Rosens Full Course (9)
A bolt from the blue left a chill silence hanging in the break room. We all just stared at one another, speechless.
The intelligence chief was the first to break it.
"Your Majesty... leaving the royal palace empty for an entire day..."
"The defense minister's there, and if anything comes up, I can jump through a dimensional gate in an instant. What's the issue?"
"Even so..."
The intelligence chief trailed off with a deep bow, unable to argue further.
The chamberlain asked impassively, "Shall we send back all the regular attendants except the Royal Guard and those present here?"
"Send the Royal Guard back too. And the city watch and special agents."
"That would leave no security detail at all."
Elua turned to me with a smile. "Is there anywhere safer in this world than here?"
The chamberlain bowed wordlessly and headed down to the first floor.
Aigo... what the hell... Two whole days without business...
Still, being able to advertise that the queen herself stayed here might make it worth the loss.
Elua stretched out on a sunbed, gazing out the window as if she'd said all she needed to.
The room prepared for Elua was a single on this floor—the largest guest room in our inn, the one I'd given to Illian Sergeant back in the day.
Brione and Blaze scoured every inch for traps or curses, just in case. Naturally, they found nothing, and only then did the chamberlain ready the space for Elua.
In the meantime, Elua took the city's key officials and me on a carriage tour of Rosens.
Crownless and in casual clothes, no one recognized her. She roamed freely, without restraint.
"What's that building getting its roof fixed?"
"Traces left by Lurtjog flying overhead."
"Not a collision—just passing by?"
"Dragons naturally emit substances and forces matching their element from their wings in flight. Lurtjog's is lightning."
"Ah, so even just flying over struck it with lightning."
Elua nodded, fascinated.
"And that?"
"City Hall. It served as a temporary town hall back when Golruk had the city in a chokehold."
"Must've been tough, Mayor Hildeva. Let's head that way next, Balder."
"Y-yeah, sure..."
I flicked the reins, turning the carriage toward where she pointed.
Elua looked thrilled, practically buzzing with excitement. Strolling the city without a care must've been a first for her.
We wandered until the sun fully set, Elua making the most of her freedom. She snacked on street food, tried on a bracelet made from Buren River pebbles at a trinket stall. Visited the guard barracks, insisted on seeing Golruk's old haunt and hiked halfway up the mountain before whining about the effort and turning back.
We poked into everywhere imaginable before finally returning to the inn after dark.
After dinner, Hildeva and Lambert headed back to City Hall and the barracks. No need for them to stick around just because the queen was crashing here.
Celereja, though, stayed at the inn instead of the temple. She already had a third-floor room.
When Elua asked about it, the cardinal answered for the flustered saintess. "There was an unfortunate incident with a senior priest there once..."
"I see. Must've been traumatic."
Elua knew all too well about the corruption rampant among temple priests.
Even with the queen's sympathy, Celereja stayed pale and silent. Facing the queen and cardinal was pressure enough—add the chief saintess, and breathing felt impossible.
No matter her usual prickly aggression, Celereja was just a fledgling saintess before such overwhelming authority.
Only after downing a full bottle of our priciest wine did Elua finally speak, sounding a touch weary. "I'm beat."
No wonder—touring the monster zoo, soaking in hot baths, city sightseeing, feast, and wine on top.
"This way, Your Majesty."
As Elua rose with the chamberlain, everyone stood to see her off.
"What a delightful time. See you all tomorrow."
"Rest well, Your Majesty."
Grancis followed with her hollow eyes, climbing the stairs like a lifeless doll. The palace staff didn't look thrilled at the sight.
Once she was gone, the tension eased, and folks settled back at tables.
The intelligence chief and chief mage squeezed in with the dwarves, cracking open beer kegs in earnest. The chief mage hacked like he might drop dead tomorrow but slurped the brew like water. True to his rep, the intelligence chief's bald dome flushed red as he guffawed, pounding kegs.
I sat with the cardinal, Blaze, and Brione. Celereja, shrunken with nerves, downed shots Blaze poured her one after another.
"Wh-what an honor, Chief Saintess..."
"Must be tough minding the city alone, Celereja."
"It's fine... Bertrand here's helped a ton..."
By her fourth beer, she faceplanted on the table, snoring away. Weak tolerance plus stress did her in quick.
"Heh, looks like the young saintess can't hold her liquor."
The cardinal bellowed a laugh, chugging his mug.
Why were all these palace bigwigs such heavy drinkers? Did they climb the ranks by outdrinking rivals, or did surviving the grind turn them into booze hounds?
Tucked the passed-out Celereja into her third-floor bed and came back down to find Idi in her seat, sweating bullets and scratching her head.
Chief saintess who could smite her on sight, top temple priest, natural predator Brione. No place more suffocating for Idi right now.
"H-hi, Blaze... long time no see..."
Blaze beamed warmly. "Didn't know you worked here, Idwild. The short hair looks great on you. But what happened?"
"W-well... ended up reconnecting with Bertrand somehow..."
"Fascinating. What do you do here?"
Eased by Blaze's kindness, Idi explained her duties: waitressing basics, boiling bathwater, managing stone golem carts, hell horse summons.
"Not a proper mage, just black magic... nothing special... hehe..."
"Don't sell yourself short, Idwild. Being able to use it right when needed is impressive. Regular mages wouldn't touch that stuff—too stuck-up."
Blaze glanced at Brione with a playful grin.
"Hmph, really."
Brione just snorted, not firing back directly at Blaze.
"So, Bertrand—you want to fix Idwild's black magic, right?"
"Yeah. You know it pollutes everything around."
"Exactly. That's the main thing that dooms black mages. Without it, they could thrive in the light."
Blaze eyed Idi with genuine pity, no sarcasm.
"How've you managed so far? Sounds like you've been here over half a year."
"Used that."
I pointed to the Holy Sword behind the bar. Blaze nodded in understanding.
"Makes sense. The Holy Sword's holy power could contain it temporarily, at least. But... why do you still have it?"
"What, toss it?"
"No, I mean—why's the Goddess still blessing you, Bertrand?"
The cardinal perked up, listening intently. I shrugged.
"Beats me. She just won't take it back."
"Huh. Never asked her why?"
"Nah... guess she likes me."
The cardinal let out a hollow chuckle at my lame answer.
"Why don't you ask, Cardinal? You can commune with the Goddess."
"Well... technically, but she's never responded before... ugh."
Typical cheapskate Goddess. That stingy with words?
I kept quiet about her descending personally to explain why she hadn't revoked my blessing. The cardinal and Blaze would hound me all night otherwise.
"Anyway, figured a chief saintess's blessing or purification might do it. That's why I asked the cardinal."
"Mm. I see."
Blaze closely examined Idi's sweat-drenched face and nodded slowly.
"Yes. A chief saintess's power can resolve black magic. But there's one minor issue."