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Volume 7 Chapter 4 Part 12

Translation by burnt.marshmallows
Editing by Team Foxsunes

「……Should I just order my「shadow」to deal with them once and for all?」

I was startled by the words that the Princess had murmured. I-I thought that she had just read my mind. Standing beside me, the Hero’s face twitched as he said「P-princess, I think that’s going a bit overboard…….」. THere was no way that I could say that I was thinking the exact same thing. The princess grunted, as if to express that the Hero was being boring.「It’s a joke. At least 70% of it.」the Princess said, as he let out another deep sigh. Actually, it sounded to me like she was being 80% serious, but I couldn’t say that out loud.

「Sigh, I never thought that they would chase you guys all the way to the Schtorenvihein region. It might have been that they wanted to establish their position, given that the religious influence of the temple has been steadily decreasing after the Demon Lord was slayed but……to think that they would resort to something like this. I really miscalculated.」

The princess placed that elegant hand of hers on her fair-skinned cheek, as she shook her head, lamenting. The princess was born blessed by the goddess and had lived her life up until now as the one and only shrine maiden princess. From her perspective, this probably was a huge headache to her.

「I have ordered Heinrich to prioritize controlling the spread of information, but at this rate, whether the rumors are going to spread throughout the country is only a matter of time. There is a possibility that the Temples from the different regions may start to cause a ruckus as well. 」

How troublesome. The Princess exclaimed, but in reality, the problem wasn’t as simple as that. From the beginning, one aspect of the temple was that it was an organization that shouldered the responsibility to hunt down demons. This was unlike the other organizations, like the Knights and Mercenary Guild. That was because the Light Magic that the Priests and Temple Knights used was borrowed from the Goddess’s own power, and that Light Magic was the natural enemy of demons. 

The organizations we call Temples had been active in many different lands even before the resurrection of the Demon Lord. However, after the Demon Lord had been slayed, the demons weakened considerably, so the need for the Temple to slay demons had decreased compared to the past. And there were more than a few Priests and Temple Knights who saw that as a loss of authority for the Temple. 

The original role of the temple was to worship the goddess and spread that word to the people, leading the world to peace. Yet, here they were, causing violence. There was no doubt that it was very distressing for the Princess. The Princess is the 「Shrine Maiden Princess」ーin other words, she was someone who was supposed to be respected as a「 symbol of the Temple」. However, that did not mean that all authority lied in her hands. If she could just use her power as she liked, then she would already have ordered for that man to be released. It was because she wasn’t able to so that she was stuck in this tough situation. 

During what happened at the Blue Sky Desert, I felt that I had come to understand that Princess’s position, albeit only a little. But that was all the more why I felt bad that I caused the Princess to be troubled by this issue. At times like this, that man would probably say something like「If you feel bad about it then take the appropriate action that shows that you are」and would give me the push I needed. But he wasn’t here right now. Ever since that man left, a feeling of helplessness lingered in my chest. That man told me to wait for him. I understood that all I could do was wait, but I couldn’t help but want to search for something I could do. 

As I tightened the fist that I made with my hand, the Princess suddenly tilted her neck. Those amber-coloured eyes of hers looked in a direction away from us. The magic communication stone that I received from the Princess would not show the image of anyone besides ourselves if either the Princess or I did not want them to be shown. Right now, my lady-in-waiting could not be seen by the Princess. Conversely, if we wanted to, we could show each other anything. That was why the Hero was able to participate in the conversation just now. I had thought that the Princess was alone, but maybe Heinrich had been standing by somewhere nearby. 

「For him to abandon his duties and go all the way to the Schtorenvihein region to go hunting leading an army of his subordinates, are priests of big temples really so free? What are your thoughts on that, Uncle?」

「What?」

I instinctively blinked my eyes, hearing the unexpected name that she had called out. Beside the projected image of the princess, a man who was similarly translucent appeared. 

「Please don’t say it like that, Clementine.」

It was a gentle voice, but it sounded like this person was forcing a smile. Whose voice was it that said those words? Who was the man who had appeared beside the Princess? There was no need to question those things at this point. It was only for a short moment, but I couldn’t help but forget what kind of situation we were in ー the reality that that man was not with me right now, and I almost instinctively cried out with a 「Geh!」.

The man who had appeared beside the Princess was someone who made me, someone who tried her best to act affably to most people, react like that. He was someone who was that troublesome……I mean, problematic……no, um, peculiar. 

「Hey Filmina, it’s been a while」

The man gently lifted up one hand and called out to me with a smile. That hair of his, that was cut evenly to shoulder length, was a stunning platinum color. A calm light glowed in those amber-coloured eyes of his, similar to the Princess’s. That was proof that he was part of the Royal Family of this country. He had a face that was somewhat similar to the Princess’s. It was a good-looking face that no doubt would attract anyone, regardless of their age or gender. The gentle smile that appeared on that face of his was indeed charming, but at the same time, it also gave me the feeling that it was one that knew no limits.

「Princess Clementine…….」

As I murmured, dumbfounded, he waved his hand gently at me. 

He was the half-brother of the current king. He was the uncle of the Shrine Maiden Princess. He was a high-ranking priest of a large temple. Out of the three, any one of those titles would have sounded sufficiently powerful, but the man in front of me was someone who held the titles of all three. However, the problem with this manーHis Highness Sir Klanven, was not with his titles. It was with that personality of his. And that was something that I knew very well. 

「What!? By Sir Klanven, do you mean that!?」

In a panic, the Hero bowed down in a way one would to someone from the royal family. The story about Sir Klanven’s lineage was a famous one. It wasn’t strange that the Hero would presume he was 「that」person just from his name and his eye Color. Even though it was through the magic communication stone, the Hero gave his all in his bow. In response, Sir Klanven deepened his smile magnanimously. 

「Hey. I think my only interaction with the Hero was when I ran into him during the grand festival right? Let me just say that it is nice to meet you. You are probably right when you say I’m 「that」Klanven. This is probably long overdue but good work with the slaying of the Demon Lord.」

「N-no, it is alright……」

The way Sir Klanven showed his appreciation for the Hero’s great achievement, one that would go down in history, was so light-hearted that it sounded like he was saying 「thank you for taking in the laundry」. The Hero was evidently nervous at the sudden appearance of the influential person. Leaving him be, His HIghness Sir Klanven let out a laugh, with a cheerful smile that seemed to conceal his true intentions. 

「Leaving old stories like that aside, the problem is what we were talking about just now. I’ve heard all about it. It seems that one of the Priests of our large temples has captured the Royal Palace Head Magician, am I right?」

「Uncle, you are talking like this is none of your business, but what happened this time was also because of a lack of supervision on your part as well.」

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