âSo⊠Can I go to the extracurricular lesson?â
âYou can.â
âMelsa?!â
Leonard turned his head around upon hearing Melsaâs consent, who had just entered the room.
âI heard about the extracurricular lesson from the ladies at the tea party I was invited to today. They said one participating student can be accompanied by up to two guardians.â
In this current situation where they hadnât solved Minatoâs doppelganger problem, being able to act together in the extracurricular lesson would be better than being separated.
The only one who socialized properly, Melsa, had brought useful information home. However, although âguardiansâ equaled âparentsâ based on the perception of the people in their previous world, in this world, it often meant to refer to those who waited on them on the beck of call or guarded them.
The âguardiansâ mentioned by the ladies at the tea party were, of course, the latter. Just that Melsa did one of her occasional slip-ups once again.
âWhich means me and Melsa can also participate, right?!â
âItâll be fine if we can tag along.â Leonard nodded without doubting anything.
âEh, if itâs like that! It means four more guardians can participateâŠ? Since weâve decided to go, the more, the merrier, right?â said Emma.
âMeow!â
âMeow!â
âMeow!â
âMeow!â
(Weâve been waiting for this) Koumei, Ryuu-chan, Kan-chan, and Chou-chan raised their forefeet.
The sight of all four of them putting themselves forward for the guardian candidate only looked like a line of giant beckoning cats, though âŠSeeing this made the family feel super prosperous all of a sudden.
ââŠâŠNo, uh, well⊠Cats are a bitâŠâ
â â â âME-MEOW?!â â â â
â â â
~At the same time, at the Royal Capital~
âI refuse.â
Lord of Skyte had come to visit Joanna.
âBut Lady Joanna⊠The people are looking forward to your visit.â
The fief people had been living in anxiety since the monstersâ appearance had increased. The Lord had repeatedly sent letters to Joanna, the Holy Maiden acknowledged by the Church, asking her to come and give solace to the people. But Joannaâs reply had always been the same.
âAs I wrote to you in the letter, Iâm busy. I do not have time for that.â
Lord of Skyte tried to persuade her further by saying that this yearâs extracurricular class would be held in Skyte, so if she were to come for a visit at that time, the journey would be much more safe because she would be traveling with many escort knights. He even suggested she come to pray at her deceased grandmotherâs grave, but Joanna still didnât agree.
Lord of Skyteâs heart chilled at her repeated rejections.
âIs this really the Holy Maiden recognized by the ChurchâŠ
To think she can easily refuse the request of the person who had found her in the woods, guaranteed her identity to be someone related to the Royal Family based on her appearance, and escorted her to the Royal Capital.
This luxurious room prepared for her in the Royal CastleâŠ
Joanna, who only had one piece of clothing when we first met, is now wearing the uniform of the academy, an aristocratic school only the Kingdomâs nobles could attend.
If she stayed in the Royal Capital, she would be able to live comfortably without having to worry about hunger or monsters, wouldnât she?
However, since she had lived in Skyte Barony until a short while ago, she should have known that that comfortable life was built upon the sacrifice of the borderland people.
She knows that, yet still has this attitude?â
The one-armed Lord of Skyte left the Holy Maidenâs room with a heavy heart.
â â â
â~âȘ~âȘ~âȘâ
ââŠIn a good mood, arenât you? Your Majesty.â
The queen sighed when she saw the king happily taking care of his sword while humming the tune. He was probably the only king in the entire history who would force his way to participate in the academyâs extracurricular lessons.