Chapter 5. An Interesting Report

Having heard the answer, Ionia nodded in understanding and immediately left. Unlike the dedication she showed in personally delivering the note, she showed no lingering attachment.

Alone in his office, Johann opened the report he had been tapping with his hand. Even though he already knew the contents, he skimmed through what was written inside once again.

Pfft.

The corners of his mouth lifted involuntarily.

Then he soon began to laugh properly, showing all his teeth.

“Hahaha.”

It’s really funny even after looking at it again.

It had been a while since he’d seen such an amusing report.

[Official Purifier Test Progress Report

We were only able to conduct the first stage of the three-stage test.

The reasons are as follows:

1. Excessive fear
She screams so loudly at the sight of a single ghoul that it could burst eardrums. It was deemed impossible to proceed to the next stage.

2. Lack of stamina
Due to her panting, as if her lungs would burst, it was judged impossible to proceed with the second stage of the undead. Although her agility was observed in her attempts to flee from the undead, her stamina couldn’t support it.

3. Indiscriminate use of purification ability
She cannot aim accurately by directly looking at the undead. Purification seems only possible when she closes her eyes and screams. However, it was noted that the range of her purification ability is quite wide, as it included the examiners along with the ghoul in its scope.]

“Haha.”

This is hilarious.

Johann held his forehead with one hand and laughed like a madman.

It seemed like an interesting character had entered the palace after a long time. He was already displeased with the temple overseeing the purifier test, but the fact that she included the priests who were acting as examiners in her purification range greatly amused him.

“Come to think of it, a real purifier after how many years?”

Johann lifted the corners of his mouth in satisfaction.

Regardless of her skill, it was a windfall for the empire.

The purifier test was held more often than one might think, as people from all walks of life applied hoping to turn their lives around by becoming a purifier. Healers, in particular, applied frequently.

But healing and purification were clearly different domains.

Hardly anyone passed the tests held dozens of times a year, and because of this, the position of the purifier test became very ambiguous.

Continuing it yielded no results, but they couldn’t abolish it either in case a purifier might appear with the probability of a camel passing through the eye of a needle.

Anyway, amidst all this, a real purifier had appeared.

For the empire, it was cause for celebration with open arms.

“As for skill, we can increase it through special training.”

He had already given special instructions to start training from tomorrow.

She must have received the mail by now.

“Hmm. I wonder how timid she is.”

From what he saw at the appointment ceremony, she seemed quite bold.

Thinking this, Johann recalled Seraphina whom he had accidentally encountered in the garden.

<Beautiful…>

<What?>

<No, why did such nonsense come out of my mouth.>

<…Nonsense?>

<No, I mean, it’s not that you’re not beautiful.>

<Not beautiful?>

<……>

“Haha!”

Thinking about it again made him burst into laughter.

Beautiful, he said.

He had heard such praise to the point of boredom throughout his life, but it was the first time he had seen someone mutter it in front of the person with such a dumbfounded face.

It seemed she had a personality that couldn’t hide her thoughts at all.

“Right. Come to think of it…”

Even at Sarnade Hall, she had a face that genuinely rejoiced at being appointed as a purifier. He recalled her face, beaming with pride as she caressed the appointment letter preciously. He thought that was enough.

“What’s important is the mindset.”

With that heart willing to dedicate herself to the empire, even her lacking skills could be filled with effort. At least, that’s what Johann believed.

He smiled pleasantly, thinking thoughts that Seraphina would probably wave her hands in denial if she knew.

“I’ll make sure to shape you just like that.”

* * *

The weather here seemed to be mostly clear.

You could say they had built the capital in a geographically perfect location.

Enjoying the pleasant afternoon sun flowing through the window bars, I rummaged through the wardrobe.

Tsk. Not many outfits.

“I went dressed quite shabbily last time too.”

Back then, I had just possessed this body and it was my first time going to the imperial palace, so I was a bit clueless.

But now that I’ve quite, no, completely adapted to this new life, I wanted to dress up a bit more nicely.

A purifier has to maintain appearances! Yes, of course!

But that doesn’t mean clothes magically appear out of nowhere.

After staring intently at the wardrobe for a while, I quickly accepted reality.

“Ah well. This should be fine, I guess.”

It was an outfit not much different from last time.

Anyway, it’ll all get dirty during training, so why bother wearing nice clothes? It’s definitely not because I don’t have any.

Rationalizing like that, I changed into one of the outfits I usually wore when going to war.

“Alright. Shall we go then?”

I took a hired carriage this time too.

I did think it might be too wasteful to take a carriage every day for training, but for now, I had no other choice.

And once I get my first paycheck, a month’s worth of carriage fare would be nothing.

‘Then transportation costs will take up quite a bit of the monthly living expenses.’

Thinking I should make a household budget, I quietly looked at the changing scenery outside the window. The sunlight shone at a strange angle, faintly reflecting my face on the transparent window.

Light brown hair.

Brown eyes with an orange tint.

It was an utterly ordinary appearance, but if you look closely, it’s quite decent. Hmm. It’s a bit odd to say this myself, but I seem to be on the pretty side?

I especially liked the eyes.

The eyes, with a mysterious mix of deep orange and brown, were very clear and honest.

Of course, it’s because she lived an honest life that she got such eyes, right?

Not bad.

That I got to live this child’s life instead. No, that I became Seraphina.

Feeling as if I had been Seraphina from the beginning, I got off the carriage. I had arrived at the imperial palace.

“……?”

And as soon as I arrived, I opened my eyes wide at the bewildering situation I faced. Then I slowly rolled my eyeballs left and right, trying to grasp the situation.

“How rude!”

At that moment, Jesuf, the Emperor’s right-hand man, spoke in a stern voice.

It was just one word, but the pressure contained in it was considerable, so I quickly bowed my head.

“I am here to see His Majesty the Emperor! I received a notice to come for training starting today!”

“Your answer is quite bold. Good.”

……?

What’s good about it?

I slightly raised my head to look up.

Whether he was passing by chance or had business here, Johann was standing right in front of the main gate of the imperial palace.

“Then I’ll excuse myself as I have training.”

“Do you know where?”

“Pardon?”

I rolled my eyes in confusion. My mind was busy recalling the contents written in the notice.

“Um…?”

Come to think of it, I don’t know where I’m supposed to go.

“Probably the training grounds since it’s training…”

“The training grounds?”

“Probably…”

“Are you sure?”

“I just kept saying probably…”

“Heh.”

“…..?”

As I was having this conversation that didn’t quite qualify as a conversation with Johann, I was suddenly gripped by an ominous feeling because of the guy who started laughing. Come to think of it, the location wasn’t properly written, and there was no mention of who would teach what or how.

Well.

I understand that the imperial side must have judged that training was necessary since I failed the test so badly, but…

‘What kind of training do purifiers receive?’

To begin with, there weren’t many purification ability users, so there was no way to know.

‘Ah right. There were priests.’

So just like the examiners were priests, the training instructor would also be…

“Seraphina.”

At that moment, Johann called my name.

His voice sounded as if he was summoning a knight, so I unconsciously straightened my back and answered in a disciplined voice.

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“From today, I will personally oversee your training.”

“Understood… What?!”

I shouted with my eyes nearly popping out.

Then Jesuf, who was standing beside, sternly warned.

“How rude, not to mention ungrateful!”

Do you know no other words besides ‘rude’!

Words I wanted to retort rose to my throat, but for now, that wasn’t the important thing.

Ignoring Jesuf, I asked Johann. I could see Jesuf’s expression hardening from the corner of my eye, but I pretended not to see as I had no mental capacity to deal with him.

“Why would someone as noble and busy as Your Majesty personally oversee the training of someone as lowly as me?”

“You are not lowly. Aren’t you a precious purifier who has appeared after several years? Besides, you spoke well just now.”

“……?”

What did I just say?

As I opened my eyes wide in confusion, Johann curled up the corners of his mouth brightly.

“I, Marseus, will oversee your training.”

Marseus was the surname of the current imperial family.

In other words, it meant the great emperor would oversee my training.

He looked at me with an expression that said I should take pride, while stroking his chin with one hand. Then he turned his gaze to the carriage I had just ridden.

I’m not sure why it hadn’t left yet, but the coachman had gotten off the carriage and was bowing.

Johann asked in a meaningful tone.

“Will you be coming by carriage every day?”

“Yes. That’s the plan for now…”

It would be nice if there was a way to save money, but for now, it was unavoidable because my house was too far from the imperial palace.

At that moment, Johann’s eyes curved as he smiled, and he told me a way to save money.