As I wrote last time, please be aware that some parts of this text may be offensive to some readers.
(Come to think of it, last night… was that teleportation magic?)
Kent recalled how Emily seemed to descend from nowhere when he supplied her with magic power the previous night. At the time, he was too focused on enduring Al and Hanako’s persistent prodding to pay attention, but now that he thought about it, it might have been teleportation.
“I perhaps should have ended the story here, but since we’ve been given this opportunity to talk, I’ll tell you about everything that’s happened so far.” Margaret, raising her head, began her next story.
“That’s right. Let’s start with the story of when I first met Kent. It will include things I’ve told you before, so I apologize if I’m repeating myself.” Margaret picked up a teacup from the table and took a sip.
“We met by chance. I remember I was curious about the food called baked sweet potato that was rumored in town and had sneaked out to try some.” Just as Margaret said, Kent and she had first met in front of a stall selling baked sweet potatoes. In the end, they were interrupted, and neither Kent nor Margaret could eat there.
“Actually, remember when some men cut in line while everyone was waiting? I was blown away then, but if I had wanted to, I could have easily taken them down.” Margaret is a water magic user. Apparently, if she had used her full power, she could have dealt with men like that with ease using magic.
“I was surprised by the amount of magic power Kent and Rachel possessed when I happened to see them. I thought that even in this country where magic has declined, there were still people with such amazing magic power. I immediately wanted a reason to get to know them, so I took that action.” The Queen confessed that their encounter was an act.
“After that, I was somewhat shocked when I was guided to Marie’s Bakery. The immense amount of magic power gathered in that area, and the various machines and furnishings made with techniques that don’t exist in this country. But the most surprising thing was the existence of fairies. I don’t think Hanako was there at the time… While a certain number of shop-attached fairies, a lower-ranking type, can be confirmed in this town, the magic power they possessed was incomparably higher than that of other shop-attached fairies. I don’t think they would lose even when compared to a group called mid-ranking fairies. And then there were the mid-ranking fairies, whose presence hadn’t been confirmed in this country for a long time. What surprised me even more was that Kent had contracted with both of them. Normally, a person can only contract with one fairy. When you contract, you need to supply magic power to the fairy, and considering the strain on your body, that’s the limit. Shop-attached fairies can supply magic power through the store based on its prosperity, so even those with low magic power can contract with them, but mid-ranking fairies, who don’t have such magic power supply assistance, cannot contract unless they possess sufficient magic power to match.” Margaret spoke about her first visit to Marie’s Bakery.
“I also became interested in Kent, who had contracted with two fairies under such conditions. I thought I had to win him over and took immediate action after returning to the castle. Unfortunately, by the time I made my move, the Duke’s family had already intervened, and I regretted it when I learned that Elnet and Josette were already with Kent. I wondered why I hadn’t learned about Kent sooner. After that, I sent Clara as a supervisor.” Margaret seemed to be trying to win Kent over.
“I sent her thinking she was a capable person, but she ended up breaking many things, causing a lot of trouble for the shop and Kent at the time.” Clara had poor compatibility with machines and broke many of the fixtures in Marie’s Bakery and Kent’s house. Although compensation was paid later, the amount of damage was considerable.
“As I did various investigations, I learned about Catherine’s existence, who possessed magic power that allowed her to communicate with fairies. Marie, she’s your daughter.” Then Margaret began to talk about Catherine.
“Catherine had excellent potential. If trained, she could undoubtedly become a court mage in other countries. However, magic research in this country is lagging and is at a completely unacceptable level compared to other nations. I thought we needed facilities for magic research and mage training. Fortunately, there was an empty space next to Marie’s shop, which is a magic spot, and a large farmland behind it. I forcefully secured the budget, acquired the land, and began preparations to build a magic research institute.” Kent and Marie felt a slight doubt about Margaret’s story. What was next to Marie’s Bakery was not a magic research institute, but a sanctuary for worshipping God. They wondered why she would deliberately use a different name.
“Your Majesty. A magic research institute instead of a sanctuary?”
“Yes, it was a magic research institute in the initial plan. Kent, who has great magic power allowing him to contract with multiple fairies, Elnet, a promising magic user, and you, Catherine, who has the power to interact with fairies. And Rachel also has considerable magic power. There is no place in this country where such powerful people can gather in a country where magic has been lost.” Margaret spoke happily.
“But at that point, Catherine was still immature, so she needed to study magic. Therefore, I decided to educate her during the construction of the magic research institute so that she could become an excellent mage.”
“But Catherine isn’t a mage, she’s a saint, isn’t she?” While it made sense to associate it with a magic research institute as a mage, they didn’t understand why it was changed to a sanctuary or why Catherine became a saint.
“Yes, there’s a reason why the plan was suddenly changed. In the past, there were gods in this country.”
“Yes, I heard about gods from Cindy at the sanctuary that was in the previous location. Um, Cindy is…”
“I appointed Cindy as a priest, so I know of her existence. That child gets overly excited when she sees powerful fairies and has a habit of taking them home. If she’s told you about gods, I can skip the explanation. It’s only left in books and legends now, but it seems this country also had fairies that protected the country.” Kent tried to explain who Cindy was, but Margaret stated that since she had appointed her as a priest, there was no need for an explanation.
“The existence of high-ranking fairies who protect the country. Some other countries have similar fairies, but they basically belong to one of the four elements: fire, water, wind, or earth. However, the fairies recorded in the books of this country do not belong to these… no, they could use the four elements and also had abilities of other elements.” Margaret picked up her cup and took a sip to rehydrate.
“Actually, I accidentally saw Hanako using teleportation magic during the school festival. As I mentioned a little while ago, teleportation magic, which manipulates space, requires great magic power, and only those who can use it are mentioned in legends. So, I formed a hypothesis. What if Hanako is actually a high-ranking fairy disguised as a lower-ranking one? And, if she were a high-ranking fairy, she might be a god who disappeared from this country.”
“No way.”
“Is she a god?” Kent and Marie, who usually saw Hanako, couldn’t believe Margaret’s hypothesis.
“The appearance described in legends is very different from her, but fairies can change their size relatively freely, so appearances are not to be relied upon. Believing that hypothesis was correct, I changed the plan from building a magic research institute to a facility where gods could reside, a sanctuary. I changed the educational policy of Catherine, who was supposed to become a mage, to that of a saint, who would be in charge. She was quite quick to grasp things, and I thought she should have been educated as a saint much earlier. I proceeded with preparations to accept Hanako as a god immediately if my hypothesis turned out to be true. And it became a certainty when I sent Elnet as a trainee.” She explained the reason for changing the construction from a magic research institute to a sanctuary. Kent was amazed by the power to easily change a plan involving large sums of money based on a whim.
“At that time, Cedric, who was reported missing, was actually sent far away by Hanako using transfer magic. When I investigated his whereabouts, I couldn’t find him within the country. According to my investigation, I received information that someone resembling him was seen in a village on the frontier of the neighboring duchy. If that’s correct, it means the magic was powerful enough to send him abroad.”
“A duchy…” According to stories heard before, the duchy is located next to this country and was founded by a former duke of this country who lost in a succession dispute and fled there. Although expeditionary forces were dispatched from this kingdom several times, they failed due to obstruction by the deep forest, and since then, the two countries have remained in a stalemate.
“Well, Cedric aside. I’m sorry for his father, but if he’s gone, he’s gone.” Margaret casually dismissed the topic of Cedric.
“Those working at Marie’s Bakery… no, those around Kent are influenced and have started to exhibit some kind of remarkable ability. For example, Caro’s acute sense of smell, Elnet’s swordsmanship, and Josette’s stealth abilities.”
“I am by Kent’s side, but I don’t have any such abilities, do I?” While Margaret was right, Caro’s sense of smell is superior to that of a dog, and Elnet’s swordsmanship is said to be top-class in the country. Regarding Josette, despite being a duke’s daughter, she often made people feel as if she wasn’t there, or suddenly appeared right next to them, making them feel like she was overlooked by everyone. As for Marie, Kent couldn’t think of anything.
“Yes, then I’ll ask. How old will you be next month?”
“Um? Well, thir… ty…” In this country, every citizen, regardless of commoner or aristocrat, turns one year older on January 1st every year. Marie said it hesitantly. Since her voice was quiet, Kent couldn’t catch the latter part. However, he thought it would be rude to ask a woman her age again and, despite his curiosity, couldn’t ask for clarification.
“That’s right… but you were mistaken for Catherine’s older sister by Marc and kidnapped, weren’t you?”
“Huh? Well, yes.” Marie’s face fell slightly when Margaret mentioned her unpleasant past memory. She had reconciled with Marc, but she didn’t seem to have completely moved on.
“That’s how old people think you are now. I’m truly envious. That is your ability.” When Margaret said that, Marie recalled her past self and realized that while her figure hadn’t changed, her skin’s radiance and facial features seemed younger. Kent, having seen her every day, hadn’t noticed the change.
“I wanted to bring someone with such a mysterious ability into the Royal family. So, I thought of marrying off the Second Prince, who has a low claim to the throne, to someone. In the case of the First Prince, his bride would have to be of aristocratic rank or have a considerable position, but with Gordon, it’s possible to push through a marriage with a commoner. As you know, Gordon is not good at socializing. But for some reason, he was able to talk with Rachel. They started meeting frequently around April when she entered school and had many conversations. So, I chose her as the first target to bring into the Royal family.”
“Huh?” Kent and Marie exclaimed in surprise at Margaret’s shocking words.
This has become quite long, so I will end it here for now. This story will continue, so please bear with me a little longer.
