Chapter 6: Meeting with the Saint

Tabuchi summoned me on the night of the Tanabata festival.

“What? The saint is coming?”

“Yes. The shrine has been spreading the news that the saint has come. The plan is to use her influence to broaden our power... It’s like the gods have chosen Marsche this time,” laughed Tabuchi through a concerned expression.

I guess she’s coming to Marsche while it’s still unstable and chaotic so that she can have a surge in followers just for doing even one miracle.

“You’re being targeted by a lot of people. It must be hard.”

“Well, I have no choice but to be grateful that we’re being targeted,” replied Tabuchi. “We can’t recover on our own. Our future depends on how good the people that we can join hands with are.”

“Is a saint kind of like a shrine maiden, but higher ranking? Do you think she would come to Regan Island with me?”

“I’ll create an opportunity for you to meet her, but I would like you to do the negotiating yourself, Lady Serephione.”

I nodded, and Tabuchi sighed in relief. He had dark circles under his eyes. He must have been exhausted.

“Good luck, Tabuchi! I’ll make you another cake!”

“Another? I don’t remember ever receiving one of your famous cakes...”

“Huh? But I gave Sakaki two of them recently.”

“Sakaki!” Tabuchi roared.

Wow, talk about bloodlust! I suppose I should expect nothing less from a prime minister who’s a powerful enough magician to see Lou!

◇ ◇ ◇

There was basically just one religion in this world. People worshipped the gods of the land and the moon goddess, and there was no name for the religion. There were shrines anywhere people gathered, and those who wished to serve the gods worked as priests or shrine maidens. Most of them in this day and age went into such positions because their parents before them had. It was said that some people received divine powers from praying to the gods, and those powers would give them the talent to use things such as healing magic.

As a layperson, my impression didn’t go far beyond ceremonies when it came to religion. I had Lou and Asu by my side, anyway, so if I were going to pay respects, it would make more sense to do so to them directly.

I was guessing there was probably a slimy underside to it all, perhaps in the relationship between shrines and the country, or maybe through money offerings, or maybe there was some kind of corrupt balance of power, but it hadn’t affected me at all so far, so I didn’t know anything about it. I’d been focused on staying alive first and foremost.

Now that a saint had appeared in the shrines of this world, they were celebrating. They were chomping at the bit to use her as a catalyst for their stagnant faith.

A saint... Can I just say one thing as a light novel fan? I really hope they didn’t use some kind of forbidden technique to summon a high school girl from Japan. They’re not forcing her away from her family and telling her to work for them while she just wants to go home, are they? And I really hope it’s not a situation where the magic only works one way and she can’t go back.

In any case, if she’d been kidnapped by the shrines, I would find a way to free her after we went to Regan Island.

Tabuchi summoned me on the day we’d agreed on. I waited in the front room of the audience hall in the old castle with Miyu and my escort, Yamada.

Once I got there, I realized there was a chance that the saint was actually my enemy. She hadn’t appeared in Wild Rose, but neither had Prince Schneider. I wondered if I should arm myself, but if I messed up and put her on guard, she wouldn’t come to Regan Island with me. My year was almost up. I didn’t have time.

“Yamada, do you know what color hair the saint has?”

“She has gorgeous black hair. The first people to see her were glad that she matched the people of Marsche.”

I could at least be sure it wasn’t Maribelle. Thank goodness.

The door opened with a click, and the guard at the entrance gestured to me with his chin to go inside.

I stepped inside. Two old men in what looked like white kung fu costumes stood on either side of me, looking at me suspiciously. A woman in a white dress with a veil covering her face was sitting on what had originally been the throne of the King of Marsche.

I briefly made eye contact with Tabuchi next to me, then dipped my head in a knight’s pose.

“Your Holiness,” Tabuchi began, “this is the person responsible for saving my nation—”

Clatter! The sound of a chair being pulled cut him off. Then the swishing of silk brushing against itself and the clicking of high heels heralded the bright white shoes that suddenly appeared in my field of vision. The saint grabbed me by the scruff of my neck, and just when I stood up...she pulled me into a big hug.

“Huh?”

“Saint!” The people around us went into a frenzy.

She put her hands on my shoulders, and then we were face-to-face. She pulled her veil behind her.

The face that she exposed was as angry as a devil, yet still cool; it was the face of the samurai I looked up to. Suddenly, she drove her fist into the top of my head at full force!

“O-Oww!”

“Serephi, you dummy! Do you have any idea how much I’ve worried about you?!”

The girl glaring at me with tears in her eyes was my beloved friend Elise.

“Elise...” My entire body trembled. Tears began to come to my eyes, as if a dam had broken. “E-Elise!” I clung to her and began to cry.

Elise held me to her chest and gently stroked my head until I was done crying.

When I felt a little calmer, I realized that the priests around us were making a lot of noise.

“Saint, get away from that lowly being!”

“Hey, you! Don’t forget your place just because the saint is compassionate!”

“Be quiet,” Elise admonished them in a low, commanding voice. “I owe this person my life.”

“That won’t do! Think about your own position!”

“You’re telling me to know my own place?” Elise fired back.

“You’re a saint, the highest-ranking among all people!”

“It’s you all who don’t understand.” Elise loosened her hold on me, smiled at me, then stepped back to kneel down.

“Elise!”

“Saint!”

“This person is contracted to the heavenly beast of the west. In your own words, as someone who can hear the voice of a god, she is the highest-ranking among all people. I’m so glad to see you again, Serephione. I felt like my heart was being crushed when I couldn’t see you for a year.”

“Elise...” She could see Lou too...

The other one who had seen Lou, Tabuchi, knelt down behind Elise.

“C-Contracted?”

“Why hasn’t this been reported to the shrine?!” the priests demanded. “Show us proof!”

“You dare to doubt me and the contractor Serephione? How pathetic.”

Miyu slithered out of my pocket just as Elise’s rage was in full bloom. She grew to her original size with a flash and raised her head.

“Eek!” The priests cowered.

“Oh, you’re with a silver spirit instead of the heavenly beast of the west today? I can never account for you, Serephione.”

Anyone was able to see Miyu. She deliberately wasn’t hiding her power right now. After she carefully looked Elise over from head to toe, Miyu gently kissed her cheek.

“A blessing from a spirit... What an honor. Thank you very much.” Elise dipped her head to Miyu, and Miyu nodded in return. We have two actresses here! They’re perfectly in sync even though they didn’t talk beforehand!

The priests fell to their knees. “I can’t believe it’s a real spirit... I didn’t even know they existed...”

Elise stood up swiftly and looked around. “I need to talk to the contractor. Leave this place. And what happened here stays with us. If one person lets it slip, you will all face divine punishment. Understood?”

After everyone else left the throne room, I brought out a fluffy carpet and a tea set from my Magic Room and set them on the floor, just like I had in knight school when I had Elise in my room. Miyu was back to her mini size, taking a nap coiled up on the carpet.

“Wow, I missed your cakes, Serephi! This red jam inside is amazing, and this green tea is nice and refreshing!”

“Um, Elise, were you a saint this whole time?”

“Of course not?”

Right, of course! What was I thinking?! Confused as I was, I was still relieved.

“I didn’t know you could see my holy beast.”

Elise dropped her fork with a clatter. “Yeah. I’m sorry for not saying anything. Where to start...? My parents are both priests. I was raised on stories of holy beasts in a shrine, and my parents are still in a large shrine to this day. I’m different from most people because of my knowledge of the gods from growing up in that environment and my strong faith, so that’s why I could see the holy beast of the west. I truly don’t have any magic. My parents were so disappointed...”

So she saw Lou because of her deep faith... Is that what they call divine power? Maybe that applies to my grandmother too.

“I went into knight school because I was trying my best to serve the gods and protect the shrine despite being Magicless, but my struggles didn’t end after I made it in. Sasara and I spent many days crying together.”

I hadn’t known the school was so exclusionary toward female students... My grandmother and Kodak had probably fixed up the environment when I got in.

“That was when I met you. When I went into your room for the first time, it felt even more cool and clear than the shrine, and I saw the beautiful, pure god who I never imagined I would meet, even in my dreams. Not only that, he was in an adorable form, sitting quietly and staring hungrily at our cake. I was so moved.”

She’d noticed a lot of things.

“The holy beast of the west is the most honest and straightforward out of the four. I was so relieved when I knew you were contracted to him. The people at the temple and the school are full of impure thoughts, but I could hang out with you without having to probe into you because you had the holy beast’s guarantee. Sasara and I had finally found a place in that school where we could breathe.”

I never realized that Elise and Sasara felt that way...

“I was so happy for that one year when I could let down my guard with you and Alma. I felt like I literally had the gods at my side. When I saw you and the holy beast fooling around together, I couldn’t believe how fortunate I was. I saw that you didn’t show off that you were contracted, and you even cast concealing magic on him sometimes, so I figured that you had to hide him. That’s why I kept it to myself.”

She even knew that I could use magic. Just how much had I dropped my guard?

“When I graduated, I felt that I’d truly made the right choice to go to knight school after having met you, Alma, and Lady Erza. I enlisted in the army and went to the shrine to train to be a holy soldier. That was when I was kidnapped.”

“Kidnapped?” How could my older sister figure Elise have been kidnapped?

“I’d made people jealous between going to knight school, enlisting in the upper levels of the army, and being in line to command the holy soldiers, not to mention my connection with Lady Erza. I was kidnapped by five scummy priests and three shrine maidens and assaulted.”

“That’s terrible...” Anger emanated from my whole body. My short black hair stood on end.

“I had no way to defend myself against five men. I felt my consciousness slipping away, and when I thought about my body being defiled in addition to the violence... I decided to just bite my tongue.”

“Elise...”

She patted my clenched hands as if to reassure me. “Just when I was ready to say my goodbyes to this world, my ring started to vibrate.” She held up the golden ring on her left pinky finger that symbolized our friendship. “Lightning shot out of it. The boltshot past the men before me and the women smiling behind them and into the heavens. There, it turned into hundreds of streams of light and fell back to earth, striking my captors over and over. Everyone in the shrine, from the trainees to the head priests, watched the lightning cleanly avoid me over that hour.”

I listened quietly.

“Had the gods been angered by the cruelty toward me? Had they granted me their power in my moment of need? Either way, it was clear that I had unleashed an extraordinary lightning attack from the heavens. It was exactly as the ancient myth told: a female saint who controls light.” Elise’s mouth curled into a smile. “You’re the one who set up that spell, right? That means I became a saint because of you.”

F-For real?

“Thank you, Serephi. I wouldn’t be alive right now if not for you.” Elise held my hands and smiled through tears.

I’m glad I helped Elise out! I’m so glad she’s alive! I’m glad...but...what the heck did I do?!

“Why are you acting as a fake saint, though?”

“Well, I didn’t want to at first, but they kept dumping responsibilities onto me, and I wasn’t able to act on my own... I went to Lady Erza, who’s the authority figure that I trust the most.”

My grandmother?!

“She nodded as she listened to my story...and then she smiled and told me to take advantage of it.”

I could picture the scene in my mind like it was happening right in front of me.

“A saint has as much power as a head of state. I was told to wield that power and reform the temple. She wants me to wipe out the scum like the priests and priestesses who attacked me.”

“Grandmother...!”

“But she also said that if I didn’t have the conviction that I’m in the right, I would hesitate when it came time to wield my power. She asked me if I can vow to only take actions that you and the holy beast of the west would approve of, and if I’m prepared to serve the holy beast for the rest of my life.”

I listened quietly.

“I could never defile the life that I owe to you. To serve the holy beast for the rest of my life would be the happiest life I can imagine. I accepted right away, and now I’m using the actress spirit that Lady Erza instilled in me to destroy the old ways.”

Ah... The second coming of my grandmother... “Um... What about the military?”

“Oh, I resigned. I didn’t hesitate as soon as I got word that it was the general’s fault that you’d vanished. About two hundred higher-ups and three thousand soldiers resigned.”

Ahhh! You’re all assuming too much about my grandmother’s feelings!

“Are you disappointed that I’m not really a saint?”

“Of course not.”

Elise had sworn to live in a way that would be fitting of Lou. That made her a saint in itself.

“May I humbly ask you a favor, Saint Elise?”

“Yes, I shall fulfill anything you request of me.” Elise giggled.

She agreed right away to go to the shrine on Regan Island!

“Has my grandmother been doing well?”

“Of course she’s not well. She’s furious!”

◇ ◇ ◇

I headed to Regan Island with Elise. It was important to get there in time, so I borrowed Tabuchi’s horse so that we could travel at high speed.

Elise had taken off her dress and put on a basic traveling outfit. I hadn’t noticed yesterday because of her veil, but her thick black hair was pulled back into a ponytail with one of my grandmother’s hair clips. She rode at the same speed as me in a knightlike manner. The priest accompanying her had been left far behind.

We continued to talk without dropping speed. I cast soundproofing magic just to be safe.

First, I told her that the god of Regan Island wanted to be sent off with a ritual prayer from a shrine maiden.

Then I told her about how Prince Schneider had summoned me on that humid afternoon at knight school to join his side, then attacked me after I turned him down, and how I escaped for my life and was going to stay in Marsche until the situation cooled off.

I didn’t include the parts about us being reincarnated or the holy beasts. I couldn’t go around gossiping about Lou, let alone Asu or Terl.

“Wow, I never would have expected that,” Elise said.

“The prince or the military didn’t announce how I’d been disrespectful? It was at school, so I figured there were quite a few witnesses.”

“The school told the students that it wasn’t anything important and they didn’t know the details. The students who saw you being chased by magicians weren’t satisfied with that explanation, so the school and military’s relationship took a big hit.”

“Did anything happen to the Granzeus family or the Trundle guild?”

“No, I haven’t heard anything. I’ve only heard that you vanished out of nowhere.”

That was the same thing Tabuchi told me. My opinion of Tabuchi rose a bit.

“How’s Alma?” I’d left her behind as the only girl there.

“She’s gritting her teeth and pushing through. She says she wants to protect the place you’re going to return to. All of her classmates are supporting her.”

Alma sure does care a lot about me, as I would expect from someone like her. But... “I can’t go back. I pulled a weapon on not just the prince but on the head of both the school and the military too. Knight students are equal to junior officers. If I disobeyed my superior, I would be expelled and imprisoned, right?”

“You still have a place saved there, for some reason. Apparently, there hasn’t been a decision passed down yet. You’ve got more than enough credits, right? You’re a third-year student, remember?”

“Why would the general do that...?” Doesn’t that set a bad example? “Right! Mr. Kodak! He shielded me so I could get away!”

“He took a bit of a break. Judging by what you told me, he must have been badly hurt. But I heard he’s back in the classroom now. I haven’t heard about any sanctions for him. I think maybe the school wants to pretend that it didn’t happen at all and just put a lid on it. Mr. Kodak is trying to protect his students, I imagine.”

Both the Granzeuses and Trundles, including my father and grandmother, were living as if nothing had changed on the surface. Nobody had been bold enough to ask them directly about my disappearance. Did that mean the two were just watching quietly on the edge of their seats?

I didn’t understand. Did the prince just not want to make a big deal of it and have my father and grandmother against him? But considering the assassins that had come after me...did he want to have me killed quietly? I was clueless what Prince Schneider was thinking.

“I want to help you, Serephi. What are you going to do?”

“One of the holy beasts told me to wait for the right time, so right now I’m just training and waiting for instructions.”

“I see. I suppose you don’t have much of a choice.”

“Gan!”

“Mister Gold! Li’l snake!”

I’d made it back to the north of the continent of Marsche in two weeks, whereas it had taken me three months when I’d been going at a leisurely pace with Miyu before. Gan was waiting for me at the dock.

“Mister Gold?” Elise asked.

“Yeah. I never gave the people at Regan Island my name, so they call me by the color of my plate.”

“No, I mean, why Mister?”

“Someone advised me that people wouldn’t take me seriously as a girl, so I became a boy!”

“Don’t tell me... Is that why you cut your hair?”

“Yes!”

“This is your attempt at crossdressing? You only made yourself more adorable... What a waste of effort.”

“Huh?!”

“It must be hard on your little snake spirit too...”

Elise and Miyu nodded at each other. Huh? How are you two communicating?

We went over the ocean to Regan Island in Gan’s boat. The wind was blowing behind us at maximum speed, pushing us faster and faster, but the sea was calm, and the boat wasn’t shaking at all.

“It must be because we have a saint with us!” Elise’s two underlings, who had managed to catch up to us and get on the boat, clasped their hands.

No, I’m pretty sure it’s because we have the ruler of the eastern sea on board... But I guess it’s a good thing if there are more miraculous stories about Elise. It’ll make it easier for her to take action.

When I got off the boat, the mayor was there to greet me for the first time in a year.

“It’s been a while, mayor-slash-guildmaster.”

“It’s good to see you again, Miss Gold. Thank you for bringing a shrine maiden.”

“Who do you think she is?!” the blond priest retorted. “She’s a modern-day saint, far from just a shrine maiden!”

I decided on the nicknames I’d use for the priests in my head: the blond priest would be Kaku, and for the brunette, I was leaning toward Suke.

“A s-saint?”

“Yes. She deemed it fit to come here for the sake of the god of Regan Island.”

“A saint?!” Gan panicked and lowered his face. The mayor and the other people there to greet me followed.

“Please relax. Offering prayer to the gods is my job. I consider it an honor to be called upon by a gold ranker.” Elise gave everyone, including Suke and Kaku, a masterful saint’s smile. It made me nostalgic for practicing smiling at the Trundle mansion. We’d been molded into my grandmother’s shape so well...

We decided to go to the temple tomorrow, and we threw a party in the evening to celebrate the visit of the saint. The table was lined with all kinds of delicacies from the sea. Long live the ruler of the eastern sea!

Two or three circles of people formed around Elise. Gazing at the overjoyed townspeople, I looked over to the window. The sound of the tide echoed, and the news Elise had told me ran through my head.

Father... Brother...

“May I sit here?”

The mayor came up to me. Miyu, who had been sleeping on my shoulder, opened her eyes slightly, but I lightly tapped her to signal that everything was all right, and she closed her eyes again.

“Are you thinking about the ceremony tomorrow?” the mayor asked.

“No, I’m sure that the ceremony will go perfectly. We have a saint on our side. Don’t worry, mayor-slash-guildmaster.”

“Oh, I resigned as guildmaster. You told me I wasn’t the right person for the job, and I agreed. Oh, I don’t mean to complain! In the first place, a mayor who prioritizes the interests of the town and a guild leader who prioritizes the interests of the adventurers were not positions that could be reconciled, but I hadn’t thought that through.”

I listened quietly.

“When you appeared in this town one year ago, it was like time started moving again.”

I did get that feeling.

“We hated change... We feared change.”

I was silent in thought.

“You brought a new wind—no, a typhoon, to our town.”

“Did I?”

“Even though we were so resistant to changing our ways, since you were accepted by the gods of the island, we had no choice but to accept you, though unwillingly. Change was the only path left to us.”

“Um... Sorry about that?”

The mayor slowly shook his head. “I wasn’t sure if it was for the better or not, but now you’ve brought a saint to this forsaken place that hasn’t seen anyone related to a shrine in decades.”

I looked back to the room, and Elise was holding a little baby and kissing it. Someone who appeared to be its mother was crying and bowing her head.

“The people are so glad to be around a saint. This confirms for me that this change was for the better.”

The mayor straightened his posture and put his hands on the table.

“I sincerely thank you as a representative of the townspeople, Miss Gold. Until the day you reveal your true name, we shall call you...the Lady of Typhoons and Twilight.”

Pleeeease don’t!

The party continued late into the night, and Elise and Suke-Kaku stayed at the inn, while Miyu and I stayed at Gan’s house.

“Miss Gold! I finally get to tell you how grateful I am. Thank you so much!”

Julia was up and walking! I was a little moved! And she was a young, exotic beauty too! She looked to be about twenty. When would that mean she got married? Around fifteen? A young bride... Gan really had it made.

Gan had also become the new guildmaster, surprisingly.

“I can only work when I’m not fishing, but I’ll do my best to make you proud, Mister Gold.”

Yep, just don’t burn yourself out.

I quietly asked him when Julia wasn’t there, “What happened to Bacas?”

Gan’s face immediately went cold. “He vanished without ever apologizing to Julia, and so did his minions in the guild who stole my vitagrass. One of the small boats was missing. Perhaps they went to a doctor in the city? Well, it doesn’t matter anymore.”

How foolish. If he had just repented and confessed to his poisoning, Gan and Julia would have been kind enough to forgive him and give him the antidote.

◇ ◇ ◇

Miyu, Elise, and I finally reached the shrine. The mayor and Suke-Kaku were enthusiastic to attend the ceremony, but they couldn’t keep up with us in the jungle.

After we swam through the waterfall basin, the cleanliness-loving Miyu cast drying and cleansing magic on all three of us.

“Open sesame!”

Vwooom! We entered the rear shrine.

“Ah, contractor, ruler of the eastern sea, thank you so much for bringing a shrine maiden!” Renza’s voice sounded tearful, although it was telepathic.

“We made it in time, right?!”

“Yes, yes!”

Thank goodness...

Miyu grew back to her original size.

“You have grown stronger and more beautiful, ruler,” Renza said.

“Oh, not at all. I have more to grow,” replied Miyu.

So, Miyu has no idea how much she’s transformed over this past year...

Renza turned to Elise. “I see this is the shrine maiden. She is as pleasant to be around as you, contractor.”

“Wow... I can hear the envoy’s voice...” Elise whispered to me. She was wearing the same pure white dress she wore when we reunited, out of respect to the gods.

“The envoy can communicate his thoughts to us using the power of the god here,” I explained.

“I see... It is an honor to meet you,” she greeted Renza. “My name is Elise. I will perform a ritual chant today to the best of my spiritual ability for the god of Regan Island.”

“Yes, thank you. Let us begin the preparations without further delay.” Renza slid down from the altar and began to slither on the ground around the rock we were on. He drew a circle and some letters, and his trail began to glow blue.

“This is...a magic circle!”

We stuck to the stone wall at the edge of the room so we wouldn’t get in Renza’s way. He took about twenty minutes to draw a complex mystical circle; it was about two meters across, and it looked incomprehensible to humans. He was dripping with sweat.

“Are you okay, Renza?”

“It’s done! Lower your heads!”

Elise, Miyu and I hastily knelt down and bowed our heads.

At the same time, the circle on the ground began to glow with a blue light, and an immense power began to swirl within the rear shrine. Then a spray of water burst forth from the ground...the light was reflected...and from behind the sparkling spectacle...

...the enshrined god appeared before us, clad in blue scales, their long body stretched out horizontally, their large eyes shut, and their silver-white beard and horn pulled close to their body.

It was...the Azure Dragon!

“It’s the heavenly beast of the east!” Elise almost screamed, pressing her face into the ground.

Miyu and I bowed our heads low as well, overwhelmed by the strong, magnificent, yet tranquil magic presence. We had entered the holy ground of the heavenly beast of the east.

“Lift your faces,” a quiet, feminine voice echoed in our minds.

“I can...hear her...” Elise trembled.

The heavenly beast of the east slowly opened her eyes. They were like azure jewels, and they seemed to see through everything. “I can see why Renza supports you,” she said.

She lethargically moved her eyes and nothing else; it seemed like she had difficulty moving very much anymore.

She fixed her gaze on Miyu. “Daughter of the lesser dragon. You shall be my successor. Understood?”

Miyu’s eyes went wide after suddenly hearing the last thing she expected to hear. “Eh? M-Me, your successor?”

“I have decided, daughter.”

“Pl-Please wait!” I hastily butted in, though I knew it was disrespectful. “The lesser dragon has entrusted Miyu to me for the time being. Please explain your decision to me in more detail.”

Renza opened his mouth. “Kilama has recognized the potential of the ruler of the eastern sea and designated her as the next heavenly beast of the east. If she does not take over, Kilama cannot depart.”

“W-Wait! The heavenly beasts are born of the moon goddess, right? That’s not true of Miyu!”

The heavenly beast—Kilama—slowly turned her gaze to me. “I see... You are the contractor of the west, which explains why you know so much. I sense the magic of the south as well. It is a pleasant magic. It is true that our successors are born of the moon goddess and raised long before taking our place. However, that is not an absolute rule.”

“I see.”

“At the time of my decline, the moon goddess sent Renza to me. I raised Renza to be my successor.”

I looked at Renza. He had a calm expression.

“Renza then told me that there is one more suitable to be a heavenly beast than him, so he stepped down. He has decided to assist the next generation instead.”

“Renza...”

“Miyu is unmistakably stronger than me, in both body and mind,” Renza said. “How could I become a heavenly beast when someone like her exists?”

“She’s taking over before the ceremony to send Kilama off...” Elise muttered in amazement.

This was a divine order. It couldn’t be refused. Miyu...

Miyu lifted her face. Where there had once been hesitation was now determination and bravery. She slithered up to Kilama and dipped her head again. “I humbly accept.”

“Miyu!”

She slowly turned to face me. “I want to be stronger, Miss Sere. I’m going to get a lot stronger, and then I’ll protect you along with Lou and Asu!”

“Miyu...”

“Yes, you shall become stronger, Miyu. Come here.” Kilama urged Miyu into the magic circle.

Miyu moved forward cautiously, stopping before Kilama’s face.

“Miyu, you shall accept all that has been handed down through generations of heavenly beasts since ancient times.” Kilama then whispered something that us humans couldn’t comprehend and placed a kiss on Miyu’s brow.

Just then, Kilama’s blue magic began to flow toward Miyu like a gust of wind. The magic, the very manifestation of divinity, shook the air itself. Elise and I crouched down and held each other. It was a terrifying scene...but we couldn’t take our eyes off it!

The blue light began to fade.

“Kilama...” Renza shed a tear. Kilama’s blue-shimmering scales had all turned pure white, and her eyes were shut.

“Miyu...!”

My Miyu had grown two sizes larger. Her scales had gone from silver to azure, and she had grown a magic-imbued horn on her head. The last of the wild beast scent clinging to her had gone away, and in its place was a new, powerful magic force.

This was the birth of a young holy beast. My Miyu had become a true ruler—a true goddess.

“Miss Sere...” Miyu’s voice sounded like that of an adult woman.

I looked up at her. “Miyu...you’re glowing! It’s so beautiful. Kilama must have recognized your upstanding way of life. Congratulations.”

“M-Miss Sere! I’ll do my best, so don’t leave me!”

“What are you talking about? You’re the heavenly beast of the east now! It would make no sense for me to leave you.”

“Then make a contract with me! Please!”

“A contract?”

“If we don’t make a contract, then I won’t know where you are! I won’t be able to come to you if you need help! I know I’m weaker than you, but...but I’ve decided to serve you ever since that day!”

A contract? Can I even do that, even though I have one with Lou already? Wait... “Miyu, when you say you won’t be able to come to me if I need help, do you mean you’re going away?”

“She must spend some time—at least a few years—in this holy territory. It is important for her to get used to her new body and knowledge,” Renza replied.

“Oh...”

I’m going to be alone...

But I can’t hold Miyu back. I can’t tell her I’ll be lonely. She’s been with me all this time, apart from her papa. I should be grateful, not needy.

It’s just selfish of me to be scared to be alone.

“Miyu, do your best as the heavenly beast of the east. Listen to Renza for me. I’ll visit sometimes, okay?”

Miyu shot a burst of intimidating energy, blowing my short hair back. “Sometimes isn’t enough! I want to make a contract!” Then she bit one of her scales and tore it off. Blood began to seep out.

“Miyu!” I rushed to try to heal it.

“Miss Sere, drink my blood! I’ve already received your blood!”

Miyu had always licked my wounds when I got hurt. I looked around the area in search of help, and just then, Kilama’s voice echoed in my mind once more, although she was still motionless.

“It would be good of you to make a contract.”

“But I have one with Lou!”

“There is no rule that prevents contracting with multiple holy beasts at once. There has just been no human beloved by multiple holy beasts at once before. Grant Miyu’s wish.”

I couldn’t go against a god. My internal hesitation vanished.

Miyu looked at me as she bled. I remembered that the blood I’d gotten from Lou was also a result of him hurting himself. My beloved holy beasts were all so pushy...

“I think of you like a little sister. I love you, Miyu. Thank you for being there for me.”

“Miss Sere... Serephione, I offer you my loyalty once more.”

I kissed Miyu’s wound. Her thin blood tasted like iron, yet it also had a slight floral scent.

A circle of light fell around me and Miyu, closed in around us, and disappeared into our bodies.

Kilama looked on happily. “How auspicious.”

Now that I had stopped Miyu’s bleeding and the succession had been taken care of, it was finally time for the ceremony to send Kilama off.

Renza began to slither on the ground again, surrounding the magic circle Kilama was in with a large diamond. He drew a complex pattern at each point, and a mandala-like world unfolded.

Renza slithered up to Kilama in the center, whispered something, shed a tear, and went outside the circle.

“Miyu, please take your position,” he instructed. “Could you lend me your power, contractor?”

“Gladly. What should I do?”

“Stand on the north point of the diamond and send your magic to Kilama with gratitude once the shrine maiden begins her chant.”

I went to the north point of the diamond and gazed at Kilama’s back. The circle was filled with a power so cool and clear that it frightened me. Miyu went to the eastern point of the diamond at the same time.

Elise then held up local flowers and tree branches as an offering.

“Kilama!” cried Renza.

“Be well, all of you...” Kilama used the last of her strength to wink and smile, then closed her eyes.

Elise bid goodbye in a clear, slightly sad voice, and she began to chant a prayer of thanks for the great love Kilama had given. At the same time, Miyu and I sent our maximum magic power to Kilama.

“You are so synchronized... I can see why Lou and Miyu have stayed by your side, contractor. What pure, gentle magic...”

“Kilama...”

I’ve only known her for a short time, but... Kilama is so awesome! I love her! I’ll never forget her!

I held back tears as I poured even more of my feelings into my magic. Renza’s voice joined Elise’s.

The diamond began to shine a blue light to the heavens. It was a tower of light in the same shape as the pattern.

Voom! Voom! Two huge bursts of magic fell down like meteorites. They turned the area pure white like bullets of light, and I couldn’t see anymore!

“Don’t stop!” cautioned Renza when I lost my composure. I held my hands out even though I couldn’t see, and I continued to release magic.

I felt a familiar magic presence near me...one I’d been dreaming of. The light that had blinded me was slowly fading away.

“Ah...”

On the western point, to my right...was Lou.

On the southern point, across from me...was Asu.

They looked as divine as the last time I’d seen them.

“Thank you for your long service, Kilamageld.”

“Thank you, Kilamageld. Let us meet again.”

“We are sending her off,” Renza said with a chuckle. “Asu, Lou, Miyu, you may do as you see fit.”

The moment that the magic forces from each point on the diamond unified with Elise’s chanting, Kilama went to heaven.

I looked at the middle of the now-empty magic circle...and shifted my gaze to the side.

My beloved silver was there. Lou, at his full size, tilted his head. “Sere?”

“Am I dreaming?”

Lou came out of the circle, leapt into the air, transformed into his miniature size, and landed on my shoulder. He gazed at me and licked up the tears that I hadn’t realized were rolling down my cheeks.

“Are you a crybaby now, Sere?”

“Ahh... Lou...! Lou...!” I sobbed and buried my face in Lou’s neck. It really is him! It’s Lou’s pure scent! My little fluffball!

“I’m back, Sere.” Lou’s eyes were a calming sky blue.

“I’m glad you’re back, Lou...” I said through tears. Holding Lou tight, I finally returned to my original self.

Asu smooched my head with his beak as I held Lou and cried. “You did well, Sere. I’ll leave you and Lou alone for today. I’m not insensitive enough to bother you.” He gently patted Miyu’s head before spreading his rainbow wings and flying off into the heavens.

I checked that Lou hadn’t gone anywhere before I finally lifted my head. Elise, Miyu, and Renza were all in tears.

“Lou! You’re late!” cried Miyu.

“Miyu, you’re in the seat of the east now... That makes us equals from now on. Also...thank you for protecting Sere while I was gone.”

“Lou... Waaah!”

Lou and I curled up to the sobbing holy beast and promised to come visit once in a while.

I left Miyu, who was sleepy from using her new power, with Renza, then exited the shrine.

As we went back to Tobos, Elise greeted Lou. “It is a great pleasure to meet you, heavenly beast of the west. Please forgive me for anything disrespectful I have done to you or your contractor thus far.”

Now that Kilama was gone, Elise couldn’t hear Lou’s voice. I interpreted for him.

“Thus far?” Lou didn’t understand what she meant.

“Lou, Elise could see you this whole time, you know.”

“Wha?! I-I knew that! For sure! That aside, Sere...” Lou whispered to me.

“Lou wants to know why your aura is so similar to my grandmother’s now, Elise!”

“Nooo! I’m not a demon like her!”

Elise took 3000 damage!

“An attack on my blind spot... The power of the heavenly beast of the west is truly not something to be trifled with...”

“Elise?”

“R-Right... Um, would it bother you if I used the title of Saint?” she asked Lou.

Lou looked intently at Elise. “I don’t mind. I’m not particularly interested in that title. But, you know, that might be a hard path for you.”

“I’m prepared for that.”

“All right.”

On the way back to Tobos, Lou and I taught Elise some basic everyday magic. She could see Lou, so there was no way she couldn’t use any magic at all. I had her imagine magic circulating from her heart and guided her by letting a bit of my own magic flow into her.

“Wow, Lou, Serephi! I feel a bit of energy moving around inside me!”

Now that she could recognize magic, we hammered cleansing magic, transmission magic, and a spell to surround herself with static electricity into her. She mastered them with her preexisting willpower. With these, she could communicate with us from anywhere and fight back if she were attacked by scum. The way she faintly discharged the spells from her body was saintlike.

Elise’s transmission magic was a long, blue dragon that soared into the sky.

“Kilama?”

“Yes, I never want to forget this special day or Kilama. I’ll make sure to fulfill the destiny I’ve been given by the gods who allowed me to observe the sending off and succession ceremonies today.” Elise’s eyes burned with determination.

“It sounds like you have an unpayable debt to Kilama...” Lou mused.

Suke-Kaku ran up to the newly polished Elise with zealous joy once we got back to Tobos. I told the mayor and guildmaster Gan about how the ceremony went. “The ceremony went well, thanks to our saint. I think the gods will be happy if you pay the shrine a visit every so often. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a B-ranker anymore, as long as it’s someone with the stamina and purity of heart to reach the shrine.”

Now that the position had been taken over and I’d made a contract with the new holy beast, strength was unnecessary.

“Was the island god angry that we haven’t been offering them prayer for a long time? Will they continue to protect the island from now on?” the mayor asked.

“The gods know everything, you know. It all depends on how the people are from now on. I can at least say that the sea will be calm and fruitful.” Elise smiled thoughtfully and graciously.

Of course. No creature could overtake the current ruler of the eastern sea.

“That’s good...” the mayor breathed.

“Where’s your li’l snake, Mister Gold?” asked Gan worriedly.

“Miyu...went on a journey to become stronger.” Miyu was a holy beast now. I shouldered the duty of keeping her a secret.

“I see... Could you tell her that I haven’t finished repaying my debt to her?”

Roger.

I got on Gan’s boat again with Lou, Elise, and the priests, and we went back to the continent of Marsche. Elise went off to her next destination from there, promising to contact me on the down low. I waved goodbye to Gan and left.

◇ ◇ ◇

Lou and I set up a tent on the beach. I gazed up at the sky full of stars, enveloped in the fluff of a full-sized Lou.

“How have you been?”

“I’m good now. How about you, Sere?”

“Me too. I’m good now.”

Lou licked my cheek.

“Why did you appear at the sending-off ceremony?” I asked.

“The way the ceremony went today was as close as possible to the ancient form. When one of us is ready to pass away, it’s a custom to gather their successor alongside the other three holy beasts to send them off. But it’s rare to have someone who can draw the magic circles as well as Renza, and it was also a miracle that we found a shrine maiden in time. Most of the time, we can’t fill all of the conditions. When my father passed away, I sent him off quietly by myself.”

I wish I could have met Lou’s father...

“I was able to come over the ocean to you because Kilama passed down the right knowledge to Renza and activated the summoning diamond. Summonings to send off gods take precedence over everything else. Kilama knew everything that happened, although she wasn’t able to move for the past few years, and she took a stand for me in her last moments.”

“Did Asu predict all this? Is that why he launched me to Regan Island, where Kilama’s holy grounds are?”

“He might have.”

“What about Terl?”

“He can’t be summoned while his mind is under outside influence. We were able to complete the ceremony this time because you filled in for him. It was a good ceremony. We sent Kilama off beautifully.”

“What have you been doing all this time?”

“I was being punished for breaking a taboo.”

“What taboo?”

“I attacked Terl.”

“Oh...”

“The heavenly beasts must respect each other and behave nonviolently. It’s important to the balance of this world. I broke that law.”

“You were being punished...because of me?”

“It’s not your fault, Sere. You and I are one and the same. When you got attacked, it was the same as being attacked myself. It’s only natural that I’d fight back. I don’t regret it at all.”

“Did the same thing happen to Asu?”

“I think so.”

“Asu was being punished because of me too? And he couldn’t be with Gillain for over a year?”

Oh... That’s awful. I’m such a burden...

Not only had Lou and Asu been punished because of me, I’d taken away Asu, the only person Gillain could trust.

“I... I’m so hopeless...” I buried my face in my legs.

“I knew it would hurt you if I told you what was going on. But you’re my mirror. I can’t bend the truth for you. Asu, Gillain, and I all made our own decisions knowing full well what they entailed. There’s no need for you to worry your little head about it.”

I listened silently.

“What if you had been in my place?” Lou asked. “What would you do if I were in trouble and Isaac wouldn’t let you help me?”

“I’d help you. No matter how angry he was afterward.”

“Exactly.”

“Did the punishment...hurt?”

“Only as much as you did. The purification ceremony ended thanks to Kilama. The goddess oversaw my summoning. That’s all.”

“Is Terl not being punished?”

“He has to go himself, or it doesn’t mean anything. I’m sure when he’s back in his right mind someday, he’ll go running to the goddess all pale in the face.”

“Are you hurt?”

“Nope. I have a bunch of your magic in me now!”

I smiled in relief and buried my face in Lou’s neck. “Lou...don’t ever leave me again.”

“Sere... Things are back to normal. Relax. You did well.”

My body drank in Lou’s presence, which it had sorely missed. My uneasiness melted away.

“Can I ask you one thing, Sere?”

“What is it?”

Is it how much stronger I’ve gotten while you were away? Why I ended up in Marsche? My current standing in Marsche? How my journey with Miyu went? Ask me anything! I actually worked really hard!

“Why did he call you Mister Gold?”

“That’s what you want to know?”

“Also, what’s up with that new hairstyle? It’s like a carefree kid’s.”

“Is that all?”