(…Come to think of it, Soleil did say the woman who might have used me as a decoy was “pretending to be the Saintess” or something?)

“And around the time reports of berserk magical beasts started coming in from all over, a woman was officially recognized as our country’s Saintess. That was Marquess Daughter Juliane Flockhart. ——Miss Nagi, the person we were chasing when we found you in the forest was the very lady who impersonated that Saintess.”

I’d had the same reaction when Soleil said it: it just didn’t make sense. I tilted my head and timidly raised my hand.

“Um… sorry to interrupt, but… Isn’t a Saintess someone who did something truly admirable for the world and was officially acknowledged for her deeds by the main temple?”

I’m no expert, but the “Saintesses” I knew of were women recognized within monotheistic doctrine as worthy of the title—like Joan of Arc or Mother Teresa.

It made sense to call women who performed miracles or massive social good “Saintesses.” But being called one just because you were born with a rare ability, with zero actual achievements? That felt wrong.

“Then… Juliane-san became a Saintess because she actually fixed the ley line disturbance, right? If that’s the case, there’s nothing to ‘impersonate,’ is there?”

Once someone is officially a Saintess, there has to be some kind of proven result behind it.

At my words, Isaac paused, pressed a fist to his brow, and looked down.

“You’re absolutely right. In fact, using some unknown trick, Juliane Flockhart sang and perfectly restored mana stones that had become clouded and cracked due to the ley line disturbance. Since she fled, we still don’t know how she did it… but the mages at the Royal Magical Research Institute are currently analyzing every record from that day with everything they have.”

“A song?”

“Yes,” Isaac nodded.

“There is a unique magic only Saintesses can use, and the most powerful and wide-ranging of them is called the ‘Holy Hymn.’ I’ve never seen it myself, but legend says that when a Saintess sings, the natural mana around her instantly begins to harmonizing again, and even berserk magical beasts can regain their reason.”

“Oh, I see. Then even if Juliane-san is a fake, we can just have a real Saintess sing, right? Record it on an audio-type magical tool and blast it everywhere the ley lines are messed up. Problem solved in one shot.”

The atmosphere had felt super serious, but if the solution already existed, there was no problem at all.

I was thinking I’d worried for nothing—when Isaac suddenly made the face of someone who’d bitten into an extremely salty lemon. Then, as if realizing something, his eyes shot wide open.

“Isaac-san? Are you okay?”

“No… regrettably, there is currently no woman officially recognized as a Saintess in our country—or rather, there should not be one.”

At Isaac’s stiff, halting words, Sieghart—who had been silent until now—spoke in a low, sharp voice.

“Captain. If Juliane Flockhart had actually captured a real Saintess and used her power while pretending to be one herself, a lot of things would line up. Of course the ‘once-in-a-millennium genius mage recreating the Holy Hymn’ theory is still possible… but even if it’s wishful thinking, since the possibility isn’t zero, we have to consider countermeasures.”

“…Yes. You’re right.”

Isaac nodded and turned toward the table.

“Rainil, Seiad. Relay to the second and third squads: if the target is found, she must be taken alive.”

“Understood.”

“My apologies, Miss Nagi. Excuse me for a moment.”

The two who’d been watching us immediately responded, and Isaac also began contacting someone via communication magic tool. Inside, I screamed with all my might.

(They were on a literal DEAD-OR-ALIVE warrant until now!? Scary! I’m so, so, SO nearly got sliced the moment we met!!)

While I was internally shaking and turning pale, Sieghart let out a breath and said,

“Nagi. Saintesses aren’t born that easily. Right now, only the central Lengrar Empire and the southern Spada Kingdom each have one confirmed. Ley line disturbances happen roughly every thirty to fifty years, and on average only five or six Saintesses appear across the entire continent each time. Sometimes as few as two. The historical maximum recorded is seven.”

“Really?”

That was way fewer than I’d imagined. Recording the Holy Hymn with an audio tool would be insanely hard if there were only a handful of people capable of it.

Sieghart frowned and sighed.

“That woman—Juliane Flockhart—only demonstrated the ability to regulate corrupted natural mana once, during the Saintess certification ceremony. You suggested recording the Holy Hymn on an audio tool, but a ‘Holy Hymn’ is the Saintess pouring out her enormous power at full blast for a long time. Even a marquess house wouldn’t have many mana crystals capable of handling that kind of output.”

The power a magical tool can output is basically proportional to the size of the mana crystal inside it.

Also, every commercial daily-life magical tool has a mandatory safety circuit under national manufacturing standards, so in theory they never release more than the regulated amount of mana.

But no safety measure is 100 %. I’d heard of accidents where magical tools exploded or crystals melted from excess mana release.

“That’s why nobody normally thinks of recording a Saintess’s song. Technically it’s just too difficult—most people wouldn’t even consider trying.”

(Sorry for the ignorant kid butting in with stupid ideas…)

Feeling depressed at my own shallowness, Sieghart continued,

“But if that woman secretly captured a real Saintess and used her power… that would be a crime on the level of high treason. Hiding the only power that can save the country—no, the entire continent—for her own selfish desires.”

“…I see.”

Having grown up in a peaceful, calm country, it was hard to wrap my head around. But I could feel just how critically important a Saintess was in this world. What a difference from me, who’d been tossed away in the forest like garbage.

Sieghart shrugged lightly.

“Well, even just impersonating one already piles up countless capital crimes, starting with giving false testimony to the royal family. No matter how she squirms, execution is inevitable.”

So the earlier dead-or-alive status had its reasons. I was once again deeply relieved that the Mage Knight Order hadn’t cut me down on sight.

At the same time, something felt odd.

“But how did everyone find out Juliane-san was faking it?”

I thought the temple especially cared about face and formality. Once they officially recognized someone as a Saintess, they wouldn’t reverse it without ironclad proof, right?”

“That woman went to actual sites eight times after her certification ceremony, and every single time she failed to fix the ley line disturbance. She kept making excuses about feeling unwell, but eventually people started saying something was clearly wrong.”

“Wow,” I said, eyes round.

“Everyone put up with her failing eight whole times?”

The saying goes “even Buddha’s face only stays patient three times,” but weren’t they a little too forgiving?

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