Sword Saint Adel's Second Chance: Volume 3

1. Auflage 2024
ISBN: 978-1-7183-8182-7
Verlag: J-Novel Club
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, Band 3, 250 Seiten

Reihe: Sword Saint Adel's Second Chance

Still coming to terms with having turned into a woman, Saint Adel continues dedicating herself as a knight escort to stave off looming global tragedy.

As leaders of the Four World Powers gather in Welna for a world summit, Adel encounters two more Eminents: Chloe Navarra, the Artificer Saint, and Katina Astal, the Legion Saint. The former turns out to be the granddaughter of Cardinal Navarra, while the latter is a childhood friend who had grown up alongside Adel at Astal Orphanage. Adel maintains a wary eye on Chloe while cheering on Katina, who will probably become lovers with Prince Julian, Princess Euphinia's older brother, like in the previous timeline. However, Adel and Euphinia find themselves suddenly transported to an isolated space in the middle of dinner and warned of the imminent approach of a terrifying threat!

Not knowing who is friend or foe, Adel once again summons both her newfound powers and steadfast allies to fend off the darkness lurking in the kingdom's shadows!

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hayaken

Weitere Mitwirkende

Unapoppo

Taishi

Leseproben

Chapter 1: Birds of a Feather Flock Together

Welna, the capital of the Kingdom of Wendill, had been very prosperous as a tourist destination for a long time. This was in no small part thanks to its close proximity to Alderford, the mecca of the Holy Tower Church. Pilgrims on their way to Alderford would find Welna to be their last and biggest stop. During the day, welnafare flowers added bright splashes of color to every inch of the City of Flowers, beaming to passersby under the light of the sun. At night, inns and taverns illuminated the streets, creating a quieter and more fantastical mood. No matter the time or occasion, there was always something for everyone in Welna.

However, even a city like Welna eventually went to sleep. The moonlit streets of the City of Flowers were normally beautiful and elegant in their own right, but tonight was...different.

“Hah hah hah! The City of Flowers doesn’t look half bad at night!”

“Lookee at all the flowers we grew in the garden pinned up ev’rywhere! ‘Doesn’t look half bad’ all right!”

“We havin’ a flower viewing at night?! This calls for some good booze!”

“I gotcha covered! Whoo! Everyone, grab a cup!”

A bottle produced seemingly out of thin air got passed around between a group of men. Then they raised their cups.

“Chee—”

“Don’t bring a bottle on patrol!” Mash thundered.

“And don’t drink! You’re on the goddamn job!” Adel added, shouting with equal vehemence.

“Sorry, Boss. Sorry, Boss Lady.”

“Don’t worry, Boss and Boss Lady! There’s enough for you too!”

“This is good stuff I nicked from the dining hall, though!”

“That’s not the issue!”

“And no nicking! If Princess gets in trouble for this, I’ll make of you pay!”

“SHUT! UUUUUUUP!” Melulu roared at everyone, making them quail under her glare. “Keep it down! We’re out here to keep the residents safe, not wake them up! It’s our job to make sure that they can sleep in peace!”

Adel agreed with Melulu wholeheartedly. She was absolutely right. However, her words of wisdom had come a little too late. Several windows in the nearby homes rattled open.

“Shut the fuck up! You know what time it is?!”

“You want me to call the guards and make them drag you away, you useless drunks?!”

“If you don’t leave right now, call the guards too!”

The nearby residents had clearly reached the ends of their tethers.

Deflating to half her size, Melulu shouted in a soft voice, “W-We’re sorryyyy! We’re leaving. G-Good night...” After she and her group swiftly moved to a different area, she pursed her lips and grumbled, “Jeez, do these guys even understand the position they’re in?”

Thanks to Adel and Mash putting in a good word, the former gladiator slaves had gotten hired as castle guards. But so far, their duties had mainly been miscellaneous tasks like digging holes, carrying tools, and growing welnafare flowers in the castle’s garden. Not once had they been ordered to man the gates or go on patrol. In other words, they had yet to be treated as proper guards.

But tonight, they were officially out on patrol, albeit under the combined supervision of Mash, Adel, and Melulu. Proving that they could pull it off without causing any problems could improve their standing. Unfortunately, the way they were behaving indicated that they were unaware of the opportunity they had been given. It was worrying, to say the least.

“You guys, stop messing around and take this seriously,” Adel called out. “Remember, you didn’t get this assignment because you earned it; you have to live up to it.”

The former gladiators had been sent out on patrol simply because there was a lack of manpower. Very soon, the heads of state of the Four World Powers would be gathering here in Welna for the G4 Summit. The G4 Summit was an annual event that represented the current state of the world, where the Four World Powers held enough regard for each other to at least sit at the same table and talk to each other.

Being the “Middle Kingdom,” Wendill highly regarded this opportunity to boost its value to the rest of the world by providing a neutral place for the superpowers to meet. Since Wendill was so much smaller than the other countries, its continued survival hinged on being able to continuously prove its usefulness. This was why it had to ensure that the upcoming G4 Summit went off without a single hitch.

Problem was, there had been no short supply of trouble as of late. Two months ago, Central Tower, the symbol of the Holy Tower Church, had nearly collapsed when Elciel the War Saint went on a massive rampage, seemingly having lost her mind. A short while later, Wendill’s Holy Tower VII had broken down, an event followed by an attempted assassination of Prince Tristan of Torust in the northern city of Sidel. It came to light afterward that both the Tower VII breakdown and the assassination attempt had been masterminded by the Republic of Malka, one of the Four World Powers.

There was no guarantee that Malka wouldn’t try something again at the G4 Summit. As host of the venue, Wendill would get mud all over its face if anything happened, weakening its standing on the world stage. To ensure that the affair ran smoothly and ended peacefully, Wendill was tripling the security it would normally arrange for a Summit.

In this situation where Wendill needed literally every last hand on deck, the former gladiator slaves from the Moving Coliseum of Navarra finally got assigned patrol duty. When Commander Belzen, the head of the knights of Wendill, had given this order, the look on his face made it clear that he was only doing so because he was truly out of options.

“Adel’s right, you guys,” Mash said. “If you do well tonight, you just might get to do actual guard work on a regular basis.”

Kamotsu, the one best at cultivating flowers, bit back a yawn. “But Boss, Boss Lady, we’re patrolling after a full day of tending to the flowers and digging holes. I’m pooped. Can’t we patrol during the day and rest at night?”

“Oh hell nah. Anyone catches a glimpse of your mug during the day, the one who’s gonna get arrested! ’Cos you look like a thug! Bwa ha ha ha!”

“Ain’t that the truth! If it was up to me, I’ll start with you, that’s for sure!”

“ the one with a face you can only show at night when no one can see jack shit!”

“You wanna say that again, huh?! Pot calling the kettle black much?!”

“Heeeeeelp! There’s a suspicious person here! Please take him away!”

“Screw you! The hell you doing?! You’re way too drunk!”

Judging by how rowdy they were, the men were having a great time.

“Ugh, I’m getting a headache. We should’ve ditched these guys and gone on patrol by ourselves.” Melulu sighed loudly. “Adel, Mash? How did you bear running a mercenary group with them? I can’t see them properly pulling off job. And then there’s you two, who seem more knightly than some of the castle’s actual knights. What even gave you the idea to become mercenaries with them?”

Adel and Mash silently exchanged a look. It wasn’t a look of guilt or alarm, but just a look that said, They had introduced themselves as mercenaries when they’d first met Melulu to gain her trust, but they’d since served as fellow knight escorts in Euphinia’s service for quite some time. They had learned a lot about Melulu’s character and past through the incident in Sidel the other day. She had been quite despondent for a while after getting back, but to their relief, she had been gradually regaining her previous cheer.

In other words, Adel and Mash now had a trusting relationship with Melulu. There was no need to continue keeping up the lie.

The two nodded at each other, then Adel said, “Actually, Melulu...”

“I know it’s a bit late to say this, but we were never mercenaries,” Mash confessed. “Sorry.”

“What?” Melulu’s eyes widened, just in time to see a horse with an awe-inspiring white coat approaching her all of a sudden. “Oh, is that you, Pega? Did you slip away from Princess? Sweetie, you shouldn’t do that! Though I guess it’s not a big deal, since Lilith should still be with her. Aha ha ha, that tickles!”

The horse licked Melulu’s face, then started nuzzling and burying his snout in her chest. By appearances, this was a heartwarming scene of a beautiful animal being playful with a beautiful girl.

“

True to form, the comment was filth that made the former gladiator slaves’ whoops seem like a nobleman’s toast in comparison. Adel felt a headache coming on. In a way, Melulu was lucky for being unable to hear the voices of Divine Beasts. In the previous timeline, when Adel had shared that privilege due to not being a Saint, he had treated Pegasus with quite a bit of respect too. Sometimes, ignorance truly was bliss.

The thought of tying Pegasus up with Salamander’s Tail and sinking him in a river flashed through Adel’s mind. At the moment, her group was on a...