The Invincible Little Lady: Volume 8

1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-7183-1450-4
Verlag: J-Novel Club
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, Band 8, 250 Seiten

Reihe: The Invincible Little Lady

The series reaches its final arc! As Mary and her friends return from their adventure in Xeoral, they head to a certain barony to investigate an unusually long and heavy bout of rain that's damaging the town and landscape. Determined to provide aid to the people, our heroine is however beaten to the punch by the Papacy's 'Dagian Holy Woman'-a character even more hellbent on being the people's savior! Just who is this woman? And what's the true cause of the suspiciously unnatural rain? As Mary delves further into danger, her beloved maid, Tutte, is kidnapped... As Tutte is living on a prayer, will her fate be up to the gods? Or will the invincible little lady defy even the Heavens?

Autoren/Hrsg.

Chatsufusa

Weitere Mitwirkende

Fuumi

Piyo

Leseproben

I watched on quietly. Everyone must’ve seen what she’d just done, but no one dared to comment on it, myself included.

“Big sister,” Noa said. “I spy a pervert.”

“Hey! Shh!” I hissed.

While I tried to turn a blind eye to the display, Noa was the type to say whatever was on her mind, and she innocently pointed out the obvious. I hastily clapped my hand over her mouth to silence her and glanced around. No one seemed to acknowledge what she’d said, and Lucia was even smiling and nodding. The dark-haired woman then walked over to the elated girl and smacked her on the head.

“Ow!” the crimson-haired lady yelped. “Hey, what gives, Lucia?! I was in the middle of offering God a prayer! Don’t interrupt me!”

“This unfortunate— Ahem, I mean, this is our savior and our chief, Maria Will,” Lucia introduced her. “Chief, over there is Prince Reifus of Aldia and his friends.”

the

“Oh, fine,” the woman said. “I’m Maria. Nice to meet you!”

As I thought back, I realized that I’d really only ever met members of the Annihilation Corps—dangerous people—and this might have been my first time meeting someone of high rank from the Papacy.

“Ack, wait! Are you trying to take these salvation efforts away from me?!” Maria gasped suddenly. “I refuse! This is my turf now! I’ll take responsibility and save everyone so shoo— Ow!”

As she jumped to her own conclusions, she received another whack from Lucia, who stood in the back. Maybe Maria wasn’t afraid of anyone because she was so used to traveling around the world and learned to be friendly. This was her way of life.

“I’d like to confirm the situation and discuss future plans with you,” His Highness said. “Can we do that?”

The prince was used to meeting weird people of high rank—exhibit A, Emilia—and he wasn’t the type to hesitate against someone like Maria.

“Ah, Prince Reifus, would you mind if I attend that meeting as well?” a man called from a short distance away.

When the prince spotted who’d spoken, His Highness instantly turned stiff, and Maria clearly frowned with dismay.

“I apologize for my belated introduction,” the man said as he approached. “I’m Kain Alhazred, and I’ve accompanied the holy woman on this trip to inspect her work.”

“Kain Alhazred?” Magiluka gasped. “Isn’t he the cardinal of...”

I immediately was anxious facing this man of such high rank.

“Y-You mean the cardinal second only to the pope in the Papacy?” I whispered to Magiluka beside me. “Why’s someone of his rank here?”

I turned back to Kain, and perhaps he’d noticed my whispers, because we locked eyes for a split second. I hastily averted my gaze. The cardinal, however, remained steady as he sized me and Magiluka up, and cold sweat dripped down my back.

The prince shielded us. “I believe the Holy Woman Organization of Salvation is only permitted to cross international borders because they promise not to get involved with political affairs and have no intention of utilizing their authority for such matters. If you say that you are here for inspection instead of salvation, I’m afraid that I must treat you as a separate entity, perhaps one from the government. And in that case, I apologize, but I cannot allow you to attend the meeting.”

Never had I heard the prince sound so firm as he turned the cardinal down.

“Was that the deal?” Kain asked innocently. “Perhaps that is a rule that you’ve shackled upon us, but I don’t ever recall the Papacy agreeing to such terms.”

“But you don’t outright deny it,” His Highness replied. “I believe that in the past, the Papacy has agreed not to meddle with the holy woman’s organization and her affairs. Or have you forgotten the history of your own nation?”

The prince maintained his cool tone. When Kain had brought up the Papacy, he implied that Aldia best tread lightly so as to not outright go against the nation, but the prince stood firm and refused to back down.

“I see,” Kain muttered. “In such a short amount of time, my fears are coming true...”

“Pardon?” the prince asked.

“Oh, nothing at all. I only asked as is proper, but I’m more than willing to retreat. Please discuss future actions by yourselves. I shan’t interfere.”

Kain was as calm as ever and seemed to already lose interest in this topic; perhaps he was thinking of a new plan, but I was glad to see him go.

“What was that about?” I muttered.

I couldn’t fault Noa for speaking her mind as my own thoughts tumbled out of my lips.

“Who knows. Maybe he just wants to toy with us.”

I turned to Magiluka, thinking it had been her who’d spoken, but to my surprise, it was Maria beside me.

“Just because he’s a special in our Papacy he acts all high-and-mighty and thinks he can do anything,” she spat. “He’s terribly mistaken if he thinks everything will go his way! Hah! He’s all left out! Serves him right!”

If I was that snarky to the second-highest-rank person in a country, I’d cause an international incident.

“U-Um, are you allowed to be so...aggressive toward the cardinal?” I asked worriedly, astonished by her clear insolence.

“Yeah, I’m good,” Maria replied. “We’re actually the same rank. I don’t care if he’s the right seat or whatever. Just because he’s the only one allowed to see the pope, he acts all cocky and stuff, but honestly, I don’t even get how he got that position. What do you think?”

She continued to prattle on about her nation’s affairs and physically drew herself even closer to me. I glanced at Lucia, but she was busy speaking with the prince and had no time for Maria’s antics.

“E-Er, um... I, er...” I stammered. “I guess he must be loved by God the most, to get the right seat, or something... Just a guess, I don’t know...”

I didn’t know how else to handle Maria, who was being so friendly toward me, and I tried to use whatever excuse that popped in my mind.

“Huh, that so?” Maria asked.

“Uh, isn’t this a matter of your own nation?” I asked. “S-Surely you know the rules better than me?”

“You know, you might be right. I guess I just forgot!”

“Y-You’re so...”

She grinned mere inches away from me, and I let out a deep sigh in return. Just then, I felt a shiver run down my spine and whirled around to find Kain a short distance away, staring at me again. No longer was he expressionless, and his eyes seemed to widen with astonishment. I hastily turned away.

If I screwed up and caused an international problem, I wouldn’t be able to face the prince, my father, or like...the whole world. A waterfall of sweat ran down my face as my heart pounded nervously. I gingerly snuck another peak at Kain, but he stepped away as though nothing had occurred. Only when I saw him leave was I finally able to release the breath I was holding and deflate from relief.

***

When Kain left the church, he headed back to his own tent that was set up at a campsite with the Holy Woman Organization of Salvation, a short distance away from the village. There was a guard on standby outside the tent—the same man who’d lingered after Maria burst into Kain’s office to file a complaint.

“Did you hear the conversation earlier?” Kain asked.

The guard—the corps member—entered the tent and knelt at the entrance.

“Th-The holy woman is spouting nonsense, as she always does,” he stammered. “It’s nothing for you to be so concerned about...”

Maria was known for her sharp tongue, and the corps member was admittedly a touch shocked that Kain seemed so bothered by it now.

“Huh?” Kain asked, glaring quizzically at the kneeling man. “I’m not talking about . I’m referring to the girl with the silver hair.”

“I-I apologize,” the man stammered again. “I was distracted by the holy woman’s words...”

Cold sweat dripped down his back as he was terrified of this blunder. Not only had he failed to recognize Kain’s intent, but the corps member had even failed to hear whatever the silver-haired girl had said. The word “purge”...