Behind the Scenes I

Behind the Scenes I

 

NOW LET’S REWIND the story a bit—and perhaps take a different point of view.

Eight grim-faced people sat at the council table in the palace of the Kingdom of Salutania. Together, they shouldered a heavy burden.

“Let’s hear your reports,” Prime Minister Dominic Goltz said, looking grave.

The eight members of the council included ministers, such as the minister of Military Services and the minister of Home Affairs, as well as the commanders of each knightly order and the grand magus of the Royal Magi Assembly. Seated at the farthest end of the table was the king.

Josef Hawke, the minister of Military Services, spoke next. In a low, strained voice, he said, “The situation is yet…disappointing. We send our knights in rotation to slay the monsters, and thus far they have managed to endure, but at this rate, in the near future the monsters will escape the bounds of the forests.”

The miasma was condensing by the day, and the monsters born from it grew ever stronger. Although the miasma always manifested relatively close to civilization, no one had any solid theory as to why exactly it did so, or what even caused it to take form. It accumulated most quickly and easily in places where humans didn’t immediately live, such as forests and caverns, but because these sites were always near villages and towns, monsters born from the miasma would inevitably invade homesteads, leaving human casualties in their wake.

Usually, routine dispatches of knights were sufficient to prevent the monsters from swarming these vulnerable settlements. However, every few generations, the miasma condensed at a rate that exceeded the one at which monsters could be slain.

Just as was happening now.

So far, the council had dealt with the rise in monster attacks by sending the knights out more frequently, but as the years wore on with no sign of relief, the number of expeditions needed to beat back the miasma only increased. The minister of Military Services and the knight commanders of the knights were in agreement: they would only be able to hold out for another year or two. Once the knights succumbed, the remaining monsters would flood out of the miasma and lay waste to every human settlement in their path.

Alphonse Hummel, the minister of Home Affairs, spoke next. “We have received reports from nobles across the kingdom. They face many of the same difficulties and cannot sustain the fight.”

While the royal knights protected the forests surrounding the capital, the kingdom’s nobles were expected to slay monsters that emerged in their own domains. However, it was hired mercenaries, not farmers, who faced these beasts. The mercenaries worked together in guilds, and the lord of a region paid them in return for exterminating monsters and keeping the peace.

But with the number of monsters now on the rise, the lords’ coffers were unable to keep up with the mercenaries’ demands. Those fighters’ lives were on the line, and they wouldn’t deploy without respectable compensation, even if it was in defense of the land where they lived.

Normally, if mercenaries refused to deploy, or if there simply weren’t enough of them to face the threat at hand, the palace sent knights to bolster a noble’s forces. Unfortunately, the knights were already at their limit dealing with monstrous incursions around the capital. The court was in no condition to sacrifice troops to any other regions in the kingdom.

The prime minister’s frown lines grew deeper at hearing the two reports. He turned to Michael Hoover, the commander of Special Services. “Any updates on the search for the Saint?”

Michael’s tone was somber. “Unfortunately, we still haven’t found her.”

In times when the miasma grew too dense, the maiden called the Saint was meant to appear somewhere in the kingdom. Her miasma-cleansing magic was unbelievably powerful and could instantaneously eliminate monsters. The appearance of the Saint would quell the miasma and shepherd in a new era.

In every instance of recorded history, the Saint was found somewhere in the kingdom, and thus Special Services was searching for her. They assumed at first that it wouldn’t take long to find her, but three years had come and gone with no sign of the Saint. They continued to scour every corner of the kingdom, knowing that an age of ruin nipped at their heels. Every time their hunt turned up nothing, they thought, perhaps, that the Saint simply hadn’t been born yet, and returned to places they had already searched in hopes that she would make herself known.

And yet the Saint still hadn’t been found.

A heavy silence fell over the room.

The grand magus of the Royal Magi Assembly, Yuri Drewes, broke the silence with a whisper. “Is it time we turned to legend?”

Everyone at the table looked at him.

Yuri gazed at them each in turn before producing a document for them all to see. “There is a rite known as the ‘Saint Summoning Ritual.’”

“Everyone’s heard of that. Isn’t it just a fairy tale?”

“No. It was truly performed. I have the steps of the ritual written right here.”

“How did you find it?”

“It was written in a grimoire I found in the Forbidden Depository.”

“Can we trust the contents of this book…?”

“I cannot say. The instructions for the ritual are recorded, but the steps seem quite complicated. We will require a number of mages to perform the spell as well. Our odds of success are, by my guess, fifty-fifty.”

“Such low odds…”

“But it seems to me our chances are better with this than they are if we do nothing and wait for the monsters to invade.”

The Saint Summoning Ritual was ancient, created during a time when the Saint had failed to appear, no matter the density of the miasma. The sages of that legendary era pooled their knowledge to devise it and were, in the end, able to summon the Saint from a faraway land.

However, this ritual that seemed increasingly vital had only been performed once, in the era of the sages who had composed it. Therefore, it was impossible to tell if the ritual would actually work or if the sages of the present era could even perform it correctly. Furthermore, the ritual required a number of mages and arcane tools, and it would incur a tremendous cost. In a more peaceful time, the kingdom would never have considered it, but all the expense was a trifle in a world nearing the end of its mortal coil.

The king had been silent up until this point. Now, he commanded: “Perform the ritual. The Royal Magi Assembly will begin preparations immediately. All others, continue with your appointed duties.”

And so, the Kingdom of Salutania decided to perform the Saint Summoning Ritual for the first time since the era of legend.

 

Against all odds, the ritual was a success; they summoned a maiden from another world. However, there was a minor problem: they summoned two maidens.

As far as anyone knew, there had only ever been one Saint at a time, whether she appeared by natural means or by summoning. Was only one of the maidens the Saint? Were both of them Saints? Or was neither of them the Saint they had been looking for? The only one who might have determined that was the grand magus himself—unfortunately, he fainted as soon as the ritual was completed. Even now, he remained in a deep sleep.

That wasn’t the only problem. It was only the day after the ritual that the leaders of the kingdom learned two potential Saints had been summoned. The day of, the crown prince, who supervised the ritual of his own volition, informed the king that it was an unequivocal success. That was the sum of his report—he said nothing of how many people were summoned.

Following the crown prince’s initial report, the leaders of the kingdom briefly hoped that the world would finally find some peace. However, on the following day, they found themselves bewildered when they learned that, for some reason, the crown prince had only spoken to one of the Saints and had seen fit to leave the other one behind. On top of that, the other Saint had immediately tried to vacate the palace in her anger at being treated in such a manner. Thankfully, a knight managed to change her mind about leaving, but it was frightfully easy to imagine that she now had a dreadful impression of the kingdom.

Upon hearing this, the king said wearily, “What the hell was he thinking?”

 

***

 

One night, a month after the Saint Summoning Ritual, the sun had set and all was concealed in darkness. Two men relaxed over a bottle of wine at Count Valdec’s villa in the capital. One of them was the second son of the Valdec family and the owner of the estate, Johan Valdec, who was also the head researcher of the Research Institute of Medicinal Flora. The other was Johan’s best friend since childhood, the third son of the Hawke family and knight commander of the palace’s Knights of the Third Order, Albert Hawke.

The two often joined each other at the Valdec estate to drink, though they hadn’t had much time for it recently, as Albert was so often on the hunt for monsters. The last time they were able to enjoy a night together had been well over a month ago.

“I heard you recently brought on someone new at your institute,” Albert said while they were updating each other on the past month’s exploits.

“Hm? Oh, yes, we did.” Johan grinned.

Albert had tried to bring up the topic casually, but Johan suspected this was the true reason Albert had gone out of his way to make time to meet up at the Valdec estate.

“What is she like?” Albert asked.

“Extremely normal.”

“Normal?”

“She’s no different from the other researchers.”

Though Johan answered in a roundabout way, Albert was too curious to let the topic drop. Johan always dodged Albert’s questions like this, even when he knew the answers. It was his way of teasing his overly earnest friend. Albert knew what Johan was up to, so he was amused rather than annoyed, though he gave Johan an exasperated look to prompt him to continue.

Satisfied by the expression, Johan finally gave his friend the answer he sought. “For now, she hasn’t voiced any complaints about the palace, and she takes her work quite seriously.”

“I see… I heard she was infuriated by her summoning and that she gave a mage a look so menacing he nearly wet himself.”

“I heard something similar. Those fellows always try to put on airs, but now they’re bowing and scraping to get back into her good graces.”

“You think so?”

“Of course.”

The day the Saint Summoning Ritual was performed, Albert was on another monster-slaying expedition, so he only knew bits and pieces of the story from hearsay. Among those bits, he heard one of the Saints was now employed at the Research Institute of Medicinal Flora where Johan was the head researcher. He figured asking Johan directly about her would yield answers more quickly, so he searched out his old friend.

Johan readily told Albert the story of how Sei the potential Saint came to the institute. How first, about two weeks ago, a woman with black hair and black eyes began visiting every day. The first person she spoke to was Jude, but the other researchers—who were all male—soon took interest in this woman who was equally invested in herbs.

Early on, Johan felt apprehensive at the sight of Sei, what with her unusually colored hair and eyes. A few days before, he had run into his older brother in the palace corridors and learned that not one but two Saints were summoned. One was a girl with brown hair and black eyes, and the other was a woman who had black hair and black eyes. Given that, Johan immediately contacted his brother after his first meeting with Sei.

On hearing that a black-haired, black-eyed woman was frequenting the institute, Johan’s brother promptly called him to the palace. Johan was directed to a room where he found himself facing not only his brother, but an official with a high-ranking title.

As they sat across from one another on gilded sofas, Johan’s brother confirmed that the woman visiting the institute was one of the women who had been summoned. Then he politely pleaded with Johan to take her in at the Research Institute of Medicinal Flora.

Why is this being asked of me? Johan wondered. Although this woman was still only one of the potential Saints, the true Saint was equal in rank to the king. In truth, she might be even more invaluable than the king, considering the fate of the world rested on her shoulders. Why, oh why would they want to leave someone so critically important in a tiny research institute sitting in the far corner of the palace grounds?

When Johan asked as much, the official took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his brow and gave an answer through gritted teeth: as a result of the crown prince’s behavior, Sei had an absolutely awful impression of their country. In fact, after the crown prince left her behind, she tried to leave, too—not just the room but the kingdom itself. Though they had managed to somehow stop her from exiting the palace, and the official persuaded her to remain in the kingdom, the state of affairs was still messy, to say the least.

There was no precedent for two Saints appearing simultaneously, let alone two being summoned by a ritual. At present, those in the palace were of the opinion that only one of them was likely to be the Saint. However, because they were traveling through uncharted waters, it could yet be that both maidens were Saints, and therefore it would be dangerous to let either of them go. For now, they were determined to keep both women.

Luckily, Sei was proving interested in the palace’s herb garden and had taken to going there every day. The official hoped that by establishing a deeper friendship with the other researchers, she might develop better feelings toward the kingdom.

“In other words, you’re ordering me to clean up Prince Kyle’s mess,” Johan said.

“Our original plan was to give her a tutor that would teach her about the kingdom. That’s more or less what has become of the other potential Saint, who Prince Kyle has sent to the Royal Academy,” the official replied.

“So, since you’ve already lost her goodwill, you’re planning to let her do whatever she wants in order to curry her favor.”

“That’s correct. Though we’re in no state to take things slow… Still, knowing you, you’ve already sent a list of demands to Home Affairs.”

“Ah, you do know me.” Johan grinned and raised his glass to the official.

It seemed that the official’s assumption was that, as a noble, Johan understood the palace’s position and wouldn’t have any problems taking Sei into his care. However, Johan didn’t care for the official’s attitude or the carelessness that had led to him trying to heap new burdens on Johan and his researchers. So he put on a troubled expression, pretended to think, and then began to list a book’s worth of reasons for why he would have to decline.

Wouldn’t it be hard for Sei to travel all that way from the palace to the research institute every day? There were some people who lived at the institute for that same reason, and what would they do if she said she wanted to do the same? Even if she did concede to living in such conditions, wouldn’t it be problematic to force her to reside in the filth of a working institute? They could remodel one of the floors, perhaps, but the institute simply didn’t have room in its meager budget to afford something like that.

Johan came up with problem after problem and at length got the official to give him every concession he desired.

As Johan’s brother watched him casually force the official to agree to remodeling the entire research institute “for the Saint’s sake,” his expression stiffened. Johan ignored him.

Once negotiations were complete, rebuilding Sei’s future living quarters became top priority, and they were completed at the unheard of speed of a single week. Fortunately, the rooms were completed before she moved in.

“But it’s odd. If they were so desperate to improve her mood, why did all those officials abandon her to her chambers?” Johan mused.

“What do you mean they abandoned her?” Albert asked.

“She complained about it to the other researchers. Though she was given her own chambers in the palace, they left her completely alone, so she was bored.”

“What do you mean? That’s not what I heard at all.”

Johan raised an eyebrow at Albert’s protest.

According to Albert, the rumors were that after the potential Saints were summoned, one maiden felt unwell and took to bed. Though Sei had indeed been exhausted after the summoning, the real reason was the time difference between Japan and the Kingdom of Salutania. At the time of the summoning, it had been morning in Salutania but the middle of the night in Japan. Consequently, after being taken to her chambers, Sei immediately collapsed on the sofa and fell deep asleep.

On finding Sei passed out on the sofa in what seemed like a coma, the lady-in-waiting quickly ushered in an official. Given the difference between Sei’s unconscious state and her fury of just a few hours before, they only became more convinced that Sei’s condition was taking a turn for the worse. Her sickly pale skin from the endless days of exhausting work and the dark circles under her eyes from years of sleep deprivation just made her look more frail.

The official summoned the court physician and had him examine Sei, but thankfully the doctor’s diagnosis was that she was just exhausted. There were no signs she was afflicted with some kind of disease. Therefore, the official arranged for Sei to get some proper rest, which included a moratorium on visitors.

This series of events had contributed to the king’s late discovery of the two potential Saints. Although, Albert still suspected some infighting and panic might have been involved in the officials’ reluctance to give the king a complete report.

“I see. Now that you mention it, her complexion was pretty dreadful when she first started coming to the institute.”

“How is she now?”

“Now? Hmm… Far better, I would say.”

Thinking on it, Johan realized Sei’s early appearance could easily have been interpreted as that of someone prone to poor physical health. Some time had passed since, and her skin was still pale—likely a result of being cooped up in the institute all day—but the circles under her eyes were lighter, and she looked far sturdier.

“I see… Is she eating well?”

“What kind of question is that? What are you, her father?”

“Sh-shut up. I just heard that the woman Prince Kyle is looking after hasn’t been eating very much lately and it’s become a problem.”

“Is that so?”

“The head chef has tried everything they can think of, but she barely touches her food. His Highness is growing worried that she might faint from malnourishment.”

“Now that you mention it, Sei doesn’t eat much either.”

“Maybe a spare diet is normal where they come from?”

“Good question. Maybe I’ll ask her.”

As Sei and Aira had been summoned from Japan, both women found the flavor of the Salutanian cuisine rather lacking. The paltry seasonings meant most flavors came directly from a dish’s ingredients, which neither of them particularly cared for. It was for that reason that neither of them had much interest in food, but the crown prince was issuing orders left and right out of his concern for Aira, the other potential Saint. They had yet to yield any results.

“Prince Kyle sure is enthusiastic about this,” Johan mused.

“Well, you know how it is…” Albert trailed off, but Johan knew what he meant.

There were presently three princes in the Kingdom of Salutania. For generations, the eldest prince had always become king, so the firstborn prince was treated as the crown prince. However, the present second-born prince was an exceptionally talented young man who had attracted the support of a number of factions—ones who would rather see him crowned king.

In truth, the second prince hoped for nothing of the sort and the king denied any intent to buck tradition, so it had yet to become much of a problem. However, the crown prince had long been aware that he was in many ways his brother’s inferior, and he couldn’t help worrying about the existence of interests plotting against him.

Johan was aware that Prince Kyle had requested to be the one to supervise the Saint Summoning Ritual because he hoped to garner the favor of other nobles. Unfortunately for him, by angering Sei, he managed to do the complete opposite, and now he was feeling even more pressure than usual.

“Is His Highness still handling affairs related to both Saints?”

“Yes. His Majesty is concerned by his son’s blunder, but he’s decided to watch how His Highness handles things, especially since having someone else take over now might lead to future conflict. It was lucky for them both that you’ve managed to ease the mind of the other potential Saint. He must be hoping that His Highness can still recover.”

“Especially since a struggle for succession could plunge the kingdom into chaos.” Johan sighed; he predicted such chaos was inevitable if any royal infighting broke out on top of the problems they already suffered from the miasma.

Prince Kyle was tragically apt to give off an unseemly impression and could be a bit impulsive and straightforward, but many thought well of him for his compassion. Plus, he had the support of the second prince and his close aides, so there were no real problems facing his ascension. The king no doubt thought that losing a few points in popularity among the nobles was nothing to losing one of the potential Saints, so if Prince Kyle could win Sei’s favor, there was hope yet.

“It’s still strange that there were two of them… I mean, was the ritual actually successful? We’ve never had more than one Saint at a time before,” Johan wondered aloud.

“It was undeniably a success,” said Albert.

“Where’s your proof?”

“The number of monsters has begun to decrease.”

Ever since the ritual, the knights had seen the effect on their regular monster-slaying expeditions. The monsters already in existence hadn’t vanished, but the rate at which new ones spawned had slowed, and therefore there were fewer overall. As a result, the knights believed the ritual was a success and that the Saint must surely be in the palace. They reported as much to their leaders.

They still had no idea which of the women was the Saint—or whether both of them were—since the grand magus of the Royal Magi Assembly, the only person who could ascertain the Saint’s identity, was still unconscious, but the feeling of oncoming tragedy that had saturated the palace was at last dispelled.

“I see. It would be good to see things start easing up on your end, too,” said Johan.

“Yes…” said Albert. “My knights are exhausted, as I’m sure you can imagine.”

“Is your next hunt going to be in the western forest?”

“No, first we have a round in the east. Once we’re finished with the west, I plan to take a long break—longer than usual, in any case. The western forest may be more dangerous than the eastern and southern ones, but the way things are going, I don’t expect we should have any problems.”

“Well, I doubt anything will ever happen to you, but be careful.”

“I will.”

They had no way of knowing that, in a video game, they had basically triggered a certain ominous flag with that conversation.