成人本色

I was surprised to hear something he usually doesn’t say. My heart skipped a beat in surprise.

[‘The Scales that Judges the Soul’ wonders what happened while she took her eyes off for a moment.]

‘No, nothing happened.’

The one who started the prank first was me, so I couldn’t blame anyone for this.

I sped up my pace and took the lead.

“Hurry up and take me there.”

“Okay.”

A refined sound vibrated from his neck as he laughed and followed me calmly like a gentleman.

The time is July.

It was midsummer, so the night air was quite warm.

✠

A week has passed since then.

I had reached a dramatic settlement with the Council of Cardinals on these and other issues and nodded my head in satisfaction after checking the notarized documents.

“I really like the cost of maintenance and travel expenses. Since you have shown so much sincerity, I will also travel around the continent diligently to promote the status of the church.”

“Th-thank you. But, Y-Your Eminence……”

Decal asked cautiously, breaking out in a cold sweat.

“Is it possible for you to change the first destination……”

“Not possible. Not a bit of chance, not at all, never.”

I cut him short and said it like a declaration.

“Now then, please write a letter of visit to the Principality of Hispenril. As soon as consent is given, we will depart immediately.”

Grandpa, your granddaughter is coming soon!

Chapter 26. Visiting Grandpa’s House

On the day of departure for the Principality of Hispenril, the mission of goodwill gathered in the courtyard of the Vatican.

At the center was I, The Chosen One, and Thesilid, the only member of my order of paladins and the owner of the Holy Sword.

His paladin uniform was already on the flashy side, but my outfit as the captain was a bit more remarkable.

It wasn’t enough that I had to wear much more decorations such as tassels and chains than others, I had to even add a dark blue chlamys cloak over one shoulder.

My impression of this is…….

‘Too hot! It’s midsummer now!’

Although I’m using aura to lower my body temperature, it’s not cool at all because I have to wear several layers of clothes under the scorching sun.

[‘The World-building God’ comforts your mind and body, tired from overtime work, with your upgraded uniform costume set.]

…Well, my God said so, let’s put strength in my sweat glands and hang in there.

As I was pretending to be a living holy statue, imitating Thesilid who was next to me, Rex, who had brought the paladins, set an example for me.

“Paladins of Grace, preparations are complete, Your Eminence.”

The Vatican had the Order of Grace to accompany me.

The reason was that the status of the Church could be undermined because my Order had only two members, including me, and that was the total number of members reflected in this delegation.

The Templars that were always a set with the Order of Grace, were not with me this time. Apparently, they left on another mission the day before yesterday.

It seemed like it would be the last mission for Ephael and Hestio as members of the Templars, as they were about to switch Orders soon.

“Then we will depart.”

I moved space using the Space Transition Stone with Thesilid.

[<System> You have entered Peronsa, the capital of the Principality of Hispenril. Adjust the current time according to the time difference.]

The place where my body was settled was the vacant lot in front of the main gate of the Prince’s Castle in House Raemian.

The iron grate door, so large that one could not tell how wide it was, was wide open.

Inside, a huge marble fountain spouting brilliant water droplets and a courtyard decorated in perfect symmetry could be seen at a glance.

Right when the Paladins of Grace followed suit and arrived in groups of five or six.

Tada! Tada! Tada!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The loud sound of wind instruments, loud firecrackers, and flower petals exploded from left and right.

“We sincerely welcome The Chosen One’s visit to the Principality of Hispenril!”

The Prince’s vassals, who had lined up earlier, gave a warm welcome and an elderly gentleman walked out from among them.

“Hello, Your Eminence the Chosen One. I’m the Chief Adviser, Count Edgar Walt. Your Excellency the Duke is looking forward to meeting you inside House Raemian.”

“Thank you for the warm welcome. I also can’t wait to see His Excellency.”

Agnes looked around and started to find fault with things.

<What is it? Why isn’t he coming to pick us up? On the subject of a paltry Duke!>

Oh wow, that’s harsh.

Although Grandpa does not claim to be a king himself, he is second only to the king in the international protocol. In this case, they usually send their children instead to greet guests, but now my mother is running away from home…No, we should say married.

To be honest, it’s strange to ask for formality because now is only about a granddaughter going to her grandfather’s house.

Aide Edgar also exchanged greetings with Thesilid.

“Greetings to the owner of the Holy Sword.”

“Thank you for your hospitality.”

Mmm, it’s really dry.

“I’ll guide you, Your Eminence.”

We started moving through the front door.

Thesilid and I walked with Edgar in the front, following together at some distance, while the vassals were guiding the Paladins of Grace at some distance behind us.

On both sides of the road, statues of handsome half-naked men were lined up. Tight but lean muscles were just to my taste.

“The courtyard is very nice.”

The old gentleman replied with pleasure as if being recognized by me.

“It was originally filled with very rugged marble statues, but it all changed recently because His Excellency ordered the Castle to be redecorated, looking forward to the visit of Your Eminence.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. In fact, His Excellency has been very immersed in religion since 10 years ago. Perhaps because of that, he had high expectations for receiving Your Eminence, so he made things happen quickly. At that time, I was thinking that it would be okay to prepare slowly, but now that I see it, His Excellency was right. How could I have known that we would enjoy the honor of serving Your Eminence first in the Principality of Hispenril?”

I covered my mouth and laughed.

“For such a thing to have happened, I can’t help but admire His Excellency’s great wisdom. Also, thank you to the servants of the Castle who paid a lot of attention to my visit.”

“Oh my God, Your Eminence. I can’t help but say thank you.”

I felt good to see the benevolent face of the old gentleman smiling at me.

This made it clear.

Even the Chief Aide doesn’t know that I am the granddaughter of the Duke.

<Hey, there will be chaos later.>

Even so, I’m so excited right now that my heart flutters.

Come to think of it, not even Thesilid knows right? After realizing it, my expectations grew even higher.

Right now, I was curious about the story of Grandpa coming from other people’s mouths so I kept talking to Edgar.

“What kind of person is His Excellency the Duke? He must be a great person, right?”

“Yes. He is great in everything. He is known far and wide as the mighty ruler of the Principality and the best knight on the continent. In addition, he is full of human charms. Since he is a sincere and easy-going person, I can guarantee that Your Eminence will surely feel favor with His Excellency’s wonderful personality.”

Did Aide Edgar feel like an older brother to Grandpa?

“Please tell me more. What does he usually do?”

“Haha, our Excellency the Duke really likes muscles. He enjoys trimming his muscles while training with a pickaxe in a C-class mine. He spent most of the year with the veteran miners there, and only around Thanksgiving…he goes home to meet his daughter, the Princess.”

By the time he finished his last sentence, Edgar’s eyes were slightly blurred. Well, everyone on the continent knows that Grandpa and Mother are on bad terms.

To refresh the atmosphere I gave a comment.

“It is customary for priests to offer congratulatory prayers to the places they visit. Later I will put in a lot of wishes for peace in the family.”

“Oh, Your Eminence! Would you please?”

Edgar was delighted.

“Our Excellency is someone who believes that finding his daughter 10 years ago was a gift from God. If God’s spokesman and agent, Your Eminence The Chosen One, prays for him, he will be very happy.”

It was natural to believe that it would be a little more miraculous since it was a prayer from a high-seated Saintess.

Around the time Edgar began to speak in a tone that would bring tears to his eyes.

“As you may have heard rumors, the relationship between His Excellency the Duke and the Princess is a little…dry. There is almost no exchange and the occasional correspondence is all……”

“A letter?”

Unlike Edgar, who was saddened, I was surprised.

I thought they only met on Thanksgiving Day, but both seem to be communicating through letters.

If they are doing this, it seems that a lot of the gaps have been filled.

“He doesn’t often get a reply from the Princess. Come to think of it, I’m lucky to say that a letter arrived today just in time for Your Eminence’s visit. This is probably the first one in six months. How thrilled His Excellency was when he received it. He even broke the office desk.”

“I-Is that so.”

“Yes. It was an exceptionally good news story. Let me tell you a little bit…….”

Priests are obliged to keep personal secrecy in relation to prayer.

Not to mention, I, a Saint, was a trustworthy bamboo forest, so Edgar whispered information into my ear without hesitation in order to maximize the effect of prayer.

“Your Excellency might see a great-grandchild sooner or later. So be sure to include this in your prayers! Please! Please put it in.”

“What? G-Great-grandchild?”

“Yes.”

After completing the prayer request, Edgar smiled happily and opened the door to the entrance of the building.

I froze with one foot vaguely stepping on the stairs.

Now, now, now, wait a minute. Hold up.

If it’s a great-grandchild, doesn’t it mean that my mother will become a grandmother?

‘D-Did Frintz have an accident?’