“I understand that you harbor tremendous problems—past grave sins, cruel human nature, and much more—yet you are currently the only one who can handle the [Holy Grail], and I believe that human nature of yours will be useful in resolving the problems Sanctus faces. That’s why I approved of you becoming the [Saint].”
The problem that the Sanctus ducal house faced.
To resolve that problem, Sanctus had been advancing a certain plan, but it had been temporarily frozen due to the compact made with Eisenhud three hundred years ago.
However, if they used this incident, there would be no need to worry about the compact.
If demi-humans were involved, they could dispense judgment according to imperial law.
“The new job I’m giving you is to go to the relevant region under the pretext of pilgrimage and investigate the source of the counterfeit gold. Find the source of the counterfeit gold in that region—and I grant you permission to deliver [divine punishment] to the insolent ones who spat on the Sanctus ducal house.”
After announcing his command as head of the house, Equitas turned a smile toward her.
“Creating sparks is your specialty, isn’t it, Lucilia?”
“Ha, what I like isn’t sparks but great fires.”
Lucilia shrugged her shoulders in that way, then—
“—So I’ll create a flashy blaze for you.”
She replied while splitting her mouth in a cruel smile.
For Artesia, walks were something special.
Most of the time spent in the imperial capital was within the mansion, and even when called to the imperial castle as an advisor to Klaus, curtains were drawn over the carriage windows so she couldn’t admire the scenery.
That’s precisely why the time for walks, when she could freely gaze upon the imperial capital with her own eyes, was practically the only entertainment for Artesia.
However—
“…Usually, just walking like this would lift my spirits.”
After muttering to herself among the imperial capital’s crowds, Artesia stared at her right hand.
About a month and a half had passed since her right hand temporarily stopped moving, but she hadn’t experienced her hand becoming immobile again or other parts of her body showing dysfunction.
If no abnormalities were occurring, the hand’s stopping might be dismissed as fatigue or a misunderstanding, but that didn’t erase her anxiety.
And while harboring that anxiety, she had reached the date recorded in the cipher.
[August 15th, 14:03, lose consciousness. At that time, in the back alley of Achimenes]
Confirming the clock tower visible in the distance, the clock hands pointed to 13:50.
She didn’t doubt the transmitted content at all.
Because Artesia couldn’t easily make external contact, he had used her habit of [reading newspapers delivered at the beginning of each month] to deliver the cipher.
Since topics related to demi-humans would be subject to censorship, he had Edel-Mercator speak the cipher to intentionally avoid censorship through content unrelated to demi-humans. From this, he had made contact using such methods after perfectly grasping Artesia’s habits and circumstances.
And the specification of concrete dates and times was also understandable.
Since the first anomaly occurred, Artesia had been recording events that happened to her body in a diary, noting dates, times, and symptoms in detail.
Even if he hadn’t been present, if he had read through that diary, understanding the dates and times when physical anomalies occurred wouldn’t be difficult.
There was no doubt that he was someone who had performed [regression] in the future and returned to the present.
The events described in the cipher would definitely occur.
Because only Artesia could understand this, she felt slight fear about losing consciousness against her will shortly.
Not only that—
“—When will I die, I wonder?”
He had inherited the unique magic that Artesia possessed and returned to the present through [regression].
This meant that Artesia would definitely die in the future.
And given the current dysfunction, she would meet death in the not-distant future.
Such fear of [death] was probably also one of the anxieties she couldn’t shake off.
“…Well, there’s no point thinking about it now.”
As if convincing herself, Artesia lightly slapped her cheeks before entering the alley.
The back alley where she had previously found the collapsed Kurtz.
If the current him had obtained the Achimenes family name, then the place indicated by the cipher [Achimenes’s back alley] was undoubtedly here, but—
“…If I collapse here, I’ll be found properly, right?”
Looking around the surroundings, there was no foot traffic, let alone any human presence.
The back alley led to the slums, so ordinary people wouldn’t approach unless they had business there.
This meant that if anyone were to find Artesia, it would be someone from the slums. While not all poor people were bad, as someone who knew she would lose consciousness soon, it was somewhat concerning.
“If I lose consciousness while standing, it could be dangerous… It would be safer to at least sit on the ground.”
While she understood this mentally, having lived as the head of a ducal house, she felt some resistance to sitting down on the dirty ground.
While Artesia was hesitating about what to do, she noticed a blanket rolled up by the side of the alley in her field of vision.
It might belong to someone from the slums, but sitting on the blanket would be somewhat better than sitting directly on the ground.
Thinking this, she grabbed the blanket to borrow it briefly—
A small girl tumbled out from within the blanket.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
“Nkyuu!?”
From the momentum of tumbling out of the blanket, the girl hit her face against the wall and let out a cry.
“Aufu… somehow my face hurts…?”
“S-sorry… I never thought there was someone inside the blanket…”
To the girl who was holding her nose with sleepy eyes, Artesia hurriedly called out after removing the recognition-inhibiting magical tools she had been wearing.
“I’m truly sorry. Are you hurt?”
“Probably fine. My nose hurts a little though.”
“I see. I’m glad to hear that.”
Since the girl’s nose was a bit dirty, Artesia took out a handkerchief and gently wiped it.
Her age was probably around twelve.
She was small for a typical girl of the same age, but her way of speaking was proper, so she probably wasn’t that young.
As Artesia observed the girl, the girl tilted her head curiously while swaying her black hair tied in twin tails.
“By the way, onee-san, why were you trying to take my blanket?”
“Well… I was a bit tired and wanted to sit down, but I was reluctant to sit directly on the ground, so I thought I’d spread the blanket and sit on it.”
“Oh, then please go ahead. I don’t mind at all.”
Smiling brightly, the girl spread the blanket on the ground and offered it.
Artesia returned a smile at that smile and consideration, then sat down on the spread blanket.
“Thank you. What’s your name?”
“…Um, could I hear onee-san’s name first?”
“Ah… you’re certainly right. I’m Artesia.”
“Ooh, that’s a noble-sounding name just like your appearance!”
For some reason, she was being looked at with sparkling eyes.
While her clothing was of decent quality, this was the first time someone had said such things about her name.
“My name is Noel. It’s a name that sounds like it belongs in the south.”
“…You describe your own name as ‘sounding like it belongs somewhere.'”
“Well, names are originally given by parents or others. Since poor people often don’t even know their parents’ faces, it’s common not to have names, and sometimes names are given after gaining awareness because it’s troublesome when calling someone. Whether one feels attachment to that name is a separate issue, and if there’s no particular attachment, I think of it like an identification number.”
“Noel has a unique way of thinking.”
“You can’t survive in the slums without dry thinking.”
Noel puffed out her chest. Despite being a child, she seemed quite philosophical.
“Speaking of which, Artesia-sama, since this is some kind of fate, there’s something I’d like to give you.”
“…Something you’d like to give me?”
“Yes. I earn money by selling flowers and such.”
“Um… so you mean you want me to buy flowers?”
Indeed, she had caused pain through her own clumsiness, and she was also borrowing the blanket, so she should probably give the girl some money.
However, seeing Artesia’s movement, Noel shook her head from side to side.
“I’ve already received payment, so you just need to receive the flowers.”
“…Um, what do you mean by that?”
“Exactly what I said. Also, though it’s very rude in the middle of our conversation—”
To the confused Artesia, Noel quietly stood up, then—
“—Don’t you need to worry about the time?”
Right after saying that, Artesia’s vision became greatly distorted.
“—!?”
Assaulted by a sensation she had never felt before, she collapsed onto the blanket.
“Please don’t worry. I have no intention of harming you, and I will temporarily carry Artesia-sama to a safe place. When you wake up there, I will explain everything.”
Looking down at her, Noel spoke in a bland tone.
“That is—the role of the [flower] sent from Achimenes.”
Having heard those words, Artesia’s consciousness was severed.
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