Sword Saint Adel's Second Chance: Volume 3 E-Book

Hayaken

• Herausgeber: J-Novel Club
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: Sword Saint Adel's Second Chance
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 250

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Still coming to terms with having turned into a woman, Saint Adel continues dedicating herself as a knight escort to stave off looming global tragedy.

As leaders of the Four World Powers gather in Welna for a world summit, Adel encounters two more Eminents: Chloe Navarra, the Artificer Saint, and Katina Astal, the Legion Saint. The former turns out to be the granddaughter of Cardinal Navarra, while the latter is a childhood friend who had grown up alongside Adel at Astal Orphanage. Adel maintains a wary eye on Chloe while cheering on Katina, who will probably become lovers with Prince Julian, Princess Euphinia’s older brother, like in the previous timeline. However, Adel and Euphinia find themselves suddenly transported to an isolated space in the middle of dinner and warned of the imminent approach of a terrifying threat!

Not knowing who is friend or foe, Adel once again summons both her newfound powers and steadfast allies to fend off the darkness lurking in the kingdom’s shadows!

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Chapter 1: Birds of a Feather Flock Together

Chapter 2: Chloe Navarra

Chapter 3: The VIPs

Chapter 4: The G4 Summit

Chapter 5: The Legion Saint

Chapter 6: The Compulsion of Fate

Afterword

Color Illustrations

About J-Novel Club

Copyright

Landmarks

Color Images

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Birds of a Feather Flock Together

Welna, the capital of the Kingdom of Wendill, had been very prosperous as a tourist destination for a long time. This was in no small part thanks to its close proximity to Alderford, the mecca of the Holy Tower Church. Pilgrims on their way to Alderford would find Welna to be their last and biggest stop. During the day, welnafare flowers added bright splashes of color to every inch of the City of Flowers, beaming to passersby under the light of the sun. At night, inns and taverns illuminated the streets, creating a quieter and more fantastical mood. No matter the time or occasion, there was always something for everyone in Welna.

However, even a city like Welna eventually went to sleep. The moonlit streets of the City of Flowers were normally beautiful and elegant in their own right, but tonight was...different.

“Hah hah hah! The City of Flowers doesn’t look half bad at night!”

“Lookee at all the flowers we grew in the garden pinned up ev’rywhere! ‘Doesn’t look half bad’ all right!”

“We havin’ a flower viewing at night?! This calls for some good booze!”

“I gotcha covered! Whoo! Everyone, grab a cup!”

A bottle produced seemingly out of thin air got passed around between a group of men. Then they raised their cups.

“Chee—”

“Don’t bring a bottle on patrol!” Mash thundered.

“And don’t drink! You’re on the goddamn job!” Adel added, shouting with equal vehemence.

“Sorry, Boss. Sorry, Boss Lady.”

“Don’t worry, Boss and Boss Lady! There’s enough for you too!”

“This is good stuff I nicked from the dining hall, though!”

“That’s not the issue!”

“And no nicking! If Princess gets in trouble for this, I’ll make all of you pay!”

“SHUT! UUUUUUUP!” Melulu roared at everyone, making them quail under her glare. “Keep it down! We’re out here to keep the residents safe, not wake them up! It’s our job to make sure that they can sleep in peace!”

Adel agreed with Melulu wholeheartedly. She was absolutely right. However, her words of wisdom had come a little too late. Several windows in the nearby homes rattled open.

“Shut the fuck up! You know what time it is?!”

“You want me to call the guards and make them drag you away, you useless drunks?!”

“If you don’t leave right now, I’ll call the guards too!”

The nearby residents had clearly reached the ends of their tethers.

Deflating to half her size, Melulu shouted in a soft voice, “W-We’re sorryyyy! We’re leaving. G-Good night...” After she and her group swiftly moved to a different area, she pursed her lips and grumbled, “Jeez, do these guys even understand the position they’re in?”

Thanks to Adel and Mash putting in a good word, the former gladiator slaves had gotten hired as castle guards. But so far, their duties had mainly been miscellaneous tasks like digging holes, carrying tools, and growing welnafare flowers in the castle’s garden. Not once had they been ordered to man the gates or go on patrol. In other words, they had yet to be treated as proper guards.

But tonight, they were officially out on patrol, albeit under the combined supervision of Mash, Adel, and Melulu. Proving that they could pull it off without causing any problems could improve their standing. Unfortunately, the way they were behaving indicated that they were unaware of the opportunity they had been given. It was worrying, to say the least.

“You guys, stop messing around and take this seriously,” Adel called out. “Remember, you didn’t get this assignment because you earned it; you have to live up to it.”

The former gladiators had been sent out on patrol simply because there was a lack of manpower. Very soon, the heads of state of the Four World Powers would be gathering here in Welna for the G4 Summit. The G4 Summit was an annual event that represented the current state of the world, where the Four World Powers held enough regard for each other to at least sit at the same table and talk to each other.

Being the “Middle Kingdom,” Wendill highly regarded this opportunity to boost its value to the rest of the world by providing a neutral place for the superpowers to meet. Since Wendill was so much smaller than the other countries, its continued survival hinged on being able to continuously prove its usefulness. This was why it had to ensure that the upcoming G4 Summit went off without a single hitch.

Problem was, there had been no short supply of trouble as of late. Two months ago, Central Tower, the symbol of the Holy Tower Church, had nearly collapsed when Elciel the War Saint went on a massive rampage, seemingly having lost her mind. A short while later, Wendill’s Holy Tower VII had broken down, an event followed by an attempted assassination of Prince Tristan of Torust in the northern city of Sidel. It came to light afterward that both the Tower VII breakdown and the assassination attempt had been masterminded by the Republic of Malka, one of the Four World Powers.

There was no guarantee that Malka wouldn’t try something again at the G4 Summit. As host of the venue, Wendill would get mud all over its face if anything happened, weakening its standing on the world stage. To ensure that the affair ran smoothly and ended peacefully, Wendill was tripling the security it would normally arrange for a Summit.

In this situation where Wendill needed literally every last hand on deck, the former gladiator slaves from the Moving Coliseum of Navarra finally got assigned patrol duty. When Commander Belzen, the head of the knights of Wendill, had given this order, the look on his face made it clear that he was only doing so because he was truly out of options.

“Adel’s right, you guys,” Mash said. “If you do well tonight, you just might get to do actual guard work on a regular basis.”

Kamotsu, the one best at cultivating flowers, bit back a yawn. “But Boss, Boss Lady, we’re patrolling after a full day of tending to the flowers and digging holes. I’m pooped. Can’t we patrol during the day and rest at night?”

“Oh hell nah. Anyone catches a glimpse of your mug during the day, you’re the one who’s gonna get arrested! ’Cos you look like a thug! Bwa ha ha ha!”

“Ain’t that the truth! If it was up to me, I’ll start with you, that’s for sure!”

“You’re the one with a face you can only show at night when no one can see jack shit!”

“You wanna say that again, huh?! Pot calling the kettle black much?!”

“Heeeeeelp! There’s a suspicious person here! Please take him away!”

“Screw you! The hell you doing?! You’re way too drunk!”

Judging by how rowdy they were, the men were having a great time.

“Ugh, I’m getting a headache. We should’ve ditched these guys and gone on patrol by ourselves.” Melulu sighed loudly. “Adel, Mash? How did you bear running a mercenary group with them? I can’t see them properly pulling off any job. And then there’s you two, who seem more knightly than some of the castle’s actual knights. What even gave you the idea to become mercenaries with them?”

Adel and Mash silently exchanged a look. It wasn’t a look of guilt or alarm, but just a look that said, Oh, right. We said that, didn’t we? They had introduced themselves as mercenaries when they’d first met Melulu to gain her trust, but they’d since served as fellow knight escorts in Euphinia’s service for quite some time. They had learned a lot about Melulu’s character and past through the incident in Sidel the other day. She had been quite despondent for a while after getting back, but to their relief, she had been gradually regaining her previous cheer.

In other words, Adel and Mash now had a trusting relationship with Melulu. There was no need to continue keeping up the lie.

The two nodded at each other, then Adel said, “Actually, Melulu...”

“I know it’s a bit late to say this, but we were never mercenaries,” Mash confessed. “Sorry.”

“What?” Melulu’s eyes widened, just in time to see a horse with an awe-inspiring white coat approaching her all of a sudden. “Oh, is that you, Pega? Did you slip away from Princess? Sweetie, you shouldn’t do that! Though I guess it’s not a big deal, since Lilith should still be with her. Aha ha ha, that tickles!”

The horse licked Melulu’s face, then started nuzzling and burying his snout in her chest. By appearances, this was a heartwarming scene of a beautiful animal being playful with a beautiful girl.

“Whooo! The important goods just have to be there, yes sirree! Just feel that jiggle! Jiggle jiggle ♪!”

True to form, the comment was filth that made the former gladiator slaves’ whoops seem like a nobleman’s toast in comparison. Adel felt a headache coming on. In a way, Melulu was lucky for being unable to hear the voices of Divine Beasts. In the previous timeline, when Adel had shared that privilege due to not being a Saint, he had treated Pegasus with quite a bit of respect too. Sometimes, ignorance truly was bliss.

The thought of tying Pegasus up with Salamander’s Tail and sinking him in a river flashed through Adel’s mind. At the moment, her group was on a path next to the Erule River, which flowed through the middle of Welna. The riverbank was right there, down a small flight of stairs beside the path.

Just as Adel’s hand reached for the spelltool at her waist, the Divine Beast stepped away from Melulu and approached Adel.

“Now, let’s have a taste of this jiggle too, shall we?”

“Shut up. And don’t you dare touch me.”

Snap!

Salamander’s Tail cracked like a whip, whirled around the Divine Beast’s face in a split second and pulled him to the ground.

“Whuh?! How could you?! W-Wait, are you a Saint?!”

“Hah? Why’re you asking that?” Adel tilted her head quizzically, wondering why Pegasus was asking about something he already knew.

It was Melulu who provided the answer.

“Hold on, Adel. This isn’t Pegasus! It’s not Princess’s Divine Beast!”

“What?!”

“Look! He doesn’t have wings. And he has a horn on his head!”

Just as Melulu pointed out, even though this Divine Beast had acted exactly like Euphinia’s Pegasus, his back was noticeably absent of snowy white wings. Instead, an impressive horn stood tall on his forehead. This was a different Divine Beast. It was a Unicorn.

Adel had no clue whose Divine Beast this was, but there was one thing she did know: this Unicorn and Pegasus were cut from the same cloth. As it turned out, someone just as vulgar and perverted as Pegasus did exist.

“We really don’t need another Pegasus, man...”

The very thought that there might be even more of their kind made Adel clutch her head in consternation. Euphinia’s Pegasus alone spewed enough vulgarity for this world.

“Pffft. You’re a dumbass. Adel’s great to look at but completely hands-off. You can enjoy her all you want from a distance, but you’ll pay with your life if you touch her!”

A new voice joined the conversation, sounding proud of itself. As the saying went, speak of the devil and he shall appear. Euphinia’s Pegasus revealed himself hiding at the bottom of the stairs, staring up at Adel with a slimy gaze.

“But boy is she great to look at! She spreads her legs and strips everywhere. There is no other woman who lets her guard down as much as she does!”

“Shut your mouth! What are you doing there?!”

“Oh hey, it’s the real Pega.”

The Divine Beast brushed aside Adel’s hostility with a neigh, then rushed up from the riverbank and nuzzled Melulu fondly.

“Hmm? What’s the matter? Are you angry because I mistook Unicorn for you just now? Aww, I’m sorry, okay?”

“Woo-hoooo! Look at them jiggles! ♪”

“Melulu, there’s no need to apologize!”

The other side of Salamander’s Tail shot out, tying up and dragging the real Pegasus to the ground.

“Whoa whoa whoa!”

The two streams of fire extending from either side of Adel’s spelltool now formed the composition of a pair of white horses trussed up together like prisoners. If it weren’t for the one’s wings and the other’s horn, they would have been impossible to tell apart.

“A-At least do this without your weapon! You can punch me or kick me— No, please smother me!”

“Or you can choke me out with your legs! I’d do anything to feel those squishy thighs!”

There was no way to tell their personalities apart either. Honestly, Adel had no idea who had said what just now. They both had the same voice to her ears.

“A-Adel!” Melulu cried anxiously. “Princess might be fine with you treating Pega like this, but are you sure about the other one?! You might get in trouble for it!”

“I couldn’t care less! They’re both the same, as far as I’m concerned!”

“Seriously, why are you so harsh on them?” Mash asked, sounding a little intimidated.

Even the former gladiator slaves started muttering among themselves.

“She never gets that angry, even when we see her in her underwear.”

“Well, but it’s her who goes ‘I just came outta the bath’ or ‘I just finished training’ or ‘It’s hot.’ She’s the one in the wrong for stripping to cool off in the guardroom.”

“True that. It ain’t us. It’s her.”

“If she knew that, then I wouldn’t have to keep yelling at her.” Mash sighed. “When will she fix her habit of taking her clothes off at the drop of a hat?”

Mash would caution Adel every time he saw her doing so, but she was showing no signs of improving. She was an adolescent girl beautiful enough to put flowers to shame, but there wasn’t a drop of femininity or modesty in her. This often left the people around her scrambling around in reaction to her whims and fancies. Even Euphinia and Melulu had somewhat given up as of late and were beginning to accept that Adel was simply going to be Adel. Mash was pretty much the only one who was still keeping up the good fight.

“Why is Boss Lady that angry, then? Do you think... What if those horses have, like, really shitty personalities?”

“C’mon, you kidding? Those are Divine Beasts!”

“I may have been raised like shit, but even I show Divine Beasts respect!”

Through forming contracts with Saints, Divine Beasts provided the power for Sanctuaries and Holy Towers, which in turn secured land where humans could safely live. Areas beyond the protection of a Holy Tower were “profane land” where monsters spawned endlessly. Naturally, such conditions were highly unfavorable for human habitation.

The former gladiator slaves were ruffians, true, but they were still part of human society, which was protected by the Holy Towers as a whole. Divine Beasts and Saints were so crucial to the continued existence of the human race that even the dregs of society thanked them and paid them respect.

“And we’re talking about a Divine Beast of Princess Euphinia. The princess who’s basically a goddess. I bet he’s the perfect gentleman. I bet he’s super smart and super courteous to everyone he meets.”

“Sweet darling Adel! Jiggle jiggle or squishy squishy! Jiggle jiggle or squishy squishy! Give me either one! Gimme gimme gimme!”

Pegasus was nowhere near courteous and hadn’t a shred of intelligence in his brain. He was in every way the antithesis of a gentleman. The former gladiators’ surprisingly earnest trust could not have been further misplaced.

“Oh, put a sock in it! Stop wailing in my ears, you donkey! This one’s name is Adel, right? She’s so much better developed than my own Saint! Please, girlie! Let me taste your jiggle jiggle or squishy squishy!”

“You got a screw loose or what?! You’re the donkey! Look into a mirror! Adel is a retainer serving my Saint. That means I have the right to do whatever I want with her! Dumbass!”

“Shut up! You have no such right!”

“Who the hell are you calling underdeveloped, huh?! Well, excuuuse me!”

The moment Adel sent Pegasus flying with a kick, Unicorn got a taste of someone else’s foot too. The two Divine Beasts fell heavily with surprised grunts, but Adel paid them no mind. Instead, she turned to the interloper.

“And you are?”

Adel found herself facing a young girl around the same age as Melulu and herself. She had slightly curly black hair tied back in a high ponytail, which exposed her nape. This, added with the fact that she was shorter than Adel, gave her an overall slender and delicate image. However, intelligence shone brightly in her almond eyes, and she radiated a calm and composed aura.

Is this the Saint who’s contracted with Unicorn? Adel thought.

“Goodness, and there I was wondering where my Divine Beast had gone. I guess it worked out since we managed to find each other. But first, let me say: I’m really sorry for the trouble my stupid horse caused all of you.”

The girl bowed her head in apology.

“Oh, no, I apologize for tying up your Divine Beast,” Adel quickly replied. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. I bet he deserved it. Both of you are his type. Or rather, his whole kind’s type. Most Unicorns love women with the right curves in the right places. And they’re also sticklers for you-know-what. You get what I mean, right?”

“Um, I-I do... But more importantly, may I ask, who are you?”

Adel did not recall seeing this girl at Wendill Palace. In other words, she was not one of the Saints deployed to Wendill. Naturally, that led to the question of what a visiting Saint was doing out in the streets of Welna at this hour of the night.

There was a lot that Adel wanted to ask, but she suddenly remembered that courtesy dictated that she should first reveal her own identity and what she herself was doing.

“My apologies, we are a patrol sent by the castle—”

“It’s fine, I know. You’re Adel Astal. You’re the eccentric Sanctioned Saint who went to a whole lot of trouble to become knight escort to Princess Euphinia. That last name and that position—you’re an odd one, that’s for sure. Grandma Theodora told me all about you.”

“Hm? Eminent Theodora talked about me?”

The term “Sanctioned Saint” referred to Saints who held power in the secular world, such as nobles and royalty. There was a precept in the Church’s teachings that forbade Saints from holding secular authority, and another precept that obligated all girls exhibiting the abilities of a Saint to join the Church and live as a Saint.

Every so often, however, there were Saints who had also been born with secular authority. Euphinia was a prime example. She was a member of royalty born with the abilities of a Saint. This put the two precepts in direct conflict. Saints could not hold secular power, but she was born with it; since she possessed the abilities of a Saint, she had to live as a Saint.

The solution to this contradiction was the position of “Sanctioned Saint.” Put simply, Sanctioned Saints were granted express permission to hold secular power under the pretext that it was part of a mission assigned by the Church. The large majority of Sanctioned Saints were those born into noble and royal families like Euphinia, but there were some who had married into such families.

Adel’s case was neither of those. She had badly wanted to be Euphinia’s knight escort, just as in the previous timeline. To make it happen, she’d managed to convince the Church to declare her a Sanctioned Saint.

To someone not privy to the details, this made no sense, as Saints were the ones who needed protection. It was probably safe to say that there had never been a Sanctioned Saint who wanted to be another Saint’s knight escort. After all, that status was nowhere near as high as actual nobility. In fact, it was so minor that it wouldn’t make sense for the Holy Tower Church to hand out Sanctioned Saint status for every request of this degree. If they did, it would defeat the purpose of having the system in the first place. As such, Adel’s case was a very big exception that had been pushed through quite forcibly.

For added context, Adel’s last name was Astal. This last name was shared by all orphans raised at Astal Orphanage in the Holy Kingdom of Rakul. In other words, those who knew the last name could immediately tell that Adel had come from extremely low origins. This was another reason why it was so unusual that she was a Sanctioned Saint. When strung together, the phrase “Sanctioned Saint Adel Astal, knight escort of Princess Euphinia of the Kingdom of Wendill” screamed “special case” in a plethora of ways.

The black-haired girl standing before Adel supposedly had a full understanding of Adel’s complicated circumstances. And she had called Theodora “grandma.”

“So...you’re from Alderford?” Adel asked.

“AHHHHHHH!” Melulu suddenly shouted, pointing a finger at the girl.

Adel whirled in surprise. “Wh-What’s the matter, Melulu?!”

“Do you know her?!” Mash asked, sounding equally surprised. At the moment, his face was hidden deep within his hood so as to avoid scaring anyone passing by in the night.

“A-Adel! Mash! Hurry, kneel! Guys, you too! You have to greet her properly!” Melulu urged while following her own advice. “She might look our age, but she’s an Eminent! Same as Saint Theodora! I’ve spotted her once. She’s the Artificer Saint!”

“The Artificer Saint...” Adel murmured.

The seven Saints most recognized by the Holy Tower Church were referred to as Eminents, and all of them had an alias. For example, Theodora was the Tower Saint, and Elciel used to be the War Saint. Supposedly, this teenage girl was the Artificer Saint.

“We’re very sorry,” Mash apologized. “Please forgive us for failing to greet you as we should have.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” the girl said cheerily. “I’ve been looking forward to working with you guys. My name’s Chloe Navarra. Nice to meetcha.”

Chloe was smiling and giving off a friendly aura, but her last name immediately triggered a reaction.

Adel’s eyes narrowed. “Did you say Navarra?”

“So, you’re related to Cardinal Navarra?” Mash asked apprehensively.

“What, you guys know my grandfather?” Chloe asked. “He almost never shows himself in public, though. In a word, yes. I’m Cardinal Navarra’s granddaughter.”

Mention of the name Navarra made Adel and Mash recall their days in the Moving Coliseum of Navarra. In the previous timeline, Adel had been subjected to human experiments by Cardinal Navarra in the Coliseum that had permanently robbed him of his sight. Even now, Mash was left with the head of a lion, and the other gladiator slaves all bore disfigurements of some kind.

Chloe’s name had never come up in the Coliseum, so there was no way to tell how deeply she was involved with the experiments, if at all. However, Adel and Mash were naturally on high alert. Even the former gladiator slaves were reacting to the name of Navarra.

Someone gasped. “N-Navarra?! I-I think I’ve heard that name before!”

Fisher, a former gladiator who was good at diving and was at least smart enough to manage the other guys in some capacity, retorted, “Of course you have, dumbass. You can’t have forgotten. Right, guys?!”

“Like hell I’d forget! Like hell any of us would forget! ...Right?!”

“Of course! Don’t insult me! ...Right?!”

“Fisher couldn’t have put it better! Anyone who’s forgotten has no right to call himself human!”

“Uh... Sorry, guys. What is it? T-Tell me.”

An awkward silence lingered heavily in the air, until Fisher shrieked, “NONE of you remember?!”

Almost as a knee-jerk reaction, Adel and Mash yelled, “Shut up, all of you!” The conversation was going nowhere with the guys derailing it.

“See that, donkey? My Saint may be a squirt, but she’s a big shot! Don’t get in my way again if you don’t want me to tear you apart and make a spelltool out of you!”

“Do you even hear yourself?! You’re nothing but an ass strutting about in a tiger’s skin! You’re— Wait a hot second. I-It’s you! You’re Nico! You’re Nico from the Unicorn herd!”

“What?! Youuuuuu! You’re Pega! The loner Pegasus! Last time I saw you was when you were chased out of our herd! I thought you’d died in a ditch somewhere long ago! Well how about you drop dead now?!”

“How about you get the fuck outta my business?! I’m better than you weakass Unicorns who can’t do jack shit without your whole herd behind you! In the first place, you being here contracted with that pip-squeak means you got chased out too, didn’t you?! You can eat shit!”

The two horses tied up with Salamander’s Tail smashed their foreheads together, giving each other the death stare. Apparently they had a history, and they were equally foulmouthed.

“What the fuck?! Your Saint is even punier than mine! There ain’t no benefits with that! You had to settle, didn’t you?! At the end of the day, that’s all you’re worth! You don’t get what it means to be a Unicorn at all! You’re nothing but a cheap copy, you donkey!”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about! Euphinia’s still got a ton of potential! The day when she becomes jiggle jiggle and squishy squishy will come!”

This time, it was Adel and Chloe who shouted in unison. “Shut UP! God!” Then they stomped on Pegasus and Unicorn respectively.

Chloe sighed. “Looks like these two know each other. How can they be more than twice as noisy when together? I’m already fed up. This does not bode well for the future.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Adel nodded. “Their conversation was simply unbearable.”

Based on what she had just heard, Adel surmised that Euphinia’s Pegasus had wandered into a herd of Unicorns by himself long ago and been raised by them, eventually picking up their values and preferences. In other words, there were many more like them in this world. What a deplorable state of affairs.

“By the way, what did you mean by ‘for the future’?” Adel asked.

“Well, the G4 Summit is just around the corner, but things have been rather unsettled as of late. The Holy Tower Church is concerned too, especially with how close Welna is. So, they decided to send someone to help with security. Grandma Theodora wanted to come herself, but her health isn’t the best at the moment. So, the ball got passed to me. I just arrived from Alderford.”

“Ah, so that’s why...”

Adel recalled someone mentioning that the Church would be petitioned for help with bolstering security this year. She had expected knight escorts and Temple Guards, but an Eminent had shown up instead. This was a gesture that proved the Church was taking the situation seriously too.

Even so, Adel couldn’t help but be bothered by Chloe’s last name. A small part of her kept wondering if there was something else going on. She would much rather have worked with Theodora, who she already trusted.

“Wow, you’re working with us?! Thank you so much, Saint Chloe!” Melulu, who didn’t know everything Adel did, was wholeheartedly happy.

“That said, as you can tell from my alias, I’m really just a spelltool artisan. I’m nowhere near as good in a fight. You’re the one who stopped Elciel, right? Yeah, no way I could do that. So, I’ll be counting on you!” Chloe gave Adel a smile, then patted her on the shoulder. “Since this mission fell into my lap, I have to do it well, or it’d mar my reputation. But if I manage to perfectly accomplish a task that Grandma Theodora was supposed to do, it would further prove that I’m the right person to succeed her position as head of the Eminents. This is a big opportunity for me.”

“I-I see...”

Adel had first pegged Chloe as a craftsman who only cared about her craft, but it turned out she was quite the ambitious person indeed.

Chapter 2: Chloe Navarra

Three days later, Adel was perched on the windowsill in the knight escort quarters, a suite located close to Euphinia’s room reserved for the princess’s knight escorts. The night sky was clear and sprinkled with brightly twinkling stars. Adel liked gazing at sights and sceneries like this. To her, a star-studded sky was just as great as the garden of welnafare flowers behind the castle, filled as it was with vivid splashes of color under the dazzling illumination of the sun. These were both things that she had been unable to enjoy in her past life, having been condemned to a world of darkness.