"Wig, good! Clothing, good! Shoes, good! Makeup, good! Disguise, all okay!!" (Mitsuha)
All right, ready to go!
…not mine.
"…Viscount Yamano. What are you planning on doing by making me wear such a strange outfit?" (Earl)
"Your attire as my bodyguard looks splendid and reliable, it suits you!" (Sabine)
"…Is that so? It's an honor…" (Earl)
Even though he complained to me, when Sabine-chan gave him a little lip service, it happened…
Whether Earl was naive or Sabine-chan who took advantage of adults, a scary child!….
Anyway, we're ready to go.
Merchant sisters who traveled around the country for social studies, along with mercenary escort.
…that's the setting.
No, since he was born into an earl's family, he had been trained in swordsmanship since he was young, so naturally Earl was strong.
Of course, the swordmaster is likely one of the top swordsmen in the territorial army…
It was only natural that decent nobles with territories were usually much stronger than ordinary soldiers.
Except for a lazy, foolish son, or the elderly who handed over the custody to their son and said, "I'm done. I have done my duty as a nobleman. Then, I'll have fun and enjoy life~!!" and started living a carefree, luxurious and lazy life….
"Well then, let’s give the Earl, who will be our guardian, a fake name for the daughter of a merchant traveling incognito… let’s take the name of a famous captain from my country and call him "Kirk." (Mitsuha)
Sabine-chan nodded at my suggestion.
"That's a good name, Kirk... well then, let's go, Kirk-san..." (Sabine)
"Wha-, what is that dubious pronunciation..." (Earl)
Sabine-chan's pronunciation of "Kirk-san" (カークさん) seems to have something to say, Earl.[1]
But....
"No, it's just small detail!" (Sabine)
"Y-Yes..." (Earl)
Yeah, the Earl couldn't go against Sabine-chan!
Huahahahaha!
...and Sabine-chan, stop imitating me!
Ah, that's right...
"Umm, Kirk-san, could you please hold this seal?" (Mitsuha)
"I don't understand what you mean!!" (Earl)
And so, we left Earl's residence.
...of course, there were several hidden guards disguised as commoners who keep a little distance.
Putting aside Earl himself, it seemed that Earl could not accept that he was the only bodyguard for Her Royal Highness.
Yeah, well, that makes sense.
He didn't know that I could use the special move "If you feel danger, everyone will teleport and escape together"...
Without this, even I wouldn't so easily drag Sabine-chan around unescorted. Even when I was alone, I would be a bit more careful and take a larger margin of safety, probably...
Well, that's why it's useless to think of us as a standard…
Besides, if the lord were to be with her and the princess was injured within his domain, his house might be demolished.
...well, I guess he’ll have to provide bodyguards....
"Here it is" (Mitsuha)
"...here?" (Earl)
It was no wonder Earl asked back. A typical rag shop with a feeling of "the poor farmer." At least, it was not a place visited by noble, archpriestess, and princess. However, this was the reason why we came to this territory. I had already confirmed the location beforehand.
"Excuse me..." (Mitsuha)
“Ane-sama, daughters of aristocrats and merchants should not visit the homes of lower-class commoners and behave so humbly!” (Sabine)
...from the very beginning, I was rejected by Sabine-chan.
You don't usually say that!
Ah, was it because the Earl is here?
For the time being, was it a pose that said, "I'm giving proper education and guidance to this new aristocrat who has no common sense"?
...yeah, well, I guessed the princess had her own reasons too…….
No, leave that behind!
"Ye~s!" (Girl)
A girl's voice was heard from inside the house, and the front door was opened immediately. And what came out from inside was a girl around 14-15 years old, just as I expected from the voice.
"Eh....?" (Girl)
The girl stiffened when she saw us.
Sabine-chan and I were still fine. But Earl… the middle-aged guard, Kirk-san, was pretty stern. In terms of appearance, Kirk-san was the visitor, not us, Sabine-chan and I were just extras.
Earl-sama, you have dignity…
Besides, I was the one who called out to visit just now. Usually, that kind of thing was the job of the attendant…
Well, if a scary-looking unfamiliar man suddenly barged in, I'd be terrified.
"Ah, what about you…?" (Girl)
Ah, she looks scared… Well, that's not impossible.
It was only natural to be wary of such a frightening old man who suddenly barged into a house where a girl is alone at home without warning. With this, if you welcomed me with a smile, I doubted common sense, yeah.
That's why…….
"General Store Mitsuha, consultation request department." (Mitsuha)
"…Eh? Eeeee? Eeeeeeeeeeeeh!!" (Girl)
Yeah, that's it.
...in other words, the one here now was not "Archpriestess who received a direct appeal," but rather "The person in charge of the General Store Mitsuha’s consultation request department who received a request to help".
If this was the case, it was not like I, the Archpriestess, received a direct appeal and embarked. It just I received a job request.
And if that's the case, then if there's other direct appeal... request came, I didn't have to accept the request with an appropriate reason, such as because I was busy or the conditions of the request didn't suit me.
...it's not like the Archpriestess was a free volunteer....
It's just a job. It was nothing more than a relationship between a client and a contractor.
I only worked as a Archpriestess when I felt like it... I didn't remember saying that I would accept such a job for free!
"Lightning Archpriestess" was just a title that I had given myself. Apart from that, no one had said that I would take on such work for free!
If you were a servant of God, was it natural to go around helping people for free?
No no, because, even the high bishop of the temple didn't go around helping people, right? They rarely left the temple, wore extravagant clothes, ate extravagant meals, and had a beautiful shrine maiden their attendants.
Even for prayers, they charged a fee in the name of charity.
Yeah, the archpriestess didn't have to do free activities either! If the character for "believer" (信者) is shortened, it become the character for "profit" (儲)....
...the worlds is full of money slurp!!
Translation Note
[1] Japanese pun, but I think it shouldn't be there, because the Earl (in the story) spoke other world language and didn't understand Japanese.
Edit History
6 Oct 2023: improved readability, added explanations.
30 Des 2023: minor grammar correction, changed princess shrine maiden to archpriestess because it's too long.