Book 7: Chapter 36: Rites for the Accession of the New Saintess

It was the day after the demon had been defeated.

The Holy City was in a state of frenzy, because it had been known that Duke Ifel, the person who governed Sanctum, was in fact a demon and had already been defeated.

It was understandable that people became uneasy with the sudden disappearance of the person governing their city, with some even kicking up a fuss.

The five priests held the authority next to Duke Ifel, but the demon had already taken their souls, so they were nothing more than puppets.

When the demon was obliterated, those priests also turned into dust and vanished.

Seira was the next in line among the people with political power.

She was also popular among the citizens of the Holy City.

When the citizens learned about the absence of the people governing the city, they barged into the Great Shrine, clamoring for Seira to take over the Holy City.

I asked her about her plans, but apparently, she just wanted to live in peace after working for two hundred years without any rest.

Moreover, her power as the Saintess had also been taken by the demon, so it was painful for her now that she could no longer support the people.

I wanted to grant Seira’s wish.

The citizens would definitely make a ruckus if Seira was to show her face, so I decided to act as the intermediary.

I was the count’s son in Glendale, considered to be a great nation, and Elmia, the captain of the Holy Knights, accompanied me after she recovered, so together we managed to calm the people down.

First things first, there were more than a thousand people who crammed themselves inside the Great Shrine, so we asked them to go outside in the meantime.

We asked for four representatives, each of them coming from the northern, eastern, southern and western districts, and took them to the reception room of the Great Shrine.

We then confirmed  the current situation of the Holy City, and we also discussed who would become the next ruler.

“We want Seira-sama to rule over Sanctum.”

The delegate from the eastern district of the Holy City summarized the desire of the residents there.

“Seira-sama was the one who watched over us, protecting and saving all of us. She is truly our support.”

“It doesn’t matter even if she lost her powers as a Saintess, our devotion and respect for her wouldn’t change.”

The other districts also wished that Seira would govern over them.

“However, if Seira-sama wished to rest, then… We also want to grant her desire.”

So even the representatives were worried, apparently.

“I heard that Seira didn’t meddle with internal affairs. Thus, I believe that even if Seira agreed to rule over this city, she would still need somebody who already have an experience, but…”

“You do not have to worry about that. Viscount Yan will be able to handle it somehow.”

“Viscount Yan?”

The doors of the reception room suddenly opened right on that moment, and a guy with narrow eyes and gaunt face burst in.

“S-sorry. I-it’s such an i-improtant meeting deciding the future of the H-Holy City, and y-yet I wsa late. I-I am t-terribly sorry.”

He was said to be a viscount, but he seemed to be a humble person.

“Halt-sama, this is Viscount Yan. The internal administration was handled exclusively by Duke Ifel, but the external affairs was mostly managed by Viscount Yan.”

Demons were a talented bunch of beings. They possessed a lot of skills and abilities in order to satisfy the human desires and ambitions, and they would take the souls of the people in exchange for a contract.

Duke Ifel must have been an excellent ruler, being the demon that he was.

Nevertheless, it was still probably difficult to manage each and every single town all by himself. That’s why I believed that he also had an excellent aid.

I thought it would be good to just pass the seat of the next ruler to that guy,  but — apparently, that person in question was this out-of-breath Viscount Yan.

I became uneasy.

“Nice to meet you, Viscount Yan. I am Halt, the third son of Glendale’s House of Silveray.”

“Oh y-y-yes I-I-I heard about that. T-Thank you v-very much for s-saving Sanctum.”

This guy… would he really be okay?

My uneasiness deepened.

“He might be like this in front of people, but his diplomatic abilities are good.”

The eastern district representative whispered.

He couldn’t talk properly in front of people, and yet he was a great diplomat?

“He is excellent when it comes to writing documents, and every year, the surrounding countries donate a handsome sum of money, and he could make them do that just by corresponding through letters. Those donations are a valuable source of income for Sanctum.”

The eastern district sensed my doubt, so he clarified it for me.

I see, right, that’s also a kind of ability.

Moreover, Sanctum wasn’t exactly known for its agriculture nor trade, so if we just based that on Viscount Yang’s ability to preserve the standard of living among the residents, then we could say that he was indeed a talented man.

At the same time, I also understood the reason why the representatives of the citizens wanted Seira to become the governor.

Viscount Yang lacked charm.

They needed a mascot, a person who could gather the envy of the people.

And that’s where Seira comes into play.

She would become the face in the front stage, while the actual work would be done by Viscount Yan.

This was the ideal scenario of the Holy City that the citizens came up with.

If there was a person who could do the actual work, then everything would progress smoothly.

And if there was a person who could become their moral support, then they were willing to release Seira.

I decided to end the discussion in order to consult that esteemed person.

—***—

We attended the saintess turnover ceremony two days after the demon was slain.

The people currently inside the Great Shrine were Saintess Seira, the Saintess candidate Ysha, the captain of the Holy Knights Elmia, the entire House of Ernol and me.

Ah, Ryuushin was also here.

The demon might have taken Seira’s power, but fortunately she still have enough remaining to baptize the candidate to be the next saintess.

Ysha’s baptism was already safely done last night, apparently.

If the Creator God’s oracle came during the ceremony, then Seira would no longer be the Saintess, and that title would belong to Ysha.

Both Seira and Ysha were clad in the Holy Clothing as they kneel in front of Creator God-sama’s statue.

After a few moments, Creator-God-sama’s oracle started to glow.

“Seira, thank you for your hard work until now.”

The voice rang inside my head.

It was Creator God-sama’s oracle.

Everyone here in the Shrine could hear it, apparently.

Tears streamed down Seira’s face.

It was the first time that Ysha heard the voice of Creator God-sama, and she was deeply moved to the point of trembling all over.

Actually, Creator God-sama wanted to thank her personally, but he was the supreme deity so he told me that he couldn’t easily manifest himself.

— Yep.

Actually, I met Creator God-sama last night.

Creator God-sama told me that he would bestow the oracle that would permit the changing of the saintess.

He also granted my wish agreeably.

That’s why I knew that the saintess turnover would end smoothly.

Creator God-sama’s voice resounded.

“I accept the turnover of the Saintess.”

Alright, everything’s good.

“However —”

— Hm?

“You have to marry a certain man as the condition.”

W-what?

You didn’t say anything about that yesterday, right?

“W-who is that man?”

A tinge of anxiety crept onto Seira’s face.

“That man was once a hero.”

T-that’s —

“That person took the Elven Heroine along with him, and also married the princesses of the Elves and the Beastkin, conquered a Calamity, arbitrarily elevated the status of spirits into Spirit Kings, and even turned my Divine Beast retainer into his pet.”

Eh?

Seemed like, Creator God-sama is…angry?

Weren’t those words a bit prickly?

“Just when I thought that that man also tricked the girl who received the blessing of the deity of the other world, and the daughter of the dragons as well, he even dared to control the Dragon Shrine’s Maiden.” 

I-I didn’t trick them!!

“That’s not the end of it. He even had the gall to go to the Divine Realm last night, even though I didn’t summon him.”

“—!?” (All the other people)

Ah, perhaps you were angry about that?

––––––-

T/N: Lol, Creator God-sama had enough of Halt’s shenanigans XD