| Author: Ryuusen Hirotsugu | Original Source: Syosetu | Word Count: 3143 characters |
| Translator: Nomad | English Source: Re:Library | Word Count: 1320 words |
| Editor(s): Fire | ||
(Mont Blanc dorayaki… I’d like to try that sometime.)
As Mira walked along the street, she recalled something the detective had mentioned. He had mostly talked about desserts as they had breakfast, including a list of his main recommendations, which was something Mira was deeply interested in.
(It’s also been a while since the last time I had some kuri yokan.)
The detective had mentioned how in recent years, sweets that Mira recognized as traditionally Japanese had exploded in popularity. Or at least as far as general concepts went, as there were still many western elements sprinkled in.
She continued daydreaming about that as she walked, when she thought of something else. The streets had been crowded by girls who adored Fuzzy Dice the day before, but they were nowhere in sight now.
And it was not just the usual emptiness characteristic for the time after a festival. It truly felt like a large number of people had vanished. Considering their communication networks, she was expecting them to already know about the Silver Sky Euros, and she was afraid of the fans turning against her.
Constantly watching her back, she approached a nearby guard to inquire about it more, who told her that all the fans had left the city first thing in the morning.
Mira heaved a sigh of relief hearing that, and after some ten odd minutes, she arrived at her destination.
「I really wish I could just hand it over to someone here…」
She was at the church, where she wanted to donate the Silver Sky Euros, which had a high chance of leading into a large ceremony according to the Cross-Border Legislator.
Mira just wanted to drop it off and leave if possible, so she moved slowly inside the church, in case she spotted anyone she could entrust it to.
「Hello, are you looking for something?」 A voice called to her from behind. Turning around, she was met with a young nun, likely still an apprentice.
That was just the type of person Mira had been looking for, so she began thinking of the best way to convince her to do it. Meanwhile, the nun seemed to study Mira’s face attentively, before breaking into a wide smile.
「Ah! You must be Lady Mira! The Spirit Queen! I heard everything, I’m so glad you decided to come! Please follow me!」
It was an incredible honor for an apprentice nun to meet a rank A adventurer who would bring a treasure worth three billion, so her eyes were lit up with excitement, almost like she was meeting a hero.
「Yes…sure…」 Mira could not bring herself to go against the girl’s happy smile, so she had no choice but to follow her into the church, sealing her own fate.
「Welcome, thank you for coming.」
The apprentice nun took Mira to see the archbishop first. He was past his middle age, but was still in good shape, and was shrouded in an air of dignity befitting of his position as archbishop. Compared to him, Mira looked like a child, but he still treated her with respect and maturity.
「It’s an honor to meet you.」
Mira greeted the archbishop, who looked like a personification of virtue, and then held out the Silver Sky Euros. Having him accept it there was her last hope. But obviously enough, things would not pan out the way she wanted.
「Thank you so much for your decision. I see you’ve brought the item you want to donate too. We’ll conduct the ceremony later, and I’ll look after it after the vows.」 He quickly stopped her from giving the pendant away like that.
With her meeting with the archbishop complete, she was invited to sit in a guest room.
「It looks like this was made with some decent tea leaves.」
She sat on a really soft couch, and then was served a fragrant tea that clearly was made with high quality tea leaves even for someone with untrained tastes. Overall, it was a really nice guest room, rivaling that of a hotel.
They wanted to be able to receive any sort of guest there, which included nobility in many cases.
After some time of sitting there, a more experienced nun came to explain everything the ceremony entailed.
Knowing the proper time to hand over the item, and all the steps leading to that, brought Mira some reassurance. Mostly because there were no complicated formalities or phrases she would need to memorize.
As the donator, Mira just needed to stand and wait for a certain signal, at which point she would hand over the item. She would not have to be part of any stuffy and troublesome formality as she initially feared.
(I guess it’s not too bad in that case.)
Feeling some weight leave her shoulders, she reclined on the couch and continued enjoying the high quality tea.
After some time, the apprentice nun she had first met entered the room to tell Mira that all the preparations were done.
「I see, thank you.」
Bracing herself, Mira stood up and headed to the place of worship, where the ceremony would be held.
The long corridors of the church were not adorned in a lavish manner, but in a way that seemed to exemplify holiness. There were some vases and furniture that looked like it could fit in some noble’s mansion, but they all had a specific liturgical reason to be there.
This country largely followed the culture of Grimdart, one of the Three Gods’ Countries, which mostly venerated the God of Justice. Because of that, a sword and shield motif could be seen everywhere.
That was mostly noticeable in the place of worship.
One of the walls was lined with enormous statues of armed knights, creating a solemn and imposing environment.
(Somehow they look more imposing than before, maybe because it’s reality…)
With those thoughts circling in her mind, Mira stepped up on the platform like they arranged. She bowed to the archbishop, and then went to sit on the spot she was told. There, she looked around once more, seeing that there was quite a large number of people present.
Some of them had likely arrived earlier to pray, and simply stayed when they learned about the ceremony. It was easy to identify that group, as they wore plain casual clothes.
But there was a smaller distinctive group present, and Mira had been told about them in advance by the older nun.
They were all well dressed and had a more classy appearance in general. They were nobles who had volunteered to be present as witnesses of the event. Usually, there were less of such witnesses there, but many had decided to attend after they heard about Mira.
The intentions of some of them were clear, as they stared intently at Mira the entire time, and all of them happened to be single. They believed they had a chance at courting her.
The next thing Mira noticed was how many people from the church were there. More than half those present were from the church, and they all seemed to have specific roles there, holding certain ritualistic items.
(I feel like some people might be working overtime for this too…)
As Mira continued thinking of miscellaneous things, the ceremony moved along. Currently, the archbishop was talking about the orphanages and the living conditions of the children there.
Currently, their funds for the orphanages were far from ideal, having only the bare minimum for food and clothing, and often struggling to find the money for reparations and other forms of upkeep for the orphanages.
「But today is a good day, as a ray of sunlight has graced our presence.」
The archbishop’s voice gained more energy after explaining the bleak reality of the orphanages.
