Chapter 10. Stubbornness and Arrogance (2)
Chapter 10. Stubbornness and Arrogance (2)
A rare day off from training.
The Church had turned a blind eye to us going out and about, probably because I was a leading Saintess Candidate and because Ria and I were doing hands-on training of our own, but that didn't mean they let us do whatever we pleased all the time.
When nothing else was going on, we naturally helped with Church work. If there was an event, we took part in it; otherwise, we handled everyday tasks like cleaning.
The Church was especially quiet at times like that. It filled with people during worship, but a convent wasn't normally a bustling place.
With a broom in hand, the only sound was the soft rustle of sweeping the floor.
A weekend with no classes at the Hunter Association. Ria and I were holding brooms and cleaning the convent's back garden.
Oh, but that didn't mean Ria was the only one around me. Naturally, the other nuns were cleaning too. And among them, there were two people who weren't nuns.
Glaria was also staying at the Church. She wasn't a nun, but while inside she wore a habit and a veil. Maybe she'd learned from the wrong examples, because like Ria and me, she only draped the veil loosely over her head.
And beside her was the servant who had come with Glaria. She was also dressed in a nun's habit, but she wore her veil properly. All her hair was tucked inside the white coif, with the black cloth over it covering every strand of her long hair.
Did the Elf country have similar rules? Then again, they had a religion much like ours there too—a religion devoted to the Being Above, just like the Gnomes and Dwarves did.
There were a lot of people, and everyone was moving their brooms, but no real conversation was going on.
If any one person opened their mouth, everyone around would probably hear it.
"Ah, by the way."
So I figured now was the right moment.
It was just the start of July. The timing was right. Especially when I thought about the events in the main story.
"Hm?"
The others didn't show much reaction, but Ria, who had been mechanically moving her arms with a blank, unfocused look, responded right away.
Her attitude of not caring as long as there was some way to pass the time was a little funny to me.
"I think the Dwarven Kingdom's princess is going to be kidnapped soon."
Swish, swish. The sound of the broom sweeping the floor stopped dead.
"......."
Eyes turned toward me.
"......Uh, so...... what did you say?"
Ria asked again, as if doubting her own ears.
"The Dwarven Kingdom's princess is going to be kidnapped."
At least, that was what happened in the novel.
Because of it, relations between the Gnomes and Dwarves deteriorated catastrophically, and it nearly escalated into war again.
Armed clashes actually did break out, and there were many casualties.
And then the Mana Orb problem struck on top of everything else. The Gnomes suddenly lost their homeland and became refugees, with their entire race seeking refuge in this country.
The reason I said "the Gnomes" was because the number of Dwarf survivors was never properly estimated. And even saying "never properly estimated" was putting it euphemistically—in reality, the Dwarves in that region were simply annihilated.
Just as Gnomes dig caves into rocky mountains to escape the hot sun, Dwarves living in highlands dig into mountains to escape the cold.
The accident that occurred in that region buried the entire Dwarf nation. Not under earth and sand, but under overflowing Mana—civilization and all.
The only survivors were the tiny handful of Dwarves who had been in this world. And since they were all male politicians, they were nowhere near enough to carry on the line and prosper as a race. The Dwarven Kingdom was effectively destroyed.
......Later, Dwarves contaminated by Mana would become Undead and invade through the Gate.
"Um, she hasn't already been kidnapped, has she? I haven't heard any news like that."
"If something like that had happened, we'd have heard about it. Obviously."
Ria said with a serious face.
"That's a relief. It means we can take action before the princess gets kidnapped, at least."
Just as the contaminated lake in the Gnome Region later engulfed the Gnome Region, the Dwarf Princess's kidnapping must surely have been a cause of that disaster.
The place where the Dwarf Undead stopped their activity was deep within—where the kidnapped princess had been.
Only after the Saintess shattered the Mana Orb with the Holy Power she called down—the orb fused with the princess, or perhaps created using the princess while she was still alive—did the Undead finally stop moving. Until then, even when their bodies were torn to pieces, they had kept stitching together whatever parts remained and moving on.
That was...... a tragedy, wasn't it?
I had to stop it before it happened.
At least, thanks to having thoroughly purified the Gnome Region before, it should be much easier this time.
"......."
Ria lifted her head and looked up at the sky.
The weather in early July still looked endlessly clear. The rainy season hadn't come yet.
"Was that a Prophecy?"
"Yes."
Ria, who had been quietly gazing up at the blazing sun, lowered her head again and looked at me.
"No......"
Ria muttered.
And then, she raised her voice a little.
"No, if you're going to say something like a Prophecy, at least set the mood first. Don't just blurt it out like you're making small talk!"
Glaria and her maid were staring at us blankly with their mouths hanging open.
Piercing through the pouring sunlight, the light sent down by the Being Above wrapped around us.
As if to vouch for my words.
The nuns around us hurriedly fled the area as if running away.
Ria, with an angry expression, waved her hand in front of my face and swept the Holy Power away.
......Hm.
Had I brought it up too suddenly?
No, but then how was I supposed to bring it up?
*
There was a reason I deliberately brought it up where Glaria could hear.
If possible, getting the sincere cooperation of someone who could use Magic would be helpful.
Yu-ri was, of course, a good kid, and skilled too. But fundamentally, she was someone who prioritized Lee Si-yoon's existence above all else.
Lee Si-yoon had "awakened" last time after eating chocolate infused with my power.
I didn't know whether he'd always had that talent or whether his faith was simply that pure and deep. If receiving Holy Power were all it took to Awaken, he should have Awakened the moment I treated him.
Well, I'd look into that slowly later. Anyway, thanks to that, Yu-ri had been somewhat on edge because Lee Si-yoon had suddenly been thrust into the spotlight.
She seemed to be laboring under the delusion, 'He used to be mine alone......!'
Well, getting the two of them together was one of my goals.
But the two of them couldn't sit this one out. They had both contributed a great deal the last time they were with me, so they would almost certainly be included in the group.
I decided to station the two of them somewhere appropriate, preferably where they could protect civilians. I could load them up with gems made by the Gnomes and plenty of chocolate, all packed with Holy Power.
On the other hand, I wanted Glaria to come with us.
"The power to open a Gate?"
Ria made a subtle expression.
"Yes, probably. It's only a possibility, though."
Was it possible to open a Gate with human power?
Ah, of course, that wasn't a normal thing to do. Under 'ordinary' circumstances, it was impossible. The novel had described it that way too.
A large-scale natural phenomenon whose cause couldn't be identified. A disaster beyond human control. Like a tornado forming over an open field.
But the Dwarven Kingdom's princess had done it.
Not with her own power—assimilated with a Mana Orb, regardless of her own will.
There was no Gate in this country that went directly to the Dwarven Kingdom. In the first place, when the Gnome refugees came over, the Gate to the Gnome Region had been closed from this side.
But the invasion of the Dwarf Undead army had come through a Gate. Just like when the Gate Crisis first erupted in the very beginning.
In the original work, there was no depiction of the Dwarven Kingdom's princess creating such a thing. It was only described that the Dwarf Undead were under the control of that Mana Orb.
But thinking about it now, that Gate—was probably something the princess had created.
At the very least, her power must have been necessary.
"I think it's worth investigating. What do you think?"
At my serious question, Ria stared at me for a long while, then let out a deep sigh.
"Whether it's possible or not, you were planning to save the princess from the start anyway. And the Dwarves too."
"......."
"You think I don't know you? Sure, it's not like we've known each other our whole lives, but you're still one of the easiest people I've ever met to read."
"That's not a compliment, is it?"
When I asked with a frown, Ria stared at me once again.
"Why?"
At my question, Ria gave a small chuckle.
Then she placed her hand on my head and said,
"No, it is a compliment."
"......What kind of compliment is that?"
"It really is a compliment. At least, it means you'd never just stand by and watch someone in danger."
"......."
What was I even supposed to say to that?
When I looked at Ria with a baffled expression, she grinned and ruffled my hair wildly.
"Aah!?"
Even when I let out a protesting shriek, her hand didn't leave my head for a while.