Reducing the Numbers (2)
“We didn’t get a chance to talk properly during the last subjugation because everything was so chaotic. I look forward to working with you from now on.”
Even though the princess had told us to get along, the gulf created by our difference in status could not be bridged with a few polite words. She seemed to understand this and refrained from pointing out how awkwardly the nobles and commoners were circling each other. Still, she couldn’t very well leave them standing apart at a gathering arranged specifically for mingling, so she singled out one person and showered him with attention.
And unfortunately, the one forced to endure that barrage of interest was none other than me.
A priest must seem easier to approach than a commoner.
I could understand their thinking, but the weight of their attention was still exhausting.
“The pleasure is mine.”
“What happened to that Evil God Altar we discovered last time?”
“Oh! I’ve been curious about that too.”
“We reported the altar to the Holy Empire. As far as I know, they’re currently investigating the matter.”
“They say you can run into all sorts of things in the Labyrinth, but I never imagined we’d actually find an Evil God Altar.”
“If you hadn’t been there, we would’ve touched the damn thing and ended up cursed and groaning in bed for weeks. We were really lucky.”
“I didn’t realize having a priest with us would feel this reassuring.”
I never expected to be groomed like this by nobles. The situation was far too overwhelming for me to enthusiastically play along.
“Look, the priest seems flustered.”
“Were we being too pushy?”
“Not at all.”
At first the attention had been focused entirely on me as a person. Once that finally died down, the questions began pouring in.
“The temple where you work is the one here in the Labyrinth City, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I stopped by last time but you weren’t there. They said it was your day off.”
“Did you? I don’t have many days off… I never received any message about your visit.”
“I told them not to say anything. I didn’t want to burden you.”
There were even people who had visited the temple specifically to see me.
“When I got treated by you, the wounds healed perfectly, but when another priest treated me afterward, my body just wouldn’t recover properly. They say you’re the youngest Chief Healer? Is that title difficult to obtain?”
They even praised my healing skills through backhanded compliments. It was starting to wear on me. Couldn’t they shift their attention to someone else?
Just as fatigue began to creep over me in earnest, they finally turned their interest elsewhere.
“But this person is incredibly quiet.”
“Ah! I should have introduced Sister Melody earlier…”
I had been so overwhelmed by the onslaught that I’d forgotten. I hurriedly introduced her to the nobles.
“This is Sister Melody, who has taken on the duty of guarding me.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Melody finally spoke, offering a single curt greeting.
“If you’re a guard, does that make you a holy knight?”
“Yes.”
“This is my first time seeing a holy knight up close… If you have time later, would you be willing to spar with me?”
To the man who had openly revealed his competitive spirit, Melody replied,
“I am on duty, so I cannot give a definite answer.”
“Then I’ll ask again when the time is right!”
I knew the nobles used swords, but I had no idea how skilled they actually were. Since holy knights were the most famous symbol of the Holy Empire, this couldn’t be dismissed as a simple duel. A spar between a holy knight of the Holy Empire and a knight of the Deltrack Empire could easily become a contest representing their respective nations.
“May I ask your name?”
“Ah! I forgot to introduce myself. I am Baron Moil, second son of the House of Tenes.”
He was Reciel’s childhood friend, though they weren’t all the same age. Those who had grown up as the princess’s companions varied in age by as much as five or six years. I had assumed childhood friends meant they were all the same age, but apparently royal families rarely assigned someone younger than the prince or princess as a companion.
Because if they’re too young, they might not know right from wrong and could cause accidents.
What does a child know? They’re honest with their emotions and can be stubbornly willful to the point of seeming demonic. What would happen if they directed that stubbornness at a member of the royal family? That was why royal children were usually paired with older companions. These nobles were all older than Reciel. However, since she herself was so young, “older” in their case only meant early twenties. In other words, they were at that age of hot-blooded recklessness when one tends to cause the most trouble.
“Yes, Baron Moil.”
The words had been meant as a simple acknowledgment to remember him by. But Baron Moil waited expectantly for Melody’s next sentence. Most people would have continued the conversation to keep it flowing. As we all knew, however, Melody was not an ideal conversation partner.
Everyone stared at her with puzzled expressions, and a natural silence fell. I decided it was time to step in.
“Sister Melody tends to be rather taciturn.”
“Ah, I see…”
“She didn’t say much from the beginning, but she really is quite reserved.”
Fortunately, they didn’t seem to view her reticence as a flaw and were willing to understand it generously.
“Is the reason you don’t drink alcohol also because you’re on guard duty?”
“Yes.”
The curiosity that had been directed at me was naturally shifting toward Melody.
“Come on, there aren’t that many people here. For today, just relax and enjoy yourself. Didn’t the princess give her permission?”
“I must decline.”
Even after hearing she was a quiet person, they didn’t stop prodding her. They seemed determined to break through her wall of silence somehow.
I thought it was just because I was a priest, but she acts like this with everyone.
Despite her formidable personality, Melody didn’t simply endure the barrage of questions the way I had.
“Where did you serve before this?”
“That information is classified due to the nature of my duties, so I cannot answer.”
“Oh, a secret mission or something? How intriguing.”
She cleanly refused to answer, dampening their enthusiasm for questioning. Rather than getting upset at being rejected, their curiosity about holy knights only seemed to grow with each refusal.
“Do you also hunt demons?”
“Classified.”
“Why can’t you completely eradicate the heretics? Those bastards have caused so many headaches across the empire with their crimes.”
“……”
The nobles had so many questions that I was beginning to wonder if they would ever stop.
“Then can you at least tell us why heretics keep appearing? Is that classified too? They know they’ll die if caught, yet they keep showing up. It’s just too strange.”
When she remained silent again, clearly unwilling to answer, I finally intervened.
“It’s because they cannot resist temptation. The Evil God digs into their hearts and promises to grant their deepest desires.”
“Oho. So if someone says they want to become a sword master, it grants that?”
“Yes. It promises to make it happen.”
“Wow… that’s a terrifying thing to say. Not just anyone can become a sword master. But I’ve never heard of a heretic who actually became one?”
“Of course not. The Evil God doesn’t grant the reward immediately. It changes the terms, saying they must follow it and accumulate merit first.”
“Ah. Definitely a nasty bastard.”
Thanks to my intervention, the atmosphere was saved from becoming irreparably awkward. But if Melody’s iron wall continued, problems would eventually arise. I needed to redirect their attention elsewhere. Of course, showing interest in someone meant wanting to know them and grow closer, so the fact that I had to deliberately divert their interest felt rather bittersweet.
Everyone takes a different amount of time to warm up to others.
Forcing friendship on someone who found it difficult was simply wrong. I decided not to regret stepping forward on her behalf.
“I heard all of you have been friends with Princess Reciel since childhood.”
“Ah, yes. We’ve known Her Highness for a very long time.”
“This is a secret, but while she’s adorable now, when she was even younger the princess was so cute it was almost criminal.”
As soon as the topic turned to Reciel, the nobles’ faces brightened again.
“Deciding to enter the Labyrinth couldn’t have been easy. What made you choose to do so?”
Baron Moil answered my question first.
“It was simply something that had to be done. We are nobles of the empire, after all. Noblesse oblige!”
He said that when the princess earnestly asked for their help, there was no reason to refuse.
“I was interested in the Labyrinth itself. If Her Highness hadn’t suggested it, I would have formed my own team and entered anyway.”
Some had come purely out of curiosity about the Labyrinth. As I listened to their various reasons, I realized my own motivation for entering wasn’t particularly special.
And among them was one noble who had joined for what was arguably the most distinctive reason of all.
“Because of Princess Canaby?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
His answer carried a hint of solemn determination. He was a beautiful young man who could still be described as a pretty boy, not yet having fully shed his youthful features.
“Tsk, tsk.”
The way the surrounding nobles shook their heads as if to say he was hopeless suggested there was quite a story between him and Princess Canaby.
“The moment I heard it involved Princess Canaby, I accepted immediately. Princess Reciel has relied heavily on her older sister, Princess Canaby, since they were young. How could I refuse when it was for her sake?”
“Do you really think the priest won’t understand if you keep beating around the bush? Just be honest. You said you’d do it because you’re in love with Princess Canaby.”
“Ah, one-sided love…”
The fact that they called it one-sided love suggested it was a difficult relationship to realize.
“Why do you automatically assume it’s one-sided? You never know!”
“Why would someone like her enter into an engagement with someone like you? If you were the eldest son, maybe, but you’re the youngest.”
The eldest son would inherit the family and wield power. But the youngest son of a noble house usually received a modest share of the fortune and had to figure out how to support himself. Perhaps that was why, despite his feelings for Princess Canaby, he had never been able to express them properly.