On a night when grass insects chirped, there stood a small cabin in the corner of a little village.
Inside, a shabby old man sat in a chair, quietly petting a cat while staring blankly at the flames of the fireplace.
– Knock, knock, knock.
Upon hearing the sound of someone knocking at the door, the old man briefly set the cat down, rose from his seat, and opened the door.
– Creak…
What greeted him at the door was a person shrouded in a robe, seemingly trying to conceal their appearance.
However, there were not many guests who would come searching for this small cabin at such a late hour.
Moreover, despite the robe obscuring their figure, that shape was all too familiar.
“Renie, have you sneakily snuck out of the palace again?”
Upon hearing the old man’s words, the unidentified figure finally removed the robe that had concealed their identity and spoke with a beautiful voice.
“Hehe, actually… I was just curious if your research was going well.”
The hero who had defeated the Demon King in the final battle.
The ever-composed and dignified present king of Arinseia, wise and benevolent.
The immortal saint.
Any intelligent being existing in this material plane would inevitably know of her.
Indeed, it was Renie Arinseia.
However, upon removing the robe, what appeared was a woman with a playful, childlike expression completely opposite to her well-known image.
Seeing her expression, the old man immediately sensed her true intentions and shook his head.
“Surely you didn’t come all this way just to satisfy your curiosity about an old man’s research.”
In reality, she wasn’t particularly interested in magic.
It wasn’t because, as is generally known, divine power and magic were incompatible.
Compared to the miracles she wielded, magic was merely a very elementary skill, yet she would still use the magic she had learned whenever necessary.
Nevertheless, the reason she didn’t make good use of magic was simply because it was a power that contradicted her beliefs.
Firstly, magic was inaccessible to anyone who did not possess a special talent.
Furthermore, a great deal of study was required beforehand, necessitating wealth and power to procure books, magical materials, and a mentor.
Thus, magic was a privilege.
On the other hand, praying to the divine and having faith was something anyone could do.
Even if one lacked the ability or the burdens they carried to realize miracles.
With Renie’s emphasis on ‘equality,’ miracles suited her better than magic, and faith was more aligned with her than intellect.
Therefore, she would never have come to this isolated cabin out of curiosity for magic research.
For that reason, the old man immediately discerned that Renie’s statements were lies.
Then, if that was the case, what on earth could have compelled her to make such a precious visit to this remote cabin in the village? The answer was quite simple.
He took a deep breath and opened the door wider, gesturing inside as he spoke.
“Levi is over there.”
“Thank you! Luke Illusi!”
As Renie spoke the name of Luke Illusi, the greatest mage in history, the shabby old man’s appearance vanished as if it were an illusion, transforming into a dignified figure befitting that reputation.
He cast aside even the dignity of a queen and gazed at Renie, who was hugging the cat and nuzzling her face against it.
“Levi! You missed me, didn’t you? How much did you miss me? Oh my, look how heavy you’ve gotten!”
– Nyah…
In stark contrast to Renie’s beaming smile, the cat looked utterly exhausted.
This situation alone suggested that it was not at all to its liking.
She, being a saint who was fundamentally loved by all beings in the material plane, rarely encountered animals that showed such reactions like Levi displayed.
However, despite its cat-like appearance, Levi was not a being of the material plane.
It was a beast taking the form of a cat, more a phenomenon than a living creature.
And phenomena tended to grow into disasters or calamities.
However, with the demon realm having fallen, the chances of Levi growing into a disaster were slim.
Being a beast from the demon realm, it fundamentally opposed the conditions of this world, and more so against the divine power…
Most decisively, Levi greatly disliked being handled in such a haphazard manner.
Thus, it was perhaps natural for Levi to shy away from the saint.
But ironically, such reactions would have pleased Renie’s heart.
Levi lamented its predicament with a low mew.
Then suddenly, perhaps unable to endure being forcibly nuzzled against Renie’s face any longer, Levi began to emit a sharp cry.
– Nyah!
Levi did not stop there; it raised its sharp claws and began to scratch Renie’s face.
Through the stinging cuts, Renie maintained her grin and joked.
“Creepy! Luke, the beast is attacking me! What should I do? Help me! Luke Illusi!”
“Just put it down from your hands.”
“No way! Levi is just too cute for that!”
Although blood flowed down from her face where the claws had scratched, Luke’s expression remained eerily calm.
Besides, as if nothing were wrong, he opened a drawer and took out a potion for himself.
After all, such wounds would heal so perfectly within seconds without leaving a scar for Renie.
Then suddenly, Renie stared intently at the cat’s belly and whispered.
“Or, maybe, has she finally gotten pregnant?”
– Nyah!
“Ow!”
At Renie’s words, Levi’s intensified rejection response led Renie, who had been scratched, to drop Levi from her hands.
In response, Renie gave a slightly bitter smile as she looked at Luke.
“It seems she heard you.”
“That might be so.”
Levi was the last individual to survive in a demon realm that had perished and could potentially hold the key to Luke’s research.
Thus, it was natural that attempts at breeding had been made, but all results thus far had failed.
All things considered, Renie’s claim of having come to “see the magic research” was not entirely untrue.
Now so accustomed to speaking like a mage, Renie no longer told lies as freely as she used to.
Could it be that she had grown as well?
‘Though her appearance hasn’t changed an iota since she was a girl…’
What was important was always invisible.
Thus, what mattered to Renie was her inner self.
“Well, in any case, you look healthy! Heavy though! Aren’t you feeding her too much?”
“Since she needs to consume more nutrients to survive properly in the material plane.”
Thus, Levi gaining weight was unavoidable.
However, Luke could not understand why Levi chose to stick to this size even though they could have grown bigger.
Renie, with her characteristic bright smile, wiped away the still unwiped traces of blood from her face with her hand and stood up from the floor.
“By the way, do you still enjoy country living these days?”
At Renie’s question, Luke nodded slightly.
The quiet environment was perfect for conducting personal research away from prying eyes, it was easy to procure mana, and there were fewer bothersome tasks.
Moreover, here, he would not draw anyone’s suspicion.
Watching Luke’s satisfied expression, Renie chuckled.
“Well, if you’re happy, then that’s all that matters.”
“Thank you for that.”
“Then, may I sit next to you?”
“Unfortunately, this house has only this one chair.”
From the outside, it appeared to be a house lived in by an old man alone, so there were no particular furnishings.
Thus, everything inside consisted solely of this one chair on which he sat.
“Well, you can go bring one from outside, can’t you?”
“Hm, are you suggesting that I knock on someone’s door in the middle of the night to borrow a chair? I would surely be very curious about who that guest is.”
“Then, could you bring one from the space?”
“Tonight, the conditions of the stars are such that opening a spatial gate would be too costly.”
“Well then, I guess I have no choice but to sit on your lap.”
Renie, having intentionally circled around the subject while pretending not to know, finally voiced her true intentions.
Luke was the only person with whom she could act spoiled at this point.
No matter how old she grew, she would always be a girl in front of Luke.
“I’ll decline that; you’re too heavy.”
“But Levi is heavy too, yet you let her sit so easily?”
– Nyah.
Luke momentarily fell silent.
Certainly, despite having the size of an ordinary cat, due to her immense density, Levi did not differ much in weight from Renie.
For that reason, even Renie, with a body far exceeding that of an average person, kept muttering “heavy.”
“That’s a sort of experiment.”
“An experiment?”
“Yes, it’s a task to help Levi assimilate more into this material plane through the heart.”
“Through the heart, huh…”
Renie nodded at Luke’s words.
Could it be that this mage finally began to understand and empathize with the hearts of others?
To realize it only in his later years, Luke was a man who was quite slow to learn in this regard.
Then, Renie suddenly had the idea of expressing it in this way.
Smiling slyly, she opened her mouth.
“You used to do it back in the day, didn’t you?”
“That’s a story over 80 years old. And haven’t you also become a grandmother by now? You should act your age.”
At that moment, Renie’s expression stiffened.
Wrong. This mage was still a mage utterly lacking in consideration.
“…Speaking of a woman’s age, that’s very rude.”
“Oh dear, forgive me. It was a light jest,” he said.
“That’s not a light jest; that’s a cheap joke.”
“Of course, it’s a joke I wouldn’t make if it weren’t for you. And, anyway, at this time, no one would think your age is small. Are you still worried about that?”
“Luke, you truly…”
Of course, it was one thing if everyone knew that fact, but was it necessary to voice it out loud?
She hadn’t come here just to confirm such things.
“Sigh, I didn’t want it to come to this.”
Renie soon straightened her back, adopting a solemn expression, and said.
“It’s the queen’s orders. Sit me on your lap.”
At her words, Luke sighed as if he had no other choice.
“As you command, Your Majesty.”
It was not the saint’s request but the queen’s command.
He had sworn loyalty to the queen, so he had no choice in the matter.
