𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏: 𝐈𝐭 𝐂𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭
“I, because I am going to marry the princess.”
“Huh?”
“Maylene, please go back to the village and marry someone else. You must be earning a lot of money, right?”
If it had been just a dream, it would have been better.
With a faint hope, even if I blinked slowly, Jude in front of me still had a distorted face. It felt like the ground I had slowly built since childhood was collapsing with a loud and awkward sound.
Jude and I had promised to marry since we were young. If nothing had happened, we would have been married by now and maybe even had children.
But three years ago, a new Demon King was born, and a hero and his companions were chosen to defeat the Demon King. Jude was chosen as the hero.
Until then, he had been living a leisurely life in a rural village, but his talent was recognized, and he was decided to join the Demon King subjugation party.
For the sake of the country. And ultimately, for the world.
I swallowed my loneliness and bid him farewell, thinking it was a noble cause.
[When I come back, let’s get married.]
I believed in those words and continued to wait. I couldn’t send letters, and the only way to know about his well-being was through the newspaper. When I saw it, brought by a merchant who came near the village once a week, I felt relieved that he was still alive.
I couldn’t help but feel pathetic for being able to do nothing but wait.
The year after Jude left, it was decided that the Saint’s examination would be held in the capital. The recruitment guidelines, distributed to towns and villages throughout the country, were also posted in our village, which was quite far from the capital.
The church in the capital was where the strongest Saints in the country gathered, and it was said that they had never conducted such a large-scale recruitment examination before.
However, due to the revival of the Demon King, there was a shortage of manpower.
For the sake of defeating evil, they wanted those with magical power to cooperate. That was the wording used.
It was common knowledge, even for children, that one couldn’t become a Saint if they couldn’t use magic. This applied not only to Saints belonging to the church in the capital but also to others.
Even commoners have magical power, but only nobles are limited to those who can use magic. It is said that there is a knack to using it, and to learn that knack, one needs money and connections. That’s why many commoners with magical power end up living their lives without utilizing it.
They must have noticed this shortage of manpower. The prominently displayed rewards were also quite substantial. If you worked for a year, you could have a splendid wedding and even have change left over.
This is it. I tightly grasped the distributed recruitment guidelines that were placed nearby and ran home.
It wasn’t because I was attracted to the rewards. I was happy because I had a reason to go to the capital. If I went to the capital, I could find out about Jude’s well-being much faster than staying in the village. If I became a Saint, even if only a little, I could be of help to him. It would be much better than the current situation.
So I desperately persuaded my parents. My father and mother didn’t approve of me leaving the village following Jude. But in the end, they agreed, understanding that there would be less danger within the capital.
The condition my parents presented to me was to send letters regularly.
I returned to my room and packed the bare minimum into my bag. It seemed that people were coming from afar, as the exams were scheduled for about three weeks. I should go during this time. But I want to know the results quickly. If it doesn’t work out, maybe I can work in the capital.
With such thoughts, I boarded the shared carriage that arrived two days later. There were several women of the same age as me in the carriage. They must be going to take the Saint exam.
I traveled with them for ten days. When we arrived at the church in the capital, the results were immediately announced. It seems that I have a lot of magical power for a commoner. If I practice, I might become more capable than the other children. I was told that and became an Apprentice Saint.
From there, I worked desperately. It was all to become even a little bit of help to him, fighting on the front lines. That was my sole purpose.
As promised to my parents, I sent a letter every month without fail.
The letters from my family detailed the situation in the village where Jude and I were no longer present. It mentioned who got married and how someone’s grandmother’s health worsened. When I received a letter stating that my sister got married shortly after I left, I regretted not waiting a little longer.
Still, I was happy that my allowance was being put to good use, and tears flowed when I saw the photo of the baby that was enclosed in a letter just six months ago.
While listening to the stories of other Apprentice Saints, there were times when I felt anxious about the future. But I still believed that I could be happy like my sister.
When I heard the news that Jude had made peace with the Demon King, I was truly overjoyed. I no longer had to worry about him getting hurt. After finishing work, I spent the whole night crying in my room.
After that, I started seeing articles about the marriage of the Hero and the Princess. Even if I tried not to look, rumors about it circulated daily at the church. Still, I believed in Jude.
『”𝔸𝕨𝕖𝕓𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕤.𝕔𝕠𝕞” – 𝔻𝕚𝕤𝕔𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕒 𝕔𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖, 𝕡𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕕𝕧𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖, 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕚n𝕕𝕦𝕝𝕘𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 “𝕕𝕒𝕚𝕝𝕪 𝕦𝕡𝕕𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤” 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕖𝕩𝕔𝕝𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕥𝕠 “𝕒𝕕𝕧𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕕 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤”.』
