“I’m home.”
“Welcome home. Kent, Al.”
A little time passed, and Kent and Al returned to the Saintess’s office. Patty, who realized they were back, called out to them.
“Everyone looks tired.”
“They do. Kent and Al, we don’t know what might happen, so it might be good for you to rest a little while you can.”
In the Saintess’s office, Catherine was asleep, her head resting on her desk. Yulia, sitting next to Patty on the sofa, had her head in Patty’s lap and was asleep. Across the table, Gordon was sleeping soundly.
“Mika is here, but what about Rachel?”
“Rachel hasn’t returned yet. Marie, Josette, and Caro left to help at the temple.”
“I see. Thank you.”
Kent had asked about Rachel, though he couldn’t see her. Patty relayed that she hadn’t returned to the room yet and also informed him of the whereabouts of others not in the room.
“I’m home.”
“Welcome back. Huh? Was Caro with you?”
“Yes, we met on the way by chance, so I ended up coming along.”
Rachel returned then. Caro was behind her, and she told Kent they had met on the way.
“Kent, your clothes are in tatters. Shall I find something for you to change into?”
“They really are. Although, I might not have anything I can change into.”
At Patty’s suggestion, Kent looked at the clothes he was wearing. They were originally Gordon’s uniform, but after the attack on the castle and the battle in front of the temple, they were torn in several places and very dirty. In any other situation besides this emergency, he would have changed immediately.
“Master, how about the clothes worn by the temple staff? I know where they are kept.”
“But is it okay to just take them?”
“In that case, I’ll wake up the person in charge and ask.”
“Stop that!”
“Ouch!”
Al was about to wake up the exhausted Catherine, so Kent stopped him.
“If it’s just to borrow them for a bit, I don’t think we need to ask.”
“It’s an emergency, so I agree.”
Rachel and Caro also decided that permission wasn’t necessary and told Kent.
“Understood. Well then, Al, lead the way.”
“Understood, Roger that.”
Kent was guided by Al to borrow the reserve staff uniforms.
“I’ve changed.”
Kent finished changing and returned to the Saintess’s office with Al.
“The size seems fine. I had prepared to adjust it if it was off, but it seems unnecessary.”
Rachel looked intently at the clothes Kent was wearing, checking for any irregularities.
“Well, I should check it while I have the chance.”
Kent took out the device he had and placed it on the table.
“The screen still doesn’t turn on, as expected.”
Kent pressed and held the power button attached to the bent edge of the device, but the screen still didn’t respond.
“Older brother, maybe it’s just that the screen isn’t turning on, but you can still input things?”
“Ah, it’s worth a try. I think this area is for item selection, and this is for purchase and confirmation, right?”
At Rachel’s suggestion, considering the possibility that the device was only malfunctioning because the screen wasn’t lighting up, he touched the approximate areas and tried to input.
“There’s no response.”
“It seems so.”
They tried with a sliver of hope, but there was no response. Kent and Rachel were disappointed.
“Ah, then how about trying to call it? See, with the smartphones we have… Huh? It says ‘no service’.”
Just then, Patty had the idea to try calling Kent’s device. She took out her smartphone to try and call it, but noticed it displayed ‘no service’.
“Because Emily was acting as a relay station, and now that she’s gone, our smartphones have likely lost their communication functions. Look, my smartphone also shows ‘no service’.”
Saying this, Caro took out her own smartphone and showed them the screen.
“Emily.”
“Kent, it’s okay to cry when you’re hurting.”
“Thank you, Caro. *Sniffle*, Emily!”
Remembering Emily, Kent’s expression turned pained. Caro, noticing this, gently hugged him. In her embrace, Kent finally broke down and cried uncontrollably. His crying woke up Catherine, Gordon, and Yulia, but they sensed why he was crying and pretended to be asleep, not wanting to see.
“Kent, are you feeling better?”
“I’m sorry, Caro, I dirtied your clothes.”
“Compared to Kent’s sadness, this is nothing.”
After crying for a while, Kent calmed down and pulled away from Caro. Her clothes were now covered in Kent’s bodily fluids, including tears and snot. Kent apologized to Caro, but she kindly replied that it was no big deal.
“Everyone, dinner is ready!”
“Ah, it’s my job, I’m sorry to make Mother do it. I’ll help right away!”
Just then, Marie entered, as if timing it perfectly. Yulia, noticing the trolley with dinner behind her, rushed over to help.
“Marie, I apologize for leaving my post. I’ll help too.”
“Thank you, Caro.”
Caro hadn’t returned to her post and had been providing emotional support to Rachel and Kent, so she hadn’t gone back to the kitchen and dining hall where she had been helping. Normally, she would be reprimanded for leaving her post during work, but since she was originally in a volunteer capacity, Marie didn’t scold Caro.
“Is this the correct position for the table?”
“Ah, stop there. I’ll move the chairs.”
“Understood. I just need to move this, right?”
Gordon and Kent worked together to move the desk and chairs in the office so they could all eat together. Royalty wouldn’t usually do such chores, but Gordon moved the desk and chairs as Kent instructed without a word of complaint.
“What is going on?”
“Josette, welcome back. We’re rearranging the room so we can have dinner.”
“Is that so? I’ll help with something too.”
Josette returned then. She was surprised by the large-scale rearrangement but seemed to understand after hearing the reason.
” ” ” “We will begin our meal.” ” ” ”
When the preparations were complete and everyone had gathered, it was time for dinner. As they were evacuating, the meal was simple, consisting only of preserved hardtack and soup with various ingredients. This menu was the same as that provided to the other evacuees. The reason they chose to have their meal in this room was that the dining hall was being used by staff and guards, and the evacuees were to eat in their assigned spaces within the sanctuary. There was no other suitable place.
“Even with just one dish of soup, preparing it for so many people must have been a huge task.”
“It was. We used a large pot for the soup kitchen, but just boiling the water was a massive undertaking. And cutting the ingredients felt like an endless repetition of the same task.”
Kent remarked that even a single dish would be a huge undertaking given the number of evacuees. Marie then began to describe what it was like.
” ” ” “Thank you for the meal.” ” ” ”
As there were few dishes, dinner ended in a short amount of time.
“Now, this is where the problem lies.”
After dinner and once the cleanup was mostly done, Catherine spoke to everyone with a serious expression.
