CH 53

53 – The Sixth Member is a Proper Lady

On that day, I went down to the castle city.

Mika was left in Monana’s lab to get her rust removed.

I thought she’d want to come with me, but it seems she’s embarrassed to be seen.

Which is why I’m now leisurely walking around the town alone.

Something about the town feels different.

Like it’s restless. More lively than usual.

The air is tingly, like just before a battle starts.

Well, I say that it’s like that, but the air in the town was bright and cheerful.

That afternoon.

While stuffing my face with the grilled skewers in front of my favorite street stall, I asked the crab-headed stall owner.

「Is something starting soon?」

「Hm? You mean you don’t know, kid?」

Looks like he knows what’s going on.

「I actually only came to this town pretty recently. I’m not familiar with any of the events.」

「Oh, is that how it is? Well, we’re comin’ up on our yearly festival. Although, this year marks the second time we ever held it. It’s a big one, and it’s lots of fun.」

This year marks the second time they’ve held it? Guess it was a recently established festival.

「Huh. What kinda festival is it?」

「You know ’bout the Hero Rain?」

「Huh? …Uh, y-yeah.」

I was kinda surprised to hear my name unexpectedly.

「Of course you do. You’ve been here a few days, so you’ve probably heard that name a few times. Well, the seven women known as “Eleanor the Silver Teleporter”, “Louto of the Holy Barrier”, “The Weapon of Annihilation Lejie”, “Vivi of the Godly Network”, “Monana the Peerless Magic Tool Engineer”, “The Silent Protector Madge”, and “Florence the Flawless” were saved by the Hero Rain five years ago when their lives were in danger. So then…」

「Wait. Give me a minute.」

「Hm? What’s up?」

First off, let’s say that my name spread far and wide.

Since the Seven are each famous in this country, it isn’t strange to imagine that my saving them made me famous in a demon country despite me being a Hero of humanity.

Come to think of it, didn’t Jural say so during the practical class in the Magic Academy?

That everyone knows of the tale of the seven prodigies.

What surprised me…were the aliases given to those seven prodigies.

I heard nothing about them even having aliases…

Also, I’ve discovered the names of the two remaining women I have yet to reunite with.

I see, everyone in this country is more familiar with their achievements than I am.

「No, it’s nothing. Please continue.」

「…You’re weird, kid. Ah well, I’ll keep going. So, this Rain is apparently a perfect Hero. Kind-hearted, good-looking, and strong. In order to give thanks to such a brave Hero for his brave deeds, we hold the Rain Festival once a year every year, on the day that he saved those seven women.」

「Rain Festival.」

That name is too on the nose…

「This festival won’t lose to even the Founding Day Festival. We’re talking parades in the main street, stalls everywhere, a commemorative race with race Centaurs, and big-ass fireworks at night! And, in this season, there’ll be a reenactment performance on stage called “The Hero Rain and the Seven Captive Maidens”.」

「I-Is that so…?」

I couldn’t hide my bewilderment at the whole country celebrating what I did.

Moreover, I’m surprised that he’s boasting that it’s as grand as perhaps the grandest festival they could have, which is the festival to celebrate the rising of this nation.

「During that time, my sales go up and the folks have fun. Man, it’s a hell of a festival. I hope it’ll become an annual thing.」

「I…see. So long as everyone’s having fun, I guess.」

「You said it.」

「By the way, such a grand festival requires a lot of money, right? Just who is the sponsor?」

I can almost smell the fact that the Seven are involved in that, but I ask anyway just to make sure.

「That would be Florence the Flawless, the woman with the genius business acumen to single-handedly run the country’s gambling dens in just a few years.」

「Running gambling dens…」

「Yeah. You might not understand it, kid, but where there’s greed, there’s bad guys. There were illegal gambling dens and loan sharks in this country.」

「Is that…so?」

There’s no mistaking that this is a peaceful country, but there isn’t a country where its inhabitants do no wrong.

There may not be evil, battle-hungry demons, but there are people who make mistakes.

「Lady Florence rounded up those guys and made this a safe country to enjoy gambling. Thanks to her, the absolute worst that can happen to you is that you’ll just end up penniless.」

I suddenly recall a certain red-haired maid who lost all her money in the Centaur races.

If this were the olden days, someone like her might’ve been tricked by evil loan sharks.

Lucky for you…Azla.

While thinking that, the shopkeeper made a face like he just remembered something.

「Hey that’s right! Hey kid, if you’re free, why not head to the outdoor stage? You should be able to see them rehearsing at this time.」

「Huh. You mean for that thing you mentioned earlier? The Hero and the seven captives thing?」

「Yeah, and if you’re lucky, you might get an audience with Lady Florence. The only one of the seven maidens whose face is known to the public. The only one of the seven maidens you can meet.」

「Is that right?」

Now that he mentions it, that time I walked around with Eleanor, no one seemed to know who she was.

If they knew her face, she would’ve gotten a better reception.

Thinking about that day, Vivi came to this very shop to look for me and the shopkeep mistook her for my older sister. He had no idea she was the Chief intelligence officer.

Well, I suppose that’s not rare.

Just because the whole country knows their names doesn’t mean every citizen knows what they actually look like.

Which means, out of the Seven, Florence’s face is the only one known among the royal capital citizens.

「In that case, I’ll go take a look.」

「Sure thing. Hey, don’t go makin’ your sister worry now, ya hear?」

Looks like the shopkeeper still thinks Vivi is my older sister.

「Ahaha… I’ll try not to.」

◇

The outdoor stage was built in the large town square.

Atop the stage were several young women in their early teens, stiff and quaking.

This is probably the reenactment of what happened five years ago.

The girls with high amounts of mana who were rescued by the Saviors before they could be sacrificed for a mysterious ritual.

Although they seem to have excluded the fact that there were quite a lot of captured human girls too.

Also, the enemy at the time was a skeleton mage, but here it’s just a Majin in a robe.

Lastly, I think that person is playing the role of the Hero Rain, but the person doing battle with the mage is…a girl.

Her hair and figure resemble mine at the time, but she has cat ears.

「What do you think, milady?」

There are other pedestrians watching other than me, but among them, two stand out.

A beautiful woman in an extravagant dress that makes her look like nobility, and a beautiful woman wearing a butler’s outfit.

Those two are clearly different from everyone else.

I wonder if one of those two is this Lady Florence that the crab-head shopkeeper mentioned.

The beauty in the dress looked gloomily at the beauty in the butler outfit’s question.

「My biggest concern is the one playing Sir Rain, after all.」

「Is that so…? …She would be the fortieth candidate.」

To an amateur like me, the cat-eared girls acting seemed good enough.

But apparently, the beauty in the dress was not convinced.

She smacked the fan in her hand into her empty palm with a grim expression.

「Sir Rain was not merely charming and gallant, he was an expert in battle unbefitting of his young age. He stared at his foes with a cold, sharpened gaze, yet he looked at us captives with a look filled with compassion. Not to mention a gentle voice, uttered with the express purpose of reassuring us. The actor playing his role must fulfill all of these qualities…」

「Do you recall how we almost had to cancel the play last year because you said that?」

The butler beauty kept her utmost cool.

「Last year’s performance ended with eighty points. Are you telling me not to aim for one hundred points this year?」

「Scoring a hundred points would be impossible without a leading role at such a critical juncture, milady.」

「Doing what is impossible for the average person is exactly what a genius does, is it not?」

「Everyone recognizes your resourcefulness, milady, but you are not the one who will be playing the role of the Hero Rain.」

「You know, Sebastion…」

「My name is Celine, milady.」

It would appear that the butler beauty’s name is Celine.

This confirms my suspicions that the beauty in the dress…is none other than Florence.