This is bad, I've got all the strongest cards. I took a step back thinking, but Cerulean grabbed my arm.
Then, in a non-offensive manner, the proposal was made.
"What's the matter, Fia? Since we're here, let's say hello to Cyril and the others." (Cerulean)
"Hohoho, Cerulean. We're just clowns. There's no way we can talk to Captain, the head knight." (Fia)
"...What are you planning this time?" (Cerulean)
Cerulean didn't expect what I said, and he gave me a stare, but of course I wasn't planning anything.
On the contrary, since I was trying my best to avoid danger, I sincerely hope that he would do as I say.
Even so, Cerulean took my hand and led me to the main street, saying, "If you're not planning anything, you can go."
Dory followed behind with a smile on his face, and it seemed that these two had a serious problem with their crisis management skills.
Or perhaps because they were the king and duke, they thought that even the matters that I considered dangerous were trivial.
...Well, okay. There were already a lot of people there anyway, so even if I were at the back of the crowd, they wouldn't be able to see me.
As I was thinking about this as I stood in the last row of the crowd, the woman standing in front of me let out a surprised scream.
"Well, you’re a saint, aren’t you?"
Huh? I thought and turned my head to see the people around me continuing with excitement.
"It's true, you're a saint! You're amazing! It's been a long time since I bathed in the holy water, but I can still move my fingers!! Oh, look, you're wearing such a cute outfit! Since you're wearing it, don't stand behind me, you have to come forward and greet the king!"
"That's right! Hey, the Saint is here! Please make room for her!!"
"Huh, no, I really don't mind..." (Fia)
I did my best to refuse, but thanks to the goodwill of people, I found myself in the front row.
"Huh, why did this happen!?" (Fia)
As I muttered in a daze, Captain Curtis puffed out his chest proudly, even though he probably didn't understand the situation accurately.
"Of course, everyone was moved by Lady Fi’s majesty!" (Curtis)
"…………"
Even though he wasn't present at the actual scene, he must have guessed something from the conversation with Dory earlier and the fact that I was called "Saint."
Frighteningly, Captain Curtis had an answer that's not far from the truth.
Wow, I wasn't looking for that kind of ability at all!
And what's more, even though I didn't ask to be in this place... Before I knew it, King Laurence was in front of me.
I had no choice, so I tried to blend in with the crowd and put on a modest expression, but the king didn't seem to notice my desire to be left alone and looked all over me with interest.
"Oh, this is a lovely saint." (Laurence)
There was no doubt that King Laurence was talented, as he was chosen as the king's Doppelganger.
Therefore, even though he probably knew that I was the knight I interviewed the other day, I thought it was a little too playful for him to call out to me after knowing that.
While thinking this, I smiled amiably, trying not to be disrespectful to the king.
Then, when I glanced behind the king, I saw Duke Balfour standing there with his mouth open.
That's right. Duke Balfour had always been attached to the king, so he didn't know that I had apprenticed to Cerulean and Dory.
Therefore, when the duke suddenly saw me wearing a flashy saint's costume and appearing with these two, he was probably surprised and wondering what I was doing.
As I understood this, I looked behind Duke Balfour once more, wanting to see something scary, and found Captain Cyril staring at me with wide eyes.
"Hih!"
I was so scared that I tried to step back, but there was no place to go because there were so many people gathered together.
I thought I was at a loss, but when I followed Captain Cyril's line of sight to see what he was focusing on, his eyes were fixed on the necklace I was wearing around my neck.
"Oops, I've done it!" (Fia)
To most people, it was just a shiny necklace, but Captain Cyril was one of the few who understood the true value of this stone.
Even though I thought it was bad, I had to do something to disguise it, I used my brain to point to the necklace, then waved my hand sideways.
"No, that’s not true. I am not using the magic power of this sacred stone."
Even though I desperately appealed to them like that, for some reason the people around me started bragging about me.
"King, this saint is amazing! Thanks to this saint, my fingers, which had not been able to move for many years, are now able to move!"
"I have always had back pain and could only walk with the aid of a cane, but thanks to the Saint, my back has grown longer!! Look, I’m 20 years younger!"
"S-stop..." (Fia)
I weakly cried out to stop myself, hoping that I wouldn't provoke Captain Cyril any further, but no one would stop them.
In fact, they started promoting me even more.
"Did you hear that, my king? This saint is so humble and doesn't flaunt her accomplishments in the slightest! Even now, she was trying to see the king from the very back, so it's a good idea to be modest!!"
I'm sorry. Please really stop.
Even though Captain Cyril was in the middle of guard duty, he was concentrating with all his might on everyone's conversation, and his expression became more and more intense.
And for some reason, Captain's one hand was hanging on the hilt of his sword, so for my safety, please stop complimenting me now!
Of course, Captain Cyril probably had no intention of drawing his sword, but he might be thinking about poking me in the head with the handle of his sword.
I thought this was really bad, so I decided to blame Cerulean and Dory.
Therefore, I spoke louder than usual to King Laurence, who was standing in front of me.
"It’s my first time to meet you, my king! I’m honored to receive your praise, but I’m just an apprentice! I just performed as told by the horse clown and bird clown here!! It was not my intention, so the results and responsibility belong to these two!!" (Fia)
Immediately people on both sides of me complained, "I said, I'm not a horse!" and "I'm not just a bird either!" but these answers were far from the truth, so I felt relieved.
Ah, these two helped me more than I expected.
Just as I was breathing a sigh of relief thinking that I could somehow survive today, Duke Balfour, who had approached me before I knew it, opened his mouth.
"Your Majesty, I have seen these two clowns in the royal castle, but this is the first time I have seen the Saint. I heard that she is apprentice, but if she is working with these two, I am curious what kind of things will happen. How about inviting her to the royal castle and having her perform her trick?" (Balfour)
"Huh?" (Fia)
Duke Balfour started saying something outrageous.
As I was shaking my head, saying, "No, no, no, no," Captain Cyril silently approached me and argued with Duke Balfour.
"I don't think that's a good idea. If the Saint is a new face, she's probably still in the stage of trial and error. She may not even have a decided role... Today she's a saint, but tomorrow she might be a knight." (Cyril)
"Hiha!" (Fia)
Whenever I was engaged in knightly duties, Captain Cyril always stayed in the background, but somehow, he had always found his way into the conversation.
What's more, he's still being sarcastic about me.
When I looked at King Laurence and said, "I can't stand this, please help me," he smiled happily and said, "Hmm, I wonder who the Duke of Balfour or the Duke of Sutherland listened to."
No, no!
There was no doubt that the strongest cards are here, but everyone was using their power incorrectly.
Because for some reason, everyone was using all their strength to make fun of the Saint.
Oh, what a waste of energy and time!!
...I was disappointed, but by this time I had somewhat understood everyone's intentions.
In other words, King Laurence was a Cerulean Doppelganger, so they should try to follow his wishes to the fullest.
Therefore, when the king spotted a Cerulean in the front row of the audience, he thought I might want to tell him something, so he called out to me, a member of his sect.
One of the purposes of today's inspection was to increase the people's favorability towards the king, so when Duke Balfour noticed that I was well received by everyone. It makes sense that he was trying to improve the king's favor by treating me well.
The problem was Captain Cyril, who was aware of all of this, but still hit back at Duke Balfour's remarks...He seemed angry at me for doing whatever I wanted while wearing a saintly form, ...hohoho, you're reading me wrong.
With that wishful thinking in my mind, I glanced at Captain Cyril and saw that he was looking at me with narrowed eyes.
"Hiiih!"
No, no.
I didn't read it wrong at all. That expression was definitely angry.
I had to stay away from Captain Cyril for a while! While he was making up his mind, King Laurence was praising Cerulean, saying, "You always seem to be entertaining everyone."
The king then exchanged a few words with the people, raised one hand in greeting, and went into a shop a few doors down, as he had originally planned.
Ah, good. It helped me for the time being! As I was feeling relieved, Captain Cyril, who should have been attached to the escort target, approached me for some reason.
As I was holding my breath, wondering what he meant, Captain Cyril opened his mouth with a smile on his face.
"Hello, pretty Saint. That necklace is very nice. If I'm lucky enough to have the chance to meet you again, please let me have a leisurely chat with you." (Cyril)
"Hiiih!"
My whole body was filled with fear as I heard Captain's full sermon, but everyone who couldn't read the words behind the scenes let out happy voices.
"Well, that’s it! It seems that the Captain in the white knight uniform is interested in the Saint!!" (Fia)
"I get it, you're certainly a cute Saint! Haha, that's good, Saint! I'll definitely meet you again and make a good pitch to you!!" (Cyril)
"I-I don’t think that sales pitch will produce any good results, so I guess I’ll refrain from doing that…" (Fia)
I whispered while looking at Captain Cyril with a weak smile, but Captain turned on his heel with a beautiful smile on his face and continued into the shop where the king had entered.
As a result, Captain Cyril disappeared before my eyes, but...I just felt like the critical situation had been postponed for some reason, and I didn't feel like I was saved at all.
Author's Note
Thank you for always reading!
Volume 7 of the novel was released last week, and it seems that many people have picked it up, so thank you very much.
I added a lot of things, so I hope you enjoy it (❁ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)⁾⁾⁾