For Rozemyne-sama

After our master Rozemyne-sama heads off to the castle for her report, the high bishop’s room becomes very lonely. You could say the work feels less exciting without her, or maybe that the tension is reduced, but the atmosphere changes a little, even though the work itself does not change.

It is the same when the high priest leaves his room. During the morning helping time, the atmosphere seemed more relaxed than when the high priest was present. And along with that, my focus also dulled more quickly.

「Monica, you’ve been looking off to the side several times for the past while. Is something the matter?」

「Oh, I was just wondering if Rozemyne-sama will be back soon…」

Fran pointed out my lack of focus, so I quickly returned my attention to the matter at hand. Nikola, who was doing the calculations next to me, chuckled, “Monica loves Rozemyne-sama so much that she misses her when she is not in the temple.” The priests around us looked at me smiling, and I felt my face getting red.

「I-It’s not just me. Nikola, Fran, Wilma, and everyone in the orphanage loves Rozemyne-sama.」

Nikola, a gourmand and good friend of the cook, loves Rozemyne-sama because of her many tasty new recipes. I’m sure she’s a bigger fan of Rozemyne-sama than me. After I said that, the stares got even more embarrassing.

……It’s true though!

「Fufu, we in the high priest’s office also like Rozemyne-sama. Unlike the former high bishop, she helps the high priest without interrupting his work, and even expresses complaints to the high priest that we cannot say.」

Zahm, the high priest’s attendant, says this with a laugh, and the attendants in the high priest’s office smile in agreement. Zahm is good friends with Fran and often visits the high bishop’s office with the high priest’s messages. Nikola and I speak to him on a regular basis, so we are very familiar with him. However, the expression currently on his face is one of teasing.

「That said, those two will be returning after lunch, so we will not see them until the fourth bell. Please concentrate on your work. Besides, there will be a notification if there is any change in schedule.」

「Yes, sir. I’m sorry.」

The high priest is an adult noble, so he will apparently send a magic tool letter for these things. Rozemyne-sama is unfortunately still a child, so she needs practice with many things. She is unable to send the magic tool letter, so the accompanying high priest must contact us instead.

……But, she can now make a highbeast. It’s only a matter of time until she can use the magic tool letter too.

Rozemyne-sama trained very hard to make a Highbeast called “Lesser-kun”. The Highbeast can be made large enough to carry everyone, and can also carry a lot of luggage. I think it is more impressive than the high priest’s Highbeast.

……Although the appearance is a little, or rather, a lot less impressive than his.

As I was remembering the time when I went to Hasse with Lesser-kun, a white bird flew into the room. The white bird becomes a letter on the high priest’s desk and flutters down. This is the magic tool letter that Zahm mentioned earlier.

……A message from the high priest!

Everyone in the high priest’s office turns toward the letter. Zahm takes the letter and reads its contents. When he finishes reading the letter, he frowns.

「It seems that we will have a visitor in the high bishop’s office accompanying him on his return. Nikola, please inform the personal cook as soon as possible. Tell him to be ready to serve tea to the guests whenever they arrive after lunch.」

「Leave everything to me.」

Nikola, who was not very good at assisting the high priest, smiled and put away the stationery in her hands after Zahm called her name. With bouncy steps, she went to the kitchen of the high bishop’s room. I could see her mind was now occupied with “What kind of pastry should I make?”

「Zahm, what’s this about a guest?」

Fran asked, and Zahm waved the letter with the bitter look still on his face, saying “It seems the high priest’s attendants will need to cooperate with the high bishop’s attendants this afternoon.”

「Is something going on?」

「Huh?」

「Is something wrong with Rozemyne-sama at the castle? Did she perhaps grow ill or…?」

When Fran and I looked at each other, Zahm said, “Oh…” He looked around as if searching for his words.

「It seems that Rozemyne-sama has overstepped her boundaries somewhat.」

According to the letter from the high priest, every time Rozemyne-sama went to the castle to report her work, the son of the archduke complained to her that she was not being fair. Angered by the repeated insults, Rozemyne-sama almost crushed him in the past. This time, Rozemyne-sama suggested that they swap their jobs for a day.

「We are to treat Wilfried-sama as the high bishop. The duration will be from today’s lunch to tomorrow’s lunch. The purpose is to make Wilfried-sama understand how lazy he is, how he is always running away from his assignments, and how wrong his complaints about Rozemyne-sama are… but it seems that the high priest has another agenda as well. While Rozemyne-sama and Wilfried-sama switch places, we will need to cooperate fully.」

Zahm’s words made me somewhat angry. Rozemyne-sama’s job really is difficult. She has been the orphanage director and workshop director since she was an apprentice blue priestess, and now she has the role of high bishop. Also, she needs to handle the Hasse incident for her education as the adopted daughter of the archduke.

Rozemyne-sama has been worrying so much that it affected her sleep, and sometimes waking up with tear-swollen eyes. All the attendants in the high bishop’s office were very worried. We were told to do nothing because it was part of her education, but anyone would worry after seeing their master getting more and more exhausted. I could never have imagined there being a child who would insult Rozemyne-sama like this.

「He must have done something truly terrible if Rozemyne-sama, who has such a big heart, got angry over something other than books.」

While I was angry at the child whose face I did not know, Fran turned away a little and muttered.

「I believe that the high priest’s assignment has been troubling her lately, so she was unable to endure things that she would normally put up with.」

……That’s right. The high priest was the one giving Rozemyne-sama a hard time first.

I would love to give the overly strict high priest some choice words. But if he says that the education is necessary for the adopted daughter of the archduke, I would be unable to respond due to being ignorant of the archducal family.

Instead I decided to think about the best thing I could do to fulfill my master’s wishes. If Rozemyne-sama proposed to swap places, she must have an intention. However, the letter only described the outline of the exchange in the archduke’s office, not the details of what Rozemyne-sama intended to do by swapping places for a day.

「Will anything change after swapping for a single day? I also find it hard to believe some child who came here on a whim can handle the work of the high bishop, orphanage director, and workshop director. Even I don’t know everything, despite working in the high bishop’s office for about six months. No one can replace Rozemyne-sama.」

Rozemyne-sama has an unbelievable workload for a child who has just completed her baptism. There is nothing a lazy kid who runs away from his tasks can do.

「I’m sure he just wants to play high bishop for a day. Why not simply dress the selfish child in the high bishop robes? That will satisfy him to some extent.」

Zahm spoke as if it didn’t matter, but this annoyed me.

「I don’t like this. Rozemyne-sama’s robes are incredibly important. I can’t accept some random child putting them on.」

「Monica, I agree, but I doubt he will have his own high bishop robes due to the suddenly made decision. If the child was capable of such considerations, he wouldn’t be causing trouble for Rozemyne-sama in the first place.」

Fran responded to me, and Lothar voiced his agreement.

「The only children’s robes in the temple are for apprentice blue priests. Rozemyne-sama owns the only high bishop robes wearable by children. Also, one cannot be called the high bishop while wearing apprentice blue priest robes, and such would not suit the status of the archduke’s son either. We have no choice but to lend him the robes of Rozemyne-sama, his adoptive sister.」

I understand that there is no other way, but it is still unacceptable. I refuse to lend Rozemyne-sama’s robes to a child who has caused her trouble.

「What if it gets dirtied or torn? You may not be responsible for that, Lothar, but…」

「I believe we may ask the archduke for a new robe, through the high priest. I will support you if that happens.」

「Oh Lothar, that’s wonderful. I’m sure I’ll be able to handle the child’s abuse of the robes with a smile.」

Rozemyne-sama’s high bishop robes are a tailored version of the former high bishop’s robes. Rozemyne-sama always said that clothes have no sin, but I was a bit dissatisfied with this and wanted to arrange a new outfit as soon as possible. The thought of having the archduke order new robes if anything happens suddenly motivated me.

「If we have Damuel-sama, Brigitte-sama, and Lamprecht-sama as guard knights, we will need another room to accommodate them.」

「The high bishop’s attendants will have their hands full with the guests, so the high priest’s attendants will be responsible for preparing the guest rooms.」

While I was talking about the clothes, Fran and Zahm started discussing how to deal with the guard knights.

「Lamprecht-sama is the brother of Rozemyne-sama. I think it would be good for Lamprecht-sama to use the room that Karstedt-sama prepared, and for Damuel-sama to use the rooms that we are preparing.」

「How will we be dividing the meals and baths?」

「We should arrange for the orphanage to have lunch as soon as possible. If they visit the orphanage immediately after their return, they may be in the middle of lunch if the drop-off is too late.」

Everyone starts to move, one after another, to prepare for the arrival of the guests. The morning work period will be over soon.

「Monica, let the orphanage and the workshop know. Tell them that Rozemyne-sama will not return, that the son of the archduke will stay at the temple for a day instead, and that Rozemyne-sama is up to something… Everything we know is from the high priest’s letter, so we will contact them again as soon as we learn more details.」

「Yes, sir.」


I went to the orphanage first and told Wilma. Wilma’s bright brown eyes widened in surprise, but she said, “I will have lunch finished early before waiting for further news from Rozemyne-sama.”

When I went to the workshop to tell Gil, he was as surprised as Wilma. However, Lutz looked at me distantly, saying “Oh, that pitiful boy.”

「Why is the boy deserving of pity? He’s always causing trouble for Rozemyne-sama in the castle…」

「I know. It’s the kid’s fault for pissing off Rozemyne-sama… but her retaliation hits hard. There won’t be any punching or kicking, but she’ll tear his heart into a million pieces.」

Lutz is much younger than me, but has been working with Rozemyne-sama for a long time and was placed in charge of the workshop. To my chagrin, he knows Rozemyne-sama better than any of her temple attendants.

「Lutz, do you know what Rozemyne-sama is trying to do?」

「Nah, no one can tell what’s going on in Rozemyne-sama’s head. But based on my experience, I can say this boy will never be able to stand up to Rozemyne-sama again.」

Lutz still felt pity, but I find myself unable to agree.

「I’m rather relieved to hear that. I don’t want Rozemyne-sama to deal with him every time she goes to the castle. I will do my best to cooperate with Rozemyne-sama’s plan.」

「…Monica, you seem like a serious and quiet person, but you’re actually quite radical.」

Lutz looked at me in surprise, but Gil smiled as if in agreement with me.

「Lutz, Lutz, not only Monica, but everyone in the high bishop’s office and the orphanage. None of us want to see Rozemyne-sama have a hard time. If it will help her at the castle in any way, I’ll do whatever I can.」

It’s very encouraging to have everyone in the orphanage behind us. I offered my right hand to Gil and said, “Let’s do it.” Gil puts his own right hand on the hand and calls out to Lutz.

「Come on, Lutz, you too!」

Though he looks as if he can’t keep up with our excitement, Lutz is Rozemyne-sama’s greatest supporter. He places his right hand on top of ours.

「Let’s do everything we can to make Rozemyne-sama’s plan a success!」

「Yeah!」

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