Chapter 14 – First Contact

The “Day of Advent,” when Maia, the Angel of Beauty, and Dahlia, the Angel of Protection, descended upon the Holy Nation of Yudelia, became a truly meaningful day for many.

For the citizens of the Holy Nation of Yudelia and the followers of the Cordelia Church, it was a blessed holy day that once again proved the goddess’s divinity. For the great nations of the continent, like the Sailun Kingdom and the Argon Empire, it was a day they could not simply rejoice over the angels’ arrival, as it signified a further increase in Yudelia’s power—for various reasons.

But for some, it was an important day for a different reason.

The birth of Regina Bayer.

The third daughter of the Bayer family was born.

She was the daughter of the Sword Saint of Wind, a member of the Ten Sword Masters; the younger sister of the Wind Wolf, also one of the Ten Sword Masters; and the younger sister of Yuder Bayer—the Sword Saint of No Sword, the strongest swordsman in Pleiades, the master of the Cordelia Merchant Guild, and the Pope of the Cordelia Church.

But that wasn’t all.

Regina was the “young lady” of Cordelia, the Saintess of the Sun and living incarnation of the goddess, as well as the “young lady” of the Golden Yaksha, the legend of the Imperial Guard Magic Corps. And her mother was not human, but a Wild God.

The youngest daughter of an insane family whose lineage was not inferior to any royal or even imperial family—no, in some ways, it surpassed them.

If the birth of this child, born with the continent’s best diamond spoon in her mouth, became known, it would undoubtedly shake the continent in more ways than one.

The marriage market will go wild.

Another ticket to connect with the Bayer family had just appeared. It was highly likely that not only ordinary noble houses but also royal and imperial families would vie for a marriage with Regina.

It was absurd to discuss marriage for a newborn baby, but such was the nature of political marriages among nobles.

After all, though their personalities were quite different, Yuder and Cordelia had also been bound by a pre-birth engagement.

Of course, I don’t have the slightest intention of forcing her into a political marriage.

Political marriages were, by nature, transactions that used marriage as a means to gain something.

The problem was, the Bayer family didn’t particularly want anything—or more precisely, they had no need to sacrifice their precious youngest daughter to covet something.

Wealth? They were already overflowing with it.

Military power? It was no exaggeration to call them the strongest family on the continent. They were a family that included three of the Ten Sword Masters, who were essentially asymmetrical tactical weapons.

They were already a formidable house that even the King of Sailun couldn’t easily touch, and with their connection to the Holy Nation of Yudelia, it was safe to say no one in Pleiades could mess with them.

She’ll just marry whoever she likes later on.

Still, she would get married someday, so it was only natural for the various houses of the continent to lick their lips in anticipation.

Anyway… it’s a good thing.

Regina was only four days old, yet she was already being called the child of the century and so on. But to Yuder, all that mattered was the simple fact that she was his precious youngest sister.

And like Yuder, there were quite a few people who celebrated the birth of Regina itself.

Especially Maia and Dahlia…

The two angels, who had arrived late after their autograph session and scripture distribution event, had marveled endlessly at the sight of the soundly sleeping Regina.

“She really looks like an angel!”

“She’s a real angel, an angel.”

Considering that the two speakers were actual angels and Regina was a Wild God, it was all rather amusing.

It was right then.

“Mmm…”

A small groan came from behind him—or more precisely, from the enormous bed that looked big enough for a professional wrestling tag-team match.

“Is my princess awake?”

As Yuder stood up and spoke, Cordelia, who seemed more buried in than lying on the bed, didn’t answer. Instead, she let out another groan and went limp with a long sigh.

It didn’t seem like she was trying to go back to sleep; she just looked half-knocked out, with no strength left in her body.

“Are you okay? Want some water?”

“Ugh… J-Just a moment.”

Forcing out the words, Cordelia placed a hand on her chest and cast a recovery spell, attempting to self-resurrect.

“Haaah… I’m hungry.”

Thanks to the recovery magic, her energy had somewhat returned, but she was so hungry her stomach ached. She hadn’t eaten properly for the past three days.

Wait, has it been three days? Having been confined to the bed, Cordelia had lost all track of time.

“I thought you might be, so I prepared something. Here, let’s eat.”

Yuder, having already helped Cordelia sit up in bed, began placing the prepared dishes on the bed one by one.

“We’ll start with soup. We can’t have you overexerting yourself by eating too suddenly, right? My princess is precious.”

As Yuder spoke with his usual sly grin, Cordelia shot him a look that said, Do you really think I’m precious? before opening her mouth wide instead of picking up a spoon.

It was partly because she didn’t even have the energy to lift a spoon, but also because she had grown accustomed to this mealtime pattern.

After their great undertaking, she would pass out, and when she woke up, Yuder would feed her.

Yuder, also used to it, skillfully fed Cordelia the soup.

About thirty minutes later, having more or less finished her meal, Cordelia rubbed her stomach as if she could finally live again and said, “Phew, that was delicious. By the way, what were you doing?”

Unlike her, Yuder, with his god-like stamina, had been perfectly energetic for the past four days.

At Cordelia’s question, Yuder pointed to the desk opposite the bed and said, “I was sketching a new holy picture. And brainstorming some additional content to go with it.”

Having said that, Yuder decided to go all the way, grabbing the sketch from his desk and showing it to Cordelia.

A baby held in an angel’s arms, with other angels descending from the sky as if to bless the child.

The composition seemed somehow familiar. Cordelia narrowed her eyes slightly and said, “This is the scene of Regina’s birth, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it’s a scene of angels blessing Regina’s birth. The one holding the baby is Maia. I’m thinking of using it for the cover of the first issue of our new monthly magazine.”

Cordelia nodded, as if she’d expected as much, but then she paused. “Monthly magazine?”

“Yep, a monthly magazine. Distributing a new version every time we add content to the scripture is a bit problematic. So I figured it’d be better to release it monthly in a magazine format, and once we have enough material, we can compile it into a book. Oh, and I’m also planning to release a holy picture collection for Maia and Dahlia.”

A holy picture collection? Isn’t that basically a celebrity photobook? And they just had an autograph session, too. Come to think of it, are we really a church? Aren’t we more like a celebrity management agency? Something like Angel E&M.

With such questions in mind, Cordelia opened the sample of Maia’s holy picture collection that Yuder had promptly presented.

They weren’t drawings, but photos taken with a ‘camera’ that Edward had developed at Yuder’s suggestion. Maia’s beauty was, once again, astonishing.

She really is incredibly pretty. Is this about a 0.99 Cordelia?

Even with her Cordelia Filter running at full capacity, the result came out as nearly equal. Flipping through the pages of the collection, Cordelia asked, “Are there any swimsuit photos?”

“Excuse me, this is a holy picture collection.”

“Still, wouldn’t it be nice to have them?”

“…I’ll think about it.”

As Yuder replied with a furrowed brow, Cordelia giggled.

If it had been any other angel, Yuder would have immediately agreed—no, he would have already prepared a swimsuit photobook as a deluxe bonus or special edition. But since the subject was Maia, he was reacting this way.

Such a siscon.

Giggling again, Cordelia glanced back at Yuder’s unfinished sketch and said in a casual tone, “I want to see our young lady.”

Regina Bayer. Yuder’s newborn sister. The way her little fingers wiggled was so cute.

Cordelia closed her eyes and pictured Regina’s face again. She was so cute that just imagining her brought a smile to Cordelia’s face.

It was right then.

“By the way, Cordelia.”

“Hmm?”

“So, who’s the prettiest among Amber, Aiden, and Regina?”

“Huh?”

Who’s the prettiest of the three? After instinctively pondering for a moment, Cordelia’s eyes sharpened. “I’m not answering that. Why would you even ask something like that in the first place?”

It was like asking, “Do you like Mom or Dad more?”

As Cordelia chided him, Yuder flashed his signature sly smile and gently wrapped his arm around her waist. “Just because. Still… one thing is certain.”

“What is?”

“That our baby will be the prettiest.”

With those words, Yuder laid Cordelia back down on the bed. Caught off guard, Cordelia found herself lying down again. She opened her mouth to say something, her face flushed red, but that was as far as she got.

Yuder’s lips and tongue had already met hers.

And—

[Wait, wait. Surely not again?]

[The successor is truly a beast.]

Tsk-tsking, Bellencia took out her deck of cards again, while a blushing Melissa sighed, closed Bellencia’s spatial window, and drew the curtains.

*

Yuder and Cordelia weren’t the only ones spurred on by Regina’s birth.

Another angel staying in the Holy Nation of Yudelia—the Holy Angel Lena—placed a hand on her stomach, her face slightly dazed as she thought, A baby…

A beautiful baby. Lena, who had long dreamed of a ‘happy family,’ had wanted a child for a long time.

But pregnancy for an angel was not as easy as one might think.

Gale and Adelia, who had conceived less than a year after getting married, were an incredibly rare case, even when searching through the histories of Pleiades and the Heavenly Realm.

Still, I have to try. After all, you can’t hit a home run or even a single if you don’t step up to the plate.

Clenching her fists with renewed determination, Lena turned to Landius with eyes full of burning desire. Landius looked back at her with a peaceful expression, as if asking what was wrong.

And then there were the other three. Kamael, Belkian, and Fran. The Five Heroes of Paragon were currently gathered in one room, each spending their time in their own way.

In truth, if they were just resting, they could have done so in their own rooms. But the five heroes had always had a strange habit of sticking together whenever they gathered.

“By the way,”

The one to break the silence was, as always, Fran.

As even Kamael, who had been scribbling something alone in a corner, looked up, Fran sat up straight on the sofa, crossed her arms, and said, “Something just occurred to me.”

“What is it?”

At the question from Belkian, who had been reading a book, Fran grinned as if it were an excellent question and looked around at everyone. “I was suddenly curious about how you all met.”

The other four, excluding Fran who had lived in the Forest of Druids, had already known each other before the Decisive Battle of Paragon.

At Fran’s question, which was filled with a mix of expectation and curiosity, Kamael and Lena each adopted thoughtful expressions, while Belkian narrowed his eyes.

And Landius, the center of their group, laughed heartily and said, “We all met in the knight order, of course.”

The Royal Knights of the Paragon Kingdom. Landius himself and Kamael had been knights, and Belkian had been a master figure to the order. Lena had also shown her face there as a magician’s assistant.

But Landius’s hearty laughter soon died down. The gazes of the others fixed on him were truly peculiar.

“Uh… am I wrong?”

Didn’t I meet everyone in the knight order?

As Landius asked in an uncertain tone, Lena sighed as if she’d known this would happen, and Belkian gave a bitter smile. Fran, for her part, giggled as if this was the reaction she’d expected.

“Well, since we’re on the topic, why don’t we go around and each say how we met?”

Landius was the first to react to Fran’s suggestion. Seeing everyone’s expressions, it seemed there really were first meetings that he couldn’t remember.

“Well then, I shall begin.”

At the low, beautiful voice, Fran let out an “Ooh” of admiration and nodded. Everyone’s gaze gathered on the speaker.

Sword Demon Kamael. The last descendant of the Paragon royal family closed the notebook he had been writing in and began his story.

Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

Please do consider subscribing to my Patreon or donate to my Ko-fi if you like this work or to get early access to chapters