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“I’m so sorry I’m late!”

Upon entering the reception room where Tatsumi and Giuseppe were waiting, Calcedonia began with an apology and bowed deeply.

“What on earth have you been up to? Sonny here has been waiting for ages.”

Giuseppe scolded his granddaughter with a gentle chuckle.

“Ah, no, I was having a good time chatting with Giuseppe-san, so I wasn’t exactly bored waiting…”
“R-really? T-that’s a relief…”

Placing a hand over her ample bosom, Calcedonia let out a sigh of relief.

Watching the two of them interact with a smile, Giuseppe motioned for Calcedonia to sit down next to him.

“Well then, now that Calcedonia is here, let’s get into the details.”

At Giuseppe’s words, Tatsumi sat up straight once more.

He had no doubt that he had been summoned to another world. The problem was why he had been summoned.

*Surely it isn’t some cliché reason like “Become a hero and defeat the Demon King,” is it?* He thought to himself, as he listened carefully to Giuseppe’s next words.

“First of all, welcome to the Kingdom of Largovere, my son. My granddaughter Calcedonia and I wholeheartedly welcome your arrival.”
“Uh, n-no, well… thank you…?”

Tatsumi was at a loss for words and ended up offering a polite thank-you without thinking. Perhaps finding his reaction amusing, Giuseppe and Calcedonia both burst into laughter.

“And at the same time, we offer our deepest apologies. After all, we summoned you here without your own consideration. We are truly sorry.”

Giuseppe and Calcedonia then bowed deeply in unison.

“N-no, n-no, not at all… P-please, both of you, raise your heads…!!”
“But… we… no, I… summoned you here without considering your circumstances, Master. I forced you to abandon the life you had until now.”

Hearing those words from Calcedonia, who remained bowed, Tatsumi’s expression turned startled.

Judging by the way she phrased it, it seemed likely that while she had summoned him, there was no way for him to return to his original world.

That was why Calcedonia had said, “I forced you to abandon your previous life.”

“E-ven then, please, just lift your head for now. And…could you tell me? Why…why did you summon me to this other world… what’s the reason behind it?”

Even though Calcedonia knew there was no way to send him back, and even though she felt guilty for summoning him over unilaterally—she still summoned him nonetheless, and there has to be a reason for that. That was what Tatsumi wanted to know.

.

Prompted by Takumi, Calcedonia and Giuseppe finally raised their heads.

Tatsumi stared at them intently.

A moment of silence hung in the reception room. Then, suddenly, a loud sound echoed from outside the window.

The sound of a bell ringing repeatedly: *ding-dong, ding-dong.* It was the bell marking the passage of time, installed somewhere within the Temple of Savaiv. If one listened closely, similar sounds could be heard from afar. Presumably, bells were ringing in the same way at other temples as well.

The bell rang three times. The moment the ringing ceased, as if prompted by it, Calcedonia spoke up.

“……The reason I summoned you to this world… well, the biggest reason is…b-because I just had to see you again, Master.”

Placing both hands on her cherry-blossom-pink cheeks, Calcedonia confessed this with a bashful look.

“Eh…? T-that’s it…?”

Tatsumi’s jaw dropped in surprise.

Then again, if anyone were told that the reason they’d been summoned all the way to another world was simply “because I wanted to see you again,” they’d probably make the same expression he did.

At the same time, he felt a slight sense of relief that it wasn’t some cliché reason like “Become a hero and defeat the Demon King.”

“Yes… and then…”

Calcedonia had been looking up at Tatsumi with a happy expression, but her face suddenly turned grim as she continued.

“……I… was worried. I was so, so worried I couldn’t stand it. That day… as you watch me live out my natural life in your arms, Master… You look so pained, like the world has nothing for you but despair… I just couldn’t forget that look on you. I was afraid that, if things continued like that… you might take your own life… That was my only worry… my only regret…”

Hearing Calcedonia’s words, Tatsumi’s body trembled violently.

The moment Chiiko breathed her last in his arms. Tatsumi had felt as though the world had come to an end.

And now, just as Calcedonia had pointed out, there had been countless times when he, too, had tried to take his own life to follow his family and Chiiko.

How many times had he pressed the blade of a utility knife against his wrist? In the end, the only reason he hadn’t drawn the blade across his skin was simply that he lacked the courage to do so.

“…I was worried about you, left all alone… Ever since I was old enough to understand, I’ve been researching the magic of traversing worlds. Fortunately, Grandfather took me in when I was young and brought me to the Temple of Savaiv. There was a considerable collection of materials on magic here, which helped me a great deal.”
“Huh? He took you in…?”
“Aye. It was for a certain reason. I took this girl in as my adopted daughter when she was young.”

Caledonia was taken in by Giuseppe as his adopted daughter. While their true relationship is that of “adoptive father” and “adopted daughter,” due to their significant age difference, they treat each other as “grandfather” and “granddaughter.”

After offering a grateful smile to her grandfather for clarifying the situation, Caledonia turned back to Tatsumi and continued.

“At first, I intended to cross over into your world. But no matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find a single document, record, or any other material containing the spells or rituals I needed to cross over… In the end, what I found was…”
“…not a way for you to go to my world, but rather a ritual to summon me to this world…?”

Caledonia gave a slight nod in response to Tatsumi’s questioning tone.

She hadn’t limited her search to the library of the Temple of Savaiv.

With the help of her grandfather, the Supreme Pontiff of the Temple of Savaiv, she had scoured every possible location—including the royal library—in search of learning materials. Yet, all she had found were records of the ritual to summon Tatsumi to this world.

“…But at this point, I decided that was the best alternative. I know that, from your perspective, all I did is unilaterally summoned you to this world and made you abandon everything you’ve ever had. I don’t mind if you resent or hate me for that reason. Even so, I wanted to see you one more time, Master…”

*“And I was worried about you,”* Calcedonia continued in a small voice.

.

“Well then, my son.”

After Calcedonia finished her explanation, silence reigned between them for a while.

Breaking that silence, Giuseppe now looked intently at Tatsumi.

“May I ask you a question now?”
“Ah, yes, if it’s something I can answer…”
“Well then… You seem strangely calm… Why is that?”
“H-huh?”

With a look of confusion, Tatsumi looked back at Giuseppe.

He was no longer the affable old man he had been moments before; instead, he fixed a sharp gaze on Tatsumi that exuded a certain air of dignity.

“Normally, if one were suddenly summoned to an unfamiliar world, wouldn’t one be more flustered? Yet you were not. You certainly seem perplexed, but you’re not flustered at all—on the contrary, you’re strangely calm… Why is that?”
“Uh, um…”

Tatsumi’s face flushed slightly as his gaze wandered restlessly.

Eventually, he glanced once at Calcedonia before turning his gaze toward Giuseppe.

“Well, um… the moment I arrived in this world, I was suddenly… um, hugged by a beautiful woman, so… so I guess my mind’s too preoccupied for that…or-or more like…”

Tatsumi’s eyes glanced at Calcedonia once more.

“……When I realized that she… that Calcedonia-san is Chiiko… well, to be honest, I can’t quite bring myself to fully believe it yet… but if it’s true that she’s Chiiko’s reincarnation, I can’t bring myself to resent her—if anything, I’d like to thank her. Because now I can meet Chiiko again… even if her appearance has changed, I can see her once more…”
“M-Master…”

Tatsumi was now almost convinced that Calcedonia was Chiiko’s reincarnation. After all, she knew several facts that only he and Chiiko would know, and above all, he could sense many similarities between her aura and Chiiko’s.

Tatsumi stared intently at Calcedonia, right in the face. And Calcedonia, her expression filled with deep emotion as she was met with his direct gaze, let transparent tears well up once more in her ruby crimson eyes.

Giuseppe watched the two of them with a satisfied look and let out a hearty, cheerful laugh.

“I understand your feelings, my son. But do you have no lingering attachments to your former world?”
“No. I have no lingering attachments to that world.”

A world without his beloved family, his close friends, and above all, without Chiiko. There is nothing in that world now that pulls at Tatsumi’s heartstrings.

At Giuseppe’s words, Tatsumi nodded firmly, his expression betraying his conviction.
.

Someone knocked on the reception room door from outside.

Giuseppe, reacting to the sound, called out to ask who it was, and a young woman’s voice came from beyond the door.

“I apologize for interrupting your meeting, Your Eminence. Is Lady Calcedonia here?”
“Yes. I’m right here.”
“It is nearly time for the sermon. The congregation has already gathered in the chapel.”
“Come to think of it, the bell for the third hour did ring. I understand. I’ll be right there.”

After replying to the woman on the other side of the door, Calcedonia stood up and bowed to Tatsumi and Giuseppe.

“Well then, Grandfather, Master. I have duties to attend to, so I must take my leave for now.”
“Hmm. As one who serves God, speaking on His behalf is an important duty. You must never take it lightly, understand?”
“Okay, Chiiko… uh, calling you Chiiko might be a bit much… um…”
“No, Chiiko is fine. I’d actually prefer it if you called me that, Master.”

With that, Calcedonia gave a light bow once more before exiting. As she did so, her grandfather, Giuseppe, clearly noticed that her cheeks were slightly flushed, but as usual, he merely smiled and chose not to say anything.

Leaving the reception room, Calcedonia, with the priestess who had come to fetch her following behind, set off toward the chapel where the worshippers were waiting. On the way there.

“Um… Lady Calcedonia…?”
“Hm? What is it?”

With a bright, cheerful expression, Calcedonia turned to look at the priestess behind her.

“Has something…umm…I don’t quite know how to put this…did something good happen today?”

The priestess looked puzzled.

Calcedonia was usually rather taciturn, and her beautiful face rarely showed any noticeable changes in expression.

She always wore a gentle smile and treated everyone with the same polite demeanor. And during sermons to the faithful, such as the one scheduled for later today, she would convey the word of God with a stern, dignified air.

That dignified presence, which was somewhat reminiscent of a blade, was one of the reasons her followers looked up to her with admiration—but today, she was different.

She was smiling more than usual, and her step seemed almost light and bouncy.

Although the priestess and Calcedonia weren’t particularly close, they were on friendly enough terms to exchange small talk from time to time. Even to her, Calcedonia was clearly in high spirits today. No, she was too giddy.

That was why the priestess had asked her that question earlier.

And with a bashfulness unimaginable from the usually dignified Calcedonia—as if she were a young girl in love—Calcedonia answered her question.

Her ruby-like eyes glistened with the heat within her, and she cupped her cherry-blossom-pink cheeks with both hands. Yet, her gaze was fixed on some distant place, far from here.

“I mean… that person accepted me. A-and… not only that… w-well… they said I was beautiful…”

Calcedonia writhed and squirmed, radiating a cherry-blossom aura from every pore.

Witnessing her like this, the priestess recoiled slightly but thought to herself:

*—This won’t do. If I let her appear before the believers like this, it will surely be disastrous. Mainly… the collapse of the believers’ illusions, and things like that.*