Chapter 118
As the Chief Holy Knight, Shafeilin naturally knew that Her Majesty the Queen's childhood sweetheart was none other than the Overlord whom the Queen herself had sealed away.
Although in the eyes of the world, Her Majesty the Queen is the ruler of this country, the strongest Magic girl, and the idol of countless Magic girls.
But in Shafeilin's eyes, Her Majesty the Queen was more like a lonely little girl.
After personally sealing away his best friend, he sometimes felt dejected and would hide in that garden full of memories, quietly lost in thought.
In the past few decades, and probably more than twenty years ago, this situation became even more serious.
She sleeps for more than half a day almost every day, and no one is allowed to disturb her during that time. She lies alone in a dimly lit room, and occasionally you can hear Her Majesty the Queen sleep through the doorway.
Those dreams were spoken to the deceased Lilith.
This made Shafeilin worry whether Her Majesty the Queen had some kind of mental problem.
Even without mental health issues, this excessive sleepiness alone is enough to cause concern.
It is said that occasionally, Magic girls who go to see Her Majesty the Queen accidentally overhear Her Majesty the Queen making strange, incoherent laughter in her locked room.
With concern for Her Majesty the Queen, Shafeilin walked through the pristine white corridor toward the pilgrimage hall at the other end.
In the center of the pale hall, which seemed to be bathed in moonlight, stood a statue of a woman dressed in an elegant and elaborate robe, with bird feathers and flowers cascading from her skirt. Though merely a statue, she seemed to be adorned with tranquil starlight.
The woman wore a crown made of flowers and jewels, her posture graceful and noble, like a fairy from a fairy tale.
In fact, this woman was far more noble than that one.
Facing the statue, Shafeilin embedded her Magic Crystal into a groove in front of it, then placed her hand on her left chest and closed her eyes slightly.
After the Magic Crystal was inserted, the communication Magic to contact Her Majesty the Queen was activated.
The investigation gradually began to take shape, while Shafeilin remained reverent, bowing her head and whispering:
"Your Al White"
Al White is Her Majesty the Queen's name.
However, nowadays, very few people use that name anymore.
Soon, the Magic connecting to the Queen took effect.
The conversation between Shafeilin and Queen was not as serious as others might imagine; at least, it was a very ordinary matter between them.
Another person's voice soon appeared at the Magic Crystal in front of Shafeilin.
"... Shafeilin? What can I do for you?"
The Queen's tone was somewhat weary, as if she had just woken up from a dream.
It seems Her Majesty the Queen has been drowsy again lately.
Instead of giving her usual lecture, Shafeilin reported to the Queen on what had happened not long ago.
"An unidentified Demon King may have descended upon R'lyeh, but so far no trace of him has been found. The other Templar Knight have gone to investigate."
However, this matter does not require the Queen's personal intervention at the moment.
Shafeilin came here simply to fulfill her duty and report to Her Majesty the Queen.
However, during the report, Shafeilin sensed that Her Majesty the Queen seemed somewhat distracted.
"Your Her Majesty the Queen, are you listening?"
She asked tentatively.
Seemingly taken aback by the sudden question, the Queen paused for a moment, then calmly replied:
"I already know what you said. Now, I... I am carefully investigating the situation that may involve that Demon King."
"You can call the knights back now. Don't worry about the suspected Demon King's descent; I already have a way to handle it."
Judging from her tone, Her Majesty the Queen seemed to be doing more than just an inspection; she was already giving a stern critique and was ready to impose punishment at any moment.
Shafeilin was completely unaware of the situation on the Queen's side.
At first, Shafeilin was puzzled when she heard this, after all, the bells had only just rung, and Her Majesty the Queen seemed to already know everything, or even have everything under control.
Is this the Queen of Magic Girls?
Although the truth is still unclear, Shafeilin simply expressed her heartfelt admiration and respect:
"So that's how it is. As expected of Her Majesty the Queen, it seems everything was already under your control."
Upon closer reflection, Shafeilin also realized that she didn't feel the need to report to Her Majesty the Queen.
Although she often appears to be indulging in sleep and slacking off, Her Majesty the Queen must be watching over the Kingdom from somewhere, observing every detail of R'lyeh.
"Then you may leave now. I'm about to give the Demon King a thorough dressing-down..."
The Queen's words carried great authority.
Although she did not want to continue to interfere with the Queen's efforts to maintain peace in R'lyeh, Shafeilin felt it was still necessary to report to His Majesty Al White.
"Your Majesty, there is one more thing. Shiori has recently returned to R'lyeh, and as agreed before, she will bring her companions to see you."
Shafeilin mentioned Takanashi Shiori, an ordinary Magic girl apprentice.
Recently, this Magic girl apprentice caused quite a stir in R'lyeh after successfully defeating the Demon King with her companions.
But few people know that Takanashi Shiori actually has some very special background.
"Shiori? Then I'll make preparations and treat them well later."
The Queen sounded somewhat pleased.
"Wait a minute? Shiori and the others should have gone to your place by now. Lord Roland told them to go to your garden, and they should have arrived by now. Haven't you met with them yet?"
Shafeilin was somewhat confused.
"...?"
A long silence suddenly fell on the other end of the communication.
Chapter 51 R'lyeh Orphanage
Takanashi Shiori, a Magic girl apprentice at the Bird Academy, possesses excellent Magic Power abilities and ranks among the top students in written exams, making her a model student. However, in terms of actual strength, an apprentice is still just an apprentice, and in the academy's elite class, she is a bottom-of-the-barrel student who could be kicked out at any time.
From these perspectives, she really doesn't have anything particularly special about her.
If I had to describe it, I'd say it has a passable, cute face.
But because of her personality, she didn't have many friends in the college.
An unremarkable Magic girl—that probably sums her up perfectly.
But in reality, she might not be as ordinary as she seems.
From her earliest memories, she had always lived in an overly spacious room within the Royal Palace.
Although it was filled with dolls and other things that children should have, it was still a bit too big for her, so big that she felt like there was no one else in her world.
They don't know who they are, where they come from, or what they should do.
But she probably knew that she had been abandoned by someone.
She would occasionally see a beautiful and noble woman with light blonde hair visiting her, under the respectful gaze of the Magic girls from other Royal Palace.
The woman was very gentle and kind to her; that was Takanashi's first impression of her.
But that's from the perspective of strangers.
That woman shouldn't have been a stranger.
Yes.
It didn't take Takanashi long to learn that the woman was the ruler of this kingdom, the mistress of this Royal Palace, and the queen of all Magic girls in the world.
At the same time, she is also his mother, with whom he is related by blood.
R'lyeh's mother is a rather vague term; sometimes it's perfectly acceptable to simply replace it with her parents, since it's not unusual for Magic girl to have two mothers.
According to Takanashi's later assessment, the Queen was probably not the one who gave birth to him.
It's hard to imagine that someone like her, the worst among Magic girls, could be the Her Majesty the Queen's daughter, but at the time she didn't have that kind of knowledge, so she didn't find it too unbelievable.
She just didn't understand why, if that person was her mother, shouldn't their relationship be even closer?
And where is her mother now?
Because she was filled with so many questions, she unknowingly grew up, became a Magic girl, and reached the age to go to school.
One day in her teens, she met the blonde woman again after a long time. When the woman saw that she had grown much taller, her first reaction was not to greet her gently or touch her as before, but to sigh sadly.
Although the sound was very faint, Takanashi still heard it.
"This child doesn't look like her at all..."
Although the woman didn't say it, Takanashi could guess that she was probably referring to his birth mother, whom he had never met.
He thinks he looks a lot like the Queen.
As for whether she resembles her birth mother, Takanashi doesn't know, because she has never seen her.
If she looked even a little more like him, would this noble emperor show her a little more affection?
When Kirishima Ai and the others saw Takanashi again, this usually eccentric and enigmatic girl inexplicably began to remain strangely silent.
Before leaving, Takanashi said he was going to find the Queen, but later he never saw Her Majesty the Queen, only Takanashi himself, who remained silent.
Although they really wanted to ask what had happened, their intuition told them it was best not to ask directly.
"Speaking of which... Shiori, did you live in the Royal Capital since you were little?"
Sakaki Chika sipped her tea somewhat awkwardly while cautiously asking Takanashi.
Takanashi lowered his head, and after a moment of silence, he finally spoke.
I guess so.
She had never been anywhere outside of the Royal Capital and Maple Plain City since she was a child.
After sitting down, she poured herself a cup of tea, added several pieces of sugar, and only when it looked like it was about to stop dissolving did she pick up the cup and gently blow on the rim.
"Was Shiori's mother also Magic girl?"
Touching the warm teacup in her hand, Chika asked with some curiosity.
At that moment, Takanashi suddenly gripped the cup handle tightly and glanced up. Perhaps it was her naturally cold gaze that made Sakaki Chika a little scared, wondering if she had said something wrong.
Takanashi quickly looked away, somewhat embarrassed, and said:
"Uh... I'm not quite sure."
For some reason, when Sakaki Chika asked about her mother, the first person she thought of was the woman who gave her money, treated her to meals and movies.
On the one hand, she didn't want to admit that the irresponsible Queen was her mother, and for various reasons, the other party hadn't publicly acknowledged their mother-son relationship.
On the other hand, she genuinely didn't know whether her birth mother was Magic girl.
Maybe it really isn't.
After all, if her birth mother had also been Magic girl, her talent might not have been so poor.
Seeing Sakaki Chika lower her head apologetically after realizing she had said the wrong thing, Takanashi regained her composure and picked up her spoon to swirl the tea.
"Don't look embarrassed."
Although she lived like an orphan, she didn't actually feel that her childhood was unfortunate.
Moreover, to be honest, Takanashi felt that the family situations of the two people in front of him were probably not much better than his own.
It wasn't that they had discussed family matters with each other.
However, most Magic girls come from very poor family backgrounds, even the Magic girls of R'lyeh are no exception.
This isn't because of some incomprehensible thing like fate; it's purely because of the characteristics of Magic girl.
Although Magic girls are symbols of kindness and justice, love and hope, they are a collection of many wonderful qualities in the world.
But Magic girls are surprisingly prone to becoming terrible mothers.
Magic girls generally have a low desire to have children, and most of the Magic girls who choose to become mothers are the worst kind of mothers.
Take Magic girls on Earth as an example.