To the fallen saint Ceres, traveling while on the run from the church was tough, and fun at the same time.
She got to see the world as herself, and not as a saint. And she had friends who would never betray her.
She was born a simple villager, but lived as the church said after being set up as a saint.
But now, she made her own choices as she traveled.
This time, when she acted out of her own will, was truly rare for her, but…
“I didn’t expect it to turn out like this…”
Was this the end of their journey?
There was a big natural disaster. A huge storm on the sea.
Ceres, her friends, and all the other people on that ship were in the depths of despair, thinking they could not survive this.
“Is this also a trial…?”
As she prepared to die, she remembered what happened before she got on board.
◇ ◇ ◇
The divine island Arcadia was said to be the home of the living god Arata.
The trio went around the continent looking for clues, until they found a certain maritime city.
Reina Mistral, Xellos Grinder, and Merlin Marine were all said to have disappeared after heading out to sea from this city.
If Reina, who was introduced as Arata’s wife, and Xellos were alive, that meant Arcadia had to be beyond this sea.
And once Ceres and the others realized this, they decided to shake off their pursuers and head to the maritime city.
“Let’s gather information.”
“Yes. Those three missing people are famous, so there has to be information about them.”
Arc, the dark hero, and Erie, the witch of destruction. They had a strong sense of justice, and were virtuous people who should definitely not be seen as evil.
They were wanted in the continent due to their association with the fallen saint, but still stayed with her, not blaming her at all.
Ceres trusted them a lot, and they were irreplaceable friends to her.
“They really did come here.”
As they gathered information, they were convinced the three members of the seven great mages left this city and went out to sea.
The problem was the destination…
“I can’t tell, no matter how much I hear about it.”
“Apparently there’s a gag order, so there’s nothing that can be done about it.”
They all left with a lot of soldiers, and a lot of supplies and equipment. But no one came back.
The trio sat in a tavern, and they all had the same information.
“Now what? Those ships belonged to the army, and no one knows where they went…”
All three were troubled.
If they used ships from the townspeople, they just had to search for who they belonged to.
But with the army involved, and the trio wanted by them, they were at a dead end.
“We just have to look for someone in this city that sells information.”
“But Erie, those aren’t easy to find. And it might be dangerous.”
After all, it was information concealed by the kingdom.
Any information that could be easily bought in some tavern would surely be false.
And being wanted meant they could not do anything careless, or they might end up getting caught.
“Let’s just rest for today. I want to sleep on a bed for once.”
“Well, yes. We shouldn’t be careless, but as long as nothing like the seven great mages comes after us, we should be able to beat them back.”
“Yes.”
They were used to traveling, but such a long journey was still tiring.
And the ale they drank and nicely cooked warm food they had not had in a while warmed their hearts.
But as they chatted, other people came to the seats close to theirs.
“…Oh?”
“…Eh?”
Ceres was the first to notice a voice she recognized.
Arc and Erie then followed her gaze, wondering what it was.
It was a group of four, and they recognized two of them.
“…”
“…”
Everyone was silent.
Only one of them, a short person wearing a hood, sat down without showing any concern.
And after the old mage looked bewildered, but sat down, the remaining two also sat down.
“…”
“…”
Ceres and the others, who were having fun chatting until they arrived, also continued eating silently.
But everyone looked awkward.
“No way!”
Erie yelled, as she stood up and banged the table.
But the tavern was noisy and full of sailors, so no one minded that much noise.
No one except the people sitting with her.
“Why are you here!?”
“Just a coincidence.”
“Like that would happen!”
Of the four, it was the enchanting Cara Marguerite who responded.
She had a friendly smile on her face, despite the strange twitch on her cheeks.
“You sat right next to us… Do you wanna go right here in the middle of the city!?”
“No no, it really was a coincidence. We’re all having fun traveling today.”
“…All?”
Asked Ceres.
She saw Seti Balder with Cara, but the other two…
“Cara, don’t be noisy during a meal.”
Cara stopped completely.
The person wearing a hood spoke, while eating chomping on a whole roasted bird.
But that was all she said, showing no interest in them.
“Hahaha, yes… We should have silence during a meal.”
Cara Marguerite was known as a woman clad in madness. The three sitting in front of her knew this.
And yet, she looked scared.
That meant that the hooded person was above even her…
“…Saint?”
“Eh?”
Was all the hooded woman said, before continuing to eat silently.
It seemed she kept gobbling it into her small body, but she was clearly enjoying it.
“By the way, weren’t we talking about tracking them down and getting information about that lonely island at the end of the world? It was our most important mission, but…”
“““…!?”””
Ceres and the others were nervous as they heard Cara.
The three of them were unable to beat her and Seti last time, and now they had even more firepower. And it was certain the other two were even stronger than them.
If they fought, it would definitely be over for them.
For a moment, Ceres and the woman’s eyes met. Her deep crimson eyes seemed to be looking far around them from under that hood, and even made Ceres forget her fear.
“The food comes first.”
But as if not caring at all about their fears, the woman focused on the meal.
This left Cara exasperated as well, but she soon put on her usual smile.
“Well, if that’s the case, it’s water under the bridge.”
“…! What did you…!”
“Erie, calm down.”
Erie flared up for a moment, but Arc held her back. And Erie also soon realized Cara was not lying, and stopped.
If those people changed their minds and fought, they would be unable to defend themselves, and the city would be destroyed.
That was how big the gap between their power was.
“Kufufu, good choice.”
Cara returned to her seat, and to her food. But then she realized there was nothing in front of her.
“Oh? Where’s mine?”
Seti ate what he ordered, and the old man, the second seat of the seven great mages, Zephir Antman, continued eating like none of this concerned him.
And Cara finally noticed that the one who took her meal was the hooded woman, who clearly had one plate too many.
“…I-I can order more.”
Cara called a waitress, while her face twitched, but the hooded woman raised her hand.
“Meal time is over.”
“Eh?”
“We are going to interrogate them next.”
“Eh…”
Even Cara was taken aback by her selfishness, after the woman had her fill.
Zephir and Set said nothing, and continued eating.
They really had no spirit of cooperation.
Cara was taken aback by how the hooded woman played innocent, but obeyed their leader, the first seat.
“You wanna do it here!?”
Erie said with a flustered tone to the woman who did a complete 180º, and seemed hostile now.
People around them were rowdy. It was a maritime city, so it was full of ruffians who were good with the sea. They looked on with interest, but did not know.
The people sitting at that small table were capable of destroying a country, let alone that city.
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