CH 52

52 Leo is happy.

(O3O)/ – Here is Ch-52!!!

(-.-) – Sorry for delaying the chapter guys, my bad. I just noticed I had messed up on Monday when I was finishing the last bit of the chapter. About the mistake, you see the name of the new character on the fist line of text? Yeah, well, I had to do some research to see if I was translating Khaje’s name correctly, but then the research told me it was actually a title that meant Spiritual Master/Head-Priest, so I thought the Author was going for something deeper, when she actually wasn’t.

(O-O) – And then I had to change a lot of things to fix the mess I made…*Sigh*…Yeah I’m dumb… .

(OwO) – Anyway, enjoy the chapter∼♥

Khaje Talmuel looked out of a simple window to confirm the time. After grasping the position of the sun, he then looked back to his little sister, Surya, and said–

“–It’s time.”

After hearing that, Surya, who was almost dozing off on a nearby chair, quickly stood up.

“W-where is she!? Is she already here!?” – Said Surya, while tidying up her clothes.

However, after having a look around the room, she let out a relieved sigh.

“Thank goodness∼, I thought she was already here, but it seems like I got worried over nothing, huh?”

As one of the ladies-in-waiting for the upcoming contract festival, Surya had to wear a pure white robe in order to not outshine the shrine maiden that she was going to serve. But even that wasn’t enough to hide her beauty. Surya’s light brown skin and delicate features, coupled with her beautiful wavy black hair and almond colored eyes, created a perfect combination.

However, Surya wasn’t just a pretty face. She was kind and friendly to everyone, regardless of their social status, so the people of Legrand * loved her. ( *Tl/n: Ch-47 That’s the name of the capital.)

“Hehe∼, I can’t wait to see Leonora’s–I mean, my shrine maiden’s reaction when she sees the state of this room. Maybe she’ll get angry and make a fuss about all this? No, maybe she’ll just start crying like a baby! Hahaha! That’s more likely to happen, don’t you think so?” – Said Surya, as she looked back at her brother with a cheeky grin plastered on her face.

Like Surya, Khaje also had light brown skin, black hair and nice features, but due to the serious air that was always surrounding him, and his sharp-looking, grayish eyes, he appeared to be much older than her, even though he was actually on his early twenties.

“We’re not here to play with her, Surya. Our job is to make her cry, that’s why we’re here.”

“…*Pout*…You’re no fun, you know that?”

After making that carefree remark, Surya had another look around the room.

“A damp and dark room, with close to no natural lighting, very dirty and infested with bugs… I think we did a pretty good job while redecorating this place. I mean, even the people living in the slums are better off than this, so I don’t think the higher-ups will complain about anything.”

“Hmph! All nobles are the same, no matter the country. They’re using the sacred grounds of the church for the sake of their political games, and to punish one of the shrine maidens nonetheless. Those people have no shame.”

“Nobles sure are a scary bunch, huh…?”

There was a brief moment of silence while two contemplated how dangerous nobles could be at times, but since Surya wasn’t a fan of the gloomy mood that was tormenting them, she quickly changed the topic.

“Hey, Khaje, do you ever feel bad for doing this to that girl…?”

“What are you talking about? Of course not. That Leonora is also a noble, so why should I feel bad for her? I’m sure she has done worse to the people of her country. She doesn’t deserve my sympathy.”

“I have to agree with you on that. There’s no point in feeling sympathy for a noble–”

Much like Khaje, Surya also hated nobles. It was to the point where she wouldn’t mind screwing one of them over just for the sake of doing so. However, this time, they both had a reason for doing that.

“–Not to mention that we’re going to receive three silver coins just to make her life a little bit harder. In other words, that’s easy money!”

“Indeed. For us who had to live off of scraps our whole life, this sure is a blessing.”

About a week ago, a person claiming to be the servant of a High-Priest approached the two siblings and offered them a deal that they wouldn’t regret.

The deal in itself was actually very simple. If they managed to make the shrine maiden from Weiz, Leonora von Harkenberg, want to go back to her country, then they would receive three silver coins from the High-Priest. And to make things even better, they would receive a bonus depending on the Empire’s reaction to the treatment of their shrine maiden.

All things considered, there was no reason for the two siblings to refuse the deal, so they accepted the job, even though their employer seemed a little sketchy, after all, receiving that money was way more important to them than some noble lady that they had never even met before.

Eland was an unforgiving place. The nobles got richer with each passing day, while the commoners would get even poorer. That’s why they needed that money. With those silver coins, they would finally be able to afford proper meals for a while.

“I don’t know who you are, Leonora von Harkenberg, but thank you for existing. Thanks to you, me and my sister won’t have to worry about money for a while.”

*Step* *Step* *Step*

After saying that, Khaje started hearing the faint sound of footsteps approaching the room, so he looked back at his sister, and said–

“–She’s here. Remember to not talk about the deal when she’s near, okay, Surya? We don’t know how good her Elandic is, so we shouldn’t risk her finding out about that.”

“But she’s a foreigner, right? I don’t think she’ll be able to understand us even if we speak freely. I mean, Elandic is the hardest tongue of the whole continent, so you could count on your fingers the number of people fluent enough to understand what we’re saying.”

*Knock* *Knock*

“Excuse me.”

Following those two quiet knocks on the door, came an angelic voice announcing it’s presence.

The beautiful girl standing at the entrance of the room left the two siblings at a loss for words.

Fair skin, straight black hair, rosy lips and a pair of amethyst eyes that could stare right into your very soul. The girl standing in front of them was nothing short of divine. Even the simple dress that she was wearing, and the small caged bird that she was carrying, only served to accentuate her beauty.

“…*Whisper*…N-no way… she looks just like the Great Spirit of Light… . ”

The same Surya who was making fun of Leonora not so long ago, couldn’t help but mutter those words after seeing her shrine maiden in person for the first time. To her, the girl with amethyst eyes looked like a divine envoy. Even Khaje, who disliked nobles more than anything, was unable to move his gaze away from the girl. That’s how stunning she was.

(It seems like our job won’t be as easy as we imagined…) – Thought Khaje, as he stared at the Leonora with an even more serious look on his face.

The people of Eland were all devout believers of the spirit faith, including the two siblings, so they became a bit hesitant upon seeing the striking resemblance the girl had with the Great Spirit of Light–

(No, work is work. We have a reason to do this. We can’t waver now.)

–However, all that hesitation disappeared moments later, as if it never even existed to begin with.

Three silver coins was a lot of money in Eland. You could feed a big family for half a year with that amount of money. That’s why the two siblings couldn’t give up now, after going so far. For the sake of a better life, they were willing to even throw away their faith.

“Welcome to Eland, shrine maiden. I’m Khaje, the helper of your lady-in-waiting, Surya. We will be with you for the whole duration of the contract festival, three days. However, we are not your servants. Only the high priests and the spirits themselves can give us orders, therefore, don’t make the mistake of thinking you can boss the two of us around however you’d like. You will have to take care of yourself for the next couple of days.” – Said Khaje, in a hard to understand accent that only a native of Eland would understand, just to confuse Leonora.

And following her brother’s example, Surya did the same thing.

“That’s right, you need to follow the rules of the contract festival and take care of yourself. We can only give you tips on how to do certain things, so be prepared to do all the rest on your own.”

The two were speaking so fast, that no foreigner would ever be able to understand them. By doing that to her, they expected Leonora to be extremely upset and demand them to speak in the common tongue–

“I see, so you two are Khaje and Surya. It’s a pleasure to meet you two, I’m Leonora von Harkenberg. I understand your positions and won’t demand anything beyond what is allowed within the rules of the contract festival. I hope we can get along during my stay here.”

–However, their attempt at harassing her was returned with a soft and warm smile.

(What’s that!? Nobody told me she was fluent in Elandic!) (Khaje)

(She can speak our tongue!? And use polite speech too!?) (Surya)

After that brief exchange, the two siblings realized just how hard it would be to bring down their opponent. But, instead of getting disheartened after one defeat, the two quickly moved to the next step of their plan.

“Since we’re over with the introductions, let me give you a quick explanation of the room you’ll be staying for the next three days. As you can see, this room is a bit dark and infested will all kinds of insects, but you aren’t allowed to change rooms.” – Said Khaje, while gesturing towards the dimly lit room behind him.

The next step of their plan involved making Leonora reject her new living quarters by pointing out everything a normal sheltered young lady would hate in a room–

“That’s right, this is a test to see how strong your mental fortitude is, so you aren’t allowed to change rooms, understood?”

“Oh∼, that’s great! Thank you!”

–However, Leonora wasn’t a normal young lady. Instead of being struck by fear, she thanked them with a beaming smile.

“Huh…?”

“W-what did you say…?”

“I said thank you. It seems like you two were really considerate while assigning me to this room, that’s why I’m really happy.”

At first, the two siblings thought she was just joking with them, but as they continued staring at the girl’s genuine smile, the two realized that she was, in fact, quite serious.

“B-but this is the coldest and most damp room of this cathedral, you know?” – Said Surya, as she pointed out another reason for Leonora to hate this room.

However, not even that wasn’t enough.

“And that’s why I’m so thankful! You see, I’m not used to the intense heath of this country, so I got a bit sunburnt on my way here…*Sigh*…That was really painful∼”

After hearing Leonora’s reasoning, Surya hung her head down in defeat. There was no way for her to win against the shrine maiden, so she chose to give up for now.

But Khaje wasn’t going to give up so easily.

“T-this place is also filled with bugs and insects of all kinds! Not to mention that some of them are even poisonous! Isn’t that scary!?”

Khaje was confident that this was the thing that was going to make Leonora want to go back to her country, and sure enough, as soon as he said that, the girl looked down at her feet with a surprised look on her face, and muttered–

“–Did you just say… poisonous insects…?”

However, what was supposed to be a win for the two siblings, turned out to be the another loss for them.

Right after muttering that, Leonora took out a small box from her pocket, scooped a few insects off of the ground with her handkerchief and placed them inside the box… and she did all of that with a bright smile plastered on her face.

“Huh!? You’re picking them up!?” – Asked Khaje, with a shocked look on his face, as he watched that impossible scene unfolding right before his very eyes.

“Of course I am. These insects may look scary to some people, but some of them are very valuable and quite amazing, you know? Not only they can make silk, but their venom can also be used to make medicine too.”

Impossible. That was the only word that could define the difficulty of their mission. Everything that the two siblings did was met with a smile. Not even bugs could phase Leonora. It was like she had an impenetrable iron wall around herself. However, Khaje’s pride wouldn’t allow him to be defeated by a noble… at least not until he had used all the aces up his sleeve.

For his last attempt, Khaje picked up the folded clothes that were laying on top of the girl’s bed and threw it to her, before saying–

“–Here. Those are the only clothes you’re allowed to use here. Change into that and put away all your other dresses. You can’t wear them during your stay here.”

Nobles, specially noble ladies, tended to care a lot about the quality of their clothes. Many would never be seen using the same dress twice. That’s why Khaje thought that Leonora would hate to wear the worn-out robe that his sister had prepared for her.

“Woah∼, you’re giving this to me? Thank you, this is such a wonderful present!”

But surprisingly enough, she loved the worn-out robe.

“This is exactly what I was looking for! I will take good care of it!”

“What…? You’re happy from receiving that thing…?”

“Why wouldn’t I be? The beige color of this robe is easy on the eyes and it can hide dirt very easily. Not to mention that the fabric is really soft to the touch. I can only imagine how hard you two worked to procure something of such good quality to me. That’s why I’m so thankful.”

Khaje and Surya didn’t know if their shrine maiden was just messing with them, or if she was really that clueless about everything that the two tried to do to her. However, they were sure about one thing–

“To tell the truth, I was a little worried about what kind of person my lady-in-waiting would be, but after meeting you two, all my worries faded away. You two are really nice people!”

–Defeating Leonora von Harkenberg wasn’t going to be easy.