In an empty reception room in the cathedral, a boy and a girl, both with white hair, sat at a distance from each other.
’She seems angry for so reason,’ Simon thought, cautiously observing Lethe. She sat with her legs crossed, staring straight ahead with a blank expression that radiated a coldness, making it clear she had no intention of exchanging a single word with him. ’Maybe I should have just pretended I didn’t see anything.’
Opportunities to tease the ever-perfect Lethe were rare. The sight of her face turning beet red as she charged at him screaming right after they reunited had been so amusing that he couldn’t resist needling her about being a Saintess.
"...What brings you here?" Lethe asked, her voice the first to break the silence, though it was laced with frost.
"Ah, I received a request from Lady Israphel—"
"Have you lost your mind?" Her golden eyes stared daggers at him. "A necromancer—a Lord Commander, no less—waltzing into the Grand Cathedral of the Holy Federation? Do you have a death wish? Are you trying to get yourself purified?"
"You ca to the Dark Alliance, too, didn’t you?"
"No, that’s completely different!" Lethe exclaid, her face flushing. "I wasn’t a Saintess back then, and more importantly, Miss Anna’s life was on the line! I had no choice!"
"I had no choice either. It was a request from Lady Israphel, the woman who saved my mother."
"This fucking bastard really won’t let a single word slide...!"
Just then, Israphel, who had cast a soundproofing barrier, approached and placed a finger over her lips as she looked at Lethe. Lethe flinched, then said in a ek, trailing voice, "...Y-You shouldn’t try to win every argunt."
Simon couldn’t help it; he burst out laughing.
Lethe raised her arm abruptly. "Hey!"
"Use pleasant words, kind words, Lethe," Israphel advised gently. "Words are a portrait of the heart and a reflection of one’s own dignity."
"...How am I supposed to use pleasant words in this situation?" Lethe pouted with a sullen expression.
’Haaa.’
Alright, to be fair, she did want to see Simon soday. It wasn’t that she wanted to see his face, but now that they were a Saintess and a Lord Commander, they had to determine who was stronger. She also wanted to compare life at Kizen and Efnel, and most of all, she wanted to hear about Miss Anna. But not like this! She never wanted him to see her in this embarrassing state, living out the most humiliating Chapter of her life.
"Now, both of you, calm down," Israphel said, placating the fuming Lethe. "As the Saintess of the Divine Sea, I wish to entrust a request to you both."
It was the sa story Simon had heard at ho. She had sensed a wicked evil in the north, and to destroy it, she needed not only Divinity but also Jet-Black.
"Lethe, you will go with Simon to the region where this evil lurks. Find out what is happening there and resolve it."
Lethe lowered her head and bit her lip.
"What is it, Lethe?" Israphel asked.
"Since it is your request, Lady Israphel, I wish to go, but my schedule as a Saintess is—"
"Ah," Israphel said with a bright smile. "If that’s the case, don’t worry. Go and enjoy yourself. I’ve decided to take over the rest of your schedule."
"!" Lethe’s head snapped up.
"You’ve worked so hard, Lethe," Israphel said, approaching and pulling Lethe into a warm embrace. "When a Saintess dies, the next one is born imdiately. That’s why many are wary and jealous of a new Saintess. In order to convince all the executives of Efnel and the Federation, I may have been a little strict in my teaching."
Her voice was as gentle as a spring breeze. Watching from the side, Simon saw Israphel as the very embodint of a ’Saintess’ in that mont. "You would be right to bla or resent , but please know that everything I did was for your sake. Your reputation at Efnel was poor, and we needed to correct that in a short ti to gain everyone’s recognition."
"...Ah."
"It may be a difficult ti, but if you persevere, good things like this will happen occasionally." She released Lethe and smiled benevolently. "Who said you had to be buried under the duties and obligations of a Saintess? ’Saintess’ is just a title; you are Lethe. I hope you can step away from your duties and have a wonderful ti as Lethe Shardena."
Lethe’s eyes welled up with emotion. "Lady Israphel!"
She rushed forward and hugged Israphel tightly. Israphel, though surprised and stumbling slightly, chuckled and stroked her hair. Simon smiled as he watched, and Israphel spoke quietly to him.
"Please take good care of Lethe."
Simon nodded vigorously.
---
One thing he’d realized since coming to the Holy Federation was that Israphel’s preparations were ticulous. She had prepared false identities not only for Simon but for Lethe as well and had even set them up with adventurer outfits.
"Your final destination is the village of Esquille in the Kinver region."
The Kinver region, located in the northernmost part of the Holy Federation, was an area where the involvent of Efnel and central priests was forbidden due to a past treaty. Therefore, Lethe, like Simon, had to hide her identity and enter under the false pretense of being a priest from another region.
"Rember, Lethe. Revealing your identity as the Saintess must be an absolute last resort," Israphel emphasized again. "You might be able to force people into submission for a short while by pulling rank, but they will only lock their hearts away further and try to hide the truth. Winning people’s hearts as your true self is what’s most important."
"Yes, Lady Israphel."
"Oh! By the way, do you two happen to like children?"
The rather random question made Simon and Lethe blink.
"...Well, I do," Lethe admitted.
"The two of you will be going as ’teachers’ for the children. It is the only way to enter the reclusive village of Esquille."
Esquille thoroughly rejected outsiders, but they did accept teachers for their children. Simon raised his hand. "What should we teach the children?"
"The continental language, simple arithtic, general knowledge, and both elental and white magic."
"The children can use magic?"
"Yes. So I’ve heard." This ti, Lethe raised her hand.
"Wait a minute! Then the other teachers who went before us..."
"As sharp as ever, Lethe." The smile vanished from Israphel’s lips. "They’ve gone missing. We still don’t know their whereabouts. The teacher before them, and the one before that, too."
Missing persons cases. Simon’s expression grew serious.
"And the one teacher who survived... they say that just thinking about that ti makes their face turn pale as they have a seizure, and they refuse to give any testimony."
Israphel held out two photographs. One was of a woman in a priest’s uniform with glasses, smiling brightly, and the other was of a woman with dark skin and a mole near her eye. The word ’Missing’ was stamped on both photos.
"If you happen to find any traces of the previous teachers during your investigation, please let know. Their families are waiting for news."
Simon nodded and took the photos.
’...What on earth is happening in that village?’
"I get it," Lethe said with a cynical smirk, a stark contrast to the tense Simon. "If they try any funny business, I’ll just wipe them all out. Simple."
"Investigating and resolving the evil is the top priority, Lethe."
"Yes. I’ll keep that in mind."
Their destination, the village of Esquille, was impossible to enter via teleportation circle due to the severe cold that gripped it year-round. They would have to stop at a city before it called Kula and then climb the mountain range. At that, Lethe, who had been listening to Israphel’s explanation, suddenly interjected.
"Kula? Isn’t that a famous resort town?"
"So you know of it too, Lethe!" Israphel also smiled brightly and clasped her hands. "It’s a very pretty port city where you can see the snow-capped mountains in their entirety, with an erald sea stretching out beside them."
Simon and Lethe’s faces lit up.
"I’ve also booked your accommodations in advance. Lethe, you’ve suffered a lot with your Saintess duties, and Simon, you must be tired from your long journey from the Dark Alliance. I think it would be good to spend about three days sightseeing in the town and gathering information on Esquille and the evil before you depart."
"Sightseeing!" Lethe shivered with happiness, then her expression cooled sowhat as she looked at Simon beside her. "It would’ve been even better if I wasn’t going with this punk."
"...Are you still mad?" Simon smiled wryly.
"Now, and this." Israphel passed the choker-style necklace she was wearing to Lethe. "It’s an artifact that seals the power of the Saintess. It only seals that specific power, so you shouldn’t have any major problems using divinity."
"Ah, you’re a lifesaver," Lethe laughed as she accepted the necklace. "The stars kept popping up, and it was so annoying."
"...Stars?" Simon asked, confused.
"Pardon the interruption," an honor guard announced, entering the room to say it was ti for the next event.
Israphel stepped forward. She announced that she had received permission from Sky Island and would be going in Lethe’s place. The paladins, their faces filled with awe, prostrated themselves on the floor and praised her benevolence.
"...Those bastards never went that far for ," Lethe grumbled.
After parting with Israphel, Simon and Lethe changed into adventurer’s clothes and prepared to leave the Grand Cathedral for the resort town of Kula. Israphel had prepared a teleportation circle nearby.
"Phew." Lethe, now in comfortable adventurer’s clothes with her hair tied up, looked incredibly relieved. Her speech and deanor had already returned to the easygoing Lethe that Simon knew. "...What are you staring at? I’ll gouge your eyes out."
The problem was, she had returned a little ’too’ much. It was hard to believe she was the sa person who had been bestowing blessings upon the faithful with a gentle smile in the Grand Cathedral just monts ago.
"Lethe. Can I ask you one thing?"
"Don’t ask."
"What did you an earlier about stars popping up?"
"I told you not to ask, you bastard!" She pressed a hand to her forehead and let out a long sigh. "...Do you really want to know?"
"Yeah."
With a blank expression, Lethe raised a finger and tapped her own forehead.
He was blinking, wondering what she was doing, when Lethe suddenly flicked her index finger away from her forehead. A star-shaped effect made of divinity popped out.
"It’s this crap."
Simon was on the verge of a second laughing fit. He desperately held it in.
"Is it that funny?" Looking resigned, Lethe did a few cute little hops on the spot. Each ti, star-shaped divinity burst out with a ’pang, pang’. "Damn it, what is this? I’m not so magical princess," she muttered in annoyance and fastened the black choker Israphel had given her around her neck.
The star effect no longer appeared. The faint star shape that had remained in her eyes when she activated her Saintess power also vanished.
"Congratulations on regaining your freedom," Simon said with a grin.
"That’s funny. Freedom that can only be gained by sealing sothing away."
Though she spoke nonchalantly, the corners of her mouth were turned up slightly as she looked away. The two of them soon arrived at an open lot just a ten-minute walk away. The teleportation circle and Israphel’s trusted aides were waiting.
"We will activate the magic circle imdiately."
"Yes!"
As Simon and Lethe stepped on, the magic circle activated with a brilliant flash of light.
---
A mont later, Simon couldn’t help but marvel at the sight that unfolded before him. The famous resort of the Holy Federation, Kula. The clean streets were lined with adorable houses with blue roofs, looking like sothing out of a fairy tale. The chill from the mountains was contained by the flow of mana, so Kula’s weather was generally mild. The biggest attraction of this region was being able to see the snow-capped mountains to the north while enjoying a swim in the ocean.
However.
A bitter wind howled past them.
’It’s freezing!’
A harsh cold snap was sweeping through the region where one was supposed to be able to go swimming.
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