Like a Leaf (3)
Even while I was half-willingly and half-forcibly being held here, separate from the task of sorting through the goods, there was one thing I absolutely had to do: send word to the outside world that I was living in the Elves' forest. After all, with everyone already in chaos over the sudden disappearance of the Saintess, if a Saintess who had given no news suddenly reappeared alongside Elves and started selling things, who would accept that easily? No matter how much goodwill I had built up until now, if I stepped forward like that, it would be all too easy to invite strange suspicions. After all, I had vanished together with the Demon King, of all things.
Still, I figured it would take time for them to fully accept the news. So I didn't expect anyone to arrive right away.
“We have come to escort you, Saintess.”
“Huh? That was fast. I heard it takes at least ten days just to get in here.”
“The Church possesses a path that was provided to us in the past. It had not been used for nearly fifty years, but even so, three days were enough to reach this place.”
It had been exactly ten days since I had fallen into the Elves' forest. In other words, the moment I asked for word to be sent outside, everything had clicked into place with mechanical speed. Normally, any action taken by a nation or organization came with administrative delays. Someone had to receive a report, a decision had to be made, and it all had to be recorded for later verification. In an era with computers, things might be a little better, but in this age where everything passed from person to person by hand and mouth, such delays were only natural.
Yet even using that passage, it should have taken three days to send the message out and another three days to come back in. Somehow, within the remaining four days, the news had been delivered, a group including Holy Knights had been assembled, and they had arrived here. It was astonishingly swift.
“You moved incredibly quickly.”
“It is only natural. After all, the Saintess was kidnapped by the Demon King and escaped through her own power, was she not?”
“Has the story already spread that far?”
“We only learned of it after receiving the Elves' letter. Many messengers have already been dispatched northward to spread the news, so everyone will know the truth soon.”
This was the best way to handle the current situation with the least amount of fallout. The Saintess had escaped on her own, the Elves had helped her afterward, and the Church had moved quickly to secure her person. With that narrative, people would simply think, what a terrible ordeal; we must be more careful in the future. Of course, the scale of that “be more careful” would likely grow quite large, but that was something to worry about after quickly resolving what could have become a massive incident that threw the entire Church into chaos.
“Perfect timing. I assume it’s not just the Holy Knights who came, right?”
“That is correct. We also hired mercenaries in haste. Is there some problem…?”
“As the Saintess, acting on behalf of the Church, I have concluded a trade agreement with the Forest Priestess, who represents the Elven race. We need to transport the first batch of goods, but if we leave everything to the Elves, the transportation costs will be quite high. That’s why I’m asking for your help.”
“…Pardon?”
It was a bit abrupt to throw this at them in the middle of everything, but precisely because of the situation, I needed to act even more shamelessly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“I discussed it with the Forest Priestess in my capacity as Saintess, and the Church and the Elves’ forest have signed a trade agreement. There are transportation issues involved, so I’m asking for assistance. We can’t keep leaving all future transport solely to the Elves, can we?”
When you say something as if it’s obvious and back it with the authority of the Saintess, Holy Knights have no choice but to stammer and get dragged along.
“Then… um…”
“The Elves will handle the packaging. Ah, allow me to introduce you. This is the Forest Priestess, Aurelia Trianus.”
It was a moment I had hastily prepared in advance upon hearing that a group of humans including Holy Knights was coming. The moment the Holy Knights looked momentarily confused by my words, Elia was supposed to enter.
“Greetings, human Holy Knights.”
“T-the Sword of the Church greets the Forest Priestess.”
After all, the other party was the Forest Priestess. Even I had seen Elia as the model of a proper Forest Priestess until I caught on to the truth, so how could the Holy Knights be any different? Naturally, Elia was not satisfied with just that. Having shattered the enemy formation with shock value, she pressed the advantage and expanded her gains.
“Then I shall entrust the future to you, Swords of the Church.”
“Pardon? What do you…?”
“Since we have signed a trade agreement, should you not inspect the sales environment as those responsible? Of course, I will bring some of my kin with me, but since it is the world of humans, it would be good if humans helped.”
“Are you saying the Forest Priestess will leave the Great Forest?”
“You understood correctly. Elves are, above all, beings like leaves. I too shall ride the flowing wind like a leaf and drift out of the forest.”
“Is that really allowed? Um, Saintess. The other Elves…”
“Ah, I checked several times. It is apparently one of the duties that the Forest Priestess, who protects the Elven race, must properly fulfill. Everyone agreed.”
The logic that had made me wonder if that was truly correct turned out to work flawlessly on the Elves. Of course, the fact that the Elves themselves had not actively tried to stop Elia from leaving the Great Forest probably helped make it possible. How could the Holy Knights here know that?
Thus, with the Elves tacitly approving and cooperating, the Holy Knights who had come to escort me out of the Great Forest ended up mobilizing every single mercenary they had brought, and yet still had to assign about half of their number as porters.
“That’s expensive! Be careful!”
“Expensive? How expensive are we talking?”
“Even the smallest and cheapest item inside is worth five Imperial gold coins! Handle them with extreme care!”
“Five Imperial gold coins?”
“Yes! The smallest and cheapest ones!”
At that point, no matter how stoic the Holy Knights were, they had no choice but to treat the cargo with the utmost caution. Ten palm-sized saucers were equivalent to a full suit of plate armor. As a result, although the stated reason for this journey was to save on transportation costs, when measured purely by the value of the goods, the labor costs were skyrocketing through the roof. Good heavens, a transport procession that used Holy Knights as porters—what an extravagantly luxurious affair.
“I never imagined we would truly be sending her out like this.”
While we were using a passage that allowed us to cross the Elves’ Great Forest quickly, I didn’t particularly feel like we were moving fast. As I was thinking that, one of the Elves quietly approached and spoke in a low voice.
“You mean Elia?”
“Yes. In truth, we also wanted to send her out of the Great Forest if possible.”
“It did seem a little obvious.”
Did they think I wouldn’t notice? The fact that they hadn’t offered any strong defensive arguments when Elia said she would go had already made it glaringly apparent. But the response that came back to my answer was slightly different from what I had expected.
“That is not what I meant, Saintess. I was speaking of the debt we Elves feel toward the Forest Priestess.”
“A debt? For what?”
“Because that position was never originally meant for Lady Aurelia. She was more or less forced into it for the sake of our race. After more than a hundred years, how could we not feel indebted?”
It sounded like something worth hearing in detail. I had assumed such duties were usually taken on somewhat forcibly, but the way he spoke suggested this was no ordinary story.
“Originally, was it something like accepting volunteers?”
“Originally, the Elf who communicates most smoothly with the World Tree is chosen. While Lady Aurelia could communicate, it was not smooth. Every time communication occurred, she must have suffered greatly.”
I understood what he meant. Just because an Elf communicated well with the World Tree did not necessarily mean it was a pleasant experience for that Elf. What kind of price did it demand?
“Yet there was a reason Elia had to do it?”
“Regarding that part, I can only answer that political issues arose even among us Elves.”
“Ah, political issues.”
That damned phrase again. I had run into problems of that sort several times myself. When there were many people, such issues were inevitable. Of course, the image Elves projected seemed far removed from such things, but Elves were still beings with egos and unreadable hearts.
“Thank you for not asking further. We Elves have resolved to offer complete goodwill to Saintess Lucia, who has lifted the burden our race carried in our hearts.”
I didn’t know exactly what “complete goodwill” entailed, but it felt like I was receiving something far too easily compared to the weight of the atmosphere. Still, I wasn’t the type to refuse when someone offered me something like this.
“I will use it very carefully, after much thought and consideration.”
“There is no need to think about it so heavily.”
After saying that, the Elf withdrew. Since Elia was busily asking the Holy Knights all sorts of questions about the human world, it didn’t seem like she had overheard. In truth, even if she had heard, it wouldn’t have mattered much. Above all, she herself must already know. That the role had never been hers to begin with.
“Have you finished speaking with the Elves?”
The next person to approach was a Holy Knight wearing armor that literally shone with a silvery light. Usually, they would wear a surcoat over it to dampen the reflection.
“Very amicably. I’m sorry, but the details are difficult to speak of carelessly.”
“The fact that it ended amicably is enough. More importantly, the Church has decided to form an escort specifically for your protection, Saintess, so I thought you should know.”
After being kidnapped by the Demon King, it was only natural to arrange special protection. After all, I was the Saintess who had appeared after fifty years. The Church would want to avoid losing me again, even for a short time, in a way that made them feel it was impossible to recover me.
“What is the composition?”
Instead of asking the foolish question of whether such an escort was truly necessary, I asked for the specific makeup. In an emergency, I needed to confirm whether it was a group I could command and direct as I wished.
“A detachment consisting of twelve Holy Knights with abundant experience in anti-demon combat, including the senior knight of the Holy Knight Order, will be assigned in full. A mage will also be added. In addition, there will be four priests and priestesses whose divine power is already at the level where they could soon become bishops.”
It was an extravagantly luxurious formation. The senior knight of the Church’s Holy Knight Order was essentially the next Holy Knight Commander. Just having such a person attached meant most ordinary dangers could be disregarded. If you looked at it that way, it was similar to when the Hero, Ziegfried, had been with me, but adding a mage—whose very existence was normally hard to even glimpse—changed the story entirely.
“The Church has made a big decision.”
“We nearly lost the Saintess once. This level of expenditure is only natural. Furthermore, from now on, wherever you go, the local church will always mobilize whatever armed forces it can to protect you, Saintess.”
This part felt a little off. On the surface, it was a declaration of their will to protect me without fail, yet—
“Does that mean it will be difficult for me to go anywhere the Church’s protection cannot reach?”
“Are there not far fewer places where that is the case? You will be able to visit most places you wish to go without significant restrictions, Saintess, while receiving excellent protection.”
When he put it like that, what could I say? In truth, just as the Holy Knight said, anywhere human civilization reached could be considered an area under the Church’s protection. Well, if the need arose later in places where that didn’t work, I could find another way. If it was absolutely necessary and nothing else worked, I could throw a tantrum. What else was there to do?
“That’s good. I was planning to continue the tour of the Great Cathedrals for a while anyway. Now I feel even more secure.”
“Please let us know anytime.”