A few minutes after leaving the plaza.
Once Cerulean and Dory were far enough away from the performers, they stopped.
Then, they staggered and leaned against the wall of a brick building, letting out a tired cry.
"...Oh, it's finished."
"I-I'm really tired."
Perhaps because it was a corner from the main street with few people around, the two of them rested their backs against the wall without paying attention to their surroundings, breathing heavily.
When I saw the scene, I was surprised to find that although the audience members were doing well, the clowns were more exhausted.
However, after watching over them for a while, I noticed that their breathing had calmed down, so I was relieved that they were okay.
"Are you both okay? You look really tired." (Fia)
"Who do you think is to blame!" (Cerulean)
When I called out to them out of concern, Cerulean glared at me while complaining, and I thought, well, he must be in a bad mood.
Judging from Cerulean's lines, maybe he thought I had still got a long way to go, and that he was worried and anxious during my performance, so I guessed he's exhausted.
Even if that's the case, there's no way I would get a passing grade from the beginning, so I wanted them to watch me with an open mind.
With that in mind, I asked the two of them.
"Does that mean that my performance as a saint was not good enough? But I still tried my best. By the way, for future reference, I would like you to tell me how good my performance as a saint was?" (Fia)
Then, they both frowned, as if they had heard something they shouldn't have.
Because of that, I wondered if it was really that bad, but I looked at both of them, waiting for an answer.
The two of them stared back at me in silence for a while, but Dory, perhaps unable to bear the silence, opened his mouth.
"Huh, how many points...I don't care how you think about it, man..." (Dory)
"Dory! If we let her pass that easily, Fia will leave us!" (Cerulean)
Even though Dory was about to give a score, Cerulean stopped him.
As a result, Dory opened his eyes and closed his mouth unnaturally.
"Well, if you were about to say it, you should just say it!" (Dory)
As I grumbled, I thought about Dory's words.
"Man… man… this isn’t a score. In that case, if you say man…, ah, 'Manzara demonai (まんざらでもない, not so bad)'?" (Fia)
While saying this, I glanced at Dory, but his expression didn't change, so I thought, this was different, and thought about other candidates.
"Man... 'Mankitsu shita (満喫した, enjoyable)'? 'Manzoku shita (満足した, satisfied)'? 'Man'nin ni ukeru naiyōdatta wa yo (万人に受ける内容だったわよ, something that everyone could enjoy)'?"
Even though I said those words many times, Dory's expression didn't change, and in the end, he seemed to have regained his composure and gave a vigorous answer.
"Everything is a mistake! The correct answer is 'Manshin shite wa ikenai (慢心してはいけない, Don't be complacent)'!" (Dory)
"Yeah!" (Fia)
I had expected to be praised, but when I received a shocking response, I was disappointed when Dory waved his hands in a panic.
"Ah! I was wrong! The Saint Fia was really good! Just because she was so good, I shouldn't be too conceited." (Dory)
"Is that so?" (Fia)
When I looked up and asked him, Dory nodded his head.
"That's right! Hey, Cerulean thinks so too, right?" (Dory)
Then, Cerulean had a complicated look on his face.
"I'd say it was good...it's not that bad. At the end, everyone could only see Fia, right? Even though there were three of us in line, everyone was saying 'Saint Lady' and 'Saint Lady'. They were only focusing on the saint. I was worried that maybe no one could see me." (Cerulean)
After hearing Cerulean's impressions, Dory seemed satisfied.
"Well, Ceruleans are short, so that's possible. But I was also treated like I wasn't there by everyone. And what should I think in my case? Even though I was the tallest and the flashiest, no one noticed me!!" (Dory)
When Dory retorted, Cerulean tilted his head in confusion.
"Hmm" (Cerulean)
But apparently Dory didn't like that answer.
This was because Dory followed up on Cerulean, thinking that everyone couldn't see it because of Cerulean's short height, but Cerulean, on the other hand, couldn't think of anything and just grunted.
This made Dory angry and brushed his long hair back.
"Hey, please stop giving passive affirmations in the form of silence! Ah, I’m starting to lose confidence in being Fia’s master!" (Dory)
However, I would be in trouble if he had to resign as a teacher over something like this, so I called out to comfort Dory.
"Well, Master Dolly. Cheer up! I'll show you a special dance that will cheer anyone up." (Fia)
Suddenly remembering a dance that was popular in my previous life, I stepped back to perform, but unfortunately there was a pile of barrels on the spot, so my back hit it.
"Ah!" (Fia)
I almost fell forward due to the reaction, but before I could, two arms reached out from behind me and someone supported me.
So, I turned around with a smile to say thank you, but my smile froze in surprise.
"Huh?" (Fia)
Because Captain Curtis was holding me up with both hands.
I blinked in surprise, but no matter how many times I checked, it was Captain Curtis standing in front of me.
"Huh, w-why is Curtis here?" (Fia)
Captain Curtis was supposed to be guarding the king today.
On the contrary, he was supposed to be in charge of guarding the king, so why was he in a place like this without even protecting the king?
When I asked in surprise, Captain Curtis opened his mouth with a serious expression.
"Lady Fi was assigned to protect Cerulean, so Cyril reviewed the deployment of the knights for today and reorganized them. As a result, I have decided to come here as an additional person." (Curtis)
"What!?" (Fia)
Well, wait, wait, what do you mean?
Since I took charge of Cerulean's bodyguard, I thought that his bodyguard would be reorganized with one less person than originally planned, but why would a new knight be added? Moreover, the Royal Guard Knight Captain??
"Huh, does Captain Cyril count me as a negative person?" (Fia)
No way, no way. With that in mind, I asked Curtis a question, but for some reason he remained silent and did not respond.
And Cerulean and Dory were right behind me, and I was sure they could have heard me, but like Curtis, they remained silent and didn't respond.