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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: A Familiar Voice
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Reincarnation.
It wasn't exactly a story one could easily believe, was it?
Especially since mages had a habit of believing only in phenomena they could verify with their own eyes.
I myself hadn't believed reincarnation was possible until I experienced it, so I couldn't really blame them.
‘Still.’
I had a strange sort of faith.
A faith that he, my comrade with whom I'd bickered and fought alongside while protecting each other's lives, would be able to recognize me.
‘Besides, if I recalled Mrs. Jasper's words correctly, it seemed like he believed in my innocence.’
Having made up my mind, I carefully opened my mouth.
“Hey.”
At the short call, Axel's eyes widened slightly.
Slightly, yes, but by his standards, it was a sign of immense surprise.
I let out a deep sigh and pointed a finger at the book Axel was holding.
“That’s all nonsense. Hazen isn’t dead.”
As I moved my mouth carefully, trying my best not to lisp, Axel's eyes, which I didn't think could get any wider, expanded.
“We have to get the expedition team back. The Mad Dragon is still awive.”
“You…”
Axel hastily shut his mouth, which had been about to say something, glanced around, then tucked the book under his arm and swiftly lifted me up.
“Ack.”
He must be crazy.
Even though I was in a child's body, being held so easily by Axel made it impossible to control my expression.
I couldn't see a mirror to check, but I was probably making a look of utter disgust.
Even though he must have seen it, Axel's face remained perfectly nonchalant and calm.
“So you're the Saintess. Did you receive a divine revelation?”
“…”
So much for my faith that he'd recognize me.
There was no way Axel and I had that kind of deep bond.
I wasn't expecting anything, really.
I mean it.
I rattled off a string of excuses no one would hear, then let out a deep sigh.
‘Well… I suppose receiving a divine revelation as a Saintess is a more logical conclusion than reincarnation.’
As I was trying to figure out where and how to begin explaining my situation, my body suddenly went limp.
My head spun, and my vision blurred.
‘Huh…? What's happening…?’
Before the question could even fully form, my world went black.
Only then did I realize.
I had fainted!
Right.
I had overexerted myself in this child's body today.
Of course, that thought was cut short as well.
* * *
Axel held the limp, unconscious Lesia securely in his arms, his brow furrowed.
He hadn't quite realized it when they'd met in the storage room, but seeing her up close, Lesia was in a sorry state.
He hadn't shown it, but when he'd first lifted the child, he had been startled by how light she was, feeling almost weightless.
Her hair was brittle, her skin rough, and the ill-fitting, loose dress was filthy.
Mrs. Jasper had said she'd made the girl clean the storage room as punishment for skipping class, but this level of filth wasn't from a single task.
The hem of her skirt and her sleeves were clearly frayed and worn.
These were traces left over a long period of time.
Anyone could see this was the appearance of a child who wasn't receiving proper care.
‘And they call her the Saintess sent from the Central Church.’
It seemed no one had been looking after her properly.
He had heard that his father had adopted a Saintess officially recognized by the Central Church, but Axel hadn't paid it much mind.
It was, after all, an adoption of formality for the Saintess's protection, so he didn't really think of her as family, and they rarely had reason to meet.
For the past five years—that is, since Greslin had disappeared and been branded a murderer—Axel had been completely absorbed in uncovering the truth of that incident.
Despite the flood of complaints from all sides that the Master of the Magic Tower was distracted by other matters, he had relentlessly pursued Greslin's trail.
In such a situation, the trivial matter of his father taking in a formal adoptee would never have entered his field of vision.
Perhaps Duke Elpinade had similar thoughts and had simply cast the child aside?
Axel's older brother, the young duke of Elpinade, wasn't the meticulous type to care about such trivialities in the first place, so this child must have been a Duchess of Elpinade in name only...
‘With her masters treating her so, the servants would naturally not have served her properly either.’
He could easily picture the past few years.
At that, a deep sense of displeasure welled up inside Axel.
Regardless, this child was an ‘Elpinade’.
For whatever reason she had received that name, she deserved to be respected as an ‘Elpinade’, both inside and outside the family.
The name ‘Elpinade’ meant that much.
The Central Church knew this as well, which was surely why they had insisted on having the Saintess adopted into this family.
Unable to have her adopted into the imperial family due to issues of succession to the throne, they had chosen the next most secure family: the ‘Elpinades’.
‘If the Central Church found out the Saintess was being treated like this, they wouldn't stand for it.’
Especially that quack priest—no, Cardinal Bael—who had certified her as the Saintess. He would find every excuse to extort a hefty donation.
Axel had witnessed Bael's money-grubbing skills firsthand when they were on the expedition together.
At the time, he'd even thought that being a priest wasn't about serving God, but about squeezing money out of people.
If they got on his bad side, the Elpinade coffers would be emptied.
He could understand ignorant servants causing such a situation.
But for the sensible Mrs. Jasper to go along with something so absurd...
‘Perhaps it's about time for her to retire.’
Axel calmly entertained a thought that would have made the woman herself jump in protest, and slowly began to walk.
In his arms, he held the limp, unconscious child.
* * *
“Ughn…”
My whole body felt stiff, like waterlogged cotton, as I managed to pry my eyes open.
Even as Greslin, my stamina hadn't been great, but after becoming a child overnight, I found myself longing for the stamina I used to have.
‘What happened after I fainted?’
I'm sure I passed out in Axel's arms.
I darted my eyes around, taking in the familiar scenery.
It was the room Lesia had been staying in ever since she came to the Elpinade estate.
‘Is it dawn?’
The atmosphere suggested the day was faintly beginning to break.
A quick scan of my surroundings revealed a large pitcher and a water cup on the nightstand not far from the bed.
The moment I saw it, a forgotten thirst hit me with full force.
I creakily climbed down from the high bed and slipped my feet into a pair of fluffy slippers.
Perhaps because I'd been jumping around trying to find books in the library, my legs were trembling uncontrollably.
The muscle aches were an added bonus.
‘Times like these, I actually miss Bael.’
He may have been a money-grubbing quack of a priest, but his divine power was the real deal.
The man possessed divine power far stronger than the Pope's and had the ability to heal any wound as long as you were still breathing.
I, for one, mostly used it to get rid of muscle aches from long marches.
Well, it's not like I felt too guilty about it, since Bael would meticulously extort gold coins from me every time, calling it a treatment fee.
After managing to steady my trembling legs, I stood before the nightstand, only to face the next hurdle.
‘S-so high!’
The nightstand was very tall.
Even on tiptoes, stretching as far as I could, my hand could barely graze the pitcher's spout.
If it had been completely out of reach, I might have given up, but since I could just barely touch it, I couldn't.
As I grunted and internally shouted, ‘Just a little more!’, the pitcher suddenly floated into the air.
Startled, I looked around and saw Axel sitting on a chair in a dark corner of the room.
He sat there looking bored, his chin propped on his hand.
‘You scared me...’
How long has he been there?
While I blinked and stared at Axel, the pitcher moved on its own and poured water into the cup.
The heavy silence was filled only with the trickling sound of water being poured.
Its task complete, the pitcher returned to its spot.
Then Axel, who had been sitting motionless in the chair, rose with an elegant movement and walked over to the nightstand.
