Chapter 122: The Saintess Refers To A Woman Who Possesses The Aura Of The Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Right?
"Manaka Sajyou, age unknown, specific identity unknown. Current position: advisor to the Roman Emperor, head of the court Magi. Area of activity: Rome (the city). Usually wears a large robe that conceals her appearance, but from certain details, her true form appears to be that of a young girl (though in reality, she might be an old woman who has been hiding for who knows how many years)."
No, no, no... Noah, who was familiar with the Type-Moon lore, knew that without seeing her face, it was impossible to determine whether she was a young girl or not.
Hmm... In this case, even seeing her face might not confirm it.
Manaka Sajyou was very short, and her appearance likely gave people here the impression of a young girl.
But as for the possibility of her being a young girl... From what Mary had said, this was before Manaka Sajyou summoned the old sword, so it might actually be possible.
As for the content in the parentheses at the end... Who knows who wrote that? I hope you don't get found by Manaka Sajyou, and that she doesn't hold a grudge against you...
Noah complained to himself as he read the information about Manaka Sajyou that Morgan had found and given to him.
"Extremely powerful, capable of easily gaining the recognition of all court Magi. It is said that even the Emperor is no match for her, and she can block the Emperor's sword with just a single finger (though this is just a rumor, she is said to be a true monster. Her true form might be a giant or a gorilla, probably using Magecraft to take human form while pretending to be young, which is why she looks like this now)."
No, no, no. Blocking Sword Emperor Lucius's sword with a single finger—this definitely didn't feel like just a rumor.
If it was that princess connected to the Root, she could easily do such things. In fact, if she wanted to, she could do even more terrifying things than that.
Someone born connected to the Root was just like that.
As for the parentheses, same as before... Don't let Manaka Sajyou find you, I'm serious.
Having read this far, Noah quickly skimmed through the rest of the information before putting it down and letting out a long sigh.
"This is really... She's already the Emperor's advisor and the head of the court Magi, but despite sending so many people, I couldn't even get a single piece of information about her... I really don't know what to say."
Noah trusted the information Morgan had given him completely.
Since Morgan had told him that this information was a surprise for him, it meant she must have double-checked it before handing it over.
So Morgan wouldn't give him false information. If that was the case, then he knew exactly what kind of useless fools the people he had sent out were.
"Indeed, although my elder sister's ability to gather information is certainly more impressive, those people shouldn't have been completely clueless even after arriving in Rome. They were truly negligent."
Artoria, sitting on the sofa, expressionlessly devoured the desserts on the table at an incredible speed while calmly agreeing with Noah's words.
It seemed as if stuffing food into her mouth and speaking—two tasks that both required the use of her mouth—did not conflict for her at all.
Meanwhile, Vivian, standing by the table, kept darting out of the room to fetch new desserts for Artoria, clearly flustered and overwhelmed by Artoria's astonishing eating speed.
Upon hearing Artoria's words, Morgan, after taking a small bite of the cake Noah had restored through Alchemy, simply set down her utensils. Picking up her teacup, she nodded in agreement with her sister's remarks.
"While there was indeed an element of luck in how I obtained this information, the fact that Rome has gained a new imperial advisor is common knowledge. The intelligence Rome released contains some misdirection, but if even this basic information hadn't been brought back, then those agents truly need retraining."
Hearing Morgan say this, Noah stopped dwelling on the issue of the intelligence agents. He knew that if Morgan had spoken this way, she would handle the matter accordingly.
Thus, he turned his attention to Morgan's earlier remark. "Luck? Did something unexpected happen in Rome this time?"
Although Noah was dissatisfied with the agents' failure to bring back any useful intelligence, he had also asked Mary to use her Clairvoyance to locate Manaka Sajyou.
Mary's Clairvoyance, while unable to penetrate certain rooms within the Roman palace, could clearly observe the palace's entrances, exits, and most of its interior.
Even under these conditions, she had been unable to find Manaka Sajyou.
This could only mean that Manaka Sajyou had taken specific measures to conceal herself.
Moreover, judging by the highly targeted nature of these preparations, it seemed that during the distortion, not only had a portion of Manaka Sajyou's memories been diverted to Mary's side, but a part of Mary's memories might also have been transferred to Manaka Sajyou.
Noah pondered and inquired about these matters, and since they involved Manaka Sajyou—who, like Mary, had been distorted and sent here—he saw no reason to hide anything from Mary. Fou lay sprawled on the table, and Mary was naturally listening in on the conversation.
Anything Noah could think of, she had likely already considered.
As for the possibility that a portion of her memories had been sent to Manaka Sajyou, Mary wasn't particularly concerned. She had contemplated all potential consequences and found none to be particularly troubling.
As for the issue of having acquired a portion of Manaka Sajyou's emotions… this, too, was not a major problem. Before receiving these emotions, her own genuine feelings had been limited to just two: one was a spectator's curiosity, akin to Merlin of this world, eager to witness all kinds of stories; the other was a primal, deeply anchored emotion shared by nearly all living beings—fear.
And neither of these, if shared with Manaka Sajyou, mattered to her in the slightest.
She harbored no worries on this front.
Like Noah, she was more curious about what Morgan meant by "luck."
After all, she had reviewed the intelligence as well, and its level of detail hardly seemed attainable through external palace sources alone.
Lately, she had been somewhat lax in her surveillance of Rome due to being overwhelmed with other matters, but in the preceding period, she had consistently used her Clairvoyance to monitor Rome, searching for any trace of Manaka Sajyou.
Although she didn't know what method Manaka Sajyou had used to conceal herself, regarding the newly appointed imperial advisor, Mary only knew of their existence and wasn't aware of such detailed information.
Even among the rumors circulating among the common people, this advisor was said to be a man in his thirties, and the stories were so convincing that Mary never suspected Manaka Sajyou.
In her impression, this advisor should at least be a man...
So Mary was also quite curious about how Morgan had obtained this information.
At that moment, Morgan set down her teacup and smiled.
"Originally, I simply dispatched intelligence units to investigate the news, but by chance, my people unintentionally became acquainted with a very famous mercenary among the mercenaries in Rome—specifically, the one known in Rome's mercenary circles as the Saint of the Battlefield."
As she spoke, Morgan picked up the intelligence report on her side and waved it at Noah.
"Noah, do you see these parentheses that look like annotations on the intelligence? These are the annotations provided by that Saint of the Battlefield. Although I later verified and made some modifications to our intelligence, the original version was indeed all provided by her."
When Morgan first mentioned the Saint of the Battlefield, Noah's mind easily conjured up the image of a very traditional, Western-style saint.
Holy, beautiful, clad in armor, and with a ponytail.
But when Morgan said these parentheses were written by that person...
Noah's eye twitched as he read through the contents of the parentheses again... For some reason, the words written by this Saint of the Battlefield seemed to emit sound—the kind of sound made by someone who giggles all day and jumps around like a monkey.
After realizing this, Noah's impression of this saint immediately changed.
If not riding a somersault cloud, at least her weapon should be a staff, right.
If it weren't for the fact that Journey to the West didn't exist yet, Noah would have suspected that Journey to the West's cultural influence had reached Rome, and this so-called saint referred to a woman with the temperament of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, hence the abbreviation "saint"...
Noah was thinking this way, while Mary also fell into thought.
She had naturally heard of this Saint of the Battlefield long ago. Regarding the other's monkey-like personality being called a saint, Mary had nothing to say.
After all, Rome's current emperor, Sword Emperor Lucius, wasn't much better!
Perhaps in this era, Rome worshipped monkeys?
But knowing was one thing; Mary hadn't expected this Saint of the Battlefield to be so familiar with the palace's internal affairs.
Even more familiar than she, who possessed Clairvoyance.
Looking at it this way, this person's identity was probably not simple either.
While Noah and Mary were pondering the issue of this Saint of the Battlefield, the saint herself was already making her way back to her own quarters from her temporary residence, following a secret passage blessed with protection and known only to the royal family.
In this process, she undid the various Magecraft spells on herself, transforming from her original golden-haired appearance into a red-haired one. Her hair, which had been tied into a single ponytail, was now casually let loose, falling naturally.
Her appearance and physique also seemed to have matured slightly, as if she had grown a little.
Afterward, she walked to the end of the secret passage, which was also the entrance located near her palace.
There was no ladder here, only a tree. The lower half of the tree was inside the secret passage, while the upper half extended outside the window of her bedchamber. A Magecraft spell had been placed at the point where the tree connected to the ground, ensuring that only the emperor was permitted to enter this protected secret passage.
As for how to get up?
Using both her hands and feet, she climbed from the base of the tree all the way to the top like a monkey. Then, seizing a moment when no one was around, she leaped directly through the window into her bedchamber.
The entire sequence was executed with seamless fluidity—even a monkey would likely feel ashamed of its own climbing skills in comparison.
"Speaking of which, before becoming emperor, back in my hometown, my father always scolded me, saying that when I climbed trees, I looked like a wild monkey. But now, seeing how this secret passage is designed, it clearly means that among the previous emperors, there must have been someone just as skilled at climbing trees as I am!"
She laughed triumphantly, casually changing into the emperor's attire and the red quilt... ahem, the red cloak. After simply tying up her hair, she boldly took a seat at the desk reserved for the emperor's official duties.
As for why...
Because she is the current emperor of Rome, Sword Emperor Lucius!