Chapter 96: A Questionable Guest

The day after summoning the convenience store, I was summoned from the castle. I thought maybe His Majesty was saying ‘Show me the convenience store’, but apparently that’s not it.

“Her Holiness the Saint from the Gospel Kingdom has seemingly arrived.” “Ah… That one, huh…”

Inside the carriage heading to the castle, attendant Arisa-san told me the reason for the castle visit. Accompanying me are guard knight Tanya-san, apprentice knight Bianca, and apprentice maid Ritsu. And Kohaku-san too. Only Tanya-san is riding a horse alone outside the carriage. Saint of the Gospel Kingdom, huh. A handful of women who can hear the voice of God. By the way, in ‘Starlight Symphony’, the protagonist Estelle also follows a route where she is revered as a ‘Saint’ in several endings. Gospel Kingdom… I think they are trying to make me, who wields the [Holy Sword] given by God and commands a Divine Beast, a messenger of God, into a Saint somehow and take me back to their country. Of course, I don’t think they’ll take me forcefully, but persistent solicitation is annoying.

“No need to worry. If such a thing happens, I shall refuse firmly.” “As expected of Kohaku-san, so reliable.” “Mufun.”

Kohaku-san curled up on my lap wags his tail proudly. A Divine Beast, a messenger of God, and a Saint who can only occasionally hear God’s voice are in different classes. They shouldn’t be able to force anything either. Arriving at the castle, guided by the Chamberlain, a woman was waiting in the room we entered. Wearing vestments based on white, with gold embroidery applied to an extent not too flashy. Loosely wavy hair is strawberry blonde. Behind oval glasses are amber eyes. Those eyes were staring straight at me.

“Nice to meet you for the first time, Lady Sakuraile. I am Roulette Oratorio from the Gospel Kingdom. I am truly delighted to be granted an audience with the rumor-renowned ‘Princess of the Holy Sword’.”

I received a deep and exaggerated greeting. The man and woman attendants behind her also bowed their heads similarly.

“I am humbled by your excessive greeting. I am the legitimate daughter of the le Philharmonie Ducal House, Sakuraile le Philharmonie. Thank you for coming from afar.” “No, I wished to meet the ‘Princess of the Holy Sword’ once. Also…”

Roulette-san glanced—chira—at Kohaku-san sitting quietly beside me.

“Nice to meet you, Divine Beast-sama. I am Roulette Oratorio. If you please, I wish for permission to ask your esteemed name.” “Umu. My name is Kohaku. One of the Four Gods, governing the West and the Great Path. Receiving orders from the Gods in heaven, I became the guard beast of this little master here. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” “Ha.”

Following Roulette-san who bowed, the man and woman attendants behind her, seemingly clergy, also bowed. As expected, Divine Beast seems higher in rank than Saint.

“Receiving orders from the Gods… does that mean Lady Sakuraile has some mission imposed by God?” “No, not such a thing, simply… Ahem, Gods also have various circumstances.”

Kohaku-san dodges the important part. Well, can’t exactly say the reason is ‘Because the Goddesses felt pity that you might die due to too many ruin flags’.

“If you please, we wish to offer some support from our country too but…” “Unnecessary. You should devote yourselves to the peace of troubled people. If you do so, Gods will also be pleased.”

Kohaku-san flatly refuses international support from the Gospel Kingdom. Bringing Kohaku-san was the correct answer after all. I couldn’t have refused alone. Even if words from goodwill, I don’t need such backing…

“Is that so… I look forward to the time when Lady Sakuraile enrolls in the ‘Academy’.”

‘Academy’… The ‘Orchestra Magic Academy’ we will eventually attend is a school on an island floating in the sky, and the stage of the game ‘Starlight Symphony’. From the ground, one can only transfer from churches in each country’s capital, an independent educational institution permitting no interference from any country. The ‘Academy’ belongs to the Gospel Kingdom, and it’s not rare for heavyweights of the Gospel Kingdom to be teachers. Perhaps this Roulette-san is also a teacher at the ‘Academy’. In the game, there were teacher capture targets so I can’t let my guard down, but if it’s a female teacher, it’s unrelated I guess. The ‘Academy’ accepts royalty, nobility, and some excellent commoners from all over the world, gives advanced education, and returns them to their home countries. The ‘Academy’ is not just a place of education, but also a place of interaction with people from other countries met there, a microcosm of the world. In extreme cases, friendships and feuds during student days deeply influence relationships between countries. In my case too, it’s not someone else’s problem. Must build friendly relationships with students from other countries as much as possible and avoid causing trouble. Provided it doesn’t connect directly to ruin flags, though.

“My younger sister is the same age as Lady Sakuraile, so you will be classmates.” “You have a younger sister the same age as me?” “Yes. She is not a [Saint] though. I think she is smart, but extremely shy. Always reading books.”

From Gospel Kingdom and my classmate? Was there such a character in ‘Starlight Symphony’…? Well, there are characters I don’t know even among classmates. Roulette-san’s sister might have been a mob character in the game. Oops, treating someone’s sister as a mob character is bad. Reflect, reflect. Gospel Kingdom operates the ‘Academy’, but they don’t force faith on students. In the first place, most students are ‘Gift’ holders. Each has a God they believe in. Abandoning that faith means abandoning the ‘Gift’, you see. And one will never receive a ‘Gift’ again. Well, apparently the believing God doesn’t have to be one (one pillar?). Actually, I am grateful to the Goddess of Summoning, Samonia-sama, but also grateful to the Nine Goddesses of Genesis. This could be said to be believing in multiple Gods. The philosophy of Gospel Kingdom seems to be ‘Be grateful to Gods, be useful to people, and live a life without shame to oneself’, so as long as one doesn’t violate that, it’s probably no problem. Well, just because they are in Gospel Kingdom, doesn’t mean everyone is clergy serving God. Even if believing in God, dedicating life to God is probably a different story. By the way, one cannot impersonate a [Saint]. If such false statement is made, ‘Gift’ is taken away without question, and divine punishment falls. Since what kind of divine punishment falls differs each time, I don’t know well, but probably differs depending on the God impersonated? Or rather, scary that divine punishment exists normally, this world… While I was trembling in fear of Gods, sound of knocking on the door—kon kon—was heard.

“Come in.”

When the Chamberlain, who was waiting so as not to disturb our conversation, called out, the door opened and a castle maid appeared. The maid trotted to the Chamberlain and whispered something—boso boso. Hearing that, I saw the Chamberlain’s brows knit slightly.

“I apologize, Lady Sakuraile. Just now, the Imperial Princesses of the Empire have arrived, and wish to meet Lady Sakuraile…”

Eh!? Empire people arrived already!? Heard schedule was tomorrow though… What to do. Both Gospel Kingdom and Empire remain important guests of our country. There is no distinction of rank between them. Just ostensibly though. Leaving here to head there is rude, and making them wait is also problematic. Well, honestly speaking, the Empire is more troublesome for me than Gospel Kingdom though.

“Please do not worry about me. I was happy to meet you today.” “Apologies for the rush. If there is an opportunity, again leisurely…”

Light curtsy and leave the room. Maybe because Kohaku-san was there, she didn’t entangle as much as I thought. Roulette-san doesn’t seem like a bad person. No, being a [Saint], she probably isn’t a bad person, but even good people can be pushy…

“Lady Sakuraile, this way please.”

Guided by the Chamberlain, heading to the room where the Empire’s Imperial Princesses wait. Really, if greeting anyway, wish to finish all at once simultaneously. In front of another room not that far away, the Chamberlain knocked, and a voice ‘Come in’ returned from inside. Huh? That voice just now… Entering following the Chamberlain, there were two young ladies, presumably guards and attendants, and Elliott. Elliott‘s guards are there too. As expected, the voice earlier was Elliott. And two young ladies standing behind the slightly troubled-looking Elliott. One is around twenty. A young lady with long silver hair wearing a sherbet blue dress. This one is the elder sister, Fourth Imperial Princess. Befitting the name ‘Ice Princess’, not showing a single smile. The gaze flying from those chilled eyes pierces me as if evaluating goods. And shrinking beside her is a slightly timid-looking young lady with the same silver hair tied in chignons on both sides of her head and extending to her waist. This one is the younger sister, Ninth Imperial Princess. Said to be same age as me, but as expected, I am smaller… Raised in slums vs raised in Imperial family, so can’t be helped though. Sometimes, I become anxious wondering if I will really grow tall and have a slender style like the game appearance…

“Sakuraile le Philharmonie, have arrived at your summons.”

While feeling anxious about the future, when I bowed with a curtsy, the Fourth Imperial Princess—Leticia e Allegretto sighed a small sigh.

“To think the ‘Princess of the Holy Sword’ or whatever is such a child… What is the Kingdom thinking. Heard you slaughtered a dragon, but cannot believe it at all. How about returning the Holy Sword to the Gods even now?”

Oops… Starting with a fight immediately?