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“Th…that was excellent…”
In the spectator seats, Priestess applauded awkwardly, somehow managing to maintain something that could pass for a smile.
Everything felt so constrained, so discomfiting. Nothing felt quite right; it was like someone had a hold of both her shoulders. The makeup made her face itch, while the way her hair was pulled back tugged at her cheeks and forehead and made her whole visage tense.
And this dress! It pinched her chest, which had been rather shoved into the outfit, while her hips had nearly given up the ghost, the fit was so tight. She could hardly believe princesses endured such garments every day.
“What’s the matter? Ahem—I mean, is anything distressing you, Your Majesty?”
“If there’s anything you need, please don’t hesitate to tell us.”
“Su-sure…”
I’m not sure this is quite fair…
Such must have been the thought in the minds of the two ladies-in-waiting who stood behind her, one with red hair and one with gold. Guild Girl, who was the daughter of nobility, Priestess could understand, but how could the girl from the farm seem so at ease? Priestess was uncomprehending—but she couldn’t let it show on her face. Instead, she sat there stiff as a doll.
“Indeed! Absolutely indeed!”
The biggest issue of all was the person who sat applauding beside her—the man who called himself a paladin of the Supreme God. “This is the epitome of equality! Is it not wonderful?”
“Er, uh, well…”
He took note of her every move, her every shift; she felt like she was under constant surveillance.
He claimed to be a representative there on behalf of the Temple of the Supreme God, and he seemed to be acquainted with the king’s little sister. Just trying to make sure she didn’t slip up in some matter of etiquette was exhausting.
At the same time, she couldn’t help noticing…
He’s nothing like the Lady Archbishop.
In fact, he wasn’t like any of the other followers of the Supreme God that Priestess knew. Not the cleric with whom she’d become friends in the frontier town nor the inspector at the Guild. His proud self-possession reminded her of that female knight, but…no, it wasn’t quite the same.
How could she put it…?
It was the difference between someone trying to be righteous and someone who assumed they already were.
“I thought she was at quite a disadvantage…,” Priestess ventured.
“By no means!” Consider the way the paladin responded to Priestess’s doubts with full confidence, as if he himself had achieved the feat. “They each made the fullest use of the abilities they were born with! A follower of the Earth Mother must be more enlightened.”
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He sounded like he would put a fish on dry land and encourage it to run. Priestess still had questions, but she chose not to voice them. She suspected the paladin would happily continue to talk anyway.
“Sometimes, Your Highness… Your Highness?”
“Er…oh!” Priestess blinked. “Yes?”
“Sometimes I see the great festivals and think, We must reform the Earth Mother’s ceremonies.”
“Um… How so?”
“I’m referring to the dancing girl at the harvest festival.” Priestess cocked her head, so the paladin of the Supreme God continued. “Her outfit shows far too much skin for a young woman! No cleric should appear like that in public.”
“Ah…” Priestess sounded a bit strained, but she managed a facial expression whose exact meaning was open to interpretation.
After all, she was herself one of those who had appeared in this outfit that one must never wear in public. Now, years after the fact, she was able to see it for the honor it had been. Not that she felt or had felt no embarrassment—but the pride was greater.
I was so inexperienced back then…
Of course, she still had much growing to do even now.
That was an excellent adventure.
The paladin of the Supreme God continued to argue, even as Priestess let her thoughts wander. From questioning the propriety of such garments in public, the logic quickly took a leap. The ritual cast doubt on the moral character of the dancers. It inflamed the desires of the spectating believers. Which was to say, it could be taken to suggest that the Earth Mother herself was a seductress. By extension, it was an offense to all women!
He didn’t even spare the maidens who trod on the grapes of the early harvest. How could they say that showing skin was immoral yet work the grapes in their bare feet?
“I can’t believe that any woman would engage in such activities willingly. Reform is necessary at the earliest possible…”
Priestess was only half listening, but she thought she could hear the blood rushing to her head. His words reminded her of long-ago events that had been an embarrassment to people she treasured. A foolish plot that they had at last undone, and now he wanted to drag the entire thing through the mud again.
Anger boiled in the pit of her stomach, but she forced it down.
No… Don’t do it…
She focused everything she had on breathing in, then forced herself to breathe out as calmly as possible. She had to resist letting her emotions make her cause a scene—or go drinking, as she had before.
And yet… She glanced at the two women behind her, who both wore awkward smiles. I guess it’s not my place to speak on the princess’s behalf.
Priestess privately pouted, wishing the others would think about what she was going through. That’s right: She actually pouted.
They didn’t all have to go away and leave me…
Of course, she understood the situation. She knew it was what it was. She understood she had been given this role because she was the only one who could do it—so she would do it as best she could.
Even so, she wasn’t thrilled at being left behind, dissatisfaction born of her burgeoning awareness of herself as a halfway decent adventurer. (Although she hadn’t yet noticed that she herself had cultivated that precious treasure.)
“Is that so? I see,” she said. After the rush of anger and frustration, she constrained herself to a nod and a few words. A pleasant smile. “Thank you for telling me how you see things.”
“…Is that all you have to say?”
Priestess gave the paladin a questioning look. “Yes? I believe it is…”
He leaned toward her eagerly, seeming to have forgotten where he was and who he was ostensibly with. “Does that mean, then, that you have no intention of correcting these injustices within the Temple of the Earth Mother?!”
“Why would I?”
“Why?! Have I not pointed out the problems to you?!”
“Yes, and I heard you.”
“Then why do you not seek to do something about them?!”
“Because you and I are different people.”
The paladin of the Supreme God was stunned into silence. His already pale, noble face grew even whiter, drained of blood. Priestess had a passing thought: that he looked almost like ash. Like the white ash that remains after everything else has burned away.
“Well, then…,” he managed to squeeze out, his voice like settling ashes. “Do you believe that this disordered, this chaotic Four-Cornered World should simply remain as it is?”
“Umm…,” Priestess said, tapping her pointer finger against her lip in thought. “I’m not really sure.”
There! The man’s lips curled in an ugly expression of triumph. His smile ridiculed everything about her: her shallow thoughts, her ignorance, her narrowness of vision.
“I mean, I’m friends with an elf, a lizardman, a dwarf…even a centaur,” Priestess said, smiling right back at him, paying no heed at all to his expression.
There were adventurers, and there were also princesses. There were nobles, and there were merchants. Farmers. Waitresses at taverns. Priestess had never once thought of them as disordered or disorganized or one better than the other.
“The desert to the east is hot, and the north is cold. The plains are wide, but the forest is dense.”
She remembered the Innsmouth, the fish-people she’d met when they slew a sea serpent—it seemed like it would be very hard for them to live on land. And yet in the tavern Goblin Slayer had taken her to, there had been a fish-people barmaid. A lovely girl in perfect clothes, making beer—Priestess thought her very cool.
Then again, maybe everyone wore adorable outfits while making alcohol—she thought of her senior cleric stomping on the grapes.
The people she met might have been of all kinds, yet all of them were joyful from deep within. How many chances did you get to play around in bare feet, after all?
In the desert, on the other hand, it was boiling (not just hot!), too punishing to show much skin, and that had been a challenge. And yet as overdressed as she’d felt at the time, if she’d gone to the icy seas of the north in that outfit, she would have been frozen stiff.