Chapter 57
Chiharu: Saintess . A good friend of Maki . Age: 25 .
Maki: Saintess . Was summoned along with Chiharu . Age: 25 .
Edwy: Prince of Midland . Age: 18 .
Aeris: Elf . White Philosopher . Age: over 300 .
Grudo: Dwarf . Invented the train . Age: over 300 .
Kaider: Third prince of the Dwarf Lands . Adventurer and Blacksmith .
Nyran: Fifth prince of the south lands . Adventurer and chaperone to Kaider .
“Maki . It sure is peaceful now . ”
“It really is . I can hardly believe it considering how it was recently . ”
Maki and Chiharu were talking while they looked at the garden from the castle balcony .
When they thought back on it now, their travels had been going well up until they were kidnapped by the mayor of Gromble .
Though, if Edwy had heard them, he would have said:
“No, things went bad the moment you left the castle . ”
Of course, he would . As for Kaider…
“It was when the merfolk tried to kidnap you . ”
And Nyran…
“What about when you were attacked by the Gazer by the lake?”
He would probably say that . But to Maki and Chiharu, there had been nothing worse than being held by the mayor .
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“Well, the stuff with the dungeon couldn’t be helped . ”
Maki said . But it wasn’t exactly true . And then Chiharu added:
“Well, at least it’s all been resolved . ”
Who cares if we slept an entire day after that . They thought .
“And we ended up at the dwarf castle after all . ”
“Kaider’s ‘house . ’ Come to my house! He said . But it’s a castle!”
Maki said as she angrily raised a fist into the air . Chiharu said,
“Now, now . He is a prince after all . ”
And then she covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing .
“You can’t hide it, Chiharu . ”
“Hehe . ”
Well, they had seen the castle from the outside when being interviewed as cooks . But now they could see inside .
At first, they had wanted to continue helping in the kitchen . But they were persuaded that Saintesses were officially above royalty, and so they were forced to present themselves at court .
Along with Edwy, Chiharu was escorted by Nyran and Maki by Kaider as they greeted the king . They were both wearing their layered, formal dresses now, and the hall erupted into cheers . Chiharu had thought this the last time she was here, but the dwarves seemed to care a lot about fashion . But as they were just one race, the trends did not change often . And so they became excited when the saw something new .
When Nyran and Chiharu appeared together, many people said that they made a good-looking couple . As Nyran had lived at the castle since he was a young boy, many of the dwarves were very fond of him . Even more so when he began to act as a bodyguard fo Kaider . Still, as the life spans were different, there were no women who started any serious relationships with him .
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Even if they were different in height or size, humans looked better with humans . The dwarves said as they nodded to each other . But then they gasped when Kaider and Maki walked in together . They looked perfect together! Prince Kaider!
While not as tall as a human, Kaider was still quite tall and muscular . And so dwarven women looked very small next to him . But Maki was just a little shorter than Kaider and incredibly slender and delicate-looking as she held onto Kaider’s arm .
It wasn’t bad . Yes, it could work . They looked nice . That’s what the gazes in the audience seemed to say .
On the other hand, Maki and Chiharu’s minds were somewhere else . Back at the castle in Midland, they just had to smile and be quiet . And so it was there first time in a place like this . And they were quite nervous and stiff . Kaider patted Maki’s hand as if to encourage her . Maki gave him a reassuring smile .
“It’s really nothing . You shouldn’t be nervous . ”
“You’re right . This is nothing . ”
But in the heads of those that watched it looked like:
“Maki, don’t worry, I’m with you . ”
“Oh, Kaider . You are so reliable . ”
Of course, Maki and Kaider had no idea that this was so .
Nyran seemed worried as he saw how small Chiharu’s steps were .
‘I hope she’s not going to trip on the carpet . ’
But in the minds of those who watched:
‘What a delicate princess . I must protect her . ’
Aeris and Grudo were also there . The king was grateful that the monsters of the dungeon had been reduced to a normal level, and the ceremony was soon finished . After that, the soldiers and Adventurers split from the officers and two separate parties were held . This was so the soldiers could enjoy themselves without worrying about formalities .
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Of course, Maki and Chiharu tried to go with the soldiers, but they were promptly caught by Kaider, Nyran, and Edwy .
“Surely you weren’t thinking about forcing all the work onto me?”
The prince said with a smile as he pulled them away . And so Maki and Chiharu were forced to attend .
There were Kaider’s father, mother, brother #1, brother #2, brother #1’s wife, brother #2’s wife, brother #1’s three children, and brother #2’s two children . And then there were other relatives as well . They were all big dwarves like Kaider .
“So these are the humans that Kaider was running around in search of . ”
“No . They are the Saintesses . ”
“Of course, the fact they are Saintesses is important . But what is most important is that Kaider finally found someone and had grown attached to them . Now that is rare . ”
Kaider’s brother said to his wife .
“You sure are skinny, Saintess . What do you eat?”
Said one of the children of the second brother .
“Saintess, this outfit you are wearing…”
Said the daughter of the first brother . Her eyes were shining as she looked at them . She looked about the same age as Maki and Chiharu . In fact, the king and queen didn’t look that much older than them either . Aside from the very young children, it was hard to tell who was older than Kaider . This was one thing that was annoying about races with a long life span .
Of course, Maki and Chiharu wanted to ask what they meant about Kaider’s fate and about finally meeting someone, but they found it difficult to enter the conversation . And without ever getting to touch the food and drinks on the table, the party ended with them being confused and surrounded by dwarves .
They continued to smile politely until the end . This resulted in them being seen as ‘polite and quiet Saintesses from another land . ’ Later, Maki and Chiharu would hear about this with much surprise .
“Uh, I’m so tired . ”
Maki said as she fell onto the bed in the guest room .
“It’s unlike you to sound so defeated, Maki . ”
Chiharu said as she sat heavily on the sofa . Maki’s face remained in the sheets as she muttered .
“Being out in society is completely different . That Kaider! He said we would only have to be there for a short while, and then we could eat as much as we wanted!”
“Things really are different here . Uh, do you want some tea?”
The guest room had a tea set and a place to boil water . Of course, it used magic stones to heat the water .
“This is the dwarf lands alright . They really think of everything . ”
Chiharu said as she boiled some water and smelled the tea leaves she had found .
“You seem really tired Maki, so I’ll avoid anything too strong . ”
“Thanks . I don’t want anything smelling of flowers right now . ”
Knock-knock . Maki raised her face .
“Oh? Visitors? I wonder who it is . ”
A voice rang on the other side .
“It’s Aeris and Grudo . Can we come in?”
Maki and Chiharu looked at each other in surprise . What could it be? In any case, we should open the door .