The Weight of Unwanted Fame
I absolutely hated being the center of attention. If I’d actually enjoyed it, I would’ve paraded Rai and Endairon around for the whole world to see ages ago.
All I wanted was to live my life however the hell I pleased. And now they were calling me a damn saint.
[That’s not it at all! Master!]
I was so desperate to deny reality that my mind had half checked out.
Moving like a zombie, I trudged forward in a straight line until Rai grabbed my collar in his teeth and half-dragged me back to the inn on autopilot.
I had zero memory of how I’d even gotten this far.
“Jeanie.”
“Ah……”
When I shuffled into the inn like one of the undead, Ash, who was sitting in the first-floor dining area, raised a hand in casual greeting. At least he knew me. But I was so out of it that I didn’t even want to think.
How should I put it? It felt like one of my stupid mistakes had been uploaded to a video site and racked up fifteen million views.
“Um… are you alright?”
“……Yeah.”
“Your complexion……”
I’d even forgotten how to speak for a moment and just gave a vague nod. Apparently that looked strange, because Ash stepped right up to me and stared down with far too much worry in his eyes.
“Did something happen outside?”
Shit, Ash, you good-natured idiot.
Still the same kind person, huh. Nice to see you, buddy. But that’s one thing, and right now I’m pretty damn shaken.
I gave Ash’s chest a couple of half-hearted pats where he stood looking anxious, then headed for the stairs.
I needed to lie down the second I got to my room.
My stomach was churning like I was about to come down with a stress-induced illness.
“Ah, you’re back! Jeanie, how did it go at the Magic Tower……”
On the way, I passed Lox.
“Huh? Jeanie?”
“……Yeah?”
“What about our telegram?”
“Telegram?”
“You said you’d check whether a telegram from our party had arrived.”
Right. That had been my excuse for leaving Einy with them. I had to drag my soul, which had floated off somewhere far away, back into my body just so I could speak properly.
“It hadn’t come.”
I’d confirmed it the moment I reached the Magic Tower—there was no telegram addressed to Ash either.
“I see. Thank you. Also, Einy is with Chad at the stables. She said she wanted to say hello to her mother’s horse.”
“Hey, Lox.”
“Yes?”
“You’re pretty smart, right?”
“Ahem, how could I say something like that about myself……”
“Then you must know who Jeanie Crowell is.”
“Is there anyone who doesn’t? She’s currently the most famous person on the continent.”
Of course. The person in question is me, yet I’m the only one who had no idea.
I’d been stuck in the middle of nowhere for months, so the world felt strangely foreign, as if it had changed while I was gone.
Two months in the dragon’s lair, plus another full month crossing a forest as vast as the ocean.
After three months away, I had returned to find myself a sudden celebrity.
And not just any celebrity—an absolutely ridiculous one.
“These days it’s all the rage to name your daughter Jeanie if you have a girl. It was already a common name among commoners, but now two out of every ten seem to be using it.”
“Wow……”
Was my name public property now? I hadn’t filed a patent or anything, but it still felt incredibly weird. It wasn’t even a coincidence—they were deliberately naming their kids after me……
“Why are you asking about that, though?”
“I…… was in a place where rumors don’t reach for a while. So I had no idea.”
“Oh no! That’s truly unfortunate! To think you missed such an incredible story! It’s so moving and heroic!”
Yeah, well, I was actually there.
Lox must not have liked the look on my face—one that said I couldn’t care less and actually found it pathetic—because he suddenly raised his voice and launched into a full-blown speech.
It seemed this guy had completely bought into the glorified version of the rumors. What an idiot.
“Jeanie Crowell! That esteemed person threw herself willingly before a dragon and saved not only His Imperial Majesty the Emperor but every single one of the continent’s most distinguished nobles! She is the goddess of courage and sacrifice! A noble and sublime hero of our era!”
“Wait…… I think I’m gonna throw up.”
“That name that shakes the entire continent! She is undoubtedly the reincarnation of a goddess!”
I remembered it perfectly. I was just an ordinary female high school student passing by.
“Is it really worth praising her that much……?”
“Of course! Everyone reveres her as the Saint!”
“I don’t really get it.”
I’d only done it to save my own skin. Why had it been blown so ridiculously out of proportion?
I was finally starting to understand how hero myths got inflated.
“Good heavens! If you say that in public you’ll get stoned! She has so many followers. Just walking down the street, you’ll hear children singing legends about her. On top of that, they say a giant statue of her is being erected at her alma mater.”
The dean better not let that happen.
“Ah, if only I could touch that statue just once, I would have no other wishes. Besides that, I hear the people of Crowell territory are making and selling souvenirs. If our travel schedule allows, I’d love to visit…… Sadly, Dmitry is in the exact opposite direction from where our party is headed.”
“Just asking, but Lox, are you one of those followers too?”
“Of course! I even joined the fan club!”
Whoever created that thing, I’m not letting them off easy if I catch them.
“It’s probably harder to find someone who isn’t a follower. There are quite a few among the nobility as well. Plenty of nobles witnessed the beginning of the legend firsthand. They say they’re all shedding tears of gratitude and making enormous donations. Thanks to her, it’s as if they’ve been given a second life!”
“……Donations? To where?”
“To the Crowell family, obviously. It used to be an obscure little barony that no one knew about, but they were recently granted the rank of count.”
He knew way too much. Looked like he really was a hardcore fan. Lox, who I’d thought was one of the more normal ones, was starting to look like a cultist.
Ugh, I’m worried.
Ash! You gonna be okay? How are you supposed to become crown prince like this!
“With the massive amount of donations pouring into the Crowell family, they used the money to build a small shrine honoring Jeanie Crowell’s rest. That was the original purpose…… but lately it’s become distorted. Extreme followers have gathered there and it’s starting to function like an actual religion. Or so the rumors say.”
In this world, a lot of information spread by word of mouth. And since the incident had happened three months ago, this was probably the noisiest period yet.
Looking at Lox’s eyes sparkling with admiration and praise, I made up my mind to hide my identity from now on.
I’d pretend I wasn’t Jeanie Crowell. I’d act like I had nothing to do with the source of those rumors. I’d just be an ordinary person…… though that last part might be impossible.
“The more radical followers claim that the reason she was able to block the dragon’s breath was entirely due to divine protection. There are countless eyewitnesses who say they saw a massive shield sent by the gods. And they’re all high-ranking nobles, which lends the claim quite a bit of credibility.”
[Yaaaawn.]
If a noble says it, does that automatically make it credible?
More importantly, the divine shield…… was currently the guy yawning lazily right next to me. Rai really was acting like some stray dog with nothing better to do.
[Did you hear that? Rai, they’re calling you the divine shield.]
[It seems they’re mistaking my power for holy power. They’re completely different things…… but humans have always been terrible at telling them apart. They even confuse spirits with magic, don’t they?]
[How annoying…… If there had been even one Spirit Master there, would they have noticed?]
[Probably not. Spirit energy is much harder to detect than magical energy. Even among Spirit Masters, it’s difficult to distinguish if they handle different attributes.]
None of this sat well with me.
Even though they were praising and elevating me. When I thought about why, it was simply because this wasn’t what I wanted.
I swear, I had never wanted any of this, not even a tiny bit.
When did I ever ask to be called a saint? Did I beg for donations? I don’t care about becoming famous either. They all just assumed I was dead and went wild with their stories.
Anything that happened outside of my will pissed me off.
“Yo! You’re back.”
I was standing there with a sour expression when Chad appeared right on cue.
Einy, who was comfortably nestled in his arms, looked far more relaxed and happy than she ever did with me.
Someone had neatly braided her hair and tied it up prettily. Her face was brighter than I’d ever seen it.
Was this kid only happy when I wasn’t around?
“I fed her, and she said she wanted to look around the village, so I told her we’d ask when you got back.”
“Look around the village, huh.”
“I figured we should get your permission first.”
Chad, whose arms looked twice as thick as my thighs, set Einy down in front of me as easily as if he were placing an empty box on the ground.
Einy glanced at me, quickly looked down at the floor, then turned back to look up at Chad and mumbled.
“Sister…… Can I…… go look around the village? I want to go.”
“Hmm, weren’t you saying you were going to your mom? You said you didn’t like the city or anything.”
“……That was! I suddenly got scared…… so……”
Einy seemed to have an unusually strong aversion to me in particular.
She had no problem being held by Chad or Ash, but she could barely even make eye contact with me.
I wasn’t jealous or particularly bothered by it, but I still shook my head. I had promised Arnel that I would keep Einy safe.
“Going out with Chad doesn’t seem like a good idea. Let’s go together later.”
Objectively speaking, leaving a young girl with a man I’d only met yesterday wasn’t a great choice. Asking him to watch her for a bit was one thing, but sending them out alone didn’t sit right with me.
“Why! I want to go with Uncle!”
“I said I’d take you, didn’t I?”
“If I go with you, sister…… it won’t be fun! You’ll just scold me again! You won’t let me do anything! You’ll get annoyed!”
This kid really knew how to hit where it hurt.
“Hey…… Einy? A person should at least have a little conscience. That’s too much of a bother for Chad.”
“……I like Uncle!”
“You don’t like me?”
“It’s not that I don’t like you, sister…… It’s just that you seem like you’ll get annoyed and end up not taking me.”
Ouch. The truth was starting to sting. And why did she look like she was about to cry while saying it?
Yeah, I really don’t like kids.
“Hey, why are you being like that to a kid?”
What did I even do? Chad was treating me like I was the bad guy.
“If you’re not used to children, don’t push yourself.”
Huh, that wasn’t quite it either.
“I know how hard it is to take care of a child who isn’t your own blood. If it’s alright with you, I can take her. I don’t mind at all. We have plenty of time here anyway, and I have three younger sisters, so I’m pretty good with kids.”
“That’s right. Jeanie, Chad has three younger sisters. You can trust him. I’ll vouch for him! Look, he’s the one who braided her hair.”
“……You’ve got some unexpected skills, huh?”
Lox seemed to be trying to smooth things over and was actively backing Chad up.
“Of course! Three sisters, I’m telling you. Our youngest is about the same age as this little one.”
“Can I go out with Uncle?”
A bright look spread across Einy’s face. But I still wasn’t entirely sure if I could trust Chad yet.
What should I do? If I said no, she looked like she’d cry again……
It was perfectly natural that my eyes met Ash’s at that moment. He had been watching me.
“Ash, what do you think? Is it okay to trust Chad with her?”
“You’re asking me?”
“Yeah. He’s your companion.”
Out of everyone here, you’re the only one I can somewhat trust. If it’s your opinion, I might actually listen.
“Chad started working as a mercenary to send his sisters off to good marriages. He’s someone I trust. But trust isn’t something that comes easily with people you haven’t spent time with. It’s not an emotion you can force, either.”
“So?”
“In my opinion, it would be best if we all went together.”
These guys really…… were they just that free, or just that nice? From that point on, Einy looked absolutely thrilled.