Was a saint allowed to give underwear to the High Priest?
Moreover, was she allowed to give him the kind that provided clean panty lines? That had to mean something with a string.
Was Reyes really going to give the High Priest something clearly designed to thrill and arouse? Could Philea just sit back and let something so unprecedented go forward?
If she was going to put a stop to it, she needed to do so now.
But this was something Reyes had put a lot of time and thought into. Was Philea allowed to shoot her down? Would the High Priest ever truly forgive her if she showed disdain for the Saint’s feelings?
She didn’t know.
As a devotee of the Radiant Goddess, Philea genuinely had no clue what the right choice was in this situation.
“…!”
Kunon sat at the breakfast table, feeling wonder and relief in equal measure.
Today’s bacon was cut thick! Plus, there were two slices!
His maid was in good spirits again. Receiving her wages had apparently taken the edge off her quiet rage.
The day before, Kunon had paid Rinko her overdue salary. Then he had gone to the cleanup afterparty and had dinner out with his fellow students. Consequently, this morning’s breakfast was the first one Rinko had made for him since being paid.
I’m glad things didn’t get too awkward, Kunon thought. He was the one at fault, so all he could do was apologize.
“Here you go, Master Kunon! Today’s health drink!”
As Kunon relaxed, a shockingly green beverage was set down in front of him with a thunk.
“……”
Recently, Rinko had been serving him this green juice at breakfast every day. The drink was bitter, smelled strongly of grass, and coated his throat so that the taste lingered for ages; Kunon hated it.
…Apparently, he had let his guard down too soon.
While he was caught up in his project, he had drunk the juice almost unconsciously. Even so, it tasted so bad that it had left a lasting impression on him even when he was more or less on autopilot.
“Don’t worry. It’s not bitter today.”
“Huh?”
Kunon’s emotions showed on his face pretty often, and it seemed his maid could tell what he was thinking.
“I admit I was bullying you a bit before, but the truth is, I made this drink with your health in mind. It’s highly nutritious.”
Kunon had thought the juice seemed good for him, but…
“You were bullying me…”
Hearing her admit that out loud was rather shocking.
“That’s because there were things I wanted to say to you, in addition to the unpaid salary issue of course. Please put yourself in my shoes. All I could do was watch while you, a child, spent every day so exhausted that you could hardly walk upright! I was sick with worry. You genuinely looked like you were going to collapse. I could barely stand to watch.”
She was talking about the Spell Vault development period.
Day in and day out, Kunon had devoted himself to the project until he was wobbly in the knees. At the time, his maid had kept almost entirely quiet. But naturally, while she’d held her tongue, Rinko had her fair share of concerns.
“…I’m sorry. From now on, I’ll take more breaks.”
Kunon’s previous maid, Iko, would have gotten him to rest even if she had to do it by force. Rinko, however, had decided to consider Kunon’s feelings.
Neither approach was better or worse. The issue was that he had caused both women to worry.
“Promise?”
“Yeah.”
“And as you know, a promise to a woman is…?”
“Something a gentleman must always keep.”
“And a promise to a man?”
“Depends on the time, the place, and the one you’ve made the promise to.”
Good, Rinko thought, nodding.
During the project development and document sorting, Kunon had been so exhausted that he hadn’t even been able to carry on conversations with his maid like this. Kunon seemed livelier in both appearance and spirit, so Rinko was content for the time being.
“It’s been almost one year,” she said.
“Hmm…? Oh yeah.”
Just under one year ago, they had arrived in the magic city of Dirashik. Before Kunon knew it, twelve months had passed since he’d left Hughlia.
There weren’t even two weeks left in the school year. In about ten days and one short break, Kunon would be a second-year student.
“It went by so fast.”
He had come into contact with magic every day since entering school. He had learned so much in that time—some of it fun, some of it deeply interesting, some of it brand-new to him.
He’d gotten to meet someone he idolized. He was reunited with his old teacher. He even met the world’s greatest witch. His first year had been, to put it mildly, a total dream.
“It really did,” agreed Rinko. “I, too, had a more enriching year than I’d imagined.”
Apparently, Rinko had spent all her free time in a very maid-like way: studying cooking. She wanted to run a legitimate eatery someday and was currently working hard toward that goal.
“Wow, it really isn’t bitter! If anything, it’s sweet!”
The green juice—the health drink in its nonbullying form—didn’t stink or taste bitter despite obviously being made of vegetables.
After his cheerful maid saw him off, Kunon went to school in a good mood for the first time in ages.
The nightmarish sorting task had been successfully completed. Today, the work of putting their recovered documents in sequential order and compiling them into a finished report would begin.
For Kunon, who had a lot of experience making clean copies, it would be a cakewalk.
“Huh?”
Building 11 was not completely rebuilt yet, so the sorted documents had been moved to a classroom he was renting temporarily in a different building.
When he got to the room, Kunon was surprised to find people other than Bael inside. What’s more—perhaps because the ordeal he’d just been through had seemed much longer than it actually was—he felt like he hadn’t seen these people in quite a while.
“Oh, hello, ah-ha-ha.”
“Nice to see you, Kunon.”
“……”
Inside the classroom were Genevis, Elva, and Ladio, the other three members of the Spell Vault development team.
“It’s been too long, everyone,” said Kunon. “You’re all looking well.”
Maybe it was the resilience in their voices. Or their improved complexions. Or was it the way he could sense their will to live? The fact that none of them looked like they had one foot in the grave?
Only a short time ago, Kunon had seen them nearly every day for six months.
Genevis’s laughter, Elva’s attentive care, even the untalkative Ladio’s gentle gaze—Kunon had missed them all.
“Sorry we couldn’t help you organize the documents,” said Elva, who was once again a stunning beauty.
With her glossy black hair and clear amethyst eyes, she looked completely unlike the slovenly girl they had worked alongside. Kunon had grown so used to seeing the dull, unkempt, exhausted Elva that her current appearance made him feel a bit like he had lost his bearings. It was undoubtedly the same Elva, though.
“It couldn’t be helped. Other than the students from Building Eleven, only Bael and Miss Shilto were allowed to participate.”
The other team members had heard about the hellish experience, of course. After all, it was also their report—and by extension, their credits—on the line. They couldn’t remain indifferent.
Nevertheless, students who weren’t based in the collapsed building were, in general, not permitted to join in the sorting work. That was why the three of them hadn’t helped.
Now that things had moved past that stage, however, it was a nonissue. They could offer their assistance freely.
“Speaking of Bael, where is he?”
“He said he was taking the morning to rest because he’s hungover.”
The night before, the younger students at the afterparty—Kunon included—had been sent home rather early in the evening.
It seemed, however, that the grown-ups had enjoyed a wild night out on the town.