Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

“His Highness Lucas the Ancient Dragon Knight, and the Shrine Maiden Princess Clärchen delivered divine judgment upon the villains!!”
“Their organization in the Central Capital’s got annihilated!? Over forty members of the Demihuman Liberation Front wiped out!”
“A triumph the very day after their return! A true display of genius strategy and lightning action!”
“The den of evil obliterated without a trace by His Highness’s divine will!”
“The Shrine Maiden Princess offers free healing to the injured and unwell—citizens moved to tears by her saintly grace!”
“Amazing devotion! Truly the model of a shrine maiden—could she be the second coming of the Saintess!?”
“Her beauty and power are those of a true Shrine Maiden Princess—some even say she surpasses the late Lady Clara!”
“A midnight rendezvous! The rumored pair—could marriage be near!?”

Et cetera, et cetera…

““Haaaaaaaaahhh……””

A small conference room, cleared of ordinary students and guarded at the entrances.

Before us—me and Luke—lay the morning editions of several newspapers, their front pages screaming with those headlines. We both let out sighs deeper than the sea.

“W-what do they mean, ‘marriage may be near!?’”

Estelle shredded one of the papers in fury—the sort of trash gossip rag that runs baseless rumors. If I recall, it was called the Daily Septentrio, written by some Editor-in-Chief named Colin—but in this state, there’s no way to confirm; it’s been torn to confetti.

“…They’re putting all the blame squarely on us, aren’t they?”
“We did impose a gag order, though.”
“Seems the reporters’ noses are sharper than we thought.”

Lieselotte, too, frowned as she flipped through another paper, tilting her head as though unconvinced, while Cestlavie smirked faintly, amused.

“Well, Father always said there’s no such thing as a perfect secret. Something always leaks from somewhere—but this time, it feels… deliberate.”

Luke shook his head slightly, his expression grave.

“It can’t be helped. We recruited a fair number of outsiders to help that night, so someone was bound to leak something. Especially after such a racket—there’ll always be idiots who get drunk and boast about their exploits.”
“Or someone who idolizes Jill—the Shrine Maiden Princess and, thinking they were doing good, went and spread the word,”

Cestlavie guessed, and Viola added her agreement.

At the word “idolizes the Shrine Maiden Princess,” a nasty premonition prickled at me, so I asked Eren—who was sitting by collecting clippings about the articles concerning me—about Coppelia’s whereabouts.

“By the way, I haven’t seen Coppelia all morning. Do you know where she went?”

For the record, Letindüte has been closed today too because reporters and swarming fans have been making such a fuss since morning; it’d have been a nuisance to the neighbors. I asked everyone at home to stay inside as much as possible, and Eren and I fled to the academy on Vier so that outsiders couldn’t get in. Now that I think about it, I can’t recall seeing Coppelia since early morning.

“Oh, that thing? It went off at dawn with Lana, carrying animal innards and food scraps to feed Sechs up in the mountain where he lives… Actually, she was trying to pull together reporters and hold a paid press conference with the white cat (Chaton), so Monika made up an excuse and forcibly chased them off.”

Hearing that, an image replayed in my mind of usually expressionless Monika flashing a V-sign.

“Brilliant! Nice call!”

I high-fived Eren without thinking and silently thanked Monika for her discretion.

For the record, Sechs can’t exactly be kept within the town, so he’s currently holed up and enjoying a carefree hunting life in the mountainous areas around the capital—(I wonder if he’s changing the mountain ecosystem?)—but of course we can’t just leave him entirely be, so either Luke or Coppelia, who claims to be his friend, checks on him periodically. The central state has granted permission for that, so this arrangement has a legitimate pretext.

Right about now, I’m sure Coppelia and Lana are lugging a pile of guts up the mountain and blowing their horns in some pastoral idyll. How romantic!

Once that particular concern was put to rest, Lieselotte brought the discussion back to the main issue.
“The problem is—why did the explosion happen? Who was responsible? And what are we going to do next?”

“No, the real issue is *when* it happened,” As expected of him, Cestlavie quickly pointed out. “Was it just a coincidence, or were we set up?”

“Which faction would benefit from making Jill into a hero, I wonder? The most suspicious one would be the Church…”

“I don’t think it was the Church,” I said. “If it were them, they’d make a much bigger public announcement. So far, they haven’t issued any official statement.”

To be honest, I—the person most involved—have been keeping silent, so they can’t really make an official move. Still, both the Church and the state have been pressing hard for a response, so I’ll have to come up with some kind of answer soon.
I really wish I could just stay quiet and work in peace… Why does everything keep turning out the opposite way?

“Hmmm… This is all confusing. If only we knew what happened on site. But the entire area was blown clean off the map,” Lieselotte-sama muttered.

Remembering the rubble and the crater where the scene used to be, everyone present fell silent, frowning in thought.

“There were no survivors, correct?”

“None. At least, not any that were still recognizable,” Lieselotte-sama answered Luke’s question with a shake of her head. “However—”

“However?” Luke prompted.

“The half-dark elf Jill mentioned—no bodies matching their kind have been found. Either they were completely obliterated… or perhaps—”

“They escaped? Is that what you’re suggesting?” I asked.

“Well, something along those lines,” Lieselotte replied with a shrug.

“In any case, it seems our trail’s gone cold,” Viola said, crossing her arms. “We’re stuck on the backfoot to everything instead of taking the lead. Not a pleasant feeling.”

That last remark summed up exactly what everyone in the room was thinking.

“Ah, honestly, how bothersome!”

Estelle, who had been trying to get the tiny, puppy-sized Fia’s attention by offering sweets and teasing her with a quill pen, quickly lost interest when Fia showed no response whatsoever.

“You’re supposed to be some kind of shrine maiden, right? Can’t you, like, receive a divine revelation or something? Just make something up and say it’s a prophecy or whatever.”

What a ridiculous demand.

“I don’t have such a convenient ability. I’m not the type of shrine maiden who receives divine messages. At most, I can talk to the spirit of the dead—ah.”

“ “ “ “Ah…” ” ” ”

Luke, Cestlavie, Lieselotte, and Viola all seemed to realize the same thing at that exact moment.

“That’s it. That method will work. Thank you, Estelle.”
“W-what? You’re creeping me out.”
“No, really, thanks to you, I think I know what to do next.”

I can communicate with the spirits of the Demihuman Liberation Front members and ask them directly what happened.
Most people would probably find that pretty disturbing, but fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—I’ve always had a certain connection with the dead, so it doesn’t particularly frighten me anymore.

“But can you really commune with spirits after an explosion that left nothing but dust?” Lieselotte asked skeptically.

Given how many of them likely died suddenly and violently, I’m certain at least a few of their spirits must still be lingering out of regret. In fact, there’s a real chance some have already turned into vengeful spirits, tainting the area.

“I think it would be best to purify the site as soon as possible,” I said. “If we leave it alone, it could turn into cursed ground.”

“Hmm. Then the royal palace will have to make arrangements and request the Shrine Maiden Princess’ intervention to prevent that.”
“Yes, I suppose so. In an emergency like this, I’ll have no choice but to act in accordance with the Church’s will and perform the purification.”

By doing so, I’d fulfill my duty to the Church, and it would also help clarify my position going forward—a mutually beneficial outcome for everyone involved.

“Good. Then I leave it to you,” Lieselotte concluded.