Chapter 40
"Of course. I was actually trying to catch the butterfly just so it could watch with us. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to understand how cool you are."
Putting aside strength, maintaining a cool demeanor during battle was truly a difficult thing.
"Shaya."
"Hm?"
"Come here, let your sister give you a hug."
"?!"
Without giving her a chance to refuse.
Xiarette suddenly, with a very moved expression, gave Sheffy a simple yet enthusiastic
hug!
Ah ah… Sheffy, your words — sometimes so casual, and yet at other times, how can they be so sweet!
After the brief hug, Xiarette’s gaze lingered on Sheffy’s lips, moist and soft like jelly, extremely curious about what kind of taste could produce such a caring and warm Sheffy.
Ahem… let’s not talk about caring and warm for now.
Anyway, based on Sheffy’s own analysis of the sensation just now at her chest area, it truly was quite caring — and unreasonably warm.
By the time Xiarette finished this hug, she had already become completely "charged", full of energy!
But she had to temporarily step back a little to digest this joy, so as not to let it delay her inspection of the Knight Order, otherwise she might get lost again in the adorable land of Sheffy.
For Xiarette, Sheffy was a fatal poison\~
However…
Just as she was leaving, from the direction of the training ground, several female knights suddenly came rushing over after removing their helmets.
They pushed and jostled to the front, each holding snacks or bread in their hands. It was as if they had coordinated this beforehand, all cheerfully gathering not far behind Xiarette.
Sigh… really improper.
Xiarette’s first reaction was to think that this batch of the Knight Order might be too undisciplined?
She didn’t particularly care about the actual training results of the Knight Order, but gathering to eat snacks during training time — wasn’t that going a bit too far?
Uh, wait…
During work hours?
Eating snacks?
The Kingdom’s Knight Order?
That was simply impossible!
Moreover, weren’t they running toward Sheffy’s direction just now?!
Sensing this incongruity, Xiarette quickly stopped in her tracks.
At the same time, behind her, the enthusiastic voices of those female knights were already ringing out.
"Shaya, look! I brought you some freshly baked bread from the west alley. Eat it while it’s hot."
"Alright, alright! Give me a piece of that!" Sheffy had long heard that this bakery’s bread was incredibly fragrant!
"To be able to come to the Kingdom’s Knight Order at such a young age, and even become a subordinate knight to the Hero — that’s really no easy feat."
"Isn’t it though? Truly not easy." The aroma of the bread was indeed overflowing.
"Wuwuwu, little sister Shaya, you didn’t used to have enough to eat. From now on, following the Hero, you must eat well, alright? Look how small you are from hunger."
"Hey! That’s rude, you know?! Am I hungry? I was born this way!"
"Ah!!! Little sister Shaya, you’re so cute!! May I pinch your cheeks?!"
"Sorry, that’s not going to happen. I bite. Just leave the snacks, and that’s it — no other requests."
Exclamations and a crowd of admirers surrounded her, practically a rare moment where she shone as the center of everyone’s attention.
Sheffy?!
At this point, Xiarette couldn’t leave anymore.
She quickly turned on the spot and hurried back to the edge of the training ground, where the benches were.
The female knights, seeing the Hero suddenly returning, were clearly startled. They smiled wryly, waved goodbye to Miss Shaya, and quickly scattered.
They definitely didn’t want to get struck flying by that terrifying bamboo pole again!
Everyone dispersed.
Only Sheffy was left sitting calmly on the bench, her arms full of food.
Looking at these snacks, Miss Shaya’s eyes sparkled!
But as for Miss Xiarette, her eyes lost their sparkle.
"Shaya...?"
"Hm? What’s wrong, Xiarette? Do you want some too?!"
"Whether I eat or not can wait. First, Miss Shaya, center of everyone's adoration, could you explain why things just turned out this way?"
Sheffy, you must understand — you’ve only been at the Knight Order for three days.
And in these three days, the total amount of time you’ve actually spent at the training camp definitely doesn’t add up to more than three hours.
But just now, the treatment you received was like that of a beloved mascot who had been with the Knight Order for thirty years! How is that reasonable?!
Since Sheffy couldn’t eat so many snacks at once, she quietly used 【Storage Magic】 to sort and store them properly. When it came to eating, she was quite particular.
At the same time, thinking over the events of the past few days, she could only offer Xiarette an incomplete answer.
"Uh... actually, I’m not too sure either. It’s just that... when I first came here a few days ago, they gathered around me, asking about my background, which family I came from, and how I managed to enter the Knight Order at such a young age — if I had connections or something."
That last one! That kind of question really lacks tact!
"So how did you answer?"
"Of course, I answered just like we originally agreed. Shaya — orphaned from a young age, wandered the streets, bitten by stray dogs, later rescued by the Hero, and from then on, determined to—"
"Worked her way into the Kingdom’s Knight Order through sheer effort, turning her life around. That — is Shaya."
"Why do you sound so proud about it now\..."
No wonder so many knights seemed distracted during training earlier.
It turned out everyone simply wanted to offer poor Miss Shaya a warm welcome into the Knight Order!
So many things wrong with this.
But indeed, without this explanation, it wouldn’t align with what had been said in front of the King.
Wuwu, so Shaya was so pitiful — wandering alone into the Knight Order, fortunate to meet the Hero, and thus gaining freedom and happiness in life.
Xiarette refrained from commenting on the fabricated story’s first half.
But as for the part about meeting the Hero…
Xiarette had to admit — she quite liked that part.
Savoring this story, her mood gradually shifted from anxious to cheerful. Xiarette patted her skirt and sat down beside Sheffy, very close — as if silently declaring a sense of territory to those female knights still gazing from afar\~
The seat next to Sheffy wasn’t for just anyone, you know?
Feeling quite satisfied, Xiarette recalled something she hadn’t quite figured out before.
When she brought it up, she naturally lowered her voice to whisper.
"Sheffy… back when you demonstrated resonance with the Holy Sword’s magic power, Prime Minister Firex was also present. He will definitely report this to the Pope. That... is that alright?"
41. Inference
Upon hearing Xiarette’s question, Miss Shaya had to temporarily pause her snack-sorting hands.
Instead, she gave Xiarette a big thumbs-up for encouragement! Then she resumed organizing the snacks.
"Good question, Xiarette. It’s rare for you to ask such a high-level question. The last one of this caliber was back when you asked whether a big fish should be braised or steamed."
"Those two questions don’t seem comparable in importance, right?! Wait... am I usually really that dumb when I talk?"
"Hee... not at all. It’s good that you’re a little silly, sister. As an ordinary person, your intelligence is perfectly adequate. But as a Hero, you might be lacking a bit in judgment."
"......"
Perfectly adequate intelligence for an ordinary person…?
For a moment, Xiarette truly couldn’t tell whether Sheffy was praising or insulting her.
Ah, now I get it!
In simple terms — under current circumstances, my intelligence just isn’t enough!
Sheffy: See? I told you — she at least possesses normal human wisdom.
In the distance, the clash of swords rang like a phoenix’s cry. In the spacious Kingdom’s Knight Order training ground, surrounded by red-brick carved railings, sitting on this corridor bench, one could feel the cool autumn breeze brushing past.
The autumn wind danced with falling leaves, carrying an early autumn leaf that seemed to want to play with Sheffy, landing on her black, illusionary hair and refusing to leave.
Xiarette carefully helped Sheffy remove the little leaf from her hair.
At the same time, Sheffy began answering the question Xiarette had just asked.
"There’s no need to worry about that. Xiarette, are you afraid the Holy Theocracy might take some action to bother me?"
"Yes... according to the ‘Shaya’ persona we’ve crafted, her abilities can somewhat counterbalance the Demon Clan. That gives her very high strategic value. You also know — a few hundred years ago, the Theocracy tried to steal the Holy Sword. Though they ultimately failed, that shows once they set their sights on something valuable in the Kingdom, they’ll really stop at nothing to take it for themselves."
"The Holy Sword is an object, but I am not an object."
"......"
Shameless Sheffy — that little mouth of hers, sometimes even insults herself!
She had already realized that what she’d just said wasn’t very appropriate, but stubborn Sheffy wasn’t the type to get hung up on a few words.
She simply frowned slightly and pretended to pat some dust off her calf, playing it off adorably.
"Well... what I mean is, even if the Holy Theocracy wants to steal things from the Kingdom of Aurus, they have to consider whether it holds value for them."
"Isn’t ‘Shaya’, with her special magical protection, valuable enough?"
"'Shaya' is valuable within the Kingdom of Aurus. But in the Holy Theocracy of Coreia, she might not be valuable."
"?"
Didn’t understand! I didn’t understand!
Lately, Xiarette had been growing increasingly anxious about her own intelligence!
Sheffy knew that Xiarette probably wouldn’t understand if she just explained it like that.
So, she picked up a fallen leaf from her skirt and held it up in front of Xiarette.
"In the eyes of the Theocracy, the Holy Sword Sylatrella is an inanimate object — a convenient and potent source of magic power without its own will. Of course, they’d want to steal something so dangerous yet so easy to use. After all, they believe that since it’s a power belonging to the Human race, having the Holy Sword in their hands would make them feel more secure. Another important reason is that the Holy Sword’s magic power doesn’t only target the Demon Clan — it can also inflict harm on the Theocracy itself."
Sheffy tossed the leaf away, and her petite fingers then pointed toward a fiery red ant busily carrying crumbs of leftover snacks and bread across the ground.
"But ‘Shaya’ is alive. In the background we created for her, she is a poor girl born in the Kingdom of Aurus, led a tragic life, received the Kingdom’s aid, was recognized and promoted by the King, and later rescued by the Hero of the Kingdom. Now, do you think a girl like that, if forcibly taken to the Theocracy, would willingly serve them? The biggest difference between the living and the inanimate is that living beings can run away — and are difficult to control."
As she spoke, Sheffy deliberately broke off a bit of bread crumb and held it out toward the large ant. Just as the ant stopped in place, Sheffy pulled the crumb back and popped it into her own mouth.
If the ant could curse, it would surely be spewing profanities now.
Xiarette listened carefully to every word Sheffy said. But even at this level of reasoning, she still couldn’t fully relax.
"But the Theocracy is greedy… if they can’t control her, yet don’t want the Kingdom to possess her either, what then?"
"They have no reason to go that far. We don’t need to underestimate the intelligence of that old Pope."
Intelligence…!
Now, just hearing that word made Xiarette feel unwell — her head ached!
Sheffy chuckled softly and continued.
"Anyone who can rise to become the highest ruler of a country — unless they are inherently deficient in intellect — is certainly not foolish. Think about it: if ‘Shaya’ can help humanity fight the Demon Clan here in the Kingdom of Aurus, but in the Holy Theocracy of Coreia she might cause trouble and become worthless. Since that’s the case, and since the Theocracy also faces the risk of Demon Clan attacks, why take the useless risk of bringing her over? Wouldn’t it be better to let her stay in the Kingdom and help fend off the Demon Clan? That old Pope isn’t entirely lacking in a sense of the bigger picture\~"
The conflict between the Human race and the Demon Clan had dragged on for ages. The Kingdom had exhausted all efforts and resources just to barely maintain a stalemate, limited by racial constraints, against a single Six-Winged Demon.