Chapter 41: My Guests Want Answers Part 1

Aster was first to arrive. He had managed to maintain a fairly calm demeanor while we were greeting my supporters, but he clearly had questions, which was certainly fair. I had actually explained that I was stuck in a time loop early that day, and though he had been hesitant to believe my claim, he knew better than most that the magical skills I had developed were not something I could have acquired on my own in such a brief amount of time. However, there were always things I hadn’t explained to him.

“Did you know that Lord Logos would appear?”

“I had faith,” I replied with a small shrug. “He had spoken to me a few times in the past to clarify some of the details of the loop, but he never directly interfered with things. He seemed to prefer a hands-off approach compared to Eros, but his own laws clearly state that he may interact with humanity if it’s regarding the selection of a saint.”

“That all makes sense, but I would have appreciated a heads up,” Aster grumbled, somehow looking more exhausted than I was.

“I tried. You didn’t believe me.”

“When did...Oh, right. You’re talking about one of those past loops, aren’t you? I must say. There is something so incredibly disconcerting about you and me sharing conversations that only you can recall.”

“What’s the matter? Are you worried that you may have already told me the secret of your name?”

“I am quite confident I never told you that,” he replied with a cold glare. “I intend to take that secret to my grave.”

“You didn’t, but I had a lot of time to figure it out on my own,” I replied with a teasing smile.

“You’re lying,” he accused with a hint of worry in his voice.

“It certainly wasn’t easy,” I exclaimed with a dramatic sigh. “I asked almost every student in the academy if they knew anything about it, but nobody had any idea except for Heather.”

Aster tensed upon hearing her name.

“Sure, she charged me a fortune for the info, but I think it was worth it, especially since I got the money back when the loop reset. However, I must say, the queen was right. Your mother really was a vindictive person.”

“And you aren’t?” he asked with a cold glare. “Honestly, my father should’ve known better than to blindly accept whatever name she suggested after he missed my birth.”

Yeah, she was pretty mad that he’d been too wrapped up in his research to be by her side while she was in labor, so when it came time to pick Aster’s name, she decided to get her revenge. You may have noticed by now that noble women are almost exclusively named after flowers. Well, that is a practice encouraged by the Church of Eros as a way of honoring Eros and the queen, who always took on the name Rose after her wedding. What does that have to do with Aster? It turns out that Aster is a type of flower, but one that is completely foreign to the kingdom. His mother was aware of it due to her travels, but his father was not, so he had no reason to object when she suggested it. His mother only revealed the truth months later, when it was too late to change it.

“Your mother gave you the name of a religious noble woman just to tick your father off,” I said, barely believing the words myself.

“Yep,” he said with a shake of his head. “And somehow you’re even more terrifying than she was. I’m not sure if I should be excited or worried about what comes next now that you’re our saint.”

“I’m not sure, either,” I said with a chuckle. “At this point, I’m not even sure if the rest of the church will accept me.”

“Oh, they will,” Aster assured me. “Especially if you tell them how you blocked the prince’s attack. Our church has been grappling with that problem for ages.”

While it might seem strange that the Church of Logos was actively seeking a way to stop the royal family, it was important to remember that the king was a puppet ruler specifically because nobody could stand up to him. However, he believed my spell could change that and fix the balance of power in the country. Alas, I was pretty sure he’d be disappointed by my solution.

“Okay, but try not to freak out too much,” I said, while pulling out a tightly wrapped bag with spatial magic.

Unsure of what I meant, Aster opened the bag and immediately dropped it as he started to scream.

“Whose hand is that!?”

“Mine,” I explained casually as I put it back in the bag and stored it again. “The prince’s divine magic spreads like a virus, but only once it’s struck its target. Thus, the only way to stop it is to ensure that the part of you it touches isn’t connected to the rest of you.”

“So you cut off your own hands?” he asked incredulously.

“And feet,” I clarified. “That’s why I only had four shots, as Restore technically replaces the lost parts with fake skin and muscles. Regenerate might work better, but it takes too long. Oh, and Sally was the one who did the cutting.”

Sally nodded quietly from the corner, while Aster stared at me in shock. This certainly wasn’t the solution Aster had wanted or even one that his church could replicate all that well. However, once he calmed down, he’d realize that this could still solve their problem. So long as the royal family didn’t know how I blocked their attack, they’d be cautious of both the church and me. Hopefully, that’d be enough of a hit to their over-inflated ego that they’d actually be able to play a real role in ruling this country, though I wasn’t quite that optimistic.

“You’re insane!”

“Probably,” I said with a shrug. “I’ve been living the same day for nearly ten years now. That takes a toll on a person, and I don’t wanna think about who I would have become if I had spent even one more day inside that nightmare, so thank you. Thank you for the part you played in getting me out of there.”

“I’m just sorry it took me so long,” Aster said as he stood to leave, perhaps feeling guilty that he had refused my initial request. “I’m looking forward to what comes next. Things are certainly going to be interesting now that the two of us are working together.”

He wasn’t wrong. Together, it felt like we could do anything, and I couldn’t help but wonder if things would have gone more smoothly if I had found a way to ask for his help from the beginning.