14th of the Month of Ice Crystals. Morning.
“I’ve decided to cancel Ursula’s training today and have a mock battle with Reki.”
As soon as I stated this plan that I had decided on last night at the breakfast table with everyone present, I received a reaction that was slightly contrary to my expectations.
“Eh!?”
“Eh…”
Reki, who seemed unusually surprised, and Ursula, who looked quite dissatisfied. I didn’t think what I said was so unreasonable… Ah, I see.
“Don’t worry, we’ll finish early so we can definitely attend the festival.”
At my words, the two of them sighed in obvious relief. No matter how you look at it, they are still children. I can tell they are looking forward to today’s festival.
And so, as planned, I engaged in a mock battle with Reki in the morning.
Since there were no members of the Self-Defense Corps today, the location was the back of the church, just like the first time we did this, and it was Reki versus me one-on-one.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve fought one-on-one.”
“Y-Yes!”
It’s a familiar sight to see Reki holding the large wooden sword I gifted her, but still, her demeanor was somewhat distant, as if she was conscious of something.
“You’ve been practicing on your own every day, right? That’s impressive.”
“I-It’s not like that…”
Her lack of slacking was confirmed by Sariel, who had been watching over the church.
Moreover, the Self-Defense Corps had recently been training regularly due to goblin attacks, and it seems Reki has been participating as well.
Reki now feels more like the ace of the Self-Defense Corps than just a trainee sister. If we evaluate the fact that she took down Dortus by herself, she already has the combat ability to become a Rank 3 Adventurer right now. Participating in the effort to defeat Dortus already feels like a long time ago.
Well, it’s not the time to dwell on memories. Reki’s strength is already well proven. If I zone out in this fight, I might finally take a hit to the head this time.
With the restriction of no magic, martial arts, or blessings, I’ll give it my all.
“Show me the results of your training, Reki.”
The moment I assumed a stance with the wooden sword, Reki seemed to sense my fighting spirit and her uncertain demeanor transformed completely. She tightened her expression and smoothly took up her stance with the large wooden sword.
Just from that reaction, I can tell she hasn’t dulled her instincts. Reki’s talent as a warrior is indeed genuine.
“Come on.”
“—Here I go!”
—
“I… I’m feeling really refreshed!”
“That’s not true, is it!?”
As soon as I returned from the mock battle with Chloe, Ursula was waiting with an unhappy look on her face.
“Don’t forget about the plan, okay?”
“I’ll be fine!”
I completely forgot while fighting, but when battling Chloe, I have to concentrate all my nerves to keep up.
Still, it’s obvious that I can’t draw power from Chloe as much as Ursula can. I didn’t use magic or martial arts even once. I can’t help but feel desperate about how much more training I need to do to push her to the point where she’d use those skills… but more than that, I just really enjoy fighting Chloe.
After a week of fighting with all my might, I’m definitely satisfied.
“From the afternoon, Chloe will have the opening ceremony for the Valentine’s Festival at the church. It’ll last about an hour, so after that, we’ll be free.”
Taking a deep breath, Ursula seriously explained today’s plan again.
In my room, as long as we don’t raise our voices, there’s no chance Chloe can overhear us. Priest Nikolai doesn’t hesitate to enter the girls’ room if he has business, but Chloe always knocks and waits.
“We have some time until the evening.”
“We can be free until then, but it might be better to act separately from Chloe so we don’t raise any suspicions.”
“But then, when it’s time, Chloe might not be able to find us!”
“Well, that’s true… then we have to secretly keep an eye on her without her noticing.”
“Chloe is extremely sensitive to presence. I don’t think we can trick her at all.”
“It’s okay, Chloe doesn’t mind unless there’s intent to kill or hostility.”
Ursula says that as if it’s obvious, but I still don’t know Chloe that well.
Even with such trivial things, I’m reminded how much more intense and high-level Ursula’s past week has been compared to my mock battles.
Suppressing the desire to cry deep inside me, I continued the conversation as if nothing were wrong.
“Then, we can just keep an eye on her.”
“Ah, maybe tonight, Chloe might finally do something naughty with Sister Yuri, so we need to be careful not to let them end up somewhere secluded.”
“Eh, really!?”
“At least for the past two months, Chloe hasn’t done anything naughty.”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve heard voices through the door.”
I couldn’t help but feel a bit taken aback by such information.
However, Ursula’s interest in romance was sparked by the love story novel given to her by Chloe. If reading it awakened that interest, it makes sense that she’d be curious about the daily lovey-dovey couple lifestyle of Chloe and Sister Yuri. It wouldn’t be surprising if she sneaks in to eavesdrop on their bedroom at night.
Hmm, realizing this made me curious as well.
“If that’s the case, in case of emergencies, Reki and the others will step in to stop them!”
“Yes, we can just pretend to happen upon them.”
Ursula’s mischievous smile looked quite devilish.
“But I feel bad for Sister Yuri, still.”
“It’s fine, Reki, love is war. The people of Ivrham don’t choose methods in love and war.”
“Oh, b-but…”
“It’s okay, I like and respect Sister Yuri too, so I will properly acknowledge her as the second wife.”
“You can only marry one person!”
“That’s a rule of the Cross Religion. In Ivrham, one can marry as many as they want. It’s a wonderful system that’s tolerant of love.”
Wearing the habit of a Cross Religion sister, Ursula shouldn’t be saying those things.
But perhaps that’s why Ursula doesn’t feel much resistance against ‘taking’ Chloe away from Sister Yuri.
“But I never thought Ursula would be so attached to Ivrham.”
“I’m not particularly attached. But Chloe doesn’t tell me to become a Sinclair or a follower of the Cross Religion. She accepts me as an Ivrham person, even if I’m under a terrible curse. So—”
Then Ursula smiled alluringly, causing my heart to skip a beat as she finished her statement.
“—I love her.”
—
“—You can sense the resolve of the saint Valentine’s from the letter sent to one of his disciples, the priest.”
By casually recounting the legend of the saint with a nonchalant face using knowledge I gathered, I successfully managed to get through the opening ceremony.
I had understood the passages for the readings of the Bible and had prepared a manuscript in advance in consultation with Sariel for the sermon-like parts, so I was ready. The believers in this village tend to listen quietly without asking strange questions, so that was reassuring.
“Well then, it’s free time now, so let’s head to the festival.”
It should be around 3 PM now. The noisy voices of villagers can already be heard from the central square. Many of them have already started drinking from early in the day.
“I’m fine staying behind.”
“That’s not an option.”
I skillfully tied the carrying straps around my emotionless younger sister (fake), who genuinely didn’t seem to be looking forward to the festival. With her body partially incapacitated, I prepared to set out and grasped the church door when I suddenly realized.
“By the way, where are Reki and Ursula?”
“They seem to have already gone to the festival.”
That’s fast. But well, it’s quite childlike of them. After all, I gave them some pocket money in advance.
Thinking back, both of them typically manage their work of being trainee sisters, which includes household chores every day, and Reki has been involved in mock battles while Ursula has been training in primal magic, so their schedules must have been tougher than ever. It’s only right to let them enjoy themselves as much as they want at times like this.
And with that, I headed off to the festival without worrying about where the two were.
As soon as I stepped outside, the lively buzz of the central square came into view. Since almost all the villagers are gathered here today, it seemed like a decent number of people when I looked around.
Given the nature of a frontier village, the age demographic of the villagers is relatively young. Perhaps because of that, there seems to be more energy than one might expect, creating a joyful noise.
There isn’t a large bonfire set up in the middle of the square yet, like a massive campfire, but those with instruments are playing cheerful tunes as they like. Some are playing flute-like instruments, others strumming guitar-like string instruments, and both men and women are singing together with arms around each other while holding bottles of alcohol.
To resent such vibrant lives seems unreasonable. In truth, if there was a festival event like this, I could have indulged in a state of ‘two beauties in either hand’ with Lily and Fiona, but I only had petty regrets.
“Ah, isn’t that Chloe! Hello!”
As I was immersed in such mixed feelings, a young man with blond hair and red eyes from Barbados called out cheerfully.
“Hey, Ted. Oh, who’s that over there—”
“Isn’t she cute! She’s already the cutest in the village, my daughter! Look, Eva-chan, it’s Priest Chloe!”
Ted, with a somewhat creepy grin, was cradling a baby wrapped warmly in a pure white cloth.
Yes, this child named Eva was born when Ted came rushing to the church one night, banging on the door and yelling, “A baby is coming!”
She’s about two months old now. Her eye color is red, inherited from her father, but her hair is likely similar to her mother’s since it’s chestnut-colored. The slender woman standing beside Ted, his wife, has brown hair, just like little Eva.
“She looks healthy; that’s what matters.”
It’s more accurate to say I was there immediately after her birth rather than to assist in the delivery. I was called to perform the birth ritual of the Cross Religion at that time.
It’s a simple ceremony that concludes with the usual congratulatory words and reciting of scripture, followed by pouring a few drops of water, or rather warm water, designated as holy water. However, it’s still a significant rite of passage for Cross Religion followers.
This emphasis on it reflects the Barbadian people’s values, with a tendency to hold firm beliefs in their traditions.
It’s probably more about the wife, who is originally a member of the Sinclair people, rather than D.
Of course, such circumstances are completely unknown to the newborn baby. While saying “Ah,” she seemed more interested in Sariel on my back than me, reaching out towards her long hair, dyed flaxen with a magical tool.
On the other hand, Sariel, perhaps because she also attended the birth ritual, gently poked the round hand of Eva-chan with her left fingertip, showing some interest.
“…How was it?”
This question lingered in the air when the couple left after Eva-chan seemed to have leaked something and started to cry.
“What do you mean, how?”
“Even though it was just a formal ritual, you were involved in the birth. I mean, don’t you feel any emotions about it, like a sense of sentiment or something?”
“I don’t know. I can’t emotionally understand the feelings of a newborn baby or the joy of a couple having a child.”
It seems impossible for this being, born solely for slaughter, to grasp the phenomenon of birth from a properly human perspective.
“However, I didn’t feel bad about it.”
“I see. Then that’s fine.”
Recently, I’ve been thinking that if Sariel continues to live as a proper girl, she might start to understand human emotions a bit more… What a sweet thought.
Do I really want Sariel to be happy? Have I come to want that?
Deep down, the aversion to being swayed by emotions doesn’t cease. That’s why, even now, my relationship with Sariel remains ambiguous.
“Ah, Chloe-sama!”
“Oh, Chloe-sama, won’t you drink with us?”
“Look, Yuri-chan is here too!”
“Let me hold her!”
“Hey, you guys, don’t just swarm around, disperse!”
On such a joyous festival day, I couldn’t afford to indulge in dark worries as the familiar self-defense corps members found me and flocked around. All of them had flushed faces. They were already drunk.
“Come on, it’s fine to have a little!”
“There’s meat too, meat!”
Everyone was giggling and making a ruckus like children.
I still struggle with how to handle Sariel, but with them, I no longer feel any resistance or rejection simply because they’re Sinclair people. At least, if a horde of goblins were to come, I could fight without hesitation to protect them; we’ve become that friendly.
“Well then, just a little—”
Before I knew it, I had naturally been thrown into the midst of the festival as a member of the village.
Though it doesn’t seem that delicious, I was gulping down cheap beer and occasionally eating undercooked meat while laughing out loud at silly jokes. I warned, “Don’t chug it all at once,” and forcibly silenced those about to start a fight with retorts like, “What do you want, you bastard?”—not exactly an elegant way to enjoy myself.
Still, the festival, spent with the silly self-defense corps members and villagers, all of whom I had come to know well, was delightful enough to make me forget the unavoidable worries and anxieties for the future.
“—Hehe, as expected of the priest! Even after drinking that much, you look fine!”
“You’re quite tipsy, Ryan.”
“Shut up! I’m just getting started! I’m still a man on the rise!”
Red-faced Ryan was teetering on the brink of drunkenness.
After drinking and chatting with various people, I eventually found myself comfortably clinking cups with Ryan at our usual tavern. Ryan sat on my right and Sariel on my left. Of course, Sariel was drinking more than enough alcohol too, but her face remained its usual pale, expressionless self. Alcohol wouldn’t affect our enhanced, modified bodies.
“Ooh, Yuri-chan is drinking?”
“Don’t push her too hard.”
I knew there was nothing to worry about, but I felt the need to put in a word of caution. If she put her mind to it, she could probably down an entire barrel herself.
Meanwhile, Sariel herself quietly poured the beer in front of her into her small mouth as if it were just water.
“Ah, so cute! Yuri-chan is so adorable!”
Ryan declared with a slack-jawed smile.
It’s probably best not to say such things in front of a girl interested in him. She might get disillusioned. Such a trivial concern popped into my head.
“Hey, Yuri, you’re being called cute. Isn’t that nice?”
“Compliments involving the term ‘cute’ are a form of social pleasantry. I particularly recognize them as words that hold no meaning.”
“Wow, not cute at all.”
“The cool Yuri-chan is cute too!”
No way, that response is definitely not cute. However, I can’t deny that her face is cute enough to be summed up as “cute” no matter what you say.
“Ah, so cute. Damn, if I were single, I’d definitely go for it!”
While glancing at Ryan’s profile as he gulped his beer like a commercial, a question suddenly arose.
“…Wait, you’re not single?”
“Huh? I’m married, didn’t I mention that?”
I was internally shocked, thinking, I didn’t hear that at all! But if I thought about it calmly, Ryan’s age is exactly twenty. By the standards of this world, it wouldn’t be strange for him to be married, and in fact, the same-aged Ted has already had a child.
“Seriously? So who’s your wife?”
“Look, she’s right there—”
He said, pointing casually with his thumb at a meek-looking waitress, running around in the crowded tavern, a girl with braided hair and glasses.
Oh, that girl! She was the first to rush over and attend to Ryan when I knocked him out at the boxing match. I see, that’s how it was…
“Hey, hey, is it really that surprising?”
“N-No, that’s not exactly it… Just a little surprised.”
I was quite surprised, and it probably showed on my face.
“Well, you’d expect someone who’d become my wife to be a radiant beauty, right?”
“No way.”
I’ve never thought of her like that at all, and besides, don’t say such things in front of your actual wife.
“When did you get married?”
“Uh, when was it… It’s been about three years now, I think.”
“So it was before you came here?”
“Yup, you’re curious about it, huh?”
Honestly, I am. It’s more than enough to discuss over drinks.
However, since I was mostly sober, I made sure not to force him if he didn’t want to talk about it.
“It’s not really an interesting old story. I mean, think about it, you’d have to have either a ton of money or have really messed up to want to live in a magical land apart from Sinclair.”
That’s true; typically, there aren’t many reasons for a proper Sinclair person to deliberately leave their homeland.
With those from the second-class nations like Barbatos and Ivrham, it’s understandable that they would naturally be pushed to the fringes.
“Sorry, I guess it wasn’t the best topic to bring up lightly.”
“Heh, don’t worry about it. I’m not bothered by the past at all. Someone once said, ‘A place becomes home,’ right? Was it the hero? Well, it feels like that, and I’m not particularly dissatisfied with life here.”
Saying that, Ryan quickly downed the remaining half of his beer.
“I used to be a knight.”
Staring at his empty mug, Ryan murmured.
“But I punched my awful superior and got kicked out just like that! I don’t regret it. Whenever I think of that guy begging for his life with a face covered in blood, I can’t stop laughing!”
It’s hard to tell whether his superior truly deserved to be beaten to that extent, or if Ryan went too far. However, as a friend, I want to believe that it was the right thing to do.
“After that, I just loafed around aimlessly, but then I was picked up by my brother… Well, after various events, I ended up marrying her and participating in Pandora’s development.”
With a slightly wistful sigh, he then suddenly shouted loudly for a beer refill.
“So what about you, priest? Hehe, you could share a bit, right?”
His smirk and bad grin promised he was all too eager to pry into my life.
Hmm, what to do… I could tell him the concocted sibling backstory I had created on the fly, but—
“Chloe-sama!”
At that moment, I heard Reki’s familiar loud call.
Though it was a pseudonym, I had completely become accustomed to being called Chloe, and I turned around almost without any time lag.
“Reki, what’s wrong?”
“It’s a big deal! Ulsura has collapsed from drinking too much!”
W-What?! I was both surprised and exasperated.
No, wait. Even a high schooler knows the dangers of alcohol poisoning. Plus, Ursula is still a child. She might really be in danger.
“Is she okay, Ursula?!”
With that thought in mind, I hurriedly followed Reki to where Ursula had collapsed.
The location was the central square right outside the tavern. It had become completely dark outside, and a grand bonfire blazed, lighting up the encroaching darkness.
People could be seen dancing joyfully around the bonfire, making a racket with music that was even louder than during the day. In the midst of that festive center, there lay Ursula.
“Ugh… Mmm, I… can’t…”
With an incredibly peaceful sleeping face, she muttered in a way that seemed forced. Clutching a large wine bottle like a pillow, she had curled up on the table like a cat and fallen asleep.
“Reki, did Ursula really drink all this wine by herself?”
“No, she only had a sip from the glass over there!”
Got it, she seems to be alright.
If she passed out from just one sip of wine, it must mean that Ursula has a pretty weak constitution towards alcohol. I think I should get her checked by the old doctor just in case…
“For now, let’s take her back to the church and let her rest.”
Carrying the peacefully sleeping Ursula, I quickly left the scene.