Three centuries ago, it had been standard for holy knights to stay at inns when dispatched to other cities. When dispatched to a village without an inn, the village chief who had hired them might offer them a place to stay. When that wasn’t an option, they would often camp outside.
However, things had changed for modern saints. There were still times when they would stay at an inn, but when traveling in small numbers, they would usually stay at a noble’s residence. That was only possible because more than half of holy women were nobles themselves.
We met up with the other members of the extermination mission at a noble’s house in the nearest city to the one home to the One-Armed Giant. We entered a rectangular dining room, with a similarly rectangular table in the center, already lined with food.
“Sir Albert!” My adoptive brother’s descendant, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Myra, looked at me happily.
“Oh, you made it, Albert.” Following her was the holy knight I had sparred with a few days ago—Serrulata of Bronze. Her dark skin was as beautiful as ever.
Naturally their partners, Orlaya and Euryops, were also present. So were the revenge-obsessed holy woman Nemophila and the Grave Keeper of the Golden City.
“Are we the last ones?” I asked.
“No, Scorching Sun hasn’t arrived yet,” Myra replied.
I took a head count and we were indeed two people short. That meant the two saints I didn’t recognize had to be Drizzle. Sure enough, the crest on their uniforms had several blue strips that presumably represented rain. Noticing me looking at them, they came walking over, the holy woman moving particularly briskly.
“You think I didn’t notice that?” Drizzle’s holy woman asked. Her holy woman uniform seemed to have been remodeled to have a hood attached. And no ordinary hood either—it had long bunny ears on it. It was hard to imagine they had any practical function, so I assumed they were just for decoration. Wearing the bunny hood was a young girl with deep-blue hair.
No, that can’t be right. You can’t even enroll at the academy until you’re fifteen and considered an adult. She’s barely bigger than Linaria. You’re telling me she’s an adult?
“I’m talking to you. You’re not gonna say you can’t hear me, are you?”
Still perplexed, I responded to her. “Did I do something?” For now, it was best to act the part of the respectful knight.
“That look on your face had ‘what’s a cute little girl doing here?’ written all over it.” She was pretty audacious to call herself cute.
“Apologies if I offended you.” I bowed my head.
“Huh. You’re rather obedient, aren’t you?” The girl—or rather, woman—seemed taken aback that I had apologized so readily.
“My, he seems to be a gentleman. Isn’t that nice, ma’am?” Drizzle’s holy knight finally caught up. In contrast to her holy woman, she was quite tall. She was slender and had long, orange hair that draped over her left shoulder. The beautiful woman’s narrow, fox-like eyes were striking. Her height wasn’t the only thing that contrasted with her holy woman—the size of her chest did as well. However, I wasn’t going to repeat my previous mistake. Careful to avoid glancing at her chest, I looked her in the eyes as I spoke.
“Ma’am?” It’d be one thing if they were both holy women, but I didn’t think holy women and holy knights had that kind of hierarchy.
“Oh, pardon me,” the holy knight said. “This is Irislaevi. She prefers when those younger than her refer to her as ‘ma’am.’”
“I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel good to be respected by my juniors in life,” said Irislaevi.
So that’s how it is. “Then should I call you ma’am as well?”
Irislaevi lit up at my proposal. “Of course you can. You’ve got potential! Uh, I didn’t catch your name...”
“Albert.”
“All right then. Have a cookie, Albert,” she said, taking out what seemed to be homemade cookies from her bag.
I bent down to meet her gaze and accepted one. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“Good, good. You’re so adorable and obedient.” Irislaevi patted my head. Seeing her as anything other than a kid was difficult, but if she was an adult, then it was only right to treat her like one. An older woman was patting my head at the moment.
“I’m honored.”
“You’ve more than expressed your respect. You may speak normally from now on. I’m a kindhearted senior.” She did her best to puff out her chest—or rather, curve it.
“Will do, ma’am.”
“You’re a quick learner!” For the time being, it seemed like we’d get along fine as long as I didn’t treat her like a kid.
“Wow, you’re incredible, Albert. I’ve never seen her take a liking to someone so quickly.”
“Hey, Lycoris. Who said anything about liking him? I’m just spoiling my junior.” Apparently, the fox-like woman’s name was Lycoris.
“I’m very happy to have met you, ma’am.” Granted, I definitely had a few centuries on her.
“You’re gonna go far, Albert. Have another cookie.”
“Thanks.” Irislaevi looked extremely satisfied.
“Aw. What about me?” Lycoris pouted and stuck out her lips, upset that I was getting all the attention.
“I’ve felt a lack of respect from you lately,” Irislaevi said.
“But there’s no one who ador—respects you as much as I do.”
“You were about to say ‘adores,’ weren’t you? You can’t fool my ears.”
“I would expect nothing less, ma’am.” Lycoris smiled at Irislaevi.
“I-I guess I— Wait, didn’t you basically just admit it?!”
“I would expect nothing less, ma’am.”
“Ugh, this is why I can’t stand you!” Irislaevi stomped in frustration. They certainly seemed to get along.
“So, why are you two participating in this mission?” I asked out of curiosity. The princess, Orlaya, Myra, and I were all here because we couldn’t ignore the Grave Keeper of the Golden City. Serrulata and Euryops were probably here because they were part of Black’s squad. They also might have taken a liking to the princess and me. Why members of the Twelve Saints would participate, however, was a mystery to me—though I’d understand if it was out of a sense of duty.
“Because I have the ability,” Irislaevi said matter-of-factly. Like someone proud of their strength and seeking a place to show it off, she was simply aware of her talents and eager to use them. It was a simple enough answer.
“I’m here because I wanted to be with the one I respect so much,” Lycoris said cheerfully.
“Lycoris...” Irislaevi was so moved she was holding back tears. Lycoris giggled, looking truly delighted. “You’re not teasing your senior, are you?”
“If I was, it would be coming from a place of love.”
“That’s not an answer.”
They were a rather unique duo, but there was no doubting their strength. You couldn’t be chosen to join the Twelve Saints unless you had defeated several curions who had obtained special abilities. In addition, members of the Twelve Saints were given Heavenly Swords—weapons that could each store one special ability from a curion they defeated. Combine that with a holy woman’s divine protection and a holy knight’s skills, and they were probably stronger than any individual from the Twelve Knights three centuries ago.
Now, what’s the final pair like? Munching on one of the cookies Irislaevi had given me, I tossed the other into the princess’s mouth and waited for the final pair’s arrival. The cookies were extremely sweet. They had clearly been made with a lot of sugar.