Part One, Section Three: “And Then, the Sisters Sprang Into Action”
Chapter Thirty-seven (Grace’s POV)
“Oh, welcome home, Lady Grace. You returned earlier than scheduled.”
“There’s been a slight change of plans, Anna. Where is Father?”
“Master? I believe he is in the study…”
After rushing the carriage from Lady Philia’s estate, I finally arrived back at my residence in the kingdom of Bolmern. According to Maid Anna, Father was in the study. I had to quickly deliver the message and teach my sisters the technique.
“Oh! Grace, you’ve returned. Did you miss Papa so much that you moved up your schedule?”
“No, that’s not the reason.”
“I-I see…”
Father with a bright smile asked if I had returned early due to loneliness, so I denied it. He wore a clearly disappointed expression. Father’s habit of reacting like this could be quite a nuisance.
“Well, please have a seat. Tell me, Grace, about the greatest saint of all time, Philia Adenauer. Her anti-evil barrier has left remarkable results, but I’m interested in knowing more about her as a person.”
Father urged me to sit down and wanted to hear about Lady Philia, though I was in a hurry.
Well, I suppose explaining things in order might be a good idea. I should first let him know how amazing she was as a saint.
I told him that Lady Philia was exactly the person I thought, and she currently researching ancient magic to save the entire continent by expanding the Anti-Evil Magic Circle. And finally, to make that possible, it was necessary to have the power of me and my sisters as well…
“So, you see, Lady Philia came up with a strategy to gather my magic power and that of my elder sisters together, utilizing those combined powers to greatly expand the Anti-Evil Magic Circle in one fell swoop.”
“I see…”
After I had finished explaining everything, I gazed at Father’s expression. He stroked his chin for a few seconds, deep in thought, before he finally spoke.
“So, it’s a united effort from the Martilas family… The greatest saint of all time is testing us, it seems. Haha, interesting! Let’s accept this challenge head-on!”
“F-Father…?”
I was startled when Father suddenly stood up and raised his voice. I didn’t believe Lady Philia had any intention of challenging us like that… But I should be glad that he was enthusiastic about it.
“Then, I must teach the technique to my elder sisters, so we need to promptly seek approval from His Majesty…”
“Leave it to me. His Majesty is a close friend of mine. Besides… the Anti-Evil Magic Circle is something the kingdom of Bolmern desires so much that the Royal Family would invest a substantial amount of gold and resources, if necessary. Grace, your achievements this time will make the Martilas name renowned throughout the world. It was a great feat.”
Despite his outward appearance, Father was quite shrewd… He was probably making calculations to create debts with neighboring countries. Of course, Lady Philia likely foresaw this and devised a plan not only to save Bolmern and Girtonia but the entire continent as well…
In this country, there were three other saints besides me, and we had been conducting our own research on the Demon Realm and such. As a result, we suffered less damage compared to other nations. Nevertheless, the magnitude of the damage was so great that it became impossible to ignore. Not only Girtonia but many other countries were severely affected.
So it seemed that the records of frequent collapses of nations at the time of the last approach of the Demon Realm were correct. In other words, whether Lady Philia’s plan succeeds or not was crucial enough to determine the fate of neighboring countries as well.
“Then gather the girls here as soon as possible and teach them the technique. Grace, go change your clothes and get ready.”
“Yes! I will do so!”
Father stood up and instructed me to prepare. Now, it was a matter of whether my elder sisters would comply. Amanda and Jane might be fine, but the eldest, Emily…
Feeling slightly uneasy, I changed and awaited my sisters’ arrival.
◆ ◆ ◆
“Father, are you out of your mind? Accepting the scraps of that Philia Adenauer, have you no pride?”
As expected, the eldest, Emily, complained. She intensely regarded Lady Philia as a rival and had undergone harsh training because of it.
Emily was the strongest and most talented among us sisters, but given her pride, it was no surprise that she was unwilling for the plan to expand Lady Philia’s magic circle.
“First of all, we’ve been able to protect Bolmern from the demons with our power alone. As the eldest daughter of the Martilas family, if I may express my opinion—”
“Alright, that’s enough. Sister Emily, you are smarter than me, you surely understand that the damage from demons is likely to increase from here, don’t you?”
“Well, you see…”
The second daughter, Amanda, stepped in to stop Emily as she got heated up. That’s right. Lady Philia’s prediction and Bolmern’s assessment were similar in that the demon threat would grow stronger.
Just because we were safe now didn’t mean we would be safe tomorrow.
“hehe, it seems you are jealous of Ms. Philia, right, Sister Emily? I wonder if such feelings are fitting for a saint?”
“Jane! Be quiet! Do I seem like someone who would do something so disgraceful as feel jealousy? Fine. If we must do it, I suppose we should just do it…”
In the end, Emily yielded. It appeared she was not so self-centered as to go against Father’s wishes to such an extent…
And so, I found myself teaching my sisters the Magic Power Concentration Technique… starting with the fundamentals of ancient spells and using Lady Philia’s personally written guidebook as a reference.
Emily was truly exceptional. She absorbed knowledge faster than anyone else. Of course, the excellence of this guidebook was also a big contributing factor…
“Grace, hand over that scrap of paper said to be written by Philia.”
Suddenly, Emily showed interest in Lady Philia’s guidebook. Perhaps she wanted to read it herself… She took it from me and started going through it.
“What! What is this!? This is…”
After finishing reading, Emily handed the guidebook to me, almost as if pushing it into my hands, and then enveloped her entire body in white light. This was a basic ancient spell, a defense technique called the “Robe of Light.”
Emily had mastered it with just one quick read-through.
“M-My talent just happens to be exceptional. This guidebook… it’s not really that amazing… I’ll definitely surpass Philia Adenauer!”
“But isn’t that sound like you are admitting you’re inferior now…”
“Jane! I told you to be quiet!”
Emily, burning with fighting spirit, swiftly excelled in mastering ancient spells over everyone else, and she was already in the process of mastering the Magic Power Concentration Technique.
Amanda and Jane were also progressing smoothly on the path to mastery, and it seemed like they would learn the technique at the pace predicted by Lady Philia.
At this rate, we will surely make it in time… Lady Philia, please wait for me. I, Grace, will undoubtedly return to Parnacota…
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