Chapter 63

The Saint of Grossel was a celebrity so famous that there was hardly a soul in the Royal Capital of Dresden who didn’t know of her.

Calling her a “Saint” didn’t mean she could use special magic or possessed rare combat abilities.

“The Saint of Grossel, Lady Juliana, is the daughter of the House of Count Cebarai,” Emma explained with an enraptured expression.

“Since she was a child, she has been an incredibly kind person, taking the lead in organizing soup kitchens in the slums and labor camps. She isn’t just kind, either; she is adorable, beautiful, and exceedingly wise as well.”

She certainly seemed devoted.

In short, the “Saint” was a noble girl who performed service activities like soup kitchens in the slums. Because she was a cute and kindhearted girl, everyone had simply taken to calling her a Saint.

“Now that she has turned sixteen, her beauty has been polished even further—she is like an actual angel now.”

Give me a break. Real angels might be beautiful, but they were also terrifying.

I could say that with certainty, having seen Mr. Handsome up close. I had no intention of going out of my way just to catch a glimpse of one.

However, on the days when the Saint of Grossel held her soup kitchens, a massive number of onlookers supposedly gathered. She wasn’t just popular with the common folk; she was a hit with the youths of the upper class as well. Perhaps there was something about her innocent, youthful beauty that stirred a protective instinct in people.

“Ah, to be tasked with guarding Lady Juliana… it is the greatest honor a knight could ask for…”

Emma was completely swooning.

“In short, she’s basically like a Japanese idol,” Akito remarked.

“When you put it that way, it makes sense. Since they called her a Saint, I thought she was someone who could regrow missing limbs or resurrect the dead.”

That said, the title of Saint was apparently recognized by some of the temples as well. While religious services were held every week, it was said that whenever Juliana visited, so many people gathered that the temple reached its breaking point. Consequently, temples in every parish reportedly begged her to visit with the utmost courtesy. After all, the difference in the amount of alms collected was more than fivefold, which was staggering.

“Come to think of it, Senpai, you used to be into the ‘healing-type moe’ like recovery classes, didn’t you? Though it seems you’ve converted to the ‘Kukkoru’¹ type now.”

“Wh—Yoshioka!”

Lady Clara watched us with a look of confusion, clearly not following the conversation. He just had to go and say something embarrassing out of nowhere. Besides, Lady Clara was invincible, so she’d never end up in a “Kukkoru” situation anyway.

“By the way, what exactly is Grossel?”

“It’s a place name. The Grossel District is where the Count Cebarai estate is located. I often wander around that area on my days off myself. There’s always a chance I might pass the Saint, after all.”

Was Emma an idol stalker or something? …I bet I could make a fortune if I started selling merchandise. At the very least, I knew Emma would buy it.

The Grossel District was lined with many large mansions featuring sprawling front yards. It couldn’t compete with the Meersbusch District where Marquis Berlion lived—the place I’d visited for a deal before—but this was still quite the high-end residential area.

Speaking of which, when I sent a letter to Marquis Berlion mentioning I wanted to show him the wristwatches, he replied immediately telling me to come as soon as possible. Since I was busy with military duties during the day, I was scheduled to bring the products over tonight. I hoped I could make another big profit this time.

In the entrance hall of Count Cebarai’s mansion, we received a briefing on the security details from the household knights. That said, the attitude of these two knights was somewhat overbearing.

“We, the knights of the Count’s house, will remain by Lady Juliana’s side. Lady Ansbach, please make arrangements to ensure the crowd does not get too close to her.”

“Understood,” Lady Clara replied.

Their choice of words wasn’t necessarily rude, but a condescending attitude toward Lady Clara was visible in every gesture. It was true that the Count’s house was an ancient lineage that couldn’t be compared to the House of Ansbach, but that didn’t mean you retainers were somehow important yourselves.

As I felt a small prickle of irritation welling up inside, the door opened and a single girl appeared.

In that instant, it felt as though a dull landscape had suddenly burst into color. She was a girl with an incredible aura. There was no doubt this was the Saint of Grossel.

Her rich blonde hair was carefully braided, and her blue eyes seemed to radiate a light of innocence and benevolence. She was a beautiful girl who struck a perfect balance between a “pure” and “healing” type, topped off with an air of approachability. Her plain, simple dress suited her perfectly. Even her scent was as fragrant as a flower.

“Welcome. You must be the ones guarding me today. I am Juliana, the second daughter of the House of Count Cebarai. I look forward to working with you today.”

As Juliana greeted us with a beaming smile, it felt as if a halo were shining behind her. Because the previous knights had been so unpleasant, Juliana appeared all the more likable. It certainly seemed plausible that she could become a legendary idol.

“I am Clara Ansbach, Knight Bachelor of Ebba-berg. My platoon will be assisting with your security, so please focus on your service without concern.”

Standing side-by-side, the cross-dressing Lady Clara and Juliana displayed a radiance that would have put even the Takarazuka Revue to shame.

The carriage carrying the Saint passed through the city gates and headed toward the slums. We took up positions guarding the front and rear.

“In short, this job is basically like being a security guard at an idol concert,” Akito remarked.

“True. When they said ‘guarding the Saint,’ I was imagining something like a bodyguard or the Secret Service.”

Those roles belonged to the Count’s knights. Our job was to ensure the excited crowds didn’t swarm Lady Juliana. Since she would sometimes hand out food with her own hands, we had to make them follow the proper order and prevent the line from falling into chaos.

The most troublesome part was the commotion caused by people who failed to receive food. Though a decent amount was prepared, there were always those who ended up empty-handed. Part of the job was turning those people away before they could start complaining.

“Lady Juliana was so cute, wasn’t she!”

Akito was sounding a bit worked up. Come to think of it, I’d caught him surreptitiously taking photos of Juliana with his smartphone. I saw you, man.

“Well, she’s certainly a beautiful girl.”

“It’s not just that—she’s the type you just want to cheer for, you know?”

I didn’t really get that feeling myself. If it were someone like Ria, who worked herself to the bone for her younger siblings, I’d want to cheer for her. But cheering for a noble lady handing out charity in the slums… it just didn’t click for me. Besides, I’d never been interested in idols to begin with.

“Do you dislike the act of giving charity, Kota?”

Lady Clara asked with a serious expression.

“It’s not that… but if I were to give charity, I’d prefer to stay completely anonymous. I’d hate to be treated like some ‘Saint’ or holy man.”

If I were put on a pedestal like that, I wouldn’t even be able to let loose at a tavern anymore. In my opinion, if you’re going to do a good deed for others, you should just do it quietly without anyone knowing.

We passed through the gates and entered the West District. This area was downstream of the Reinga River and served as a place where many impoverished people lived. The atmosphere of the town turned chaotic here; the roads and buildings were poorly maintained. Even the river water was significantly filthier than upstream due to the massive influx of domestic sewage.

Although the path we were currently on was quite far from the river, with my “Dog’s Nose,” I could distinguish the same stench as a sewer.

Today’s distribution point was the plaza in front of the largest temple in the West District. As I was going over the final security details with the various squad leaders, Lady Juliana approached with graceful movements.

“Thank you all for your hard work. I look forward to working with you today.”

The squad leaders’ eyes softened at her smile, which was like a flower coming into bloom. Some even cast lecherous gazes her way. Hey, she’s only fifteen.

Ah, wait—in this world, adulthood is at sixteen, so is a fifteen-year-old considered a perfectly valid romantic interest? People in this world certainly seemed more mature than boys and girls of the same age back in Japan.

A breeze blew, carrying the Saint’s scent toward me from upwind. Yeah, it was a nice smell.

No, I’m not some scent-fetish creep. I just can’t help but identify an individual’s specific scent. I have an incredibly high-spec nose, after all.

I could distinguish everything from the sewer-like stench of the lower Reinga to the floral fragrance of the Saint… The smell of sewers and flowers?

I’d encountered this combination somewhere before…

!!

The floral scent I smelled at the vagrant’s murder scene!

I felt like the scent I was smelling now was identical to the one back then. At the time, I’d thought Lady Clara or Emma might have been wearing perfume in the sewers, but…

No way. This girl was a daughter of a Count’s house, known as the Saint of Grossel. A high-born lady entering the underground sewers to kill vagrants? I couldn’t even begin to imagine it.

There was a chance the culprit simply used the same perfume, or perhaps the scents were merely similar but actually different. It had been days since the incident, so my memory wasn’t exactly perfect.

Besides, even on the off-chance Juliana was the culprit, what was I supposed to do? I didn’t have a shred of evidence.