Cia steps forward after hearing Nady’s resolve. “I’m also ecstatic that Miss Nady will be staying with us.”
“I will do my best to protect Mizuha, so I hope we can continue to get along well in the future, Princess Cia.”
“As do I. However, hearing you call me princess feels too stiff and formal for my liking. Please call me Cia.”
“I couldn’t! It is too impolite…” Nady is flustered by Cia’s request. I understand how she feels. After all, she’s addressing Grantz’s crown princess. She shouldn’t even be able to converse with her under normal circumstances.
“Does that mean I’m being rude for blatantly calling her Cia?” I tease.
“You’re special, Mizuha! You’re the Holy Priestess!”
“I think friends can put things like titles and status behind them. Just like how you got to the point of calling me by name,” I say with a wicked grin after using myself as an example.
I’m supposedly a respected figure with the title of “Priestess,” and Nady still became my friend. The same should hold true with Cia. I don’t know if my encouragement gave her the push she needed or not, but Nady takes a deep breath and formally faces Cia.
“O-Okay, C-Cia.”
“Thank you, Nady!”
“It is very reassuring to be able to fight alongside you, Lady Nady,” Lex says, pounding his right fist against his chest.
“I hope you will guide me as I am still lacking, Sir Lex.”
“Leave it to me. I, Lex Irvine, will devote myself as Lady Mizuha’s knight to teaching you everything I know.”
There’s no question that Lex is an exceptionally skilled warrior. But he’s almost too enthusiastic—it scares me.
“Lex isn’t very flexible when it comes to certain things, so try not to pick that part of his personality up,” I whisper in Nady’s ear.
“O-Oh? O-Okay,” Nady hesitantly agrees.
“L-Lady Mizuha?” Lex sends me a questioning look because we’re whispering in front of him.
“Just having some girl talk,” I respond with an innocent smile.
“Setting everything else aside, I look forward to putting our strength together to protect Lady Mizuha!”
“M-Me too!”
We still have a long ways to go before Cladorca is completely purified. After that’s finished, we are going to have to negotiate with them to prevent any possible skirmishes in the future. Once that happens, we will need to be more vigilant about non-zombie related threats.
But I should be able to get past any obstacle with Lex and Nady at my side.
“It’s not nice of you to leave me out of the loop, Boss Man,” Rosso chimes in as if he has been waiting to talk to us all this time.
“You were here, Sir Rosso?”
“Th-That’s cold, Boss Man! I took part in the dragon vanquishing quest too!”
“Ah, sorry, I didn’t notice you there either.”
“Not you too, Boss Lady! Grr… Retreating to the corner of the hall to avoid standing out worked against me…”
You definitely don’t see many commoners attending castle balls. I understand why he was trying to blend into the walls. I would have happily become a wallflower with him if I wasn’t the Priestess.
“B-Back to the point! Please call me if anything comes up. I will always put my life on the line for my favorite Boss Lady!”
“Thanks. I’m counting on you when the time comes.”
In fact, Rosso helped a ton during the dragon quest, especially when we were cornered by miner zombies in the tunnels. If not for his quick thinking and agility, we wouldn’t be having this party right now. He’s really changed his scummy first impression to becoming one of the people I can depend on the most in this world.
“Iris is here too.”
Iris pops her head out from under the table when I’m trying to figure out where her voice came from.
“Geh!” I scream and jump back on a reflex. “Why are you crawling under the tables like a zombie?! And I thought they threw you out.”
“I slipped free and made it back here.”
Iris flashes a triumphant grin. She’s cuddling a statue shaped like me. It should’ve been lost when she chucked it in the dragon’s mouth, but…it looks like she had a spare. What’s more ridiculous is that this one looks even more like me than the last, with creases carved into what’s now a flowing skirt. I’ve been thinking this for a long time, but the fanatics who worship me would definitely be happier if they become sculptors instead.
“…You didn’t hit the soldiers with that, did you?”
“I-I did no such thing.”
“...I find it hard to believe you.”
“I only hit zombies with this.”
“I keep telling you to stop it because it’s dangerous to hit anyone with that—living or dead.”
“My goddess is extra precious when she’s worrying about Iris…”
She completely misunderstood that it’s the zombies being whacked by her superhuman strength that I’m worried about. It’s no use setting her straight now that she’s gone into another one of her ecstasy trips with a dopey smile.
Exasperated, I sigh. I can hear Nady giggling beside me.
“What’s so funny, Nady?”
“Sorry. It’s just so much fun for some reason. I have never been surrounded by so much energy and excitement before.”
Both Iris and Rosso are energetic people. Throw Keith, who was already dragged off, into the mix and I’d say things get more chaotic than exciting. Nady might feel the excitement more than I do because she spent most of her life alone in her village.
“You have to get used to it. It is always like this around Lady Mizuha.”
“C’mon, Lex, you make it sound like I’m causing this mood!”
“Am I wrong, m’lady?”
He actually thinks I’m the cause.
“Indeed. This is one time I must agree wholly with Lex. Everyone near Big Sis is always smiling and laughing!”
“Ack. You think so too, Cia?”
I didn’t expect Cia to side with Lex. That said, I’d rather people be smiling than frowning around me. It does worry me that most of the people I’m surrounded by are a bit—or rather—quite unique in their own way. Something about our conversation seems to have been funny enough to make Nady laugh again.
“I have mixed feelings about this, but meh. If Nady’s enjoying herself, it’s all good.”
“I love it. I really enjoy the energy you bring into a room, Mizuha.”
I currently enjoy a high status because I’m the Priestess, but once I lose Goddess Sadia’s powers, I’ll be no different from any other high school girl. There’s nothing special about me. But...I couldn’t ask for a greater power than the ability to make those I care about smile and laugh.
Things are really only just getting serious after I finish purifying Cladorca. I have to take preemptive action to stop wars from breaking out between humans. That will surely require not only the powers I obtained from the Goddess but also my own power. I can imagine how crazy difficult things will become. But I have a lot of people on my side and my amazing friends too!
Surrounded by the din of the hyped-up party, I flash Nady my best fighting smile.
“I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for us, Nady!”
“Me too, Mizuha!”
The End