Chapter 16: A Few Years Later

The years passed by. Kaoru was still the same height, standing at 157 centimeters tall. She had been 158 centimeters when she was twenty-two, so this didn’t really come as a shock. Kaoru had thought that she was already this tall when she was this age back on Earth, but was a bit crestfallen to find out that it was all in her head. If 157 centimeters made her look like a twelve-year-old in this world, then 158 centimeters was probably the average for thirteen-year-olds. It could barely be called a change at all.

Kaoru was only thinking of the average height of people in Japan when she’d asked Celes for her new body, so she only had herself to blame for that. The people around her had already realized that this was about as tall as she was going to grow. But Kaoru still held out hope, telling herself that Westerners all loved smaller girls—and also making sure to shove the word “lolicon” deep into the corners of her mind.

Aligot used the designs Kaoru had given them to create a whole new class of ship, establishing a new sea route to the previously undiscovered treasure island of resources to the west of them. They’d focused their efforts into trade routes along the coast, and they were making steady progress in establishing themselves as a maritime nation.

The design Kaoru had offered them was a model ship she’d created using her potion powers, as usual. It was one of the earlier versions of the wooden vessels meant for exploring the open seas. For some reason, the goddess figurehead the empire attached to their boats looked younger than Celestine. The faces they had were definitely cute, but the look they had in their eyes could only be described as “harsh.”

The clergymen of Rueda had lost their standing as leaders of the country, and the vast personal fortunes they’d built up over the years were seized by the newly established government. After managing to bring the country relatively under control, they sent a proposal to Balmore asking to be annexed into the kingdom, which Balmore accepted. They were allowed to be governed by their own citizens rather than Balmore’s aristocracy, and were treated as a protectorate of the kingdom.

Maybe they’d proposed annexation because they wanted to guarantee the future of their small country after losing their status as the chosen people, or maybe they wanted to be citizens of the same country as Kaoru, since she was a being on the same level as the goddess... Either way, Balmore wasn’t going to question their decision.

Even if Aseed didn’t stand a chance against Aligot, the new island was about the same distance away for them as it was for Balmore, so they began focusing their efforts on shipbuilding, as well. Not one to take this lying down, Balmore also threw their hat into the ring. They became embroiled in a rivalry with Aseed as each raced against the other for seafaring superiority. Roland came asking for Kaoru’s help, but she refused to give anything outside of what she already had for both countries. It wouldn’t keep things interesting if she had, after all.

Speaking of Roland, he’d become engaged to none other than Francette, the protector of the Goddess. She was the recipient of a divine blade and was known as a heroine who had saved the country, so there were no qualms about the difference in their social status. There was no one who really could oppose who the royals were allowed to marry or not; on the contrary, the entire country welcomed the idea.

After the proposal, Francette had come before Kaoru to swear undying loyalty to her. While Roland seemed like he was getting up in years now, Francette didn’t seem to have changed a bit. Kaoru felt like she’d get told to look in a mirror if she tried bringing it up with Francette, so she’d never tell Francette that, though.

Brancott was beating themselves up over letting a huge catch like her get away. They’d learned that a girl with the power to create potions had appeared at one point in the territory of Baron Renie. Without a doubt, that girl had to be the friend of the Goddess herself, Alfa Kaoru Nagase.

Though both sisters had been inside Brancott at one point, they’d slipped through their fingers after being driven away by other people’s greed and, frankly, stupid decisions. Just thinking about it, she had to have traveled through half the peninsula to reach Balmore, which meant she’d passed through Brancott on her way there. There was even a good chance that she’d have settled down there. In fact, the members of the Hunter’s Guild in Baron Renie’s territory had said that the girl was planning to do so at one point. If the incident at the restaurant she worked at in the capital hadn’t come to pass, she might have stayed there for good. It was something those on the Brancott side would regret for the rest of their days—and the same went for the other countries on the continent, as well.

Balmore wasn’t only the production location for the miraculous healing potions, but its development as a country had exploded in recent years. The other countries wanted the girl responsible for spurring that growth, the one who created the potions and who was said to have the same powers as the Goddess Celestine herself—but they wouldn’t dare try and do anything rash. Aligot had experienced a crushing defeat doing just that, while the once-influential leaders of Rueda had fallen from power. Not to mention the words Goddess Celestine had spoken that day:

“If you see anyone else doing something bad, just do whatever’s necessary to take care of it.”

Who knew what sort of punishment constituted “whatever” by a goddess’s standards...? But one thing was for sure: no one wanted to find out for themselves. They were hoping, however, to invite the girl over at least once for some advice on what to do to further develop their own country.

As for Balmore...

While they may have been a step behind Aligot when it came to shipbuilding, they were still putting up a good fight. They’d already built smaller prototype versions of ships for traversing the open sea, and were currently working on the construction of their first large-scale version of the same type of ship.

They’d also begun introducing crop rotation and the use of fertilizer as part of their farming techniques. It was just about time for the first cycle of crops to be finished from the test fields, and the results were more than clear enough to officially incorporate this strategy into their agricultural practices.

As well, Fearsome Fran and the other four grim reapers who had served as Roland’s personal guard—the group who’d protected the country together—were all hailed as heroes. Roland included, they were a group of six warriors who’d caused more than 40,000 of the Aligot Empire’s troops to flee in fear. There was no one who could hope to stand a chance against the five knights who’d received the blessing of a goddess, though the four former royal guards had made sure to return the swords they had been granted back to Kaoru. It wasn’t like they were true vibroblades or anything, just normal swords that happened to be extra sharp and much sturdier (though they were definitely on another level than your average blade).

Roland’s sword, on the other hand, did have the high-frequency vibration function, so Kaoru actually had to make sure to take the sword back from him. She wasn’t planning on letting anyone but her einherjar Francette have one like that. It looked like he had no intention of giving it back to Kaoru on his own, so she had it stashed it away using her Item Box’s storage function.

Roland didn’t take it well. There was plenty of complaining on his part after Kaoru had confiscated the sword, something along the lines of, “Why was I the only one who didn’t get a sword?! It’s not fair!”

Kaoru was forced to explain how a royal receiving a sacred sword was actually an incredibly big deal, and it wouldn’t only cause Balmore’s relations with other countries to get worse, plus it might even make King Serge seem less relevant. Roland finally seemed to settle down after she told him there was a good possibility people would start calling for him to take the throne instead. Even after the lecture, he immediately assigned the four royal guards who had received sacred blades to work under him as his personal guard, alongside Francette.

Did he really want a sword that badly?

It was the first time she’d seen the usually calm and collected Roland throw a tantrum like that. A grin crossed her face, as if it actually came as a bit of a relief that she knew even someone like him could act like this, as well.

Kaoru had quit her job at the Maillart Workshop after the peace talks wrapped up. After everything that happened, she had much more on her plate to deal with now, which made it harder to work at a small workshop like theirs. Tears in their eyes, everyone begged her not to go, but her hands were tied.

She had already prepared a replacement, however: Lolotte, an eleven-year-old (when she had taken over) who happened to be a member of the Eyes of the Goddess. She’d always looked after the other children in the group, and had a certain “motherly” personality to her. Kaoru assumed she would be the perfect girl to take care of the five adult-sized “children” at the workshop, and it turned out her intuition was right on the money.

The “cuisine” back when the kids lived in the rundown house had been downright awful, because they’d lacked the proper ingredients and seasonings to make anything decent for themselves. Now that Lolotte had proper cookware and everything she would ever need, she had plenty of chances to let her cooking skills shine. Cooking duties for the Eyes of the Goddess had been handed down to Lucy, another girl from the group who Lolotte had trained up herself. All the girls who had been small and frail due to malnutrition back then had grown up to be lovely young women, as well.

Then there was Emile, the leader of the Eyes of the Goddess. He and Belle, the girl who had thrown herself into the well before, were getting along quite well these days. There was only a four year gap between them, so he wasn’t a lolicon or anything.

News of the battle at the well had spread across the country, and figures made in her image were placed near wells after she had become known for protecting them from any evil. She became so popular that offers to adopt her started coming in from all over, and some good ones at that. But Belle had refused them all, choosing to stay with everyone else instead. She never talked about why she’d done that, though. Kaoru could only offer a wry smile, knowing that the girl who had worked so hard to throw poison into the well instead became known as a protector of them.

Cedric, the eldest son of the Lyodart household, had gotten married. His fiancée was the aristocratic girl Kaoru had spoken to back during the courting ceremony. Kaoru was overjoyed to hear that, and would come over to visit her every once in a while. She acted much sweeter now, when compared to their first meeting.

Achille seemed to have given up on Kaoru, and now had his sights set on Lolotte instead, which had earned him Kaoru’s great displeasure: “Are you fine with any girl as long as they can cook for you?!”

Business was booming for the Abili Trade Company. The potion trade was still doing great, of course, but the other new products Kaoru had suggested were a huge hit, as well. This was due to her reputation practically guaranteeing they would sell.

Now that everything had finally calmed down somewhat, Kaoru had realized something: I don’t have any potential husband material...

And just like that, Kaoru suddenly found herself panicking...

I’m already halfway through my marriageable years, but I don’t have a boyfriend, or even someone I would want to go out with. All right, what single guys do I know right now...

King Serge: Pass!

Achille? Have fun getting along with Lolotte, damn it!

There’s Hector, the boy from the Earl’s household; you know, the same Earl who Francette used to work for. He was thirteen when I first met him, but he’s grown up into a fine young man since then... I’ll put him on hold for now.

Allan back in Brancott...but things might get dicey if I married someone from another country now, so I’ll pass. The prince over there is pretty annoying, too.

Who else... Is that it...? That’s all I got? Even if I played along with the idea of going with Hector, he’s an earl’s heir, and he’s younger than me, too...

Oh crap... Am I screwed?

I was a bit shaken up over the predicament I found myself in. As I absentmindedly staggered through the town in a daze, a middle-aged man suddenly jumped in front of me—a dagger in his hand.

“It’s your fault... It’s your fault the Holy Land was destroyed. We lost everything! DIIIIIIE!!!”

It all happened so suddenly I didn’t have the chance to react. The man rushed forward, his blade finding its mark as it plunged directly into my chest.