Chapter 42: Status Check

There I was, in His Majesty the King’s office, which was smack-dab in the middle of the royal palace, having forgotten that I had sworn to the Goddess that I would never again set foot in here. I have to provide a logical explanation for this...

“It’s been a while, Your Majesty. I know I made a solemn vow that I’d never come back here, but I’m sure glad I made sure to ask Celes for an exception for emergencies and other important situations!”

There, problem solved!

“Ah... Right...”

It seemed the king was a bit embarrassed about crying to his older brother in front of others, and his face was slightly red.

Roland treated the king with indifference, but I didn’t have anything against the guy. He was the king of this country, after all, so I was going to interact with him accordingly. I mean, I didn’t want any rumors going around that the Angel had more authority than His Majesty the King.

...I had already given up on claiming I wasn’t the Angel long ago.

“So, what’s the situation in the Kingdom of Brancott?” Roland asked as he pushed the king back, given how he was clinging onto him, with no small amount of annoyance on Roland’s part.

“Yes, let me explain. Please take a seat,” The king said, gesturing toward a sofa for guests and sitting down himself.

As his guests, we weren’t allowed to sit down before he did. That is, unless we were kings from other countries ourselves. But if we had actually been foreign monarchs, we wouldn’t have been greeted in a room like this.

A maid brought us some drinks, then the others were dismissed, leaving just our party and the king.

Once everyone else left, Roland’s younger brother Serge — the king — explained the details to us. According to him, it was all just as we had been told by the royal guard. The king of the neighboring kingdom of Brancott had suddenly passed away, causing an all-too-familiar contest for succession. Normally, it would have gone to that annoying first prince Fernand, but the second in line, Ghislain, was also vying for the throne.

They were both children of the princess consort, so there weren’t any issues like the first prince’s mother being of a lower class while the second prince’s mother was the daughter of a marquis or anything like that, but instead it seemed like the selfish and greedy second son just wanted to take the throne and supplant the hard-working and honest first son. I had only ever seen Fernand as a stalker who caused me problems, but he was actually fairly respectable about things that didn’t involve me. That was pretty surprising...

So anyway, there was no official successor appointed because of the previous king’s sudden passing... Well, there wasn’t really a need for one, because everyone assumed the first prince would take over... But some folks decided to use that as part of their plot to appoint the second prince instead.

Their reasoning went like this: “The first prince has displeased the Angel, so if he becomes king, we’ll lose the protection of the Goddess and our kingdom will crumble.” Some idiot had made up that rumor and started spreading it around.

Not to mention, there were self-proclaimed high priests in the royal palace, in an entirely separate hierarchy from the priests of the Temple of the Goddess. They’d been making connections through bribery and had joined the second prince’s faction, hoping to put the easily-manipulated boy on the throne for their own benefit.

The Temple of the Goddess hadn’t accepted these shady newcomers, but stayed silent because they couldn’t deny that the first prince had displeased the Angel...

Then there was the previous king’s demise. Word was that he had seemed healthy but had then suddenly died of an illness, which could mean he’d been poisoned...

The first prince should have been the crown prince in the first place, and considering the fact that he was more suitable and better-liked than his younger brother, the succession should have been a smooth process. And yet, the second prince’s faction had started firing off unsubstantiated claims that the late king had appointed the second prince as his successor, then launched a sudden attack on the first prince’s faction — which denied their claim, of course — and took the royal palace by force.

Fortunately for them, the first prince and his confidants had managed to flee by using a hidden escape route that was only known to the royal heir, and he’s been missing ever since.

“A pretty common story...” I said.

“Indeed,” Roland agreed.

“Meanwhile, there are brothers who try to push the duty of being king onto each other because they’d rather not deal with it...” I noted.

“Hahaha...” the king replied, shoulders drooping at my words as he chuckled listlessly.

Welp, you never know what’ll happen! Gotta keep your chin up!

“So, the second prince, Ghislain, is currently in control of the royal palace, but it seems no one believes he is the legitimate heir, not even those who are trying to put him on the throne. Everyone is either staying silent out of fear of being purged then and there, or are otherwise trying to benefit from backing the winning horse. They will surely crumble as soon as the tides turn. Therefore...”

“They want to take out their greatest threat, which is you, the first prince...” I replied.

“Indeed. If that happens, the line of succession would technically devolve onto the second prince. Though, whether a usurper who murders his father and older brother has the right to succeed the throne is another matter altogether...”

Of course, someone like that had absolutely no right to become a ruler. Even if the first prince was out of the picture, someone else of royal blood should take over instead. The late king had a daughter, and his younger brother had children too. It wasn’t as if there were no successors left if the second prince was to be disinherited. And it wasn’t as if the second prince could just massacre all of the other successors, their collateral lines, and everyone else related to the royal family.

Then Serge began to fill us in on the response status of his own country.

“I’ve dispatched the Four Walls to the eastern border. I determined that the Kingdom of Aseed to the south and the Aligot Empire to the west were less of a threat, so the arrangements there are the same as usual. Though, that said, I haven’t extracted any soldiers from those regions, just in case.

“The remaining forces of the standing army and the conscripts have been sent to the eastern border as well. The Kingdom of Aseed has also gathered their forces along the border they share with the Kingdom of Brancott as well as on the side closest to us. They’ve agreed to cross the border and send us reinforcements as soon as we request it.”

“Perfect. We can’t make the first move, so all that’s left now is to wait for them to declare war or cross our border without warning.”

“Yes. We will be intercepting the enemy’s attack, so the battle will take place on our territory. It’s a shame that our land will be ruined as a result, but there’s nothing we can do about that...”

It seemed that he had taken care of what needed to be done, despite his initial lack of self-confidence. Though, really, I didn’t think Roland would have left him to be king if he was completely incompetent. I sympathized with him, considering that he was always being compared to Roland, but he probably would have been a fine king even if Roland had never been in the picture.

“There’s no such thing as a younger brother who’s better than his older brother!” as someone used to say...

Anyway, the Kingdom of Balmore couldn’t take any action until Brancott did something first, so they had to cede the initiative out of necessity. They couldn’t be the ones to spark the war, but Serge was right that they had to take on the giant disadvantage of the battle taking place on their home turf. They didn’t really have a choice in the matter, considering that the Kingdom of Balmore had their position and reputation to consider.

...But none of that had anything to do with me. The enemy had used my name for personal gain, put words in my mouth, and attacked Layette and me. It was an undeniable fact that they had already declared war on me. In fact, you could even say they had launched a surprise attack on me without a declaration of war. So I had the right to strike back, right? Me personally, I mean.

“Okay, we’ll be going now!”

“Huh?” Roland, Francette, and the king all said, looking at me with wide eyes.

“I mean, we just came here to drop off Roland. We did what we came here to do, so we’re leaving. Is that an issue?”

“Whaaaaaat?!?”

What, did they think I was gonna help them with their war?

“I have no intention of favoring one side of a mortal war over another.”

“...” Roland and the king were stunned into silence and looked at me as if they hadn’t expected this at all.

Francette was surprised at first when I announced I was leaving, but didn’t seem too caught off-guard when I explained I didn’t intend to help in their war. Emile, Belle, and Layette were as cool as cucumbers, of course. It seemed that Roland was the only one who didn’t understand me at all.

After all this time we had spent together... And he was supposed to be the smartest one here, too... It just went to show that smarts and the ability to understand people weren’t one and the same.

And so, I left the rather conflicted-looking Roland and the king behind and headed back to the residence of the Eyes of the Goddess.

...Indeed, I wasn’t going to provide any help for their war. This was my war, after all. I’m not helping them because I’m the real combatant here. I’ll be the one attacking Brancott, not the other way around.

That was fine and all, but... Why was Francette following me instead of staying behind? And with such a happy smile, too...?

“I’m home!”

Thud thud thud thud thud thud! came the sound of feet down the stairs, as several voices all piped up in unison.

“Welcome home!!!”

I had returned home for the first time in several months. Though, really, this place felt like it actually belonged to the orphans and I was just staying over... But it wasn’t as if I was just laying around and slacking off. I simply tasked the orphans with cooking, cleaning, laundry, making a living, and everything else to cultivate their independence! That was why they were able to live on their own without me or Emile there.

Not only had I taught the girls how to do housework, but I’d also instructed the boys, too. I wasn’t so anachronistic that I’d only taught the boys how to go out and hold down a job while teaching the girls to do housework! Though I guess that was actually considered a standard practice rather than an anachronism in this world...

That said, I had been sure to teach them to take care of themselves without depending on others, regardless of their gender. I wanted to make sure they could support themselves on their own before they found marriage partners, and I didn’t want them to end up being scumbags who dumped all of the housework and childcare on their wives after getting married. As a result, they all ended up being fine young kids. Each of them grew up to be capable of doing housework for me.

I’m the one who raised them!

I had already let them know about my return with the sound resonance crystal set, so while they were happy about my return, they weren’t all that surprised. If I had suddenly come home without giving them a heads up, they might have wet themselves like overly excited puppies. No, seriously.

I wasn’t gonna have them report to me on what I had missed in my absence. I’d been keeping in touch and getting info in real time with the crystal set, after all. Even though I had told them many times that they didn’t need to report so frequently, the kids were so eager to talk to me that they took every opportunity they could to chat about whatever.

Telling me that onions were a copper coin cheaper at the vegetable shop in Brancott’s royal capital wasn’t really useful information...

Anyway, I was back home for the first time in a while. I decided to lie on the ground and have the kids step on my back. It actually felt really good...

“Gueh!”

I just made a weird noise. Wait...

“Quit it! You’re crushing me! Belle, you’re way past stepping on my back already! Anyone who gets too heavy gets relieved of stepping-on-my-back duty. Off you go!”

Belle stepped off of my back, looking a little sad. I really couldn’t compromise on this, even though she was making those puppy-dog eyes. If I left her to it, she’d snap my spine in two.

As Belle moved away, an older but smaller child moved in on the now-vacant spot on my back.

That’s right, Belle, blame your own body for growing so much... Especially your boobs! That’s why you lost the privilege of stepping on my back!

“Gagh! D-Don’t jump on me! And not three of you at once!!!”

My insides were about to burst out of my mouth!

And so, I spent my time being a degenerate for a while...

Come to think of it, even if I was gonna deal with the enemy, it was better to have them cross the border, both in consideration of this country’s situation and in terms of dishing out divine punishment.

Picking a fight with the Angel was reason enough to get back at them, but if they invaded the country where the Angel lived, that would make them seem all the more villainous. Plus, if they crossed the border and fulfilled the conditions to activate the secret alliance with the Kingdom of Aseed, it would make things more convenient in the long term.

And so, I had Francette take care of gathering information from the king and focused on spending time with the children (leaving all the work for others to do and basically lazing about)...

Oh, and I introduced Layette to everyone as a new member of the Eyes of the Goddess.

She was with us all this time, but a girl her age should have been living with the other kids here. Such a young child being among all these adults by herself wasn’t a good environment for her. Not to mention, we were about to head into battle...

I couldn’t bring her with us. So, I had to have Layette live here with the others as a member of the Eyes of the Goddess. I was going to miss having her around for emotional support, but I couldn’t drag her around for my own selfish reasons. I had to endure! I could come back to see her any time...

Then I educated the children on various topics before bedtime. The thing is, they were all good, honest kids who revered me as a goddess, but...they were a bit too dependent on me. They should be able to stand on their own without me, but not one of them wanted to leave.

The oldest of them, Emile, was currently sixteen and would be seventeen soon. The youngest one, excluding Layette, was Belle at twelve years old. I mean, they were all old enough to find work as live-in apprentices, craftsmen-in-training, hunters, or military cadets.

In other words, they were at the age to be considered a normal member of society who had lost their parents at a young age, and a few of them, like Emile, were already of age. They weren’t just orphans anymore. An ex-orphan with no guarantor or connections would normally have had a hard time getting hired anywhere, but no employer would turn down someone who had lived with me and been taken under my wing. If they tried, they could have gotten hired at any major business they wanted. Maybe they could have even found work as servants in a noble household.

...So why hadn’t they gone out into the world already?! In the four years before I left on my journey, I taught them so much during our before-bedtime discussions! Cooking, reading, writing, math, the workings of society, how to make money, common scams — not to scam others, but to avoid falling for them, of course. Plus, some basic chemistry, physics, medical science, and more...

I even told them all sorts of stories so they wouldn’t get bored. Mainly stories from Japanese manga and anime, along with some mythology and folktales from Earth... They probably thought these were true stories from my world at first, but they had to know they were make-believe stories by now.

Anyway, I gave them enough training to get hired at most places. So why had none of them tried to leave this orphanage?! I get that it was easier to save money because they didn’t have to pay rent and food was cheap here, but they couldn’t live together forever. They would all eventually have to find a lover or get married.

...Wait, Emile and Belle better not get all lovey-dovey in front of everyone here! That may be fine by society’s standards, but not mine! Such insolence wasn’t gonna fly in my book!

Haah... Haah...

In any case, I had given them this house, so if they wanted to live here until they got married to cut down on living expenses, that was totally fine.

But why did they insist on working at places where they could commute from here? Even if they had to find live-in work or go someplace far away, they had to consider their future... Why couldn’t they just think of this place as a home they could return to? There was no reason to stay here all the time. Or maybe this home that I bestowed on them was more like a curse binding them here...

“Hey, why don’t you kids try to find proper careers with future prospects instead of working as messenger boys, store clerks, or nursemaids? I know you’re all capable of...”

“You’re the one that taught us that all occupations are equally honorable, Kaoru!”

“Urgh...”

“There’s all sorts of baggage that come with regular employment, like excessive responsibilities that are disproportionate to the salary, human relations, and expectations of unpaid work or work on holidays. And women have to deal with harassment from superiors who abuse their positions of power...”

“Urggh...”

Damn, they sound just like permanent part-time employees... And I’m the one who taught them all this... This was bad. Really bad.

“Don’t you guys want to become independent soon? I don’t intend on living here forever, so I was thinking of moving on... And if you all move out, I could sell this place and divvy up the money to help you all on your fresh new starts.”

Yes, if I could just sell this place off, they would all fly freely off into the world. And once this current incident was resolved, I planned to go on another journey right away. I did plan on staying a legal resident of this country, for the record. I was just going on a journey, and as long as I was considered an inhabitant of this city, it would make it easier for me and avoid all sorts of trouble later on.

If I wandered around on my journey without being registered anywhere and people found out who I was, they would probably get pushy about having me live in their country. Plus, I’d feel bad if this country became known for being abandoned by the Angel. So I would continue living here in a formal, legal capacity, but that didn’t mean I had to leave this house here if no one was living in it. And the kids would end up being stuck in this house if I did just leave it here, which would be a huge waste of talent.

If these kids went out into the world and put all their knowledge and education they had gotten here to good use, it would make this country — no, the world — a better place. Maybe just a little bit...

It would also lead to their own happiness, and I would have a small part in doing something good for this world, which would make me kind of happy too.

Wait...they seem pretty shaken by what I had said...

“D-D-Do you mean...”

“Are you going back to the heavenly realm, Big Sis Kaoru...?”

“Y-You’re leaving us?”

Oh no, they’re about to burst into tears! ...Actually, some of them are crying already!

But I couldn’t just baby them here. I had to give it to them straight, here and now.

“I can’t just live with all of you here forever. I...”

“Wh-Wh-What is it?”

They were on the verge of tears, but I declared without mercy: “I’ll get married and live a life of my own someday...”

“Oh, we’ll be fine for a while, then!”

...What was with their relieved smiles?! How incredibly rude...

“Oh, but I need to manage my own world too! Just like Celes...”

Indeed, I was generally known as a friend of the Goddess Celestine... Most people continued to call me the Angel, no matter how desperately I denied it, though. And so, I was supposed to be a normal human girl who was loved by the Goddess, but some people, like these kids, Francette, Roland, House Adan, and a few others, thought of me as a goddess of another world. So this explanation was fine for them.

“That’s why I need to leave soon...”

“...”

The children went silent. It seemed like they wanted to stop me but considered that I may have important work as a goddess, or maybe they were worried that the citizens of my world were in trouble without me.

They looked like they were about to cry again, but they seemed to understand they couldn’t be selfish here and said nothing. And I understood I had to be firm here. If I coddled them out of sympathy, nothing would change. I had to keep my emotions out of this...

“Do you think people who try to keep the Goddess for themselves and rely on her without trying to live by their own abilities deserve the Goddess’s blessing?”

I ignored the sobs as I turned my back and walked toward my room.

...I was the one who wanted to cry!

“...”

I woke up the next day and went into the living room to find the kids hanging their heads at the dining table. They all had red eyes. And yet they had prepared breakfast, including mine, of course.

I sat down and thanked them for breakfast, then they mumbled listlessly in response...

“Sheesh, who died?! Get a grip! Remember what I taught you all? Be cheerful during mealtimes! Even if you’re sad or in pain, be energetic and happy when you eat, even if you have to fake it! Otherwise, you’ll just make the food taste bad and feel even worse!”

Usually, the kids at least forced themselves to smile when I gave a pep talk like this, but they all still looked like the world was ending.

“B-But...”

“I just can’t...”

“Urgh... Waaah...”

This was hopeless... I had to do something or they were gonna end up as empty husks...

“Do you think someone who doesn’t try to live by their own abilities deserves my blessing?”

“But if we do become capable of living on our own, you’ll leave us...”

That was a good point... I had already left once, but maybe they thought I was going on a journey to find a husband, and I was going to come back once I did. They had said they would continue to protect this house and wait for me, and Emile and Belle had left with me. Maybe they were afraid I could leave for good next time.

Hmm... There wasn’t really anything I could do here...