Chapter 80. The Young Thing That Broke Out of the World Called an Egg (3)
“Tolome plans to support 40 out of 53 knights, Baron Blanc.”
Bartomyu spoke while drinking the tea he brought out himself in Blanc’s office.
Tolome supported knights reaching 80% of the knighthood to the Cadmus family.
Supporting this many knights was no different from meaning investing everything in Blanc except for the minimum personnel to protect Tolome.
It wasn't just Bartomyu.
Berger, the Head of Neudorf sitting opposite him, also promised to mobilize the family’s capabilities totally and support about 30 mages.
Since the name of Franz Neudorf, the successor of Neudorf, was also on this list, it could be seen as doing the best they could as Blanc’s in-laws.
Not only high-class troop types countable in the Felix Kingdom but even the private soldier groups of the two families already wielding reputation.
The Cadmus family received support of a total of 600 troops.
Just looking at the reaction of Cardinal Julio sitting next to Bartomyu could tell how much the two families were staking life and death on Blanc.
Because Cardinal Julio, hearing the remarks of the two Meritorious Noble families which were no different from a declaration of total war, was continuously drinking the tea Blanc brought out to hide his fluster.
“I know well how great expectations the Heads of the two families have on me.”
Blanc stood up, bowed his head, and expressed gratitude to Bartomyu and Berger.
As Blanc sat down, Cardinal Julio stepped up and spoke as if it was his turn to step up.
“Then the time to notarize the strategic alliance of the three families…….”
“Cardinal, I apologize but there is something to say before that.”
Blanc cutting off the Cardinal’s words could be called rude, but Cardinal Julio decided to listen to Blanc’s words first rather than snapping at him.
Because the spirit of Blanc blocking his words was unusual.
“The reason I invited Cardinal Julio and two Counts to this seat is actually not to discuss the reclamation of Norington.”
“What does that…….”
At Blanc’s sudden remark, Bartomyu and Berger made puzzled expressions.
Blanc looked at the influential figures sitting in his office and spoke.
“What I say from now on is not words spoken as Baron Cadmus.”
At the words of Blanc continuing seriously, everyone in the room listened quietly.
***
Iselin was resting her chin on her arms at the 2nd-floor window looking outside.
At the place her gaze reached, a living moving black armor was persecuting Simon with a gigantic sword.
The expression persecuting might be correct because right now Simon was dealing with Barzio with his eyes covered.
At first, she wondered if he was giving some punishment, but the knight covering his eyes was dodging Barzio’s sword quite skillfully.
Watching Simon moving more and more skillfully as time passed, Iselin was cheering for him without realizing it.
Because it was a body movement unbelievable for the appearance of a person whose vision was sealed.
Probably acrobatics of circus troupes occasionally visiting Baltimere wouldn't be able to reproduce a tension-filled appearance like now.
“Oh!”
Simon, who was staggering and barely dodging the sword, extended his sword toward Barzio with lightning-like movement at some moment.
At Simon’s attack attempted for the first time, Iselin shouted and cheered for him without realizing it, but.
“Kugh!”
-Because it’s too accurate, it’s easily predicted where it comes in!
Barzio pushed away Simon who covered his vision harshly.
-Discard the thought of using the sword prettily!
“Ah!”
Simon falling away messily enough for Iselin to scream.
Barzio looked at the panting Simon and raised his head to look at the sky.
Before they knew it, the sun had risen to the highest point.
-Let’s rest for a while.
As Barzio disappeared with those words, Iselin called Simon from the 2nd-floor window.
“Seemed like you’d lose even fighting normally, why did you fight covering eyes? Did you do something wrong?”
It was an unfair fight even to the young Iselin’s eyes.
“....I’m in the middle of training to refine my energy perception, miss.”
Simon answered looking up at Iselin in a state lying spread-eagle on the ground still covering his eyes.
“What training is done covering eyes? There wasn't such a person among Tolome’s knights either.”
As Iselin said, the training Simon was doing now was an action transcending common sense.
However, it was also training suitable for Simon by that much.
Barzio grasped that his ability to capture targets accurately or trauma of fearing seeing blood all originated from his keen energy sense.
Barzio suggested to Blanc to specialize such characteristics of Simon into strengths, and Blanc accepted his proposal.
Since Barzio was a knight possessing skill excellent enough for Ulrich to prepare for him, there was no reason for Blanc not to listen to his words.
“Seeing all kinds of weird training.”
However, like Iselin’s words, it was merely training looking strange to others’ eyes.
“If covering eyes anyway why not block ears too? Barzio was making sounds deliberately.”
Iselin, perhaps losing interest in Simon who had no more movement, turned her body and disappeared, but.
“……?”
Simon realized there was something felt in Iselin’s words and jumped up.
However, the girl who conversed with him just now was gone without a trace.
Iselin moved busily.
Cadmus' mansion was small enough not to be compared with Tolome, but for things to see, it was Cadmus' overwhelming victory.
She passed by scanning landscapes visible out the window.
In the landscape visible just now, a short Dwarf with a long beard was flying crossbow bolts toward a target.
The Dwarf, perhaps finding something unsatisfactory, was throwing the crossbow and shouting curses.
“Hmm.”
He was a Dwarf Iselin was eyeing these days.
Because the short Dwarf was making strange devices of unknown usage whenever Iselin saw him.
One day she even spent the whole day blankly watching his working appearance.
“Seems he’s in a bad mood today.”
Iselin was a clever girl.
Since his mood looked uncomfortable to target the Dwarf today, she turned her steps toward another destination.
“So you mean this gets familiar to the hand?”
In the landscape visible next, it was a scene where Hansen, who was a knight of Tolome, was lining up weapons in front of Rakshar.
“H-Honestly I don't know well.”
Hansen was struggling to equip Rakshar’s basics meanwhile.
Because Simon Diez was a knight already equipped with a certain level of stage so there was no place for Hansen to touch particularly, but the Werewolf called Rakshar was inexperienced in everything except skill shooting a bow.
Hansen eyed the wildness unique to Werewolves that Rakshar possessed and loyalty to Blanc, so he strived to guide him whenever time allowed.
Because although a knight with excellent skill can be bought with money, a knight with deep loyalty wasn't something obtainable with gold coins.
And judging Rakshar equipped basics to some extent now, he intended to decide on a weapon and educate intensively.
While Hansen and Rakshar were pondering deeply, Iselin approached stealthily from behind and started watching the weapons lined up with them.
Usually, girls of that age would get scared seeing fearsome-looking weapons, but Iselin was a daughter of Tolome, famous as a martial family.
“I like this one!”
Iselin pointed at a weapon of unique shape she had never seen since being born.
Don't know the reason, but because a blue light shone briefly from that weapon.
Iselin liked that light.
“Ah, Miss. It is dangerous here.”
Rakshar held Iselin and moved her inside the mansion lest she get cut by sharp weapons.
In the place Rakshar and Iselin left like that, Hansen was lost in deep worry.
The weapon Iselin chose was a Claw.
It seemed she chose it just because it looked fascinating, but certainly, Evils called Werewolves were things using their own claws as main weapons mostly.
Although Rakshar couldn't pull out his claws long because Werewolf blood was only half mixed.
“Certainly, structurally this fits now…….”
Hansen nodded, picking up the Claw.
Thinking maybe Iselin possessed unexpectedly sharp senses.
***
The office of the Family Head, which could be called the very center of the Cadmus family.
There, Blanc was glaring at the blue bead placed on the desk.
‘How did this get out?’
The blue bead received directly from the Goddesses entering along the holy passage opened by Saintess Monica Sanctus.
Since it was bestowed by the Goddess, he was keeping it preciously and valuably, but.
Starting from it popping out alone and lying neatly on the desk after the encounter with Ciella a few days ago.
From some moment, it escaped Blanc’s cognition and was found in places his gaze didn't reach.
Watching the bead escaping from his bosom deceiving even his senses, Blanc vaguely realized some coercive force that humans cannot sense was occurring.
‘Something is trying to happen.’
Since it was a blue bead delivered telling to find the voice of the Goddess, Blanc thought maybe a revelation related to the Saintess might come down sooner or later, but.
Even so, there was no way the bead disappearing from view repeatedly wouldn't be bothersome.
Blanc put the blue bead firmly inside his bosom again and looked into documents again speaking.
“Don't eat too much before dinner.”
“This is just an appetizer.”
‘Eating bizarre things well.’
His cousin Iselin enjoyed eating putting mint in various desserts since tasting mint candy.
Mint cake, mint chocolate, mint cookies, etc.
Seeing her eating things that made one frown just by looking, Blanc had no choice but to admit this child was an existence transcending his category of understanding.
Even now after finishing the mint cake placed on the plate she was holding, she would clean her mouth with a mint candy.
It was a terrible thing.
“Is this a new flavor?”
Blanc deliberately lowered his head and concentrated on work to not see the bizarre scene.
“The color is so pretty? Does it taste more refreshing?”
Iselin talking to herself like this was no different from a tantrum asking Blanc to look at her, but Blanc really didn't want to see the spectacle of eating mint, so he continued to pretend not to hear and couldn't take his eyes off the documents.
So he didn't notice.
“Hmph! Then I’ll eat alone. Since I’m curious what the blue candy tastes like!”
The appearance of the brilliant blue candy disappearing into Iselin’s mouth.
‘Blue candy?’
Blanc felt a strange sensation at Iselin’s words.
Mint candies, the specialty of High River, were all things having green light according to the color of mint leaves.
He had neither heard nor seen a story that there was a blue candy Iselin mentioned.
‘Don't tell me!’
Blanc felt a horrified feeling and searched his bosom quickly.
‘It’s gone!’
The blue bead definitely put in his bosom just now wasn't caught in his hand.
“Iselin!”
The ‘blue’ haired girl opened her eyes roundly as if surprised at Blanc’s sudden shout.
“Why?”
Iselin looking at Blanc.
Her hair was shining bluely and undulating in all directions as if loosened in water.
“This kind of nonsense…….”
Blanc noticed a blue halo shining behind Iselin’s back.
At that moment he felt he had seen the blue halo from Iselin somewhere, a pink baby bird flew over Iselin’s head and sat down lightly.
The Phoenix symbolizing eternal immortality sat down on the head of the new Saintess.
***
“The one seated before you is not Baron Blanc Cadmus of the Felix Kingdom, but the Seeker of the Blue Star, who seeks the Saintess.”
At Blanc’s sudden remark, Bartomyu and Berger narrowed their brows momentarily and concentrated on his words.
Julio was realizing what Blanc intended to do now from deep within his soul.
“Oh my god…….”
The historic moment announcing the 17th Saintess.
The second coming of the Saintess announced in a whopping 50 years since Monica Sanctus.
Cardinal Julio realized that this seat right now was thoroughly planned by Blanc.
The Seeker of the Blue Star who hid the figure of the Goddess Order called Julio from the world’s attention using the gigantic shadows of influential figures called Bartomyu and Berger.
Young and clever but shining beautifully by that much, the black wolf.
“Blanc Cadmus, the Seeker of the Blue Star speaks.”
That wolf closed his dark blue eyes and spoke.
“When I followed the blue light and turned my head, there was a pure virgin with a Phoenix symbolizing eternal immortality on her head looking at me.”
The Seeker of the Blue Star fulfilled his holy duty.
According to the Goddesses’ intention, he found the purest, most innocent, and clear girl in this world and embraced her in the Order’s bosom.
“That pure virgin’s name is.”
Blanc looked around everyone sitting here and declared.
“Iselin Tolome.”
“……Oh my god.”
Bartomyu ended up letting out a sound of deflating wind as his most cherished granddaughter’s name was heard from the mouth of the Seeker of the Blue Star.
A situation he dared not even imagine.
Even the highest lion of Tolome couldn't fully accept the current situation and was astonished.
Not only Bartomyu but even Berger, who directly saved Iselin from death, was feeling dizziness momentarily.
“Then…… Then, from that time the Goddesses’ guidance was…….”
Berger recalling that the young Baron who would become a hero found the Moonlit Grass existing only in legends and put it in his hand.
Even the wise Berger found it hard to find reason realizing the fact that he was actually inside a gigantic flow created by the Goddesses.
Even then he thought it was a flow like fate, but he didn't imagine the result would reach the current situation.
He lifted his trembling hand and looked at it.
That the wish of the Goddesses resided very briefly on this wrinkled insignificant fingertip.
Berger carefully gathered two hands, brought them to his forehead, and carefully started reciting a prayer.
Blanc’s office was engulfed in silence instantly.
However, although sound was empty, intense emotions emitted by the gathered people were boiling from all sides.
The one who found the Saintess.
The one who let the Saintess be born.
The one who saved the Saintess.
The one who will announce the Saintess.
These 4 people were gathered at the mansion of Cadmus according to the intention of the Seeker of the Blue Star.
And by them, the blue star called Iselin will be born again.
The young thing called Iselin broke the egg called ‘Tolome’ according to the Goddesses’ guidance and came out to the world.
From now on she is the 17th Saintess of the Goddess Order.
“I announce that a new Blue Star has been born.”
It was Iselin ‘Sanctus’.