Blessings Be Upon You*9
“An explanation… please, give me an explanation… I’m about to lose my composure here…”
“Asuma-sama, that’s rare. You’re not dancing or screaming at a time like this…”
“That’s exactly why he’s about to lose his composure…”
People behind me were whispering whatever they wanted, but without dancing or screaming, I asked Edele-san to explain things. The one who understood this situation best right now was Edele-san. Without a doubt — Edele-san!
“Um, it’s not like it was written in great detail, you know? Just… Asuma-sama has become a topic in the royal castle, and they’ve been arguing about what to do with Saintess Sati. And so, apparently, someone suggested that ‘if we just marry the two of them, that would be a convenient way to handle Saintess Sati’s situation for now.’”
“Why…? Why is that convenient…?”
“I suppose it’s an age thing…? And also, if she marries someone from a village not far from the royal capital, that would be convenient in various ways…”
Ah… ahhh… I’m nineteen… and if I get engaged to a seven-year-old little girl, isn’t that a crime…? At least make her ten years older… Even Hikaru Genji, if I remember right, was just an eighteen-year-old guy taking notice of a ten-year-old girl, wasn’t he…? No, I’m not saying ten would be fine or anything, okay…?
“And also, it seems that the Saintess Sati herself has been saying, ‘Asuma-kun is so cool…’”
“Gbbbh—”
“You just made a really strange noise, Asuma-sama.”
“That’s how shocked he must be…”
… What am I supposed to do!? Seriously, what am I supposed to do!? I don’t know what to do anymore!
Aaaaahhh! No good! I’m done for! I’m done! I’m gonna dance AND scream! I’ll even blow my samba whistle while I’m at it! Gather, slimes! Come dance with me! Dance and escape reality, that’s the only way!
So I danced for a while. Once the slimes finished dancing, they squished and squashed their way off to disperse. Thanks. I’ll count on you again if anything happens.
“A-anyway, Laperesiana-sama said, ‘It’s just a rumor that came up, but telling Asuma-sama ahead of time will give him the information he needs to decide how to conduct himself,’ so she told you before it was settled.”
“O-ohhh, it’s not decided yet!? It’s not decided yet, right, Edele-san!?”
“That’s right. It’s not decided yet.”
“Thank goodness…”
Being soothed by Edele-san, I decided to calm down for now. Yep. Feeling a lot calmer.
“Asuma-sama looks like a sleepy slime…”
“He must’ve felt relieved… Wait, hold on. Does that mean slimes are sleepy when they’re a little flattened?”
I don’t know if slimes are sleepy when they’re squished like that, but right now, being patted by Edele-san, I’m getting sleepy. Without a doubt, sleepy. She’s definitely trying to put me to bed! Aaaaahhh! She’s gonna put me to sleep! My elementary-school body can’t handle this emotional roller coaster, the full-power samba, AND Edele-san’s bedtime technique all at once!
So, I slept. Then I woke up. Good morning. What a pleasant morning. It’s not morning, though. I didn’t sleep until morning, of course I didn’t.
“Uh… so what do I do. I seriously have no idea how to turn this down… I wanna talk to Laperesiana-sama about it too, since I’m sending the report anyway…”
And so, I’m thinking. Because an engagement with Saintess Sati is obviously tangled up with some political somethings.
Personally, my choice is to refuse, but I do want to think carefully about how to refuse, possible tradeoffs, stuff like that.
“Eh— you’re really going to refuse? But Sati-chan is so cute…”
Meanwhile Mishisia-san very genuinely seems disappointed that I’d “refuse!?” No no no, YOU’RE the one saying that!?
“Well, yeah she’s cute, okay? She’s cute, but she’s seven. And I’m nineteen. Mishisia-san, I know you forget this a lot…”
“Hmmm… From my perspective, I can’t really tell the difference between seven and nineteen…”
“Ah~… yeah. Well. Yeah.”
… From Mishisia-san’s perspective, that tracks. If someone’s over a hundred years old, a twelve-year age gap really ain’t much, huh…?
“So from Asuma-sama’s point of view, Sati-chan is not a romantic possibility?”
“Yeah. Definitely not.”
I felt bad disappointing Mishisia-san, but seven is just… yeah, no. I do think she’s cute, but the type of “cute” is way too different.
“Really? I thought you two would be a good match…”
Yeah, she doesn’t seem to get it at all. She’s saying whatever she wants.
“… You know, Mishisia-san. From my point of view, you’re more of a possible romantic partner than Saintess Sati is.”
“Eh!? But the age gap between us is even bigger!? No good… I really don’t understand human age sense at all…”
I meant it as “this is normal for someone nineteen,” but Mishisia-san started sinking into deeper thought, mumbling things like “A hundred-year difference isn’t that big for humans…? Is it because being older doesn’t matter…? Or is it that childhood differences matter but adulthood doesn’t…?”
I may have done something bad…
“Ah, Asuma-sama is nineteen… wasn’t he. My apologies. I forgot.”
“Lisas-san too…”
“A dancing nineteen-year-old is rare, Asuma-sama.”
“Edele-san too!?”
… Should I not dance so much? But if I stop acting weird, that’s not me anymore. Balancing identity and social norms is hard…
“Well, putting dancing and age aside— Asuma-sama, you’ll be returning to your homeland eventually, right?”
“Yeah. That’s another reason I can’t get engaged.”
Right. At the end of the day, I have several reasons, but refusing is already decided. I’m going back to my original world, after all.
“… So that brings us to: I need to figure out how to phrase my refusal.”
“Yes… Especially since it seems that Saintess Sati genuinely has feelings for you, that complicates it further…”
Yeah… I have to think about how to behave so she doesn’t grow more attached to me…
Ah, Laperesiana-sama. Thank you so much for telling me ahead of time!
Well, anyway, I sent a letter to Laperesiana-sama.
If I manage to reproduce the mechanism behind the “Blessing,” this kingdom’s food supply problem might get solved in one go. And if that happens, shaking free of the church — or rather, separating religion and state — well… maybe some of the problematic structures will improve.
So I’ll keep researching.
“I want to continue investigating alternatives to the ‘Blessing.’ Especially the part about ‘how to realize it.’”
“Huh?”
… Especially that part.
Even if I understand the theory, that’s not enough. From there, I have to improve it toward practical use — that’s where it really starts. It’s tough, but there’s no choice but to do it.
“Even if I understand how magic works, I still don’t know how you guys use magic…”
“Huh? With spirit and concentration… right?”
“How does spirit and concentration let you bend physical laws…?”
“Huh? Isn’t that just how it works…?”
After staring at Mishisia-san for a moment, I turned to look at Lisas-san with the expression “Is that really how it is?”
Lisas-san looked away with an expression like “Well, yeah, kinda.”
No good— this world is full-on fantasy! I’m gonna lose my mind!
“Wait, hold on? If you can activate magic with just that, shouldn’t magic be more widespread…?”
“Hmmm, but people have different mana… so there are spells they can and can’t use, right?”
“That’s true… I can’t use the ‘Blessing’ like Saintess Sati. I can enhance my body somewhat, though.”
“I can enhance my eyesight and such, but even though I have elf blood, I’m not great at plant-handling magic…”
… Ah, I see. Yeah, yeah, I think I’m understanding a bit.
Basically, humans themselves are lumps of mana. The mana they have as the raw material for magic varies greatly from person to person, and that shows up as aptitude.
If that’s the case, then yeah, making tools still seems meaningful… but it might be difficult.
A few days later—
“Asuma-sama! A letter!”
I was watering the slimes when Edele-san came to call me.
“Yay— is it good news or bad news?”
“Hmmm, maybe both.”
I see. Then start with the good news.
“Laperesiana-sama wants you to come to the royal capital once. She wants to talk about Saintess Sati. Sati-chan is already there, so she wants you to come as well.”
… Ahhh I see! They’re both coming at once!
A little scary! Very scary! Am I going to end up engaged to a seven-year-old!? Am I!?
Terrified, I headed toward the royal capital. The only saving grace was how comfortable the carriage ride was.
“Asuma-sama looks like a wilted plant…”
“Yeah… well, I’m about to go reject a seven-year-old girl…”
“You’re really going to reject her?”
“Of course…”
Yeah, seven is just… yeah. It’s heartbreaking, but it can’t be helped.
And so the carriage creaked along like in “Donna Donna,” and I was delivered. I might know how that calf felt.
No, maybe I’m like a calf who’s gradually accepted his fate.
We stayed one night in Lark Town, then went to the capital the next day. Comfortable ride, speedy arrival. No turning back. I’ve become a cow who’s come to terms with destiny.
“Asuma-sama is making an un-cute face…”
“Like a warrior heading to the battlefield…”
Yeah. That’s exactly how I feel. Come at me from anywhere!
When we reached the royal capital’s test farm, Laperesiana-sama was already there. And she was bouncing atop a super huge slime.
“Laperesiana-sama!”
“Ah, you came! Sorry for summoning you like this!”
Laperesiana-sama cheerfully raised a hand and lightly hopped down from the super huge slime.
“So… you’ve heard from Edele?”
“Ah, yes. Up to the part about the engagement discussion.”
Here it comes, I thought, bracing myself fully as I listened. And then—
“I see… There seem to be many in the royal castle who think you’re a prodigy from Panis Village. Since none of them know you’re the guardian deity of the dungeon, the discussion ended up becoming what it is…”
Ahhh, that explains it. True, if everyone knew I was the dungeon master, they’d be a lot more careful.
“Well, knowing that Asuma-sama has his own circumstances, I halted the discussion for now, saying ‘the person’s feelings should matter.’”
“Thank you very much. Um… I’m not really thinking about marriage or anything…”
“I understand. Very well. Then I shall act accordingly.”
Ahhh bless you! Seriously, Laperesiana-sama, I can’t thank you enough! Truly grateful!
“… However, some fool already went ahead and spoke to Saintess Sati without authorization.”
… That part is NOT appreciated! Come on! Don’t go unsupervised like that!
“And it seems Saintess Sati is not displeased with the idea.”
Aaaaaaaahhh! Seriously! Please stop doing this to me! It’s the worst when the other side is willing but I’m not! Hey! Someone help!
“… And Saintess Sati is here today…”
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!
“Asuma-sama! This is no time to be dancing!”
“I KNOW THAT!”
Damn it! No escape! But… I must face this!
… Because she’s coming from over there! Saintess Sati! Shuffling shyly toward me!
What do you think about this chapter?
