Chapter 9
After the group returned from Quina, the Demias mansion quickly settled back into its routine. Especially Naru and Clio.
They had drawn a line in the garden and were playing a game of throwing shoes. At first, Clio was clumsy and fumbled, but later she became so excited she didn’t know what to do with herself.
Clio hopped on one foot to retrieve her shoe.
“This time Naru won!”
“Yeah, yeah. Shall we rest now?”
Naru thought to herself that she really couldn’t keep up with a child’s stamina. That thought must have shown on her face, since the servants were giving her ambiguous looks.
Clio ran off to her room, saying she’d bring back the storybook “Calf’s Poop Hole.” Who could call Clio weak after seeing her like this?
The book was actually an economics text disguised as a children’s tale about cow dung. Clio just found the poop talk funny.
When Clio didn’t return after a while, Naru went to find her. Clio, being a child, often forgot what she was doing whenever she got distracted.
When Naru reached the rear garden, she found something in Clio’s arms.
“Rio, what’s that?”
“Naru, it’s a fox! Sometimes it comes to the mansion to play. I’ll introduce it to you too!”
It was an adorably cute black fox. Hearing Naru’s name, the fox perked its ears.
Its round black eyes turned toward her. Naru signaled the nanny with her eyes.
“Yes, very cute. But Rio, I need to talk to the fox. Could you leave us for a moment?”
“You just want to play with the fox without me!”
“That’s not it. Just follow the nanny for a little while.”
Sensing something off in Naru’s tone, the nanny quickly scooped up Clio and hurried away. Now only Naru and the black fox remained in the rear garden.
The fox wagged its fluffy tail and tilted its small head. Most people would have hugged it and stroked its neck at such a sight.
But Naru drew forth her holy power. Much more than usual.
A vast burst of white light formed three lances in the air. The fox’s black eyes flickered.
Naru said coldly:
“Is the Demias estate’s security that weak? Even a filthy little fox can come and go.”
“Kiing, kking.”
“Since when? Since when have you been pulling those cheap tricks on Clio?”
The three enormous lances aimed at the small fox.
“Heraes.”
[Well now… You even know my name. I guess I can’t pretend to be a fox anymore.]
Human words flowed from the fox’s mouth, in a gloomy male voice.
Naru could tell it was deliberately altered. His real voice was a sweet baritone that could melt eardrums.
The fox licked its paw.
[I came because no bad news was heard from the Demias house. But to think you’d see through me at once… Just what kind of gem are you?]
Bad news from the mansion could only mean Manuel’s death.
“So you’re admitting it was you who tried to kill the duke?”
[Not even surprised? That power crawling over my skin… Holy power, is it?]
The fox’s black eyes bore into Naru’s face. Around it, black magic began to swirl.
It howled—cyaaong!—and several ominous magic circles appeared.
[I’m famous, sure, but not so much that a kid like you should know me. Who are you? Hm? Who?]
“Why don’t you find out yourself!”
Bang!
Naru’s lances clashed with Heraes’s magic circles. Flames swept across the garden.
From afar, people came running at the commotion. The fox pranced, amused.
[You even knew the timing of my attacks. Seriously, who are you? Won’t you tell me?]
“I am Naru.”
“Naru!”
“Naru, are you alright?!”
She considered revealing that she was the Saintess, but decided there was no need. Heraes would find out soon enough anyway.
The Demias knights surrounded Naru. She lifted her chin arrogantly.
“Come at me if you dare.”
[Ha! Hahahaha!]
The fox rolled on the ground, laughing. But when blades thrust toward it, it triggered another magic circle.
Boom!
Naru shielded the knights with her holy power.
[See you again, Naru.]
Just before the smoke cleared, its altered voice rang out.
Naru stared at the wrecked, empty rear garden.
“Naru! What happened?!”
Adrian arrived, out of breath. Naru explained briefly:
“An intruder. He’s likely the one who tried to kill the Duke.”
The knights murmured among themselves. Some knew the details of Manuel’s disappearance, others didn’t.
Hmm. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that here.
“Let’s move somewhere else. Tell me everything that just happened. Come.”
“Yes.”
Adrian ordered the knights to clean up the garden. Naru followed him.
Meanwhile, in the imperial palace…
“That child is really the Saintess? Hooh.”
The emperor stroked his beard from the throne. Before him, Manuel knelt respectfully.
“I heard Quina was thrown into chaos because of a midday meteor shower.”
“Yes. The lord there struggled to explain it.”
“So the Saintess truly wields power that strong?”
Manuel nodded heavily.
“Naru is young, but she seemed fully aware of the weight of her power.”
“Hm.”
“She also knew of a place called a ‘dungeon,’ how to find its entrance, and even how to clear it. The one we saw was like a breeding ground for monsters.”
“A strange place, and a Saintess, both appearing in times like these.”
The emperor closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again. With monsters suddenly appearing everywhere in the empire, this was ominous.
“She still avoids contact with the temple?”
“Yes.”
“The Saintess wouldn’t shun the temple without reason. Watch her and her surroundings closely.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The emperor tapped the armrest. Since Manuel kept refusing the temple’s requests, the temple had formally petitioned the imperial court to meet the Saintess.
The temple was too corrupt now. With the Saintess’s great power, who knew what schemes they might carry out under her name?
That was something the emperor could not allow.
“It’s fortunate she chose Demias.”
“……”
“If it’s Demias, I can entrust her with confidence. I approve her adoption. I’d like to meet her someday.”
Manuel bowed deeply.
“As you command.”
Back at the mansion, Manuel was shocked when he heard what had happened.
“That really happened? You weren’t hurt, Naru?”
“No. I think Rio was more startled than me.”
Adrian relayed what Naru had told him.
“The black fox had appeared before Clio several times. Each time, it learned about the mansion’s inner workings. This time, it came because it hadn’t heard of the Duke’s death. Then Naru caught it.”
“How did Naru know?”
“Not sure. She didn’t say.”
“Hmm.”
Father and son both sank into thought. Naru had also never explained how she knew about dungeons. They could only assume she had her reasons.
“The emperor has approved Naru’s adoption.”
“The temple will be furious.”
Normally, the temple had to consent to adopting a Saintess. But the emperor, wary of their growing power, ordered that Naru be adopted not as the Saintess, but as an ordinary slum child.
If the temple found out, chaos would surely follow.
“Now that she’s family, shouldn’t we throw a party?”
“She’d prefer gemstones to a party.”
Adrian looked exasperated.
Since Naru had become Clio’s tutor and playmate, Manuel had been paying her in gemstones. Not jewelry, but raw gems.
It wasn’t Manuel’s idea. When he told Naru to ask for whatever she needed, her eyes lit up and she asked for gems of any kind.
At first he found it odd, but since she insisted, the steward brought jewelry with childlike designs. Naru accepted them but firmly demanded only raw gems, saying they lost value once processed.
Curious what she did with them, Manuel asked her maid. The maid said Naru cleaned each gem one by one with a dry cloth when she was alone.
A precocious hobby, no doubt.
Once, Adrian had used some gems for a game of marbles. Naru’s icy glare forced him to compensate her with double the amount.
“Still, tell her about the party. I’ll inform the chef too.”
“You want to do it today?”
“It’s not a bad thing. No reason to delay. We’ll move her room soon as well.”
When Adrian went to find her, Naru was asleep at the table, her head resting on her arm. Scattered all around were gemstones.
She must have been polishing them again. Adrian frowned, staring at her face.
“My sister, huh.”
He remembered her in the garden earlier that day—scorched earth, black smoke rising. Naru, both protecting and being protected by knights, her eyes fierce as she stared at where the enemy had been.
He had thought it in Quina too: Naru was strong. Because she was the Saintess? Or had she always been strong?
It didn’t matter. Adrian needed no great reason to protect her.
“She’s Demias now.”
She was his little sister. Adrian tossed a blanket over her face.
Naru, suffocating in her sleep, flailed about.
The next day, Naru woke up.
“Doesn’t feel like I slept at all. Ugh, stiff…”
She must have strained herself using too much power all at once. She had fallen asleep like she’d fainted.
Someone must have carried her to bed midway, but why did her body ache so much? Did someone hit her?
Naru washed her face lightly, changed clothes, and headed to the dining hall.
But she froze at the doorway.
“…What is all this?”
