“Do you really think so? I haven’t lost my purity…?”

Seeing him, who was always arrogant and haughty, looking so miserable, Sesenia smiled and clenched her fist tightly.

“Yes. No, you haven’t.”

“…That’s a relief. Yes, nothing happened to me… No, it didn’t!”

“What didn’t happen?”

“That puppy wasn’t me.”

“Ah. Right. Well… if it makes you feel better to think that way, let’s go with that.”

“…It’s not just thinking. It’s true. I followed in the form of a puppy, but I didn’t lose my purity. And! It’s. Not. Small!!!”

She shrugged her shoulders as she watched Silian shouting in protest.

“What’s not small?”

“Th-there’s something. Anyway… I came to tell you to be careful when going out.”

“Is there someone tailing me? Or someone trying to kill me?”

“There was surveillance. Various types of people. Seems they were sent by different factions. They didn’t seem to intend to kill, but it’s unsettling. Be careful with what you do from now on. It seems everything you do is being reported.”

As if she had expected this to some extent, Sesenia stroked her chin.

“I expected some level of surveillance. Maybe about three teams?”

“Four teams.”

“Four teams? My father the Marquis, my elder sister Elzere’s people, and those sent by the Crown Prince. Isn’t it just these three?”

“You know your position quite well. Knowing who’s following you, why… Ah, never mind. That’s not for me to worry about.”

“Thanks for worrying about me, Silian. So who’s the fourth team?”

For a moment, three vertical wrinkles appeared on Silian’s nose bridge. Just like when a dog tenses its nose when feeling upset. Sesenia chuckled at Silian’s very dog-like appearance.

“Hm? Are they people you can’t talk about?”

“No, I can talk about them. One side was from the Magic Tower.”

“Ah.”

“That’s what irritates me the most. Even those with such clumsy power called magic are focusing on you.”

His anger seemed to rise sequentially, as if he didn’t know that Sesenia had visited the Magic Tower.

“You don’t like the Magic Tower?”

“Yeah. Their magic is inferior. It’s completely different from ours in Salmon. Yet they call that magic and receive respect for it. Just thinking about them makes me feel dirty.”

“I see.”

“But what did you do to make them monitor you?”

“They’re not monitoring me. I have a request pending with them. I told them to come when it’s done, so they’re probably just tracking my location.”

Silian, who had been cursing the Magic Tower all along, smiled awkwardly with a slightly perplexed expression.

“No wonder. They seemed the most innocent.”

“And you were cursing them just now.”

“Ahem, I didn’t curse. Anyway, just be careful.”

“I’ll be careful, but it’s reassuring to have you, Silian.”

Sesenia looked at him with a bright smile.

“Well. It’s fine to rely on me, but still don’t do anything dangerous. Even if you don’t get physically hurt when something happens, it can be mentally damaging.”

His expression looked a bit sad. From the moment he vowed to save his sister, Silian had faced terribly dangerous moments.

“I understand.”

Knowing this, knowing that he had lived a difficult life, Sesenia didn’t think to argue with his words at this moment.

“How are you doing at the temple? Did you hand over the sacred object?”

“They were very pleased. They asked how I could bring such a sacred object, they were really happy.”

“Are the people there treating you well?”

“Yes. At first, I was anxious about leaving my sister there and didn’t even go out.”

‘That’s why he didn’t know I went to the Magic Tower.’

Because he was watching over his sister, afraid she might be harmed.

“Are you okay now?”

“Yeah. Now it’s fine. First of all, I’ve layered magic around my sister, and the people there treat us very well. Extremely well, I should say. Whether it’s because of what the High Priest promised, or because of their own mission, it’s the most gracious treatment I’ve ever received, except for the Salmon royal family.”

“That’s good.”

“It feels strange that my sister is receiving kindness she’s never experienced before. I wish she would wake up soon… I want to tell Pepe, who’s only had bad things happen to her, that there are people who care for her like this… It’s a bit sad that I can’t.”

Because Silian looked so terribly sad whenever it came to his sister, Sesenia unconsciously patted his arm.

“She’ll be able to wake up.”

“You think so?”

“How did your sister end up like that?”

“I thought you knew everything, but I guess that’s not the case.”

“I’m not a god, you know.”

Silian smiled, lifting one corner of his mouth.

“That’s right. You’re not a god.”

It’s not that she doesn’t know anything at all.

She knows that his sister, Pepe Salmon, will definitely wake up. Because in the past timeline, she did wake up.

She had some guesses, but nothing certain. So first, she needed to know for sure why it happened.

“If it’s hard to talk about, you don’t have to.”

“…My sister… was experimented on. All her power was taken away and she was sealed. So I tried to break the seal, but suddenly felt that the moment I broke it, my sister would collapse. Because she has no power at all. If only the seal was broken, she wouldn’t be tracked by Salmon and would gain complete freedom.”

“No power…”

“The power of Salmon is called the power of god. They took it all away… There’s no way it will come back. Maybe she’ll never wake up. But there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s also my karma.”

Sesenia quietly stroked her chin.

“Is there really no way at all?”

“It’s not completely powerless, so there might be a way, but I don’t know what it is. If even a little power returns, if the power of the Salmon god fills her body, the seal would break and she’d gain freedom. I don’t know why I’m telling you all this.”

“They say sharing worries makes them a bit better, don’t they? Who knows, maybe as we’re talking… a brilliant idea might suddenly pop into our heads?”

Sesenia tapped her cheek with her long fingers, concentrating.

‘The reason why Silian in the past became obedient to the Imperial Temple. What could it have been?’

That was a fact only the High Priest of the past knew.

Even Silian didn’t know the reason. Neither the Emperor, nor Sesenia as the Empress, nor anyone else knew.

Just that Pepe suddenly woke up, nothing more.

‘The reason Pepe can’t wake up, it’s the same as in the past. But why? What method could it have been? Do I have to wait until that time comes?’

She didn’t want to do that.

If there was a way, she wanted to wake her up. It seemed that would at least lessen the terrible guilt Silian felt towards his sister.

“Anyway, that’s how it happened. You don’t need to worry about it. It’s a problem we need to solve. Don’t you have things you need to solve too?”

“Ah. That’s right. I wanted to ask you to say something when I meet you again.”

“What do you mean?”

“To the High Priest. Tell him that the way to bring back the god is to announce that sacred object. That in the end, the god will respond to the power of the god.”

In the past, the sacred object of Rowrik, called the primordial god of the empire, responded to Silian’s power.

And this time it wouldn’t be much different. The only difference is that compared to the past, they need to find it a bit faster, and unlike the past, it’s not Silian but the object in the form of a sacred item that calls forth that power.

Silian’s expression hardened as he listened quietly to Sesenia’s words.

“Will they tell us so easily?”

“Yes, just tell them I’ll be coming for help in a few days.”

“Help…?”

“Something that can only be done at the temple. But just tell them it’s not something that will cause problems for the temple, or something they’ll have to deal with the aftermath of, like this time.”

“I’ll relay it word for word, exactly as you said.”

“Okay.”

Throughout their conversation, Sesenia felt a strange emotion.

“It’s weird.”

“What is?”

Silian, who was about to leave as if he had said everything, stopped.

“Just… something… feels like it’s about to come into view…”

“What seems like it might come into view?”

“A method. To save you, to save Pepe… Ah…! That was it!”

Sesenia clapped her hands hurriedly.

“What’s this method you’re talking about?”

“Go to the High Priest and ask him to let even a tiny bit of Rowrik’s divine power flow into Pepe.”

“Doing that to someone with no power at all…! Ah…! Could it be what you just said?”

“Yes.”

“…Even so, it’s hard to believe.”

What Sesenia and Silian thought of at the same time. It was exactly what Sesenia had just said. Divine power calls to divine power.

And the power of the Salmon royal family originates from divine power. So this might be possible too.

If they introduce the power of the god Rowrik, not the Salmon god, whether to protect itself or as the saying goes “divine power calls to divine power,” power would ultimately fill her.

“No. Try it. Trust me.”

“If you asked me to do such a thing to myself, I might try it, but my sister…”

“Right. Then we can try it on your body first.”

“What…?”