Happy Birthday

The port of Bellotsa was packed with people. That was because the Entoho was scheduled to dock at 7 PM tonight.

Maybe that’s why the whole town of Bellotsa, a small tourist village, was buzzing with energy.

Even though it was just past 5 PM, everyone in Bellotsa was talking about nothing but the Entoho.

“They say the ship is unimaginably huge. Her Majesty the Empress Dowager is boarding too!”

“Thanks to that, we’ll get to see Duke Yuta Orgon.”

“Oh my god, I’ve never seen a Divine Beast before. They say the Divine Beast finally chose Lord Yuta, right?”

“Well, he’s a high priest who carries out the will of the gods—it’d be weird if he didn’t get chosen!”

A few years ago, Duke Mariaz Orgon died, and Yuta, his adopted son, became the duke.

There had been plenty of rumors that the Divine Beast wouldn’t choose Yuta, but surprisingly, as soon as Mariaz Orgon passed away, the Grass Divine Beast immediately chose Yuta.

As time passed, everyone naturally came to accept Yuta as Duke Orgon.

It was an unprecedented event for a high priest of the Temple to also serve as a duke, so his fame among the public kept rising.

It helped that Yuta had an angelic appearance and was always smiling.

He was even still famously favored by the High Priest, to the point that every other priest bowed their heads to him on sight.

Plus, with his gentle face, the Divine Beast Liri was always in his arms, chewing on grass, creating a scene so peaceful it was enough just to look at it.

“Did you hear? Lord Yuta went to the Kingdom of Itaa for volunteer work again.”

“The Kingdom of Itaa? The place in the middle of a civil war, where divine power barely works, and it’s super dangerous if you get hurt?”

“Yeah. That place has so much raw lom ore you can’t even mine it, and most divine power doesn’t work there. You know lom ore, right? The raw mineral that cancels divine power more than magic stones.”

“But he went there? Lord Yuta himself?”

“Exactly. And people still badmouth the Temple? Those people have no shame. Could they risk their lives and go volunteer in a place like that?”

“Lately more and more people are bashing the Temple… It’s disgusting.”

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“A high priest like Lord Yuta goes to such dangerous places, and they’re out here screaming that the Temple’s rotten?”

While the crowd was buzzing, there was a man chewing on squid at a food stall, looking annoyed.

“Why’s it all about Yuta? My name was in the paper too, dammit. Look. Ju-li-an No-art. Why the hell is no one paying attention to me?”

It was Julian, who still hadn’t regained his memories.

He wore a black robe with thick horn-rimmed glasses, and no one recognized him.

Across from him, elegantly eating a fish dish, Shulva spoke.

“First, you can’t compare the heir of a low-ranking count family to the Duke of Orgon. Second, a washed-up musclehead like you can’t compete with a high priest who does volunteer work all over the place. Third, people openly love someone who looks as kind as Lord Yuta, but they don’t openly love someone who looks like a thug, like you.”

“A-hem!”

“I’ve got like ten more reasons. Want me to keep going?”

“No, that’s enough. Uh, well then…”

Julian crossed his arms, clearly displeased, and asked again.

“How do I compare to me, the me from before I lost my memory?”

“Well, the old Julian wouldn’t waste his time on meaningless, useless comparisons like this.”

Shulva said bluntly, without any change in expression.

“Jealousy is pathetic, Julian. Why the hell are you so obsessed with Lord Yuta?”

They were back to being just friends now, comfortably dealing with each other.

“There’s a reason. I’ll tell you if you come back to being my person.”

The relationship between Yuta and Rosie was top secret. So Julian hadn’t even told Shulva.

He couldn’t exactly say, “Yuta and I are Rosie’s brothers, so I keep feeling competitive.”

And Shulva instantly rejected Julian’s subtle proposal.

“No thanks. We need a bit of distance. I kinda like my current job.”

“Kinda?”

“Yeah. When I first switched jobs, there was so much work that it was great, but the duke’s so damn competent… the workload dropped faster than I expected. Sad, really.”

Shulva was still Zahid’s aide.

Rosie had been right to force Shulva to stay by Zahid’s side for a year.

Starting the following year, Zahid had offered Shulva double the salary to continue working for him. That’s how capable Shulva was as an aide.

“Anyway, I’m still more needed by the duke than by you.”

Shulva drank a glass of water, expressionless.

“Count Noart is still around, and you’re under the protection of the count’s family. But the duke is always on the front lines. Constantly risking his life.”

He pushed up his glasses and let out a small sigh.

“Thanks to that, fortunately, there are plenty of times I need to step up for the duchy. This time too.”

“Man… only you would call that ‘fortunate,’ Shulva Nodiac.”

Julian shook his head, looking fed up. Then he stuffed the rest of the squid in his mouth and spoke casually.

“Well then… Let’s go pick up the brat. Hope he doesn’t get too banged up.”

Shulva slowly nodded. He, too, was staying in Bellotsa because of Zahid.

“Shulva, you know something?”

“Of course not, you haven’t told me the object of the sentence yet.”

Julian muttered as he looked out at the distant sea.

“Our little brat… today’s her birthday.”

“Oh, that I knew. Every year on this day, the duke orders a cake and gathers up presents. Says he did a crappy job celebrating it when he didn’t know, and since then he never did it right.”

“…I didn’t even do a crappy job. I only knew her fake birthday.”

Julian gave a bitter smile, then added with a heavy heart,

“I’m so happy thinking I’ll finally see her soon, but here I am, not even able to celebrate her twenty-first birthday.”

He sighed in regret.

Shulva wasn’t good at comforting, but he patted Julian’s arm anyway.

“You and I busted our asses for nine years because we wanted to be there for her next birthday, right?”

“You busted your ass and grew a lot. People said you’d never go back to how you were, but to me, you’re just about there. Almost.”

“No, Shulva. No.”

Julian shook his head.

“I’m not that all-knowing, ultimate genius like I used to be…”

He’d always read the notebook Rosie gave him, cover to cover. It matched over 80% of the time, and it never failed to amaze him.

“You were strong, yeah, but don’t flatter yourself into thinking you were some all-knowing genius. You never were.”

Shulva shook his head firmly, then looked out at the harbor with a resolute face.

“Anyway, it’s time. Let’s finish this properly.”

At those words, Julian stood up too. His eyes, looking out at the sea, were sharp once more.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

* * *

Linna, Zahid, and # Nоvеlight # I made it down to Second Class and Third Class without any trouble.

They were so strict when we were going up, but now, seeing Linna and Zahid’s faces, the knights stepped aside on their own.

Past that, we passed through the crew-only section, and finally, the stairs leading down to the basement appeared.

In front of the staircase to the basement, a bunch of Temple-affiliated Holy Knights were stationed. Even at the bottom of the stairs, there was a solid iron door, tightly shut. You couldn’t see anything of the basement from here.

“My lady, I believe you should speak.”

Zahid spoke slowly from behind us.

“They’re more likely to listen to you.”

Sure enough, the Holy Knights’ eyes weren’t exactly friendly as they looked at Zahid and Fire.

Linna lazily nodded, then casually asked the Holy Knights,

“There are priests down there, right?”

“…My lady, what do you mean…”

“Her Majesty the Empress Dowager told me. I heard there are lifeboats down here, so why are priests here?”

Linna’s question made the Holy Knights visibly uneasy.

At that moment, Zahid slowly stepped to my side and spoke.

“Her Majesty the Empress Dowager’s asthma and related complications have worsened. She said there are high-ranking priests down here and ordered us to summon them.”

“Please wait. We will deliver the message.”

One of the Holy Knights said stiffly, but Zahid raised an eyebrow and replied.

“The message was already delivered plenty.”

He subtly stepped forward, and in that moment, his fingertips brushed against mine.

It was a tense, high-stakes moment, but even so, I could feel that his attention was entirely on me.

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