CH 38

After being satisfied by having Chiharu sit on his lap, Aeris returned to the mansion. Chiharu and Maki were so small and cute. He would meet them again tomorrow. But in any case, there were people he needed to talk to in order to vent his frustration.

“Edwy! Grudo!”

“What? Aeris, you disappeared before we were finished. You too, Edwy. Think of your elders a little. It is hard work dealing with important people.”

Grudo said quietly.

“Grudo, we are nearly the same age. And that’s not what I want to talk about!”

“Aeris, I know. But that can wait.”

Edwy stopped Aeris with a hushed voice.

“Well then, good night. Thank you for that wonderful dinner.”

Grudo said. Kaider and Nyran had already left, and so Grudo and Aeris had been left to do all the social niceties themselves.

“These young people! Especially that Kaider!”

Grudo grumbled as Aeris led him to the room he had been given. Once they were inside,

“Grudo, you knew about it?”

“About what?”

“Maki and Chiharu.”

Grudo suddenly looked uncomfortable and became silent. So he did know! Aeris was about to unleash his fury when,

“I’m sorry! I couldn’t tell you, but I actually lost sight of Maki and Chiharu from the beginning…”

Grudo said sadly.

“What do you mean?”

“I knew that they would slip out of the castle, and so I sent guards to watch them. But they never saw them leave. They ended up contacting me and saying that the Saintesses didn’t escape. It seems that the birdfolk knew about it, but I decided not to tell you, as you would just be worried.”

“Grudo, you…”

“Edwy, don’t look at me like that. The thing is, I never was all that worried about Maki and Chiharu. Why should I be? Seeing as how cheerful they looked. And they headed to the dwarf country. We like to take care of people.”

Then who was that man they had met in Noir? Maki and Chiharu regretted being so anxious about him when they heard about this later.

“So you didn’t know either, Edwy?”

“I found out yesterday. I figured it out when I saw them flying with Sauro and Saikania.”

“What do you mean?”

Grudo asked with a puzzled expression.

“Maki and Chiharu. They’ve been working as helpers for the cook. They’ve been traveling with us ever since we left the capital.”

“My goodness…”

Grudo’s mouth dropped open.

“He-hehe-hehehehe. That is brilliant! That is wonderful! How lively they are! This generation’s Saintesses! Hahaha!”

He held his stomach as he burst into laughter.

“That Sauro. And you too Grudo. Why can’t you think about things more seriously? What were you going to do if something happened to them? Damn it.”

“I agree with Aeris. I was so worried that I didn’t know what I would do. How could you have been so calm?”

“Though, it did seem like they had been perfectly fine.”

Edwy and Aeris both sighed.

“So, we have to decide what to do now.”

“They want to continue to travel to Gromble as the cook’s helpers.”

“Oh, well that is very amusing.”

“Grudo, stop it. Still, it is true that the whole operation will turn into chaos if they are suddenly revealed.”

“I have not heard of anyone trying to target the Saintesses yet. We should let them do as they please.”

After deciding this, they all sat down. They had been talking so frantically that they had remained standing up until now.

“Still…”

Grudo scratched his chin as he continued.

“Aeris and I have both lived for three hundred years, and yet I have never seen the miasma grow thinner this quickly.”

“I don’t remember how many Saintesses I have seen come and go, but none of them were as lovely as Maki and Chiharu. But then again, the threat of the miasma has never been so strong as now.”

“That’s just your own personal taste. All the past Saintesses were gentle and quiet but wonderful people.”

“That’s easy for you to say, because all the past Sainesses liked you, Grudo. But they never took to elves and beastkin. I was never able to find out if they were wonderful people or not.”

Aeris answered. Both of them had lived for a shockingly long time. Saintesses were usually summoned at the age of twenty. Even if they lived long, it would only be an additional sixty years more or less. Edwy listened with interest and wondered how many generations they had witnessed.

“Arthur told me. That time when Chiharu had a terrible shock about the creation of the magic gems, he became curious and had people look into it. Saintesses create those stones. Everyone knows it, and no one questions it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that in spite of there being two Saintesses, the stones were being created at too fast a pace.”

“I see.”

Aeris took out the stones that Chiharu had given him.

“This much since the last time. Even though they are in a place where the miasma is thicker, they are creating one stone a day at this rate.”

“That’s impossible.”

Grudo muttered.

“The last Saintess only made one a year. And the Saintess before her made one every few years.”

“So then…”

“It is possible that Maki and Chiharu have created enough stones for a lifetime. That’s what this means.”

“Preposterous. We don’t even understand what kind of strain it puts on them! The lifespan of a Saintess is the same as other humans. But that is only when they made stones slowly in the human territories!”

Aeris began to feel a little anxious.

“While I am worried about Maki and Chiharu, isn’t this only because the miasma is thicker now?”

“Indeed. The dungeons are brimming with monsters as well. That has never happened before. And there are supposed to be more human Adventurers that go there now since the railway has opened… There are more people fighting, and yet it is not enough.”

“Grudo. Maybe there are more magic stones coming from the dungeon as well?”

“Perhaps. Yes. I will have to find out.”

Two Saintesses. If there was a meaning behind it, and it wasn’t by a whim of God…

The three of them hoped that this meaning would at least be kind to Maki and Chiharu.