Volume 2 – The World Sneered
“I wish you’d laugh.”
After losing the contest, Cutie was feeling melancholic in her hotel room.
Mary was sitting down on a chair next to her and trying to cheer her up.
“I can’t help it, it suited you more than I thought.”
“Is that really a reason to seriously comment on it!?”
“Please have confidence Miss. Cutie, you’re just that beautiful!”
“I’m telling you saying that has the opposite effect!”
As Cutie shouted loudly, Calaria and Ami continued drinking their juices.
They could not even imagine ever being this relaxed in Captis.
“The juice is sweet…… The couch is soft…… Uaah……”
“Are you really yawning right now?”
Ami sank into the couch and was about to fall asleep any moment.
She was definitely tired after playing around in the sea so much.
“We’ll eat at a restaurant, right? Wouldn’t it be safer to have it delivered?”
“Like I said, don’t underestimate Majoram’s security. Tower isn’t here any longer either, so I won’t let the enemy do as they want.”
“Very skillful.”
“Ahaha, it’s best that no one attacks us, but…… I guess that won’t happen.”
◇◇◇
Ami suddenly jumped up after hearing about the food.
She had nothing on her mind but food now, and she entangled her arm with Mary as they jumped up and down.
They changed into the dresses Cutie had arranged in the hotel.
For today, Calaria also wore a dress instead of her maid outfit.
“You make a lovely picture despite not being used to wearing that kind of thing, Calaria.”
“Really?”
“You look like a stage actress, Miss. Calaria.”
“We’re wearing similar dresses, but you look so different!”
“……I’m going to blush if you keep complimenting me.”
Even her embarrassed face made a lovely picture.
Cutie also looked very good, but there was a height difference between her and Calaria.
Cutie felt just a little bitter.
The four walked through a corridor, then saw a woman coming down the stairs to their side.
She had ignored the dress code and was wearing a shirt and pants.
Her long hair was unkempt, eyes sleepy, and her back was hunched.
She looked slovenly.
She was wearing round eyeglasses with black rims, and looked surprised when she saw Mary.
“It’s our little Mary.”
Mary was surprised as well to be called as such.
“Miss. Stella! Long time no see!”
Mary joyfully approached the woman named Stella.
“To think we would see each other again in a place like this…… How many years has it been?”
“It must be 7 or 8 years now. You’ve grown big.”
“You haven’t changed, Miss. Stella.”
“Ahahaha…… Sorry for being careless as usual.”
She was aware of her slovenly appearance, and bitterly smiled.
Then, Ami approached Stella and stared at her face.
Stella flinched because of how close Ami was.
“Sis, who is this person?”
“She’s Miss. Stella Grant. She played with me often in the royal capital when I was little.”
“That name, you’re the author of For the Sake of This Beautiful World, are you not?”
“This beautiful……? What?”
“You know about it, right Mary?”
“Sorry, I don’t know……”
“You have to be kidding me…… Who lives in the Kingdom and doesn’t know of that title? It’s a best-selling novel and a huge hit!”
“Miss. Stella is its author?”
“Nah, I’m sure she just happens to have the same name as her.”
“I am, actually.”
“Huuuuuh!?”
Cutie bent backwards with shock.
She was very emotional today.
Perhaps it was because she had a change of mood after playing in the sea.
“You’re pretty fidgety, Cutie.”
“I can’t help but be surprised. I can’t believe you knew that author, Mary.”
“I’m surprised too. So you ended up writing novels, Miss. Stella.”
“Ahahaha……. I’ve been doing it for a long time, actually. I’ve been writing as a hobby, but an acquaintance sent my novel to a publisher.”
“That’s quite the coincidence, huh?”
“A novel…… I can’t read, so I don’t know much about them, but are they really that interesting?”
“They sell because they’re interesting. ThisWorld is about a young girl’s meeting and parting with a Goddess. It’s a human drama.”
Saying that, for some reason, Cutie started to boastfully explain the novel’s summary.
She made sure to let the author know that she was a fan.
◆◆◆
20 years from now, in a rural village of the Kingdom, there was a lone girl.
Her father was falsely accused of being a robber, and given the death penalty.
Her father fell ill after that, and took her own life before long.
Losing her entire family, the girl still did her best to live by herself even as she was persecuted by the other villagers.
One day, she encountered a woman in the forest.
Long blonde hair.
White smooth skin that glittered like silk.
Eyes as clear as jewels.
The woman’s beauty made the girl lose her breath when she saw her, and she reflexively muttered:
“Goddess……”
The Goddess heard the girl’s voice and smiled at her.
“Oh my, someone’s lost in the forest.”
That was how the two met.
The girl and the Goddess gradually grew closer.
As they both learned more about each other, the girl noticed that the Goddess was not human.
Yes, that woman really was a goddess.
The flow of time eventually separated the two.
Despite that, the girl wished to live with the Goddess, and her wish eventually came true.
The two were like sisters.
Those days did not continue for long, however.
A sudden tragedy visited them.
The Goddess was wrapped up in a conflict between power holders in the Kingdom, and lost her life.
When the girl found her, all she found was a corpse.
The girl suffered in sorrow.
Her bright future was now closed off, and there was only despair.
Among that darkness, however, the girl remembered the Goddess’s words, and slowly stood back up.
◆◆◆
“Yes, the girl grows after her encounter with the Goddess! And when she becomes a proper adult, finally…… she meets a woman who looks just like the Goddess, and the story ends after hinting at their future together.”
Cutie almost lost herself as she told the entire story.
“O-Ooh…… You’ve read through it very thoroughly, huh?”
Stella seemed a little embarrassed.
But Calaria looked quite indifferent.
“I don’t even have to read it after such a detailed explanation, right?”
“I understand it pretty well too!”
“Huuh!? What are you talking about? I only talked about a part of the contents! That novel’s true worth is in the fine psychological descriptions, and the pictures of the spectacles that come up in your mind just by reading the text!”
“Hehehe, I didn’t expect you to be such a fan, Miss. Cutie.”
“She’s quite the poser, isn’t she?”
“I can’t believe you’re saying that right in front of the author……”
“No, I don’t mind. Even I’m surprised it sells so well. I’m just happy to see that the daughter of Majoram’s president has read it.”
“I feel blessed to hear you say that…… but I’m surprised you knew I’m the president’s daughter.”
“I’m also surprised you instantly knew it was Mary despite not seeing her for 8 years.”
Stella had a vacant expression on her face.
Come to think of it, Mary was the only one who gave her name.
Then, Stella explained the reason in a dull tone of voice.
“You know there’s a warrant out for your arrest, right, Mary? So I figured that the other three were the people who were shown as your gang.”
“You spoke to us so easily despite knowing that!?”
“Of course. No one will accept things as they are after Francis’s sudden death, and Mary suddenly being said to be a criminal. Besides, a lot of newspapers are arguing for Mary’s innocence. Well…… it’s true that everyone is confused right now.”
As Stella said, the Kingdom was in a great turmoil right now.
The people who do not think well of King Henry in the first place probably believed the newspapers.
But those who held power in the Kingdom did not know what to believe, and were in constant disarray.
Even if some among them would go after Mary for the prize money, that did not mean they believed King Henry.
They were simply those who had interest in nothing but money.
“Basically, you’re saying sis isn’t the bad person, right?”
“That’s what I think, considering the king’s actions.”
Even if a day came when a clear distinction between good and evil could be made, it would be a long time after these two weeks. The resolution would come after the chaos dissipated.
That was the reason the visitors in this hotel, while surprised to see Mary, did not report her.
Well, this was a hotel managed by Majoram, so a report would not make it outside anyhow.
“That’s right. Mary, shall we eat together? I’m glad we ran into each other, so let’s dine together.”
“That’s a good idea. Miss. Cutie, Miss. Calaria, Ami, are you good with that?”
“I’m fine with it.”
“Umm…… Can I ask you questions about ThisWorld?”
“I will answer if I can.”
“Thank you so much!”
No one saw Cutie being this excited before.
She wanted to sit next to Stella, of course.
Calaria did not reply yet.
“I will go wash my hands first. I don’t have a problem with it, of course.”
She left after saying that.
The three watched her leave and headed to the restaurant with Stella.
Calaria entered the toilet alone, and stopped right by the entrance.
She ran her finger over the slit of her dress until she felt something hard and cold.
She took out her sorcery gun, Machinaneus, which she had hidden.
It was in a handgun form, and she repeatedly shot at a closed toilet stall.
Then, she opened the door.
There was a woman with a gun in her hand inside.
She was bleeding from her chest, and had died.
Calaria crudely grabbed her hair to lift her face and looked at it.
“She’s no amateur, Cutie was right.”
Muttering that, she put her gun back into the belt on her thigh and took out a comms device from her chest area.
“Hello, is this Mary? It’s just like we talked about in the room, she was hiding in a stall in the toilet. Her Sorcery Rating was around 3,000. Yeah, okay. You should be careful too.”
She lightly sighed after a brief conversation.