It had been a long journey. I travelled around the coastal areas of our country and then around the Aubram Kingdom. It took quite a few days due to the timing with Est-san and the time it took to travel and collect supplies... But since it was to save people, both Est-san and I did our best.
And it seemed that Est-san was very popular among farmers and lords in the grain-producing regions, not only in her own country, but also in the surrounding countries... It could almost be said that she was "worshipped." Purchasing large amounts of excess grain. Instead of bargaining on grains, whose prices had plummeted, she purchase them at a reasonable price of 20% off the regular price. And the noble purpose of helping people in faraway countries suffering from famine. Furthermore, the Goddess was impressed by her actions and bestowed upon her the power of matter transport magic... or rather, a special kind of storage magic. Well, that last one alone was enough to be worshipped. It seemed she was already being treated like a great saint.
"...We hereby recognize Princess Morena as the Great Saint!"
A huge cheer erupted.
This is the end of escaping reality. Yes, as you can see, I have been recognized as a Great Saint... Food was being supplied at an exceptionally low price, just 20% more than normal. ...And to ordinary people who didn't know much about the situation, the purchase price was believed to be even higher. So, they thought I was at a huge loss...
Despite my noble status, I worked myself to the bone for my people, making long and dangerous journeys, and saved many lives regardless of country. …And to that end, the Goddess had bestowed upon me the miraculous, earth-shattering power of transporting goods from far-away lands.
Well, that would mean I'd be recognized as a great saint, right...? If you think about it, this isn't the kind of miracle that could be performed by the Angel-sama or the Goddess herself... This is not the work of a human being. …Maybe I did something wrong?
Far from spending our own money, we made a huge profit. Even in countries that suffered poor harvests, they simply failed to produce crops, and other industries, such as mining, forestry, and commerce, did not suffer. And the gold coins and jewels that had been saved did not disappear, so payments were made immediately from the feudal lord's safe or the national treasury. Some of the payments were made in the form of jewels and certificates rather than gold coins, though...
As a result, my and Father's personal assets, as well as the loans we had taken out from the national treasury, which had only been temporarily paid for, quickly returned to their original amounts and even ballooned further.
Also, when Est-san converted the goods I sent her into cash to purchase grain, she also converted the goods into cash for her own use in addition to the funds for the purchase, so I was sure he made a considerable profit from it. It helped people, was appreciated and enjoyed by many, and led to huge profits. Business is so much fun!
"...And so, the Goddess has sent the Great Saint to our country, and we hope for a bright future..."
Ahhh, the story is progressing smoothly without any effort! Six months ago, they failed in their ambition to take back Adelle... Mile-sama and monopolize her for our country, so this time they were promoting me in an attempt to boost national prestige, as well as using the connection of the Goddess's favor to create a relationship between me and Mile-sama, and then using that as a foothold to poach Mile-sama again...
Well, I don't disagree with that either... This fits into my plan, which is to give Mile-sama to one of my brother, Vince, and give Marcella-chan to the remaining one... Well, I haven't given up yet...
"Achoo!" (Marcella)
"Buaaaahh—choo!!" (Mile)
Marcella and Mile sneezed one after the other. However....
"...Mile-san, um, please be a bit more discreet..." (Marcella)
"Don't be afraid of swelling and swelling! And Marcella-san, you have way too many illusions about girls! You're not Tawaba-san—" (Mile)
"Who is that person? And it's not an illusion at all, I am a 'girl' myself!" (Marcella)
"I don't blow my nose with my hand, I just sneeze loudly—" (Mile)
"No! Mile-san, what on earth do you think of the dignity of a maiden!" (Marcella)
"Ah, Marcella's 'lady education' for Mile has begun again..." (Reina)
"Well, Mile is both a Count and a Marquis, so I expect she knows a little about that sort of thing..." (Mavis)
"More importantly, Mile-chan is the Angel-sama, the beloved child of the goddess. If she does anything too vulgar, the temple will complain. Well, there's no need to worry about that on this continent, but we'll be returning there soon..." (Pauline)
Monica and Aureana gave a wry smile at what Reina, Mavis, and Pauline had said.
"Hmmmm..." (Guild master)
"What's wrong, Guildmaster?" (Vice guild master)
The vice guild master called out to the guild master who was deep in thought.
"No, those girls… Wonder Trio. Letting those three act alone is out of the question, from a safety standpoint. The other one, Crimson Vow, and together, they have two vanguards and five magicians, which is really unbalanced. Besides, the fact that they've split into two parties instead of one means that they're not always together..." (Guild master)
"Well, I suppose so." (Vice Gm)
Anyone would have come to the same conclusion, so the vice guild master agreed.
"Plus, they're targeted by parties with only men, or parties without magicians. Well, that's only natural." (GM)
"...Of course. If there is a party that doesn't want to be targeted, you can call them cowards." (Vice GM)
"They're a close-knit trio, so they wouldn't mind being apart. Before any strange people get involved, can't we put the three of them in a trustworthy party of high C rank or B rank? Another option would be to put us in a larger group. In places with a large number of people, the party will split into several teams, and the team members will be rearranged depending on the request they receive. The girl with the storage space may have a hard time working on multiple teams, but she will be well looked after, and the other two will be trained carefully. It's not a bad deal. If this were a normal rookie party, they would be crying tears of joy." (GM)
"...Well, the problem is that these aren't just 'ordinary rookie parties', and I wonder if they'll think that's 'not a bad idea' or not." (Vice GM)
"…………" (GM)
And somehow, the two of them felt that "I don't think you can think like that."