Chapter 6 - Utter Chaos
Utter Chaos
Translator : Elizabeth
Saintess Louise, who appeared like a comet and instantly reversed the frozen atmosphere.
Clearly, just a moment ago, the situation had raced toward the extreme,
A situation where the Crown Prince, unable to overcome his anger, was about to slap the cheek of his fiancée, the Duke’s daughter.
But now, it felt merely like a trivial lovers' quarrel, and even that felt like the past tense.
That is how overwhelming Louise’s eccentric behavior was, enough to scramble the short-term memory of everyone present.
The intention, the true meaning, and the significance of that action.
No one could fathom them.
But everyone’s gaze must have been stolen by that beautiful and cute appearance, with starlight seemingly popping around her.
It was understandable.
In the first place, a person who displays shapes of light around them according to their emotions, like a puppy expressing its mood with its tail.
That fact alone was overwhelming enough,
But she even dared to clap hands (high-five) with that Crown Prince,
“Hm? What’s wrong? Is there a problem? You are Crown Prince Lucerius, right? That carriage seal over there matches the Royal Family’s~”
Even now, she was treating the Crown Prince of a nation so casually.
Tension circulated in a different sense.
Wondering how the Crown Prince, who had attempted to strike the Duke’s daughter just a moment ago,
Would react to such an ill-mannered, unidentified girl.
However,
“Y-You are…… I see…….”
The Crown Prince’s actual reaction was far too gentle.
Beyond gentle, he even seemed to be shy.
“I have certainly heard of that light…… You are indeed the Saintess chosen by the Goddess in this era.”
“Yep, that’s right! They say I’m the Saintess~ Ahaha♬ Funny, right?”
“Funny……? Not at all! Wasn't that golden light you showed just a moment ago, that brilliant light like the incarnation of a fairy, proof enough that you are the Saintess no matter how one looks at it……!”
The Crown Prince defended Louise excitedly, as if he himself had been insulted.
The surroundings stirred at Lucerius’s words.
“Wait…… Did the Crown Prince just say…… Saintess?”
“……I heard. That she was definitely chosen as the Saintess this time and is enrolling in the Academy…….”
“That thing that was sparkling with golden light just now, surely that was…… Light Magic, right……?”
“That can’t be…… There was no incantation or anything just now! No matter if it’s Light Magic, for it to manifest just by thought……!”
“Even though I’m seeing it for the first time, I didn’t know it would be this beautiful…… Both the Light Magic, and the Saintess herself…….”
Both the young ladies and the noble children gathered in the campus could not take their eyes off Louise.
It wasn't simply because Louise was beautiful as a woman.
It was partly due to the Light Magic she had just showcased so naturally.
But beyond that, Louise possessed a certain indescribable presence.
Of course, amidst all this, there was someone who still maintained her sanity and responded properly.
“……How insolent! To dare use such ill-mannered speech before the presence of the Crown Prince of a nation……!”
It was none other than Lucerius’s fiancée, Anastasia Zion Rosencrantz.
The Duke’s daughter did so.
At the sudden shouting, Louise was startled, going “Whoa?!”
It truly felt as if she hadn't perceived the Duke’s daughter at all from start to finish.
At that absurd reaction, Anastasia tried to add one more word.
She tried, but,
“Enough, Anastasia!”
Before Louise could react in any way, the Crown Prince stepped in first.
“No matter that I am the Crown Prince, at least here at the Academy, we are classmates who will share joys and sorrows together!”
“Your Highness, that is……!”
“Of course, it might be a bit too familiar, but indeed, at the Academy, that level of distance is just right. Furthermore, didn't you say she is the Saintess of this era? Then surely, that status you were so noisy about regarding order and whatnot should be sufficient as well. Indeed.”
“Your Highness……!!”
Just as her calm silver hair symbolized.
Anxiety filled the face of the Duke’s daughter, who was always the synonym for composure.
Even though it hadn't even been 10 minutes since the Crown Prince saw the Saintess.
As a woman, she just knew.
Certainly, that heart the Crown Prince was currently harboring for the Saintess.
Was unusual.
“Silence! I, the Crown Prince, am currently conversing with the Saintess! Anastasia, are you intending to go beyond mocking me, the Hero, and even ignore the promise with the Cathedral Church that has continued since the Great War?!”
“How could……! I simply……!”
“I said silence!”
At Lucerius’s shout, Anastasia eventually had no choice but to shut her mouth.
The minimal resistance the Duke’s daughter could offer was,
“Kuh…….”
Only glaring resentfully at the Saintess who was happily chatting with the Crown Prince in her stead.
“Right, Saintess. As you said first, this body is indeed the Crown Prince, Lucerius. By the way…….”
Like an elementary school boy who couldn't keep his cool in front of a girl he liked,
The Crown Prince stroked the nape of his neck awkwardly and barely managed to speak.
“……Just now, you said you were funny, but that is not true at all. Seeing such a beautiful…… ahem…… that beautiful and…… yes, that brilliant Light Magic, who would dare say looking at you that you are not a Saintess?”
“Ahaha~♬ What, are you praising me right now? Thanks~”
Louise smiles brightly and innocently along with the twinkling starlight.
Self-interest or suspicion.
At that brilliant smile without a single speck of such ulterior motives,
“H-Hem…….”
The Crown Prince deliberately cleared his throat, not knowing where to place his eyes.
The meaning was simple.
The Crown Prince had fallen for the Saintess at first sight.
Would there be any women here at the Academy who failed to realize that?
When they were all young ladies, women of noble families sensitive to the gazes of others?
“Grrr……!”
Naturally, the Duke’s daughter also noticed that fact.
An emotion of anger that surpassed the feeling of resentment.
The Crown Prince taking an interest in a woman other than herself…… But it wasn't 100% just because of that.
In the first place, was she not the ‘Crown Prince’s’ fiancée?
A successor and a King must always worry about heirs.
Then, as a wife who would later become the Queen of a nation, she had to be fully prepared for him to have two or three concubines.
‘But a Saintess of the Church cannot be allowed. A Saintess…… The moment a Saintess is brought into the Royal Family, it will merely be a reenactment of 500 years ago…… where the Church’s power becomes stronger than the Royal authority.’
However, the Crown Prince had already stopped her, the Duke’s daughter, forcefully just a moment ago.
Since the Crown Prince had come out so strongly, she couldn't stop him again now.
If it were just the two of them, it might be different, but this place called the Academy was being watched by the children of all noble families.
If she, the fiancée, stepped forward more under the pretext of reviving the Royal Family’s dignity, it would end up having the reverse effect of lowering that dignity.
“Lady Anastasia…….”
“……It cannot be helped. For now, just as the Crown Prince wishes, just quietly…….”
“Yes…….”
At Anastasia’s whisper, her retainer young ladies also couldn't step forward separately.
Since it had come to this, the only thing they could do right now was,
Just like the Duke’s daughter, glare at the Saintess as if to kill her, while silently watching the conversation between the two.
“Hm? You said you’d help if there’s anything troubling me~? Why? Why specifically?”
“Why, you ask……! That, what is it…… R-Right……! Aren’t the Saintess and the Hero historically in a very close relationship? Therefore, for me, the Crown Prince who inherits the Hero’s blood, to help you, the Saintess…… Indeed, right, it is not strange at all!”
“Mmm~ Is that so? Of course, continuing the lineage and leaving behind genes to pass on that information and will to future generations is very important~”
“Gene…… tics……? R-Right! Anyway, continuing the lineage is important to nobles, and especially to the Royal Family, more than anything else. Indeed.”
“Yep! Continuing the lineage is important~ After all, science is also a study that developed through generations by inheriting what many geniuses left behind!”
“Science……? Is that, a study about fruit (Gwasil)……?” (Note: Pun/Misunderstanding. Science = Gwahak).
“What, what~! Are you interested?! Are you interested?!!”
“Ugh……?! S-Saintess……?!”
“You are, aren't you?! Science is incredibly amazing, you know?! Of course, magic is super amazing too, but~! Science is rather—without any of that magic stuff at all—! It’s knowledge achieved solely by the meager head of a human, so it’s even more valuable and amazing, you know?!!”
“W-Wait…… This is too…… close…….”
“Especially, especially!! Among them, Physics, which can be called the starting point of all science and explores the knowledge of all creation, can be said to be the best, truly super, super, suuuuper~ amazing~! If you ask what that is and how amazing it is~!!”
The Saintess, seemingly very excited, began to preach to the Crown Prince about the greatness and amazingness of the physics she knew.
Every time she did, although it wasn't as much as the Domain she showed in front of Convent Director Mariana before.
Shapes formed of light popped out like popcorn around them and scattered repeatedly, following Louise’s words and explanations.
“I-It’s certain……! Silent Casting! The Saintess is performing Light Magic with Silent Casting……!!”
“I-It has surpassed the level of Silent Casting……! That is unleashing Light Magic almost unconsciously, far too naturally……!”
“W-What kind of……! That is a state practically possible only for an Archmage or a Spirit……!!”
“I-I knew the existence called a Saintess was one who upholds the Goddess’s oracle but…… to think it would be to that extent…….”
“It’s so beautiful…… Both the Saintess…… and that light…….”
At the starry spectacle of the Saintess unfolding in real-time, the noble children gathered in the campus could not take their eyes off her.
Like that, some were moved and held it sacred,
“Grrr…….”
“……To think the Saintess’s power was this much…….”
“Just what is the Crown Prince thinking, really…….”
And others were jealous and anxious.
But whatever the case, what was certain was,
“Ahaha♪ Ahahaha~♬ Amazing, isn't it? Amazing, right?! Physics is super amazing, yep yep?!!”
That the master dominating the space of this campus right now was none other than Saintess Louise.
“H-Haha…… There are far too many things I do not know in your words, Saintess…… Indeed, since the people of our Royal Family are not as faithful as thought, it must be natural.”
“Ahaha~♬ It’s fine, it’s fine! Because the beginning of physics starts from the very recognition that we humans actually know nothing about nature!”
“H-Hem…… Right, physics…… So that is what physics means…… B-But, is there truly nothing this body can help with? Surely, a Saintess would be unfamiliar with the rules of noble families due to long convent life. You will inevitably suffer in Academy life. So if there is ever anything troubling you, come to this body at any time…….”
“Mmm…… Help, you say~ Well, actually~ There is just one thing? I have homework I received from the Director.”
“Homework…… you say?”
“Yep! Homework!”
—Voooom!
Immediately after saying that, Louise began to write something with light right in front of the Crown Prince.
—Swish.
Brilliant golden letters were written in the air.
At the sight of handling light so freely,
Even the Duke’s daughter, who had been glaring continuously, widened her eyes roundly as if she couldn't believe it.
“From now on, I’m going to test the Crown Prince’s IQ!”
“I…… Q……?”
“Yep! IQ!”
“It is the first time I have heard what that word is but…… Anyway, if it is a test, does it mean an exam?”
“It’s simple~!”
The Saintess said.
As if holding out an experimental consent form.
“It’s a test to judge if the Crown Prince’s seed is worthy enough for me to bear!”
“W-Whaaat……?”
“……?!!!!”
Immediately after,
“……D-D-D-D-Drag that impious wench away right now……! D-Drag her away! Drag her away!! I said drag her away!!!”
The Duke’s daughter’s eyes rolled back completely.
The situation, there was no need to explain it further.
Just, chaos ensued.
Truly, a massive chaos.
First, Saintess Louise’s Annunciation (Declaration of Conception) which was like a bomb. (Note: Using religious term ironically).
And openly to the Crown Prince of a nation at that.
Furthermore, right to his face while his fiancée was watching.
“Hm? Yep? Yeeep~?”
Saintess Louise didn't really understand why everyone was making such a fuss.
It was understandable; she didn't know yet that the Crown Prince and the Duke’s daughter were in an engaged relationship.
As all geniuses do, she only paid attention to the fields she was interested in.
She didn't even pay attention to, nor try to know about, things like relationships between noble families or politics, which were practically the realm of liberal arts.
In the first place, there was neither desire nor seduction in Saintess Louise’s words just now.
There were only conditions and probability.
To Louise, people were not relationships, but merely variables.
Leaving behind biologically superior genes was, as a living organism and as a researcher, like a natural act.
This was like a flaw and a fate that geniuses exceptional in specific fields inevitably possess.
However,
Naturally—
“……This is, no matter who looks at it, the Church crossing the line against the Royal Family!!”
—Anastasia, the Duke’s daughter of the Rosencrantz family, had no choice but to be furiously angry.
It didn't end with just the Duke’s daughter being angry.
“Just what is that shameless and brazen thing to call herself a Saintess……!!”
“How dare she try to receive the Royal blood as she pleases?! This is the Church’s abuse of power and an infringement on Royal authority!!”
“I cannot acknowledge it, I cannot acknowledge it!! To think such a thing is a Saintess……!!”
The aides of the Duke’s daughter, unable to simply watch the Saintess’s eccentricities, finally reached the point of denying the Saintess’s existence.
At the same time,
“What are you saying, you lot! The march of brilliant light the Saintess showed just a moment ago was clearly the Goddess’s!!”
“Right, right!! To think you dare intend to deny the Saintess acknowledged by the Church; no matter if it is Rosencrantz, that is crossing the line!!”
“Rosencrantz……! Protect the Saintess so the Royal faction doesn’t try to harm her arbitrarily!!”
Soon, the individual fight began to spread into a faction war.
Truly, the Academy had become an utter mess from the first day of the entrance ceremony.
It was in the middle of such chaos.
—Grab!
“You, Saintess……! Follow me this instant!!”
“Whoaa~?!”
A girl whose charm point was her light green hair snatched the Saintess’s wrist, taking advantage of the confusion.
Then, dragging her to a quiet place where only the two of them could talk, she asked.
“……You! You’re not a person of this world, are you? Huh?! You’re a person from Earth, aren't you!!”