The Power of the Saint is All Around (LN) - Volume 9 - Chapter 4

Act 4:

Closed Borders

THE DAY AFTER we arrived at the delegation manor, I woke up much later than usual, likely on account of travel exhaustion. I thus wound up having both breakfast and lunch at the same time. In other words, brunch.

The dining hall sported a big, round table, which was the style in Zaidera, at which everyone ate. It was a free and easy gathering that included not only Albert and Yuri, but Oscar, Zara, and May as well.

As we ate, Albert said something entirely unexpected: “We can’t leave the country?”

“So it seems. They informed us this morning.”

Ships were now restricted from entering and exiting the port that we had come in from.

Prince Kyle had explained that an official who had come with us had gone to initiate the proceedings for us to return, which was when he learned the borders were closed. He had rushed back to report the closure this morning.

We still didn’t know when the restriction had been put into place, or when it would be lifted, so the prince had sent his people to seek more information.

“Is that why Prince Kyle isn’t here with us?”

“Indeed. He’s in charge of gathering intelligence with members of his delegation.”

Which meant that we were working in tandem with his people to solve this problem. That was why Prince Kyle wasn’t present, even though he had said he would join us.

I couldn’t help feeling bad. It felt like I had personally caused everyone this trouble. If not for me, I doubted this would have become such a problem. But as sorry as I felt, the fact of the matter was that this inability to return home was a huge problem. So in the end, I was grateful that Prince Kyle was doing his best to leverage his local connections to help us. That local network would surely get things solved faster.

“I hope we’re able to leave soon.”

We didn’t know why the restrictions had been placed, so we didn’t know how long it would take for them to be lifted. I was worried, but I couldn’t really do anything. I was told the books would be delivered that night, though, so I decided I would just do as directed and spend my time reading while we waited.

As I wondered what kind of books Prince Kyle had ordered for us, Yuri idly said, “Personally, I hope we’re able to solve the mystery of the letter first.”

He must have gotten up just before noon, like me—he still looked a bit sleepy.

“You do?”

“Why, yes. If we knew the sender’s objective, then I could do something.”

“Like what?” I couldn’t imagine what Yuri was getting at. His explanations during our classes were always easy to understand, but today he was being vague. Maybe it was because he wasn’t all the way awake yet.

Thankfully, when I asked, he broke it down simply for me.

Based on the contents of the letter, it was highly probable that the sender was after either the panacea, or someone who was adept in healing magic. It was also possible that they had their sights set on the maker of the panacea too, though he considered this unlikely.

If, however, we knew for sure that they were after the panacea, then we wouldn’t need to stay cooped up in the manor—we could actually go out and tour the city.

“Don’t you think they’d want us to stay put even if they were sure the problem was the panacea?” I asked. I doubted they’d just let us wander around when there were nefarious plots afoot.

“That’s what guards are for,” said Yuri nonchalantly. “It’s safe so long as we stay together.”

“Wait. I’m going too,” Albert said at once. Was he really okay with this, though? Wasn’t it his job to rein Yuri in?

“Ah, right, right. We agreed on a two-person team. My apologies,” Yuri conceded.

“But even if you’re sure you know what they’re after, we can’t guarantee they’ll give us permission to leave.”

Thank goodness he was still the voice of reason. Although my relief lasted only a moment. The grand magus had no intention of letting anything get in his way. 

“If what they’re after is the panacea, then there’s no reason why I should not be allowed to proceed with my original plans. Lady Sei, I presume you wish to join me on a walk, don’t you?”

“Huh? Uh, well…” Of course I wanted to see the sights, but I felt awkward admitting as much.

Yuri was unbothered by my hesitation. He clapped his hands and smiled charmingly. “Heh heh heh. I’m so looking forward to our stroll through the city. There are so many things I’m hoping to find.”

Judging from his cheerful tone, his heart was already out in the streets. Had I fallen for some kind of trap? And what was this about “so many things”? I had assumed he was only after his favorite food, but it seemed something else was on his mind.

“Your interests extend beyond rice?” Oscar asked. It seemed he was wondering the same thing.

“Indeed!” Yuri nodded cheerfully, which brought a rare crooked smile to Oscar’s lips.

“At any rate, we still don’t know if we’re allowed to leave. We should wait here for now,” Albert interjected, attempting to pacify Yuri.

Yuri shrugged regretfully, finally seeming to have been reined in. “If we must.”

“Grand Magus Drewes is quite a ha—”

“May,” Zara interrupted. Her voice was soft as usual, but it had an edge of warning.

“Sorry.” May held her tongue, a meek look on her face.

After we finished eating, we didn’t really have anything on the docket, so we just hung around, recovering our stamina.

In my room, I looked over a simple map of the city I’d been given by the members of the delegation. We might not have been able to venture out, but I enjoyed imagining what the city’s various quarters must be like while studying the map.

I was thinking about where I would have visited if we could leave when we received a note from Prince Kyle. Albert took the message. In it, the prince had written that he had sought an audience with Prince Ten’yuu. The Zaideran prince was concerned about our delegation, as he had studied abroad in Salutania, which was how the two princes knew each other.

Prince Ten’yuu wasn’t really part of our group, though he acted as a point of contact for the delegation and regularly exchanged letters with them. But the situation being what it was, Prince Kyle had gone to see him in person.

“It seems that the restriction was only just put into place. Prince Ten’yuu himself first learned of it from Prince Kyle.”

“Which means that we still don’t know anything.”

Albert said that Prince Ten’yuu would look into this for us. Prince Kyle would be staying with the prince until they had a bit more clarity. Prince Kyle also noted that he didn’t know if he would be back before dinner, so we should eat without him.

Our prince was considered an adult in Salutania, but he was still only in his late teens. The thought of someone so young having to work late into the night made me feel just dreadful.

“It seems we’ve caused quite the conundrum for him.”

“I know telling you not to worry won’t ease your mind, but it isn’t your fault,” Albert said, trying to make me feel better. He could tell I was starting to regret ever coming. “That reminds me, the books Prince Kyle ordered should arrive soon. I’ll bring them here as soon as they do.”

Perhaps because I looked so dejected, Albert tried to encourage me with news of those books. It seemed the delegation was collecting them for us while they gathered intel.

I supposed that all my worry about the situation was making everyone worry about me. That wasn’t my intention at all, so I put a smile on my face as I said, “Okay. Thank you.”

In fact, the books turned up while we were chatting. I was incredibly grateful to the people who’d gone out of their way to pick them up for us.

There were encyclopedias on plants, herbs, and poisonous varietals as well. There was even one a tome on potions, which immediately lifted my spirits.

I didn’t actually notice how relieved Albert looked to see me smiling again.

***

I returned to my room and was absorbed in the books we had received, and the next thing I knew, it was time for dinner.

Just as he warned, Prince Kyle hadn’t returned, so yet again, it was just the six of us in the dining hall. We were served local cuisine cooked by the manor’s chef.

I saw a number of foods again for the first time in a long while, but among them was one in particular about which Yuri was over the moon.

“What’s this?!” Yuri cried out with joy.

“I believe the server said they’re sticky rice dumplings,” I told him, which was what I’d been told just a moment before. 

Inside the bamboo steaming basket was a food wrapped in bamboo leaves. I had a feeling it must be zongzi, and it turned out that I knew my stuff.

When we untied the string and opened the leaves, we found steaming rice of a glossy light brown hue. The grand magus had no doubt shrieked because he had glimpsed the rice inside. In Japanese, we called these Chinese-style chimaki.

The dumpling included little bits of what looked like meat. I excitedly tasted one and was rewarded with the exact flavor I had imagined. The delicious notes brought a natural smile to my lips.

Unlike the rice we had eaten in Salutania, these dumplings had a doughy texture. In all likelihood, the kind we were eating at home was the non-glutinous variety ­typically eaten in Japan, whereas the dumplings were using glutinous rice.

Yuri noticed that the texture was different too, and raised his plate to eye level to better inspect the dumpling. “The texture is quite different from what we ate back home,” he muttered to himself.

“That’s because it’s using a different kind of rice.”

Yuri whipped around to me. “What kind of rice is this, then?”

“Back in my homeland, we called it glutinous rice.”

“Glutinous, you say? Is that different from the kind used to make mochi?”

“Oh, no, it’s the mochi rice. But it can be used in cooking like this as well.”

“So the difference lies in the recipe too? I see. And since it has a distinct name…”

I had told Yuri about the different kinds of rice when he first fell into his obsession. That had been quite a trying time.

Although I was knowledgeable about plants, I mainly knew about herbs. He’d asked me all kinds of questions, and I’d only been able to answer a few. As for types of rice, at first I only remembered the Koshihikari, Sasa Nishiki, and Akita Komachi varieties. And then I recalled that there were also Tsuyahime, Hitomebore, and Yumepirika. Oh, and Yamada Nishiki too.

I knew there were others, but those were really the only ones I could remember. At the time, I had also told him about glutinous rice, but I had only mentioned that it was used to make mochi. While it hadn’t been much, the grand magus clearly remembered everything I had shared.

He truly was brilliant when it came to learning and memorizing everything about whatever caught his interest.

Someone else was interested in the sticky rice dumplings too: May, who had come to study Zaideran cuisine. She broke apart her dumpling to study its components.

“It looks like it also has meat, carrots, and I think this is shrimp? What’s this?”

My own inspection had revealed the carrots, pork, and bamboo shoots. The shrimp was so small that I hadn’t noticed it was there. I was impressed she had recognized it.

“I assume those are bamboo shoots,” I explained.

“What are those?” She gave me a puzzled look.

“Oh, the young sprouts of a plant called bamboo.”

“Ooh. I’ve never heard of it before.”

“I don’t think it grows in Salutania.”

“So it’s an ingredient only found in Zaidera.”

I was going to be a bit embarrassed if it wound up being a different kind of plant. I guess I’ll ask the server later. I’d feel bad if I led her down the wrong path.

“Since it uses rice, does that mean it’s cooked by boiling the ingredients in a pot like you would the rice?”

“Probably not boiling, I think. This basket is used for steaming.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“They boil water and use the steam that rises from it to cook food in this basket.”

“Huh. So they wrap the ingredients and the rice in this leafy thing and then steam the packet?”

“I think so? I’m sorry, I’m not so sure. I’ve eaten this kind of food before, but I’ve never made it myself.”

All I really knew was that May was right about wrapping the dumpling up in the leaf before steaming. I had no idea if the rice was cooked with the other ingredients before the wrapping or if they were put in raw.

“That’s all right. I apologize for the interrogation.”

“No worries. I’d like to learn how it’s made myself. I wonder if someone would be willing to teach us.”

“Perhaps we should ask the cook?”

“Good idea!”

If only we knew, then we could make them in Salutania, so long as we had the ingredients. I wonder if we can learn some other recipes as well.

I continued eating as I chatted with May and Zara. By the time we were done with dinner, Prince Kyle had returned. It seemed he had made some progress.

***

When we received word that Prince Kyle was back, Albert, Yuri, and I went to his room. We stopped in front of the guards standing to either side of the door, who announced us before a chamberlain let us in.

Prince Kyle was waiting for us in a suite that looked like a living room. The room was appointed with Zaideran furniture, just like the dining hall.

Prince Kyle had already changed clothes and had a quick dinner. He stood from the chair he had been lounging in.

“It’s so late,” I said. “We’re glad you’re back.” 

Prince Kyle looked surprised to hear me say this, but he immediately recovered himself to say, “Thank you. Please, have a seat.”

As we sat down, the chamberlain poured us each a cup of tea. Once finished, he took his leave. It was just the four of us left. It seemed everyone else had cleared the room in anticipation of our arrival.

We had been served the kind of herbal tea we were all accustomed to drinking. Maybe he hadn’t served us black tea because it was evening? I inhaled the familiar fragrance as Prince Kyle began to tell us what had happened.

Prince Ten’yuu’s investigation had led to a discovery: The borders had been closed due to some kind of incident. And it wasn’t just the one we’d entered from; the ports in the neighboring towns were closed as well. Furthermore, they might be closing even more ports come tomorrow.

“And we still don’t know what exactly this incident was?” Yuri asked.

“We don’t. Prince Ten’yuu is still looking into it, but he believes someone higher up may have ordered those involved to keep quiet.”

It appeared Prince Kyle wasn’t trying to keep anything from us—he simply didn’t know. And since his fellow prince had as yet been unable to uncover any details, he suspected there were special orders to keep something under wraps.

“It must have been pretty terrible then, if they’re going to close more ports and still keep the details secret.”

“I agree. I don’t have definite proof, but word of mouth suggests there was a theft.”

“A theft, you say? Then they closed the borders as a precaution so that whatever was stolen can’t be smuggled out?” Albert surmised.

“Yes, and I believe they’re trying to limit the thief’s movement within the country as well,” Prince Kyle said.

“That would explain why they would extend the range.”

You could give all the gag orders you wanted, but there were always rumors. It seemed some people just couldn’t keep quiet, no matter what world you lived in. We weren’t sure what had been stolen or where it had been stolen from, but judging from the large-scale response, it was likely pretty valuable.

Does restricting movement within their borders make the investigation easier? If they have to cover a large area, then they’ll have to muster a ton of people.

“And we still don’t even know what’s been stolen?” I asked.

“I’m afraid not. We’re still trying to ascertain that.” Judging from his tone, multiple theories had been presented.

I must have looked like I was still curious about just what we were talking about here, so Prince Kyle told me that—based on rumors his people in the delegation had heard—it was possibly a famous jewel or some legendary weapon.

If some renowned artifact had been taken, I could understand why they would conduct such a large-scale operation, especially since the owners of such things were usually nobles. If the object had been stolen from a heavily guarded manor, the owner would lose their people’s respect if they failed to retrieve it.

“One rumor suggests it was a valuable medicine.”

“You mean like a potion?”

“Yes. One that could cure any illness…” Prince Kyle trailed off.

Huh. Why does that sound so familiar? I felt a twinge of déjà vu.

The subtle change in the prince’s expression suggested I wasn’t the only one. I glanced to my side to find Albert wearing the same look. He was totally thinking what I was thinking.

“One that can cure any illness? Almost sounds like the panacea,” Yuri said casually.

Yep. Same page.

Prince Kyle and Albert were right there with me, judging by their twin grimaces, as if they had eaten something bitter.

Prince Kyle cleared his throat. “At any rate, all we know is that these closures are reactions to another incident, but we don’t know anything further.”

He was right. Everything about this was unclear, from the object that had been taken to the theft itself. Prince Ten’yuu was going to keep looking into it, so we just had to wait for him to share more.

“By the way, has there been any progress on identifying who sent the letter?” Yuri asked when the conversation came to a pause. He meant the letter that had been sent to Salutania.

Prince Kyle’s expression remained unchanged as he gave an answer: They had done as much digging as they could, and there were two things they could say with confidence.

First, it was highly unlikely that anyone in his delegation had sent that letter. They couldn’t yet state this definitively because they hadn’t confirmed with everyone, but they had asked the person whose name was listed as the sender, and he claimed he was uninvolved.

Second, it was highly likely that the seal was genuine. However, they couldn’t yet say this for sure either, since the seal was missing. As for why it was missing, its owner—the sender of the letter—had lost it.

Seals in this world were similar to ID cards in the world I came from. This fellow had lost his, at which point it had been used to impersonate him on a letter sent by someone else. It went without saying that someone who lost something like that in my original world would be penalized. I assumed that the owner of the seal would be penalized too.

On top of that, when he realized he had lost the seal, he hadn’t reported the loss but kept it to himself as he searched. However, he still hadn’t found the missing seal.

“And he’s searched everywhere he can think of, right?” I asked.

“Yes. After hearing his testimony, we had others search those places as well, but they found nothing either.”

The fact that additional searchers had faced similar dead ends meant it was entirely possible that someone else had fully taken the seal to use on that letter.

“Perhaps they stole the seal expressly to forge that letter.” Yuri said what I had been thinking.

It had to be.

Prince Kyle was of a similar mind. His expression was tense as he said, “At present, that seems highly probable.”

This sounded like it was going to be a huge problem.

First, we couldn’t leave because the borders were closed, and now, because of a letter, we couldn’t leave the manor either. We didn’t even know which problem was likely to be solved first, but it sounded like for the time being, we would be stuck inside.

Not to mention, a certain someone wouldn’t be happy to sit around quietly.

I glanced at the grand magus, who seemed to be pondering the situation.

“I’d like to get to the bottom of the matter of the letter, at the very least,” he said.

Prince Kyle turned to him with interest. “That would be ideal. Do you have any ideas?” 

Yuri spoke slowly, as if to help him put his own thoughts into order: “First, I would like to pin down the sender’s likely motive.”

“What are you thinking?”

“Judging from the contents of the letter, either they were seeking someone capable of using healing magic or they wanted the panacea. Once we figure out which, we can determine our next action.”

“And I suppose it would be easier to protect their target once we’re sure what it is.”

This was what we had discussed over brunch. However, Prince Kyle was more focused on protection than Yuri had been.

“But we don’t even know the identity of the sender. How do you plan to find out what they’re after?” Prince Kyle asked.

“What if we split up the potential targets and keep an eye out for unusual changes in their separate vicinities?”

Yuri was more intent on taking the offensive than I’d thought. His suggestion was essentially for us to go out and investigate ourselves rather than wait around for information to come to us.

In all probability, he just wanted to get this problem taken care of so he could go out into the city. This suggestion frankly sounded like an excuse to venture out in itself.

“And even if we detect activity around both potential objectives, we might be able to determine which is the target based on the differences,” said Prince Kyle. “This is a solid idea, but I don’t think we have enough guards to cover them separately.”

“Never mind this concern with quantity. In times of few resources, you ought to focus on quality,” Yuri said with his right index finger raised. He went on to say that, in his opinion, we should leave the panacea in the manor while we allowed the users of healing magic out into the city.

He added that we should leave some of the guards we had brought with us stationed at the manor, to accompany those who were already posted there. However, he said, we should post our most competent guards with the healer mages. This was essential, because it would communicate clearly which of our people could use healing magic.

Albert and Prince Kyle were both well aware that I counted among those mages, so they frowned and were about to object when Yuri said, “If they’re after a mage, then I am certainly their number one target.”

The other two shut their mouths in tandem.

Oh, right. We were keeping my identity a secret—one of the stipulations for my being allowed to go abroad at all. Therefore, no one in Zaidera knew that Salutania’s Saint was here. Officially, only the grand magus of the Royal Magi Assembly and the panacea had been dispatched in response to that letter. The rest of us were Yuri’s attendants and guards. Everyone from Salutania on deck knew who I was, but no one else had the slightest notion.

Additionally, the grand magus was famously Salutania’s most powerful mage. No one would imagine one of his attendants was also an adept of powerful healing magic.

Having guessed what Yuri was getting at, Albert admonished him. “Even if they’re not after you specifically, I cannot permit you to go out alone.”

“But of course. I intended to take my attendant and guard with me. That’s right. My very qualified guard.” It seemed that Yuri hadn’t forgotten that he was also supposed to be my guard, because his phrasing made it clear that he was planning to take both of us.

They continued going back and forth about this for some time, but in the end, Yuri won. And so, after hashing out the details, we put the grand magus’s plan to the test.