At that very moment, while a certain silver-haired Holy Knight was presenting her ass to the Saintess...
"...So, are you telling me you still haven't figured it out?"
The speaker was a red-haired woman looking down through the window at the scenery below. Unlike the modern era where a certain farm existed, the view outside was filled with antique buildings reminiscent of the Middle Ages and people dressed in period attire, making one wonder if they had traveled back to the past.
Behind her, seated on a soft sofa made of beast hide—matching the luxurious wooden table prepared for guests—sat a woman with sky-blue hair wearing a robe. Unlike the red-haired woman, she was leisurely enjoying a cup of tea. She carefully set the teacup down on the table and spoke.
"Well, it’s a magical formula constructed in a way I’ve definitely seen somewhere before, but I can’t quite recall exactly what it was. I feel like I know it... but then again, maybe I don't..."
"It’s quite troubling if you speak like that, isn't it? Do you have any idea how much gold our Royal Family has poured into this, trusting only your word...?!"
Unlike the sky-blue-haired woman or the commoners outside dressed in medieval woolens, the red-haired woman wore a short-sleeved top and black trousers reminiscent of a modern suit.
She was Ariel, the Princess of this kingdom and the future master of this antique reception room—no, of the castle itself. She spun around sharply to glare at the woman with sky-blue hair.
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"This is strange, isn't it? I distinctly remember you shouting with such confidence when we first contacted you. Just how much time do you think has passed since then?"
"...Slurp."
As soon as Ariel finished speaking, as if representing her bursting frustration—Pop, plip, plop—her buttons flew off.
However, even as the buttons that had fastened her shirt up to her neck rolled across the floor, revealing parts of her bulging breasts, Ariel made no attempt to cover them.
She simply glared at the sky-blue-haired woman, who was focusing on her tea again as if she hadn't heard a word, and at the tall, pointed hat that signified her status.
"Surely, the Master of the Magic Tower, the one called the Great Sage by all and praised for centuries... surely you aren't planning to 'eat and run', ahem... simply swallow the Royal Family's support funds and bolt...!"
She tried to maintain some semblance of manners, but with the other party acting like this, perhaps her true temper was beginning to show.
The Great Sage with the sky-blue hair let out a small sigh at the sight of Ariel, whose patience seemed as volatile as her fiery red hair.
"I didn't say I didn't know. I said it was ambiguous."
"That's exactly why...!"
"Like you said, I've lived for centuries. How many generations of the Isis line do you think I've watched over? If someone like me says it's ambiguous or uncertain, shouldn't you sense that there's a deeper reason?"
"..."
No one knew the exact identity of this person called the Great Sage.
The only things known were that her knowledge of magic was so vast and orthodox that one might suspect she carried an entire library in her head, and as she claimed, she had lived for centuries.
Her consistent attendance in the historical records chronicling the achievements of past kings raised doubts about whether she was even human. She was a figure wrapped in mystery.
Because of this, Ariel, the successor and future Queen of the Isis Kingdom, as well as her mother, Queen Leifelt, simply maintained the cooperative relationship with her that had existed since their ancestors' time.
Also, perhaps as a boast of her long life, she spoke informally to everyone regardless of status or age, treating the Queen and children alike with a distinct lack of polite speech.
Ariel, whose red hair represented her fiery personality, was pissed off. But thinking that the Great Sage wouldn't spout nonsense at a critical time like this, she held back her anger.
Deciding to poke the bear since she couldn't eat it, she asked the Great Sage quietly.
"...Surely it isn't because you've finally gone senile and it's time for you to die?"
"..."
Staaaaare.
Under the Great Sage's topaz-like gaze, Ariel inwardly sneered, thinking she had landed a solid blow, but at the same time, she fell into thought to grasp the intent behind the Sage's words.
And perhaps reaching a conclusion of her own...
"Are you saying it is an ancient magic so old that even you have to scour your old memories?"
"...Not quite ancient, phew... but essentially, yes."
Tap. The Great Sage put down her teacup and tapped her staff, which was as tall as she was. Immediately, a magical circle took form and floated above her palm like a hologram.
"What is that?"
"This is a formula reconstructed by scraping together the magical residue left at the scene where the leader of the group worshipping the Goddess and her right-hand woman disappeared a while ago."
"...Have you finished restoring it?"
"About 70%? If those idiots at the scene hadn't made such a fuss, I could have restored about 90%. It's a shame."
A while ago, as if falling suddenly from the sky, someone appeared at the headquarters of the Goddess Church, kidnapped the Saintess Violet and the Commander of the Holy Knights, Christia, and vanished.
According to witnesses who saw the Saintess just before she disappeared, Violet and Christia were with some naked thugs...
But Ariel knew.
She knew who had kidnapped the Saintess. Through the crystal ball rolling around at the scene that day, she had seen exactly what happened there. She saw what state her admired friend, Eleonora, was in and what filthy acts she had committed.
Even at the very end, as if showing off to Ariel who was watching through the crystal ball...
Not only did she expose her naked body without a filter, wearing obscene jewelry on her breasts and vulva, looking completely transformed...
She proudly declared that she had become a man's sex slave, a breeding sow, as she spread her legs wide...!
"Haaah...!"
"?"
"Kuh-hmm, it's nothing. So, you're saying you're having trouble interpreting that formula? If it's 70%, isn't that practically on the verge of completion...?"
"I only managed to restore it to 70% recently. I thought there might be some clues in the books at my personal hideout, so I was heading there, but I found this exact same formula in the forest of the long-ears..."
"Boasting about having a hideout so openly... Wait, you mean there were traces of that formula in the Elf Forest?"
The elves were a reclusive bunch, and even when they did come out into the world, they caused trouble with ridiculous nonsense like 'man-hunting.' And now, traces of Eleonora were found in their forest?
'Just what kind of mess have you gotten entangled in? Eleonora, and this world too...!'
As if harboring an unspeakable secret, Ariel groaned, "Nngh..." and bit her lip. The Great Sage, seeing this, spoke to Ariel as if taking revenge for the earlier insult.
"Do you need to piss? If you keep holding it in like that, you'll wet your diaper again..."
"Shut up! And why are you bringing up stories from back then?! Being old isn't something to brag about!!"
Seeing Ariel shriek with a face that had turned bright red again, the Great Sage felt the satisfaction of revenge and cleared her throat loudly, Kuh-hmm, making sure Ariel heard.
"I'm telling you this now, but there's a high probability that the Grand Master is involved in this incident."
"Wh-what? Eleonora is?!"
A thief feels his own feet burn; Ariel hadn't told anyone—not even her own mother—about this fact.
It was partly because she was still half-denying it, and since it involved her friend, she didn't want to tarnish Eleonora's honor by spreading rumors before the exact facts were revealed.
Above all, even if she wanted to talk, there was nowhere to complain.
After all, Eleonora was the continent's strongest female knight, praised by all as the epitome of loyalty and nobility.
Furthermore, Eleonora wasn't from a prestigious noble family but was, by her own admission, a war orphan—a 'dirt spoon' commoner lower than the average citizen—yet she was a Knightess loved by the people.
Who would believe that such a woman was walking around completely stark naked without a single thread on her body?
Who would believe that in that state, she unhesitatingly exposed her pussy and tits, and alongside a savage princess who left an indelible scar on Ariel's stomach, and some strange black-haired man, she engaged in lewd acts and kidnapped the Saintess?
If she said that, she would be lucky if she were only criticized by the kingdom's people for trying to defame Eleonora out of jealousy and envy.
In a way, it was only natural for Ariel to rot inside alone.
"...You look like you know something."
"Huh? No, nothing at all. Ahem."
"...Suspicious. You definitely know something."
"What could I possibly know! If I were well-versed in magic, I would have uncovered all the circumstances clearly by now! Who was there, who ate what..."
"Who was fucking right there."
"Yes! Who was having sex in front of others—Eeek, wa-wait!!"
My head is complicated enough as it is, are you teasing me right now?!
As Ariel shrieked once more, the Great Sage abruptly wiped away the hologram of the magic circle from her hand as if asking what the fuss was about.
"Anyway, since it's a formula I haven't completely never seen before, it won't take that long to restore, but..."
"...But?"
Did she figure something out?
Ariel pricked up her ears.
"Whoever it is, if they appear again to target someone, there's a high probability they'll use the Holy Birth Festival as an opening."
"The Holy Birth Festival...?"
The Holy Birth Festival. A day to commemorate when the Goddess first descended upon this land. It was a massive religious event attended by everyone regardless of status, age, or gender—including her mother the Queen, herself the Princess, and other high-ranking nobles.
"That can't be. Even so, considering the number of people gathering on that day... no matter what..."
But what if Eleonora is included in their combat power?
Urga alone is a headache, but if Eleonora joins in?
'If my guess is right, Eleonora will appear naked again just like last time, and if I see that...!'
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"W-What kind of delusion am I having?! I-I-I-I would never do such a shameless thing...!!"
"?"
Suddenly lost in her own thoughts.
Seeing Ariel squirming with her hands on her cheeks, the Great Sage, as if used to this, put down her empty teacup and pressed down the tall, pointed hat she had carelessly thrown on the sofa earlier.
"If this series of disappearances is actually a planned event to kidnap specific individuals, then the Holy Birth Festival, where all the targets are gathered in one place, is the most likely opportunity."
"...Since they barged into the church in broad daylight, kidnapped the Saintess and the Knight Commander, and vanished into thin air, it's certainly a plausible story."
Back then, Eleonora, with a lustful face—the face of a nympho—had told her to come over, said she would come to pick her up someday. If that meant that kind of meaning...
"Then I'll get going. Give my regards to Leifelt."
"Do not call my mother's name, the supreme ruler of this country, so carelessly without honorifics! Even if Mother permitted it...!"
Flap-flap-!
Before she could even finish her sentence, the Great Sage had already transformed into a giant crow and was flying out the window. Ariel tried to shout something in anger, but she closed her mouth at the sight of the Great Sage's tail feathers already disappearing into the distance.
"...It's become completely dark."
She didn't think they had talked for long, but looking out the window, she could see people getting ready for bed and preparing for tomorrow. Ariel glanced at a corner of the reception room.
There, on a coat rack that didn't match the room's decor, hung a long coat resembling a flasher's trench coat. She looked at it, blushed, and then vigorously shook her head.
"...Later. Now is not the time."
Leaving the reception room immediately, Ariel began to walk down the hallway, where carpets stretched long across the floor and banners depicting pure white lilies against a contrasting blue background hung on every wall.
Stomp, stomp. Unlike other noble ladies who wore dresses, she walked with unstoppable strides, proving there was a reason she wore pants. Soon, a massive, snow-white door appeared before Ariel, signaling that a noble personage lay beyond.
"Is Her Majesty present? The discussion ran long so I am late, but I came to offer my evening greetings before she retires."
-Her Majesty is...
"When have I ever sent notice before entering?"
Bang-
Without any intention of waiting for the guard's answer, Ariel threw the door wide open with a rough hand once again.
The woman she was looking for, her mother, was not the type to waste time on formalities either.
As if asking why a daughter needs procedures to visit her mother, Ariel pushed past the guards and attendants trying to restrain her, flaunting her rough temper as she finally entered the Queen's bedroom.
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The woman on the bed, a red-haired woman dressed in a black negligee preparing for sleep while looking down at the street where lights were slowly extinguishing one by one, turned.
Despite Ariel's barbaric entry, the woman showed no anger. Instead, she slowly swept up her hair as if she had guessed the reason for her daughter's visit.
"Coming to find me at this late hour... have you found a clue?"
"Yes. From what I just discussed with the Great Sage..."
At that very moment, while the world continued to turn so well, somewhere else, a silver-haired Holy Knight was trembling as she held her ass high in the air, shaking out the semen dripping from her crotch, suffering all manner of humiliation.