so we must conceal the Saintess.”
Guests from the Academy? What did that mean?
“I will guide you from now on.”
The nun led me and my sister along. The young master stared blankly for a moment before hurriedly following.
While we were moving quietly, the nun stopped the young master midway.
“Men cannot enter from here.”
“I-I see.”
“You must be tired from walking around, young master. Please rest.”
The young master hung his head with an expression like an abandoned puppy.
“Yes, I will. Please call me if you need anything.”
He held out the luggage he had been carrying.
“Thank you.”
A smile formed on my face without me realizing it. Seeing him look so pathetic often made me forget he was a noble.
The room we reached under the nun’s guidance was of moderate size—neither too luxurious nor too cramped, just right.
“The two of you may use this.”
Our luggage had already been moved, and there was a bathroom and toilet. This was about the level of a high-class inn, so I had no complaints. Honestly, the room I had used yesterday had been so luxurious it felt burdensome.
I set the luggage down, opened the bag, and checked whether anything was missing. Fortunately there was no problem. Once I finished checking, I went to the nun and made my request.
“Could I ask for some paper and ink?”
“Understood.”
She brought paper and ink in less than five minutes.
“Well then, shall I write a bit?”
I would have to demonstrate alchemy to people a little later. Before that, I decided to simply put the essence of alchemy and the recipes down in writing.
“Alchemy?”
“Yeah. I thought writing it down and showing it would be more convenient than explaining everything verbally.”
Should the recipes I made public be the three types—ointment, poultice, and antidote? The problem was the materials… Where would I get the poison needed for the antidote? There was lily of the valley in the temple; maybe I could try substituting with that?
When I made the antidote, I had used poison created through alchemy as the material. Of course I could make it with other poisons from the village, but…
“It interferes with establishing the recipe…”
I was cautious because if the materials changed, the result could differ.
After fretting, I decided to leave the antidote part out for now. While I was diligently writing on the paper, the thought of experimenting first came to me.
When I opened the door, the nun was right outside, so I spoke at once.
“Um, there was lily of the valley in the temple.”
“Yes, please speak.”
“Could you pick some flowers for me?”
“How many do you need?”
“About ten flowers, roughly?”
I requested just enough for a simple experiment.
“Understood.”
The nun’s work was truly fast. I had no idea how she brought exactly what I wanted in less than ten minutes.
“Sister?”
When I received the flowers and went to the table, my sister had already prepared everything for alchemy.
“You prepare everything so readily without me even saying a word.”
She looked at me with a slight smile.
“Assistant.”
I had received a lot of help while doing alchemy, and since she had watched so much from the side, she was quick on the uptake.
“Yeah. The best assistant.”
First, shall I try making refined poison with the lily of the valley? I created water with magic, finely chopped the flowers, and put them in.
“Sister, this is poison, so be careful.”
“Okay.”
I stirred with the alchemy stick I had taken out after a long time and injected holy power—combination start!
The color was different from the poison I had made with other materials, so I was a bit flustered. Not deep green or purple, but sky blue!
“Is this really poison?”
The problem was that I couldn’t test it directly… Looking at what had been made, the possibility it was poison was high.
“Sister.”
“Yeah.”
I carefully transferred the liquid into the glass bottle we had bought earlier that day.
“It could be dangerous, so don’t eat it.”
“I know.”
I put a large amount of detoxifying herbs into the pot that still held a little of the sky-blue poison and started combining again. If the recipe I had established was correct, the antidote should have formed, but…
Bang!
Gray smoke rose, and the contents of the pot turned into a bizarre mess.
“C-Combination failure?!”
I was flustered by the situation. I had felt uneasy from the middle of the process, but a failure? I had to find the cause. What had been different from previous combinations?
“As expected, is the poison the problem?”
The probability that the poison made from lily of the valley was the issue was highest. Since the combination had succeeded, something had been created—I just couldn’t tell what. Experimenting on a living creature would be best, but it could be dangerous, so I couldn’t do it carelessly.
After fretting, I decided to try combining with actual poison.
“Poison… you say?”
“Yes. I’m not going to use it for anything bad, so even a little is fine.”
The nun fretted with a serious expression.
“Is it difficult after all?”
“Ah, no. There is a weak poison used when learning detoxification techniques.”
Was it that she couldn’t hand it over freely because it was dangerous?
“May I know what you intend to use it for?”
After a brief hesitation, I said I would use it for research. In the end the nun brought me the poison.
“Even if it’s called a weak poison, it is dangerous, so you must be careful. If you become poisoned, please call me immediately. I will detoxify you.”
“I can use detoxification techniques myself, so you don’t have to worry.”
She seemed curious about what research I was doing, yet she asked nothing. She acted as if she absolutely must not inquire.
Once she left the room I fretted again while combining, and the sun set.
“Saintess, what will you do about dinner?”
The nun knocked and entered to ask.
“I’ll eat here.”
“Understood.”
“Phew… shall I rest a bit?”
Holy power was still plentiful, but using my head after so long had left my mind tired.
When I obtained the poison from the nun and combined the antidote, it succeeded properly. From that I could conclude that the earlier problem had indeed been the lily of the valley.
“What on earth is this…”
I muttered while shaking the sky-blue liquid in the glass bottle. Without testing it on a living creature, there was no way to know.
“Still, seeing that the combination worked, I should leave the recipe.”
I roughly organized the day’s experiments and transferred them to paper.
“Poultice, antidote, ointment—all no issues.”
I had tried combining while swapping the medicinal herbs or detoxifying herbs, yet the results remained the same. From this, what mattered was the efficacy, not the form or species of the plant.
Simply put, when combining an antidote, whether I used detoxifying herb (leaf) or detoxifying herb (root), the product was identical.
I had roughly noticed it before, but being able to prove it directly felt good.
“As expected, the city is convenient.”
Being able to obtain various materials so easily was truly pleasant. I even felt a fleeting desire to live in the temple and research.
Of course I had no such intention.
“You worked hard.”
Food would arrive soon, so I should clear the table. My sister and I cleaned it together.
I had gone out and walked around the city with her, seeing many things. It had been truly enjoyable. I explained knowledge I knew, and when I spoke of my Academy days she showed interest.
“It was fun…”
We even went to the wishing fountain and offered prayers. There I threw a coin, hoping to be loved by her.
I wonder what wish she made? I was curious, but I couldn’t ask.
And that enjoyable time had just ended.
She and her older sister followed the nun into the area forbidden to men.
I was left standing there, stomping my feet, unable to do anything. As time passed I realized they had forgotten about me.
“Ha… is there no choice?”
They had been heading to their room, and after shopping it was only natural they would organize luggage and not come back out.
Regrettably, I decided to return to the room assigned to me. If there was business, if they needed help, they would call me… right?
The temple was busier than I had expected. Recalling what the nun had said earlier, guests from the Academy had arrived? It seemed connected to the exchange meeting. Well, as an outsider it was none of my concern.
While walking down the wide corridor, something caught my eye.
“Miss Julian…?”
The moment I saw pink hair, the girl I liked came to mind and my gaze turned naturally.
“Wow, a cool man!”
The instant I heard the voice, disappointment struck—it wasn’t her. Looking closer, the color was a deeper shade, different from her lush, beautiful, mysterious pink.
She spotted me and hurried over.
“Excuse me, where did you come from, Priest?”
Seeing she wasn’t wearing a nun’s habit, she didn’t seem to be one. Where I came from… it was a truly awkward question. I was wearing priest robes, yet I was no priest.
They were temporary clothes I had received because I had come as the Saintess’s companion.
“And who are you?”
“Uh, uh?”
She looked flustered, then suddenly grinned.
“I’m Mia. I came from the Academy.”
A student who had come for the exchange meeting…
“You seem to be a student.”
“Yes. This place is different from the temple I grew up in… I don’t know the way very well.”
She grinned as if something delighted her. That frivolous manner was almost enough to irritate me.
“I’m sorry, but I have business.”
“Ah, that! At least your name, Priest!”
She suddenly grabbed my hand. She was a girl who truly knew nothing of manners. Annoyed and irritated, I shook her hand off with a flick.
“I’m sorry.”
I answered shortly and tried to leave.
“Mia!”
At that moment a man’s voice rang out from afar. When I turned toward the sound I was bewildered.
Why was he here?
The Second Prince of the Barga Kingdom, Reinhardt Barga.
I knew he had entered the Academy this year, but… why him?
Being caught would clearly become troublesome, so I pretended not to see him and continued down the corridor. When I glanced back, the girl and the prince were creating an affectionate atmosphere.
“Don’t tell me…”
An Academy student and the prince? Sensing something dangerous, I hurried my steps and left the place.
Once I entered the room assigned to me I could finally catch my breath.
“So the temple is bustling because of that…”
Academy students, the prince, the exchange meeting—all the clues connected. It was the exchange meeting hosted by the Metis Church, a major event attended by various academies and countries.
But would the kingdom simply stand by? They would have tried somehow to involve more people. And they had sent the prince who happened to be a student…
“Phew. That was close.”
If the prince had caught me and pressed questions, troublesome matters would have arisen.
And who was that girl? Not a noble… The distinctive bearing and dignity of nobility were completely absent. Recalling her words…
“The temple I grew up in?”
Was she an Academy student of temple origin? The Royal Academy sometimes accepted temple-born students in order to receive excellent scholars from the church. She was probably one of those.
“Somehow I feel uneasy.”
I had a premonition that something would happen.
Could I protect her? I took the ointment she had made from my pocket and looked at it.
“I have to protect her…”
The problem was that if I stepped forward, trouble could fall upon my family……
This was the headquarters of the church, so I should trust the temple.
In case a problem arose, should I at least leave some kind of warning?