The words "the right person" were the decisive piece of evidence. Wasn't it Morien herself who was trying to select a savior, not a god?
The same went for how she sought salvation from humans rather than from a god. That wasn't—
It wasn't the kind of shift in stance you'd expect from someone who had directly received a revelation.
At Eve's statement, Helione's eyes widened in shock, and Morien let out a low, muffled sound. It seemed she had acted alone.
Eve looked at Morien and continued. Her voice held neither blame nor anger.
"In desperate circumstances, people naturally look for something to rely on. To give them that threadbare hope, you created a faith and fashioned a prophecy so the people could endure."
"We needed hope. Please forgive the deception— no, you don't have to forgive it. Punish this old woman severely. Just… please don't take hope away from the residents."
"That means…"
"All you have to do is pretend to be the savior.
If you show even a small act of goodwill out of compassion, the residents will take it as salvation and be able to endure from here on out."
Morien was asking Eve to become her accomplice.
As if it wasn't enough to have been banging her forehead against the table, Morien rose from her chair and threw herself facedown on the floor, bowing in deep prostration.
"Landowner."
"L-Landowner."
Helione fidgeted anxiously, watching Eve's face. It looked like Helione wanted to help Morien—both the priestess and the landowner—back to her feet.
Eve let out a sigh, as if in resignation.
"Get up. It's not good for your joints."
"Imperial Princess…"
"Don't turn me into some savior who bullies an old woman."
At those words, not only Morien and Helione but even Mikael startled and turned to look at her. Eve faced Mikael and, smiling a little awkwardly, said,
"Seems like I'm going to need Alben's disposition."
The disposition of an attention-seeker, that is.
Eve set her expression in resolve. Since it had come to this, she intended to put on an iron mask and make the most of the current situation.
'From the start, I was planning to win these people's hearts and push things forward.'
If she could overcome the drawback of feeling mortified, then the name "savior" itself was an effective and efficient guarantee of public support.
"I'll do my best."
"Thank you, thank you!"
"Now, then…"
All of a sudden, Eve rummaged around inside her robe and then, rustling, pulled out a bundle of papers.
It was a kind of report.
"Savior, what is that?"
"It's our salvation plan."
"…Pardon?"
Eve spoke shyly.
"Actually, I've been interested in this sort of thing for a long time, so I tried preparing a bit…"
Morien and Helione thought, perhaps the revelation hadn't been wrong after all.
Eve finished her busy day and fell asleep. She'd been worried about the night, but it passed without the Demonic Dragon's nightmare sweeping over her mind.
After traveling, sleeping soundly under a roof for the first time in a while left her feeling so refreshed in body and mind by morning that it was almost surprising.
'Is it because it's the first day, and I'm not feeling the nightmare's influence yet?'
Peony and Mikael said they hadn't had nightmares either. The Punishment Knight Order was the same.
Her doubts about the Demonic Dragon's pitifully weak ability to intrude were resolved by Helione.
"So you were worried about nightmares, Your Highness."
"Baronet Erka frightened me quite a bit."
"There's no need to worry so much.
Just as illness can seep in more easily when the body is weakened, the Demonic Dragon's nightmares invade when one's mental strength has weakened. Unless someone has severe mental trauma, or is born with an extremely weak mind, ordinary people don't end up having nightmares."
"Ah, I see. So even an ordinary person's mental strength is enough to guard against it."
"Yes. And not every dream stays in your memory, does it? In most cases, people can't even remember the nightmare afterward."
"So the rumor that some people go mad was just a rumor."
Beyond that, Eve heard various other stories.
If Galamut was "the most cruel dragon," then Ambroxa was "the most cunning dragon."
Since nightmares reflect the nature of a Demonic Dragon, she was told, rather than showing generally brutal scenes, they tend to show scenes that twist and dig into the target's weaknesses.
"In a way, Ambroxa's nightmares might be the 'Mirror of Truth' from legend."
"That makes sense. To project weaknesses one doesn't even know oneself has… it'd be good for cultivating the mind. I almost feel like I want to have a nightmare at least once."
In the middle of that interesting conversation, someone entered the barracks. It was Peony, carrying a bowl with steam gently curling up from it.
"Your Highness, please have breakfast."
"Thank you, Peony."
Just like the residents of Dandelion, Eve resolved breakfast with the ration meal: sausage stew.
Dandelion's sausage tasted like it was made from a mix of lamb and pork, and once she seasoned it with the spices she'd brought and got rid of the gamey smell, it was delicious beyond measure.
As Eve quickly finished off the hearty stew—so tasty it didn't even feel like a ration—she made up her mind.
'This definitely has competitiveness. I should name it Dandelion Special Sausage and push it as a local specialty.'
After finishing her meal, Eve went out to the square. In the village, where the debris had been roughly cleared away, residents were receiving their food portions.
The residents, too, were marveling at the sausage.
"My goodness, you're telling me this is made from the sausage we ate every day?"
"They say the Savior poured the powder she brought into the stew, and it turned into food like this."
Food, by nature, was an excellent tool for proselytizing. The residents of Dandelion were moved as if Eve had performed a miracle over the stew pot.
Around then, Peony approached and reported,
"We've run out of food now."
"Then we'll have to go outside the palisade and find something to eat."
From the look of it, the mid-level homunculi had already finished eating and were preparing to enter the forest to hunt.
It seemed their areas were designated, so they moved individually. Given the homunculi's trait of viewing a coordinated assault as interference, it was a rational system.
Eve had no intention whatsoever of leaving food procurement solely to the residents and behaving like a freeloading mouth to feed. She hurriedly said to Helione,
"Going out into the forest right now is dangerous, so call the mid-level homunculi back in. Let me and the expedition handle procuring food."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Helione faithfully carried out the order.
"Residents, listen! The Savior has said she will personally enter the Forest of Monsters and procure food for us! Homunculi, do not go into the forest—help with village repairs, or rest!"
"Ohh, the Savior will get food?!"
"The Savior will keep us fed!"
"As expected of the Savior from the revelation!"
Thanks to Helione, who had taken it upon herself to be the public herald, the square grew noisy again, and everyone's gaze converged on Eve.
'Ugh…'
Surrounded by suddenly burdensome stares, Eve nearly stopped breathing. But she took a deep breath and tried to steady herself.
'I-I have to get used to this! I decided to do this properly.'
In Eve's judgment, now was the timing where she, as a savior, should say something. Her mind went blank, but she stepped forward and gathered her words.
"Residents of Dandelion, trust me and wait. Then tonight, too, sausage stew will be granted."
Fortunately, the residents of Dandelion were ready to respond enthusiastically no matter what Eve said.
"Yes, Savior!"
"We believe in you, Savior!"
"We believe in you, sausage stew!"
After receiving a round of cheers, Eve turned away, looking embarrassed. Peony encouraged her.
"I had no idea sausage stew was such a sacred food."
"Don't tease me. I'm really embarrassed."
"Being embarrassed only happens the first time. Soon you'll be able to enjoy the attention and deliver speeches like Young Master Redmon."
That was frightening in its own way. With a sigh, Eve called for Mikael so she could issue orders to the knight order.
"We'll have to split our forces in two. White Night will remain stationed in Dandelion and stand guard, and Punishment will come with me into the forest to search for drinking water and food. Have them prepare right away, Mikael."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Punishment was also Eve's own knight order, and White Night needed to stay by Rosenitte's side, so it was a natural distribution of roles.
Just then, Peony seemed to recall Rosenitte's condition and spoke worriedly.
"Her Highness the Eighth Imperial Princess still hasn't opened her eyes.
It's been about fifteen hours since she fainted… what if she doesn't wake up and it just continues like this?"
Eve's reaction wasn't a big deal.
"Ah, don't worry. I put her into a deep sleep with sleep magic, that's all."
"…Pardon?"
To the startled Peony, Eve explained calmly.
"If Rozy comes to her senses while I'm away, what do you think will happen? She's pure from head to toe, so I don't think she'll grasp the situation properly. What if she thinks this place is the Imperial Palace and starts ordering you around—my aide—telling you to do this and that? Wouldn't that be troublesome? It helps if she just sleeps."
"Ah-ha!"
Nodding vigorously in understanding, Peony was, in addition, deeply moved by her superior's considerate arrangement.
Eve smiled faintly and put her index finger to her lips.
"Of course, this is a secret between just the two of us."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Around then, someone approached from afar—someone who pricked at the two of their consciences. It was Sylvestian.
"Your Highness, the Seventh Imperial Princess, I heard you will be going outside Dandelion together with Punishment."
"I'm going to— no, I'm going to go secure food and drinking water. I'll return by sunset at the latest, so in the meantime, protect the village, Sir Millard."
"The forest is a dangerous place—monsters inhabit it on all sides. Are you truly going in person, Your Highness?"
"I need to examine the environment here as well, so I plan to move myself. I'll be going together with mid-level homunculi who know the terrain well, so there's nothing to worry about."
"However…"
Sylvestian couldn't let go of his worry at the thought of royalty personally taking such risks. Eve spoke as if to reassure him.
"It'll be fine. Mikael is going with me."
In that instant, Sylvestian inhaled softly.
"So, Sir Millard, don't worry—just take good care of Rozy here."
The moment Mikael's name was followed by Rosenitte's, those clear, pale blue eyes trembled as if wounded. It looked like the gaze of someone who had just been rejected in a very cold and merciless way.
"Sir Millard?"
Finding Sylvestian's silence strange, Eve called to him.
Seeing Sylvestian jolt as though only then coming back to himself, Eve also realized something was off. It wasn't common for a homunculus to fail to focus on a royal's words.
"What is it? Are you unwell somewhere?"
"No. I'm fine."
"If you answer that quickly, I trust you even less. You all say you're fine even when you're hurt. Let me see."
As if Eve's gentle concern put him in an awkward position, Sylvestian slightly averted his gaze.
"I really am fine, Your Highness."
"If it's not that you're hurt… then did you sleep poorly? Don't tell me you had a nightmare last night?"
"A nightmare…"
Sylvestian paused for a brief moment. But it was so short that Eve couldn't possibly notice.
"No, I didn't. Please don't worry. Then I will take my leave."
At his firm answer, Eve had no choice but to let Sylvestian go without pressing further.
Sylvestian's retreating back held Eve's gaze for a long time. Was it just her imagination? His straight back, somehow, looked precarious.