NOVEL NEXT 3: My Place
“…Understood.”
After watching the triumphant Prince and my sister leave, I hurried to the Alchemical Saint and the Industrial Saint.
“I’m being sent out of the country.”
“I heard. The Prince came with your sister and announced the annulment.”
“And my destination is that Kingdom of Bistonia…”
“If things go well, you might get some good food, but at worst, you could be killed.”
Our country, the Kingdom of Giranga, is infamous for its bad food. Anything other than fried food and raw vegetables is inedible. They barely use seasonings. There’s no stock, and even though the bread is freshly baked, it’s rock hard.
The commoners’ food is a bit better than the nobles’. The reason is simple. Commoners know their country’s food is bad and adopt other countries’ cultures. The nobles lack that humility, so the food in Giranga remains bad.
But my grandmother was different. During her student days, she studied abroad and couldn’t stand our country’s food. So, while she was alive, she hired chefs from other countries.
However, not even a month after her death, they were all dismissed. Since then, the quality of the food has been declining year by year.
All to secure money for dresses and accessories. My parents and sister aren’t the strange ones. My grandmother and I are the ones who stand out in this country.
‘Food is power.’
That was my beloved grandmother’s saying.
As a result of continuing to eat unappetizing food, my holy power gradually weakened.
But I’ve never been troubled by the decrease in holy power. The three Great Saints don’t need holy power. Only a handful of people know this fact.
The Alchemical Saint is an expert in medicine, and the Industrial Saint predicts economic movements. The main role of the Food Saint is to forecast climate changes and predict food production at home and abroad. Incidentally, they also predict the movement of monsters and natural disasters.
Additionally, the three Great Saints have a mutual support relationship and are somewhat familiar with each other’s techniques for generational transition.
“Why are you so calm about this…”
“Better than marrying the Prince.”
“True…”
“Even if there’s a chance of being killed, since they specifically requested it, they probably won’t do anything flashy, so there are limited scenarios. Fortunately, I have knowledge of alchemy.”
“That alone is not reassuring.”
“I need to prepare more things. When do you leave?”
“In a week.”
In my words, the Alchemical Saint stood up.
The Industrial Saint was already gone. Despite her delicate appearance, she is the fastest and strongest in the church.
“We’ll leave the country the day after tomorrow. Let’s gather the senior saints.”
“First, I need to prepare the handover documents…”
“As long as you leave behind a lot of notebooks, we’ll manage.”
“Alright.”
All the predicted values and actual values are recorded. But since I wrote them for my reference, they’re pretty messy. There are quite a lot of volumes. I intended to create separate materials for the handover.
But neither the Alchemical Saint nor the saints and priests who gathered after hearing about the annulment allowed that.
“Who do they think they are, saying you’re unnecessary just because your holy power weakened?”
“People will starve without food.”
“The nobles who indulge themselves don’t understand how important the Food Saint’s work is.”
“If you’re killed, I’ll curse both the Kingdom of Bistonia and this country.”
As these dangerous words were being muttered, a loud bang sounded as a wooden box was placed in front of us.
It was Jessica, a saint and an alchemist. She exhaled irritably.
“Don’t talk as if being killed is a given. It’s depressing. Rana, take this.”
“This is a pouch and a robe?”
“I wouldn’t just give you a pouch. These are alchemical items. Since the ducal house won’t let you take decent luggage, here’s a magic bag that can hold a lot and a stealth robe that can conceal you.”
“Aren’t these very expensive…”
Especially the stealth robe, which is a popular item among nobles and wealthy people. By limiting production, its price is driven up. Even the magic bag is a highly coveted item for merchants. Jessica handed it over casually, but it’s not something that should be accepted so easily.
“It’s a farewell gift. We won’t be seeing each other again, so take it without any reservations.”
Her blunt words were filled with Jessica’s kindness. Realizing again that the church was my true home, tears welled up in my eyes.
“With your ability to read the weather and wind magic, you can even escape from the castle with these.”
“I’ll gratefully make use of them.”
“Use them until they’re worn out. That’s the greatest respect you can show to the craftsman.”
After that, everyone put their heads together to discuss what I should take with me.
The Alchemical Saint gave me a large amount of medicinal ingredients, and the Industrial Saint gave me a detailed map of the continent with annotations. It marked everything from roads used by stagecoaches and merchant wagons to areas with high monster activity.
I slung the magic bag filled with farewell gifts from other saints and priests over my shoulder and returned to the mansion.
My parents were overjoyed that my sister would become the Prince’s wife, turning the mansion into a party scene. The servants didn’t even look me in the eye upon my return. There was only one travel bag in my room, silently urging me to pack quickly.
Considering the possibility that they might not provide clothes and other necessities there, I stuffed as many clothes as I could into the bag. I took a few pieces of jewelry that could be sold if necessary. Since the bag wasn’t very large, I put the rest into the magic bag.
I once again felt immense gratitude for the magic bag.
With each item I packed, it felt like I was erasing my presence from this mansion.
The food was just left in the hallway, and once my marriage was finalized, even my portrait would probably be gone.
I felt sorry for the late King and Queen, who had trained me so well, but there was a certain sense of relief as well.