After the black-clothed commander of the Third Royal Order curtly refused her request, he leaned against the wall a short distance away. Seiichirou doubted whether that was an appropriate attitude for a knight to have, but he thought better of it—it was nothing he needed to worry about—and faced forward again.
Yua’s hair was glossy, her skin looked bright and healthy, her nails had been polished, and her dress was stunning. It was clear that she was being well taken care of.
“Have you heard about the legend of this world?”
“I have. The story of the miasma and the Holy Maiden, right?”
The story was that a holy maiden would be taken from a location that had been transmitted through a divine revelation, then forced to play her role to purify the miasma radiating from the Demon Forest.
Of course, Seiichirou did not say that. He had just kept his answer brief and nodded.
“Right! Exactly! Apparently, I’m that Holy Maiden, and you got dragged into this and ended up coming here by accident!”
I know. Well, technically I only got dragged into this because you cried for help and reached out your hand to me, but if you really followed the breadcrumbs, this had all been the work of the leader of the kingdom. I’m not going to say either of those things, though.
“It appears so.”
Seiichirou simply nodded slowly, like the bobbing waves of a calm sea, but the man beside her, Yurius, cut in irritably.
“What’s with that attitude of yours?! Yua was worried and even took the time to speak to someone like you! Surely you have more to say than that!”
Seiichirou didn’t remember Yua being worried about him, and if he was to reveal his true thoughts, he would be directly criticizing the kingdom… Just who was this guy anyway?
“I’m sorry, that’s not what I… Um…”
Seiichirou looked at Yua, who seemed to realize that the man beside her hadn’t yet introduced himself, so she quickly filled Seiichirou in.
“Oh! This is Yurius, the firstborn prince of this kingdom. He’s been looking after me.”
Oh, that explains it… A prince. That must be why he’s acting like that.
“I’m astounded,” Yurius sneered. “You don’t even know the names or faces of the royal family?”
Yes, well, it’s only been three days since I was abducted, and you haven’t introduced yourself, come to see me, or even apologized, so…
“I apologize for my ignorance.”
“And then,” Yua continued, “that man over there with the black hair is Aresh, commander of the Third Royal Order. He’s really strong!”
For whatever reason, Yua had even introduced the commander, so Seiichirou turned toward him and nodded politely. But then again, the commander was incredibly handsome, so it wasn’t difficult for Seiichirou to imagine why a high school girl would be rather taken by him.
“So what are you going to do, Shiraishi?” Seiichirou asked, returning to the real issue at hand.
Yua looked down for a moment. When she raised her head, there was a twinge of apprehension on her face, but she met Seiichirou’s eyes straight on.
“I want to fulfill the duties of the Holy Maiden! I mean, the people here are in a lot of trouble, and I’m the only one who can save them!”
Seiichirou blinked slowly.
Now that he thought about it, Yua was still a high school student who had yet to experience the real world—and seemed quite sheltered. Any person of that age would probably be excited at this extraordinary turn of events, despite the outrageous circumstances surrounding them, and they would accept the assertions of the people around them at face value.
Seiichirou glanced to the side and saw the prince’s eyes, filled with satisfaction and affection, fixed on Yua.
“…There is something else I wish to discuss with my fellow compatriot,” Seiichirou said. “May we speak in private?”
Seiichirou had made the request because he thought it would be a bad idea to talk about the next subject in front of the prince, and sure enough, the prince gave him an ugly scowl and shut him down.
“Two members of the opposite sex, alone in one room? What the hell are you thinking?!”
Seiichirou had a hunch that Yua and the prince had been alone together in the room before they had arrived—did that not count?
But luck seemed to be on Seiichirou’s side, because just then, there was an unassuming knock at the door. Aresh opened it, and a man wearing a butler’s uniform bowed and entered.
“I’m terribly sorry to interrupt, Your Highness Yurius, but His Majesty requests your presence.”
“What? I’m busy right now!”
“I’m very sorry, but it’s urgent.”
Yurius hesitated, but the butler wasn’t backing down. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and stood up.
“Aresh, you’re in charge. Don’t take your eyes off him. Yua, I’m heading out for a bit.”
Yurius gave Seiichirou one last silent glare before leaving the room.
That left Seiichirou, Yua, and the commander of the Third Royal Order alone in the room.
Seiichirou hesitated for a bit, but then decided the commander wasn’t likely to interrupt them like the prince had. He steeled himself and began speaking in a quiet voice.
“It’s fine if you have some sort of moral calling to do this, but please make sure you really understand the people around you and the situation you’re in.”
“What do you mean…?” Yua asked, furrowing her brow.
“I don’t know much about the Holy Maiden’s power or her duty, but at the end of the day, you were ab…summoned here to work for this kingdom. You should think hard about what that means and make sure you know all the conditions of that role before you do anything.”
From the onset, the kingdom had captured Yua, without any consideration for her own personal circumstances, with the purpose of using her. Yua didn’t even know how dangerous the Holy Maiden role could be, and as far as the kingdom was concerned, Yua could die if it meant the miasma was purified.
“Are you telling me to refuse…?!”
“I’m not telling you to refuse. I’m just saying to take more time to get a grasp of what’s going on…”
“But…if there’s an outbreak, a lot of people are going to die! I’m the only one who can do this! How can you say something so cruel?!”
It was not a question of cruelty—Seiichirou was talking about Yua’s personal safety.
“Only the Holy Maiden can accomplish this… People will die… There will be an outbreak of miasma… All I’m saying is: You should verify these facts.”
“So you’re saying that everyone’s lying?!”
“I’m not saying that.”
However, these were individuals who seemed to think nothing of abducting two people. Seiichirou didn’t care about their religious belief in Holy Maidens or anything like that—he thought the kingdom should work to solve their own problems.
“But everyone’s in trouble! How can you say such awful things?!”
Despite Seiichirou intentionally trying to keep his voice low, Yua’s emotional outbursts might have been audible from beyond the door.
Thinking that this might have been his only chance to talk directly with Yua now that she was the Holy Maiden, he had rushed things too quickly. People her age tended to put their emotions and feelings of righteousness above all else. Maybe he could have worded things differently.
“I heard that the kingdom is giving you money, Kondou! How can you say such awful things after that? I’ve had enough of this! I’m going to work hard for the people of this kingdom!”
After these declarations, Yua left through yet another door in the back of the room, which probably led to her bedroom. All Seiichirou could do was sigh.
Well, they do seem to be treating her well.
Aresh motioned silently, so Seiichirou stood and exited the room in response.
He left the main tower accompanied by the same knight who had initially fetched him, although the knight was more likely driving him out than seeing him out.
Right up to the end, neither Yua nor the prince apologized to Seiichirou.
Seiichirou thought it over.
Generally speaking, adults ought to patiently guide and advise young women of Yua’s age.
However, as it was, Yua and Seiichirou had no relationship with each other—they were complete strangers, having only met for the first time three days ago.
Do I have any obligation to go that far for her?
“Oh well…”
Those sorts of things were situational.
For now, Seiichirou wouldn’t be able to do anything unless he solidified his own footing in this world.
Now mentally as well as physically exhausted, Seiichirou drank the nutritional tonic Norbert had given to him earlier that day before going to bed.
It tasted disgusting.
Seiichirou, however, was surprised when he woke up the next morning.
His body felt lighter; his head felt clearer.
His chronic migraine was gone, as was his stiff neck, the accompanying pain, and the heaviness in his body.
Seiichirou once again left Norbert behind to go to work early, and Norbert once again arrived at work precisely on time. Seiichirou ran up to him with a smile that Norbert had never seen before, and his eyes bulged in astonishment.
“Good morning, Norbert! The nutritional tonic you gave me yesterday was very effective! Thank you very much!!”
As Seiichirou thanked him with never-before-seen exuberance, Norbert scanned his face. He could see Seiichirou’s normally pallid complexion was tinged with color, and while his dark circles were still there, they had faded somewhat.
“Oh! So you drank it, huh? Good stuff, isn’t it? This really skilled apothecary made it—he’s the supplier for the Royal Orders!”
“Is that right? Um… Would it be possible for someone like me to buy that?”
The nutritional tonic was much more effective than any of the expensive energy drinks Seiichirou had taken in the past. In a world where magic existed, it made sense that the tonic would work so well. For the first time ever, Seiichirou was impressed by this world.
“His medicine shop is in town, so even someone like you can buy it! Want me to show you how to get to his place next time?”
“Yes! After work today, if you can, please!!”
“What? Today?!”
Urged on by Seiichirou and his newfound excitement, Norbert ended up going back into town just two days after his last trip.
By the end of the workday, Seiichirou had sorted through half of the chaotically stacked papers, bound them together, and put them neatly away in a cabinet.
“All right, that’s ten bottles for six hundred rula.”
“Okay.”
“Huh?! You’re buying ten?!”