—One week later.
When Jeanne returned to the Gran Chaos Empire and reached the castle in the
imperial capital, she was immediately summoned by her sister, Empress Maria,
without even a moment to catch her breath. Though somewhat exasperated, she
dragged her feet up to Maria's governmental affairs office, where she found her
sister standing in the middle of the room, waiting for her.
Usually, at this time, there would still be bureaucrats busily working away, but
today Maria must have cleared the room because she stood there alone. With a soft
smile on her face, the elegance with which she stood there carried a hint of her
majesty as an empress.
Jeanne brought one hand to her bosom, bowing to Maria. "Sister. I have just now
returned from the princely capital, Van."
"It is good to have you back, Jeanne," said the Empress. "How did things go?"
"There were some issues, but it went more or less as we had hoped," said Jeanne.
"Van and its surrounding territory have been returned from the Elfrieden Kingdom
to the Principality of Amidonia."
"Excellent," said Maria. "You have served me well. ...Now, then." Maria clapped
her hands and smiled. "That's it for work mode. Welcome home, Jeanne!"
Maria burst down from her throne and rushed over to hug Jeanne.
"S-Sister?!" The sudden hug threw Jeanne into a confused panic. "What's this, all
of a sudden?! This is conduct unbefitting an Empress, you know?!"
"Well, I was lonely, not being able to see you for so long," Maria complained.
"Everyone outside the family gives me the Your Imperial Majesty treatment, and our
other sister is cooped up in her laboratory, the same as ever!"
"Don't give me that! You're not a child anymore!"
Even as she protested, Jeanne patted Maria on the back. She was aware of the
solitude and the heavy burden her sister had to contend with as Empress, so she
didn't want to push her away.
When Maria let go, she went over to sit down on the magnificent bed installed at
the side of the office and patting the spot beside her, encouraging Jeanne to come
have a seat too.
"So, so, what kind of gentleman was Sir Souma?" Maria asked eagerly.
When she saw her sister with her eyes shining, like a child badgering her parent
for a bedtime story, Jeanne felt a headache starting to come on. However, it seemed
unlikely she would be dismissed until she talked about it, so Jeanne gave up and
decided to tell her what happened during the talks.
"All right," Jeanne relented. "First, let me tell you what happened when I went to
scout out Van..."
Jeanne explained the course of events from when she'd met Souma on a street
corner in Van until their agreement to form a secret pact. As Jeanne told the story,
Maria's expression changed rapidly. She looked relieved when she learned that
Souma wasn't upset about being summoned, and that he fully understood their
intent.
When she heard Souma had said, "Monsters and demons may have the same
relationship as what this continent refers to as mankind and animals," she wore an
expression of surprise and uncertainty.
When she heard that something called a spaghetti bun that they had eaten during
the conference was delicious...
"Jeanne, that's not fair!" Maria cried, puffing up her cheeks angrily.
It had been some time since Jeanne had seen her sister so animated while
listening to her. She was probably excited.
The greatest explosion of emotion came when Jeanne talked about the secret
pact, Souma's proposal that the Empire would defend the west, while the kingdom
would defend the east. When Maria heard that, she threw herself back on the bed
holding her belly as she laughed.
Jeanne was taken aback by her sister's reaction. "Sister. I don't think it's really
anything to laugh about, is it?"
"Hehehe... S-Sorry. It's just so funny," Maria said as she wiped away the tears that
had formed in the corners of her eyes from laughing too much.
"Funny?" Jeanne asked incredulously.
"I mean, think about it," said Maria. "Not that long ago, we had to show special
consideration towards that country because they had declined so much, but at some
point, they turned into a trustworthy ally who can handle the eastern side of the
continent for us. I feel like I've been tricked by some fairy's illusion."
"Well... it's true, events are moving at a blindingly quick pace," said Jeanne.
"Yes. Yes, that's precisely it, Jeanne." Maria 's smile suddenly vanished, her face
entirely serious. "Hey, Jeanne. Do you remember how a hero is defined in the
kingdom?"
"It was in the reports, yes," said Jeanne. "If I recall... it was, 'One who leads the
change of an era,' right?"
"Yes," said Maria. "Not 'One who defeats the Demon Lord' or 'One who conquers
the world,' but 'One who leads the change of an era.' Souma was summoned as a
hero, but all he does is administrative work, so some people doubt whether he truly
is a hero."
"It's true, he doesn't feel quite like what we'd expect from a hero," Jeanne said.
"He didn't seem all that strong, after all."
Maria nodded. "You're right. I think he's a long way from what we envision as a
hero. But what if we avoid getting caught up on that image, and to instead evaluate
him as 'One who leads the change of an era'? When you think of the speed things
have been moving lately, don't you feel like the times are changing?"
When she heard that, Jeanne gulped.
Maria rose to her feet and walked over to the windowsill. "He sounds like a more
interesting person than I expected. Oh, I do hope I can talk to him in person soon."
Looking to the eastern sky, Maria smiled softly.