◆Valkyrie, Shizufae

  The bright sunlight was being reflected by the surface of the deep blue sea as many beautiful ships floated on the Ariad gulf. Those big ships were interconnected with bridges, making it look as though it was one big island.

  Many dishes were being lined up on the ship while lots of people chatted idly while enjoying the served dishes.

  I looked at the people on the ship. Every single one of them was wearing beautiful clothes. On top of that, their clothes were also adorned with beautiful ornaments.

  I couldn’t help but heave a sigh upon seeing that.

  「Shizu-chan… can we really go to that place with this kind of attire?」


  Madi, who was standing by my side, asked with an anxious voice.

  It seems that Madi was worried about the same thing as me.

  「We… should be allowed to enter this place…」


  I spoke with a doubtful voice myself.

  We were attending a banquet to celebrate the Hero of Light-sama’s heroic deeds. We were invited by Reiji-sama. Naturally, we decided to participate since we heard there was going to be lots of delicious foods. But as I arrived at the venue, I was filled with regret.

  Majority of the participants turned out to be royalty and nobility from surrounding countries. I mean, were commoners like us even allowed to participate in this banquet?

  「Do I… look strange… Shizu-chan?」


  Both Madi and I looked at each other’s clothes.

  Madi currently wasn’t wearing her usual magician’s attire. She was wearing a beautiful dress. It was the dress she’d borrowed from Chiyuki-sama. It seems that she wasn’t confident with her dress despite looking so adorable in her blue dress.

  「Even if you ask me that… I’m not that confident with myself.」


  I replied as my gaze cast down.

  I was also wearing a borrowed gorgeous dress.

  But, if limited to garments alone, we were a match for the other noble ladies around. I couldn’t calm myself down since I normally wore cheap clothes. In the first place, this dress might look ill-suited for me.

  「No, I think you should’ve more confident in your appearance, Shizufae. I almost mistook you as a noble lady after all.」


  Big sis Keyna spoke encouragingly to me.

  Big sis Keyna was also wearing a gorgeous dress. It was a red dress that matched very well with her tall frame. But, I hope she holds back with a dress that exposes a lot of her skin, otherwise, people might mistake her for a harlot.

  「Yes. I think you’re the one who should be most confident amongst us, Shizu-chan.」


  Even Laylia-san was praising me for my appearance.

  「Yeah, be more confident Shizufae. Don’t you notice it? Those men can’t take their eyes off you.」


  「Eh, no way!」


  I looked around upon hearing Nora-san’s remark.

  Come to think of it, I did feel several gazes from the men around us.

  How embarrassing.

  At that moment, my eyes met with that man.

  He was a good looking man.

  Then, that man started walking towards us.

  Though my heart skipped a beat for a moment, I quickly regained my cool the moment I realized the identity of that man.

  I’d met that man before.

  「If it isn’t Shizufae-dono. Long time no see.」


  The man gave a greeting with a graceful motion.

  「… Yeah, it’s been a while, Decius-sama. My apologies for failing to notice you immediately, your current appearance is far more dashing than usual.」


  I greeted him back.

  Decius-sama was a knight who belonged to the God King, Oudith-sama, as a Justice Knight. He’d come to Teseshia once before for the sake of investigating a case. That time we’d assisted him in his investigation due to the request from the Faeria temple.

  Though he usually donned his knight attire, his current attire was one that was befitting of a young and handsome nobleman. That’s why I’d failed to notice his identity at first.

  I mean, I’d forgotten that he was a real nobleman in the first place.

  Decius-sama was the son of a certain big shot in Ariadya. To be honest, his identity alone would normally make me hesitate to talk to him.

  And yet, the person himself has always been polite and was never fussy about having strict mannerisms and treated everyone the same way regardless of the station of their birth. I mean, we found out when we were conducting a joint investigation together that he was in fact an easy going person.

  His birth, face, and personality were all top notch. That was Decius-sama, an embodiment of the ideal husband.

  I even wanted Novis to eat the dirt under Decius-sama’s nail.

  「I’ve to say that the same goes for me, Shizufae-dono. I almost mistook you as a noble lady the moment I saw you a moment ago. Did you make those clothes yourself?」


  Decius-sama asked as he looked at me.

  「Eh… nay. No matter how pious I am to Faeria-sama, making clothes is just impossible for me. I’m just borrowing these clothes. Does it look good on me?」


  I replied while asking for his impression.

  Faeria-sama was the Goddess of Fabric. That’s why, Faeria-sama’s believers were taught how to make their own attire. In fact, it was normal for a bride to make her own bridal clothing back in my hometown.

  I was taught the art of sewing by my mother back then. Even now, I still stitched my own clothes.

  But this outfit was just borrowed clothing.

  Maybe these clothes really were ill-suited for me.

  「Yes, it looks great on you. You look extremely beautiful in those clothes, Shizufae-dono. I never expected to meet you in this place.」


  Decius-sama was smiling heartily.

  I felt my face flushing red.

  I mean, Decius-sama was a dashing and handsome young man no matter how you looked at it. He was a handsome blond haired man with a tall and lean frame. There was no woman who wouldn’t get flustered when such a handsome man praised them.

  「Yes, we were invited by Hero-sama.」


  I bowed my head lightly to hide my embarrassment.

  「Aah, so Shizufae-dono is the acquaintance of Hero of Light-sama. I’ve yet to see them but, I hear they’re a wonderful person.」


  「Yes, I’ve never meet a man as handsome, gentle and wonderful as him.」


  Decius-sama was a handsome man, but Reiji-sama was still far above him.

  He was just like a child of light.

  「Hahaha, I see now. I can imagine that Hero of Light-sama is really popular amongst the ladies.」


  Decius spoke with a hearty smile on his face.

  But, I couldn’t help but notice that there was some underlying emotion hidden behind that smile.

  It was envy.

  It came a little bit unexpected for me since I’d never expected that Decius-sama would feel that way.

  「By the way, Shizufae-dono. Have you met a silver haired lady?」


  Decius-sama suddenly asked such a question.

  Come to think of it, Decius-sama was looking around restlessly when I first spotted him.

  「Silver haired, lady? Are you referring to silver hair that comes with old age?」


  It was a silver haired OLD lady, I did see one before.

  「No, I think she’s around your age, Shizufae-dono. I wonder from which country that lady is…」


  「No, I don’t think I’ve seen that person.」


  「I see now… I’m expecting her to come since her butler-like person had told me that she came to meet Hero-sama… it seems she isn’t in this place either.」


  Decius-sama was visibly dejected.

  「Is she an… extremely beautiful lady?」


  「Yes, she is… Moonlight’s Goddess-sama. Given a chance, I want to meet her again.」


  Decius-sama replied as he looked towards the horizon.

  All of us were really surprised upon seeing Decius-sama’s expression of longing. I mean, this was the first time we’d seen Decius-sama acting this way. Afterall, he was well-known to be a straightlaced priest of Oudith.

  And now, that very same person was now showing longing on his face.

  「I’m surprised… to think that the straight laced Decius-sama can also show that kind of expression…」


  「It really is a big surprise…」


  Big sis Keyna and Madi spoke in a low voice as they looked at Decius.

  I felt the same way as them.

  Could it be that Decius-sama had fallen in love at first sight with that Moonlight Goddess?

  I never expected for such a woman to appear in Decius-sama’s life, the life of a straightlaced man who’d never had any rumors about him fooling around before.

  Thanks to his handsome appearance, I’ve heard that Decius-sama received numerous marriage proposals from famous noble ladies. And yet, he’d rejected them all, saying that he was still a knight-in-training. That’s why, I couldn’t help but wonder just what kind of woman it was that managed to steal Decius-sama’s heart at just a glance?

  「… Ah. My apologies, Shizufae-dono. I’ve showed you an embarrassing side of me.」


  Decius-sama’s expression went back to normal with a cough.

  「No… it’s nothing… yeah, I’ll tell you if we meet the lady that you described.」


  「Thank you very much, Shizufae-dono. Well, I shall excuse myself first to give my greetings to the Hero-sama.」


  「Ah, come to think of it, we’ve yet to give our greeting to Reiji-sama. Shall we go together? What do you think, everyone?」


  When I asked my comrades, all of them agreed with me.

  「Naturally, let’s go together.」


  Thus, we headed towards Hero-sama’s place along with Decius-sama.

  ◆Black Haired Sage; Chiyuki

  In the beginning, the Republic of Ariadya was a small country built atop several small islands in the estuary of Quiche river. There were little to no sea monsters who were hostile towards humans around the majority of the shallow parts of the Ariad inlet.

  The land monsters had also been unable to infiltrate from the sea.

  This natural stronghold had then become a gathering place for many humans. Those humans then made a country by connecting these numerous islands with bridges.

  That was the beginning of the country that would later be called the Republic of Ariadya.

  After that, the Republic of Ariadya’s territory started to spread towards the inland until it reached its current size.