- (Anna’s POV) -

I just left the temple and I’m currently jumping on the roofs.

What the hell does the Pope means by ‘Angel-sama’?! I was sent by a God, but I’m definitely not an angel, right? RIGHT? Well, whatever, let’s not think about it.

More importantly, I need to find a way to make sure that Lylith is safe. The easiest way would be to keep her with me 24/24h or let her stay somewhere, but I can’t be with her everytimes and I don’t want to lock her up! I think she could disguise herself… Yup, it might be a good idea!

I don’t want to put Alice’s family in danger because of me, but I believe it’s better if I talk with them and try to find a solution. I can also bring Lylith to the orphanage in Marina, but she would be far from her father, I don’t know if she will be happy… Let’s keep it for the last resort.

With everything that happened, I don’t feel like resuming my visit of the capital. Let’s go back home!

I jump from a roof to another roof for a few minutes, then I land in front of the door.

“WHAAAA!” (butler)

Oops! I landed right behind a butler… Sorry!~

I put back Lylith and Alice on the ground, then we head inside the mansion. Once I’m inside, I can see Eleonora but there is also a boy close to my age looking at me. What’s his problem? He looks at me as if he is inspecting me! Suddenly Alice speaks:

“Oh! It’s Nii-sama!” (Alice)

WHAT?! It’s her brother? I completely forgot that she has a brother! I remember that he is 17 years old and that he goes to school in the capital. Seeing my surprised face, Eleonora speaks:

“Anna-chan, he is Alice’s brother, his name is Charles. And Charles, here is Anna, she is the one I talked about!” (Eleonora)

Charles comes closer to me and starts to inspect my whole body. What the hell is wrong with him?! After at least half a minute, he back off and says:

“Hmph, you pass.” (Charles)

What?! I pass what exactly?! After his words, he leaves the room and go upstairs. What the hell? Eleonora speaks again:

“I’m sorry, he is a bit… weird with strangers and he is a bit too overprotective of his sister… But he is a nice guy once you know him!” (Eleonora)

“…Ok…” (Anna)

Well, let’s focus on Lylith’s problem for now.

“Eleonora, I need to talk with you and Roland, it’s important.” (Anna)

When I say the word ‘important’, Eleonora’s expression become serious. As expected, you can rely on her when it’s needed, even if she jokes all the times!

“Ara? I understand, let’s go to Roland’s office.” (Eleonora)

We head toward Roland’s office and knock on the door; Lylith and Alice are also with us.

“Please enter.” (Roland)

The four of us enter the office and sit in front of his desk. Roland look at us strangely, probably surprised to have so many people coming to him.

“So, why are 4 peoples coming to my office at once?” (Roland)

“Well, you see…” (Anna)

I explain everything that I know about Lylith, the church, and that I met the Pope.

“And that’s why, we need to find a way to somehow protect Lylith... I don’t want to put you in danger so I can take care of her alone if it’s too dangerous for you…” (Anna)

He shakes his head slowly.

“No no, it’s fine don’t worry. We only need to disguise her; it shouldn’t be too hard to the maids to change her hairs color and face.” (Roland)

I was quite surprised when I heard about it, apparently this world had make-up but no soap… That’s strange.

Roland continues with a strange face.

“What I’m worried about is the country. If the crown prince become king with the Holy faction with him, the country will be hell.” (Roland)

“I agree, those bastards shouldn’t live! There is only ‘money’ in their head.” (Eleonora)

Wow, Eleonora seems to hate them.

“Why is the king not doing anything? I heard that he is against the crown prince’s opinion.” (Anna)

“He must be afraid to act because he wants to avoid a civil war…” (Roland)

I see, so the king is a pussy…

“Well, it’s good to avoid a civil war; but if he does nothing, the country will collapse! I wish I could meet him to give him a wake-up slap!” (Anna)

Why should I be the one doing all the work to destroy this Holy faction?! I don’t mind doing the fighting part, but the politic part gives me a headache!

“You can meet him, you know?” (Roland)

“What? How?” (Roland)

“Don’t you know the reward for winning the tournament? You receive a lot of money, but also a private meeting with the king and the queen; you can also ask them one of your wishes.” (Roland)

Wow, I completely forgot about the reward! I was only interested in the fight, not really the reward… It’s another reason to win the tournament! Oh, I also want to slap this crown prince! Oops, I should calm down, I will end up executed if I do that~!

“Ohh, good idea!” (Anna)

“Alright! I guess we are done here! Eleonora, bring Lylith to the maids to transform her!” (Roland)

“Ara ara, the maids will be happy to have such a cute material to work with!” (Eleonora)

I take a look at Lylith and she is stiffening, she must be thinking ‘What the hell is going to happen to me?!’.

Alright! It’s time for me to do some preparation for my little vengeance! I need to borrow the kitchen for an hour for that!

********

A few hours later, it’s time for dinner!

Alice, Roland, Eleonora, and I are sitting at the table. We are waiting for the maids to bring Lylith to see her transformation!

Suddenly, the door open and Lylith enter the room. WOW, I didn’t even recognize her! Her hairs went from light blond to brown, and her skin darkened slightly! She is extremely cute, but she doesn’t look like a noble anymore, she looks like a cute commoner. It’s perfect! It seems that the others have the same opinion as me:

“Wow, that’s quite the transformation! It’s amazing!” (Eleonora)

“Indeed!” (Roland)

“You are so cute, Lylith!” (Alice)

Lylith starts to blush after all the compliment, so cute~!

Then she sits and we eat dinner.

************

A few hours later, it’s around midnight. I’m currently in my bed but I’m still awake.

It’s time for a night operation!

I stand up, open the window, and jump on a nearby roof. I jump again to another roof until I arrive in front of the temple. The Pope told me that the Holy faction built their own temple beside this temple, and I think I already found it when I was jumping. I head toward this building and I can read written close to the entrance. Yup, definitely the Holy faction’s temple.

Using my ‘radar’, I can detect a lot of people on the right side of the temple, they are probably sleeping in their room.

I raise my hands toward the sky and start to create a big energy-ball like a certain anime character. I’m not a Chuunibyou so I won’t shout “Genk*dama”. After a few second, I lower my hands and the ball starts to fall. A few seconds later, a huge explosion destroy the left side of the Holy faction’s temple.

I only targeted the side where nobody was, I don’t think it’s a good idea to kill everyone now, it will be for later! Tonight, I only want to give a ‘friendly’ warning~!

After the building is destroyed, I walk toward a nearby wall. I take out what I prepared in the kitchen; it’s a mix of tomato juice and oil. I just took some random ingredients, it’s fine if it’s not too liquid but not too solid aswell. Using this ‘mix’, I start writing on the wall.

After a minute of writing, I back off a bit to take a look at my masterpiece. The sentence is several meters long and I can read:

Yup, perfect! The color is red, so it looks like blood~.

I instantly teleport back to my room and go to bed. I saw nothing, I did nothing, I’m innocent!

I know that it should be a sin to destroy a temple, but it doesn’t matter because they are not even worshipping Goddess Saria. Besides, no one will know that it’s me! Let’s wait that they rebuild the temple, then I will destroy it again!~

This time was my vengeance for messing with my shop. I wonder what vengeance I can do for capturing Lylith, it has to be way more serious!~

While thinking about it with a smile, I fall asleep.

**********

It’s morning! I just woke up, but the sun is already high in the sky… I was woken up by a maid because it’s time for breakfast. I usually wake up a few hours before breakfast to train with the knights and do other stuff, so I’m quite late!

I go downstairs to eat my breakfast. Everyone is already there waiting for me, oops~!

“Ara, you are quite late today!” (Eleonora)

“Haha, sorry… I had some trouble to sleep…” (Anna)

I sit on a chair and start eating. After a few minutes, Eleonora opens her mouth:

“Roland dear, I went to a small tea party with some friends this morning, and I heard that half of the Holy faction’s temple was destroyed last night!” (Eleonora)

Oh, here we go! The news is starting to spread~!

“I’m informed, I got a report earlier.” (Roland)

“Ara, there was even the words written on a wall.” (Roland)

“Yes, the one who did it must be an amazing mage. It’s also a strange coincidence that it happened a few hours after we talked about the church.” (Roland)

Oops, maybe I should have waited a few more days… Well, no. I don’t regret anything!

“Ara ara, the strangest coincidence is that it also happened a few hours after our stock of tomatoes disappeared!” (Eleonora)

*PFFFTTTTT*

I instantly spit out my tea. WHAT DID SHE SAY?!

“Ara, what is this reaction, Anna-chan?” (Eleonora)

“N-Nothing!” (Anna)

She looks at me with a devilish smile. Scary! It’s like she can see through everything!

“Ara ara, don’t tell me… you are the one that destroyed the temple?” (Eleonora)

SHIT! She already knows everything! She was only testing me!

“I…” (Anna)

“Now that I think about it, you woke up quite late today, are you sure you really had some problem to sleep?” (Eleonora)

Well, I fucked up, I guess I have only one thing I can do now. I lower my head and say:

“I’m sorry!” (Anna)

“Ara ara, you don’t need to apologize Anna-chan! It was so satisfying when I heard about their reaction!” (Eleonora)

“Uh? What do you mean?” (Anna)

“Apparently, it made quite a commotion. I even have a friend that told me that her husband decided to stop supporting the Holy faction because of that.” (Eleonora)

“What? Why would he do that?” (Anna)

She laughs really hard for a few seconds then she speaks again:

“Hahaha, you won’t believe what the Pope said when he got interrogated! He said that Goddess Saria is angry because of the Holy faction, so she dropped a poop on their temple! Hahaha! And many nobles that hate the Holy faction agreed, and even many commoners!” (Eleonora)

WHAT?! THIS GUY IS A GENIOUS!! Eleonora keep laughing, and then she continues.

“The Holy church didn’t only lose half of their temple, the also lost a lot of influence. This event became a trigger to make a lot of nobles that hate the Holy faction moving. So, your idea was amazing!” (Eleonora)

“T-Thanks?!” (Anna)

Roland sighs and open his mouth:

“I agree, but please don’t tell anyone that you are the one who did it!” (Roland)

AS IF I WOULD TELL!

“What about the king? Will he finally start to do something about the situation?” (Anna)

“I don’t know, it’s still only morning, his opinion didn’t come to the public yet.” (Roland)

“I see…” (Anna)

I really hope that this king moves his ass now. I unexpectedly gave him a good opportunity! Maybe I should sneak in the palace to take a look? I also want to open a shop in the capital to sell potion because the Holy faction don’t like them, hehe~.

*********

About 1 hour passed since I ate my breakfast. I’m currently in the royal palace, I think I finally found the king after a dozen of minutes. He is currently walking in a corridor along with a few knights and I’m following him sneakily. He is wearing a crown and very luxurious clothes, so it’s the king, right? He has a unique silver hair like it was described in a book. The same book also stated that his name is Richard Morton Paluna, it’s as excepted from a king to have the country’s name in his name!

I also saw a girl with silver hair leaving the palace earlier, maybe it was the oldest princess?

Oh, the king entered a room, let’s follow him! I look at a window, then I enter inside with teleportation. My teleportation skill require to have an image of the place where I want to teleport and bring my mana there at the same time, that’s why I can only teleport to a place I already visited in the past. But if I can see something through a window, I can easily enter inside since I have a perfect image of the place… If I have a perfect picture and I also know where the location is, I can also do it, but I don’t think I will find a perfect picture in this world, it has to be a photo.

Ohh, the room I entered is actually the throne room! I can see the king sitting on his throne, then suddenly the big door is opening. From the door, I can see a young boy in his early twenty entering the room, he also has short silver hair. As soon as he is inside the room, he starts shouting with an angry voice:

“Father!” (??)

Father? Is it the prince? Well, it seems obvious since he has the same hair color… But in a throne room, don’t you need to walk, kneel, and speak only once the king allow it? Or maybe the rule is different for a prince?

“Thomas! I already told you to respect the etiquette when you enter the throne room! You already made me hurry by requesting an audience urgently!” (king Richard)

Ah, it seems I was right that he is currently rude!

“Who care about that! I heard that you ordained to arrest Archpriest Oscar! Why would you do that?!” (Thomas)

“For treason obviously!” (king Richard)

WHAT?! He is already taking care of him?! Sorry for everything I said, you are not a pussy that need a wake-up call, I mean not anymore.

The prince, however, has a face like if he doesn’t understand what’s going on.

“What do you mean treason?! He was going to help me to make the country grow!” (Thomas)

“Are you seriously saying that?! When we investigated his temple after it was half destroyed, we discovered several proofs that he did illegal activities! Moreover, I already told you a million times to stop frequenting him! He only wants to make you become a tyrant!” (king Richard)

Ohh, that’s thank to me then!

“So, what’s the problem with that? At least I would be able to ignore the nobles and commoner’s annoying complaint when I become king!” (Thomas)

“I already told you that it’s not how you lead a country! You better change your mind quickly; you are only crown prince because you are the oldest prince!” (king Richard)

Wow… What the hell am I even doing here?! I’m assisting to a discussion that might determine the fate of the country! More seriously, it seems like what the Pope said is true… they don’t seem to like each other…

“W-What?! How can you say that?!” (Thomas)

“Also, I still didn’t approve of your marriage with this baron’s daughter! She is too stupid to be a queen! She also has no manner; she would be the shame of the country!” (king Richard)

“Why are you bringing up Charlotte here? She has nothing to do with this problem!” (Thomas)

“I mean that you have nothing deserving to be a king! Both your personality and love interest are a minus! She might influence you to spend a lot of money to buy expensive jewelry or dress, she only thinks about herself after all!” (king Richard)

“How can you say that?! Charlotte is a perfect flower!” (Thomas)

Wow, just what I am listening… Is this girl really like that? I’m curious to see her with my own eyes!

“Only you see her like that! Both me and your mother are very disappointed in you. I really don’t know what to do with you. Now get lost, I don’t want to see you anymore!” (king Richard)

The prince turns and starts to head back toward the door while saying:

“Mphh! You will regret it!” (Thomas)

The prince leaves the room and closes the door with a loud ‘bang’ while the king holds his head in his hands. I understand your pain, king. I’m sorry for wanting to slap you!

I teleport back to my room while thinking about what I heard. I guess I can let the king take care of this Holy faction now, he won’t fuck up, right? RIGHT? I also have my own problems and wishes; I would like to open a shop in the capital… I also need to prepare for Eleonora’s birthday, I would like to get closer to several nobles to gain some influence! It will be useful to protect myself, my friends, and my shops!