Both Armeria, who was prim and proper and the very image of a noble lady, and Cosmos, who was strong of spirit and vigorous, were completely unused to this situation. They were terribly nervous and had no idea what to do in the face of such high-ranking nobility.
I hadn’t been nervous when meeting Claus and Rose, circumstances being what they were at the time, but I guessed being nervous was the usual way things went.
“Miss Armeria and Miss Cosmos, then. Glad to make your acquaintance. You may stay at this residence awhile—please, do rest easy here with Hisui.”
“Thank you very much.”
“Th-Thank you!” Armeria and Cosmos bowed their heads in turn.
“Well, personally,” Claus suggested, “I wouldn’t mind if you all made yourselves comfortable here while Hisui plans for his stay in town.”
“I-I couldn’t... I really couldn’t trouble you for so long, Lord Lycoris,” I said.
“It’s no trouble at all; you needn’t hold back. You’re a very special person, and it’s best to keep special people in special environments. It’s important that you cultivate your abilities more, being a chosen one and all.”
“Special, huh...” Claus was absolutely right. I was embarrassed to put it in such clear-cut words, but I was most certainly special.
I knew that, because I had the three goddesses by my side, and I was the only person in the whole wide world who could see them. No one else could even hold a conversation with them, much less express their thoughts and feelings to them. On top of that, I received my powers directly from them—the power to use all three kinds of magic to their maximum potential. Adding the fact that I was a reincarnated soul into the mix, it’d be harder to find something about me that wasn’t special.
Still, there were a lot of drawbacks to being special. It meant you would always be different from the people around you—and in the end, that meant living with terrible loneliness.
“I’m glad for your offer to let us stay here long-term, Lord Lycoris. But we’d like to enjoy an easy life. I think that’s a lot more important than special treatment.”
“Hisui...” From behind me, Armeria murmured my name quietly. I didn’t have to look at her to know she was touched.
Claus chuckled. “Excellent answer, Hisui. I’m deeply impressed you’d choose that. A free, unfettered life is the privilege of mankind, after all.”
“Thank you, my lord.”
“Father! You’ve soured the mood with all this ominous talk!”
“R-Rose... That’s quite harsh.”
“If anyone here is harsh, it’s you, father! Lord Hisui does have a wonderful talent, but he’s still a person just like you and me! You ought to treat him just the same as anyone else!”
“That’s my intention. My apologies, Hisui.”
“Oh no, I understand your thoughts completely. I also understand the value in making use of my capabilities.” When I thought about everything I’d learned so far, I could tell that I was extraordinarily gifted in this world.
A person who could use two powers seemed to be entirely unheard-of, so I was probably the only person ever who could use all three. I’d also taken down a dragon at the unripe age of eight. If someone managed to exploit my powers, their profits would be immeasurable.
That was another reason I didn’t want to become head of House Clematis, even if the desire to avoid being used by others was maybe a bit childish.
“Sometimes, Hisui, you seem to be a mature adult just about my age. You’re quite the sagacious one.”
“I-I’m nothing that wise. Ha ha ha...” Sorry, Claus. I was sure that if I added my actual age and my age as Hisui together, I would get a number pretty close to his age. But right now, I was eight years old—so please, have mercy.
Claus’s intuition was just so keen, I couldn’t do or say anything but laugh dryly. Thankfully, neither Claus nor Rose—nor Armeria or Cosmos, for that matter—thought anything of it, and the conversation proceeded apace.
“Now then... This has been quite a long conversation, but we’re happy to have you here, Miss Armeria, Miss Cosmos.” They were officially permitted to stay here. The three of us were thrilled.
And with that, our impoverished living came to an end.
Once we’d finished speaking with Claus, I returned to my room. Armeria and Cosmos found themselves dragged off to the baths before they could go to their own rooms. “You and your clothes are terribly grimy from the road! We must be nice and clean—a lady must always present herself as such!” Rose had told them.
But in truth, neither of them had ever had the opportunity to bathe themselves in a decent bath before, and their clothes were indeed old and fraying. Considering we’d just spent two days in the wilderness, it wasn’t surprising that dirt and grime would stand out all the more on them.
I wanted to take a dip as well, but it was only right to let my sisters have a bath first. I was younger, after all, so I needed to show them respect.
“Good work, Huey! It must’ve been sooo hard to cart your sisters here over two whole days!” Now that I was alone, the three goddesses appeared. Fading into the room through the wall, Fouré first threw her arms around me.
“Whoa! It wasn’t all that bad, Fouré. It really wasn’t too much work to get here, I promise,” I commented.
“Well, I’m training you, after all,” Aruna remarked proudly, which prompted a giggle from Cult.
“That being said, you mustn’t become a monster like Aruna, dear one.”
“Who’s the monster here? Say that again, I dare you,” snarked the War Goddess.