Reuniting With Ann

Ivan-san and the others gladly agreed to let us stay. Since we would be there for a whole month, they aired out the bedding in the room, did a thorough cleaning, and did everything they could to make our stay comfortable.

After going to bed early last night, we set out early the next morning and arrived at the forest near the Imperial Capital where we had arranged to meet Ann.

“This should be around the area, right?”

“It should be…”

Even after looking around, there was no one in sight. Since we were in a forest, maybe we had the wrong place… Just as I stepped forward to head deeper into the woods—

“Kyahhh!!”

Rebecca’s scream suddenly came from behind me. Surprised, I immediately turned around, and standing there were—Rebecca and Ann.

“Seriously, Ann! Don’t scare me like that…!”

From the looks of it, Ann had suddenly appeared right in front of Rebecca. She must have been waiting in the Divine Domain to try and scare us.

“Fufu, sorry. I was just so happy to see you both that my mischievous side came out.”

Ann smiled as she said that. She looked energetic—if anything, she seemed more relaxed and lively than when she was in the kingdom, which was reassuring.

“Ann, it’s been a while.”

“It has. Thank you for coming to pick me up.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. But… Ann, did you get a little tougher? No, maybe healthier?”

Rebecca tilted her head while looking over Ann from head to toe. Ann raised a clenched fist and made a proud expression.

“Yes, I trained every day. Even if I mainly use magic, my stamina and physical strength were far too unreliable before. At the very least, I can now keep walking through the mountains and dodge monster attacks on reflex.”

“That’s reassuring. Have you gotten better at using magic?”

“Let’s see… I can now defeat the monsters around here on my own without any problems. Also, I can use all elemental types of magic. However, there’s still a difference between the elements I’m good at and the ones I struggle with.”

She had improved that much in just a few weeks… that was surprising. Even if being a divine servant played a big role, she must have worked incredibly hard.

“Ann, that’s amazing! You had almost no combat experience before, and you’ve already become that strong?”

“Fufu, thank you. Do you really think I’ve become stronger?”

“The monsters around here are quite strong, so if you can defeat them, you’re already very strong. Have you defeated Black Bears or Orcs?”

“Yes. I struggled a little, but I managed to defeat them.”

That was quite impressive. Depending on Ann’s ability, I had considered having her stay hidden without entering the Imperial Capital, but if she could use magic that well, there was no reason not to have her join us.

That meant the problem now was how to get Ernesto to trust Ann.

“That’s amazing. Divine servants really are extraordinary. …Oh, by the way, Rebecca and I were talking about this—what is your special ability, Ann?”

While I was worrying about what to do next, Rebecca asked Ann a question she had been curious about.

“By special ability, do you mean the unique ability each god grants?”

“Yeah, that one.”

“My ability is called Temporary Peace.”

“Temporary Peace… that name alone doesn’t make it very clear. My ability is called Soul Reattachment. Although I haven’t used it yet.”

Soul Reattachment. It sounded like an incredible ability. If the impression from the name was accurate…

“If a corpse still exists and it has been only a few days since death, I can revive the deceased.”

Just as I thought. I already believed Temporary Peace was a powerful ability, but Lady Milora’s ability was on another level.

“Revive someone…? Can something like that really be done?”

“I haven’t tried it yet, but Lady Milora said it’s possible. However, it doesn’t work if someone dies of old age, and it becomes difficult if the body is missing parts, so there are various conditions. Also, it can only be used a few times a year.”

“Even with conditions, that’s an incredible ability…”

“I was surprised the first time I heard about it too. What kind of ability is your Temporary Peace, Luca?”

After that, besides talking about our abilities, we told Ann everything about the information we had gathered since arriving in the Empire. Ann listened with a serious expression, looking back and forth between Rebecca and me.

“I want to help with the coup as well. Lady Milora would surely wish for that, and personally, I also want to help the people of this country.”

“Yeah, we were hoping you’d help too. Your strength is a valuable asset.”

“The problem is how we explain Ann to everyone…”

When Rebecca murmured that and we both fell into thought, Ann placed her hand on her chin and slowly spoke.

“About that… how about we tell this Ernesto person that I’m actually Henriette?”

At Ann’s bold suggestion, Rebecca and I froze for a moment. But as we began thinking it through, it actually seemed like a fairly good plan.

“Ernesto is already opposing the Empire’s leadership, so he probably wouldn’t report Ann even though she was manipulated by those same leaders.”

“Yeah… and if Ernesto trusts Ann, the others will probably accept her too. Telling only Ernesto might work.”

If we said Ann actually had a great talent for magic and managed to survive inside the fallen carriage by using that power, it wouldn’t seem too unnatural.

And since it was undeniably true that Ann hated the Empire’s leadership for trying to force her into marriage, it would be natural for her to support Ernesto’s faction.

“Could we say that Ann made her way to the Imperial Capital on her own and asked us for help?”

“I think that would work. We can say we were the ones who had the transformation robe.”

“Then let us proceed with the plan of revealing my true identity only to Ernesto.”

With Ann’s words, our major plan for the future was decided. The only question left was when to tell Ernesto, but I could simply visit the base quietly and ask when Ernesto would next appear there.