The Weight of Fame
“By the way, what’s your relationship with the people downstairs? It seems like you’re keeping your identity a secret.”
“Yeah. For now, I’m keeping it under wraps.”
“As expected of my lady! You’re well aware of the ripple effects you’d cause. How prudent……”
“It’s just a hassle.”
Hearing people call me Saint gives me the creeps.
I casually tore open the topmost of the three letters in my hand.
It was from Iruse. The familiar scent of her favorite perfume wafted up, and the first line I skimmed read:
「Bright senior went off to hunt a dragon to find you! You’d better find him before he turns into dragon dung!」
Well, that’s unfortunate. Pretending I hadn’t seen it, I slipped the letter back into its envelope. Hansen, catching on, gave me a pointed look.
“You can read your friends’ letters later. Please check the headmaster’s letter first. He specifically instructed me to make sure you don’t just toss it aside out of annoyance and that you read it all the way through!”
“……Do I look like the kind of person who’d do that?”
“Yes!”
“Correct!”
The headmaster really does know me too well.
I picked up the thickest letter, the one from the headmaster. It looked to be four or five pages long, written in his usual elegant script. Just looking at the dense handwriting, I could tell he had a lot to say.
Jeanie Crowell, my disciple and the kingdom’s loyal subject, hero of the continent.
Let me say this first: I still cannot believe you are alive. If you truly are, it would be the most noble miracle I know.
Thinking of you struggling to return home after escaping the dragon’s clutches fills me with indescribable sorrow and heaviness of heart.
Of course, your return is a joyous occasion. What worries me, however, is that given your usual disinterest in your surroundings, you are likely unaware of how much has changed since that incident.
Your circumstances are no longer what they once were. There is no one left on the continent who does not know your name, so there is no need for lengthy explanations.
The tale of your noble sacrifice, passed from the mouths of nobles who survived the shadow of death, has echoed across the continent and moved everyone, regardless of class. You are now the most celebrated figure on the continent.
You are a miracle witnessed by human eyes, a legend incarnate, a symbol of sacrifice, and a radiant being kissed by the goddess herself.
Even when presumed dead, your influence swept across the continent. If word spreads that you are alive…… I dread to imagine the scale of the aftermath.
A legend that was meant to be honored in death has instead returned and manifested before our very eyes. Who would not praise a hero who survived the dragon’s grasp?
Whether you wish it or not, people from all corners of the continent will flock to follow you.
A single whisper asking for help would see tens of thousands of knights draw their swords at the risk of their lives. Nobles would bow their heads, forgetting their ranks, and no king would regard you as merely the daughter of a count.
Your influence is immeasurable, so how could I not be concerned?
Much has changed. Knowing your constitution makes returning immediately impossible, I would like to send knights to protect you, but I know you would find it bothersome and drive them away. So I will restrain myself.
Out of nothing but concern for you, I urge you to keep your identity hidden during your travels.
There are certainly factions that would seek to exploit you if they learned Jeanie Crowell is alive. I know you are not one to be easily swayed, but please understand this old man’s worries.
Remember that your existence carries far greater weight than you realize.
More details will be sent via magical communication once a mage is dispatched.
On the following pages, I have listed factions you must be especially wary of. If any approach you, keep your distance. Read and memorize them, then destroy all the letters.
With sincere faith in you,
— From Lail Dert.
He says he trusts me, yet there are this many factions I have to watch out for!
The neatly listed names were all familiar. Most belonged to prominent noble houses from various countries, and at the end were the Mercenary King and the High Priest as well.
In short, it meant: don’t get too friendly with these people. The letter was steeped in political concerns.
As the Marquis of Dmitry and a leading figure of the royalist faction, the headmaster had simply listed every group that stood in his way. It was obvious.
He knows me well, but not completely.
I’m too lazy to care even a speck about political infighting.
Ah, so that’s why he’s warning me? To keep me from accidentally getting dragged into something big while I’m spacing out……?
I had no desire to become a shark caught between fighting whales, so I read through the list of names to watch once.
Then I tore it into tiny pieces, dropped them into a metal washbasin, and set them on fire.
Since he had asked me to destroy it, I quietly watched the paper burn.
The entire process—reading the long letter and then destroying it—took quite some time, but Hansen, ever the knight, stood silently without asking a single question.
When you live as a knight, there are things more important than curiosity. Watching the paper burn, I spoke to Hansen standing behind me.
“Sir Hansen.”
“Yes, my lady.”
“How’s the atmosphere over there? It must be very different from before.”
The “there” I meant was Dmitry itself, and also Drike Academy—every place I had lived.
“When you return, it won’t be easy to live as you did before.”
“Hmm. This is exactly why I never cared about becoming famous.”
“They say fame follows the great. There’s a reason it’s said you don’t obtain it just because you want it.”
“I wouldn’t know. I don’t think what I did was that impressive……”
All I did was try to survive, yet people were calling me a symbol of sacrifice and a hero of the continent. It just felt bothersome, the way everyone was making such a fuss on their own.
“My son and my friend’s daughter both admire you the most. You won’t find many people in Dmitry who don’t. You truly did something remarkable! Be proud of it! No one can argue against that.”
“You think so?”
“I swear, if anyone belittles or insults you in front of me, I’ll cut out their tongue with this sword.”
I had been listening quietly when, at some point, I turned to Hansen with a bright smile.
“That aside! Thank you so much for coming all this way for me, Sir Hansen.”
And I approached him as warmly as I could. I was being quite gentle right now.
“It was my duty. It’s only natural.”
“I’m so relieved you showed up when you did. You know I trust and rely on you, right?”
The more kindly I acted, the more Hansen seemed to sense something was off. He looked like a deer that had been grabbed by the scruff.
His brows twitched violently as he took a fearful step backward.
“Why…… why are you suddenly……”
“Oh my, what do you mean?”
“When you act like this, it’s a little terrifying.”
“I just have a favor to ask.”
“I refuse. I can’t do it.”
“Hear me out first! I haven’t even told you what it is yet!”
You really can’t hide your true nature. I was supposed to be acting nice, but I ended up getting angry without realizing it.
“Ahem. There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”
“Me?”
“It would be great if you could take them with you when you head back. Not just one, actually—there are a few things.”
“Me?”
“Yes! Her name is Einy. She’s a good girl.”
Besides Einy, there was the famous sword for the King, a letter for Teacher Iel, and so on. There were more than just one or two things I wanted to send through Hansen. Just off the top of my head, there were already over five. I was already grinning at the thought of how much lighter I’d feel.
“You want me to take them?”
“How many times are you going to ask? Taking one girl along the way isn’t that hard, is it?”
“It is! Very hard! I’m planning to return through the royal palace’s warp room. If I bring the wrong person, my head will roll!”
“Ah, is that so? Can’t you just take her anyway?”
“……Are you trying to get me killed? Do you think the royal warp room is that lenient? Without permission, you can’t even travel, and getting that permission is an incredibly complicated process! If your identity and reason for entering the palace aren’t clear, they won’t allow it!”
Okay, okay.
I patted Hansen’s shoulder with a carefree expression. The royal warp room was strict about entry for security reasons, after all.
“Don’t worry. I’ll talk to them.”
Hansen’s face went pale in an instant, and he shook his head furiously.
“I can’t! I absolutely cannot bring anyone without approval from above! It’s impossible!”
“I got it.”
The anxiety was entirely Hansen’s problem. He looked terrified that I might foist it on him anyway, but I was brimming with confidence.
Who do you think I am? You think I can’t get one unidentified girl into the palace? You think I can’t get one girl from the jungle into the Royal Academy?!
I’m Jeanie Crowell!
“By the way, who is this girl all of a sudden? Weren’t you captured by a dragon?”
“Ah, I picked her up on the way.”
It was true, though.
Hansen’s face was full of deep skepticism.
He says he respects me! Respect! How dare he look at the continent’s hero with those eyes! Blasphemy, I say!
***
That evening, Hansen got a room at the same inn as me, and I immediately introduced him to Einy.
“Einy? Say hello. This is Sir Hansen, who’ll be taking you to Dmitry. Believe it or not, he’s a royal knight.”
“No, my lady. What are you saying!”
“Did you forget how you came running to me in tears?”
“……That was……”
He wouldn’t pretend that never happened after clinging to me and sniffling in front of all those people, would he? When I gave him a narrow-eyed stare, Hansen silently lowered his head. Einy glanced around nervously before bowing politely.
“Hello? My name is Einy. My mother’s name is Anelia. We’re daughters of the Silver Wolf tribe.”
“I see. Hello, Einy. You must have had a hard time traveling with my lady.”
“No? What an unpleasant misunderstanding.”
Why does everyone assume that! And why is Einy subtly agreeing?!
“But if she’s from the Silver Wolf tribe, isn’t that the clan famous for dual-wielding swords? Are you sure this child has talent for spirit magic?”
“I told you she does, didn’t I? The headmaster will like her too. Talented students are rare.”
“This…… isn’t just some excuse you made up on the spot, right? It’s real, isn’t it? You’re not going to cause trouble and leave me to clean up after you, are you?”
“Hey, you really don’t trust people. Do you know who I am?”
How insolent, you!
“I know you too well, that’s the problem! What about those wild boar piglets you dumped on me and Philo, saying you’d only leave them for a week? When exactly are you coming to get them? They’re not piglets anymore, you know!”
“Ah, those guys……”
It had been six years ago, I think. While training in the forest, I killed a charging boar, and it just so happened to have piglets with it.
Four of them, to be exact. What was I supposed to do with four small, cute wild boar piglets? I dumped them on Hansen and Philo, who happened to be visiting the academy at the time.
“You do know I had to move to a house with a yard because of those pigs, right? And that their lifespan is ten years?”
“They live longer than I thought…… Why don’t you just eat them already?”
“My lady!”
“What! Pigs are meant to be eaten! Their mother tried to kill me! I already did my part by sparing them!”
“How can you say something so cruel! You’re the one who named them Papepopu with your own hands!”
“Then auction them off as pigs donated by the Saint!”
“I’ve grown attached, so no!”
Every time I ran into Hansen, we argued about this, and the conclusion was always the same: Hansen kept them.
Because if I took them back, they’d probably end up as dinner.
“Big sis…… So I just have to go with this uncle? Am I going to the academy now?”
While we were bickering, Einy tugged on my collar and asked with hopeful eyes.