novelraw Chapter 113
Chapter 113
Chapter 113. The Saint (1)
There are times when customs one could not understand in youth become comprehensible with age.
For Hector Rosemore, tradition was one such thing.
In his youth, he had felt dissatisfied that birth order was the most important factor in determining succession. He had felt it unjust that simply for being born second, he had to join the military rather than the family's internal business. And beyond that, he had been indignant that barring a miracle, even his children's children would be nothing but 'collateral line' of the Rosemore family.
He had resented his elder brother, and furthermore sought to have his rightful claims recognised by the family.
But as the years passed, he lived through war. And watching noble families rise and fall amid that turmoil.
Hector learned.
Tradition was something that held its own value and purpose.
A noble family distributing its authority and gold coins equally among all its children.
It looks fine on the surface. It even sounds like a heartwarming story at first glance.
Yet a dispersed power cannot speak with a single voice, and that leads directly to the decline of the family as a whole.
Therefore, the strength of Rosemore had to converge into a single point.
Having come to understand this, Hector set aside his personal ambitions. He dedicated himself to supporting his elder brother, the family head, and lived for the family.
Because that was the correct path, for the sake of the family.
"Insolent creature."
This was the reason Hector could not look upon Penelope favourably.
Penelope had been a problem from childhood.
The moment she failed to acquire 'Full Bloom' in Alchemy—the bare minimum expected of anyone in the Rosemore family—the role given to her was precisely that of a chess piece for a political marriage, nothing more.
Yet Penelope had torpedoed every last political marriage that Hector had arranged.
Making use of her comely looks and simply winning over a man's heart—such an easy task. She had failed to properly fulfil the one and only duty she had been given.
Penelope was now proving herself by establishing Y&P Trading Company, but even that came across to Hector not as proof, but as yet another cause for suspicion.
"What sort of people has she gotten herself mixed up with……."
Could that truly be entirely Penelope's own capability?
There were plenty of investments she had thrown herself into to prove her abilities, only to botch them completely. She was a fool who had failed at easy money-making even with a Rosemore research team behind her.
At a time when internal family discord was flaring up over the succession. The fact that she had of all moments now pulled her business onto the right track could only invite suspicion that a third faction had gotten involved.
"She ought to take after her elder sister……."
Look at Clarisse.
Despite being so remarkably capable, she had humbly accepted her proper place. Even as someone whose talent was such that she could have split the family in two had she harboured ambition, she was offering her full cooperation to her elder brother Rupert.
That noble self-sacrifice was the one and only value Penelope should have emulated.
Not this—brazenly setting herself against Clarisse with such impertinence.
Seething in indignation as he was, Hector received a call from Clarisse.
[Great-Uncle, there is a matter I wish to ask of you.]
A request to decisively obstruct Penelope's business.
"It seems it is time to take up the rod after some while."
There was no reason not to accept.
***
Penelope, who had managed to carry herself with a certain composure even when she had nearly been killed by a Dark Mage.
Yet this time, to put it plainly, she was well and truly rattled.
In the second-floor office of the Cola sales shop that also served as Y&P Trading Company's study, she was flipping through documents without purpose, accumulating stress. On the sofa beside her, Serena lay sprawled out on her back, stomach exposed, sleeping without a care in the world.
"At this rate I'm going to go grey……."
She was blonde, so it probably wouldn't show much—but she was worried enough to think such things.
Where would the attack come from? Would she immediately go after the three young ladies who had been supporting the CCC Franchise?
She had secured ample cash liquidity, and had hired a guard the other day, so she had more or less put up a defensive posture, but……
Could she actually fend it off?
Should she try bluffing—saying she knew Bell had ties to Black Magic, and that the evidence was in her hands, so neither side should touch the other?
"No, that won't do……."
Clarisse was not someone to be fooled by such a lightweight bluff.
"Building up a deterrent is the best approach, but……."
Clack
While she was wracking her brains for a sharp solution that wasn't coming to her, Jurgen stepped in.
"Jurgen, good timing. I've been thinking……."
"Penelope, we have a distinguished guest."
Penelope, who had been about to greet Jurgen warmly, stopped short. A woman with a robe pulled deep over her face was standing beside him.
"How do you do? I am Penelope Rosemore of Y&P Trading Company."
Since Jurgen had brought her, she was presumably a guest connected to business. Penelope bowed her head and greeted her courteously for now.
"Aaah, whaaa…… wh, what is it?"
"We have a guest. Guest, wake up."
She then nudged and kicked Serena, who was sprawled out on the sofa without a care, to get her up. Just as Penelope was feeling a touch embarrassed at having shown a rather undignified sight—
"This person is……."
"There's no need for you to step in. I'll introduce myself."
The woman, who had been speaking in a soft, measured tone, removed her robe. Contrary to the worn robe, short hair the colour of clear water drifted lightly.
"Hm?"
Serena stared blankly at her face and said,
"Somehow…… you resemble the Saint."
"I am merely a humble vessel that conveys God's will; all things are by His grace."
That was an answer that surpassed even Serena's, and Penelope's, expectations.
Normally—
'You resemble the Saint?'
'Oh my, I hear that from time to time. But no, that's not me~'
……Wasn't that how the conversation was supposed to go?
Even if Veritas's religious standing was not what it once was, members of the clergy were not to be treated lightly even by royalty.
It wasn't as though the Red Moon was upon them. Why on earth would the Saint suddenly show up right here at Y&P Trading Company?
"……."
"……."
The two of them turned to Jurgen with looks demanding an explanation.
The meaning behind each of those looks differed slightly: Penelope's was 'what on earth is this?' while Serena's carried the feeling of 'don't tell me…… he had connections with the Saint too?'
"Ah, really…… by coincidence! By coincidence, while travelling around the North…… ah, that's not quite it……."
Stella began to explain something in Jurgen's stead.
"Some time ago, when I was staying at the Nortaris hotel, I happened to have the opportunity to drink Cola…… The sweetness captivated me at the time. I wanted to let the other sisters at the convent taste it as well…… but what I brought back did not taste the same……."
Stella's manner of speaking gradually shifting toward Serena's tone as she went on. Her embarrassment was plain to see.
"So you came all the way to the North, to obtain Cola?"
"Yes, w, well, this isn't the only reason…… it was something of a two-birds-one-stone visit."
It was the manner of speaking of someone who had come entirely for this reason. But Penelope had no difficulty understanding what Stella meant.
It wasn't as though she had packed it carefully in a cargo hold to prevent shaking—if she had carried a few bottles with her on the journey, the carbonation might have gone flat along the way.
"You've come to the right place. We'll send it in an icebox, as cold as possible. Could you provide the convent's address?"
Penelope didn't particularly follow any religion. But a Saint was clearly a remarkable person, and the fact that such a remarkable person enjoyed Cola was somehow gratifying.
Cola was something like a child to Penelope, the very thing that had made her who she was today. It is said there is no parent who takes no pleasure in their child being praised.
"Your words are kind, but I would like to receive it as an official supply to the convent. That is why I came all the way to the North."
"How much were you thinking in terms of quantity?"
"Oh, ah, um…… around thirty bottles a month……?"
Penelope had hoped 'is this an opportunity?' and felt a pang of disappointment at the figure of thirty bottles, but that feeling didn't linger long.
CCC had been causing a sensational ripple effect recently, making it easy to overlook, but Y&P Trading Company's true strength lay in Cola. The volume of Cola sold through CCC alone was enormous, and it had already established itself as an essential item among adventurers in the North.
It had settled in so completely it could rightly be called a culture unto itself.
At that volume and magnitude of affairs, this felt like a passing episode.
"That much we can handle right away. Free of charge, of course."
As Penelope moved to resolve things in her characteristic decisive manner, Serena cut in.
"P, Penelope……! You heard who this person is! How can you address the Saint so casually? Saint……! Here, some cold Cola and lime……!"
"Oh, um…… you really don't have to go this far……."
"No, I insist……! Please accept my devotion……!"
Serena kneels and offers Cola on a tray. Serena, following her kidnapping by a Dark Mage, had become a devout Veritas believer who attended church every Sunday.
"It, it's not quite the right word, but…… might you be able to cast a blessing……?"
"A blessing?"
"Yes…… preferably something like a blessing against being kidnapped."
"There isn't quite one like that…… But I can offer a prayer."
After this brief little comedy had run its course. Serena explained the reason she had interjected.
"Penelope, you can't simply ship just anything to a convent."
"Hm?"
"Convents operate on a principle of self-sufficiency."
Serena knew precisely. Veritas, a religion whose motto was poverty and frugality. And so one of the most important duties of the monastics who lived out their lives in the convent was tending to the fields.
Beyond that, goods purchased or brought in from outside had to go through a specific ritual.
"Yes, that is as you say. I wish to conduct a Consecration on the Cola."
The Consecration Ritual. A verification process to certify that goods had been produced in accordance with church doctrine and in keeping with God's word.
Of course, the world does not run purely on principle.
The Consecration Ritual itself was cumbersome. Having a priest come, offer prayers, conduct rituals and so forth—it was work that took at minimum several days.
With how many convents there were throughout the kingdom, and how many clergy lived within them, if every single item had to undergo Consecration, the Church would end up resembling a vagabond's den rather than a house of worship.
In reality, what actually underwent the Consecration procedure was trifling items such as vestments and articles used in worship, with goods largely being supplied without ceremony.
Is she being such a stickler for procedure because she's a Saint……?
Just as Penelope was thinking this, a bolt of insight struck her like lightning.
Come to think of it……
Penelope had been racking her brains all along for a way to stand against Clarisse.
And wasn't the Church the group that Dark Mages were most wary of? Strictly speaking, what was happening here was simply a Saint who wanted to drink Cola, conducting a Consecration.
But from Clarisse's perspective?
A Saint arrived to conduct a Consecration on Y&P Trading Company's Cola immediately after Bell, who had been connected to a Dark Mage, had been disposed of. That would be rather significant.
"Yes, of course. We will cooperate fully. Please let us know whatever you need……!"
Penelope was ready to make sure she did not let this opportunity slip by.