Act 5: Restoration

Act 5:
Restoration

 

AFTER I PURGED the black swamp, we returned to the village closest to the slime wood. As we had to return from the depths of the forest, we didn’t arrive until close to sundown. We planned to stay there for two nights, and once we recovered from the expedition, we would head back to the capital of Klausner’s Domain.

With the swamp gone, we saw no more monsters on our way back than we had on the way in. We all felt a sense of accomplishment for getting the job done, so the air grew lively. Whenever we took a rest, everyone had something to say about Yuri’s area-of-effect spells or the power of the Saint.

The knights from the Second Order, many of whom had now seen my power up close for the first time, were especially wowed. It felt like their impulse to idolize me had skyrocketed, and soon they might actually get down on their knees and start worshiping the ground I walked on.

Please, I beg you, don’t do that!

Although the journey itself was peaceful, I didn’t feel that peace within. I was too haunted by the sight of the forest after I purged the black swamp. On our way in, the farther we’d pressed into the forest, the more dead trees we’d found, but around the swamp, even those had been few and far between. Once the swamp dissipated, the only thing left had been those few remaining trees and the barren earth—a forlorn scene, to say the least.

To hear others tell it, the forest depths had once overflowed with greenery and a bounty of invaluable herbs. It hurt my heart to see it reduced to a bleak stretch of absence, so different from the verdancy I had imagined.

Would the forest recover with time? It was probably just wishful thinking to imagine those same rare herbs would one day return to these woods. I hoped they would, at least…

“What’s wrong?”

The question snapped me out of my reverie. Before I realized it, we had reached the village. I looked up to meet Albert’s gaze. He frowned at me worriedly.

I shook my head. “Nothing really. I was just thinking.”

His expression softened. “Are you sure? If you’re tired, then maybe you should retire early.”

“Thank you.”

I didn’t want to worry him. I would focus on just enjoying the feast. We would likely have a full-scale banquet when we got back to the capital of the domain, but for now we intended to throw a celebratory dinner party of sorts.

The village didn’t have a large inn or dining hall, so while I called it a dinner party, it was more like we were all going to gather around a bonfire outdoors. Also, we paid for our own food and drink.

However, I helped make the food, so I think it became extravagant in its own way. The mercenaries hunted us some meat along the way, which was a big help as well. In the end, everyone praised the food, so I was gladdened to see my hard work make at least some difference.

“Sei?” Albert asked at one point during the night.

“Oh, sorry.” I had tried to focus on the celebration, but the loss of the forest still weighed on my mind. I had sunk into thought again and worried Albert with my ruminating. The alcohol was probably a bit to blame for that. In any case, I was full, so I decided to call it a night. “I’m sorry. I think you’re right. I probably should have retired early.”

“All right. I’ll walk you to your quarters.”

Although I was turning in, the knights and mercenaries hadn’t yet had their fill—they really had some impressive stamina. I would have felt bad making anyone break up the party before they were ready to go, so I planned to take care of myself. But now Albert was offering to leave early just for my comfort. That was chivalry for you.

It wasn’t far to the house where I had been given a room, but unlike in Japan, the night was a frightful pitch-black. So, while I felt like an inconvenience, I gladly accepted his offer.

“Thank you,” I said.

“Don’t mention it.”

We didn’t speak as we walked. I think he wanted to let me mull things over. The silence didn’t feel uncomfortable or anything. When we reached the door to my quarters, Albert stopped and turned to me. He was wearing that same soft expression.

“Thank you for walking me back,” I said.

“It was my pleasure. Rest well tonight.”

“Thank you… Um, wait.” I stopped him just as he was about to walk away.

“Hm? What is it?”

“Um, if it’s all right, there’s something I’d like to do.” This request felt like overstepping. At the same time, it just felt wrong to leave things as they were. So at last, I told Albert everything that had been on my mind all night.

 

The next day, I returned to the slime wood, though I was accompanied by far fewer people this time around.

Albert had given me permission to return to the forest after I explained what had been bothering me. However, this generosity came with a whole bushel of conditions, including this escort.

Everyone in the Kingdom of Salutania knew the Saint had the ability to purify miasma and exterminate monsters with her magic. However, hardly anyone knew the magic could do far more than that. Officials at the highest level of power in the Salutanian government had long since decided that the Saint’s powers should be kept concealed and therefore had imposed a strict veil of secrecy around them. But today, I had returned to the forest because I hoped to use those powers for something other than the Saint’s legendary purification.

Truth be told, I didn’t know if it would work.

Given all that, I hadn’t told Albert exactly what I hoped to do—I’d said something vague about wanting to try something out. He’d seemed to catch my drift, however.

Our party was small, but we arrived at our destination rather quickly. We stood at the edge of the unhealthy part of the forest where only the vestige of undergrowth and a handful of healthy trees remained. Soon, we would reach the barren stretch of earth where the black swamp had been.

“Just what are you planning to do?” Yuri asked as he walked beside me.

“Um, well, a little something.”

He kept glancing at me with such anticipation in his eyes. My escort being so minimal, the grand magus was naturally among them. Granted, I got the impression that he would have followed me no matter who tried to stop him. I supposed that since this outing hinged on my magic, there was no avoiding him anyway.

When I knelt on the edge of the barren earth to concentrate on casting the spell, I felt his intent gaze fix upon me. It kinda bothered me to know he was staring at me like that, but I needed to focus.

Time dragged. My head wouldn’t clear.

“Um…” I muttered.

“Yes?” said Yuri.

“Uh, um, it’s just, your staring, it’s, uh, it’s bothering me.”

I just couldn’t concentrate! I knew Yuri was infatuated with my Saintly powers and all, but having him stare at me so up close and personal like that was beyond unnerving. It felt like he was observing me even more closely than he did when I practiced my spells at the Royal Magi Assembly practice grounds.

“I apologize,” he said. “I just can’t help but wonder what exactly it is you need to do in order to summon this magic.”

I jerked in surprise.

“Therefore, I thought that perhaps if I stud—I mean, witnessed you using the power, then I might gain new insight. We can learn quite a lot merely by observing a phenomenon, you see.”

You were just about to say “studied,” weren’t you? Well, I’m not fooled by that smile of yours.

Days ago, he had let me off the hook and told me I didn’t have to explain the secret to summoning the Saint’s magic if I didn’t want to—but how had it come to this? To be fair, I’d had an inkling that it would. No wonder I’d felt a chill in that moment. I’d had an unconscious premonition of this very future as Yuri’s favorite lab rat. To think I had imagined that I’d dodged his bullet.

“If you would prefer to just tell me instead, that would be fine,” he said.

“Uh, no, feel free to just observe what I do.”

“Thank you.”

I yielded, surrendered, gave up. I hadn’t been able to tell him the truth when alone together in a private room; no way could I tell him when Albert stood mere feet away.

Okay, Sei, just do your best to ignore the piercing gaze boring into your side. I took a deep breath to settle myself and once more called up my focus. It was definitely just my imagination that my face felt slightly hot.

Slowly, almost as if turning back the clock, I recalled the moments I had shared with Albert. I thought of the night before when he had walked me home, and of healing him in the slime wood, and all the way back to the moment we had first met…

And the golden magic flowed forth from within my chest. It surged like a wave toward the blackened heart of the forest.

More. More… Normally, at some point I felt like I had reached my goal, but this time I just kept going and going. Reach as far as possible…until the forest is brought back to life. That’s my wish.

Just as my head started to feel heavy, and my body trembled like it would fall over, I cast the spell.

“What the?!”

“Oh, my!”

The spell activated, and everything as far as the eye could see was bathed in a golden light. Within the illumination, a carpet of green burst forth and spread forward from my feet. The roots of dead trees sprouted anew and grew ever farther. It was like a video of a forest in fast forward, and it was wondrous to behold.

I couldn’t make plants grow from nothing—but I could encourage the plants that had survived to take root where others had passed before them.

I’m so glad it worked… That was the last thing I thought. The urge to sleep overcame me, and I fell over, consciousness lost.

 

***

 

Apparently, after I lost consciousness, everyone panicked. Luckily, Yuri was instantly able to diagnose my condition: I had used every last drop of my MP. Thus, after a bit of time to recover, I woke back up all by myself.

However, when I came to, I was in Albert’s arms. Yeah, I was flustered as heck. He was carrying me like some kind of fairy-tale princess! Of course I lost my mind a little!

I asked him to put me down right away, but he wouldn’t, leaving me plenty perplexed.

Yuri peeked over Albert’s shoulder with that beautiful smile to sing, “It’s punishment for scaring us all half to death!”

After that, I didn’t have the will to insist on anything.

In the end, I wound up getting carried that way for about ten whole minutes. It would have been longer, but my heart just couldn’t take it anymore and I gave in to begging. That got Albert to finally let me down. In exchange, I wasn’t allowed to do anything but rest once we got back to the village.

When I awoke the next morning, the preparations for our return to the capital were complete. I felt selfish for not helping, so along the way, I worked extra hard at cooking.

When we made it to the capital, I accompanied Albert, Yuri, and Leo to report that I had purged the black swamp off the face of the planet.

Lord Klausner looked a bit gutted when he first heard Leo describe what had happened to the forest near the swamp. I wanted to tell him it was okay, but as I had restored the forest with my Saint’s magic in secret, Leo didn’t know it had recovered, and I certainly couldn’t say anything. I couldn’t even tell Corinna, who was also receiving the report.

However, now that the swamp was gone, the number of monsters in the forest had dramatically decreased. We had experienced that firsthand on our return. I was sure that soon, Corinna would go to assess the state of the forest herself. I hoped so, at least. Then she would see the forest’s recovery with her own eyes.

After we made our report, all that was left was to return to the royal capital. Just as I had predicted, Lord Klausner threw a banquet in our honor for the successful completion of our expeditions. It was to be a much bigger to-do than the feast we’d had back at the village. Being such a significant affair, that meant there would be a ton of things to do, right?

“Um, may I help get the banquet ready?” I asked him.

“You wish to?” Lord Klausner asked in surprise.

“Yes. May I help with the cooking?”

He looked even more surprised at that. But of course he would be. Even though I’d done it before, the idea of the Saint cooking was still outrageous to those of the kingdom. But I found it relaxing.

“I personally don’t mind, however…” Lord Klausner trailed off, and his gaze shifted toward Albert.

My recipes had apparently spread far and wide throughout the kingdom, and they had also won over Lord Klausner’s stomach. He and his family had only gotten to eat my cooking once, but it had been well received. Lord Klausner seemed tempted by a second opportunity to enjoy my cooking, but he looked to Albert because he had the final say on the matter.

I had already cooked for the Klausner clan once before, and I really hoped to be allowed to do it again. I looked pleadingly at Albert. I’m sure that if I only cut vegetables and stuff like that, my Cooking skills won’t have much effect. I promise I won’t cook a whole recipe from top to bottom, so please, I’m begging here!

He thought it over with a slightly consternated look, but then he glanced at me and sighed. “I don’t mind either.”

“Thank you!” I said. And the victory goes to Sei!

After we finished up our report, I took that permission as license to head straight for the kitchens. The chefs had already heard I was coming, and the head chef was there to greet me when I arrived. “What do you plan to make today?”

“Oh, nothing. I was thinking of helping out with mise en place and stuff.”

“Is that so?” The chef looked disappointed.

“Well, I figured you already had a menu prepared for tonight, right?”

They obviously did. A ton of vegetables and other ingredients were laid out on the counters and were already being prepared. Those had to be for the banquet. I definitely didn’t want to ask them to change a menu they’d already started on.

However, it seemed the head chef really wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to learn something new. The other chefs also had expectant looks on their faces. Well, now I had no choice. I asked them to tell me what they’d already been planning to make, and I thought over what they could change or what things we could use for alternative recipes.

Luckily, they had some extra ingredients—enough to add one more dish to the banquet. I told them which ingredients we would need and that I would teach them the steps, and the chefs readily agreed with smiles on their faces.

We would make mutton leg and lentil stew.

As I cut up the carrots and onions, someone unexpected came to the kitchens.

“Aira?”

“I heard you were here, so I decided to stop by,” she said. “I’d like to help, too.”

Yuri had told her what I was up to. Aira got permission from the head chef to join in and came over to me. She told me she had cooked once in a while back in Japan. She had been living at home with both her parents, but since both of them worked, at times she’d had to make her own lunch and so forth.

“You made your own bento for school, huh? That sure brings me back. What kind of foods did you make?” I asked.

“Just simple things like scrambled eggs and fried sausages.”

“Even so, I think that’s pretty impressive.”

We had a lot of vegetables to chop, since this was for a whole banquet. Aira and I had fun chatting about other food we used to eat back in Japan as we worked.

Eventually, I noticed we were the only ones talking; no one else joined in our conversations. I suspected it was because we were talking about food the chefs had never heard of before, so they were all listening with intent interest.

After we finished the mise en place, we got to the actual cooking. Only the chefs would be doing this part. I could have asked Aira to help, but I decided not to, just in case. I had never heard Aira talk about something like this, but there was a nonzero chance her Cooking skills might also have unusually impressive effects.

Following my directions, the chef fried the seasoned meat in a pan. At the same time, another chef sauteed the chopped vegetables in a big pot. Once they were cooked, we added the lentils and meat to the pot with the vegetables, as well as premade bouillon, and let it simmer for a good long time.

To add flavor, I used spices such as galangal and hyssop, which were a bit unusual even back in Japan. But the alchemist’s holy land was well named indeed. I had found these in the brewery and asked Corinna how to get the herbs in the royal capital, as they could also be used as cooking spices.

“That was so fun. It’s been a while since the last time I got to cook,” Aira said.

“Yeah. If you’d like, you could come cook with me sometime when we get back to the capital.”

“Really? I’d love to!” Aira nodded, beaming.

Aira had been dissatisfied with the cuisine in this world, too. She had been relieved when she started to get better tasting food in Klausner’s Domain. I suspected that since she had been living an otherwise perfect life in the palace, she had been afraid to complain about the food and just tried to put up with it.

While I chatted with Aira, the head chef came over to tell us the stew was ready for a taste test. It was absolutely delicious. Mission accomplished.

 

***

 

After that, I headed back to my quarters. There, I found Mary and the other maids waiting for me. As this would be a significant banquet, I was expected to wear something Saint-like.

Noooo, again?

People of noble status had to dress according to the occasion, which meant that as the Saint, I had to dress up, too. And that meant proper grooming first. I had completely forgotten how troublesome the whole ordeal could be.

When Mary told me it was time to change, I wearily gave in—but when I saw the happy smiles on the other maids standing by, I promised myself that I would do as she said. They were really nice smiles, okay?

The maids seemed to enjoy dressing me up. They even asked if I would let them handle more of the preparation than I usually did. Most times, I did whatever I could on my own so they wouldn’t have to work. Thinking back on it, I felt a bit sorry—they just wanted to show off their skills and feel useful, after all.

After the primping, they brought out yet another new robe for me. The cloth was the color of young herbs, and the dark green embroidery looked like vines. It reminded me of the branches and leaves that had burst back to life after I used my magic on the barren depths of the forest.

I was genuinely touched—it was so kind of the maids to prepare this kind of dress for me. I’m sorry! I just can’t handle corsets.

The maids showered me with praise when their work was completed.

“And…finished.”

“You look beautiful.”

“Truly.”

I got pretty self-conscious. I still wasn’t used to this! However, I thought demurring or saying “oh, that’s not true” would just downplay their skills, so all I actually said was, “Thank you.”

They told me that my escort would arrive when it was time, so I sat about and chatted with the maids while I waited.

A little while later, there was a knock at the door. I couldn’t say I was surprised to see that my escort would be Albert.

“You look lovely tonight,” he said as he smiled.

“Oh, you’re just saying that.” I couldn’t look him in the eye and reflexively stared down at my feet.

Ahhh, and here I’d told myself to be honest about the maids’ skills! I was just so flustered. I glanced at the maids, mortified, but they were smiling at me fondly. Well, that just made me all the more flustered.

While I was trying to get a hold of myself, Albert chuckled and offered me his arm. “Shall we go?”

“Huh? Oh, yes.” At first I wasn’t sure what he was doing. Oh, right, escort.

I placed my hand on his elbow.

“Have a pleasant evening, my lady,” said Mary.

“Thanks, see you all later!”

Mary and the other maids saw me off with precisely proper bows as I left the room.

Knights, mages, and mercenaries had already filled the banquet hall by the time we got there. Long tables were laden with food and alcohol. Of course, the stew Aira and I had made was laid out with the rest.

Albert guided me to the back of the room, to the table where the Klausner family was seated. The Klausners had the left side of the table, starting from the center. The seats on the right side of the table were empty, which I guessed meant they were ours.

Yuri had the seat farthest on the right. He noticed us enter the hall and raised a hand in greeting. We joined him in our assigned seats, Lord Klausner gave a speech, and at last the banquet began.

Lord Klausner thanked me again just as I took a sip of wine from a silver goblet. “Lady Sei, thank you for all you have done for my domain.”

“I’m just happy I was able to help. And I would like to thank you as well. I learned so much while I was here.”

Although I had come to give support for the expeditions, I had been able to study potions in the alchemist’s holy land, so I was powerfully grateful myself. Plus, while it would take some time for Klausner’s Domain to export herbs at the volume they once had, they had vowed to prioritize selling herbs to the research institute for me. I felt kind of bad, because it felt like they were going out of their way to be nice to us.

Albert thanked Lord Klausner for his offer all the same. That made sense, since he and his knights got their potions from the institute.

While we talked with the head of the table about the future, other people started digging in to the food. I heard delighted responses rise up from tables across the hall. Ah, this was the best—and most relieving—part of cooking.

The praise was particularly boisterous from the mercenaries’ table.

“This is the food the capital’s been raving about?” one asked.

“Holy—this is mind-blowingly good!” Leo exclaimed.

“Hey, Boss! Don’t hog it all for yourself!”

“Shut up! It’d be poor manners not to eat this as fast as I can.”

I looked toward the excited voices to see Leo hoarding the stew on his table. I couldn’t help but laugh.

I wasn’t the only one amused by the banter. Aira, sitting with the other mages, laughed joyfully.

Thank goodness. Those unfamiliar spices had done their job. Everyone vied to get a second helping of our stew.

At the end of a wonderful meal, I retired to my chambers early. I feared people couldn’t properly enjoy themselves while the high-ranking folks were staring down at them from the head table. Maybe that was just the knights, though. The mercenaries didn’t really seem to mind either way.

My hypothesis was right on the money. I heard from some of the Third Order knights that the party got even more raucous after we left.

Two days after the banquet, it was time to return to the royal capital. Those days passed in the blink of an eye. As I left the great hall, I found it hurt my heart a bit to be leaving the mercenaries whom I had gotten to know so well.

“Thanks for everything you’ve done for us,” Lord Klausner said when I was saying my goodbyes to him with Albert.

“I should be the one thanking you for letting me learn so much from the alchemists in your brewery.”

Corinna then arrived to say goodbye as well. She wasn’t the only one either. A ton of people had come to see us off even though it was terribly early in the morning.

“We’re going to have a hard time making potions without you around,” she said to me.

“Oh, I hardly did anything.”

“As if. You’re the only one who can pump out potions like that. How many alchemists do you think it’d take to match your daily quota?”

I laughed bashfully. Corinna was the same as always, even when saying goodbye.

As I chuckled, she beckoned me to lean down. Now what was this about? “Thank you for what you did with the fields as well,” she whispered. “I’m sure we’ll be able to grow all manner of herbs again.”

“To tell the truth, I was thinking I’d like to try growing those herbs at our research institute as well.”

“Well, then. I’ll send you some seeds in a bit.”

“Thank you!”

Yay! Now I could also grow those finicky herbs that required blessings. Those seeds had been the one thing I still needed. My mind was in full-on victory pose as I thanked her. Corinna responded with a somewhat exasperated smile.

As we spoke in hushed tones, Leo strode over as well. He greeted me with his usual “Heya!” and a raised hand, so I gave him a slight bow in return.

“Time for you to head back?” he asked.

“That’s right.”

“Take care on the way then.”

“Thank you. You take care of yourself, too, Leo.”

“Thanks. But listen, if you ever get tired of the royal capital, you come back here, all right? You’re always welcome to join us.”

“What are you talking about?” Corinna cut in. “If she wants new work, then I’ve got dibs.”

I wasn’t planning on quitting the research institute, but if I did, then I supposed I could join the brewery instead. I found myself seriously considering it as a second career—I had enjoyed my time here in Klausner’s Domain even more than I had anticipated.

As I listened to Corinna and Leo quarrel like some kind of comedy routine, I felt a bit wistful. It was possible that this would be the last time I saw them. We hadn’t been in Klausner’s Domain all that long, but I had grown utterly fond of these two.

“Sei, it’s time.” Albert urged me into the carriage.

“All right.” I swallowed my emotions to say my final goodbyes to Corinna and Leo, then headed toward the carriage.

After I got in, it wasn’t long before someone gave the order for departure. The carriage slowly began to roll forward.

When I looked out the window, I found Corinna, Leo, and the other mercenaries waving us off. I continued waving back until I could no longer see them. It was time at last to leave.