Mitsuki, heading towards Alec, spoke first to Shurein and Peach.
“You can let go now.”
At her words, the power that had been restraining Alec was released.
Alec glared at Mitsuki for a while, but Mitsuki remained smiling and gave no particular reaction.
“……What is the meaning of this?” cried Alec, hiding his obvious anger as he questioned Mitsuki.
Alec didn’t know if Kousuke was involved in this matter, but he correctly deduced that Mitsuki was in charge here. He was confident of this, given that she had gone to such lengths to come to him.
“Oh, what do you mean?”
“…What you did to Floria just now.”
Although Alec’s tone was calm, it was clear he was suppressing his emotions. Mitsuki, on the other hand, did not break her smile.
“That was entirely out of personal grudges. Ah… Kouhi asked me to say hello too.”
“What?”
“Oh, you didn’t think that your apology alone would excuse what you did to Kousuke-sama, did you?”
“…Was my apology insufficient?”
“That’s not it. Why are you apologizing when he himself isn’t? It makes no sense, doesn’t it?”
Silvia, Shurein, and Peach, who were nearby, nodded in agreement. Floria, who had approached her father with Mitsuki, interjected.
“Father, she’s right. I was wrong then. So…”
“You be quiet,” Alec forcefully interrupted his daughter’s words and continued to Mitsuki.
“You hurt her that badly out of personal grudges?”
Mitsuki shrugged.
“I didn’t inflict damage as severe as it looked. Besides, I would never do anything to leave a scar on a girl.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about!”
“Oh? Then what is it? If you hadn’t gone that far, your precious Floria wouldn’t have even noticed, would she?”
At these words, Alec glared at Mitsuki.
“Does that mean it’s okay to go that far?”
“It’s not ‘okay,’ it’s just that she finally noticed after you went that far, isn’t it? If you had apologized, I would have released her immediately. Also… why are you in such a hurry?”
“…What are you talking about?”
Alec’s expression didn’t change at all, but Mitsuki wasn’t so foolish as to miss his inner turmoil. Mitsuki let out an exaggerated sigh.
“Is it that Floria’s blessing isn’t as absolute as they say? Or did you try to use your daughter to improve your own position?”
“…Father?”
Alec’s expression remained unchanged even after Mitsuki’s words, but Floria, who had been listening silently, reacted.
“Floria, don’t react to her every word. She’s just trying to gauge our reactions by speaking.”
“Oh, that’s not entirely true?”
“…What?”
Mitsuki didn’t answer Alec’s question, but simply turned her gaze to Silvia. Silvia, understanding Mitsuki’s intent, took out the Crown Card she carried in her shrine maiden outfit and showed it to Alec and Floria.
“I too possess a blessing. The entity from whom I receive this blessing is the God Elisamil. And I have heard of you from Elisamil.”
“Wha!?”
Their surprise held two meanings. First, that there was someone with a blessing present in this place. Second, that this person with a blessing was wearing a shrine maiden outfit. It wasn’t that there were no shrine maidens with blessings. Nor was it unusual for those in the clergy to operate away from the temple. However, a combination of the two was unheard of. If someone in the clergy received a blessing, they would undoubtedly be kept within the divine realm; it would be almost impossible for them to freely go out. Alec had been hinted at such an existence by Kousuke before, but he hadn’t expected them to appear so easily. He had even suspected a connection to the church. Silvia, the impossible existence, continued.
“Furthermore, there are other blessed individuals in this tower.”
Silvia did not say who they were or what kind of beings they were.
“…What do you mean?”
“What about it?”
“Is this a coincidence?”
There were at least three blessed individuals in this tower. It was too much to be a mere coincidence, hence his question.
“We weren’t explicitly told that blessed individuals would come, but if we receive such an oracle, it cannot be called a coincidence.”
Receiving an oracle meant that at least the will of a god was involved.
“…Why? Why is there a need to gather blessed individuals in a place like this?”
“I couldn’t tell you why. Gods have their own reasons. Besides…”
Silvia turned her face towards Mitsuki. Mitsuki, meeting her gaze, nodded once and spoke to Alec.
“Whether you are deliberately ignoring it or simply cannot accept it, you already understand that Kousuke-sama is different from his appearance, don’t you?”
“…”
Alec had already spoken with the Division Heads of the Crown. He had, of course, spoken with Gazeran as well, and had heard about the circumstances under which Gazeran joined the Crown. He had confirmed that Kousuke was deliberately displaying his power more overtly than when he met Floria. So why hadn’t he displayed his power when meeting Floria, even if it was understandable for him to do so with Alec? Alec couldn’t fathom the reason and had postponed reaching a conclusion.
Incidentally, Kousuke himself hadn’t acted with any particular intention in mind. He was simply carried along by Floria’s words and Kouhi’s subsequent actions, and he felt that further displaying his power at that point would only be showing off and wouldn’t serve much purpose. As a post-hoc justification, he thought that threatening Floria with power then would not give Alec a good impression. Moreover, it also connected with what Mitsuki was about to do.
“Didn’t you find it strange in the first place? When we conquered this tower, it was just Kousuke-sama, Kouhi, and me. How could we have conquered it with just three people?”
“…What are you trying to say?”
“It’s this.”
The moment Mitsuki said that, a momentary flash of light emanated from her body. It wasn’t a blinding light, but everyone present instinctively raised their arms to shield their eyes from it. When the light subsided, Alec and Floria lowered their arms and looked at Mitsuki, both of them gasping in unison.
Spreading from Mitsuki’s back were a pair of black wings.
“…A spokesperson…” Floria murmured, looking stunned.
Alec remained speechless.
“Let me tell you, Kouhi is the same as me. She has white wings, though.”
In contrast to the astonished pair, Silvia and the others were not overly surprised. They had seen Kouhi and Mitsuki’s true forms—three pairs of wings on each—once before.
“…Indeed, it’s tremendous no matter how many times I see it,” Shurein said in admiration. Silvia and Peach nodded in agreement.
Incidentally, they were only showing one pair of wings intentionally, just as Kouhi had done at the temple previously. In this case, revealing just one pair was sufficient, and they didn’t feel the need to show all of them.
“Needless to say, Kouhi and I are not here for this tower. We are with Kousuke-sama. Therefore, stop any futile thoughts of trying to take control of this tower in his stead.”
Mitsuki said this plainly, without any intimidation, but Alec, who was the recipient of her words, shivered. He hadn’t specifically planned anything. Still, he couldn’t deny having had thoughts of “what if.” However, those thoughts instantly vanished before this sight.
I had intended to end the story here, but it has become longer than expected. It will continue for one more installment(?).
May 11, 2014: Corrected typos and grammatical errors.
June 19, 2014: Corrected typos.
