The Power of the Saint is All Around (LN) - Volume 9 - Chapter 2

Act 2:

Tidings from Abroad

AFTER SUCH A FUN DAY OFF, I was full of  enthusiasm for work the next day. I was on my way to the institute, thinking about how to start tackling my to-do list, when Johan called me over. That in itself wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.

What could he need? Maybe he’s going to ask me to deliver some document or something to the knights or the mages? I thought as I headed over to him. He made his way over to me as well.

“Do you need something?”

Johan’s answer to my question was brief. “You’ve been summoned.”

“I have?”

The palace had requested my presence, so a carriage was waiting for me at the entrance to the institute. As it turned out, there was an official waiting as well, whom I assumed had been sent to fetch me. It seemed important, if he had been told to bring me to the palace at once.

Had something pressing come up? The official seemed kind of tense. But when I asked, he claimed that he had only been told to escort me to the palace and that he didn’t know why.

At any rate, I knew I was going to see the king.

“I apologize for summoning you on such short notice,” the king said.

“It’s all right.”

“Please, have a seat.” 

At the king’s suggestion, Johan and I settled on the sofas. We were in the king’s office, as we had been so many times before.

Curiously, the prime minister sat down as well, which led me to believe that this was going to be a long ­conversation—and on a topic that required absolute secrecy, at that.

After the four chamberlains had served our tea, they were ordered to leave the room. Usually, the guards were permitted to remain, but even they were asked to exit.

I glanced at Johan, and even he looked unusually tense.

Once it was just the four of us, the king told us, “We have received an urgent letter from Zaidera.”

An urgent letter? The first thing that popped into my head was Prince Ten’yuu’s mother. But hadn’t they told us that the panacea had healed her? I held my tongue for now; I had no idea what else this letter might be about.

The king continued, “It said that a member of the delegation sent to Zaidera has fallen ill.”

Did he mean the team that had been dispatched to Zaidera as a cultural exchange kind of thing? The one that came about after Prince Ten’yuu came to Salutania to study abroad? If I remembered correctly, the crown prince was part of that delegation.

“Fallen ill? Is there an epidemic or something?” Johan asked as he furrowed his brow.

“It is as yet unclear. At the time when the letter was written, only one member had fallen ill.”

So we had no idea yet if anyone else had contracted this disease, whatever it might be.

“Just the one? But if a letter was sent regardless… Does the illness come with peculiar symptoms?”

“At first it was a high fever, headache, and nausea. However, a few days after the first signs of illness, they fell unconscious and have remained so ever since.”

“And that’s why they sent the letter?”

“Indeed. However, though the symptoms are troubling, it is but a single patient—hardly what we would consider an emergency. Unfortunately, the patient is of high rank, and as such they have submitted a request that we dispatch someone able to treat him.”

Johan’s frown deepened.

It was just as the king said; I found it hard to believe that a single sick person who’d caught what sounded like a bad cold would be considered a crisis worthy of sending an urgent summons abroad. This world’s means of communication were quite limited compared to my old one, and correspondence took time.

The most concerning parts of this were the facts that the patient was still unconscious, that they were worried the illness might spread, and that the patient was of high status.

A person of high status… Did they mean Prince Kyle? But surely they would have made that clear if that was the case. So maybe the patient was from the house of a marquis or someone of even higher standing? Since the delegation had gone abroad, I doubted any families would have sent their heirs, but they could have sent other children of notable skill. I could see how someone who was both of high rank and exceptional skill falling unconscious would be a reason to send an urgent letter…

“If you’re going to send someone who can cure this illness, then does that mean your candidate will need to be capable of using Holy Magic?” Johan asked in a somewhat accusatory tone.

With a sigh, the king nodded. “Yes.”

Common practice in this world was to either wait for a sickness to pass on its own or to drink a concoction of boiled herbs. It was also common to drink status cure potions. They weren’t so dissimilar from the kinds of medicines that were prescribed back in my old world.

However, these potions were all of high grade. The herbs used to make them were expensive, and very few people could actually make them—meaning that the ­potions themselves were incredibly expensive. Furthermore, each type of potion used a recipe specific to the ailment it was meant to cure, so you couldn’t exactly become an expert overnight.

Because of this, when trying to aid someone far away, it would make more sense to send a mage who could use Holy Magic rather than someone who needed to rely on specific potions. But mages were even more expensive to hire than the cost of any given potion. What’s more, even Holy Magic had its limits—it couldn’t just cure everything. While it was simpler to deploy than complicated potions, a mage’s healing capability depended on their level in Holy Magic. All that being said, I could assume that the king was planning to send someone who fit exactly that bill.

As it so happened, I was, beyond a doubt, the person with the highest Holy Magic level in the entire kingdom: Despite the fact that Level 10 was thought to be the highest level in elemental magics, I was Level ∞. 

No one had any idea that I possessed this specifically absurd level, but they did know my level was high, because I had mistakenly let it show on multiple occasions. As such, I could pretty much guess that they were planning to send me.

Considering they had summoned me here, Johan had likely come to the same conclusion. That was the reason that Johan was practically interrogating the king.

However, it seemed we were wrong.

“As it so happens, this time, we’re considering just sending a potion.”

“One for curing status abnormalities?”

“No, actually. The panacea that Sei made.”

At this, both Johan and I stared at the king in shock.

It was true that with a panacea, the ill delegate would be cured, no matter their ailment. The grand magus himself had determined as much with his Appraise spell, and we had moreover heard that Prince Ten’yuu’s mother had made a complete recovery thanks to it.

The prime minister then stepped in to explain that they had indeed decided to send a mage to Zaidera, but as they didn’t know if the mage would be able to heal the patient, they were thinking of sending a panacea along with them—just in case.

I had entrusted the king and prime minister with all the panaceas I had made, so it seemed they just wanted to have my permission as a show of good faith.

“You don’t mind, do you?”

“Of course not. Please, feel free to use it as you see fit.”

But didn’t we decide that the fact of the panacea’s very existence was supposed to be a carefully guarded secret? Although I guess if the king and prime minister decide that this is fort the best, then I have no reason to object. I did make them to cure illnesses, after all. They should be used for their intended purpose.

With that sentiment in mind, I gave my permission, at which the king and prime minister both smiled.

Johan also looked relieved; he was just glad that this meant that I didn’t need to go.

That was thankfully the end of our discussion, so we said our goodbyes and left the office.

***

The day after I had been summoned by the king, I was having my magic class at the palace when Grand Magus Yuri Drewes casually said, “Oh, by the way, it will be a while before our next lesson.”

“Are you going on an expedition?”

Yuri was obsessed with magic, so he saw our lessons as a bit of private fun for himself—especially because our practical lessons gave him a chance to observe the Saint in action. In short, he never canceled lessons unless he had to go out monster-slaying, which led me to my question. But by the sounds of it, he wasn’t going anywhere nearby.

But the king had only just recently announced that the monster threat was over now… It was this very doubt that had led me to ask.

His response took me by surprise. “Of a sort. To Zaidera, this time.”

“What? Zaidera?!” I raised my voice unthinkingly—we’d only just been discussing that country yesterday. The king had said he would be dispatching a mage. Did that mean he was sending Yuri?! “Does this have to do with Holy Magic?”

The king had said that this matter was strictly confidential, so I wasn’t sure how much I could say.

But since he’s been told enough to know where he’s headed, it should probably be okay to bring up that they were looking to send someone like him, right? I thought before I asked, only for him to respond with a similar question in turn.

“Oh? Did you receive the same request?”

“Not quite. They asked for one of my potions.”

“Ah, I see.”

I didn’t mention the panacea by name, but Yuri seemed to grasp what I meant and nodded to himself.

In short, Yuri was probably the one going to Zaidera, since he was a mage and could call on Holy Magic. He had been selected because, of all the mages in the Royal Magi Assembly, he had the highest level in that element.

I had heard that he could use all known Holy Magic spells, but today I learned for the first time that he had also reached Level 10 in every elemental category.

Level 10 is the highest level you can reach for elemental magic, right? So, wait a minute—does that mean he’s hit max level for everything? At this realization, two thoughts popped into my head simultaneously: “Well, that’s no surprise,” and, “Addict.”

By the latter, I definitely meant the kind of person who gets so obsessed with something that it negatively impacts their lives—like someone who gets addicted to games. But while Yuri wasn’t addicted to games or drugs, he was so obsessed with slaying monsters that one could say that it had definitely had an unfortunate side effect on the rest of his life.

At any rate, I was surprised that Salutania was sending the grand magus himself. He was one of the strongest assets in their military, so I would never have assumed they would just allow him to waltz over the border.

Perhaps it’s because they don’t have to worry as much about monsters? On the other hand, Zaidera is pretty far away. So it makes sense to send your strongest mage from the start, as you can’t just blithely send more if the first doesn’t work out. 

“I hear that Zaidera practices magic that we don’t even have, so I’m very much looking forward to this trip.”

While Yuri was being sent to go cure someone of their illness, his mind was on other matters. He was all smiles as he described these new arcane secrets.

At least he’s predictable… But is this really okay? Although I feel like pointing it out would only be an exercise in futility. I think I’ll just keep my mouth shut, I thought as I watched him weakly and held up my end of the conversational bargain with an appropriate response. “Unknown magic, huh?”

“That’s right!” he said excitedly. “They have these things called talismans. Enchanted objects.”

“Talismans?” The word made me think of the Chinese talismans I had seen in old movies. I couldn’t really remember any particulars, but I tried to conjure an image in my mind.

As I was mulling over these memories, Yuri’s eyes sparkled. “I hear that they draw some manner of pattern on them using a special ink. The pattern is what determines the nature of its magical effect.” Then he clapped his hands together as if something had just occurred to him. “And they have rice dishes too!”

“Oh, yes, I’m sure they must have an entire region dedicated to growing it.”

“They have all the dishes you’ve made for us already—and so many more. I can’t wait to use this opportunity to try them!”

Depending on a person’s Cooking Skill, their dishes could come with all sorts of effects, such as HP recovery or increasing the might of physical attacks. The effects differed depending on the ingredients of the meal, and meals made with rice happened to be particularly effective with enhancing magic. As a result, Yuri loved rice.

As it happened, this very main ingredient for these dishes wasn’t cultivated in the Kingdom of Salutania. However, they did grow it in Zaidera, so meals with rice were considered Zaideran. A lot of Zaideran cuisine reminded me of Chinese food. Of course, there were sure to be dishes I had never tried before there too. The grand magus was so excited specifically because he wanted to eat these foods he had never been able to try.

This is great and all, but he hasn’t forgotten the primary purpose of going to Zaidera, right? He’s going there to heal a sick person. Can we really leave this mission in his hands? He’s not going to forget to help the patient and just spend all his time on some kind of restaurant crawl, right?

Driven by this concern, I said, “Right, but make sure you actually see to that patient.”

“Of course I’ll see them,” he assured me.

Yeah, I’ll just try to believe in him…

The next day, while I was stirring a cauldron full of potion ingredients, for some reason, my thoughts started drifting to Zaidera.

I didn’t spare too much thought for the unconscious patient, because I had no choice but to entrust the task to the grand magus. I figured it ought to work out in the end, given his gift in Holy Magic; he would surely be able to cure the most pressing symptoms.

The previous day, our conversation had mainly turned to the topic of rice, but Zaidera also had other ingredients that couldn’t be found in the kingdom of Salutania.

They had vegetables and spices that I recognized from Chinese cuisine, as well as seasonings like miso and soy sauce. Prince Ten’yuu had also told me that they cultivated all manner of tea, such as non-fermented green tea, semi-fermented oolong, and even flower teas like jasmine.

I mainly drank herbal teas these days, but I sure would have loved to drink some green tea. And oolong and jasmine too, of course. But imports were exceedingly expensive, so they weren’t easy to get ahold of. This was why I wanted to start growing tea plants here in Salutania, but unfortunately, I didn’t know how. I couldn’t stop thinking about how nice it would be if I could go to Zaidera and learn how to grow rice, how to make miso, and all kinds of things like that.

Come to think of it, I’d had a similar conversation about herbs once. Prince Ten’yuu had sent a ton of herbal seeds and seedlings that were native to Zaidera as a thank-you for letting him observe us at the institute. They were being grown in the fields of the institute and annex, but some of them weren’t taking very well, probably because of the climate.

My coworkers and I were trying to figure out exactly why, but we weren’t making much progress. The problem was that we had never seen healthy versions of the plants, so there were a ton of things we had yet to learn. I would have loved to see them growing in their natural habitat in order to solve this riddle—or to interview people who knew how to properly cultivate them, if possible.

While I was full of desire to do just this, it would probably prove pretty difficult to actually make it happen. While we had magic in this world, methods of transportation were much more limited, so it was no mean feat to travel to other countries—to say nothing of the fact that I was the Saint. My position alone made it doubtful that I would be allowed to just hare off wherever I pleased.

Plus, I had so many other things on my plate—first on the list being my wedding ceremony. I had to coordinate with not only the king, who was my guardian, but everyone in House Hawke, so it all weighed heavily on me in terms of workload. There was just so much to do!

For now, I need to figure out a good spot for Albert and I to discuss things. Then I need to schedule a time to do so.

“All right, done.”

I’d finished brewing my potions while I was lost in thought. It was amazing what I could get done now that I was used to it. At this point, I could make mid-grade potions while my mind was entirely elsewhere.

Now all I had to do was wait for the pot to cool and then bottle its contents.

As I took the pot off the burner, I inadvertently let my guiltiest, innermost thoughts slip out, “But I really do wish I could go.”

No one else was in the institute with me. I had spoken this private wish aloud because I knew there was no one to hear it.

But it turned out that I had miscalculated.

“Go where?”

I recognized the voice terribly well. I whirled around to find the knight commander standing right behind me.

H-how long has he been there?!

***

“Uh, um,” I stammered. Albert was the last person on the planet I’d wanted to overhear that.

How could I answer? A noble lady would find a way to cover up her slip with a smile, but that wasn’t really in my repertoire. Maybe if we were at a party I could have managed a smile, even if it was forced. But unfortunately, we were at the institute. Between that and how I’d let my guard down, I had no hope of glossing over this mistake.

My thoughts froze from shock and panic, and I began looking around wildly.

Oh, I know!

“L-Lord Hawke. What are you doing here?” I met his question with a question—it was the first thing that popped into my mind! Sure, it was impolite, but he didn’t seem to mind. 

“I needed to speak with Johan. And I always want to see you.” Albert smiled, launching a powerful attack—a critical hit upon my heart. And now that I had left myself open, Albert seized his chance to ask, “Just where is it that you want to go to?”

“Oh, uh—” In the end, I said the unthinkable. “Abroad…I guess?”

Why had that come out as a question? Because even my heart was poking fun at me.

“Abroad?”

“Uhhh, I always wanted to travel abroad at least once in my life,” I reluctantly admitted.

It was true that this had been my dream even back when I lived in Japan. I had always wanted to travel, to see all the sights, and to try every food I could find. Unfortunately, I had worked at a company where it was normal to work even on the weekends, so I’d never had the chance.

Albert thought for a moment before he said, “Do you want to go to Zaidera?”

“H-how did you know?!” I yelped in surprise.

Albert smiled crookedly and lowered his voice to explain, “I’m afraid I heard that they’re planning to send a second delegation to Zaidera. It was a reasonable guess.”

Albert was in the upper echelons of the military. I didn’t know who he’d heard this from, but it made sense that he knew the grand magus and some other mages were headed to Zaidera. From the way he said it, he probably knew the panacea was being sent as well, and that I had been summoned by the king.

“I’m sorry. I know they’re not going to Zaidera for the fun of it, but after hearing about the delegation, I started wishing I could go.” I wasn’t a very good liar, especially not to someone I was close to; I always started feeling really guilty. So I just gave up and told him the truth. I even forced a smile as I said it; I was already feeling awful about having these feelings to begin with.

But Albert didn’t rebuke me. “Please, don’t apologize,” he said. “We hardly ever get the opportunity to travel abroad. If you dream of seeing other countries, then of course you’d start to feel such things.” He made me feel it was okay to have these yearnings. The guilt wasn’t entirely quashed, but his kindness warmed my heart.

“Thank you. But it’s just a wish. I know I’ll probably never get to go.” I had no intention of really reaching for it either, especially because I didn’t think it was possible. These were my honest feelings. I told him as much, as I didn’t want him to worry, but he just gave me a puzzled look.

“Why do you say that?”

Huh? Had I said something weird? I felt a bit shy asking and hesitated as I said, “Uh, because we’ll be busy getting ready for our wedding?”

Actually saying it out loud made me suddenly even shyer, and a heat bloomed in my cheeks. I found it hard to keep his gaze.

Albert looked a bit bashful in turn. “True. We will.” He covered his mouth with his right hand as he nodded.

“Y-yeah. If we’re going to have our ceremony in, like, a year, then I should probably start getting my dress ­ordered and stuff.” Encouraged by his agreement, I started reaching for things I knew I had to do. According to Liz, the dress-making took the longest time, which is why I brought it up first, but Albert seemed stuck on a different part of what I’d said.

“In a year?”

He gave me a quizzical look, so I said, “I heard that the shortest appropriate engagement is usually a year?”

In fact, several people had told me this.

Albert seemed to have heard the same. He pondered it over for a moment, resting his chin in his hand. Then, he nodded. “Oh, you meant that’s how long you would want for preparations.” But he seemed to have his ­reservations about this, because he then said, calmly as ever, “But that’s just the shortest time, right? I’m pretty sure wedding ceremonies can wait for longer than a year.”

“I suppose that must be true.”

“Then you could wait to get started until after you return from Zaidera.”

“Huh?” I stared at him in surprise.

It made sense. We didn’t need to get married in exactly a year from now. I hadn’t even begun to discuss dates with the king. I probably could go to Zaidera and then just start on the wedding stuff after I got back, just as Albert had suggested. But surely there were other factors that would interfere no matter how badly I wanted to go? I couldn’t just blithely agree with him. 

But Albert seemed able to read me.

“I’m guessing you’re also worried about whether you can take such a long break from work. Or are you worried about the cost of the voyage? Oh, and let me guess—your social standing too?”

How did he know me so well? Everything he had said was exactly on point.

I laughed awkwardly, which he took as my response, as he proceeded to persuade me otherwise—first saying that if I wanted to take time off, I’d have no trouble getting permission. If anything, they would be happy that I requested it, as they believed I worked too much as it was.

I still couldn’t tell when my work drive was worrying people, and Johan had on occasion forced me to take time off, so I couldn’t argue with this assessment.

Next, Albert said that the palace would gladly fund my journey without a second thought. Unlike the world I came from, traveling abroad was outrageously expensive for the common people. However, if I joined the official delegation, the cost would be minimal.

“But I can’t just decide I’m going,” I protested, to which Albert suggested that if I was worried about getting in the way of the mission, then I should ask the king to be allowed to go as a reward for all I had done for the kingdom already.

True enough, the last time we’d spoken, the king had yet again mentioned that they still owed me a great debt—and one of the reasons for that was my continued refusal of most of the king’s attempts to repay it. As such, Albert figured they’d actually love to fund my trip.

He’s not wrong. And doing this would put a dent in that debt…

Mind you, in Albert’s opinion, they probably wouldn’t count this toward a reward. The delegation was going to Zaidera in order to cure someone who had fallen comatose. If I went to Zaidera to help, I would be going for work and they would fund my trip as a related expenditure. Of course the palace couldn’t consider that a gift.

What if I went without offering my assistance? That didn’t really feel possible for me personally, though. Of course I wanted to help. After all, if I put my all into it, I knew I would be able to heal this patient.

That was why Albert had stated that definitively. He didn’t think for a moment that I would be able to stop myself from getting involved.

Huh? Why does he seem so confident in that?

“So, all that being said, you don’t have to worry about taking a leave of absence or about the cost. Which leaves the matter of your rank…”

Was the Saint even allowed to go abroad? Albert mulled over the last potential roadblock. However, he seemed to have some difficulty articulating his thoughts. Up until this moment, he had spoken with such sure eloquence, but here he paused multiple times, choosing his words with care.

He agreed that he couldn’t picture the palace enthusiastically sending the Saint abroad. The biggest problem was security. It was easier to protect a person within your own territory than it was in someone else’s.

They’d already had to think about this a ton when deciding who to send to Zaidera for this mission, and they had opted to send their most powerful mage as well as a significant resource—resource in this case referring to the panacea.

Which meant that for personnel, without taking anything else into account, I would have been their top pick, what with my absurd level in Holy Magic. However, letting me leave the kingdom had posed a problem, which was why they had elected to send their second best, the grand magus.

“So it really would be difficult for me to go, then.” It was disappointing, but it sounded like I would be best served by giving up on this dream.

But Albert seemed to think it was too soon to surrender. “If you have your heart set on it, I’m sure you have room to negotiate.”

He then revealed that the higher-ups had spent quite a bit of time deliberating between me and the grand magus. So, Albert believed that if I said that I wanted to go to Zaidera, and it looked like my security wouldn’t be a problem, then the palace wouldn’t refuse.

“Then you mean that the only real problem would be safety measures?”

“Indeed. And it just so happens that I have an idea as to how to solve that.”

“What is it?”

“I shall go with you.”

“What?!”

I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard. Had Albert really just offered to go to Zaidera with me, or had I imagined it?

Doesn’t he have his responsibilities as knight commander?!

It was like he could read my thoughts! “It will be fine,” he assured me. “Protecting you is just part of my job.”

That’s true. Protecting the Saint is a priority for the palace knights. But I’m pretty sure that’s not his only job, being a commander and all. I’d feel terrible if he shoved all his other duties aside just to indulge me on a field trip.

I tried to argue that I’d be just fine staying, but he said, with a smile that brooked no argument, “But if you stay, how can I make your dream come true?”

His smile was even more devastatingly charming than usual. And this had all started because I genuinely really wanted it… Partly because of this, and partly because I was easily persuaded to just go with the flow, I lost all will to argue.

“Nngh… O-okay. Please…come…with…me.”

And so, Albert talked to the king on my behalf, and soon…I was going to Zaidera.