Lna

  ***

  “Ugh.” I mutter as I bury my face in a pillow.

  Hey, I just want everyone to know that I hate manners. Not normal manners like holding a door open for someone, but the kind used by nobility. Why does it matter what fork I use to eat with? Everything is going in the same mouth and furthermore, in the same toilet. When I told that to mom, I got spanked. Lloyd, that ass, just ughed at me! One day, we are going to throw hands. As if looking for some comfort, I peaked up and looked at him, who was reading some book, like the nerd he is.

  “What did you expect?” He asked without even turning around. “We’re royalty after all.”

  “No we aren’t.” I said.

  That was true, or at least for the time. Eventually the saint will be announced and then one of us is expected to marry the saint after defeating the Demon Lord, and then we will be royalty. That means more csses…

  “You better get used to it. There’s a lot more of it for us in the future.” He said.

  “I know, I know…” I couldn’t help but sigh.

  Rolling onto my back, I looked at the high up ceiling. I always wondered how they managed to paint them, also I hated it. If they were a bit lower, it would be easier to heat in the winter. Thinking about the future, I remembered the plot of this stupid game. Why do they leave dealing with the demon king to a bunch of kids? Ah, that’s right. The saint powers. Our generation will have the powers of the saint, and it is the only thing which can harm the Demon Lord. What a stupid plot device. I bet a shotgun would work just as well.

  Thinking about all the trouble the future has in store for us, we heard a knock at the door. Sitting up quickly, I sat just as my instructor taught me.

  “Young Lords, a treat from the guards.” Gavin called out.

  Oh, it’s just Gavin. Knowing this, I let myself sink back into the sofa.

  “Come in.” Lloyd instructed, turning from his book.

  The phrase, “a treat from the guards” is actually a cover for a letter. Due to our ranks, we can't exactly exchange letters with just anyone. With all of the political intrigue we need to be careful to keep Nissia safe. Not only that, but if people were to find out about these private messages, we may be forced into an arranged marriage. Obviously it would be Lloyd who needs to worry about that in this particur instance since same sex marriage is illegal here Especially for the saint. They do need him or her to make an heir after all. But I do also need to be on the lookout for that. Hopefully if anything I get a hot rich guy who doesn’t care about etiquette.

  As I was thinking about something stupid, Gavin entered the room. After closing the door and bowing, he took out two things. One was a letter addressed to Gavin, and the other was a bag of jerky. Tossing the jerky to me, he handed the letter to Lloyd. I’m not sure why, but something about simple meat is quite addictive compared to our usual food. Our normal food isn’t bad, far from it, but I can’t help but like dishes without as much spices. Lloyd opened the letter as I stuffed the smoked meat into my mouth.

  “So far everything is going good.” He said after a moment. “She got some more good encounters and should be increasing her stats.”

  “Lucky her.” I said finishing a mouth full. “Any fun ones?”

  “I have no clue. The soonest we’ll learn is when we enter school. Probably… But she has been hearing about that magical girl again.” He said.

  “Has she been fighting monsters or something?” I asked.

  “Yeah, and helping in finding lost pets and carrying things for old people.” He said.

  “Oh, so I’m the only one that gets bsted…” Gavin muttered.

  “Maybe.” Lloyd nodded.

  Remembering how we found him, I can't help but feel sorry.

  “Hey, if there is a magical girl around, why not just have her fight the demon lord?” I asked.

  “No, only the saint can beat the demon lord.” He said.

  “That’s a shame.” I said taking another bite of jerky.

  That would solve our most dangerous foe, but we can’t have everything. Let’s be happy that demons haven’t been appearing just yet. According to Lloyd, demons start appearing when the saint is six years old, though he doesn’t quite remember the exact time frame. I can’t really bme him. We were reincarnated almost six years ago. Even I can’t remember everything. Though I don’t want to admit it, I can’t exactly remember my parents' faces from my past life.

  “Well, that’s all she wrote.” Lloyd said. “I’ll have to write her back tonight.”

  “Yeah.” I said, before turning to Gavin. “So, any rumors?”

  “Hmn, let’s see…” Gavin put his hand to his chin as he thought.

  Gavin, aside from being the head of our personal guard, is also the best way we have to gain intelligence not influenced by our parents. Obviously from the fact that he knows that we are reincarnated, our trust in him is high. Apparently he had a really good quest line in the DLC, but it’s not like I know the details.

  “Nothing I can think of that will interest you.” He said after a moment of thought.

  “Really, nothing?” Lloyd asked.

  “No, nothing.” He said.

  “What about anything that won’t interest us?” I asked.

  Gavin has gotten so used to Lloyd’s interest that most things that he considered to be mundane are just ignored, so this is a good way to see if there's anything that we may have missed.

  “Well, there is one thing, in high society, though I’m not too sure on the details.” He said.

  “Let’s hear it.” I say before Lloyd has the chance to wave it off.

  “Apparently the Eytell family is pnning on having a tea party for their daughter.” He said.

  Ah, Evelyn Eytell. She was the kid who was found to be living in the Dark Woods. If I’m not mistaken, she’s living with her uncle's family. There’s lots of bad rumors about her, but given what trauma she experienced from her parent’s death and being stranded in a cursed forest, she probably has some issues. Chewing on some jerky, I paused. Thinking about it, the word “Viliness” appeared in my head. No. It can’t be her, right? Given the rumors about her, she certainly did fit the image. Despite this, I didn’t want to jump to any conclusions… Maybe… Just maybe I could be wrong…

  Nissia

  ***

  Like most days, today was a working day. However, unlike most days, I was manning the front counter. It was good practice to interact with customers and it was a nice change of pace from being in the kitchen all day.

  “Thank you for your business.” I said after handing over the customer’s order.

  Today, unlike most days, was retively slow given the recent sale of our recipes. As such, for the first time in a long time, we had no line! That’s good and also bad. The good thing is that we have some time to rest, but the bad is because we are making less money. Though we have a good amount of savings, so we should be fine for the time. Luckily we already had a good customer base before we started selling sweets. With no customers at the moment, I settled down into the chair and started to swing my legs to kill some time.

  …

  Hey look, it's a bird. No, it’s a pne- wait there are no pnes here… It’s the Magical Girl!? Flying across the sky, she seemed to be looking for something. Turning her head this way, she quickly sped down and silently nded in front of me. Holding her staff in both hands and wearing a smile on her face, she made quick steps towards the counter.

  “Hi hi!” Melody said excitedly, waving both hands.

  “You again!” I said, unable to hide my surprise.

  “Oh, it’s you! I’m gd that you’re doing well!” She smiled.

  “What are you doing here!?” I couldn’t help but ask.

  “I heard that this pce sold some interesting treats and I wanted to try some.” She said. “To think you would work here!”

  “You’re here to buy something?” I asked.

  “Yep!” She replied.

  Why? That can’t be true. Surely she has some sort of pn. Maybe she’s reincarnated and suspicious of me! Wait? Isn’t this a good thing? She’s powerful. Surely she could beat the Demon Lord when he appears. Let’s be straight forward and ask her.

  “Hey, do you know about the game?” I asked.

  “What game?” She asked.

  “The game we’re in right now.” I said. “Saintess Shuffle.”

  “Are we pying a game?” She tilted her head to the side cutely.

  Maybe not? Is she not reincarnated? Wait, no. It’s possible that she simply doesn’t know about the game just like Lna. Lna, one of the two Regent Twins who I met on the same night I was almost kidnapped, told me that both she and Lloyd were reincarnated from Earth, just like me. As opposed to me and Lloyd, Lna never heard of the game. Maybe Melody is the same? Just to be sure, let’s ask where she’s from.

  “Hey, sorry for asking, but where are you from?” I asked.

  “My mom?” She said, not quite understanding the question.

  “No, I mean where are you from.” I crified. “Like the pce you came from.”

  “The moon?” She still wasn’t sure of my question.

  Okay, this is going nowhere. Let’s at least take her order so I don’t waste her time.

  “Never mind.” I said. “So, since you're here to buy something, what do you want?”

  “I heard that you sell cinnamon buns. Do you have any left?” She asked.

  I know that we are officially sold out, but she did save my life. I wanted to save some for myself, but I’ll give them to her.

  “How many of them do you want?” I asked.

  “If possible I want at least two.” She said.

  “Um…” I started.

  We only have four of them, and I can only give away my own. But again, she did save my life…

  “Can you make do with one?” I asked.

  “Um…” She took a moment to think about it. “How big are they? I want to get one for myself and my brother, but we could split one.”

  They aren’t too big…

  “Give me one moment.” I said, running inside.

  Seeing Mom and Dad working on standard loaves of bread, and my brother prepping the oven, I wasn’t sure who to ask. Seeing my state, Dad looked at me.

  “We got a problem?” He asked.

  “The Magical Girl is here.” I pointed towards the counter.

  “The Magical Girl!?” He asked, armed.

  It wasn’t only Dad, but Mom and Aiden looked shocked. My family doesn’t know about the attempted kidnapping, but news of the Magical Girl has been steadily spreading through the town. Given all the demon nests that she has taken care of, she's kind of a big deal. Rushing to the front, my family went to go see her. Not wanting to feel left out, I joined them.

  The Magical Girl- Melody was standing right where I had left her. With this many people rush out to see her, she may have been surprised, but she hid it well.

  “Hello.” She politely waved.

  “I’ll be damned, it really is her.” Dad said, wide eyed.

  I’m not sure if you're allowed to say that in front of a Magical girl.

  “She’s taller than I thought.” Aiden said.

  “What a cute dress.” Mom said.

  Yeah its cute, but she’s a Magical Girl, so that’s a given.

  “So, little miss.” Dad said, remembering his professionalism. “What can we get for you?”

  “Do you have any cinnamon buns?” She asked. “I’d like to get some for me and my brother.”

  “Of course!” Dad said. “We’ll make some fresh ones just for you!”

  “Thank you.” She gave us a radiant smile.

  Good lord it’s blinding!

  …

  “Yeah I saw some nests near the border and took care of them before they got too big.” Melody said, standing on the bench just outside the bakery. “There must have been fifty of them and the pack leader was this tall! And had cws this big!”

  Saying that, Melody stretched her hands out to give rough sizes to the crowd that had gathered. Sitting in front were children as young as and younger than me with fascinated expressions on their faces.

  “““Woah!”””” Said the many kids surrounding her.

  Just behind them were many adults who should be working, but couldn’t help themselves. Many of them too were amazed by her stories. A few held doubtful looks, but none could so easily ignore the stories that have been shared. From soldiers who patrolled the border they told of known nests of demons being wiped out in a single night. Also, many people here have seen Melody flying before, so there was no doubt that she had powerful magic. However, not everyone was a believer. Approaching with a bag of freshly baked cinnamon buns for Melody, I saw the town’s bcksmith and his entourage coming over with a heavy cart pulled by two horses.

  Being an arrogant man, I couldn’t help but worry about what he had pnned. As Melody told her stories, the bcksmith loudly interrupted.

  “Hey Lass!” He said.

  “Hi!” Melody said, waving at him with both hands enthusiastically.

  “Uh-” He hesitated at her smile. “Right, well, you cim to be strong enough to fight demons, huh?”

  “Yep!” She said.

  “Then prove it by-” He started.

  “Okay!” She said.

  Flying into the air, she quickly shot off into the distance becoming a speck in only a few seconds.

  “I didn’t even finish!” The bcksmith said.

  “Where’s she going?” Dad asked.

  “I didn’t get to give her the cinnamon buns…” I muttered.

  I worked really hard and pushed my abilities to the limit to make the best cinnamon buns I could for her. She did save me after all, and I didn’t even get to thank her. Fearing my effort would have gone to waste, I saw a speck in the sky rapidly getting closer. It was Melody! And she has… Is that a demon!?

  “Got one!” She said, happily nding with a restrained and very much alive demon in her hands.

  “ReLEaSe Me WEnCh!” The demon uttered in it’s barbaric tongue.

  This demon resembled a rge bear though it’s head and cws seemed to be overgrown, and it had patchy fur with white spikes jutting out of it. It’s mouth, whenever it was opened, had teeth that were bigger than all the knives I’ve ever seen. With us standing shocked, and without even being able to scream in fear, Melody threw the demon into the air above herself.

  “Moon Punch!” She shouted, punching the demon.

  With what looked to be a normal punch, the demon instantaneously disappeared into a cloud of dust with only a few cws and teeth falling to the ground below. Smiling the whole time, she nded in front of the bcksmith and looked at him expectantly.

  “Was that good enough, or should I get another?” She asked.

  “…” Us in the crowd, understandably, couldn’t help but look at her in a stunned silence.

  “Was it good?” She asked again, cheerfully.

  “W-was that demon talking…?” The bcksmith managed to ask at her prompting.

  “Yeah, they do that sometimes.” She nodded.

  “Right…” He slowly nodded.

  “?” Melody tilted her head like a puppy unable to understand something.

  “““Why are you so strong!?””” The crowd couldn’t help but ask.

  I don’t mean to state the obvious, but demons are a big deal. Talking demons are an even bigger deal. They aren’t twice as deadly or even three or four times as deadly. Those guys are EXTREMELY deadly! They are often called Minor Demon Lords and have destroyed countries on their own in the past! How in the world did she manage to find one, restrain it, and fly it over here only to kill it in a single punch!? Why is she so strong!? Even to REAL Demon Lords, they are a threat! Even in the game, there was an ending where you can get talking demons to kill the Demon Lord for you! How can she deal with it that easily!? Oblivious to our shock, Melody simply smiled and puffed out her chest.

  “That’s the power of the Moon for you!” She said proudly.

  “Why did you go out to get a demon!?” The bcksmith asked. “How did you get a demon!? Where did you even find it!?”

  “You asked me to prove how strong I was.” Melody smiled.

  “I was just going to ask you to lift up the anvil that I brought!” He pointed to the carriage behind him. “I didn’t expect you to go out and get a demon!”

  “Oh.” Melody said, smile faltering. “Do you still want me to pick it up?”

  “What’s the point now!?” He questioned.

  Melody stood there with an awkward expression on her face, as if she didn’t know what to do. This girl…

  Shadow 38

  ***

  Lady Evelyn quietly made her way back to her room. Seeing her like this made me want to hug her. No child should have to be treated like this in her own house. Having brought some sort of pastry to share with the young Apine, it was cruelly thrown to the floor by the servants and she was subjected to verbal humiliation for all to see. It seems that there are no good servants in this pce. Not one was willing to defend the honor of the next head of the household.

  Quickly entering her room before she closed the door, I managed to get a clear look at her face. She… looked tired… Without even changing her clothes, she simply got into bed and y there. Resisting the urge to comfort her, I could do nothing but watch...

  Grayburne