Klaussner, the feudal lord’s office.
On the lounge set was the feudal lord, Daniel, the captain of the 3rd Knight Order, Alberto and the leader of the mercenaries who were employed by the territory, Leonhardt.
“He’s Leonhardt, the person who arranges the mercenary groups. This is Alberto Hawk-sama, he is the captain of the 3rd Knight Order in the Royal Capital and he has come to aid us.” Daniel introduced them and Leonhardt lowered his head without saying anything.
His mannerism was appropriate when facing nobles, but his eyes shone with a challenging glow.
Alberto noticed the look in his eyes, but he didn’t change his expression and nodded placidly in reply.
As a person who held the top position amongst the mercenaries, Leonhardt had more opportunities to meet with nobles than the other mercenaries.
Therefore, he knew how to interact with nobles when greeting them.
And it was impossible to imagine this from his rough attitude, but he actually thought things through.
Therefore, he understood the current situation of Klaussner and he knew that the feudal lord had no choice but to ask for aid from the Royal Capital.
However, that didn’t mean he agreed with this.
Leonhardt and the other mercenaries were also proud that they were able to protect Klaussner up until now.
The thought of the knights, who came from the Royal Capital, being strangers didn’t disappear even though he was answering to the feudal lord’s request. At any rate, he didn’t have a very good impression of them.
It was a matter of pride.
After the introductions, Daniel immediately began to talk about the situation in his fief.
It wasn’t like he wasn’t aware about how Leonhardt was feeling.
However, he proceeded with the business-like conversations first, so that they could finish before Leonhardt could cause any problems.
“So the demons are increasing, after all?”
“Yes. It’s really bad inside the nearby forest. And they’ve been overflowing so much that they frequently leave the forest. Although the mercenaries do subjugate those that leave the forest.”
“So, you can’t handle the situation inside of the forest, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Then, we’ll take on the demons in the forest.”
At that time, Leonhardt, who had been quietly listening to the conversation between Alberto and Daniel, spoke.
“Isn’t it better for us, the mercenaries, to take care of the forest? The knights have just arrived here, they’re not familiar with the area.”
“I’m sure that you know more about this area. However, I believe that it’s critical for us to investigate the forest at least once so that we can gain an accurate understanding of the situation.”
Alberto gently refused Leonhardt’s proposal.
He hadn’t intended to cause any problems with the mercenaries from the start. He didn’t want to offend Leonhardt somehow by rejecting his proposal.
However, there was a reason why he’d refused this proposal and had to go into the forest.
The Royal Capital concluded from Klaussner’s current situation, that a black swamp, like the one that had appeared in Ghosh Forest, must have sprung forth somewhere in the fief.
And the forest, which is said to have the ideal conditions for it to spring forth, was the most likely place for the black swamp to appear.
If it had really sprung forth, then it would be too much for the mercenaries, alone.
Alberto, who had actually seen the swamp in the West Forest, could easily imagine this.
“I have heard that the 【Saint-sama】is also here, but is she not here today?”
“She’s probably tired from the long journey, 【Saint-sama】is resting in her room.”
“【Saint-sama】will also join in the subjugation, right? She doesn’t seem to have much strength, will she also be going into the forest?”
“That’s the plan. She’s just not used to going on long journeys, she should be fine if the subjugation occurs after a few days. She’s also participated in the mission to Ghosh Forest.”
“Ghosh Forest is to the west of the Royal Capital, is it not? Does this mean that she went into the forest?”
“Of course, she went into the forest. She was there until the very end.”
“I see…… Alright.”
Leonhardt had also heard that the 【Saint】would be participating in the mission with the Knight Order.
In fact, there had been a big fuss in the castle over arrangements during the past few days because they heard that the 【Saint】was coming.
There was no way that the news wouldn’t get to Leonhardt.
Alberto was deeply impressed by Leonhardt, since he wasn’t very pleased about having support from the Knight Order, but he backed down to ask about the 【Saint】.
He’d thought Leonhardt would have been more persistent.
There was a reason for this.
The Knight Order went around the fiefs to defeat demons before the miasma got thicker and the Royal Capital was in trouble.
At those times, the mercenaries of the fiefs would exclude the Knight Order during subjugations for various reasons, even if they were there at the feudal lord’s request.
There were a lot of reasons for why the mercenaries acted like this, but the most important reason was the reward.
There were feudal lords who reduced the rewards that the mercenaries would earn because the Knight Order joined in on the subjugation.
Those feudal lords were the problem, but the mercenaries went after the Knight Orders first.
The reason why Leonhardt hadn’t taken this kind of action was probably because Daniel had never held out on their reward.
It seems like they’ve built a mutual trust between them, Alberto thought.
And that was a fact.
Even if Leonhardt didn’t think well of him, it was fine as long as he could talk about work calmly.
If he didn’t, then Alberto worried about how he would treat the 【Saint】.
She was passionate about work, so she would probably get the job done even if she receives negative feelings from the mercenaries.
However, that didn’t mean that her feelings wouldn’t be hurt.
If possible, he didn’t want her to get hurt.
I’ll make sure that the 【Saint】doesn’t interact much with the mercenaries, and do my best not to expose Sei to negative feelings.
Alberto decided in his mind.
A room was given to the mercenaries at the castle in Klaussner.
They usually patrolled the fief, but they were on stand-by in this room when they weren’t patrolling.
They would take care of their equipment, chat and spend their time as they liked in this room.
When the door opened with a thud, the people, who noticed this, glanced at the door.
Most of them went back to what they were doing when they confirmed who had just came in.
“Welcome back, leader.”
“Yeah.”
Leonhardt sat down with a thud at the back of the room where he usually sat; and the boy, who took care of the chores for the mercenary group, approached him while carrying a mug.
He replied briefly to the boy’s greeting and gulped down the water in the mug.
Yes, water.
It wasn’t alcohol.
Alcohol certainly suited his appearance, but it was still day time.
He didn’t drink alcohol during the day because he needed to go out at once if something happened.
He was really diligent at work, even if he didn’t look like he was.
“You’re back?”
“Yeah. I’m all tensed from having to talk to a noble.”
“Haha.”
When the boy left him, a tall man approached.
This man was the vice-leader of the mercenaries and he assisted Leonhardt with work.
“So, how was it?”
“Not bad.”
He looked at the vice-leader who was sitting opposite him while looking unamused.
The vice-captain chuckled when he saw this.
“Not bad, huh? What’s that mean?”
“Mm? Just that. Since it seems like we can continue our subjugations without any problems.”
“Which means he’s not a bad noble?”
“That’s right. He didn’t look down on me and he seemed indifferent. He didn’t seem sly.”
The vice-leader looked relieved when he heard that there wouldn’t be any problems with subjugation.
This time, they had heard that the Knight Order would be coming and the thing that Leonhardt and his group was worried about the most was being dragged down by them.
Daniel, the feudal lord of Klaussner, was different; but there were nobles who looked down on commoners.
And they were persistent people who will not become complacent and fall behind commoners; they would rise up by any means necessary.
The bad nobles that the vice-leader was talking about were those people.
The most important person in a Knight Order had to be a noble.
If the captain of the Knight Order that came to Klaussner was that kind of person, then the two thought that they would get in the way of the mercenaries so that they could take all the credit for the subjugations.
They would be annoyed if the subjugation rate dropped, especially at a time like this when the demons were spawning at a faster rate than normal; and they couldn’t tolerate it if someone died because the Knight Order got in their way.
This was beyond the limits of, “It can’t be helped since he’s a noble.”
It wasn’t clear that the captain that Leonhardt met today wasn’t that kind of bad noble.
Nobles are often those who are good at concealing what they really feel or think, and if the captain was that kind of person, then it would be hard to tell what he was actually thinking.
However, Leonhardt believed in his sixth sense.
Whether it was wild instincts or not, Leonhardt’s evaluation of people was usually spot on.
The mercenaries knew this well since they’d experienced it many times.
That Leonhardt had said that it wasn’t bad.
The Knight Order Captain probably isn’t someone who we have to be concerned about, the vice-leader thought.
“Hmm. Well, it’s fine as long as they don’t drag us down.”
“I wonder about that. The knights aside, apparently the 【Saint-sama】, who came with them, is going to participate in the subjugation.”
“What?! So that rumour’s true?”
“Seems like it. Apparently she’s going to go into the forest with the Knight Order.”
The rumour that they were talking about was that the 【Saint】had participated in the demon subjugations around the Royal Capital.
The demons around the Royal Capital had decreased and the rumour spread as if it were true.
This rumour was even brought to the fief by the merchants who travelled from town to town.
Since the rumour was spread through word-of-mouth, it became exaggerated somewhere along the line.
There was even a rumour that the current 【Saint】secluded herself in the Royal Palace and didn’t participate in subjugations.
Therefore, Leonhardt and his group only took the rumours of the 【Saint】participating in subjugations with a grain of salt. And they thought that the most she had done was stay outside of the West Forest when she went there for subjugation.
However, the Knight Order Captain had said that the 【Saint】had entered the forest and properly participated in the mission.
“Either way, the Knight Order will be in charge of the forest. We’ll be outside. It probably won’t affect us.”
“Really? It’ll be fine as long as they don’t make a blunder and drive the demons out of the forest.”
“They’re going to investigate it first. I don’t think we have to worry about that.”
“What the heck! You’re trusting them so much, huh? Is it your usual hunch?”
“Yeah. That man seems like he does his job properly.”
“Hmph. Well, if you say so.”
“It’s instincts,” Leonhardt declared and the vice-captain smiled wryly while thinking about what preparations they would need.
Even if Leonhardt’s instincts were spot-on, unexpected things can still happen.
It was better for them to prepare for those unforeseen circumstances.
They both thought and continued to talk about future missions.
◊♦◊♦◊♦◊
Soft rays of light came into a room, one spring afternoon.
Johan, the owner of the room, was writing documents in the silence.
He finished writing the document in his hand and put down his pen. He put his hand on his shoulder and cracked his neck.
He suddenly looked at the door, but there was no sign that anyone was going to enter.
He glanced at the cup next to him, it was empty.
He sighed and stood up with the cup.
He headed towards the kitchen that had been added to the Research Institute this year.
“Is there anything I could do for you, Waldeck-sama?”
“Can you make me some tea?”
“Certainly.”
The chef that was in the kitchen called out to Johan when he peeked inside.
The chef knew what to do when Johan told him what he wanted. The chef took the cup and walked to the back of the kitchen.
Johan only had to wait, so he stared at the chef’s back as the chef prepared the tea.
A little while after the kitchen was built, they always had hot water prepared. This had become the norm.
The chefs started to prepare hot water because Sei often drank tea during work hours.
Water was boiled on the side for lunch and dinner, so it didn’t take that much time.
Sei wasn’t the only reason that hot water was prepared, the researchers also drank tea often, as well.
Johan was also one of them.
It wasn’t just tea.
The kitchen was built because Sei wanted it, but the diets of the researchers had improved thanks to that.
Before that, the researchers didn’t eat things that could be counted as a meal, since the Research Institute was far from the Royal Palace.
However, they built the kitchen and Sei began to cook, so the researchers could also have proper meals.
One of the reasons for that was because the distance had reduced but, above all, Sei’s cooking was delicious.
Even Johan, who wasn’t even interested in food, would come ‘sample’ the food whenever Sei was in the kitchen.
Come to think of it, the atmosphere of the Research Institute has also changed.
Johan felt that the researchers had drank tea before Sei came here, but they didn’t have a kitchen so he couldn’t recall how they’d made it.
Come to think of it, there was a guy who made tea with the institute’s tools……
Like that, Johan thought about how the Research Institute was.
“Director?” Johan turned around at the voice, and he saw Jude holding a cup like he had.
“Did you also come to get tea, Director?”
“Ah, yeah. You too?”
“Yes. It’s become a habit since I always accompany Sei when she makes tea around this time.”
“Really?”
“Isn’t it the same for you Director? Sei always made your share as well.”
Now that he’s said it, that’s true.
Johan put his hand to his chin and recalled.
Like Jude said, Sei had brought tea to his office up until now.
“Ah, she did,” Johan agreed.
Johan had felt like something had been missing before in the Director’s Office.
She had influenced him without him realising, and he smiled wryly.
Jude looked at the Director in wonder.
“I wonder what she’s doing right now.”
“Well, I guess she’ll do the same thing she always does.”
“Yeah. The place she’s going to is that place, so she’s probably making potions over there.”
“Feels like she’ll make a large amount of potions again.”
They thought about Sei, who was far off in Klaussner, when Johan suddenly asked that question.
The two smiled as they imaged Sei doing the same things as she always did at the Research Institute.
Klaussner was known as a sacred place for pharmacists.
She would probably be making potions livelier than she did at the Research Institute.
Johan and Jude didn’t say this out loud, but they were both thinking the same thing.
“It’s not just potions, she’ll probably be cooking too.”
“Ah, no, I wonder about that. I told her not to cook in public……”
“Ah you did, didn’t you? But the people who are with her are the 3rd Knight Order.” Jude said and Johan made an unpleasant face when he realised something.
Sei was a serious person, so she obediently followed Johan’s orders.
He had ordered her not to cook in public, because her cooking greatly improved physical abilities and she had kept her word.
However, she did cook when she ‘wasn’t in public’, like at the Research Institute kitchen.
Most of Sei’s cooking went into the researcher’s stomachs. They also delivered some to the 3rd Knight Order.
The knights from the 3rd Knight Order knew how delicious Sei’s cooking was, so they asked the food to be delivered to them.
The 3rd Knight Order was there when they discovered the effects of Sei’s cooking, so Johan concluded that it was already too late to hide it, and gave Sei permission to deliver food to the 3rd Knight Order.
Of course, the knights were forbidden from talking about the effects of Sei’s food.
That was the condition of the food delivery.
She had received permission to cook then.
The place had changed, but if Sei was in a place with only the 3rd Knight Order, and they asked her to cook, then she would probably cook.
Johan knew that Sei had a weak spot for those she was close with and she wouldn’t say no to them.
Even if they didn’t ask her, she would probably cook her own food and end up making food for the 3rd Knight Order as well.
That was what had happened at the Research Institute.
Johan looked up at the ceiling.
The Royal Palace had ordered that she had to hide all her abilities apart from her 【Saint】ones.
It became clear in this year that Sei had some unbelievable abilities.
What kind of commotion would it create if those abilities were made public?
Johan could understand why they ordered Sei to hide her abilities; they feared the conflict that could arise at the Royal Palace.
Therefore, Johan carried out the Royal Palace’s order.
However, the effects of Sei’s cooking were relatively moderate.
The effects of her cooking were less obvious than her potions, so Johan probably didn’t have to worry about that.
Since Sei wasn’t the only one who would improve physical abilities through cooking.
People with the cooking skill could all do this, although the effects varied.
In the first place, there was nothing Johan could do since she was far away.
He thought and decided to leave the matter to those next to her.
He decided to stop thinking about it.
“I’m hungry.” Johan remembered Sei’s food while thinking and it made him hungry.
“Ah, I was just thinking that.” Jude was also hungry.
The two smiled wryly again.
Both of them had been influenced by Sei.
With great timing, the chef walked in with a tray.
“Thank you for waiting.”
“Mhm? What’s this?”
“I thought that the both of you would be hungry.”
On the tray that the chef had brought were 2 large plates with their herbal tea.
There were two types of sandwiches on the plates; they were the ones that Sei always made.
One had finely chopped cucumbers and herbs with mayonnaise and the other was filled with boiled eggs.
The Chef remembered what Sei always made with tea while saying, “Afternoon tea should be served with this, right?”
It was probably charming that someone’s stomach growled when they saw the sandwiches.
“Thanks. We were hungry.”
“Thank you. Well then, Director, good work.”
“Yeah. Good work.”
Johan cleared his throat and grabbed a plate. Jude also took a plate and returned to the laboratory.
Johan watched Jude leave and then looked at his plate.
No one plated their food like that in Slantania Kingdom. It was easy to carry a large plate which had sandwiches and a tea cup on it.
The chefs had copied Sei, since she put her snacks onto one plate.
Johan noticed that he wasn’t the only one who was influenced by Sei, and smiled wryly inside.
She had said that she wanted to live a normal life, but she was influencing those around her in some ways, and she would probably influence those in Klaussner too.
It was hard for him to imagine that Alberto, who was together with her, could handle her.
He walked through the corridor and smiled wryly, she’ll probably cause some kind of trouble.
He cheered for those two and returned to his office with his plate.
Translator: Blushy
Editor: Sam
Klaussner, the feudal lord’s office.
On the lounge set was the feudal lord, Daniel, the captain of the 3rd Knight Order, Alberto and the leader of the mercenaries who were employed by the territory, Leonhardt.
“He’s Leonhardt, the person who arranges the mercenary groups. This is Alberto Hawk-sama, he is the captain of the 3rd Knight Order in the Royal Capital and he has come to aid us.” Daniel introduced them and Leonhardt lowered his head without saying anything.
His mannerism was appropriate when facing nobles, but his eyes shone with a challenging glow.
Alberto noticed the look in his eyes, but he didn’t change his expression and nodded placidly in reply.
As a person who held the top position amongst the mercenaries, Leonhardt had more opportunities to meet with nobles than the other mercenaries.
Therefore, he knew how to interact with nobles when greeting them.
And it was impossible to imagine this from his rough attitude, but he actually thought things through.
Therefore, he understood the current situation of Klaussner and he knew that the feudal lord had no choice but to ask for aid from the Royal Capital.
However, that didn’t mean he agreed with this.
Leonhardt and the other mercenaries were also proud that they were able to protect Klaussner up until now.
The thought of the knights, who came from the Royal Capital, being strangers didn’t disappear even though he was answering to the feudal lord’s request. At any rate, he didn’t have a very good impression of them.
It was a matter of pride.
After the introductions, Daniel immediately began to talk about the situation in his fief.
It wasn’t like he wasn’t aware about how Leonhardt was feeling.
However, he proceeded with the business-like conversations first, so that they could finish before Leonhardt could cause any problems.
“So the demons are increasing, after all?”
“Yes. It’s really bad inside the nearby forest. And they’ve been overflowing so much that they frequently leave the forest. Although the mercenaries do subjugate those that leave the forest.”
“So, you can’t handle the situation inside of the forest, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Then, we’ll take on the demons in the forest.”
At that time, Leonhardt, who had been quietly listening to the conversation between Alberto and Daniel, spoke.
“Isn’t it better for us, the mercenaries, to take care of the forest? The knights have just arrived here, they’re not familiar with the area.”
“I’m sure that you know more about this area. However, I believe that it’s critical for us to investigate the forest at least once so that we can gain an accurate understanding of the situation.”
Alberto gently refused Leonhardt’s proposal.
He hadn’t intended to cause any problems with the mercenaries from the start. He didn’t want to offend Leonhardt somehow by rejecting his proposal.
However, there was a reason why he’d refused this proposal and had to go into the forest.
The Royal Capital concluded from Klaussner’s current situation, that a black swamp, like the one that had appeared in Ghosh Forest, must have sprung forth somewhere in the fief.
And the forest, which is said to have the ideal conditions for it to spring forth, was the most likely place for the black swamp to appear.
If it had really sprung forth, then it would be too much for the mercenaries, alone.
Alberto, who had actually seen the swamp in the West Forest, could easily imagine this.
“I have heard that the 【Saint-sama】is also here, but is she not here today?”
“She’s probably tired from the long journey, 【Saint-sama】is resting in her room.”
“【Saint-sama】will also join in the subjugation, right? She doesn’t seem to have much strength, will she also be going into the forest?”
“That’s the plan. She’s just not used to going on long journeys, she should be fine if the subjugation occurs after a few days. She’s also participated in the mission to Ghosh Forest.”
“Ghosh Forest is to the west of the Royal Capital, is it not? Does this mean that she went into the forest?”
“Of course, she went into the forest. She was there until the very end.”
“I see…… Alright.”
Leonhardt had also heard that the 【Saint】would be participating in the mission with the Knight Order.
In fact, there had been a big fuss in the castle over arrangements during the past few days because they heard that the 【Saint】was coming.
There was no way that the news wouldn’t get to Leonhardt.
Alberto was deeply impressed by Leonhardt, since he wasn’t very pleased about having support from the Knight Order, but he backed down to ask about the 【Saint】.
He’d thought Leonhardt would have been more persistent.
There was a reason for this.
The Knight Order went around the fiefs to defeat demons before the miasma got thicker and the Royal Capital was in trouble.
At those times, the mercenaries of the fiefs would exclude the Knight Order during subjugations for various reasons, even if they were there at the feudal lord’s request.
There were a lot of reasons for why the mercenaries acted like this, but the most important reason was the reward.
There were feudal lords who reduced the rewards that the mercenaries would earn because the Knight Order joined in on the subjugation.
Those feudal lords were the problem, but the mercenaries went after the Knight Orders first.
The reason why Leonhardt hadn’t taken this kind of action was probably because Daniel had never held out on their reward.
It seems like they’ve built a mutual trust between them, Alberto thought.
And that was a fact.
Even if Leonhardt didn’t think well of him, it was fine as long as he could talk about work calmly.
If he didn’t, then Alberto worried about how he would treat the 【Saint】.
She was passionate about work, so she would probably get the job done even if she receives negative feelings from the mercenaries.
However, that didn’t mean that her feelings wouldn’t be hurt.
If possible, he didn’t want her to get hurt.
I’ll make sure that the 【Saint】doesn’t interact much with the mercenaries, and do my best not to expose Sei to negative feelings.
Alberto decided in his mind.
A room was given to the mercenaries at the castle in Klaussner.
They usually patrolled the fief, but they were on stand-by in this room when they weren’t patrolling.
They would take care of their equipment, chat and spend their time as they liked in this room.
When the door opened with a thud, the people, who noticed this, glanced at the door.
Most of them went back to what they were doing when they confirmed who had just came in.
“Welcome back, leader.”
“Yeah.”
Leonhardt sat down with a thud at the back of the room where he usually sat; and the boy, who took care of the chores for the mercenary group, approached him while carrying a mug.
He replied briefly to the boy’s greeting and gulped down the water in the mug.
Yes, water.
It wasn’t alcohol.
Alcohol certainly suited his appearance, but it was still day time.
He didn’t drink alcohol during the day because he needed to go out at once if something happened.
He was really diligent at work, even if he didn’t look like he was.
“You’re back?”
“Yeah. I’m all tensed from having to talk to a noble.”
“Haha.”
When the boy left him, a tall man approached.
This man was the vice-leader of the mercenaries and he assisted Leonhardt with work.
“So, how was it?”
“Not bad.”
He looked at the vice-leader who was sitting opposite him while looking unamused.
The vice-captain chuckled when he saw this.
“Not bad, huh? What’s that mean?”
“Mm? Just that. Since it seems like we can continue our subjugations without any problems.”
“Which means he’s not a bad noble?”
“That’s right. He didn’t look down on me and he seemed indifferent. He didn’t seem sly.”
The vice-leader looked relieved when he heard that there wouldn’t be any problems with subjugation.
This time, they had heard that the Knight Order would be coming and the thing that Leonhardt and his group was worried about the most was being dragged down by them.
Daniel, the feudal lord of Klaussner, was different; but there were nobles who looked down on commoners.
And they were persistent people who will not become complacent and fall behind commoners; they would rise up by any means necessary.
The bad nobles that the vice-leader was talking about were those people.
The most important person in a Knight Order had to be a noble.
If the captain of the Knight Order that came to Klaussner was that kind of person, then the two thought that they would get in the way of the mercenaries so that they could take all the credit for the subjugations.
They would be annoyed if the subjugation rate dropped, especially at a time like this when the demons were spawning at a faster rate than normal; and they couldn’t tolerate it if someone died because the Knight Order got in their way.
This was beyond the limits of, “It can’t be helped since he’s a noble.”
It wasn’t clear that the captain that Leonhardt met today wasn’t that kind of bad noble.
Nobles are often those who are good at concealing what they really feel or think, and if the captain was that kind of person, then it would be hard to tell what he was actually thinking.
However, Leonhardt believed in his sixth sense.
Whether it was wild instincts or not, Leonhardt’s evaluation of people was usually spot on.
The mercenaries knew this well since they’d experienced it many times.
That Leonhardt had said that it wasn’t bad.
The Knight Order Captain probably isn’t someone who we have to be concerned about, the vice-leader thought.
“Hmm. Well, it’s fine as long as they don’t drag us down.”
“I wonder about that. The knights aside, apparently the 【Saint-sama】, who came with them, is going to participate in the subjugation.”
“What?! So that rumour’s true?”
“Seems like it. Apparently she’s going to go into the forest with the Knight Order.”
The rumour that they were talking about was that the 【Saint】had participated in the demon subjugations around the Royal Capital.
The demons around the Royal Capital had decreased and the rumour spread as if it were true.
This rumour was even brought to the fief by the merchants who travelled from town to town.
Since the rumour was spread through word-of-mouth, it became exaggerated somewhere along the line.
There was even a rumour that the current 【Saint】secluded herself in the Royal Palace and didn’t participate in subjugations.
Therefore, Leonhardt and his group only took the rumours of the 【Saint】participating in subjugations with a grain of salt. And they thought that the most she had done was stay outside of the West Forest when she went there for subjugation.
However, the Knight Order Captain had said that the 【Saint】had entered the forest and properly participated in the mission.
“Either way, the Knight Order will be in charge of the forest. We’ll be outside. It probably won’t affect us.”
“Really? It’ll be fine as long as they don’t make a blunder and drive the demons out of the forest.”
“They’re going to investigate it first. I don’t think we have to worry about that.”
“What the heck! You’re trusting them so much, huh? Is it your usual hunch?”
“Yeah. That man seems like he does his job properly.”
“Hmph. Well, if you say so.”
“It’s instincts,” Leonhardt declared and the vice-captain smiled wryly while thinking about what preparations they would need.
Even if Leonhardt’s instincts were spot-on, unexpected things can still happen.
It was better for them to prepare for those unforeseen circumstances.
They both thought and continued to talk about future missions.
◊♦◊♦◊♦◊
Soft rays of light came into a room, one spring afternoon.
Johan, the owner of the room, was writing documents in the silence.
He finished writing the document in his hand and put down his pen. He put his hand on his shoulder and cracked his neck.
He suddenly looked at the door, but there was no sign that anyone was going to enter.
He glanced at the cup next to him, it was empty.
He sighed and stood up with the cup.
He headed towards the kitchen that had been added to the Research Institute this year.
“Is there anything I could do for you, Waldeck-sama?”
“Can you make me some tea?”
“Certainly.”
The chef that was in the kitchen called out to Johan when he peeked inside.
The chef knew what to do when Johan told him what he wanted. The chef took the cup and walked to the back of the kitchen.
Johan only had to wait, so he stared at the chef’s back as the chef prepared the tea.
A little while after the kitchen was built, they always had hot water prepared. This had become the norm.
The chefs started to prepare hot water because Sei often drank tea during work hours.
Water was boiled on the side for lunch and dinner, so it didn’t take that much time.
Sei wasn’t the only reason that hot water was prepared, the researchers also drank tea often, as well.
Johan was also one of them.
It wasn’t just tea.
The kitchen was built because Sei wanted it, but the diets of the researchers had improved thanks to that.
Before that, the researchers didn’t eat things that could be counted as a meal, since the Research Institute was far from the Royal Palace.
However, they built the kitchen and Sei began to cook, so the researchers could also have proper meals.
One of the reasons for that was because the distance had reduced but, above all, Sei’s cooking was delicious.
Even Johan, who wasn’t even interested in food, would come ‘sample’ the food whenever Sei was in the kitchen.
Come to think of it, the atmosphere of the Research Institute has also changed.
Johan felt that the researchers had drank tea before Sei came here, but they didn’t have a kitchen so he couldn’t recall how they’d made it.
Come to think of it, there was a guy who made tea with the institute’s tools……
Like that, Johan thought about how the Research Institute was.
“Director?” Johan turned around at the voice, and he saw Jude holding a cup like he had.
“Did you also come to get tea, Director?”
“Ah, yeah. You too?”
“Yes. It’s become a habit since I always accompany Sei when she makes tea around this time.”
“Really?”
“Isn’t it the same for you Director? Sei always made your share as well.”
Now that he’s said it, that’s true.
Johan put his hand to his chin and recalled.
Like Jude said, Sei had brought tea to his office up until now.
“Ah, she did,” Johan agreed.
Johan had felt like something had been missing before in the Director’s Office.
She had influenced him without him realising, and he smiled wryly.
Jude looked at the Director in wonder.
“I wonder what she’s doing right now.”
“Well, I guess she’ll do the same thing she always does.”
“Yeah. The place she’s going to is that place, so she’s probably making potions over there.”
“Feels like she’ll make a large amount of potions again.”
They thought about Sei, who was far off in Klaussner, when Johan suddenly asked that question.
The two smiled as they imaged Sei doing the same things as she always did at the Research Institute.
Klaussner was known as a sacred place for pharmacists.
She would probably be making potions livelier than she did at the Research Institute.
Johan and Jude didn’t say this out loud, but they were both thinking the same thing.
“It’s not just potions, she’ll probably be cooking too.”
“Ah, no, I wonder about that. I told her not to cook in public……”
“Ah you did, didn’t you? But the people who are with her are the 3rd Knight Order.” Jude said and Johan made an unpleasant face when he realised something.
Sei was a serious person, so she obediently followed Johan’s orders.
He had ordered her not to cook in public, because her cooking greatly improved physical abilities and she had kept her word.
However, she did cook when she ‘wasn’t in public’, like at the Research Institute kitchen.
Most of Sei’s cooking went into the researcher’s stomachs. They also delivered some to the 3rd Knight Order.
The knights from the 3rd Knight Order knew how delicious Sei’s cooking was, so they asked the food to be delivered to them.
The 3rd Knight Order was there when they discovered the effects of Sei’s cooking, so Johan concluded that it was already too late to hide it, and gave Sei permission to deliver food to the 3rd Knight Order.
Of course, the knights were forbidden from talking about the effects of Sei’s food.
That was the condition of the food delivery.
She had received permission to cook then.
The place had changed, but if Sei was in a place with only the 3rd Knight Order, and they asked her to cook, then she would probably cook.
Johan knew that Sei had a weak spot for those she was close with and she wouldn’t say no to them.
Even if they didn’t ask her, she would probably cook her own food and end up making food for the 3rd Knight Order as well.
That was what had happened at the Research Institute.
Johan looked up at the ceiling.
The Royal Palace had ordered that she had to hide all her abilities apart from her 【Saint】ones.
It became clear in this year that Sei had some unbelievable abilities.
What kind of commotion would it create if those abilities were made public?
Johan could understand why they ordered Sei to hide her abilities; they feared the conflict that could arise at the Royal Palace.
Therefore, Johan carried out the Royal Palace’s order.
However, the effects of Sei’s cooking were relatively moderate.
The effects of her cooking were less obvious than her potions, so Johan probably didn’t have to worry about that.
Since Sei wasn’t the only one who would improve physical abilities through cooking.
People with the cooking skill could all do this, although the effects varied.
In the first place, there was nothing Johan could do since she was far away.
He thought and decided to leave the matter to those next to her.
He decided to stop thinking about it.
“I’m hungry.” Johan remembered Sei’s food while thinking and it made him hungry.
“Ah, I was just thinking that.” Jude was also hungry.
The two smiled wryly again.
Both of them had been influenced by Sei.
With great timing, the chef walked in with a tray.
“Thank you for waiting.”
“Mhm? What’s this?”
“I thought that the both of you would be hungry.”
On the tray that the chef had brought were 2 large plates with their herbal tea.
There were two types of sandwiches on the plates; they were the ones that Sei always made.
One had finely chopped cucumbers and herbs with mayonnaise and the other was filled with boiled eggs.
The Chef remembered what Sei always made with tea while saying, “Afternoon tea should be served with this, right?”
It was probably charming that someone’s stomach growled when they saw the sandwiches.
“Thanks. We were hungry.”
“Thank you. Well then, Director, good work.”
“Yeah. Good work.”
Johan cleared his throat and grabbed a plate. Jude also took a plate and returned to the laboratory.
Johan watched Jude leave and then looked at his plate.
No one plated their food like that in Slantania Kingdom. It was easy to carry a large plate which had sandwiches and a tea cup on it.
The chefs had copied Sei, since she put her snacks onto one plate.
Johan noticed that he wasn’t the only one who was influenced by Sei, and smiled wryly inside.
She had said that she wanted to live a normal life, but she was influencing those around her in some ways, and she would probably influence those in Klaussner too.
It was hard for him to imagine that Alberto, who was together with her, could handle her.
He walked through the corridor and smiled wryly, she’ll probably cause some kind of trouble.
He cheered for those two and returned to his office with his plate.
Translator: Blushy
Editor: Sam
