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Levantis, the capital of the Kingdom of Largovere.

At the heart of the capital stands the royal castle, where the king and his family reside, with the city spreading out around it. The population of this city is estimated at approximately 40,000, making it by far the largest city in the Kingdom of Largovere in terms of both area and population.

Amidst the streets of Levantis, the Temple of the Savaiv Church stood towering.

There are four deities most widely worshipped in this world, known as the Four Great Gods.

Their names are Savaiv, God of Good Harvest; Golaiva, God of the Sun; Glavavie, God of the Evening Moon; and Dalagarvae, God of the Sea. Wherever one goes across the continent of Zoisalicht, where the Kingdom of Largovere stands, one is certain to find at least a temple or place of worship dedicated to one of these four gods.

In particular, Savaiv, the God of Good Harvest, is said to have the largest number of followers.

The primary worshippers of this god, who presides over abundance, are farmers. Since farmers constitute the largest occupational group in the world, this is only natural.

Furthermore, because he presides over fertility, he is also revered as the god of childbirth and safe deliveries, and is simultaneously cherished as the guardian deity of marriage.

In this world, it is customary to exchange wedding vows before the god Savaiv. This applies to virtually everyone, from royalty and nobility to farmers, with few exceptions. Weddings are held at Savaiv’s temples or places of worship, and his priests serve as witnesses.

Perhaps because of this, among the temples of the Four Great Gods in the capital, it was the largest and most majestic building.

Every day, countless believers visit to offer their prayers to Savaiv. For this reason, gates to his temples remain open day and night, and on either side of the main entrance, fully armed soldier priests who guard the temple keep a constant watch.

Calcedonia was walking briskly down the corridor of the Temple of Savaiv.

The basement of the Temple of Savaiv is known to be a Holy Ground. It was the place with the highest concentration of magical energy in the vicinity of the capital, and is used within the temple only for special worship services and rituals.

Calcedonia had chosen that basement as the location to summon Tatsumi precisely to draw upon the dense magical energy that permeated the area.

After dashing out of the basement, Calcedonia first headed to her private room within the dormitory provided for resident priests.

She intended to change out of the special ceremonial robes consecrated for the summoning ritual and into the priestly robes she wore on a daily basis.

Calcedonia rushed into her room and quickly changed into her priestly robes.

She then checked the large mirror in the room to make sure her hair and clothes were in order.

This mirror was a high-quality item made of glass. The techniques for manufacturing glass and pottery are known only to certain demihumans loved by the flames, which is why glass and ceramic products are so expensive.

After confirming that her appearance was in order, Calcedonia placed the sacred emblem of Savaiv around her neck and hurried out of her room—but then she suddenly stopped in her tracks.

She had finally realized that she had no idea where Tatsumi, whom she had summoned, was at the moment.

That said, there was no doubt that he was with her grandfather, the Supreme Pontiff of this Temple of Savaiv. In that case, if she asked around, she would surely find out where her grandfather was right away.

With that in mind, Calcedonia began searching for someone above a certain rank.

Naturally, few lower-ranking priests would know the Supreme Pontiff’s current whereabouts, but high-ranking archpriests would surely always be aware of his location.

And everyone in this temple who holds a position of some standing is an acquaintance of hers.

No, actually, it’s the other way around. There isn’t a single person in this temple who doesn’t know Calcedonia, who bears the epithet “The Holy Maiden.” In fact, more than half the residents of the city of Levantis would likely recognize her face.

With her exceptional aptitude for magic and an innate magical power far surpassing that of ordinary people, coupled with her mastery of the «Holy» magic system—particularly healing and purification spells—and her outstanding beauty, Calcedonia had come to be known as the “Holy Maiden” at some point.

Whenever Calcedonia walked down the hallway, everyone she passed would turn to look at her.

Even now, two junior priests who happened to be walking down the hallway stepped aside to let her pass, bowing their heads slightly as they did so, their eyes filled with admiration as she walked by.

“Ah… Lady Calcedonia is always so beautiful…”
“I couldn’t agree more… but didn’t Lady Calcedonia seem strangely cheerful today?”
“Oh, you thought so too? Yeah, I felt that too. She seemed unusually bubbly.”
“Did something good happen? But…”
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
“For Lady Calcedonia to not even try to hide how giddy she was… I wonder what could have happened?”

The junior priests exchanged puzzled glances.

Indeed, Calcedonia’s step today was so light and springy that it was impossible not to notice.

.

Calcedonia managed to meet with an archpriest and learned from him where her grandfather was.

According to the archpriest, her grandfather was currently in the reception room with a guest.

Under normal circumstances, it was easy to predict that her grandfather would have invited Tatsumi into the reception room. The reason Calcedonia hadn’t thought of that was likely because she was simply so overwhelmed with excitement.

A man who had been in her heart ever since she could remember. She had never forgotten him for a single moment.

As she had told Tatsumi, she retained memories of her past life. She didn’t know why those memories remained, but there was no doubt that she possessed them.

In this world, it is believed that people reincarnate.

Therefore, she didn’t find it strange to have been reeincarnated—even if she had been reborn as a human after being a small bird. However, it was extremely rare to retain memories of a past life. At least, Calcedonia had never met anyone else who possessed such memories.

But none of that matters to her. What matters is that she remembers him, and the fact that her life with him before was very happy.

How many years has it been since she first remembered him? Ever since then, Calcedonia has made reuniting with him her greatest wish.

To that end, she has been researching summoning rituals for years. Of course, she has never neglected her efforts to improve her skills as a magic user, not even for a single day.

Now, she must meet Tatsumi and explain to him why she summoned him to this world.

Perhaps, by giving that explanation, he might come to hate her. He might even hold a grudge against her.

She had summoned him to this world of her own accord. That meant she had forced him to abandon his previous life without his consent.

Being hated by him—just thinking about it made her legs feel weak, but even so, being able to reunite with him like this was the greatest happiness for her.

Calcedonia before she was Calcedonia was such a small thing, but even so, she loved him dearly.

Just being by his side made her happy. She felt that as long as she had him by her side, she didn’t need anything else.

They grew up together, lived together, and were always together, no matter where they went.

Calcedonia walked along, her happy thoughts monopolized by him. Suddenly, someone called out to her.

“Oh, my, my, Lady Calcedonia. I never imagined I would have the pleasure of meeting you today. Could this be the guidance of Savaiv, the god of marriage?”

The one who spoke these words and bowed politely was a well-dressed young man.

He was, if she remembered correctly, the eldest son of a nobleman holding the title of count—a man who had proposed to Calcedonia many times before.

He walked up close to Calcedonia, knelt at her feet, and gently pressed his lips to the back of her hand.

At this somewhat forward gesture, Calcedonia instinctively furrowed her beautiful brows, but the nobleman himself did not notice.

To be honest, while Calcedonia recognized his face, she could not recall his name. After all, he was not the only man who had proposed to her.

Her grandfather, the Supreme Pontiff of the Temple of Savaiv, received marriage proposals for her almost daily. Some of the suitors were even of royal blood, with claims to the throne.

However, Giuseppe had rejected every single one of those proposals. Of course, this was because Giuseppe knew Calcedonia’s true feelings and respected them.

The Church is an organization that serves the gods; it does not belong to the state. Therefore, even royal authority holds no sway over the Church.

Consequently, in theory, those who serve the gods—such as priests—are not required to bow their heads even when appearing before the king. That said, this is merely a matter of formality; in practice, it is customary for even priests to kneel when appearing before the king.

On this occasion, Giuseppe had used that formal rule as a shield to reject all marriage proposals from royalty and nobility. Since Calcedonia herself held the rank of priestess, nobody could force a marriage upon her, even if the suitors were kings or nobles.

Calcedonia casually brushed off the man’s incessant praise of her.

All she wanted was to get to Tatsumi as soon as possible. Yet this man kept dragging out the conversation, trying to hold her back.

At first, he had praised her beauty and her achievements, but before she knew it, the conversation had shifted entirely to him boasting about himself. Frankly, it wasn’t the least bit interesting to listen to.

*I’d rather be with my master than put up with this boring nonsense!!* While screaming that in her heart, she maintained a smile on her face and nodded along to his story.

As the pointless chatter continued, Calcedonia’s frustration was finally reaching its limit.

Just then, a figure approached them.

“Calcie”

The figure addressed Calcedonia familiarly by her nickname. Calcedonia’s face lit up at the sight of him, while the count’s eldest son’s expression twisted in displeasure.

“Morgan”
“O-oh my, Lord Free Knight… I-I mean, Lord Morganaik…”

He was a young man of slender, tall stature with a lean physique; his features were rugged yet strikingly handsome, and his red hair and reddish-brown eyes were particularly striking. Instead of clerical robes, he wore plate armor and carried a longsword at his waist. Engraved on the chest of his armor was the sacred seal of the Savaiv.

Armor engraved with the sacred seal. That is the mark of a soldier priest.

A soldier priest is a warrior who protects the temple and the priests who belong to it.

As mentioned earlier, the temple and its priests do not belong to the state. Therefore, even in times of crisis, they cannot rely on the state’s assistance.

For this reason, the temple maintains its own military force to protect itself. That force consists of the soldier priests.

Of course, this is merely a formal stance; for example, if bandits were to break into the temple, the state would likely conduct a crackdown or investigation after obtaining the temple’s permission.

“What are you doing here? His Eminence Chrysoprase is waiting for you.”
“I understand, Morgan.”

After responding to the man whom she friendly addressed “Morgan,” Calcedonia turned back to the count’s eldest son.

“I’m sorry. My grandfather… I mean, Supreme Pontiff Chrysoprase is summoning me, so I must take my leave now.”

As she bowed gracefully, the count’s eldest son seemed to realize it was futile to try to stop her any further.

“No, no, if it’s a matter concerning His Eminence, there’s nothing to be done. Well then, let’s meet again another day.”

After saying that and bowing to Morganaik as well, the man finally departed. Sticking her tongue out at him in her mind, Calcedonia spoke to Morganaik.

“Thank you, Morgan. You really saved me. That man is really obstinate, in all sorts of meaning…”
“Don’t worry about it. More importantly, His Eminence is truly waiting. Shouldn’t you hurry to him?”
“Ah! Oh no! How could I have let my master wait like this—”

Calcedonia set off, looking flustered.

Morganaik stood still, gazing intently at her retreating back as she walked away at a brisk pace, his eyes filled with a certain emotion.