Stahlia, 12 Years Old, Second Month of 948
Lucy knocked on the office door for me, and after a moment I heard Count Francois’ voice call out from within the room, “Enter.”
She swung the door open for me, and I stepped inside. Approaching the front of the Count’s desk I curtsied, “Greetings Lord Francois, I have a request for you if you would hear it.”
The count raised an eyebrow and motioned for me to have a seat. He’s probably remembering the last time I made a request. I took the seat in front of his desk and held my back straight. I needed to make a good impression, as this time the request was entirely selfish; I wanted to see Sana.
“What can I do for you, Lady Stahlia?” He began tapping a finger on the desk as he asked me. Good, it means he’s taking the conversation seriously since he does that when he’s thinking or trying to focus.
I nodded and clenched my hands under the desk, out of his sight. Meeting his eyes, I started setting the stage for my request, “Lord Francois, as you have no doubt been made aware, while I was back in my home village for my winter break there was an incident. I participated in that incident to great effect, in the aftermath of the goblin’s extermination, I have found myself questioning my purpose.”
My plan was to lead him to believe that I was beginning to suffer some form of stress-related ailment, or was having trouble reconciling my actions. It had been my policy for a while that the best lies contained a bit of truth, and while I had reconciled myself to what I had done with the goblins if not for my skill forcing me to get over it quickly, I would probably have wound up struggling with it for a while.
The count began drumming his fingers on the desk, “I see. You want to see Sana.” I felt the sad smile I had been faking drop off my face. Well, it would make sense to be able to figure that out; I just got back from the village, and she was denied the ability to go visit with me. Fine, we’ll go with that and see what I can get. Pursing my lips I replied, “…Yes, I want to visit her and inform her of the events surrounding Ris myself before she hears of it from some other source.”
Count Francois picked up his hands and folded them relaxedly in front of himself while leaning back in his chair. Giving me a lingering stare, he opened his mouth and went in a completely different direction than I had been expecting, “Over ten thousand confirmed casualties, with a single spell. Remarkable for someone your age… It would seem some incredibly important people think so as well… Here, read this; it arrived a few days ago.”
He passed me a letter which I quickly skimmed. It was long and drawn out, full of euphemism and sentences with double meaning. But if I were to interpret it in most likely intended way, it was a sort of arrest order for me; I was not to be permitted to leave the capital following my return and pending an investigation slash interview. The signature was that of the third prince, Rupert von Drakas. While the letter gave no date for this interview, it specified it would be during the first week of school. So sometime during the entrance stuff I had to do last year then.
I finished reading the letter and folded it before passing it back to the count. Trying to keep a cool head, I took a moment to compose myself before asking, “Is that a no then? I would not need to leave the city to visit the central temple.”
Count Francois leaned forward in his chair before speaking, “It was ‘Frozen Garden, Niflheim’, was it not? That was the spell you cast… Truly a remarkable achievement for you, to not only have the mana needed to cast that spell, but to even know the words… I am sure the prince will be most curious, me, I simply wonder at how you managed to reduce the cost to that degree. The season and your mental state would only do so much… To face down a horde of that size and keep your calm… impressive.”
…What is he getting at? Is he suggesting he knows I’m one of the champions for this war? But what would he hope to gain from that? Outside of my thoughts, I was very careful to keep myself natural. Now knowing the drawbacks of relying on [Cold Hearted] to control my emotions, I had been practicing my “Noble Face” for the better part of my break.
A moment later, the count folded his hands and slid me another letter, “Here, written by the cardinal in charge of Miss Sana, it seems your presence at the temple is desired. Quite popular, aren’t you?”
I took the letter, not quite able to prevent my hand from trembling slightly, a fact I was sure the count picked up on. Reading it, I found that it said exactly what Count Francois said it did; I was requested to come to the temple as soon as possible, citing an internal emergency. Well, that isn’t ominous at all… What the hell happened…?
I handed this letter to Lucy, since it was addressed to me not the count, and gave him a slight bow of my head in thanks, “Then, may I make arrangements to depart for the temple?”
Once again running his fingers across the top of his desk in a rhythmic tapping, the count nodded, “Lucy, you may make the arrangements.”
Right, and you did that just to remind me who’s in charge here… I had a feeling that there were machinations going on behind closed doors with me at the center, and the count was trying to clue me in so I would be careful. Of course, given what I just did, that makes sense. No doubt the fact that someone as young as me demonstrated Anti-Army magic, combined with the assassination of the second prince, has seriously shaken up the balance of power. It honestly wouldn’t be surprising if the first prince faction attempted to pull me away from the third prince’s…
I stood and curtsied to the count, then left through the door as Lucy opened it. Keeping up a brisk pace, I made my way as quickly as possible back to my room. Elienor was brushing Felicity, apparently having finally learned to not touch her tail. Now if only she can learn to stay out of my room unless I invite her in… “…Pet, Elienor, my greetings.”
After receiving a reply consisting of a nod from Felicity, and a “Hi Stali!” from Elienor, I turned to Lucy, “Lucy, please get a carriage ready as the count instructed. Based on that letter it seems there is an urgent matter at the temple.”
Lucy performed a curtsy and quickly left the room. Once she was gone, I began looking through the closet; as this was now an official summons rather than a social call, I would have to look the part. Noticing what I was doing, and having heard the order given to Lucy, Elienor stopped brushing Felicity’s ears, much to the latter’s irritation. She really does brush Felicity a lot huh? Well, it’s been several months and Felicity doesn’t dislike it, so I won’t say anything just yet… But in a few days I’ll need to have a chat with Elienor about personal space.
“Going out Stali?” I nodded at Elienor’s question and gave her a quick answer.
“Yes, I have received a letter summoning me to the central temple for a meeting.” I slid over a couple of dresses before settling on a red one. Reaching behind me I unfastened the back of my dress and knocked it off my shoulders. I heard a gasp behind me. Ah, right. I probably shouldn’t be dressing myself, it’s “unladylike” or whatever, but none of my maids are here right now, and I’m in a hurry.
“Stahlia, you grew up a lot over the winter huh.” Excuse me…? Oh shit! In my hurry to get out the door, I had forgotten that I was currently hiding certain developments. It would be another month before Jacqueline’s “growth spurt” plan had proceeded far enough for me to not have to worry. God damn breasts!
“Ah, have I…? I didn’t really notice...” Elienor gave me a look that implied she didn’t really buy that.
Shoot, now I have another mess I need to figure out. God damnit, why did I get so distracted…
“I’ll catch up before long!” Looking up in surprise, I saw Elienor clenching her fists and looking determined, “I hadn’t noticed ‘cause of your clothes, but you’re finally startin’ to look your age!”
Ah…. I breathed out a sigh of relief, it would make sense that that was her assumption. It was basically unthinkable that someone would grow as quickly as I had. If it hadn’t been for Lucy being in Ris with us, then the ruse about my growth spurt would have been unnecessary once we returned to the capital. Still, it feels a bit weird, being the one whose chest is making the other girl jealous… Mine isn’t even that big, and it won’t ever be… For a moment, I almost felt sad about that knowledge. I shook my head rapidly to clear such thoughts
“Ah… well, thank you for your kind words…?” Honestly, hearing that ‘I’m finally starting to look my age,’ from a shrimp like you… It was a bit irritating in a strange way, seeing as I had no legitimate reason to be irritated at Elienor.
Thankfully, Jacqueline arrived at that moment. And where have you been? Leaving me with Lucy all day! Jacqueline glanced around the room and quickly deduced what must have happened. Stepping up, she started manipulating me with her arm, while I did my best impression of a doll to make it as easy as possible for her, “I passed Miss Lucy in the hall and she told me what was going on; I agree we need to get you dressed quickly, but you still should have waited for a maid; you’ve only been wearing a full bra for a few months and still struggle with it after all.”
I felt my cheeks flush red at Jacqueline’s remark. I knew she was saying it to give Elienor a plausible timeline for my growth, but her words were true; I was still struggling with a normal bra. Putting my head down where Elienor couldn’t see it, I simply held my arms out while Jacqueline spun me around by my head and tugged my dress into place.
Once this was finished, I said a hurried goodbye to Felicity and Elienor, then followed Jacqueline out of the room and down to the carriage. Boarding the carriage, we set out for the temple. I had Lucy stay behind, she seemed like she was about to say something in protest until Jacqueline gave her a hard stare. Moving at a brisk pace, we were stopped only once by knights. They let us go once I showed them the letter from the church and confirmed my identity. This enforced mourning… it honestly feels like what I saw back on earth when Kim Jong-Il died, and the government forced all the citizens to weep for his death… At least it doesn’t seem like they’re killing people for not crying.
As our carriage traveled, I took the opportunity to observe the surroundings. The few people who were out of their homes kept their heads down, all of them were wearing black or at the least dark gray. Glancing down at my own crimson attire, I grimaced. I may have chosen the wrong colors in my haste. Indeed, it seemed like I was making mistake after mistake after my meeting with Count Francois today. Did the count get to me that much with his subtle threats and power plays…?
With such disconcerting thoughts, we made rapid progress. A few times we passed groups of knights, but they didn’t stop us. The few buildings that hadn’t shuttered their windows were devoid of life, and generally emitting an uninviting atmosphere. It’s like there’s a fog over the whole city… I felt my gaze drawn northward and looking up, past the innermost wall towards the summit, I beheld the palace. Much like the city below it, the residence of the royal family was exuding an aura of melancholy. Almost like the gloom is flowing down the slope, from the palace.
I couldn’t put my finger on what exactly I was perceiving, but something about the atmosphere was extremely disconcerting. We rode in silence, as I passed the time watching the city pass by. It’s… so empty… As soon as I had the thought, I realized where the atmosphere was coming from; not only was there an absence of people, the various cats, dogs, stawri, other animals, and tamed monsters were absent, too. The city felt empty and entirely devoid of the life which I had grown accustomed to.
All this, for the death of one person… no, the murder of one person. I get that he was important, but this can’t be good for the economy. The mourning period lasts a week, and we’re on the third day… I can’t be sure how strictly it’s being enforced outside of the capital; but if it’s even half as strict as this, there will be some pretty severe consequences… I didn’t know much about economics, but I knew that this was very unlikely to go well for the citizenry. Why would the king order something like this, when he knows that the war should be coming in a few years…?
Unless the kingdom believes that the war won’t happen until the year one thousand. Thinking about it, my source for the fact that it’s starting in less than three years was a literal god… It was very possible that the kingdom was under the mistaken impression that they had time to spare, and were “taking it easy” as it were. If that’s the case… should I come forward…? I don’t exactly want to become a pet of this kingdom as a champion, but my family is going to get caught up in whatever war happens, and coming forward would earn me the support of the church. It would be a fast track to gaining political power.
That was assuming, of course, that the existence of the four champions was even widely known in the first place. So far, I had confirmed that Jacqueline knew about them, and the priest of my home village. But Jacqueline is a spy tied closely to the kingdom's secrets in the first place, and the priest is high enough in the church to have his own parish… Considering that I didn’t know anything about the champions before Mortis told me about them… it was likely a closely guarded secret, to prevent the public from panicking to know that the fate of the races falls on the shoulders of four people.
The Kingdom of Drakas, after all, was hiding a lot of secrets. If they were hiding the existence of the champions, well, it would be just one more secret to add to the pile. Right on top of a state-sanctioned kidnapping ring, the demons wandering the kingdom, and whatever shit the nobility was getting up to. Even governments back in my first life would hide things from their citizens. It was such a well known phenomenon that some people made a living trying to connect all the dots.
Like that conspiracy series on YouTube, the one about how Bush did Nine Eleven to prevent an economic collapse by giving the people a wartime economy… “No fucking way.” Realizing I had spoken out loud, I waved at Jacqueline to pay me no mind. Drakas… is a militaristic expansionist regime. To the point that the neighboring powers have formed more or less out of necessity to deter Drakan aggression. Due to this, the Drakan military has stalled out for a decent length of time. In three years, there will be a massive war for the fate of the world.
If we assume that the king knows about this, then what would he do? He would need an excuse to refocus the military, to get experienced soldiers in place of the fresh recruits. Fighting monsters can only do so much; demons are something else entirely. So, the second prince would make the perfect victim… The third prince isn’t influential enough, and the first is the one slated to take the crown. By having the second prince killed, the king can use that as a casus belli… declare war on either of Drakas’ neighbors and get the perfect chance to train up the army with real wartime experience before the Demons attack in force.
It made almost too much sense, with only a few small leaps in logic. I frowned and decided to try and surreptitiously gather information about the circumstances of the second prince’s death. It was a conspiracy theory, but it had enough circumstantial evidence that I thought it was worth a bit of follow up at least. To start with, when I’m interviewed by the third prince, I should try and prod him a little bit. I can’t make my intentions too obvious, but I should be able to get something out of him.
As I was beginning to try and come up with questions to ask the prince, we arrived at the temple. Right, first things first, let’s go see what the church wants… It’s possible that the priest said something… If that’s the case, well I knew telling him was a risk but what can I do? I needed information so I played a card. I had been avoiding considering that possibility, but now that I was passing through the gates of the church, it was at the forefront of my mind.
If it comes down to it, I can take the church as an ally, but that would be putting me way too close to those bastard gods for comfort, so it’s a last resort. The carriage came to a halt and I stood as Jacqueline opened the door and climbed down. Ignoring Jacqueline’s offered hand, I very lightly enhanced my feet and ankles and hoped the three feet to the ground unaided. Jacqueline gave me a disapproving look but I ignored it; I was in a hurry and nobody was watching us at present.
The two of us made our way up to the entrance of the building where an attendant priest answered our knocks. He looked surprised at first, but once Jacqueline handed over the letter I had been given, he quickly opened the door and beckoned for us to follow him in. It’s a bit odd that the temple is so empty during a time of mandated mourning… I would expect that there would be services available. Then again, the funerals of this world are an intensely personal affair, I thought it might be different for a royal, but maybe not.
Regardless of the lack of people, the halls of the temple were as imposing as I remembered from the few times I had been here to visit Sana previously. The tall monolithic support pillars were engraved with depictions of various biblical scenes from the holy texts. The walls were barren except for the paintings hung at routine intervals. Frustratingly, it was expected that each time we passed a painting of a particular god, goddess, or group of them that we stop to pray. Since these prayers were blessedly not mandated to be spoken aloud, I was able to simply dip my head and hold still for a moment. But that didn’t mean the constant stopping every ten to fifteen meters wasn’t irritating.
It was more or less assumed that everyone in Drakas followed the religion of the God of Darkness and Goddess of Light, so even visitors were expected to pray. I hadn’t heard accounts of the persecution and harassment of apostates, but it honestly would not surprise me if it was happening and simply nobody talked about it. Thankfully, nobles were almost expected to be a bit distant from the affairs of the church. Owing to that mentality I was able to get away with not minding the dogma too much, other than where my friendship with Sana was concerned.
Finally, after what was likely the twentieth prayer break, we arrived at an inner meeting room. The attendant priest let us in and informed us that Sana and the cardinal would be with us shortly. Accepting his statement with a faint smile, I thanked him and went into the room. As far as church accommodations go, it was fairly luxurious. Not on the level of the Count’s office though… What the Hell!? A cardinal!? Within the church hierarchy, cardinals were roughly equivalent to the nobility’s counts. If one of them was attending the meeting then it was something majorly important indeed. So, they almost certainly learned I claimed to be Winter’s Champion then. Guess that gamble failed, I’ll just work to make the best of it.
Before I had to wait too long, the attendant priest opened the door again and Sana passed into the room, followed by an older man wearing robes similar to the priest I was familiar with. Those have a bit of gold trim, indicating that he’s the cardinal… honestly, who thought it would be a good idea for members of the church to renounce their names once they finished their learning? It just makes it annoying to know who’s who.
I felt a shiver go down my spine as if reacting to something unpleasant. Next to me, I caught Jacqueline stiffen out of the corner of my eye. What…? Did the room grow cold all of a sudden? No, I wouldn’t have felt that. The cardinal crossed his arms and bowed at the waist. I had seen Sana do this a few times and knew it was a religious greeting similar to the curtsy I had been forced to master. After a brief hesitation, Sana also bowed towards me. Right, with him here we can’t be friends, we can only be acquaintances at best. I reciprocated their bows with a curtsy, “A pleasure to make your acquaintance, honorable cardinal. My name is Stahlia von Ris, I have arrived as per the summons of the church… may I ask what the purpose of this is? The letter was quite vague.”
The cardinal beckoned for Sana and me to sit next to each other on a couch, before taking his own seat on the chair facing it. Ok… so he’s aware that Sana and I are friends then… but if that’s the case, why did she bow? The attendant priest provided everyone with drinks and then bowed while walking backward out of the room. The cardinal had been given a glass of red wine, while Sana and I had been given some sort of juice. The cardinal took a sip out of a shot glass-sized cup of juice provided to him specifically for that purpose; indicating to me that it wasn’t poisoned.
After he had downed the cup, and waiting a few moments as was polite, I took a sip of my own juice. It tastes expensive… Probably trying to get on my good side before breaching the subject of me being Winter’s Champion. Wining and dining was a practice among the nobility as well. Though I had, as of yet, not had to participate in those events, outside of the school social. The cardinal opened his mouth to speak. Here it comes. I instinctively closed my eyes, a measure to avoid showing a reaction of disgust when he inevitably named me as a servant of the gods.
“Lady Stahlia, may I ask you to dismiss your attendant as well?” His voice was steady if a bit commanding.
The hell? That’s not what I was expecting him to say… Also again what the hell? Do you want to be in the room alone with two nominally eleven-year-old girls? Still, even if something was to happen, it wouldn’t be expected that a one-armed maid would be much of a bodyguard, so I could assume that this was a matter of confidentiality instead of action with vile motive. And besides, I can defend myself quite well indeed. Certainly better than he’ll expect. I should be fine…
Nodding, I spoke to Jacqueline while keeping my eyes fixed on the cardinal, “Jacqueline, please leave the room.”
Jacqueline moved to the door and gave a curtsy before exiting, leaving me alone with the cardinal and Sana, “Alright then, I have done as you asked. Why, may I ask, was I summoned? Everything I have experienced so far leads me to believe it was for quite the reason indeed.”
The cardinal nodded, “That is the case, Lady Stahlia. This has not been made public knowledge yet, but there was an oracle recently. A student in apprentice Sana’s class no less. That oracle has put the church in a relatively difficult position you see.”
Tilting my head, I urged him to continue. An oracle…? Did the gods decide I wasn’t going to play nice if they left me alone and spill the news to the church then? The cardinal continued his explanation, “You see, I was present when most holy Antenora descended, however, the goddess deemed me unworthy of her presence. Instead, she delivered her divine words to apprentices Sana, Sable, and Misha. Specifically, she addressed Sana as the friend of her little sister’s friend.”
Excuse me? That lying bitch said I was what? Caina’s friend? Caina was Antenora’s little sister. Also a goddess, she was the one whom everyone believed had blessed me at my dedication. So Antenora lied again. Or told a partial truth. Either way, the church probably doesn’t know I’m one of the champions, but that fucking cunt still attached my name to that oracle through how she addressed Sana. So whatever it is, the church now believes I’m involved. I want to give that piece of trash a piece of my mind, god damnit!
Frowning, I addressed the cardinal, “The friend of her sister…? Please, forgive me but I have no such relationship with… most holy Caina.”
The cardinal nodded, “Indeed, I expected you would be under that impression; however both apprentice Sable and apprentice Misha have testified to what most holy Antenora said, and apprentice Sana has stated that you are the only such person she can think that Antenora meant… Following the oracle, a conclave was convened on emergency notice, and it was determined that the church should move to bring you into our ranks. Would you consider terminating your engagement with Lord Dominic and taking us up on this? For the will of the gods.”
NO! Absolutely not! Working with the church as a champion would be one thing, no way in HELL am I joining it as a priestess! The thought of directly serving the gods like that made me shiver. I smiled and shook my head, “My apologies, honorable cardinal. My engagement is recognized with the third prince as a witness; I cannot break it off so easily.”
The Cardinal nodded, “Of course, I understand this is not something that can happen right away; the church will move behind the scenes to arrange things for you… I cannot divulge the contents of the oracle to you until you have sworn your vows, but know that it is considered by us to be of higher importance than the will of the kingdom… and the will of a single noble girl.” He fixed me with a hard stare as he spoke the final words. Fuck. It looks like that cunt bitch is determined to keep me under her thumb… I’ll need to figure a way out of this, definitely tell the count… but if I do that, it will make it harder to get out of the engagement with Dominic later…
“Most honorable cardinal… Are you perhaps, threatening me? If I really were Caina’s friend, would it serve the church to do something as brash as pursuing me so forcefully?” I spoke while forcing the coldest tone I could without deactivating the remaining emotions of [Cold Hearted], mostly to buy myself time to think. Contrary to my expectations, a flash of unease crossed the cardinal’s face, and he shook his head.
“No… we would not be so rash as that. Apprentice Sana would likely wish to know the fate of Ris, I shall take my leave now and allow the two of you time to discuss things. Feel free to use the room for as long as you would like.” Standing abruptly, the cardinal moved to exit the room. I… scared him just now, didn’t I? I didn’t realize I had placed that much edge into my voice but interpreting what I had said especially with the context of whatever the oracle was.
I’m sure I haven’t heard the end of this, but I managed to buy myself time. Even if it was accidental. But an adult taking a threat from a twelve-year-old girl that seriously? Especially in a male-dominated society such as this… The threat itself can’t be everything to it… Jacqueline has mentioned a few times before that I emit real bloodlust when I get very angry, to think that I feel that strongly about the gods now… I must have made him feel like I was going to cut his balls off or something… Sana pulled me out of my thoughts by shaking my arm.
“Lady Stahlia, can you silence the room? I need to speak privately with you…” Her voice was low, barely above a whisper, such that it wouldn’t carry far. I glanced around the room and then nodded.
“Alright, it must be something really important then. [Silence]…” after hesitating for a moment, I added another spell on top of the first. I’m technically in the temple’s inner sanctum, I may as well be careful. I’ve made enough mistakes today already.
“Oh Wind, Cover this room in a gale. With ferocity, cut the connection to far places. Muddle the movement of mouths of me and allies. [Complete Silence]” It was a spell I had made up on the spot, with the idea that it would also be able to obscure magical means of eavesdropping.
I felt an inordinate amount of mana drain, causing me to fear I may have screwed up the incantation. After consuming around a hundred fifty points of mana, I heard a large crack. Turning to the source of the sound, I saw that one of the statues had a small crack running down the middle, and faint wisps of wind were surrounding it. It severed the connection to a distant place presumably… Well, let’s see what Sana has to say then. This would quite possibly come back to bite me later, though by implying that the church had been spying on a member of the third prince’s faction I could probably deflect the worst of that. Turning to my friend, I nodded, “Alright, the room is safe to speak in.”
Stahlia, 12 Years Old, Second Month of 948
Lucy knocked on the office door for me, and after a moment I heard Count Francois’ voice call out from within the room, “Enter.”
She swung the door open for me, and I stepped inside. Approaching the front of the Count’s desk I curtsied, “Greetings Lord Francois, I have a request for you if you would hear it.”
The count raised an eyebrow and motioned for me to have a seat. He’s probably remembering the last time I made a request. I took the seat in front of his desk and held my back straight. I needed to make a good impression, as this time the request was entirely selfish; I wanted to see Sana.
“What can I do for you, Lady Stahlia?” He began tapping a finger on the desk as he asked me. Good, it means he’s taking the conversation seriously since he does that when he’s thinking or trying to focus.
I nodded and clenched my hands under the desk, out of his sight. Meeting his eyes, I started setting the stage for my request, “Lord Francois, as you have no doubt been made aware, while I was back in my home village for my winter break there was an incident. I participated in that incident to great effect, in the aftermath of the goblin’s extermination, I have found myself questioning my purpose.”
My plan was to lead him to believe that I was beginning to suffer some form of stress-related ailment, or was having trouble reconciling my actions. It had been my policy for a while that the best lies contained a bit of truth, and while I had reconciled myself to what I had done with the goblins if not for my skill forcing me to get over it quickly, I would probably have wound up struggling with it for a while.
The count began drumming his fingers on the desk, “I see. You want to see Sana.” I felt the sad smile I had been faking drop off my face. Well, it would make sense to be able to figure that out; I just got back from the village, and she was denied the ability to go visit with me. Fine, we’ll go with that and see what I can get. Pursing my lips I replied, “…Yes, I want to visit her and inform her of the events surrounding Ris myself before she hears of it from some other source.”
Count Francois picked up his hands and folded them relaxedly in front of himself while leaning back in his chair. Giving me a lingering stare, he opened his mouth and went in a completely different direction than I had been expecting, “Over ten thousand confirmed casualties, with a single spell. Remarkable for someone your age… It would seem some incredibly important people think so as well… Here, read this; it arrived a few days ago.”
He passed me a letter which I quickly skimmed. It was long and drawn out, full of euphemism and sentences with double meaning. But if I were to interpret it in most likely intended way, it was a sort of arrest order for me; I was not to be permitted to leave the capital following my return and pending an investigation slash interview. The signature was that of the third prince, Rupert von Drakas. While the letter gave no date for this interview, it specified it would be during the first week of school. So sometime during the entrance stuff I had to do last year then.
I finished reading the letter and folded it before passing it back to the count. Trying to keep a cool head, I took a moment to compose myself before asking, “Is that a no then? I would not need to leave the city to visit the central temple.”
Count Francois leaned forward in his chair before speaking, “It was ‘Frozen Garden, Niflheim’, was it not? That was the spell you cast… Truly a remarkable achievement for you, to not only have the mana needed to cast that spell, but to even know the words… I am sure the prince will be most curious, me, I simply wonder at how you managed to reduce the cost to that degree. The season and your mental state would only do so much… To face down a horde of that size and keep your calm… impressive.”
…What is he getting at? Is he suggesting he knows I’m one of the champions for this war? But what would he hope to gain from that? Outside of my thoughts, I was very careful to keep myself natural. Now knowing the drawbacks of relying on [Cold Hearted] to control my emotions, I had been practicing my “Noble Face” for the better part of my break.
A moment later, the count folded his hands and slid me another letter, “Here, written by the cardinal in charge of Miss Sana, it seems your presence at the temple is desired. Quite popular, aren’t you?”
I took the letter, not quite able to prevent my hand from trembling slightly, a fact I was sure the count picked up on. Reading it, I found that it said exactly what Count Francois said it did; I was requested to come to the temple as soon as possible, citing an internal emergency. Well, that isn’t ominous at all… What the hell happened…?
I handed this letter to Lucy, since it was addressed to me not the count, and gave him a slight bow of my head in thanks, “Then, may I make arrangements to depart for the temple?”
Once again running his fingers across the top of his desk in a rhythmic tapping, the count nodded, “Lucy, you may make the arrangements.”
Right, and you did that just to remind me who’s in charge here… I had a feeling that there were machinations going on behind closed doors with me at the center, and the count was trying to clue me in so I would be careful. Of course, given what I just did, that makes sense. No doubt the fact that someone as young as me demonstrated Anti-Army magic, combined with the assassination of the second prince, has seriously shaken up the balance of power. It honestly wouldn’t be surprising if the first prince faction attempted to pull me away from the third prince’s…
I stood and curtsied to the count, then left through the door as Lucy opened it. Keeping up a brisk pace, I made my way as quickly as possible back to my room. Elienor was brushing Felicity, apparently having finally learned to not touch her tail. Now if only she can learn to stay out of my room unless I invite her in… “…Pet, Elienor, my greetings.”
After receiving a reply consisting of a nod from Felicity, and a “Hi Stali!” from Elienor, I turned to Lucy, “Lucy, please get a carriage ready as the count instructed. Based on that letter it seems there is an urgent matter at the temple.”
Lucy performed a curtsy and quickly left the room. Once she was gone, I began looking through the closet; as this was now an official summons rather than a social call, I would have to look the part. Noticing what I was doing, and having heard the order given to Lucy, Elienor stopped brushing Felicity’s ears, much to the latter’s irritation. She really does brush Felicity a lot huh? Well, it’s been several months and Felicity doesn’t dislike it, so I won’t say anything just yet… But in a few days I’ll need to have a chat with Elienor about personal space.
“Going out Stali?” I nodded at Elienor’s question and gave her a quick answer.
“Yes, I have received a letter summoning me to the central temple for a meeting.” I slid over a couple of dresses before settling on a red one. Reaching behind me I unfastened the back of my dress and knocked it off my shoulders. I heard a gasp behind me. Ah, right. I probably shouldn’t be dressing myself, it’s “unladylike” or whatever, but none of my maids are here right now, and I’m in a hurry.
“Stahlia, you grew up a lot over the winter huh.” Excuse me…? Oh shit! In my hurry to get out the door, I had forgotten that I was currently hiding certain developments. It would be another month before Jacqueline’s “growth spurt” plan had proceeded far enough for me to not have to worry. God damn breasts!
“Ah, have I…? I didn’t really notice...” Elienor gave me a look that implied she didn’t really buy that.
Shoot, now I have another mess I need to figure out. God damnit, why did I get so distracted…
“I’ll catch up before long!” Looking up in surprise, I saw Elienor clenching her fists and looking determined, “I hadn’t noticed ‘cause of your clothes, but you’re finally startin’ to look your age!”
Ah…. I breathed out a sigh of relief, it would make sense that that was her assumption. It was basically unthinkable that someone would grow as quickly as I had. If it hadn’t been for Lucy being in Ris with us, then the ruse about my growth spurt would have been unnecessary once we returned to the capital. Still, it feels a bit weird, being the one whose chest is making the other girl jealous… Mine isn’t even that big, and it won’t ever be… For a moment, I almost felt sad about that knowledge. I shook my head rapidly to clear such thoughts
“Ah… well, thank you for your kind words…?” Honestly, hearing that ‘I’m finally starting to look my age,’ from a shrimp like you… It was a bit irritating in a strange way, seeing as I had no legitimate reason to be irritated at Elienor.
Thankfully, Jacqueline arrived at that moment. And where have you been? Leaving me with Lucy all day! Jacqueline glanced around the room and quickly deduced what must have happened. Stepping up, she started manipulating me with her arm, while I did my best impression of a doll to make it as easy as possible for her, “I passed Miss Lucy in the hall and she told me what was going on; I agree we need to get you dressed quickly, but you still should have waited for a maid; you’ve only been wearing a full bra for a few months and still struggle with it after all.”
I felt my cheeks flush red at Jacqueline’s remark. I knew she was saying it to give Elienor a plausible timeline for my growth, but her words were true; I was still struggling with a normal bra. Putting my head down where Elienor couldn’t see it, I simply held my arms out while Jacqueline spun me around by my head and tugged my dress into place.
Once this was finished, I said a hurried goodbye to Felicity and Elienor, then followed Jacqueline out of the room and down to the carriage. Boarding the carriage, we set out for the temple. I had Lucy stay behind, she seemed like she was about to say something in protest until Jacqueline gave her a hard stare. Moving at a brisk pace, we were stopped only once by knights. They let us go once I showed them the letter from the church and confirmed my identity. This enforced mourning… it honestly feels like what I saw back on earth when Kim Jong-Il died, and the government forced all the citizens to weep for his death… At least it doesn’t seem like they’re killing people for not crying.
As our carriage traveled, I took the opportunity to observe the surroundings. The few people who were out of their homes kept their heads down, all of them were wearing black or at the least dark gray. Glancing down at my own crimson attire, I grimaced. I may have chosen the wrong colors in my haste. Indeed, it seemed like I was making mistake after mistake after my meeting with Count Francois today. Did the count get to me that much with his subtle threats and power plays…?
With such disconcerting thoughts, we made rapid progress. A few times we passed groups of knights, but they didn’t stop us. The few buildings that hadn’t shuttered their windows were devoid of life, and generally emitting an uninviting atmosphere. It’s like there’s a fog over the whole city… I felt my gaze drawn northward and looking up, past the innermost wall towards the summit, I beheld the palace. Much like the city below it, the residence of the royal family was exuding an aura of melancholy. Almost like the gloom is flowing down the slope, from the palace.
I couldn’t put my finger on what exactly I was perceiving, but something about the atmosphere was extremely disconcerting. We rode in silence, as I passed the time watching the city pass by. It’s… so empty… As soon as I had the thought, I realized where the atmosphere was coming from; not only was there an absence of people, the various cats, dogs, stawri, other animals, and tamed monsters were absent, too. The city felt empty and entirely devoid of the life which I had grown accustomed to.
All this, for the death of one person… no, the murder of one person. I get that he was important, but this can’t be good for the economy. The mourning period lasts a week, and we’re on the third day… I can’t be sure how strictly it’s being enforced outside of the capital; but if it’s even half as strict as this, there will be some pretty severe consequences… I didn’t know much about economics, but I knew that this was very unlikely to go well for the citizenry. Why would the king order something like this, when he knows that the war should be coming in a few years…?
Unless the kingdom believes that the war won’t happen until the year one thousand. Thinking about it, my source for the fact that it’s starting in less than three years was a literal god… It was very possible that the kingdom was under the mistaken impression that they had time to spare, and were “taking it easy” as it were. If that’s the case… should I come forward…? I don’t exactly want to become a pet of this kingdom as a champion, but my family is going to get caught up in whatever war happens, and coming forward would earn me the support of the church. It would be a fast track to gaining political power.
That was assuming, of course, that the existence of the four champions was even widely known in the first place. So far, I had confirmed that Jacqueline knew about them, and the priest of my home village. But Jacqueline is a spy tied closely to the kingdom's secrets in the first place, and the priest is high enough in the church to have his own parish… Considering that I didn’t know anything about the champions before Mortis told me about them… it was likely a closely guarded secret, to prevent the public from panicking to know that the fate of the races falls on the shoulders of four people.
The Kingdom of Drakas, after all, was hiding a lot of secrets. If they were hiding the existence of the champions, well, it would be just one more secret to add to the pile. Right on top of a state-sanctioned kidnapping ring, the demons wandering the kingdom, and whatever shit the nobility was getting up to. Even governments back in my first life would hide things from their citizens. It was such a well known phenomenon that some people made a living trying to connect all the dots.
Like that conspiracy series on YouTube, the one about how Bush did Nine Eleven to prevent an economic collapse by giving the people a wartime economy… “No fucking way.” Realizing I had spoken out loud, I waved at Jacqueline to pay me no mind. Drakas… is a militaristic expansionist regime. To the point that the neighboring powers have formed more or less out of necessity to deter Drakan aggression. Due to this, the Drakan military has stalled out for a decent length of time. In three years, there will be a massive war for the fate of the world.
If we assume that the king knows about this, then what would he do? He would need an excuse to refocus the military, to get experienced soldiers in place of the fresh recruits. Fighting monsters can only do so much; demons are something else entirely. So, the second prince would make the perfect victim… The third prince isn’t influential enough, and the first is the one slated to take the crown. By having the second prince killed, the king can use that as a casus belli… declare war on either of Drakas’ neighbors and get the perfect chance to train up the army with real wartime experience before the Demons attack in force.
It made almost too much sense, with only a few small leaps in logic. I frowned and decided to try and surreptitiously gather information about the circumstances of the second prince’s death. It was a conspiracy theory, but it had enough circumstantial evidence that I thought it was worth a bit of follow up at least. To start with, when I’m interviewed by the third prince, I should try and prod him a little bit. I can’t make my intentions too obvious, but I should be able to get something out of him.
As I was beginning to try and come up with questions to ask the prince, we arrived at the temple. Right, first things first, let’s go see what the church wants… It’s possible that the priest said something… If that’s the case, well I knew telling him was a risk but what can I do? I needed information so I played a card. I had been avoiding considering that possibility, but now that I was passing through the gates of the church, it was at the forefront of my mind.
If it comes down to it, I can take the church as an ally, but that would be putting me way too close to those bastard gods for comfort, so it’s a last resort. The carriage came to a halt and I stood as Jacqueline opened the door and climbed down. Ignoring Jacqueline’s offered hand, I very lightly enhanced my feet and ankles and hoped the three feet to the ground unaided. Jacqueline gave me a disapproving look but I ignored it; I was in a hurry and nobody was watching us at present.
The two of us made our way up to the entrance of the building where an attendant priest answered our knocks. He looked surprised at first, but once Jacqueline handed over the letter I had been given, he quickly opened the door and beckoned for us to follow him in. It’s a bit odd that the temple is so empty during a time of mandated mourning… I would expect that there would be services available. Then again, the funerals of this world are an intensely personal affair, I thought it might be different for a royal, but maybe not.
Regardless of the lack of people, the halls of the temple were as imposing as I remembered from the few times I had been here to visit Sana previously. The tall monolithic support pillars were engraved with depictions of various biblical scenes from the holy texts. The walls were barren except for the paintings hung at routine intervals. Frustratingly, it was expected that each time we passed a painting of a particular god, goddess, or group of them that we stop to pray. Since these prayers were blessedly not mandated to be spoken aloud, I was able to simply dip my head and hold still for a moment. But that didn’t mean the constant stopping every ten to fifteen meters wasn’t irritating.
It was more or less assumed that everyone in Drakas followed the religion of the God of Darkness and Goddess of Light, so even visitors were expected to pray. I hadn’t heard accounts of the persecution and harassment of apostates, but it honestly would not surprise me if it was happening and simply nobody talked about it. Thankfully, nobles were almost expected to be a bit distant from the affairs of the church. Owing to that mentality I was able to get away with not minding the dogma too much, other than where my friendship with Sana was concerned.
Finally, after what was likely the twentieth prayer break, we arrived at an inner meeting room. The attendant priest let us in and informed us that Sana and the cardinal would be with us shortly. Accepting his statement with a faint smile, I thanked him and went into the room. As far as church accommodations go, it was fairly luxurious. Not on the level of the Count’s office though… What the Hell!? A cardinal!? Within the church hierarchy, cardinals were roughly equivalent to the nobility’s counts. If one of them was attending the meeting then it was something majorly important indeed. So, they almost certainly learned I claimed to be Winter’s Champion then. Guess that gamble failed, I’ll just work to make the best of it.
Before I had to wait too long, the attendant priest opened the door again and Sana passed into the room, followed by an older man wearing robes similar to the priest I was familiar with. Those have a bit of gold trim, indicating that he’s the cardinal… honestly, who thought it would be a good idea for members of the church to renounce their names once they finished their learning? It just makes it annoying to know who’s who.
I felt a shiver go down my spine as if reacting to something unpleasant. Next to me, I caught Jacqueline stiffen out of the corner of my eye. What…? Did the room grow cold all of a sudden? No, I wouldn’t have felt that. The cardinal crossed his arms and bowed at the waist. I had seen Sana do this a few times and knew it was a religious greeting similar to the curtsy I had been forced to master. After a brief hesitation, Sana also bowed towards me. Right, with him here we can’t be friends, we can only be acquaintances at best. I reciprocated their bows with a curtsy, “A pleasure to make your acquaintance, honorable cardinal. My name is Stahlia von Ris, I have arrived as per the summons of the church… may I ask what the purpose of this is? The letter was quite vague.”
The cardinal beckoned for Sana and me to sit next to each other on a couch, before taking his own seat on the chair facing it. Ok… so he’s aware that Sana and I are friends then… but if that’s the case, why did she bow? The attendant priest provided everyone with drinks and then bowed while walking backward out of the room. The cardinal had been given a glass of red wine, while Sana and I had been given some sort of juice. The cardinal took a sip out of a shot glass-sized cup of juice provided to him specifically for that purpose; indicating to me that it wasn’t poisoned.
After he had downed the cup, and waiting a few moments as was polite, I took a sip of my own juice. It tastes expensive… Probably trying to get on my good side before breaching the subject of me being Winter’s Champion. Wining and dining was a practice among the nobility as well. Though I had, as of yet, not had to participate in those events, outside of the school social. The cardinal opened his mouth to speak. Here it comes. I instinctively closed my eyes, a measure to avoid showing a reaction of disgust when he inevitably named me as a servant of the gods.
“Lady Stahlia, may I ask you to dismiss your attendant as well?” His voice was steady if a bit commanding.
The hell? That’s not what I was expecting him to say… Also again what the hell? Do you want to be in the room alone with two nominally eleven-year-old girls? Still, even if something was to happen, it wouldn’t be expected that a one-armed maid would be much of a bodyguard, so I could assume that this was a matter of confidentiality instead of action with vile motive. And besides, I can defend myself quite well indeed. Certainly better than he’ll expect. I should be fine…
Nodding, I spoke to Jacqueline while keeping my eyes fixed on the cardinal, “Jacqueline, please leave the room.”
Jacqueline moved to the door and gave a curtsy before exiting, leaving me alone with the cardinal and Sana, “Alright then, I have done as you asked. Why, may I ask, was I summoned? Everything I have experienced so far leads me to believe it was for quite the reason indeed.”
The cardinal nodded, “That is the case, Lady Stahlia. This has not been made public knowledge yet, but there was an oracle recently. A student in apprentice Sana’s class no less. That oracle has put the church in a relatively difficult position you see.”
Tilting my head, I urged him to continue. An oracle…? Did the gods decide I wasn’t going to play nice if they left me alone and spill the news to the church then? The cardinal continued his explanation, “You see, I was present when most holy Antenora descended, however, the goddess deemed me unworthy of her presence. Instead, she delivered her divine words to apprentices Sana, Sable, and Misha. Specifically, she addressed Sana as the friend of her little sister’s friend.”
Excuse me? That lying bitch said I was what? Caina’s friend? Caina was Antenora’s little sister. Also a goddess, she was the one whom everyone believed had blessed me at my dedication. So Antenora lied again. Or told a partial truth. Either way, the church probably doesn’t know I’m one of the champions, but that fucking cunt still attached my name to that oracle through how she addressed Sana. So whatever it is, the church now believes I’m involved. I want to give that piece of trash a piece of my mind, god damnit!
Frowning, I addressed the cardinal, “The friend of her sister…? Please, forgive me but I have no such relationship with… most holy Caina.”
The cardinal nodded, “Indeed, I expected you would be under that impression; however both apprentice Sable and apprentice Misha have testified to what most holy Antenora said, and apprentice Sana has stated that you are the only such person she can think that Antenora meant… Following the oracle, a conclave was convened on emergency notice, and it was determined that the church should move to bring you into our ranks. Would you consider terminating your engagement with Lord Dominic and taking us up on this? For the will of the gods.”
NO! Absolutely not! Working with the church as a champion would be one thing, no way in HELL am I joining it as a priestess! The thought of directly serving the gods like that made me shiver. I smiled and shook my head, “My apologies, honorable cardinal. My engagement is recognized with the third prince as a witness; I cannot break it off so easily.”
The Cardinal nodded, “Of course, I understand this is not something that can happen right away; the church will move behind the scenes to arrange things for you… I cannot divulge the contents of the oracle to you until you have sworn your vows, but know that it is considered by us to be of higher importance than the will of the kingdom… and the will of a single noble girl.” He fixed me with a hard stare as he spoke the final words. Fuck. It looks like that cunt bitch is determined to keep me under her thumb… I’ll need to figure a way out of this, definitely tell the count… but if I do that, it will make it harder to get out of the engagement with Dominic later…
“Most honorable cardinal… Are you perhaps, threatening me? If I really were Caina’s friend, would it serve the church to do something as brash as pursuing me so forcefully?” I spoke while forcing the coldest tone I could without deactivating the remaining emotions of [Cold Hearted], mostly to buy myself time to think. Contrary to my expectations, a flash of unease crossed the cardinal’s face, and he shook his head.
“No… we would not be so rash as that. Apprentice Sana would likely wish to know the fate of Ris, I shall take my leave now and allow the two of you time to discuss things. Feel free to use the room for as long as you would like.” Standing abruptly, the cardinal moved to exit the room. I… scared him just now, didn’t I? I didn’t realize I had placed that much edge into my voice but interpreting what I had said especially with the context of whatever the oracle was.
I’m sure I haven’t heard the end of this, but I managed to buy myself time. Even if it was accidental. But an adult taking a threat from a twelve-year-old girl that seriously? Especially in a male-dominated society such as this… The threat itself can’t be everything to it… Jacqueline has mentioned a few times before that I emit real bloodlust when I get very angry, to think that I feel that strongly about the gods now… I must have made him feel like I was going to cut his balls off or something… Sana pulled me out of my thoughts by shaking my arm.
“Lady Stahlia, can you silence the room? I need to speak privately with you…” Her voice was low, barely above a whisper, such that it wouldn’t carry far. I glanced around the room and then nodded.
“Alright, it must be something really important then. [Silence]…” after hesitating for a moment, I added another spell on top of the first. I’m technically in the temple’s inner sanctum, I may as well be careful. I’ve made enough mistakes today already.
“Oh Wind, Cover this room in a gale. With ferocity, cut the connection to far places. Muddle the movement of mouths of me and allies. [Complete Silence]” It was a spell I had made up on the spot, with the idea that it would also be able to obscure magical means of eavesdropping.
I felt an inordinate amount of mana drain, causing me to fear I may have screwed up the incantation. After consuming around a hundred fifty points of mana, I heard a large crack. Turning to the source of the sound, I saw that one of the statues had a small crack running down the middle, and faint wisps of wind were surrounding it. It severed the connection to a distant place presumably… Well, let’s see what Sana has to say then. This would quite possibly come back to bite me later, though by implying that the church had been spying on a member of the third prince’s faction I could probably deflect the worst of that. Turning to my friend, I nodded, “Alright, the room is safe to speak in.”
