Unmistakable Growth

"Oh, leaving already?"

We stepped out of the room and ran right into Princess Yupe.

Come to think of it, she hadn't been in the office.

She looked as energetic as ever, remarkable given how much she'd sung at the concert.

Meanwhile, everyone on our side was exhausted.

She had changed out of her concert dress into her usual one.

For some reason, she was carrying a bottle of wine.

"The concert's done and dusted, so I was thinking we should throw a little victory party. I mean, that big lug tucked its tail and ran without doing a thing, right?"

"How do you have this much energy?"

"Oh, performing takes stamina, you know. When I was bedridden with burns, I watched my muscles waste away and thought I'd never sing again."

Princess Yupe puffed out her chest proudly.

When the meteors hit, she'd suffered full-body burns so severe that her prized beauty and skin were left unrecognizable. It was a miracle she survived at all.

Others had exploited her vulnerability after that, and she'd gotten herself into quite a mess… but when you really thought about it, she'd managed to come out of everything smelling like roses.

She'd been fully restored by the Church of the Sun God's power, and then abandoned by them. Between that and Queen Tianis's lingering familial affection for her sister, she avoided any severe punishment.

Now she enjoyed a position with no formal responsibilities but a comfortable standing and plenty of freedom.

And since her activities served the national interest, she might well have been born under a lucky star.

"What? Just because I'm beautiful doesn't mean you can stare at me like that."

She struck a pose as she said it.

"I'll pass on the drinks. I'm sure I'll be saddled with plenty of work, so I'd rather rest today. I'll take you up on that another time."

"That's a promise. Wine tastes best at times like these! Fine then, I'll drag Anatia along instead."

I silently offered Lady Anatia my condolences.

It felt a bit like I was dumping this on her, and I was sorry about that… but they apparently went way back, so hopefully she could handle it.

We borrowed a spare room, and everyone except Azu went in to change.

While waiting outside, it was just Azu and me.

She seemed like she wanted to say something, fidgeting restlessly.

Then she steeled herself and spoke up.

"Um… I'm sorry for ruining that expensive dress."

"Oh, is that what's been bothering you? I was wondering why you seemed so down."

"But you went to the trouble of getting it for me, and I wanted to take good care of it…"

"That was an emergency, there was nothing you could do. Besides, you're still growing, Azu. You'll get taller. You'd need a new dress before long anyway, so don't worry about it too much."

"But… Oh, I know. Let me at least pay back a little from my allowance—"

She pulled out her coin purse, so I grabbed her hand before she could open it and pushed it back into her pocket.

I couldn't let that happen and keep my dignity.

Even slaves had the right to their own property.

"Let me handle this much. You all earn good money, you know. One dress isn't going to break us. Still, though…"

"Huh? What is it?"

Azu seemed to accept my reasoning for the moment.

Knowing her personality, she'd probably throw herself into her work to pay me back through results.

I took a good look at her.

I didn't have any impure thoughts, but when I really examined her, the change from those early days was striking.

Back then, she'd been malnourished and thin.

Proper meals had given her the nutrition she needed. She'd grown a bit taller and had a much healthier figure now.

A little more time and she'd go from girl to grown woman.

It was something to look forward to, though part of me felt it was a shame.

Right now was a miraculous moment where delicateness and beauty coexisted.

Everyone emerged from changing in their usual clothes.

Alexia's everyday outfit was practically a dress anyway, so she didn't look all that different.

Seeing them dressed up had been wonderful and special, but their everyday appearance also brought a comforting sense of normalcy.

"Finally free from those days of nothing but performing."

"It was fun, too, but I think I've gotten a bit out of shape. Once I've rested, I want to move my body to my heart's content."

Finn and Alexia stretched and loosened up.

Finn arched her back like a cat.

Alexia rolled her shoulders, then brushed the hair that had fallen forward out of the way.

"It's a shame I couldn't take the piano home."

"They offered to give it to us, but we don't have anywhere to put it…"

"Anatia-sama said I can borrow the practice room whenever I feel like playing, so it's fine. Besides, I got this."

Alexia had played the piano during the concert, but there was no way we could have accepted that as a gift.

It was incredibly expensive and took up too much space.

Lady Anatia had insisted since it was a promise, so Alexia had accepted a harmonica instead.

Orleans had finished changing too.

"Oh, right. Alexia."

"What?"

"I left the Thorn Staff with Evalin-san. It's become even more dangerous than before and won't even fit in the item bag anymore, so I think that's the safest option."

"Ah… So it wasn't my imagination that it felt more ominous than before. As a mage, it bothers me that I can't handle it, but I think that's the right call. As a magical booster, a staff like that might be unparalleled. But it would drain me dry eventually."

Alexia was the only one in our group who used the Thorn Staff.

Since even she was reluctant, leaving it with Evalin had clearly been the right decision.

"Honestly, trying to compete with that woman at all feels like a mistake. If I ever had to fight her, I'd have a much better chance as a warrior than as a mage."

"Don't say something so ominous. If she ever became an enemy, it would be a catastrophe."

"True enough."

On our way from the castle to the portal, people in the Royal Capital called out to us.

We'd changed clothes, but some people still recognized us.

The praise and the comments about how the concert had lifted their spirits made us happy too.

As we turned a corner, we spotted Kazusa and her younger brother Leo shopping at a food stall.

They'd been cheering for Azu during the concert, and apparently they'd headed straight for the stalls once the evacuation was over.

… Come to think of it, the stalls would have been under the evacuation order too, so had they set up again the moment it was lifted?

Talk about entrepreneurial spirit.

"Kazusa!"

"Oh, Azu! And everyone, great work today!"

Kazusa was carrying bags full of fried bread in both hands.

"Want some of these? The concert was really wonderful. It was our first time seeing something like that, and we were really moved."

I took a piece of fried bread from Kazusa.

It seemed to be her way of expressing how touched she'd been.

Leo also told us it had been amazing.

We walked together to the portal and headed back to Kassad.

It had felt like a job well done, but then word came that we'd need to return to the castle again tomorrow.

Apparently there was work to do after they finished communicating with the Alsarm army on the front lines.