It took little time to come up with a solution for Fresia’s meals. First, they would move near a village where she could eat, then he would cast perception-inhibiting and illusion magic on her. After that, all she had to do was eat.

Smartass immediately explained his idea to Fresia.

“Perception-inhibiting and illusion magic? But weren’t those spells you could only cast on yourself?”

“Of course, these aren’t ordinary perception-inhibiting or illusion spells! They’re versions I improved myself!”

“That’s wonderful, Ventus. Then why don’t you come along too?”

“Hmm, I don’t think I can. I can disguise my appearance, but even magic can’t do anything about the aura of death I’ve been giving off since becoming a lich.”

“That... really is a shame.”

“Instead, I’ll make an animal my familiar and send it along with you.”

“Hehe, a crow, you mean?”

“It can be another animal if you prefer.”

“No, I’d like a crow. It’s your favorite animal, after all.”

“...”

“Are you feeling shy, Ventus?”

“You’ve become far too mischievous while we were apart, Fresia.”

“I’m surprised myself. To think I’d be teasing you like this.”

‘Is it because I want to seem a little younger in your eyes?’

Even the changes Fresia kept discovering in herself felt new and delightful. At the same time, her wish for these moments to last even a little longer grew stronger.

‘Ventus, please finish the spell to turn me undead soon.’

+++

After Nellin’s party returned from Saint’s Hill, the High Priests of the Great Church hurriedly summoned them to the meeting room to ask why Saintess Fresia had not returned.

Nellin’s party told the High Priests the story they had agreed upon beforehand.

“I-is that... really true? Saintess... Fresia has...”

“Ah, how could this happen?”

“To think the lich was him...”

The lich had been Ventus Frail, the Mage of a Thousand Spells. In truth, he had fallen into a trap laid by Brooks Besilza, the current master of the Mage Tower, and become a lich as a last resort when he was on the verge of death. At the very end, he had regained his senses and shared his feelings with Fresia, before the two burned away together.

Having heard the full account, the High Priests were bewildered, horrified, and saddened. Some even shed tears, deeply moved.

“Saintess Fresia saved people through love until the very end. With love offered equally to all, she saved the people of the Holy City, and with her own personal love, she even saved a companion who had fallen into becoming a lich. Ah! Saintess Fresia...!”

The heartfelt words of one High Priest sank into the hearts of the others mourning the Saintess’s death.

They must not regard this as a tragedy. Instead, they must accept that Saintess Fresia had fulfilled her duty to the very end and met a holy death.

Meanwhile, Nellin’s party watched the High Priests with guilty consciences.

After all, they had seen Fresia openly confess her love to Smartass, then declare without a moment’s hesitation that she was staying there and they should make up a lie right away.

‘I feel a tiiiny bit bad.’

Even Nellin, who could brazen her way through an encounter with anyone, felt a small pang of conscience.

“Saintess Amelia.”

“Yes, High Priest David.”

While explaining the circumstances, they had already said that Fresia had entrusted Amelia with carrying on in her stead. Thus, High Priest David set his grief aside for a moment and spoke in a solemn voice.

“From this moment onward, you are the only Saintess in the Holy City. The responsibility you bear may prove difficult. But you have us at your side. If anything troubles you from now on... please speak to us at any time.”

“Indeed, Saintess.”

“We will continue to support you.”

“Paladin Paulen, please devote yourself even more fully to protecting Saintess Amelia.”

“Of course.”

“Everyone... thank you.”

Amelia had never been confident about becoming a Saintess. Whenever she saw the High Priests, she often found herself wondering whether they were testing her to see if she was worthy of the role.

But now, she could feel the trust in their gazes. She could also sense their firm resolve to recognize her as the Saintess and fulfill their own duties.

No, that had always been there. Frightened by the burden on her shoulders, she had simply failed to see it until now.

Realizing this deepened Amelia’s sense of responsibility, even as their gazes pricked her conscience. That made her all the more determined to fulfill her duties as the Saintess from now on.

“Then... let us now discuss how to deal with Brooks Besilza.”

The meeting moved on to its next topic: the man responsible for this entire affair, who had tried to murder Ventus Frail, the Mage of a Thousand Spells, for his own selfish ends.

The High Priests would never forgive Brooks Besilza.

Not only had he attempted to murder one of the heroes who had saved the Dersia continent, but his actions had caused that hero to fall into becoming a lich and led to the death of another hero, Saintess Fresia. This was by no means a matter to be taken lightly.

It would be useless for Brooks Besilza to insist he had done no such thing. With Nellin, the Starlight Archer and one of the heroes, the next Saintess Amelia, and Paladin Paulen as witnesses, the Great Church regarded this as the truth. They would not listen to his excuses.

“We must mobilize the paladin order and head to the Mage Tower at once!”

“Agreed!”

“No, but that would leave me concerned about security in the regions under the Church’s protection. We should assemble a suitably sized elite force...”

“There’s no need to involve the paladins. This isn’t a matter for our Holy City alone! Heroes who saved the entire continent have died! We must inform the capital as well!”

“I agree that we should inform them. But we cannot leave this to the capital’s knights!”

As they debated how to bring Brooks Besilza to justice, Gracie raised her hand.

“E-excuse me! I have a suggestion!”

“Ah, Miss Gracie. What is your suggestion?”

The High Priests all turned their eyes toward Gracie. For an instant, the atmosphere threatened to turn hostile as they remembered she belonged to the Mage Tower, but they reined in their agitation upon recalling that she was Ventus Frail’s descendant.

Every one of those reactions made Gracie shrink into herself.

‘I still have to say it.’

“We can announce that Saintess Fresia has passed away... but I don’t think we should reveal yet that the lich was Lord Ventus, or that the person who tried to kill him was the master of the Mage Tower... no, Brooks Besilza.”

“Why is that?”

“Surely you aren’t defending the current master of the Mage Tower?”

“No, surely not. Do you perhaps wish to conceal the fact that your heroic ancestor became a lich?”

“I certainly understand how you feel, but this is not something we can cover up for such a reason...”

“N-no! That’s not my reason at all! Not yet! I only think we shouldn’t reveal it yet!”

High Priest David gave the other High Priests a meaningful look before speaking.

“... Please explain in more detail, Miss Gracie. Let us all listen carefully to what she has to say.”

“Brooks Besilza is unforgivable. But he is skilled enough to have become the master of the Mage Tower. If we publicize the truth while mourning Saintess Fresia, he will certainly try to lash out or flee by whatever means he can.”

Gracie’s words allowed the High Priests to calm their agitation. What mattered most was properly bringing the guilty Brooks Besilza to justice. Revealing his crimes to the world during the mourning would be as good as giving him an opportunity to escape.

It might have been different if he were within the Holy City, but he was at the Mage Tower, far away.

Normally, they would naturally have considered this. But Fresia’s death and the reason for the great mage’s fall, revealed only after thirty years, were shocks so profound that even the High Priests had been unable to judge matters calmly.

“Miss Gracie is right. Then we should secretly assemble a force to punish that criminal...”

“I have something to say about that too!”

“Please, go ahead.”

“Actually, that wasn’t all Lord Ventus told us. There was also something about... Quivery. The slime he took from the Mage Tower.”

“Ah, now that you mention it... we never properly established why he took that slime.”

“Lord Ventus said he really did appear and take the slime out of curiosity. Once he finished observing it, he lost interest and released it near a village called Chilture.”

“I see.”

The High Priests did not doubt Gracie’s words. There was no particular reason for her to lie about something like that in these circumstances.

“Saintess Fresia learned this by asking Lord Ventus herself, before passing her words on to Saintess Amelia. She knew how much Saintess Amelia cherished Quivery.”

“Ah, Saintess Fresia...”

Once again, hearing of Saintess Fresia’s compassionate actions moved the High Priests.

“I don’t want Saintess Fresia’s kindness to go to waste. So... once the mourning is over, I’d like to go find Quivery with everyone who was there. And after we find Quivery, I believe we should go straight back to the Mage Tower and punish the criminal Brooks Besilza.”

The High Priests’ eyes widened in surprise at Gracie’s words. She was proposing to take the hero Nellin and Saintess Amelia not only to search for the slime, but to punish the criminal as well.

“Why do you think that is best, Miss Gracie?”

“As you know, I’m from the Mage Tower. No one would be suspicious if the compassionate Saintess Amelia and Lady Nellin accompanied me there out of concern for someone who fought the lich alongside them. And with them at my side, I believe we could easily subdue even Brooks Besilza.”

“That makes sense.”

“But Saintess Amelia must be troubled as well. To send her on another long journey...”

Hearing the concern in the High Priests’ voices, Amelia responded immediately.

“I’m all right. I’ve inherited Saintess Fresia’s will. If anything, this is something I cannot stand aside from.”

“Saintess Amelia...”

“I will remain at her side and protect her as well.”

“Paladin Paulen.”

“Don’t you worry. I’ll be going too.”

“Lady Nellin.”

“Besides, I’m definitely coming, all right? I don’t think I’ll be satisfied until I’ve put an arrow into each of that bastard’s arms and legs.”

+++

In the end, the High Priests agreed to accept Gracie’s plan and concluded the meeting. Nellin’s party headed to Amelia’s room first.

Once they were inside, Amelia immediately thanked Gracie.

“Thank you, Gracie. Thanks to you, we won’t have any major trouble going to look for Quivery.”

In truth, Amelia had been so focused on telling the High Priests the story about Fresia that she had not thought of an excuse to go to Chilture in search of the slime. She was truly relieved that Gracie had supplied one for her on the spot.

“You’ve got quite a way with words. Guess that’s a spell-slinger for you. Aren’t you even better at it than Ventus?”

“N-no! Someone like me is n-nowhere near Lord Ventus!”

‘But a spell-slinger... wasn’t that an old-fashioned term used to belittle mages?’

“Still, I felt so sorry for the High Priests while I was talking. Saintess Fresia asked us to do it, but t-to lie so openly...”

“What could we do? She’d fallen in love late in life, and there was just no stopping her. Hehehe, by now she’s probably realized how carried away she got and is clutching her head. Well, knowing her, she might clutch her head, but she’ll never regret what she did.”

Whatever else they might think, everyone present agreed that Fresia would not regret her actions. That was how astonishing it had been to hear a Saintess declare she would become undead of her own free will.