This is from the perspective of a rookie saint apprentice.

***

My name is Nina.

I’m a rookie saint apprentice in Tower City.


Several days had passed since I encountered the Alraune in the forest.
According to Franz, an adventurer, there were still no signs of the Alraune in the forest.


That Alraune possessed the very same aura of light magic as Saint Iris once did.
Not only that, she had Lady Iris’s appearance and even memories as well.
She even knew about the handkerchief Lady Iris once gave me. With all that, I had no choice but to believe it.

Lady Iris was alive as an Alraune.


How something like that even happened, I couldn’t begin to imagine.
I wanted to meet her again as soon as possible, apologize for how rudely I’d treated her the other day, and then talk with her about everything.


Rufe-chan, the girl who sold the honey, vanished from town as well.
Where did the two of them go?

Thanks to that, the whole town was in complete chaos.
Now that Holy Honey was no longer being sold, all of its regular customers were on the verge of losing their minds.

I still held a small stockpile, so I was fine. But everyone who didn’t seemed to be suffering from honey withdrawal.


From what I’ve heard, every last jar of honey at the town’s honey shop had sold out.
Some of the residents, distraught over no longer being able to buy Holy Honey, stormed the shop in desperation.
Then, convinced the shopkeeper was secretly hoarding more stock, they attacked the honey shop. The whole affair was quite the mess.



Amidst all of that, I found myself attending a meeting at the lord’s manor, one where all of the town’s leading figures were participating.

Part of the reason I was there was to accompany the priest. But that wasn’t the only reason I was invited.

I was the only person in the town capable of using light magic.
That’s why, as a saint apprentice, I was permitted to attend this important meeting, one that would determine the town’s future.


Present at the meeting were the knight commander of the town, the Guildmaster of the Adventurer’s Guild, the Guildmaster of the Merchant’s Guild, our priest representing the church, the lord of Tower City, along with several other nobles.

There were a few others as well, but every one of them was someone of status and influence.
To be honest, I felt completely out of place.


As soon as the meeting began, the Guildmaster of the Adventurer’s Guild addressed everyone present.


“After the man-eating Alraune, our next concern is the spirit of the eastern forest. I believe we should organize a subjugation force against the Dryad at once.”


An elderly low-ranking noble raised his hand.


“The spirit of the eastern forest is supposed to be the guardian of both the forest and our town. The very idea of subjugating her is outrageous. If we’re to target anyone, it should be the western Dryad, who has become one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King’s army.”


The next moment…

──BANG!

A thunderous crash echoed through the room as the knight commander slammed his fist onto the table.


“Stop spouting nonsense! The Dryad of the eastern forest is the true evil that must be exterminated! What could possibly be more important than passing judgment upon those spirits, the enemies of mankind?!”


The Guildmaster of the Merchant’s Guild nodded in agreement.


“Well said. Besides, it is the eastern forest, not the western one, that borders our town. From a strategic standpoint, eliminating the evil spirit of the eastern forest should come first.”


For some reason, several members of the meeting insisted from the very beginning that the Dryad and the fairies of the forest should be captured and killed.
It seemed that the main topic of today’s meeting was the forest spirit.


Even our priest appeared to agree with the campaign against the Dryad.


“To begin with, spirits are beings our Goddess does not recognize. As the representative of this town’s church, I lend my support to the hunt for the spirit.”


Those who stood closest to the town’s center of power were the ones most uncompromising on subjugating the Dryad.
It was the same when the first subjugation force was organized.
It was as though they had all become different people. Their almost fanatical conviction honestly frightens me a little.


With a scrape, the lord pushed back his chair and rose to his feet.


“I, too, agree with the proposal. Unless anyone else objects, I intend to dispatch another subjugation force. Is that acceptable?”


At some point, the lord also suddenly became a staunch supporter of exterminating the Dryad.
In fact, you could say the outcome of this meeting had already been decided before it even began.


“When that time comes, we shall be counting on our saint apprentice. After all, she’s the hero who defeated the man-eating Alraune.”


The lord suddenly turned the conversation towards me.
It was really embarrassing.

More importantly, how did things end up like this?
Franz and I had simply gone into the forest, then reported to the priest that the Alraune disappeared. But somehow, it turned into a story where we defeated her.

Since a plant monster that couldn’t even move vanished, the Adventurer’s Guild came to the conclusion that she must have died.
As a result, Franz and I were credited with subjugating the Alraune.


Even though we didn’t actually defeat her, for things to have ended up like this was honestly frustrating.
But there was no point in arguing with the nobility, so in the end, we had no choice but to accept it.



The following evening.

As a reward for defeating the ferocious man-eating Alraune, Franz and I were both invited by the lord to attend a banquet.

How in the world did it come to this…?


When we arrived at the lord’s manor, we were shown to the room where the banquet was being held.
The lord welcomed us personally, and Franz and I took our seats.
Tonight, it would be just the three of us dining together: the lord, Franz, and me. It was all rather overwhelming


The lord is a well-known gourmet and is affectionately called the White Pig Lord by the townspeople.
Apparently, he likes the nickname himself, and I’ve often seen him chatting and laughing with the townspeople without putting on airs.
He’s certainly on the plumpier side, but I’ve always thought of him as a kind and intelligent man.

Although his father, the previous lord, had died early, forcing him to inherit the title at a young age, the other nobles often praised him for governing the territory well. He truly was an admirable lord.



Hanging on the wall of the banquet hall was a portrait of a woman I recognized.


“Isn’t it magnificent? A portrait of Saint Iris. Beautiful, wise, compassionate, and strong. She’s the very ideal of what a saint should be, don’t you think?”


Throwing both hands into the air, the lord exclaimed proudly.
His voice cracked slightly with excitement.


“You see, I painted it myself. I saw Saint Iris in the royal capital, and she was so breathtakingly beautiful that she completely stole my heart.”

“It’s wonderfully done, my lord.”

“Isn’t it? This is just between us, but I’m also the illustrator for this town’s Adventurer’s Guild. Painting is merely a hobby of mine, but thanks to that, I recently produced a rather fine piece. In fact, it was the wanted poster of the Alraune Nina defeated.”


Sitting beside me, Franz quietly muttered, “So the guild’s resident artist who’s famous for being a huge fan of Saint Iris… was the lord himself.”


Apparently, he’d heard rumors about the lord’s artwork at the Adventurer’s Guild.



Before long, the food was brought in.
The head chef entered to explain each course and took his place behind the lord.

The instant I caught the aroma of the aperitif set before me, my body jolted in surprise.
Unable to contain my curiosity, I turned to the chef.


“Excuse me… does this wine happen to contain Holy Honey?”

“You’re spot on. It is, indeed, Holy Honey wine.”


I never imagined Holy Honey, which had become so scarce throughout the town, would be served at this banquet.
If it were sold on the market right now, it would surely fetch an incredible price.

The lord flashed a knowing grin as he explained.


“I’ve heard you’re rather fond of Holy Honey, Nina. One of the head chef’s assistants seems to know you well, so I had this prepared just for you.”


Ah, it must be him.
The trainee cook who always came to buy Holy Honey right after I did in the town square.
I never expected that, thanks to him, I’d get to drink Holy Honey wine at a banquet.

The head chef continued introducing the dishes, until my eyes fell on the final course.


“Is this some kind of… seed?”


Floating in the soup was something that looked like a round plant seed.
I grew up as a poor commoner.
I’d eaten plenty of vegetables that most people would never think to eat, but I’d never seen a seed like this before.


“Indeed. This seed soup is one of His Lordship’s personal favorites. He specifically wished for Lady Nina to try it, so we prepared it with the utmost care.”

“I’m familiar with broad beans, but this is the first time I’ve seen a vegetable that actually looks like a plant seed. What kind of vegetable is it?”


Just as I was about to ask another question, the lord rose to his feet with a glass of Holy Honey wine in hand.


“That can wait until later. It would be a shame for such a fine, hot meal to grow cold. Come, let us eat.”


In this town, the lord’s word was absolute.
We raised our glasses in toast, and I immediately emptied my glass of Holy Honey wine.


Ahhh~
This is it!

The sweetness of the honey sent shivers through my brain.
It felt as though something deep inside my body burst open, and my eyes grew dreamy.


Oh? Franz…
What’s the matter? Why are you standing there holding your glass, staring with your mouth hanging open?
If you’re not going to drink your Holy Honey wine, I’ll gladly have yours too.


“My… lord…?!”


Franz’s bewildered voice reached my ears.

Turning towards the lord, I saw him clutching his throat with both hands, his face twisted in agony.
His now-empty wine glass slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor.
Did the Holy Honey wine he drank go down the wrong pipe?


“Guuaaahhh!!”


No… something doesn’t seem right.
His face turned purple, and the whites of his eyes were showing.
He looked ready to collapse at any moment.


──CRASH!


The lord toppled forwards onto the table.
The impact sent the dishes crashing to the floor one after another.
Even the seed soup I was about to try spilled everywhere.


The next moment, the lord coughed something up.


“……A blue… flower?”


To my astonishment, a flower came out of his mouth.
How did this happen?


“My lord, please don’t worry. I’ll cast a recovery spell on you immediately.”


I rushed over to the lord, intending to fulfill my duty as a saint apprentice.
But then… the lord said something strange.


“Who… are you? You’re wearing the robes of a saint apprentice, but I’ve never seen you in this town before… and what in the world is going on here?!”


For some reason, the lord didn’t seem to remember me.
More than that, it appeared he’d lost all memories of the past dozen days or so.


After coughing up the blue flower, the lord became an amnesiac.

I took a closer look at the blue flower.
That was when I noticed a familiar seed wrapped around its roots.

It was exactly the same kind of seed that had been floating in my soup.

***

Author’s Note:

This was from the perspective of Nina, the rookie saint apprentice. It offers a glimpse of what was happening in Tower City during the days after the Alraune was taken to the Demon King’s castle.

Next Time: Daily Report; The Rookie Saint Apprentice’s Tower City Incident Log (Part Two)