Side Story: The Saint’s Elegant Day Off

Colette Deramilius, the Oracle of Deramis and saint of the Holy Order of Rinne, woke up early in the mornings. This was partly out of necessity, as her schedule had become even more packed now that she had to liaise with various neighboring countries after Kelvin’s group had defeated the Demon Lord in Trycen. On top of this, she never missed a single prayer session; whenever it was time, she simply had to drop everything and dedicate the time to lift fervent prayers to Goddess Melfina.

In light of all this, she basically had no other choice but to sacrifice her own sleeping time. However, Captain Cliff and others around her worried that she would eventually fall ill if she continued to push herself this hard.

“Oracle, please take a rest sometime. For just one day, at least.”

“There’s no need to worry so much about me. I’m completely fine. In fact, I’m the one who’s actively seeking ways to be of more use to Melfina-sama!”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Just how many days have you been working nonstop? Even if you feel motivated, there are times when your body can’t keep up. Cardinal Sai has brought a notice from His Holiness ordering you to rest. You can’t go against a direct order, can you?”

“The pope did what? Goodness, father’s doing unnecessary things again...”

And so, it was decided that today, Colette would be taking a day off for the first time in weeks. A day with nothing whatsoever planned. However, just as many people wake up at the same time even on their days off, habits ingrained in a person are not so easily forgotten. The same was true of Colette. At the usual hour, her eyes blinked open.

“It’s...morning. Nnnnn!”

She sat up in bed and raised both arms in a big stretch. This was not a particularly strange thing to do when waking up, but it was at least a rare sight for the believers who only ever got to see her when she was acting as a saint. If this scene was ever to be put to pen and paper, it would surely be priceless in value.

“What a refreshing morning it is. I feel like it’s going to be a wonderful day.”

Despite Colette’s comment, however, the weather outside her window was actually quite cloudy. Normally, the words “refreshing morning” would not apply to such circumstances, but Colette felt it so from the bottom of her heart.

She giggled. “When I think about how Melfina-sama is somewhere else under that sky, it doesn’t matter how many clouds there are, it looks like the brightest summer blue to me.”

The girl threw open her windows and started taking deep breaths. The simple thought that her beloved goddess walked the same earth as her—no matter how far away she was—was enough to bring the most fragrant aroma to her nose, giving her enough energy to not only get through the day, but even work for twenty-four hours straight. That was the secret behind how she was able to remain energetic no matter where she was or how swamped she was with work.

The target of her worship, however, had no idea she was being used in such a way, occupied as she was with eating, walking and eating, and sightseeing and eating. Then again, it wasn’t as if anyone was being bothered by it, so everything was fine. This was just Colette satisfying herself, which was not a problem.

“All right, I’m fully recharged now. Judging by all the scents around her, Melfina-sama must have gorged herself on meat yesterday, as always. Personally, I think she should eat a few more vegetables too. No, no, it’s best for Melfina-sama to eat whatever she wants. A lowly servant such as myself should not be giving my unsolicited opinion. I need to be more self-aware of my role as her Oracle!”

Even though she did possess Olfaction Rank S, it was impossible for Colette to actually pick up on the scent of someone far away in another country. Or at least, it was supposed to be impossible, but her weirdly specific description could actually convince someone that she was indeed intimately aware of Melfina’s current habits. In spite of everything, she was still an Oracle—no, rather, it should be said that it was precisely because she was an Oracle that she could make the impossible possible.

“Now then, I’m completely refreshed, but since His Holiness ordered it, I need to properly enjoy this day off as best I can. The current time... There is still a while before breakfast. What shall I do?”

Colette got out of her sleepwear and into a more casual vestment than her usual garments while thinking about how to pass the time after being ordered to take the day off. One could spend hours asking what a casual vestment was, but it was the pope himself who had called it that, so there was no room to contest it.

“Something I can only do on a day off... Something I can only do on a day off... Truly, what am I supposed to do?”

As someone who rolled her pastime, raison d’être, personal gain, and work all into one, Colette had trouble imagining what a day off meant for her. She understood the meaning of the term and its necessity in the general sense. However, when she tried to apply that definition to herself, she had trouble seeing how it helped her. She already lived every day doing what she loved, and she simply had to focus and take a deep breath to recharge herself.

Most importantly, all the work she was involved in was related to Melfina, the Goddess of Reincarnation, and so she derived great pleasure from even the smallest tasks. In fact, being forbidden to apply herself to such undertakings on this so-called “day off” was making her restless and causing her stress.

“Not doing anything would be a waste of time. Oh, that’s right! How about I make some personal arrangements for welcoming Melfina-sama and Kelvin-sama when they come to visit Deramis! That is a wonderful idea, if I do say so myself. And because it is for a personal welcoming, it doesn’t count as work! It’s entirely unrelated!”

Colette spoke aloud as if to convince herself of her logic, then danced around a bit. Still dancing, she made her way over to the desk. On top of the desk were neat rows of test tubes filled with a wide variety of colorful medicines. This was the medicine-compounding space that she had set up in the manner of alchemists. Technically, it could be considered her new hobby, but she did not think of it that way.

“I’m still inexperienced with this, but as they say, the most important thing when doing something is to put your heart into it. Let me see. The first thing I should do as preparation for my personal welcome is make holy water to bless the two of them. And since this is a private matter, my room should suffice for the ceremony. Yes, that should do just fine. Heh heh heh heh...”

Although she called herself inexperienced, her hands moved deftly as she began the compounding process. Taking a bit from the tubes here and there, she sequentially crushed, mixed, and dissolved all the ingredients needed for her original blend of holy water. Throughout the process, she had a saintly smile on her face, probably imagining the moment she would be using the concoction.

“Since this is for two transcendental beings, I should make it more concentrated. I think twice would—no, five times as much as usual should do the trick. It’s important to give everything a try!”

Breathing heavily in excitement, she picked up a bottle filled with a suspicious pink liquid and poured it into the mixture with no hesitation whatsoever. Surprisingly, when the two liquids blended together, she was left with an end product that was transparent, looking like normal water in every way. And in spite of everything she had put into it, the solution was also completely odorless.

“I think...I can go further.”

In the end, Colette dedicated the entire day to this task, forgetting to eat and drink. Cliff and everyone else who had been worried about her thought her fatigue had caught up with her and she was spending the day sleeping, so they, out of consideration, made arrangements for no one to enter her room. Subsequently, Colette managed to complete her one-of-a-kind holy water recipe without anyone interrupting her. Where she would be using it was a story for another day.