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Soap! Chapter 2

JANUARY 6, 2016 ~ GRAWLEDON

Part two of three, in which we meet Celes and a lot of worldbuilding! The Holy Saint’s namedropped at the end, but she doesn’t show up for a bit yet.

 

CH2: LUCIA EATS LUNCH WITH CELES

In the interval until the laundry finishes drying, the laundrywomen are given a moment’s rest. During that time there’s a necessity to finish things like your meals. But, in this type of day with great weather, I’ve decided to go to a certain place.

“Well then, Mrs. Kikka, I’ll be back before the 1 PM bell.”

“Going outside to eat again? It’s fine that you’re feeling good, but I guess you’ve also got something to like too, eh.”

“What’s all this about liking something?! Umm, ahh-“

“…… Something about outside?”

“Eh? Yeah! Y-yeah, that’s right! Yes, I like the outside – the outside!”

“…… you were also a girl too, huh.”

Showered with Mrs. Kikka’s tender yet slightly infuriating gaze, I hastily wrapped up my sandwich with a napkin, grabbed a hold of my bottled tea, and in no time flat was running away at the speed of light.

”Sir Celes!”

 

The person who I was referring to had already came.

“Lucia, it’s fine if you don’t run! You’ll fall down like that!”

Blond hair as brilliant as the sun, and cerulean eyes the same exact shade as the clear blue sky right above us. Sir Celes is unbelievably handsome-looking today as well.

Something like “liking”, um, it’s not that type of awe-inspiring thing. He’s a friend, just a friend. Although… being friends is also kinda astonishing?

Well, there’s nothing I can do about it! It’s because Sir Celes seems to be a knight! I heard this somewhere a while ago, but according to someone he’s a jack of all trades… er, rather, he’s something like a member of the Third Corps.

My strong work ethic as a laundry girl usually keeps me away from those types of people. In this way, isn’t it hard to believe that we have a relationship like this – where we eat lunch together? Even I can’t believe it occasionally.

Our relationship began from that fateful encounter, on a fiercely windy day three months ago.

 

At the time, the clothespins had unfastened from their lines and all the hanging laundry flew off into the distance. And on that day, while chasing after all those clothes, I had ran into the castle’s rear gardens.

The shirts flying away were just base layers the regiments wore underneath their uniforms. However, I couldn’t afford to lose even these.

I chased after the undershirts in desperation, and in the instant when I had finally caught them… I had crashed into Sir Celes, who had been standing underneath this very same tree.

From the outset, Sir Celes had made a surprised face from a laundry girl suddenly going and bumping into him. But after peering closer at my face, at that moment his expression increased in astonishment. And yet it wasn’t only him – rather, I was startled as well.

“You – you were the soap girl from that time, right?!” Sir Celes directed that towards me, who was standing stock still in astonishment.

From the beginning of this encounter, I thought something was strange. It was because I didn’t have any recollection of meeting with this type of sparkly, dazzling handsome man.

But, by hearing his speech I remembered.

He and I, we’ve met before. During Sir Celes’s return from the monster extermination expedition –

Come to think of it, that one time when I had been harvesting Mother’s medicinal herbs, I had encountered a group in military uniforms by chance. Their entire outfits were stained in blue, so I cast “Soap” on them. That’s the extent of my recollection of the matter, but it looks like Sir Celes has a good memory that went as far as reliably remembering my face.

After that, it became this kind of relationship where we eat lunch together during nice days with hints of a light breeze.

To humbly speak with a prestigious knight, how awe-inspiring!

I had stiffened up out of respect for the differences in our ranks, but then – “If you don’t come, then I’ll go to meet you instead.” With Sir Celes saying such a dreadful thing with a grin, located in that shining face was an unnamed threat.

Before I knew it, we were chatting together without reservation. Our relationship naturally became like that.

“Lucia? What’s the matter? It’s not like you to be spacing out.”

”Ah, I was doing a little reminiscing…”

“Reminiscing? About what?”

As I was wrapped up in a daze that wasn’t improving, Sir Celes looked over this way. A worried expression was floating up onto his graceful face.

“Are you tired? Do you want to lie down and rest?”

“Nononono! I’m okay! To~tally energetic!”

Sir Celes is prone to worrying. When I didn’t deny his allegations, in the blink of an eye the person was going as far as to prepare his lap for my head to rest on. (He definitely has a previous criminal offense of this before, this good-looking guy. Terrifying!) Thus I had the privilege of rejecting him with all my strength.

“Which reminds me! Sir Celes, you’re part of the Third Corps, correct?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

My lunch for today consists of a potato salad sandwich, but Sir Celes’s is a sandwich stuffed plentifully with meat.

We both had sandwiches, but his was different from mine which had no fillings.

Meat… I’m a little envious.

Right, right, Sir Celes was mentioning this earlier – it’s said that the main body of funds for the knights’ meals goes to buying a huge amount of meat.

How nice, meat……

Setting the matter of meat aside, while opening my mouth wide to gulp down my sandwich, I asked Sir Celes something.

“What kind of a person is the ‘Dragonslayer Hero’?”

The second he heard that, Sir Celes spat out his tea. I wonder what’s wrong with him?

“*cough* *splutter*”

”Are you alright?”

”Y-yeah. I’m fine… but even so, why this topic all of a sudden?”

After continuously patting Sir Celes’s back, which was hunched over from his choking, he questioned me in teary eyes.

I’m really sorry, asking at such a weird timing. Ahh, I should have asked after you finished drinking your tea…

“I finished washing the Third Corps’ uniforms earlier, but I overheard that the venerable ‘Dragonslayer Hero’ annihilated all of the monsters in this time’s extermination. So I was just wondering what kind of a person he was, is all…”

Regardless of whether they’re nobles or commoners, I’ve heard that he’s extremely popular with both young girls and housewives. But, I don’t really have a grasp on the details besides that.

Strong, handsome, very serious, of common birth… the rumors I’ve gone and heard seem to be on that level.

Given that I myself don’t really know gossip all that well, I have a hunch that Miss Marera (who told me all this) is more experienced in that area.

”What type of person… hmmm, I’d have to say he’s a normal one.”

“Normal?!”

“He doesn’t have any hobbies in particular, other than liking to be at leisure. Since he’s poor at showy or flashy things.”

“Well, that’s unexpected.”

Hearing the extent of Sir Celes’s speech, it’s pretty much the same with me.

But, on one hand I’m a laundry girl. On the other hand, he’s a commander of the knights – a great man who possessed the true strength to land the finishing blow on a dragon by stabbing it. A person who I mustn’t confuse myself with.

“You know, he’s the same as you, Lucia. Because he’s human.” Sir Celes looked a bit lonely when he said that.

“Yeah, I guess we are similar! We’re both human after all, right?”

So I nodded in assent, and then Sir Celes rapidly broke out into a smile.

Looks like he holds his commanding officer in high esteem from acting like that. Saying “we’re all the same humans in the end,” there’s certainly a wide limit to how surprised I can be at that conclusion!

“Hey, by the way – did you hear about Her Holiness?”

While resuming lunch, Sir Celes went and brought up the subject.

It seems that’s the number one topic to come up in conversations nowadays, here at the royal castle.

“Yes. They say that she is an honorable personage visiting all the way from another world, a very beautiful woman – or so I’m told.”
In order to talk about Her Holiness, I guess I’ll have to first talk about this world.

This world is composed out of five countries – I live in Banfield Kingdom, the first on that list.

Having said that, out of the five Banfield Kingdom’s might is overwhelmingly powerful for its status as a small country. The other four countries are nearly treated as Banfield’s vassal states.

In the heart of that world lies three miraculous trees made out of crystal.

Those trees are called the “Heavenly Crystal Trees”; they act as the intermediary for all magic while simultaneously being the mothers of all monsters.

Although I say “monsters”, there’s not a huge difference from ordinary animals. That being the case, there weren’t particularly any problems until now. However, up to these past one hundred years, the monsters born from the Heavenly Crystal Trees suddenly became stronger. This resulted in the threatening of the human race.

Around the time I was born, the monsters became more and more vicious, and it’s now to the extent that mankind’s hands cannot manage them.

The “Dragonslayer Hero” earned his name by slaying a ferocious dragon.

Things like that are a good illustration of how vicious monsters have become.

The flame-breathing dragon who views humans as hostile attacked human settlements at fixed intervals, and a large number of people were torched to death.

The troubled kings unbound an ancient book and perused through it at length, for they knew that a similar event had happened in the remote days of old.
That time, the miasma that invaded the Heavenly Crystal Trees was purified. However, it appears that the person who did it was a holy saint who came from another world.

That’s right, at this very moment Her Holiness resides in this royal castle. Invited from another world for the sake of the Heavenly Crystal Trees’ purification, she is undoubtedly a welcome presence.

Her name is Lady Maria Nishime, who is graciously the same age as me. Although, I’m quite far apart from her in terms of looks; Her Holiness is a person who possesses great beauty.


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