Part 1: Saintess Candidate Arc

1. Recruitment of the Saintess (1)

Translated by: S3

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About two days after departing from Metau Town by wagon, the buildings of the royal capital, albeit small, came into view.

A membrane, shaped like a hemisphere, covered the entire sky above the capital, glowing with a rainbow hue as it caught the light of the setting sun.

「Lily, that's the famous protective barrier, the Protect Wall, over the royal capital. When you look up from inside, it's transparent, but from the outside, you can see it glowing faintly.」

「Hmph.」

Her mother, Emma, was desperately trying to pique Lily's interest by explaining things about the capital, but Lily felt an aversion to the place and answered dismissively.

「It blocks attacks from the outside. But it lets rain and wind through properly. Isn't that mysterious?」

It certainly was mysterious that it could repel physical attacks yet allow matter to pass through.

Under normal circumstances, she would have listened with rapt attention, but the current Lily was in a constant sulk and refused to entertain any talk about the royal capital, so she turned away as if uninterested.

「Oh, don't be so glum. The Eastern Fortress will be safe for a while. One cannot reach the Holy Aurum Kingdom from the Auro Empire without crossing the desert. There's no way they could launch an invasion immediately.」

They were being summoned to prepare for a potential emergency. —Well, in that case, it should be fine to take Lily along.

「Lily. Whether there's a war or not, you have a separate issue. You mustn't forget that.」

「That... might be true, but...」

「Now, how old were you then? When we all went to play at the seaside, you walked off towards the rocky area, and then a merman dragged you into the sea, and you almost drowned.」

She had felt drawn and walked over, only to find a young merman washed up on the sand.

When she hurriedly helped him back into the water, he said he wanted to thank her and pulled her into the sea.

It seemed the merman didn't know humans couldn't breathe underwater; he got startled when Lily started drowning and let go, which saved her. That happened.

「And then there was the time you went missing for three whole days. I was so worried.」

She had found an injured fairy in a familiar field and used healing magic on it. The fairy said it wanted to thank her, so she attended a banquet for what felt like a short while.

She had just had some tea and left, but was shocked to find she had been reported missing for three days upon her return. That happened too.

「And so many, many other times! You have a tendency to get caught up in strange events, Lily. That's why your father and I are terribly afraid to take you to an unfamiliar land. We have no knowledge of the Eastern Fortress, so please wait for us in the safe royal capital.」

「...I understand.」

Faced with such thorough rejection, even Lily had no choice but to concede it was impossible. For now, at least—

(Fine then. I'll just go to Cousin Noah's place, achieve something with my light magic, and have him arrange for me to be assigned to the medical team at the Eastern Fortress.)

Light magic.

A power specialized in defense, healing, and purification. There was no doubt it would be incredibly useful in battlefield medical operations. Then, she just needed to make the important people say that since she'd be useful, she should go.

「I've decided I'll work hard at Cousin Noah's place.」

「Thank you for being so understanding, Lily.」

Hearing Lily's words, Emma felt relieved.

She never could have imagined that Lily had already switched to a plan of boldly following them to the Eastern Fortress later on.

She hugged her daughter tightly, sentimentally thinking she must treasure the little time they had left before parting.

(How naive, Mother. If asking won't work, I'll just resort to methods that don't require asking.)

Whether it would work or not was another matter, but having a goal made it easier to look forward.

Lily, who had been wearing a gloomy expression ever since leaving the Western Fortress, started smiling brightly, which put Adam, Emma, and their companions at ease.

They spent the rest of the journey in a cheerful and harmonious atmosphere and arrived at the royal capital. They would apparently stay for about three days to complete official transfer procedures at the castle and prepare their equipment. The soldiers who had arrived with them happily explained that the remaining time would be spent with their respective families and friends.

Lily learned that the soldiers she saw every day had families living in the royal capital whom they had left behind for their postings.

「So everyone's families live in the royal capital? Aren't they lonely?」

Making a sad face as if it were her own situation, Lily had her head gently patted by Adam.

「We had a system of taking turns making regular reports to the capital, with attached leave so we could go visit. So it was manageable.」

「I see. What about that rule when you go to the Eastern Fortress?」

「Well now. We won't know who's in command until we get there.」

Just the thought of not being able to see Adam and Emma anymore was enough to make Lily's chest ache with sadness. Thinking that the fortress soldiers had been living days on end without seeing their families made it even more painful.

After temporarily disbanding, Adam, Emma, and Lily headed for the Tinam Count's residence. When they asked a servant to announce them, Noah himself, who had been waiting, came out to greet them briskly.

「It's been a long time, everyone. I'm glad to see you're all well.」

「Noah, you look well too. How old are you now?」

「I'm seventeen. It's about time I decide on my path in life.」

As the second son, Noah would not inherit the title, so he would have to enter another family as an adopted son-in-law or join the knightly order to make his way.

「Oh? But I heard you were chosen to serve the Crown Prince?」

「Yes. It's a great honor.」

Noah was on the promising career path of being an attendant to the Crown Prince. It was a great honor for a Count's family.

「It's hardly fitting to stand around talking here. Please, do come inside. You are staying the night, correct?」

The guest room for that very purpose was ready. However, after exchanging a glance with Adam, Emma lightly shook her head.

「We plan to use an inn in the city. We want to spend our remaining days together, just the three of us.」

「I... see. That's... Well, actually, this is very difficult to say—」

With that preface, Noah straightened his posture and broached the topic. —Apparently, the client had been eagerly awaiting Lily's arrival and, if possible, wanted to conduct the magic power measurement first thing today or tomorrow morning, having kept his schedule open. In this situation, if word got out that the person in question was occupied with other matters, it would be very problematic.

「It would just put you in a difficult position, right, Cousin Noah?」

「It's someone you'll be dealing with from now on, so it would make things awkward for you too, you know?」

She couldn't very well refuse after being told that. This cousin was quite silver-tongued; he was a powerful ally but a formidable opponent.

「Fine. Then I'll go right now. Dad, Mom. See you later.」

「Alright, take care.」

「Don't push yourself too hard.」

Waving to her parents, Lily got into the carriage bound for the castle, led by Noah.

On the way, Noah explained the plans for the rest of the day, and Lily frankly asked about the things that had been worrying her all the way to the capital.

Bad premonitions have a way of coming true. The rumor Lily had been anxious about, concerning the recruitment of a Saint who would also become the Crown Princess, turned out to be true.

Currently, the castle was conducting the recruitment and examination of Saint candidates.

However, Noah explained that the person who had requested Lily's services was different, and it was formally unrelated to the Saint examination.

Incidentally, the reason for the "formally" was—

「Well, since Lily was taking so long to arrive, there was talk of looking for talent among the Saint candidates. But it seems they couldn't find anyone who met their desired conditions.」

Yes. The extent of the relationship was that there had been some talk that if Lily didn't come, they might ask a Saint candidate who passed the exam instead.

Hearing this, Lily, who had initially been worried that she might have to become the Saint and Crown Princess, felt ashamed of her own hasty delusions.

But then, Noah's words brought a new anxiety to the forefront of her mind.

「If even the Saint candidates weren't good enough... I don't think someone like me would be hired...」

The royal capital was the first city established in the kingdom. Nobles descended from ancient magic users were lined up here, and talented people from the provinces flocked here hoping to make their mark. In other words, it was a treasure trove of talent—.

If they had searched that widely, there must have been plenty of people more talented than her. If none of *them* were satisfactory, then someone like Lily would surely be rejected.

「You know how people are? Even if they understand, they aren't satisfied until they see for themselves. Besides, it's better if you get the results while your parents are still in the capital, right?」

Lily was moved by Noah's consideration.

The way he said it made it sound like there was a very real possibility Lily would be rejected.

If she lost the chance for work in the capital, her parents might surely reconsider and take her to the Eastern Fortress.

「Right! That sounds good.」

With this conversation, Lily completely certified Noah as an ally.

She could feel the winds shifting favorably all at once.

It occurred to Lily that after this test, she could pester her parents to take her sightseeing around the capital. For the rest of the journey, she was in a good mood, gazing out the carriage window at the townscape and looking for interesting shops.

Upon arriving at the castle, they saw a man in a white lab coat coming towards the carriage from the building.

Seeing him, Noah covered his face with one hand and hung his head.

「Lord Daniel. There was no need for you to wait in a place like this...」

Led by Noah's hand as she got out of the carriage, Lily saw the smiling man looking at Noah as if urging him to introduce them quickly.

「Lord Daniel. Let's at least move to a reception room. Holding greetings here is, really...」

As Noah hesitated, the man answered, his smiling face unchanged.

「I just wanted to take her straight to the lab. You see, I hate having interruptions.」

Looking closely, he wasn't really smiling; it just looked that way with his narrow eyes. As Lily was thinking this while looking up at Daniel's face, she made eye contact with him the next moment and jumped.

「P-pleased to meet you. My name is Lily. I'm thirteen years old.」

It was a spinal reflex; she introduced herself without even being asked. It had to be better than being caught staring.

「Yes, pleased to meet you. My name is Daniel Aurum. I'm thirty years old.」

He played along with Lily's foolish self-introduction, even telling her his age. She got the sense he was a somewhat interesting person.

「Now then, quickly! Hurry!」

Cheering them on like a child, Daniel took the lead and showed the way.

Lily hurried after them with quick, short steps so as not to be left behind.

She had no way of knowing that this Daniel was the current king's younger brother, the Duke Aurum himself.

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