NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 46
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The mascot of the Saintess Party, Rue Luinong, had performed several miracles in the story.
Turning a desolate garden into a flower field, or even summoning rain clouds in regions suffering from prolonged drought.
Dramatic music plays…
Mystery.
A power granted only to the beings of the Divine Era.
The Luinong, who had kept their mystery in Paradise, were fairies that manifested miracles. Therefore, Rue used her mystery to support the Saintess Party.
While pondering how to revive the vast Marquisate, she realized a plan to summon the Luinong tribe from Paradise into the mortal world.
“Kya-ha-ha!”
“We’re running away!”
The Luinong who crossed into the mortal realm were laughing merrily as they frolicked around Hillidar County.
The sky spread wide like a canvas splattered with paint. Soft and moist mud. Endless green forest paths.
All of these were unfamiliar sights.
Thus, everything in the world was fascinating and wondrous to the Luinong.
“Ah, no…!”
“The crumbly soil has come back to life!”
The fallow lands that had declined in fertility due to continuous farming had transformed into rich soil. It was the Luinong’s mystery indirectly affecting the land, restoring its fertility.
The same went for other places.
With the Luinong’s presence, the wilted crops quickly bloomed.
It felt as if they were enchanted.
Witnessing miracles at a world-changing level, the farmers of Hillidar County, who had been frustrated by consecutive famines, watched the Luinong dart around with awe-filled eyes.
“Pointy ears and magical appearance… Are they elves?”
“Impossible. Why would elves living in the forest come to the count’s territory?”
The Luinong were not a well-known race in the world.
And rightfully so. Up to now, the only known Luinong was the mascot of the Saintess Party.
They surely were fairies that governed prosperity.
Feeling wonder, the farmers began to revere the Luinong as angels sent by the Earth Mother to save the starving count’s territory. Since the moment the fairies appeared, life had begun to swirl around the barren land.
“Waaaah!”
As she was playing with the other Luinong, Norun spotted a small, fragile human girl.
There was a wound on her knee.
She must have fallen, tripping on a stone while following the mysterious fairy.
Norun hurriedly dashed towards the girl.
“Ahem! Norun Luinong has come to help the foolish human!”
“Wuuuuaaa!*”
“Wait… Cancel that! I take back ‘foolish’! So, uh… shut it!”
“…shut it.”
Trying to appear authoritative, Norun quickly backed down at the surprised cry.
The crying stopped immediately.
Norun sighed in relief.
She reached out her soft hand and tapped around the wound on the girl’s knee. With a bright glow, the wound healed, and new skin sprang up.
“Alright, now you’re all better!”
“Thank you, Fairy!”
“Ahem! Consider praising me a bit more!”
“Okay!”
Edanant von Hohenberc, the second son of the Hohenberc Family, had his wary gaze towards the unidentifiable fairies dissolve like soap bubbles. Instead, they were welcomed as fairies that would bring prosperity and abundance.
Life began swirling around the fallen land.
And vitality could also be felt in the faces of the citizens.
As soon as they entered the outside world, the Luinong inadvertently became the representatives of the Marquisate of Hohenberg’s mascot. Their lively and cute appearance especially captured people’s hearts.
“Wow, cake!”
“Yay! Today, we didn’t do anything, yet they’re giving us desserts!”
A multitude of desserts, including cheesecakes, were provided to the Luinong.
Humans truly were foolish.
They played all day but served them a feast.
The Luinong, with puffy cheeks stuffed with cake, grinned widely. It seemed they were very fond of the offerings made by the Marquisate’s humans.
“Hmph, looks like Rue’s friends are being treated well.”
“Milord.”
Otto, the head of the Hohenberc Family, descended to the kitchen to praise the Luinong for spreading their mystery around Hillidar County. A grand feast for the Luinong was currently underway in the kitchen.
What a ruckus.
A gentle smile appeared on Otto’s face as he looked at the Luinong.
If he was a noble who valued empty formalities, he would have scolded the gluttonous Luinong harshly. But Otto treated the new members of his family as if they were his own children.
First, as the representative lord of the family, he needed to give some words of encouragement to the little workers.
Clears throat.
At that moment, the cake-munching Luinong all focused their gaze on Otto.
“Hiiieeek!”
“It’s the bald man!”
“The Egg Ghost! A ghost that pulls out the roots of naughty Luinong!”
With a shocked reaction, the Luinong jumped up from their seats, their eyes wide with disbelief.
Bald.
A person lacking most hair.
An Egg Ghost that only had desolation atop its head.
Since the Luinong had only ever lived in Paradise, meeting a bald person was a first for them. The Luinong, who looked like children, naturally had full heads of hair.
Thus, they felt shock and fear in encountering the bald man.
As if they had seen something otherworldly.
“……”
That was a bit too much.
What do you mean ‘bald’?
Otto felt a bit down with the Luinong’s panicked reaction.
*
I conveyed the news of finding “The Scepter of White Night” in the fairies’ paradise to Zebeline.
At that moment, Zebeline’s expression changed to shock.
“The Scepter of White Night…? Does that mean Beatrice has already been there?!”
Though all the Luinong were brought to the outside world, the Scepter of White Night remained untouched. I wanted to inform Zebeline first before taking action.
In the fairy paradise filled with mystery—
If it became known to the world, there was a risk that Broyan’s sanctuary might be misused.
Returning the Scepter of White Night to the Holy Kingdom was perfectly fine. Beatrice had left it there abandoned in the paradise she once called home. What I worried about was merely that the fairies’ paradise would become known.
“Hmph… If the Holy King and the Cardinal find out, significant trouble will surely ensue. The remains from the age of gods still preserved in that void space… Their existence alone would be deemed blasphemous towards the Earth Mother, leading to their thorough destruction.”
“Good thing we didn’t bring it back hastily.”
The punishment of the Earth Mother for slaying the Demon King.
How should we handle that?
Damn it.
Another wretched issue has arisen.
If it were up to me, I’d want to leave the Holy Army of the Holy Kingdom eternally in the paradise.
“Perhaps Beatrice intended to hide the Scepter of White Night completely. After all, she left it abandoned in a place completely isolated from the outside world, right?”
“…Or it could be the opposite.”
At those words, Zebeline shook her head with a stiff expression.
Could she be catching on to something?
While tapping her face thoughtfully, she finally spoke.
“Edan might be the one she hoped would find it.”
“Surely you don’t mean…”
“Edan is the person closest to the Luinong, after all. There’s no way Beatrice wouldn’t know that Maximilian sent Rue.”
“……”
Why?
The root of all evil must surely be dead.
What exactly did Beatrice arrange for?
A heavy doubt coiled in my mind.
Zebeline’s words had some merit, but the supporting evidence was weak.
“Saintess and I are on good terms…! Ahem, what were we discussing?”
As I had a close conversation with the White Dragon, the Red Dragon strode over.
It was Ludmilla.
Perhaps something displeased her, as she interrupted our conversation.
Behind her, the maids cleaning began muttering among themselves.
In the bedroom.
Sensual novels and so on…
What kind of conversation were they having, I wondered, and briefly turned my head toward the maids.
“I was asking the Saintess whether missionary work is progressing smoothly in the Marquisate.”
“Spreading the Earth Mother’s benevolent teachings is the Saintess’s duty.”
For now, I decided to keep the matter of the Scepter of White Night a secret from Ludmilla.
I didn’t suspect her.
Yet, Beatrice’s intent had yet to be revealed.
“I hope you’ll spare some time for me.”
“What is it, Your Majesty?”
“Ugh! The Saintess doesn’t need to know!”
“Hmm. Hearing that only makes me more curious.”
According to what my butler told me, when I was absent, Ludmilla and Zebeline had kept quiet.
Now, the Red Dragon and the White Dragon had begun to bicker again.
As I watched them, I realized the ’cause of their quarrel’ was regrettably, me.
“The Emperor is calling for you.”
“Pardon?”
The imperial ruler, born with a temper as wild as a raging bull.
I could see the middle-aged man with a crescent-shaped mustache and felt a cold sweat trickle down my back.
I had met Barbarossa when he requested to purge the demons and cultists that had infiltrated the Imperial City. He had glared at me as if he would swallow me whole.
What on earth does he want with me?
Thinking this, I looked at Ludmilla and the Luinong, who were playing with Elizaveta.
Hmm.
I guess I’m in a bind.
The Emperor, graciously, has not ordered my ‘arrest’ but has issued an ‘invitation.’
“From time to time, His Majesty goes hunting with the Central nobles. You are being invited to an honorable position as a reward for your contributions!”
“…Am I perhaps the prey?”
Ludmilla flushed, speaking in an excited tone.
In contrast, I was engulfed in worry.