Chapter 459: Approach

After finishing her meal at the village assembly hall, Saint Matilda felt troubled by the ongoing commotion outside and decided to step out to see what was happening.

With each of her movements, her entourage and the knights from the Kingdom of Luwan, along with the royal guards dispatched by the Kingdom of Sart, would begin to shift positions.

Saint Matilda found this incessant attention exhausting.

Moreover, the person in charge from the Sart Kingdom side was the crown prince, who was already married with children, making him unappealing to Matilda.

In truth, she wanted to appoint the fifth prince, Prince Fleue, as the person in charge, but since that was something that had to be decided by the Sart Kingdom, it was something that even the “Saint”  couldn’t change.

The crown prince often praised Saint Matilda at every opportunity, but Matilda had been warned by her close aides from the Kingdom of Luwan that this was only because he was considering her political usefulness, so she never misunderstood his intentions.

Occasionally, the crown prince displayed signs of affection toward Matilda, hinting at the possibility of having her as a concubine. 

However, the Luawn Kingdom’s advisors suspected this was a plan to legally acquire the Saintess from their kingdom.

The fact that Matilda had feelings for Prince Fleue was another headache that weighed heavily on the minds of her advisors, but that situation seemed easier to manage than her becoming the crown prince’s concubine.

All they had to do was arrange for Fleue to become their adopted son-in-law.

　Saint Matilda was the adopted daughter of a Count, but she could have her father elevated to the rank of marquis if he were to become their adopted son-in-law, she will be in good standing.

This would also deepen the alliance with the Sart Kingdom, so there will be no problems.

However, as the crown prince’s concubine, that wouldn’t be possible, and they would lose the Saintess, a crucial diplomatic asset for the Luawn Kingdom, free of charge.

Marquis Donaison, the person in charge on the Luawn Kingdom side, quickly sensed this and alerted the other advisors of his concerns.

　The Crown Prince appears to be acting on his own initiative, he said.

This was because He had spoken to both the king and the prime minister of the Sart Kingdom and learned that the arrangement of having the crown prince appointed as the domestic representative was supposedly to strengthen friendly relations, since he had a wife and children and there was no way any problems could arise.

However, Marquis Donaison felt that the crown prince was acting independently, contrary to the country’s expectations, which prompted him to be cautious and warn Matilda to be careful as well.

While Matilda could be quite willful, she was no fool.

Thanks to Marquis Donaison’s advice, the crown prince had become one of the individuals she disliked the most, so she tried to keep her interactions with him to a minimum.

Matilda stepped outside still  feeling uncomfortable with the Crown Prince and the others following her.

　

She headed towards where a crowd had gathered in a corner of the square.

“What are you all getting so excited about without me?”

“Eh? — I-it’s the Saintess!” 

Those commoners who had been excitedly enjoying themselves were shocked by the Saint’s appearance, and all fell to their knees.

“That’s all well and good, but what are you all doing?” 

The Saintess pressed for an answer from those nearby.

“We were just showing off our skills.” 

“Now that you mention it, there was quite a loud noise during the meal. Was that you all?” 

“We apologize! We didn’t mean to cause a disturbance!” 

The people questioned immediately offered an apology to the Saint.

“It’s fine. I want to see It too,  so please continue.” 

Upon hearing that Saint Matilda wished to be a spectator, the commoners were intimidated.

They had just witnessed the nobility’s skills moments ago.

Moreover, If those who stood by the Saintess were even more formidable, no one had the courage to go out of their way to show off their special skills.

“Then I shall demonstrate,” 

A young man stepped forward as the others hesitated.

It was the young man who had introduced himself to Tauro as a tamer.

“What can you do?” 

“I’m a tamer. I can handle monsters. If it’s not too much trouble, may I summon a monster here?” 

The young tamer didn’t seem intimidated even after seeing Tauro and the others’ skills earlier.

After all, he believed he was superior to Tauro as a tamer and was confident in that.

That’s why, despite seeing Tauro, Aeris, and Zion’s abilities, his resolve remained unshaken, and he approached the Saintess to demonstrate his skills without fear.

Meanwhile, Tauro and the others, who had been the ones being compared, had already stepped away when they noticed the Saintess approaching.

“That was a bit too much,” Tauro remarked with a wry smile.

“Yeah. I really went all out with that magic,” Aeris admitted, slightly reflecting on the unexpected magnitude of her spell.

“I didn’t mean to show off much…! Damn it, I’ll live!” 

Zion, who had been holding back during the martial arts, was feeling unsatisfied, leading to her usual catchphrase of frustration slipping out.

“You guys definitely went overboard. I mean, Aeris’s magic was really incredible!” 

Ankh, who had blended in as one of the spectators, expressed his admiration for Aeris’s performance.

“Right? I was surprised too. You must have really trained hard under Maria-senpai! That was amazing!” 

Ragune joined in, wholeheartedly praising Aeris.

“Thank you. But it’s also partly because Tauro exchanged the magic stone for something outrageous. — Tauro! What have you done?” 

“Ahaha… Sorry, it was due to my curiosity. I didn’t think it would have that much power,” Tauro apologized sincerely to Aeris.

“That magic stone… could it possibly be the ‘Water Dragon Magic Stone’ sold at the Dragonfolk village shop?” 

Ragune seemed to have recognized it and pointed it out.

“Ah! That’s right. More importantly—” 

Tauro, likely not wanting to divulge the price, tried to steer the conversation in another direction.

However— 

“Tauro! How much did this magic stone cost?!” 

　When Aeris heard that it was a dragon-people village, she must have immediately realized that it was something incredibly valuable, and she interrupted to question Tauro.

“Um, thirty platinum coins (around 300 million yen)…” 

“““Thirty platinum coins…!?””” 

“Why in the world would you attach such an expensive magic stone to this ebony wand… I hadn’t planned on coming back at all, remember?” 

Aeris was shocked at the price, but wondered why it had been modified.

“…I thought if I had this magic stone ready when you returned, maybe you’d be surprised…”

“Ugh… What were you even thinking? But thank you for thinking I’d come back. Still, this is way too expensive, you know!” 

“Was it difficult to use?” 

“It’s pretty easy to use. Well, I thought it was probably a good magic stone,…”

Aeris felt touched by Tauro’s feelings, so she offered a somewhat vague response.

“Then I’d be happy if you continued to use it as is…” 

“…Yeah.” 

Seeing the good atmosphere between the two, Ragune, Ankh, and Zion couldn’t help but smile in delight.

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