This is from the perspective of a rookie saint apprentice.

***

My name is Nina.

I’m a rookie saint apprentice in the royal capital.


Ever since I was little, my family always said that the only good thing about me was my sharp eyesight. But when I turned ten, I was recognized as having talent for light magic, and my life changed.

When they forcibly sent me to the Grand Cathedral’s training facility for saint apprentices, I had no idea what would become of me. But somehow, I’ve managed to keep going.


Even so, the fact that someone like me, born a commoner, could become a saint apprentice at the Grand Cathedral where the real saint resides feels like a dream.


Speaking of dreams, there’s one unforgettable memory I still remember clearly.


It happened about a week after I entered the Grand Cathedral.
I was still only ten years old.

Separated from my family and unable to endure the unfamiliar life and the harsh training, I was crying alone in a corner of the cathedral’s back garden.

Then, someone spoke to me.
She was a woman with golden eyes, and her long hair was of a similar pale gold. She was incredibly beautiful.

I think she was about five years older than me.


The woman gently wiped my tear-soaked face with her own pure white handkerchief.

It was a cute handkerchief decorated with lace.
And it was clearly the kind of high-quality item a noble would own, yet she used it for someone like me, a commoner.

On top of that, she healed my swollen face with light recovery magic.
It was the first time I experienced for myself just how amazing the light recovery magic that saint apprentices can use really is.


The woman spoke to me softly.

“What is your name?”

“…Nina.”

“Well, Nina, you have very beautiful eyes.”

“My… eyes?”

“Yes. They feel like special eyes blessed by the Goddess of Light. A special power that other saint apprentices do not have.”


Even when she told me they were special, it didn’t really mean much to me.
My parents always said my only good trait was my sharp eyesight, but I couldn’t imagine that I possessed something as grand as that.

If anything, the one who felt truly special was the senior saint apprentice standing before me.

She treated me with a gaze filled with compassion, almost like a real goddess.


After a while, several busy voices could be heard from the cathedral.

“I have to go now.”


The senior saint apprentice stepped away from me.

“You’re new here, aren’t you, Nina? The training to become a saint is difficult, but please do your best.”

“Um…… what… is your name?”


The senior saint apprentice stopped quietly, then slowly turned back toward me.


“My name is Iris.”


As soon as she finished giving her name, the senior apprentice named Iris hurried away.


“Lady Iris…”

Still holding her handkerchief, I murmured the name softly to myself, as if confirming it.
For the first time, I had a small feeling that life at the harsh Grand Cathedral might become a little more bearable.



It wasn’t until a few days later that I learned Lady Iris was not just an ordinary saint apprentice, but among the greatest saints in history and the finest of our era.


Learning that the senior I admired was a saint beloved by people all across the kingdom, I felt incredibly happy.
I resolved that someday, I would become a splendid saint worthy of standing beside Lady Iris.


And there was one more important thing.
I had to return the handkerchief that Lady Iris had lent me.

But I hardly ever had the chance to speak with her.
Even during the rare moments we exchanged words, I was always so nervous that I forgot to give the handkerchief back.

So I decided that the next time I saw her, I would definitely return it.
And when I did, I would tell her that meeting Lady Iris that day was the reason I had become who I am today.


But the day I was to return the handkerchief never came.



One day when I was eleven, the news of Lady Iris’s passing was delivered.

The exact circumstances seem to have been classified by the higher authorities of the kingdom, but this much is known.

Lady Iris, the saint, had set out on a journey with the Hero and his companions to defeat the Demon King.
Since she lost her life during that journey, she must have fallen at the hands of the Demon King’s army.


Lady Iris could be a little airheaded at times, but that only made her more charming.

She was strong, kind, and incredibly beautiful.
There were many saint apprentices who respected Lady Iris.
She was so beloved that I’m sure people across the entire kingdom wept when they heard the news.


The day I learned of her death, I cried until my tears ran dry.
When I took out the handkerchief she had lent me to wipe my tears, even more tears began to flow.

I would never be able to return her handkerchief.
And I would never again have the chance to tell her how grateful I was for the day we first met.

In the cathedral’s back garden where I had first met Lady Iris, I looked up at the sky and prayed alone.

Lady Iris.
Please rest in peace.



The year I turned thirteen, a new couple was born in the Kingdom of Gardenia.


It was the wedding of the Hero, the kingdom’s second prince, and the new saint.

The previous saint, Lady Iris, had always greeted even a commoner like me kindly whenever we passed each other in the halls. But the current saint is a frightening person.
Even though she was said to be Lady Iris’s junior apprentice, their personalities are the complete opposite.

She doesn’t even spare a glance for someone like me, a commoner.
In fact, we’ve never spoken even once.
I’m pretty sure the Hero is completely wrapped around the new saint’s finger. She has a terrible personality, after all.


More than that, I was furious that the Hero went and married the new saint so quickly. What on earth was he thinking?
Had he already forgotten about Lady Iris, who was supposed to have been his fiancée? I couldn’t forgive that.

Maybe there were political reasons behind the marriage, but I still couldn’t help wondering how the Hero himself truly felt about it.
Of course, someone like me would never have the chance to ask.



The winter when I turned fourteen brought a once-in-a-century blizzard that engulfed the entire kingdom.
And as if that weren’t enough, the Demon King’s army captured Fortress City.


Even with the kingdom in such a crisis, the Hero, the strongest man and the kingdom’s hope, was completely infatuated with his new wife. There was no sign at all that he intended to go out to fight the Demon King.

His new wife had also become the kingdom’s greatest user of light magic now that the previous saint has passed.
Even though the two of them were the kingdom’s strongest forces, the rumor was that they spent all their time shut up in the castle, flirting with each other.

Just the other day, I even overheard the new saint bragging inside the Goddess Cathedral about how amazing the Hero was at night.
It’s fine to value the person you love above all else, but they’re both people with important positions. I wish they’d show a little more awareness of that.

And besides, I didn’t want to hear rumors like that.



Then, one day after I turned fifteen, I was finally assigned my first job outside.
A personnel transfer had been announced.


But my excitement didn’t last long.
Because I soon learned the assignment was to send me to the front lines.


To be honest, going somewhere that might become a battlefield is frightening.
But healing those wounded in battle is the sacred duty of a saint.

From the day I decided to become a saint apprentice, I prepared myself for this.
To protect my family back in my hometown, I will risk my life and fight for the kingdom.


Besides, my place of assignment is where the Church’s bishopric is located.
It means I’ll be able to live in a city with the Goddess’s Tower.
That might actually be something to look forward to.


However, while traveling to Tower City by carriage, I saw something strange.

I’ve always had very good eyesight.
So I could clearly see a small bird flying in the sky somehow carrying a bucket.

I simply thought the frontier must have strange birds and took it as a chance to broaden my horizon.


But then I noticed something.

A mysterious light was shining from the bucket the white bird was carrying.

That light from the bucket, which somehow reminded me of Lady Iris, disappeared together with the bird into the depths of the forest.


I took out Lady Iris’s handkerchief, which I always carried as a charm.

The name “Iris” was embroidered on the handkerchief in elegant letters with golden thread.

It had already been four years since she passed away.
I never imagined there would come a day I’d be reminded of her again…


Come to think of it, I heard that Lady Iris died somewhere around here.

Perhaps she came to watch over my first assignment, taking the form of a bird.
The thought that she might be nearby, watching over me, made me feel a little stronger.

Of course, I knew something like that couldn’t really happen.
Even so, it felt as though I had seen Lady Iris again for the first time in four years, and it made me very happy.


But a few days later, I would see that same light again.


Together with a mysterious girl and the wondrous honey she carried.

***

Author’s Note:

This time’s story was about a rookie saint apprentice living in Tower City.

In this story, you can also catch a glimpse of the protagonist as she was during her days as a saint. The protagonist’s name, which had never been mentioned until now, appeared again and again here. In fact, this is only the second time her name from her saint days has appeared. Even though she’s the protagonist… why is that?!

Next Time: Daily Report; The Work Struggles of a Rookie Saint Apprentice (Part Two)