Chapter 123 · The Vanished Princess (1)

Santra’s winters are not quite severe, but they are fairly cold. Because Santra’s summers are beautiful and clear, people longed for this tedious season to pass quickly so that the summer they loved could return.

That year, it was even more so. After suffering a terrible drought unprecedented in history, the winter they faced with empty storehouses was twice as cold as usual.

Some lords lowered their tenant fees in consideration of the situation, but most did not budge.

“Damn nobles!”

“They don’t have to worry about their next meal, so what are we supposed to do?!”

Countless people went hungry and cried out in resentment.

The disasters did not end there. The number of monster appearances across Santra increased. The primary cause was the barrier of the Dark Forest being breached. Naritas members repaired the barrier, but the forest was so vast that it was impossible to block every hole.

Amid all this, even Paeon Parsiel, commander of the Holy Knight Order, went missing.

The royal family and the temple explained that he was not missing but carrying out a mission, but almost no one believed it. What mission could be more important to the holy knight commander than subjugating monsters?

People whispered that everything was because Princess Anastasia had disappeared.

It was the second winter since the First Princess had vanished like smoke in the autumn of two years ago. To be precise, one year and four months had passed. Because of the disasters that began erupting afterward, she was becoming increasingly deified.

The one who had received the oracle as the ‘child of God,’ the one who would bring light to Santra.

The people believed that because they had lost the princess chosen by Lord Lux, they had incurred His wrath.

That belief was reinforced by Aria, Rizen’s younger sister.

The moment the Foundation Day extra was distributed, Aria had boasted to the villagers that she had met the princess. After the princess disappeared, Aria’s yard was crowded every day with people who wanted to hear her stories about the princess.

“What did the princess look like?”

“She was truly as cute as a doll. I thought I had died and was seeing an angel. She had snow-white hair, and her eyes were a mysterious, shining color! It was green and blue mixed together, and so pretty.”

“I want to see her too!”

“Me too!”

“If the Foundation Day Festival hadn’t been canceled, we might have seen her.”

“How would you even get to Salus? Even if you went, you’d never be able to stand in the front row where the princess could be seen.”

The village children envied Aria.

“Who knows, Aria might be the first and last commoner to have seen the princess.”

Aria felt proud, but at the same time, her heart ached. The princess’s beauty and kindness deserved to be praised by all! She worried about where the kind princess who had saved her life might be and what she might be doing.

Mrs. Tigris, Aria and Rizen’s mother, naturally became popular as well. Whenever people asked about the princess, Mrs. Tigris praised her until her mouth went dry.

“Would you believe that Princess Anastasia used honorifics with me! I thought I was dreaming.”

“Good heavens! She truly was a good person.”

“She is Princess Beatrice’s daughter, so of course she is.”

“And Princess Beatrice herself used to run around without regard for her status as princess…”

“How on earth did she come to disappear?”

Admiration was always followed by sighs. The people had to struggle to make a living, and now monsters threatened their lives, so they needed someone to resent. The devout people of Santra did not blame God, but rather whoever had taken away the child of God.

“It must be the work of insane heretics.”

“Whoever it is, they should be burned at the stake.”

“If only we could get the princess back, this calamity might end…”

What began as a belief in a small village had long since spread throughout Santra.

◇ ◆ ◇

The greenhouse garden of Floria Palace.

In the beautiful garden bathed in bright sunlight, people of all sorts sat in a circle.

“To think we couldn’t celebrate the princess’s birthday again this time…”

Sierra poured tea into Rizen’s cup and let out a deep sigh.

Today was Anastasia’s tenth birthday. Her companions had gathered for the first time in a long while in the garden without its owner, sunk in gloom.

They had spent several months in confusion after she disappeared, unable to do anything, but they had to return to their daily lives.

Ark and Rizen had to go out to hunt monsters, and the three priestesses had to travel through drought-stricken regions to relieve victims. Freesia and Mila had also grown busy preparing for academy graduation.

But even amid their grueling daily lives, they could not stop thinking about the little princess they had loved.

“Where on earth could she be?”

Mila fiddled with the wrapping paper of a gift on her lap. It was a cute dress with fluttering blue lace that she had made with her mother. She had brought it even though she knew she could not give it to her.

“Wherever she is, I hope she isn’t in a difficult situation.”

“The princess is incredibly clever. She must be doing well.”

Rosa spoke as brightly as she could, but worry was thick in her voice.

“It’s true the princess is clever, but she’s also young. How could she hide and live alone? She didn’t even take a single coin with her.”

“Even if she had money, without an adult beside her, she would be a target for wicked people.”

Freesia, who knew how harsh the world could be, spoke with a dark face.

“Well, the princess has her magic skills, so wouldn’t she be all right? If anyone so much as touched a strand of her hair, she could blow up their whole body.”

“But if a child like the princess used magic, rumors would surely have spread.”

“Then maybe she really is in another country…”

The conversation always went in circles, reaching the same conclusion every time.

Another country—it felt so hopeless. There were seven continents in the world; how could they find one person in such a vast world?

They had requested search cooperation from Brilia, the most likely possibility, but there had been no particular news.

“The princess will return.”

Ark, who had been listening quietly, suddenly spoke. His eyes blazing, he added with force in his voice.

“Without fail.”

They gazed at him blankly.

“Tsk, and you were the one who whined the most.”

Rizen scolded Ark. And no wonder—after reading the letter Anastasia left behind, Ark had refused food for days, certain that the princess had abandoned them.

“Back then I had a mental breakdown!”

Ark shouted, his face red.

“Maybe the one we should be worried about isn’t the princess but Sir Parsiel.”

“That’s right. He must have gone to find the princess, but did he cross the sea too?”

“I can’t imagine him wandering alone in a foreign country. He doesn’t even speak any foreign languages.”

“He doesn’t seem to have much practical life skills either…”

“I wonder if he’s even eating and dressing properly.”

“He probably couldn’t take much money with him either.”

Rizen could not even imagine Paeon, who always appeared with sparkling good looks and a neat uniform, wandering around in shabby clothes looking for the princess.

“He should have just asked the temple for permission and gone. Then we wouldn’t have to worry like this.”

“Maybe he judged they wouldn’t allow him to search for the princess because of the monsters.”

“Well, he doesn’t know where the princess is, and monster subjugation is urgent…”

“Still, for someone that rigid to abandon his post…”

Sierra shook her head.

“But somehow I feel hopeful. As if one day he might return with the princess, just like that.”

With Yuz’s words, a quiet silence settled over the garden.

Anastasia’s absence was too great. With her, there was never silence—it was always noisy and bustling. Anastasia hated awkward atmospheres and tried somehow to keep the conversation going, and everyone was busy laughing at her bubbly remarks.

They sincerely wished that the lovable princess who smiled brightly with her dimples were here with them.

◇ ◆ ◇

My ears are tingling, so someone must be talking about me again. My friends? Or the Santran people? There are too many people who might talk about me to even guess.

Today is the birthday of the great Princess Anastasia!

But there’s no time for a birthday party. Because today might be the day I finally establish a trade deal with Batias on the eastern continent.

I am currently seated at a long negotiation table, facing the guild leader of Batias. She is a very alluring woman, wearing clothes painted with unique and beautiful patterns.

“It’s a fabric called ‘batik.’”

Cyrus whispered beside me. He is fluent in ten languages and knows no end of other cultures.

「You really are the owner of the Pakula Company?」

The guild leader spoke in a sharp voice, and Cyrus translated.

“That’s right.”

For reference, Pakula is the name of the company I created. Started small a year ago, it was already making a name for itself in the underworld of every continent.

Through repeated research, I had developed communication magical tools and image magical tools. With a strategy of high quality and limited quantity, the prices were rising higher and higher.

「Ha! To think the owner of Pakula, who has been contacting me by letter, was a little brat like this…」

Ugh, I knew she’d look down on me! I shouldn’t have come out.

Until now, I had never revealed myself when dealing with merchants from various countries. Cyrus and Emet handled things on my behalf, so there was no need for me to step forward.

But this particular Batian guild leader had insisted she would not do business without seeing me. Something about that being proper business practice.

「…You’re so cute.」

Huh?

Cyrus, translating, looked dumbfounded too.

「You’re so cute I want to pull you into my arms right now.」

“…”

“H-how dare you!”

Emet flared up and shouted. I didn’t bother correcting her to “how dare.” She had learned a great deal of Santran from me and Cyrus over time, but there were still many gaps.

「I was curious about your identity. The magical tool samples you showed were truly amazing. I wanted to find out what kind of genius made such divine objects. But…」

The guild leader’s eyes sparkled as she leaned her upper body toward me.

「The princess who went missing in Santra looks exactly like you.」