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Opening

An endlessly blue sky, unobstructed by anything. It makes everything below look tiny, as if reminding us just how small we truly are.

“What a beautiful view, don’t you think, Torte?”

“Why are you so carefree, Tia-senseeeee!”

A scream echoes from right behind me. The voice belongs to a blue-haired girl clinging tightly to my waist.

Her name is Torte Pāson. Though petite, she’s bursting with energy and always wears a smile.

That’s why watching her never gets old, but right now, there’s no trace of her usual liveliness. Her voice trembles, clearly showing how shaken she is.

She must be deeply moved. Sharing her sentiment, I nod in agreement.

“It’s such a magnificent view. We should have thought of traveling by air much sooner.”

“That’s not the point! How can you be so calm in this situation!?”

“What are you so upset about, Torte?”

“I’m angry because this method of transportation is outrageous!”

Torte roars as if her throat might give out. While her energy is admirable, having her shout right next to my ear is quite troublesome.

To calm her down, I try to speak as composedly as possible.

“Torte, shouting like that will tire you out. Let’s calm down first. See, the air is so refreshing up here.”

“There’s no way I can calm down! We’re in the sky—the sky! We’re so high up! If we fall, we’ll definitely die!”

“We won’t fall, and even if we do, I won’t let you die. I’m here, after all.”

“You’re being ridiculous…!”

Hmm, why is Torte so angry? She often gets upset with me, but perhaps we still lack mutual understanding.

“Listen, Torte. You say it’s absurd, but since we’re actually doing it, there’s nothing to worry about. Please relax.”

“Don’t ‘listen’ me! It’s not that I doubt you! But there’s no way I can just accept such a crazy situation! Tell me, what exactly are we using to travel right now!”

“A Lesser Dragon.”

“Don’t just answer so casually!”

I answered because she asked, yet she’s angry—how peculiar. Also, Torte, please stop headbutting my back; it’s starting to hurt.

Perhaps spurred by Torte’s screams, the Lesser Dragon beneath us roars as if expressing its displeasure.

Lesser Dragons are considered small among dragons, but they’re still large enough to carry three or four people without issue.

We’re sitting near its neck. Perhaps annoyed by Torte’s shouting, its previously stable flight becomes wobbly, and Torte clings to me even tighter.

“Eek!? It’s shaking! It’s definitely trying to throw us off!”

“It’s angry because you’re screaming, Torte.”

“You’re the one who angered it first! And I don’t understand how you subdued it after making it angry and then turned it into a ride!”

“It was helpful that it showed up at just the right time.”

We needed to travel far in a hurry and were wondering what to do when the Lesser Dragon appeared—it might have been the goddess’s providence.

As I silently offer thanks, Torte continues to headbutt my back angrily.

“Why are you so relaxed!? Listen, Tia-sensei! Lesser Dragons may be considered weak among dragons, but they’re still monsters that require multiple skilled adventurers to challenge! That’s common knowledge!”

“I can defeat one by myself, though.”

“That’s why I’m saying you’re unreasonable…!”

“Even if you call it absurd, since I can defeat it alone, that’s normal for me. Don’t worry, Torte, if you work hard, you too can tame a Lesser Dragon like I did.”

“Are you serious!? Don’t you realize you’re practically not even human anymore!? It’s only obeying because it’s afraid of you! It’s not tamed, not at all!!”

“Is that so? Hey, Mr. Lesser Dragon?”

When I stroke its neck as if asking, it stops roaring and calms down.

Seeing it resume stable flight, I nod in satisfaction.

“See? It listens to me; isn’t it adorable?”

“Scary… I still don’t understand this person at all…!”

“Torte, confronting your fears is tough, but daring to challenge difficult things is a privilege of youth.”

“‘Youth,’ you say, but you’re only four years older than me, Sensei…”

Torte mutters sulkily, and I can’t help but give a wry smile.

In fact, there’s only a four-year age difference between us. Though I sometimes wonder if it’s appropriate for her to call me “Sensei,” I’ve decided to be her teacher regardless.

I intend to maintain this relationship as long as Torte continues to call me “Sensei.”

“Four years of experience is significant.”

“No, the weight of your four years and an average person’s four years is definitely different!”

“That’s quite an honor.”

“I’m not praising you! Ah, geez… sigh…”

Torte presses her head against my back and rubs it back and forth. Using unnecessary energy will tire her out, so I’m a bit concerned. Our journey through the sky is still far from over.

As I’m thinking about this, Torte suddenly asks a question as if she just remembered.

“By the way, where exactly are we headed? All I’ve heard is that you have some business to attend to.”

“I hadn’t explained in detail, had I? I forgot because we were in a hurry. Actually, I received a letter from an old friend.”

“Eh!? You have… friends, Sensei!? Really!?”

“Torte, please don’t make it sound like I have no friends.”

“S-sorry… You’re right, no matter how much of an embodiment of absurdity you are, and how you destroy our common sense without a second thought, you’re still human… Wait, Sensei, you are human, right?”

“Torte, why did you smoothly transition into doubting whether I’m human or not?”

“Ahem! Well, I’m glad to hear that you do have friends, Sensei!”

“Even so, it’s just that one friend now, and we had a falling out a few years ago, so we haven’t spoken since.”

To be honest, I was surprised when I saw the name in the letter. That friend said things close to severing ties when we fought. We hadn’t been in touch for about three years since then.

But I’m happy she reached out to me. No matter what the content is.

“Is that someone you can still call a friend…?”

“Because I still think of her as a friend.”

“Ah, I see. It’s the usual, then. Got it.”

“Torte, you’re a good student who can admit when you don’t understand something and then quickly grasp it afterward.”

“…Whose fault do you think that is?”

When I say that, Torte gives a stronger headbutt to my back. It hurts a little.

Since we’re riding on the back of a Lesser Dragon, we have no choice but to be in close contact, but if she keeps attacking me, it becomes a problem.

“Sensei! I don’t think it’s good to force your way until the other person understands!”

“Indeed, I think it’s important to have a dialogue.”

“Then I want you to listen to me…! Sensei, you need to realize how abnormal you are!”

“I’m still in training myself, so I can’t be complacent. There’s still much training ahead.”

Being praised is nice, but I’m still far from my ideal.

That’s why I think it’s too soon to accept Torte’s praise. Then Torte lets out a deep sigh, as if she’s given up on something.

“Ah, okay, okay. I get it, I get it! Let’s get back to the topic! So, you said you received a letter from a friend? What did it say?”

“It was a letter asking me to come to the royal capital. It was an offer I definitely wanted to accept, so we needed to hurry.”

“Royal capital? Eh? Wait a minute! Sensei, are we heading to the royal capital!?”

Torte raises her voice, more surprised than she’s been all day. Come to think of it, since I took Torte in, she’s been living in the frontier regions.

She must have only heard about the royal capital in stories. Maybe she’s excited. Thinking that, it’s kind of cute.

“We’re heading to the royal capital on a Lesser Dragon!?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“That’s definitely going to be a problem, right!? No one flies to the royal capital on a monster! Why are you so calm!? Are you an idiot, Sensei!?”

Once again, Torte begins to get adorably angry. Maybe she wasn’t excited about going to the royal capital after all.

“We have no choice since we wouldn’t make it in time on horseback.”

“It’s so like you to consider a Lesser Dragon when horses won’t do, but I wish you wouldn’t showcase your uniqueness there…!”

“I thought about borrowing a horse from a traveling merchant, but we still wouldn’t make it in time, and the merchant would be troubled without a horse. So I decided to go by air. It was fortunate that a Lesser Dragon happened to pass by.”

“Why couldn’t the letter have arrived sooner…! Ah, I hate living in the frontier…!”

“The frontier is indeed inconvenient, but it has its good points.”

“Sensei, you know what kind of inhuman, demonic land you’re living in, right!?”

“Of course, I know.”

“Ugh…! Torte, you already know, don’t you…? This person’s mind and common sense are off…! Sigh… So, what’s the reason for going to the royal capital?”

“We’re going to pick someone up.”

“Pick someone up?”

“Yes. Torte, we’re going to pick up ‘Saintess Candidates’ who will be your peers.”

“Sensei, do you know anything about the situation of Saintesses in the royal capital? I think it’s definitely better to know in advance.”

“Are you curious about the girls who might become your friends? Then let’s review as a refresher.”

Our country is the Holy Kingdom of Grannoa.

It’s a nation that worships the Creation Goddess, who formed the world, and the child gods who assisted her.

The Creation Goddess joined forces with the child gods to create this world and gave birth to humankind.

Humans enjoyed long-lasting peace under the gods’ protection, but a battle erupted with the Evil God, who presided over chaos and sought to destroy the world.

The Goddess confronted the Evil God alongside the child gods. After a long battle, the Evil God was defeated, but the world was left with deep scars, and the child gods shattered.

The surviving Goddess also shattered herself, entrusting the future to humans before disappearing. Thus, the age of the gods ended, and the era of humans began.

Saintesses are women who have received the power of the Creation Goddess. They are said to possess the Goddess’s power told in legends and are considered the most noble beings in this world.

“I taught you this in a previous lesson, didn’t I?”

“Yes. Saintesses were given the role of purifying the distortions left in the world by the Evil God and returning the world to its proper flow, right?”

“Exactly. That’s why Saintesses are still loved as the favored children of the Goddess.”

The Holy Kingdom treats girls born with the Goddess’s power with great care. As part of that, the church, which oversees faith and education, provides a comprehensive educational system.

“When Saintesses are discovered, they receive education at the church. Besides Saintess candidates, the church also takes in the children of nobles and talented commoners, nurturing them as future leaders of the country. However, they are especially devoted to the education of Saintesses, raising them to be talented women who can be presented anywhere without shame.”

“Wow, I’ve suddenly lost confidence in being able to get along with them. That means they’re like noble ladies, right?”

“I think you’re also a student who can be presented anywhere without embarrassment.”

“I’m honored that you’d say that, Sensei, but I think the standards are different! Listening to you, I can’t imagine Saintess candidates raised in the royal capital would come to live in our frontier region…”

“Well, due to various reasons, the church’s policies have changed.”

“Policies?”

“I’ll explain that another time. As you said, normal Saintesses raised in the royal capital wouldn’t come to the frontier.”

“Then why are you going to the royal capital…?”

“It’s a request from the friend who sent me the letter. There are Saintess candidates who don’t align with the current church policies, and she asked if I could take them in here in the frontier.”

“Doesn’t that mean they’re problem children?”

Torte tightens her hold on me and asks in an uneasy voice.

Problem children. It’s hard to deny that when she puts it that way.

“That’s right. It was actually written that way in the letter.”

“Ehh…? Is that okay?”

“Rather, I think it’s precisely because there are issues that it’ll be okay. Though I won’t be certain until I meet them in person.”

“Well, you’re the top problem child yourself, Sensei.”

“I’m a Saintess of impeccable conduct, you know?”

“That’s your standard, not the general public’s! I keep telling you that!”

“Torte, don’t you get tired of being angry all the time?”

“Who do you think is making me tired!? Ah, whatever!”

Torte presses her head against my back as if to say she’s tired of talking to me.

If I provoke her any further, it’ll just make her angrier, so I decide to stay silent.

(Even so, I was indeed surprised when the letter arrived.)

As Torte falls silent, I recall the opening of the letter from my friend.

“To my former friend, Tia Pāson,

If you’re reading this letter, it means you’re still alive and well. How unfortunate. If you’re still chasing your unattainable ideals, then read on.

As you know, the training of the Saintess candidates raised by the church is coming to an end, and the time is approaching for them to be sent to their future assignments for further training.

If you wish, come and take in students who will be ‘your successors.’ There are Saintess candidates who are perfect to be entrusted to you but who are unsuitable for the ‘current church.’

They are ‘problem children’ whom we can only send to remote places where it would take time for this letter to reach.

It would be best for us if they disappear before causing any issues. If you’re still willing to take them in after knowing this, come to the royal capital at once. And try to disappoint me.

That is my heartfelt wish, from someone who once called you a friend.”

“…She’s as unstraightforward as ever.”

I can’t help but smile because it’s so like the friend who sent the letter.

She was never straightforward. Her continued stubbornness makes me feel nostalgic.

But she didn’t send the letter to rekindle our friendship. In fact, I even think this is a ploy to use me.

“Even so, I don’t mind.”

I will not give up the path I’m walking.

I’ll simply keep moving forward. Because I made that resolve long ago.

—Even if everyone calls me the “Heretical Saintess Exiled to the Frontier.