Chapter 115
Franz thought this situation would end with Yusti-ah’s appearance. As a cleric of the Goddess Church, there was no way she would stand by and watch the saint be treated like a toy.
It was a bit much to bring up the Goddess Church only at times like this when he usually lacked any awareness of it, but…
What else could he do? If he didn’t use it like this, he would probably never use it in his entire life. Since he had become the saint anyway, he might as well enjoy what he could.
However, something unexpected happened. No, to be exact, he was about half right.
Just as Franz thought, Yusti-ah didn’t stand by and watch, but contrary to his belief that she would stop them, she ended up joining in.
Yusti-ah let out a chuckle as she wildly messed up Franz’s hair.
““You really can’t move an inch, can you? I knew a day like this would come eventually. Brace yourself.”
Her words held a considerable amount of vindictiveness. He thought he had been treating her well lately, but it seemed she had some complaints somewhere.
“Well, how much can they really do with just hair?”
Whatever the case, they weren’t thoughtless people. They would surely back off when the time was right. So he decided to just give up for now. It would only give him a headache otherwise.
After that, Franz’s hair constantly changed shape, from truly bizarre and unique shapes to ones that made him think they weren’t too bad.
It happened at some point during all this. Yusti-ah suddenly spoke.
“Ah, come to think of it, I had something to give you.”
Did she perhaps prepare a gift?
Today was a special day, after all. It was the day he was being bestowed a ducal title, no less. In addition to having become the saint, Franz couldn’t help but feel a little bit of anticipation.
However, there were two others who had the same thought but wore different expressions. It was none other than Arian and Hera. The two were extremely tense, thinking that their romantic rival Yusti-ah had prepared a gift.
With the gazes of all three directed at her, Yusti-ah took something from her and held it out to Franz.
“Here you go. The thing you asked for before.”
Franz blankly stared at the object placed before his eyes.
Inside a small glass bottle were unidentifiable contents, and for some reason, they gave off an ominous feeling.
“Is it some kind of talisman or something…?”
He remembered hearing that street vendors sometimes sold things like this. They would advertise that they were spiritually gifted and that this was an incredibly effective talisman that could bring wealth and honor.
Of course, it was obviously a lie. If talismans had spiritual effects, wouldn’t there be things like magic too? You know, there would be pillars of fire soaring up and ice, like in movies.
Come to think of it, it might actually be possible…?
Since the miracle known as magic existed, a talisman might actually have an effect.
As Franz thought this and wore a subtle expression, a sigh escaped Yusti-ah’s lips.
““Did you forget already?”
“Forget? Forget what?”
“You asked me to get this for you.”
He asked her to get it…?
Franz immediately began to retrace his memories, and it didn’t take long for him to realize the identity of the gift.
No wonder it felt ominous; that was exactly it. The contents of the glass bottle were none other than the fingernails of that cultist.
“Honestly, I had half given up on it.”
Didn’t the paladin that day say so, that it would be difficult due to the rules of the Goddess Church?
Yusti-ah had said she would do something about it, but he hadn’t held high expectations. He knew all too well what kind of image a cultist had within the Goddess Church.
Even if he didn’t get them, it would only be a little disappointing, so it wasn’t really a problem. He had only asked for them out of curiosity in the first place.
'Well, it’s still nice to get them.'
Receiving any kind of gift would feel good, but wouldn’t it be even better if it were exactly what he needed?
As Franz thought about how he would research these fingernails from now on, a smile naturally spread across his lips.
“Yusti-ah, thank you so much.”
“I had to persuade His Holiness the Pope for a long time to get permission for this, you know?”
“Yeah, you went through a lot of trouble.”
“If you know that, then do well from now on. And work hard on your education, as the saint.”
Yusti-ah crossed her arms and wore a triumphant expression. He was sure she was going to ask for a favor, but it seemed that was just his imagination.
“Yeah, of course.”
Since it was something he had promised in the first place, Franz brushed it off casually. Besides, he also thought she had been treating him fairly well lately.
Anyway, why on earth were Arian and Hera’s expressions so dark?
It didn’t seem like anything too serious on this end, so he decided to just gloss over it. It wasn’t the first time he had seen their moods change suddenly. They would probably return to normal after some time passed.
“Then, everyone, wait here for a moment. I’ll get ready and come out soon.”
Saying that, Franz stood up from his seat and headed to his room. It was primarily to do something about his messy hair.
He had been tricked by Arian and turned helplessly into a toy, but it didn’t seem like such a bad experience.
Eventually, as Franz returned to his room and fixed his hair, he suddenly remembered something.
“Come to think of it, did Yuna get ready…?”
He had told her the schedule in advance, but wasn’t it possible she might have forgotten? If he had known this would happen, he would have gone to check at least once, but he hadn’t thought of it.
'Let’s check even now.'
It was more comfortable to see it with his own eyes rather than to stay anxious. And even if she had forgotten, it wouldn’t be too late if she started getting ready now.
Thinking that, Franz finished fixing his hair and immediately snapped his fingers with a 'Snap!'. Then, a magic circle was drawn on the floor, and he arrived right in front of Yuna’s house.
This would be the last time to see this shabby house, too.
With such useless thoughts, Franz knocked on the door, and it wasn’t long before the door opened with a loud noise.
“Who is i…”
The one who greeted Franz was none other than Yuna’s younger sister, Yuri-ah. Blinking her eyes as she looked at Franz, her mouth slowly fell open, and she soon continued speaking in a startled voice.
“M-Magic Tower lord?! What on earth brings you all the way here?!”
Even though he had experienced it several times already, it was hard to get used to this kind of reaction. He understood it since she was looking at the Magic Tower lord from a commoner’s perspective, but Yuna herself was a sufficiently amazing person.
Anyway, that wasn’t what was important right now.
“Is Yuna inside?”
“If you mean my sister, she already left for the Imperial Capital a few days ago…? Ah! Did my sister perhaps misunderstand your words, Magic Tower lord, and go alone?!”
“No, it’s not exactly that…”
“I’m sorry. I’ll apologize on her behalf!”
Yuri-ah bowed her head deeply and apologized.
Franz was a bit flustered by her actions, but aside from that, he had gotten the answer he wanted, so it wasn’t too bad.
“Miss Yuri-ah, please calm down first. It’s not that Yuna did anything wrong; I just came to check one last time. If she left first, then that’s fine.”
“I-is that so?”
“Yes, so please don’t worry too much about it. I’ll be going now, then.”
Having finished his greetings like that, Franz immediately used teleport to return to the Magic Tower.
He was a little worried about whether Yuna, who had left first, would find her way, but she wasn’t a child and was a fully grown adult, so he figured it would be fine.
…Probably.
Afterward, Franz slipped out of his room as if nothing had happened and said to everyone.
“Alright, let’s all go.”
It was finally time to depart for the Banquet Hall.
Snap-.
Franz snapped his fingers.
* * *
A large building stood on one side of the Imperial Palace. That building, which was larger than most nobles' mansions, was the very Banquet Hall where today’s banquet was being held.
The interior of the Banquet Hall was quite busy even before the banquet started. Luxurious decorations were installed everywhere, and expensive wines from all over the empire were laid out. Just as all things required preparation, so too did a banquet.
In the midst of it all, there was a single woman standing blankly in a red dress.
“I came too early…!”
It was none other than Yuna.
Unlike when she went to the Magic Tower, it was good that she used a carriage instead of running. However, the problem was that she had arrived at the Banquet Hall too early because she was too excited.
“The probability of Franz arriving early is…”
Zero. Absolutely zero. It might be different for others, but Franz would arrive exactly on time.
Haa-.
A sigh naturally escaped her lips out of frustration.
It was then.
“If it is hard to wait, would you like to have a cup of tea?”
Turning her head at the sudden voice, Yuna faced the emperor.
No matter how much of a hero she was, the emperor was a burdensome figure. Even more so since Yuna’s status was that of a commoner.
Thus, Yuna answered in an extremely tense voice.
“Y-yes…!”
“The emperor chuckled, “Do not be so tense. Ah, for reference, it is a tea that the Magic Tower lord also said was delicious, so you can look forward to it.”
Saying that, the emperor immediately took a step somewhere, and Yuna followed behind him.
Still, the fortunate thing was that her tension had eased a little.
Perhaps it was because she had heard Franz’s name.
Eventually arriving at the emperor’s office, Yuna sat facing the emperor with a steaming teacup placed in front of her.
The emperor spoke.
“Come to think of it, you did not participate in the festival celebrating the subjugation of the Demon Lord either. I wanted to at least express my gratitude, but it was quite a shame.”
“I-I’m sorry. The truth is…”
“It is fine. You do not have to explain. It must have been a difficult ordeal.”
There was no place in the empire where the sun did not shine. As if to prove those words, the emperor already knew everything.
Thanks to that consideration, Yuna, who didn’t have to speak of her painful past, carefully sipped her tea.
Up until this moment, Yuna had absolutely no idea that she was about to gain a tremendous helper.
As the conversation flowed, the topic of Franz suddenly came up, and Yuna ended up inadvertently revealing her feelings.
““Oh ho, so you like the Magic Tower lord. I shall help you.”
It seemed she had made a slip of the tongue.