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“Lady Julia… I sincerely hope this is the end of your surprises, yes?! My heart is about to burst from being made to improvise a greeting before such an assembly of distinguished guests with absolutely no preparation! Caldina here has already abandoned reality!”

The moment I invited Branch Master Eraldo to sit beside me, he leaned in to whisper his grievance in a resentful tone. Behind him, standing as an ordinary staff member, Caldina clung to the petite Eren, rubbing her cheek against the other girl’s not-so-generous chest.

“Ahh, Eren dear, it’s been two years, but your endless plains still soothe my weary heart. The touch of these sturdy ribs—ah, it fills my frozen soul. Our small kinship truly is eternal!”
“That *comment* just tore my soul apart! And for the record, I can still grow!!”
“Don’t be so cruel, Eren dear! You’re fifteen, right? The peak has already passed. This size is your final form—trust your older sister’s experience, I know these things!”
“T-that’s not true… right? It’s not… right?”
“““““W-who can say (really) (nya) (indeed) (was it)?””””

Hit by her desperate gaze, I, along with Laika, Chaton, Lady Lieselotte, and Monika, all faltered and avoided a clear answer. Caldina snorted dismissively.

“Hmph, those blessed from birth can’t possibly understand. Wouldn’t you two agree?”

The two addressed—Pryui and Viola—who by the logic of the conversation probably belonged to the *not-so-endowed* faction, gave stiff, pained smiles in reply.

“Why are you looking at us with such pitying eyes?!”

Things were getting awkward, so we distracted ourselves by sipping tea and nibbling on sweets—though I, for health and calorie reasons, was crunching on chilled cucumbers, earning puzzled stares from Luke and Cestlavie.

“Don’t worry, Eren,” said Coppelia, patting Eren gently on the shoulder.
“If it’s breast augmentation surgery, leave it to me. I can even install beam cannons, if you’d like.”

“NOOOOOOO!!!”
Eren let out a full-powered scream at the suggestion of becoming a cyborg.

Turning his eyes away from the girls’ foolish banter, Branch Master Eraldo cleared his throat and continued.

“Anyway, just to be absolutely sure—please tell me there won’t suddenly be another revelation like, ‘Oh, by the way, the Zoan Rex of the Cres Freedom United Nation is next in line to join us♪,’ or ‘The Demon King of Dormeet is actually my underling,’ or, heavens forbid, ‘I haven’t mentioned it before, but I’m quite chummy with His Majesty the God-Emperor of the Superempire!’ Please, I beg of you!”

He sounded genuinely desperate—borderline pitiful. I replied, tilting my head…

“I don’t see why that would be a bad thing. From a political standpoint, forming personal connections with the upper ranks of other nations can only be beneficial, not harmful. Though yes, I do know the Zoan Rex personally, I’ve never had any dealings with the Demon King, and His Majesty the God-Emperor is far, far above me.”

◆

“““Achoo!!”””

In the director’s office of the Royal Academy of Livitum, three people sitting on the sofa—Director Mei, a mysterious black-haired beauty, and Shadow—all sneezed at the exact same time while drinking roasted tea and munching on rice crackers.

“My, could it be a cold?”
“Three divine beings catching a cold together—that’s no laughing matter.”
“Maybe someone’s talking about us?”
“If I had to guess, it’s probably Your Majesty the God Emperor they’re talking about.”
“Nah, with the attempted assassination of King Aulanthia—well, not exactly *attempted* since the Demon King stopped it—it’s all over the underworld that Shadow here is the prime suspect—achoo!!”
“See? You are the talk of the town, Miss”
“Don’t be ridiculous! It’s just a coincidence! Or an actual cold!”

As the black-haired girl yelled indignantly, Director Mei just shrugged.

“Why don’t you have Jill check you out? You always rely on your Skills and never put in the work to study healing arts or herbal medicine, so you can’t even handle a mild cold or food poisoning. Jill’s diligent—Healing is second nature to her. Honestly, I think she’s more of a *Saintess* in more ways than one.”
“Shut up! I’ve been busy, all right?! Besides—are you sure you didn’t do it, Shadow?”

Director Mei thought to herself, *You’re saying you’re busy while slacking off and eating rice crackers?*

“Hahaha. If it were me, I’d have stabbed him from behind before the Demon King ever noticed.”

Shadow’s response was so deadpan that it was frighteningly believable.

The other two (visibly young) women exchanged suspicious glances. Shadow casually crunched on another rice cracker and added in a lighter tone:

“I’m aware that the Demihuman Liberation Front was used as a convenient pawn. But the real mastermind behind it all… that’s what’s so strange. They don’t seem tied to any known part of the underworld. Frankly, I’m the one who’d like to ask you if you know who’s the culprit.”
“Is there really any movement in the underworld that *you* don’t know about?”

Mei asked in a lowered voice. Shadow’s presence shifted slightly.

“Not normally, not in this continent governed by the Superempire anyway. Unless—”

He paused, took a sip of tea, and said quietly:

“—it’s the remnants of *Azure*.”
“…?!?!”

At that utterly unexpected phrase—a code word referring to a cult that should have vanished over a century ago—Director Mei visibly blanched.

“Impossible! The followers of that Azure Evil God were wiped out in the aftermath of the Finis Jihad! For the last hundred years, we’ve erased them from both history and record, and even created the Saintess Church as a decoy to absorb what few believers remained until they faded away! Why now—”
“Well, that’s what makes cults what they are. A few fanatics could’ve been lying low for the past 140 years, waiting for the right time to strike again. Not impossible, if you ask me. I don’t think they still have their former power, but many of the so-called ‘divine relics’ from back then—those cursed tools—are still missing. If they’ve got one hidden up their sleeve, things could get messy. You two should keep your guards up.”

At Shadow’s warning, Director Mei and the black-haired girl exchanged grim, uneasy looks.

Author’s Note:

The Superempire will not be involved in this story going forward.

This is purely Jill and co.’s story, so the conversation between the three is kind of unnecessary. You can skip them.