As expected, the disease raging in Sutherland showed no signs of abating.
The envoy repeatedly sent letters requesting Lady Serafina's visit and returned for a second visit just two weeks after the most recent visit.
"The situation is getting worse and worse! We can't afford to waste any more time! I beg of you, Great Saint, to take action!" (Envoy)
He must have skimped on sleep to ride his horse. Even in the dark, the envoy's eyes looked bloodshot.
"I understand your feelings. I too would like the Great Saint to deploy. However, the Great Saint is too busy. It would be difficult to occupy her for three weeks. And no matter what route we take to make our request, the earliest it can be granted is a year later. That's too late. ...We should look for another solution." (Canopus)
"We have summoned renowned saints from all over the country! But not a single one of them has been able to heal her! Just because the Great Saint came, it doesn't necessarily mean that it can be cured, but there is no other way!!" (Envoy)
The envoy insisted frantically.
"The speed at which the yellow spot disease is spreading is abnormal. At this rate, our clan will be wiped out within a year. Please, please, I beg of you. I request the dispatch of the Great Saint!" (Envoy)
The envoy dropped to his knees on the floor and pleaded with me.
I understood his feelings all too well, so I was unable to continue and fell silent.
The envoy was right. If this continued, our clan would become extinct. And it's probably true that our only hope was Lady Serafina.
But Lady Serafina was too important in this country. Combat that only Lady Serafina could deal with, injuries that only Lady Serafina could heal, curses. There were so many things that only Lady Serafina could do.
It's really impossible to occupy Lady Serafina for three weeks.
As I looked down, unable to think of what to do, I heard a mocking voice call out from afar.
"Hey, I thought there was a figure blocking the hallway, and it was you, Canopus. You islanders have dark skin and are hard to see at night. Get out of the way and get out of the way! Or do you want to be cut off for being a disrespectful person for blocking the path of royalty?"
I turned in a panic to see the voice coming from, and saw the Second Prince Capella walking down the corridor with Lady Serafina and several other high-ranking officials.
I let out a small groan in my mouth at my failure, picked up the envoy, and the two of us moved to the end of the hallway.
……We're screwed. Influenced by the envoy's haste, we wasted no time in entering the room and ended up talking in the hallway.
We bowed our heads and prayed that she would pass us by, but that didn't work, and His Highness Capella stopped in front of us.
"What? Are the people of a remote island having a strategy meeting? Ah, is that it? Are they discussing the aftermath of the annihilation of their people? Haha, you all should follow Canopus's example and lick Serafina's shoes. If you do that, you'll be guaranteed a seat at the royal castle and you'll be able to escape the ills of that rural land." (Capella)
The envoy was terrified as he faced royalty for the first time and kept his head as low as possible. I hesitated for a moment about what to say, but then Lady Serafina took advantage of the opportunity to speak.
"Brother Capella, what do you mean by annihilation of an entire nation?" (Serafina)
I looked up in surprise, and the first thing I saw was His Highness Capella with a nasty grin on his face.
"I see, so you don't know? An illness is spreading in Sutherland, Canopus's territory. Canopus has repeatedly requested that you be dispatched, but each time your requests are rejected at the meetings. I attend those meetings, of course, but not a single person supports deploying Sutherland. The schedule you are given only contains the final decisions, so you probably don't see any of the requests that were cut short along the way." (Capella)
"What kind of disease is spreading?" (Serafina)
"Hahaha, that's the disease called 'yellow spot disease'! It's a childhood disease that even babies can recover from if they're from the mainland. But when it comes to the people of remote islands, it's amazing how almost all of them die if they're infected! What's more, it's spreading at a rate rarely seen before. What a weak clan they are, dying from even a baby disease like that! In other words, the people of remote islands are not physically suited to surviving in this world. The right path forward is to let themselves be selected quietly, without struggling" (Capella)
Lady Serafina, who had been listening to Prince Capella in silence, tilted her head in confusion.
"I have heard that the people originally from remote islands have already grown to tens of thousands. If a disease with such severe symptoms and a rapid spread is threatening tens of thousands of people, I don’t think it would be strange for me to be dispatched." (Serafina)
"Haha, you're still as stupid as ever! It takes nearly ten days to get to Sutherland one way. Taking into account the time spent there, it'll be a three-week journey. There are many sick and injured people in the royal capital. There's no way you're going to be able to leave the royal capital for three weeks!" (Capella)
Seeing Lady Serafina still tilting her head in confusion, Prince Capella continued speaking.
"You really are an idiot who doesn't understand unless you explain everything from start to finish. For example, if they were people from the mainland, it would be a different story, but they are people from a remote island. They are a clan one rank lower than us, and it wouldn't be a problem if they were wiped out. We will never move you for their sake. Not a single person in the royal castle would agree with that. That's because everyone in the royal castle is from the mainland." (Capella)
"...Ah, I understand. Thank you." (Serafina)
Lady Serafina bowed deeply to Prince Capella, but I gritted my molars.
Her older brother Prince's attitude towards Lady Serafina was always outrageous. It was by decision of the King that Lady Serafina had received very little royal education and instead would spend much of her time perfecting herself as a saint. Moreover, there was no way that Lady Serafina, who treated all people with love and compassion, would ever consider treating people differently based on their ethnicity.
Knowing all of this, Lady Serafina was angered by the attitude of the princes who treated them with contempt, but Lady Serafina didn't seem to care and turned her back on the second prince to face the envoy.
"Sutherland, as you asked, I am unable to decide my own actions. I will put in a good word so that I can be dispatched to the land of Sutherland. I don't know how effective it will be, but I hope you don't give up hope." (Serafina)
"Thank you very much! We are all looking forward to your arrival, Great Saint!" (Envoy)
The envoy clasped his hands above his head, knelt down and began to pray for Lady Serafina.
The words from Lady Serafina gave hope. This was because she was always close to the people and gave them the words they wanted to hear.
The envoy, having heard the exchange with Prince Capella, would have understood. Those words were the best that Lady Serafina could do. May Lady Serafina have compassion and compassion for the people of Sutherland.
—— I was really foolish at the time to think like that.
This happened three days after the envoy returned. Something strange had happened at Lady Serafina that day, right from the morning.
She took naps whenever she found time between her official duties. I thought she might be very tired, but the previous day hadn't been particularly busy compared to normal. I was worried that the fatigue from all the tiring work I'd done up until that point had finally built up, but then I was told that we would be leaving at sunrise the next morning, and I felt relieved knowing that it was just a nap to prepare for the early morning wake-up call.
Starting tomorrow, we were scheduled to depart for the Barbizet Dukedom, next to the royal capital, for a five-day trip. The Duke of Barbizet was the family into which the elder sister of the First Princess, Lady Serafina, was married.More than half of the purpose of the visit was political, with Lady Serafina and the knights defeating monsters while the nobles watched, demonstrating the power of the Great Saint. The remaining purpose was for Lady Serafina, who had almost no time off, to get to know her better and deepen her friendship with her older sister, Duchess Barbizet—in other words, for her to enjoy some lady-to-lady conversation.
The two of them were originally sisters who were close. As they departed just as the sun rose, it was easy to guess that they were very much looking forward to visiting the Barbizet principality.
The next morning, Lady Serafina showed up in a light blue dress. It looked good on her, but the design was too simple, with no frills or lace whatsoever. Whenever she visited her sister, she always wore luxurious dresses covered in princess-like frills and lace, so I felt something was odd.
However, I didn't know enough about women's dresses to be able to say anything, so I convinced myself that maybe that's what's in fashion at the moment.
Lady Serafina and her ladies-in-waiting slowly climbed into the carriage.
At that moment, I once again felt something was wrong.
That's right. If she was sleepy, she could have just taken a nap in the carriage, so why did Lady Serafina take so much time to nap yesterday?
The answer came quickly.
As we departed the royal castle and passed through the busiest street, the carriage Lady Serafina was riding in suddenly came to a halt. The knights who were escorting the carriage also hurriedly stopped their horses.
I immediately dismounted and opened the carriage door, and out came Lady Serafina with the force of a whirlwind.
Then, she looked up at the knight in front of her and smiled.
"I'm sorry, but could you please get off for a bit?" (Serafina)
Although not understanding what was going on, Lady Serafina watched as the knight got off his horse because it was the princess' request, and in the next moment, she put her foot forcefully into the stirrup and swiftly jumped onto the horse. When she did so, I was surprised to see that her feet, peeking out from under the hem of her dress, were wrapped in riding boots rather than pointed shoes.
Lady Serafina smiled happily and shouted loudly.
"Barbizet Duchy is nice, but I feel like seeing the ocean. Therefore, I will put off visiting Barbizet Duchy for now. I have a letter and a gift for my sister in the carriage, so I want half of the knights to deliver it to Barbizet Duchy. Since she is a powerful saint yourself, she should be enough as a demonstration to the nobles. Rather, she should handle it so that the nobles understand that a powerful saint is in the position of a Duchess. I have written a letter to that effect, so please take care of it. As for me... Now, where should I go?" (Serafina)
Saying that, she deliberately put one hand on her cheek and tilted her head vigorously.
At this point, all the knights present had their eyes half-closed.
They were knights worthy of a princess' service. Everyone was so incredibly talented and excellent.
So, although everyone could predict what Lady Serafina was going to say next, they all wisely remained silent.
"...That's right! Speaking of the sea, Sutherland is the place to be! Yes, I'm heading to Sutherland! The other half of the knights who aren't heading to the Barbizet Duchy, please follow me!" (Serafina)
Then, Lady Serafina clapped her hands together in a dramatic gesture and spoke the name of the place that everyone had been expecting.
Everyone stared at Lady Serafina with indescribable expressions.
However, at this time Lady Serafina made one blunder. Although she said half were going to the Duchy of Barbizet and another half to the County of SAZARANDO, she did not specify who they were. So most of the knights there followed Lady Serafina.
I hope that when the carriage, accompanied by only a few knights, arrives at the Duchy of Barbizet, the Duke and Duchess would not misunderstand and think, "There are only a few knights accompanying her? They are treating her poorly!" and became indignant.
——Lady Serafina's weakness was that she didn't understand how popular she was.
Author's Note
Thank you for always reading.
We apologize for this last minute information, but the second book, which will be released on November 15th, will come with a special store bonus SS.
The publishers are Gamers, MERonBooks, Toranoana, WonderGOO, Kumazawa Bookstore, BOOK WALKER, and Kindle.
Details are listed in the activity report, so please take a look if you are interested.