episode_0524

If there was someone who called me Sister Lily, who was this familiar voice…

“… Mirif?”

“Ah, it was Sister Lily! I was worried for a moment, thinking maybe I was seeing things wrong!”

… Yeah, by the way, I think you said you were entering the academy this year.

I said I would make time to go see it, but I kept putting it off. It was also because I was busy with childcare.

“It’s been a while, Mirif. It feels like it’s been almost a year since we last saw each other, right?”

“Yes. It’s already been about a year since we parted ways on the day Sister Lily left Ermia in a hurry. Do you know how much the knights were disappointed that they couldn’t even have a proper farewell party?”

“… I’m sorry. I had to leave really urgently at that time.”

Because there was Ethan’s child in her stomach, and in Ermia, Ethan’s pursuit was imminent.

Actually, if you look at the results, it would have been better if I had been caught then. Looking back, it was a moment when I realized that I had been digging for a really long time.

Of course, thanks to that, I met Mirif and somehow managed to resolve the fate that almost cost her her life, and I also trained hard in swordsmanship to deal with people while hanging out with the knights.

“This is definitely the first time Sister Lily has spoken to me formally, but somehow it feels more familiar.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Actually, when I met you before, the way you spoke to others felt awkward. I thought you knew how to use magic and that you had a reason, so I didn’t tell you.”

“Thank you for understanding back then. If Mirif had doubted me back then, I probably would have wandered around again, lost.”

“No. Sister Lily saved my life, so I think that was just a courtesy.”

I’m sure there’s nothing wrong with becoming friends with religious people.

Even if you just look at the preview, you can see that he is basically polite and has a personality that allows him to give and take.

The problem is that most people in this world do not possess this obvious virtue. Not only commoners, but even among the nobles, there are quite a few who do not have this virtue.

“But… Sister Lily?”

“Yes, Mirif.”

“I think you said in your letter last time that you were the prospective duchess… .”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“But the headdress you are wearing, and somehow the current outfit feels more like a servant’s outfit than a duchess’… .”

“… I will explain that part separately.”

I think it would be best to sit down and have a private conversation to explain the somewhat special relationship between me and Ethan.

Because it’s been a while since we last met. We’re catching up on some of the memories that have been piling up.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“Ah, so Sister Lily was the maid of that man, Prince Blackwood, right before she met me… ?”

“… To be exact, I was the only one who thought that. Ethan and the others seemed to already know that I was the prospective duchess. ”

“The love lives of nobles are really complicated… .”

It wasn’t like that at all. Ethan and I just had an unusually complicated relationship.

But thanks to that, we now get along without hiding anything from each other and tell each other most of our secrets.

“By the way, some of the knights will be very sad when they find out that Sister Lily got married.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Didn’t you know? Some of the knights had feelings for Sister Lily. I can’t tell you their exact names, but… I think there are at least five of them that I remember.”

“… … .”

It’s not a lie, I really didn’t know. I never thought there would be any knights who felt good about me.

To begin with, I hardly ever went to church to pray, and even if it weren’t for me, there were quite a few female priests and knights in the church.

I only hung out for about a month at most and then left.

“Well… Maybe that’s a good thing. If someone had confessed to me, I probably would’ve rejected them all.”

“Yes?”

“Because Ethan is the only man I have in my life. Even if we break up and never meet again, my feelings for him won’t change, so maybe it was a good thing I left early.”

“As expected, noble ladies value chastity… .”

I’m not exactly a noble young lady, and not all noble young ladies value chastity.

There was no need to break Mirif’s illusion by mentioning the sluts who had been sticking with McHart, so I just brushed it off.

“Come to think of it, you said that Saint Cerista attended the academy until last year, but it’s such a shame that I never got to see her in person… .”

“I’ll introduce you next time I get a chance.”

“Yes? Do you happen to know Sister Lily and Saint Cerista?”

“Until two years ago, I hung out with the warrior party members a few times for various reasons. People like Saint Serista and the warriors.”

“Really? Then, could you tell me a little bit about Saint Cerista? Oh, even just a little bit would be nice… .”

“I’ll tell you a lot. But since we don’t have much time today, I’ll keep it brief… .”

Although there was a big difference in grades, it wasn’t so bad to have friends at the academy that I could talk to without thinking too much.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

It was about a month after I first met and talked with Mirif.

From that day on, during the month I was attending the academy, I think I only met with Mirif and Lilia. After the hero party graduated, most of my connections disappeared along with it.

Princess Mezlen also had no reason to meet Seraphine after she graduated… In the first place, she seemed to be busy working on Harold.

I don’t know if it’s a good thing or not, but last time I saw the two of them talking alone.

‘If Mezlen suddenly becomes a mother-in-law, it will be a burden no matter how much I am a country.’

But you can’t interfere with someone else’s love life, so you shouldn’t interfere. Even so, it’ll be a bit difficult to help them.

Besides that, whenever Lizzie visits the commercial district, she shows up once in a while, and sometimes she receives letters from Agnes, who is active in the warrior party.

While doing so, I also hear about the recent movements of the warrior party. Lizzie has a keen grasp of the warrior party’s movement routes thanks to the information provided by Auguste, and Agnes’s letters contain personal stories of events within the party.

I was relieved for now because it didn’t seem like anything would deviate too much from the story. Ethan and I did take some experience points while working together, but… he helped me out in various ways, and he took care of the mid-boss of Part 4, Machart, early on, so I think the rest will take care of itself.

By the way, I also asked Lizzy how to get the ‘Windbird’s Feather’, but she also said it would be difficult.

“The feathers of the wind bird… unfortunately, they are not part of our purchasing items.”

“… I had a feeling that would be the case.”

“I really want to save you, but… The feathers of the wind bird will scatter in vain if you make even the slightest mistake, so they are not a target for purchase as a businessman. In fact, it would be like throwing gold coins into thin air.”

“Thank you for letting me know, Miss Lizzy.”

“Oh, and this is a baby food cookbook that we started covering at the top of Auguste recently, so I brought it here in case it might be helpful.”

…I wonder if he really can’t be satisfied unless he gives me something every time he meets me.

It was a good reference material as it was time to start feeding my baby other types of baby food instead of just plain milk.

In fact, it seems like I’m just passing the buck since making baby food is almost entirely Isabel’s job, but there’s nothing I can do about it until the holidays.

After listening to Lizzy’s advice, I had no choice but to find the Windbird to get the Windbird’s feathers. I had no choice but to obtain the artifact from the Windbird and use it as soon as possible to reconcile with Sei.

Even as I was worrying about such things, time continued to pass, and the first semester of my fourth year at the academy was already coming to an end.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“Senior Release, are you going back to your hometown this vacation?”

“I think I’ll probably stay at the Academy. It seems a bit difficult to take Iris around here and there.”

“Of course, having a child does cause restrictions on movement. That’s why in our tribe, women who couldn’t become warriors always took on the responsibility of raising other warriors.”

Because of the nature of their residence, Bavarian tribal society would inevitably have to practice communal childrearing.

The fact that there was only one childcare worker left, and that there was a female warrior left, made Lilia’s tribe a bit special. Or maybe it was just the selfish intentions of the production team of “Luminor Academy” who wanted to create a Barbarian female warrior heroine.

“Is Liria going back to her hometown next week? Or to the Auguste mansion?”

“I went to the Auguste Mansion during the winter break, so I’m planning on going to the prairie with you this summer! My father really liked you, so I promised him last year that I would definitely come and see you again this summer!”

“… Certainly, Mr. Karaham seems more suited to Barbarian society than civilization.”

I’ve never met Lyria’s father, but I had a natural impression that he would be no different from Karaham.

“Then I’ll see you next semester. It was a fun semester, Lilya.”

“Yes! See you in two months, Senior Release!”

At the last meeting of the semester, Lilia and I exchanged greetings and parted ways.

Just before she left, I asked Lilia for some information about the wind bird, thinking that I had nothing to lose.

“Ah, Lilia. By the way, there’s something I want to ask you.”

“Ah, yes! Ask me anything, Senior Release!”

“Do you know anything about wind chimes?”

“Is that the wind bird? It’s the first time I’ve heard that name.”

“Yes. It’s a sky blue bird whose entire body is made of wind. It’s not a spirit, but it has life force. It’s a fantastical creature that lives only for a day after being born and then disappears again.”

“… Just from the description, it seems like you’re talking about the nightingale, but in the empire, they call it the wind bird?”

“… … Yes? Do you know?”

“Yes. In my hometown, it is an animal that appears and disappears frequently. It is usually seen frequently in September or October when the wind is strong, but it also appears occasionally in the summer.”

…I never thought I would get such a harvest in such an unexpected place.