A Stinky First Meeting
“Oh…! …Oooooh!”
“Is it really that fascinating?”
“Of course it is!”
Just look at that stall grilling chicken skewers. They’re using charcoal for the flame, but magic to hold the exact temperature! And that ice cream shop over there? The entire place is a walking collection of spells. Freezing, storing, everything handled by magic! The flavor is so good it puts every ice cream I ate in my previous life to shame. I know I keep talking about food, but still!
“Was magic originally something everyone could just use normally?”
“Hardly. It’s all thanks to mana stones.”
Cheska answered while still holding my hand as we walked together.
“It became possible to mass-produce them after the magitech revolution a hundred years ago.”
“Another achievement of the previous Hero, I suppose.”
“Yes, exactly. We have the Alchemy Hero to thank for that discovery, even if it came late.”
The blueprints an adventurer found a century ago hadn’t been limited to a single automatic carriage. There were dozens of designs and prototypes, and the revolution had been built on their foundation.
“If the Alchemy Hero had enough knowledge to spark a whole revolution, why didn’t he release any of it himself?”
Until a hundred years ago, magitech had been treated like an academic outcast. The only reason it survived at all was because people considered it sacred, something created by a Hero. So why had the Alchemy Hero left the actual revolution to future generations instead of starting it himself?
“Who knows? I wonder what he was thinking.”
“Ah, I actually know the answer. It’s not widely known, though.”
Jacob, who had been holding my other hand, slipped into the conversation.
But why are both of you still clutching my hands like I’m a toddler? Treating someone like a child just because… oh. Right. My outside is a child. Still, let go already. I can walk by myself.
“There was a letter left at the site where they discovered the Hero’s legacy, addressed to future generations. Summarized, it said something like this.”
Too rapid technological development will surely bring disaster, so I chose not to reveal these. I have already seen such a world…. The one who finds this letter will likely be someone roughly three hundred years from now. Since “that person” said it would be around that time, I believe it will prove accurate. I had hoped these would never see the light of day… but when I consider what is to come, I believe it is right to set my stubbornness aside and entrust everything to you. Take it. All of these technologies. Develop them. May they be used to save the world.
“How do you know that, Jacob?”
“One of my ancestors was the adventurer who found it.”
“Wait… Sir Jacob, you’re from the Moneyroad family?”
“Oh? I never mentioned it? Jacob Moneyroad is my full name. Though I was essentially disowned.”
Moneyroad? I think that was the name of the merchant company that signed the long-term contract with Entat Parish.
“The merchant group with the long-term contract in Entat Parish?”
“Yes. Even if we crossed paths they wouldn’t greet me, and they probably wouldn’t even recognize my face.”
“I see.”
“Huh…? You’re not going to ask anything else?”
“Should I?”
Being “disowned” basically means he cut ties with his family. Why would I need to dig any deeper?
“No, you don’t need to know.”
“More importantly, look at that! People are eating fireballs?!”
“…As expected, Lady Levia will make a truly wonderful Saintess.”
“Jacob. Did I do something wrong…?”
Why is he looking at me with such a moved expression while insulting me?
“It’s nothing. Let’s finish watching that and then head back to the lodging. It’s time.”
“Already…?”
I haven’t even seen half of it yet.
Only then did I notice the sun had already begun to set.
What a shame.
Night had fallen and bedtime was approaching. I found myself facing a grave dilemma.
The items Cheska had pulled from her subspace pouch and arranged on the bed.
I had to pick one.
“Which color will you choose tonight?”
Cheska gently but firmly prodded me to decide.
“Hold on, Cheska. Each one has its own strengths and weaknesses.”
“I truly don’t understand why you deliberate every single time. They’re only different colors, aren’t they?”
“This is why amateurs know nothing.”
“Pardon?”
“Look. Blue Koko has the softest, squishiest trunk section. Perfect when your neck feels stiff! Lime Koko is the absolute softest overall and delivers peak sleep efficiency when you hug it!”
That’s right. Tonight I had to choose which elephant plushie to sleep with. When I only had two or three it hadn’t mattered, but somehow the collection had grown to six(?), forcing me to agonize over the decision every night.
Honestly, as someone with an adult mind, hugging a stuffed animal to sleep feels a little embarrassing. But the refreshed feeling I wake up with the next morning is on another level, so I have no choice but to keep doing it.
…It’s true.
“…Since you walked quite a long time today, perhaps you should pick the one that will help with that?”
“Excellent suggestion! Then… Yellow Koko it is!”
After hearing my choice, Cheska placed every plushie except the yellow elephant back into the subspace pouch.
“Lady Levia, now that the doll has been decided, shall we head to the bath?”
“Yeah. You go first. I’ll go after you, Cheska.”
“What are you saying? We are going together. I will wash you, so come along.”
“Wha… what what what what?! What kind of nonsense is that?! Cheska! You’ve turned into a pervert and lost all shame?”
“What is there to feel embarrassed about between two girls? Now, you need to get ready quickly. If you’re late you’ll have to wash with cold water.”
I’m the one who’s embarrassed! It stabs my conscience! It’s too late to say this now, but every time you hugged me I felt that stab of guilt!
“N-no! I’ll wash by myself!”
“I am your escort knight, Lady Levia. Does any escort knight in the world send their charge, especially a young charge, off to bathe alone?”
Cheska was immovable.
“Th-then just stand guard outside while I bathe!”
“Then I would have to bathe in cold water. I dislike that. Hup!”
When I kept resisting, Cheska suddenly scooped me up!
“Let go! Should I use holy magic? Want me to?!”
“I know you’re resisting because you don’t want to bathe. But no. Haven’t you gone several days without bathing because of our packed schedule? You must wash today.”
What do you know! You don’t understand anything! I like bathing! I just like doing it alone more!
“Come now. Let’s go, Lady Levia. I haven’t been able to wash properly either, so I feel utterly disgusting.”
No! I am not a pervert who enjoys situations like this!
“Che… Cheska! I’ll tell you one of my secrets! I’m actually a reincarnator! I have memories from my previous life! In my last life I was a man!”
“I see~ How fascinating~”
“I’m telling you you’d be showing your naked body to someone with a man’s mind! You still don’t care?”
“If it’s you, Lady Levia, I don’t mind at all.”
“Wha… what? Cheska. You don’t believe me, do you? Right?”
“If that were true, you would be a Hero candidate as well… Are you planning to become a Hero? A Saintess candidate and a Hero candidate? How incredibly impressive.”
This is insane. A reincarnator with past-life memories is actually considered a Hero candidate?!
“Wasn’t that just speculation?!”
“The speculation was that ‘all of them’ might be. After all, both the previous Hero and Saintess were people who came from another world.”
Oh my god! What were the previous Hero and Saintess thinking, openly revealing they were from another world?! You’re only supposed to whisper that kind of thing to people you absolutely trust! I already don’t want to be a Saintess candidate, and now I have to be a Hero candidate too? Absolutely not!
“….It was a lie. I just really didn’t want to bathe.”
“I thought as much. Well, you do have some boyish traits, so it wasn’t entirely false. Now, let’s go. We only have an hour left.”
In the end I was carried under Cheska’s arm and forcibly dragged into the women’s bathhouse.
The one silver lining was that Cardinal Dominic had rented out every room in the lodging, so the only people using the women’s bath were Cheska and me.
…How am I supposed to look her in the eye tomorrow?
Ravendi, a city belonging to the Ugris Parish.
At the checkpoint that had to be passed to enter Ravendi, a girl surrounded by roughly thirty Holy Knights was searching for someone.
After looking around for a long time and confirming the person wasn’t there, the girl asked one of her escorting Holy Knights about his whereabouts.
“Sir Shamata. Has Sir Ryolk still not woken up?”
It was an absurd and foolish question. Ryolk was a young Master-rank expert. The total amount of holy power he possessed was also considerable, so losing a little sleep shouldn’t have tired him. Yet the girl asked anyway. The person who absolutely should have appeared had not.
The Holy Knight replied in a puzzled voice.
“Saintess Candidate Benika. What do you mean? Wasn’t Sir Ryolk busy carrying out your urgent special orders?”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“Sir Ryolk said he was leaving to carry out the urgent special instructions you gave him. He left a message for you.”
“A message?”
“Yes. ‘Good news has arrived. I will confirm it and report back separately.’”
The moment Benika understood the hidden meaning behind Ryolk’s words, she smoothly covered it up so the knight wouldn’t grow suspicious.
“Ah, I’m sorry. I had completely forgotten. I must be more tired than I realized.”
“That can happen. We all know you work harder than anyone, Saintess Candidate. Still, we wish you would take things a little easier. Everyone here has been worried, even if they couldn’t say it aloud.”
“Yes. I’ll keep it in mind.”
Benika answered the concerned Holy Knights with a smile on her face, but her mind was elsewhere.
The true meaning of Ryolk’s message: contact had arrived from the information guild.
Her heart pounded. She wanted to learn the truth as quickly as possible. Who the people who killed her mother that day were, and why they had done it.
While she was secretly lost in thought, a Holy Knight’s voice shattered her reverie.
“There it is! It’s Cardinal Dominic’s automatic carriage!”
Benika turned her head in the direction he pointed. The familiar shape of the carriage entered her sight.
But for some reason it was moving slower than she remembered. It seemed the mana engine powering it had malfunctioned.
Even at the reduced speed, the carriage carrying Cardinal Dominic approached the group without issue and came to a safe stop before them.
The door opened. Cardinal Dominic stepped out.
The Holy Knights drew their swords from their sheaths and struck the ground with them, offering their order’s unique salute.
“We thank the grace bestowed by Lady Lumentis!”
Following him came an elderly man whose muscles were so massive his clerical robes looked ready to burst, a Holy Knight clad in full-plate armor, and finally a girl wearing what appeared to be combat-modified priest robes along with her escort knight.
After confirming everyone had disembarked, Cardinal Dominic spoke.
“Goodness, the mana engine overheated again. I’ll need to have it properly inspected.”
“Everyone, it has been a long time. I trust you have all been well?”
“Yes!”
“Benika, why are you standing there like that? Come give your father a hug already.”
“Father!”
“Kwahaha! No need to be shy! Now, now, let’s exchange greetings!”
Dominic laughed heartily and began introducing the people who had come with him from Entat Parish. Every time he named one, the Holy Knights lined up behind Benika let out gasps of admiration.
“Oh my god… if that’s Archbishop Carlo…”
“The vice-commander of the Saint Front Knight Order…? A monster who survived hell itself.”
“Sir Cheska Franc?! She was in Entat Parish?”
“…And finally, this child is the thirteenth Saintess candidate, Levia Leviathan.”
The instant Benika got a proper look at Levia’s face, she couldn’t help but be stunned.
How could someone so pretty and adorable exist in this world? If the condition for becoming a Saintess was appearance alone, no one else would stand a chance.
Feeling favorable toward the girl from the very first meeting, Benika smiled brightly and greeted her.
However, the child named Levia had been frowning ever since she stepped down from the carriage. Was she scared? Or perhaps nervous. If dozens of strangers stared at her so intently, even Benika would feel a little tense.
“Nice to meet you. I’m the eleventh Saintess candidate, Benika Arendia.”
The voice that answered Benika’s greeting was so beautiful it could only be described as heavenly.
But the actual words that came out of Levia’s mouth were… incredibly harsh.
“Hey. You should go wash up. You smell really bad.”
She even pinched her nose after she finished speaking.
“Yes…?”