Chapter 233
"How am I being inappropriate?"
Kiriya put on his most serious expression.
"I was merely offering a small suggestion from a fashion perspective. This is art. Fashion! You’re the one who interpreted it strangely."
"Is... is that so?"
Jeanne blinked, suddenly looking a little sheepish.
Despite being revered as a saint, Jeanne had spent most of her life in the countryside and then on battlefields.
Fashion and aesthetics had never exactly been high on her list of priorities.
So when Kiriya spoke with such absolute confidence, she found herself momentarily unable to argue.
"Of course."
Kiriya adjusted a pair of imaginary glasses and adopted the solemn tone of a lecturer delivering unquestionable truth.
"Based on my many years of experience in the fashion world, my judgment is extremely reliable."
"So, Jeanne, there’s no need to feel embarrassed. Just treat it as choosing an outfit."
"I understand what you’re saying, but..."
Jeanne shifted awkwardly and clasped her hands together.
"Could you stop staring so intently?"
Kiriya’s gaze was far too focused, making her feel as though she were standing beneath a spotlight.
"Maybe you should wait outside?"
"Don’t worry about me."
Kiriya somehow managed to keep a straight face.
"Just think of me as a fashion consultant doing his job."
He gestured toward the clothes.
"Go ahead. We still have to get breakfast afterward."
"All... all right."
Jeanne’s heart beat nervously, but she could not think of a good rebuttal.
She retrieved a pair of thigh-high stockings from what remained of her belongings and carefully put them on.
Kiriya watched with the solemn concentration of someone evaluating a finished outfit.
Once she had adjusted them properly, Jeanne looked down at herself, then back toward him.
"Is something wrong?"
"No."
Kiriya immediately gave her a thumbs-up.
"It works perfectly."
"You really suit that style, Jeanne. You should keep it in mind in the future."
"Really?"
Jeanne scratched her cheek, visibly pleased despite herself.
Kiriya found her reaction amusing, but then his attention shifted to the school uniform she was still wearing.
"Come to think of it, why are you still wearing that?"
He pointed toward the shoulder of her jacket.
"It’s already damaged."
A tear had been left in the fabric during the previous night’s fighting.
"My suitcase was destroyed while I was fighting Assassin of Black."
Jeanne sighed.
"These stockings were practically the only spare clothes that survived."
"That’s unacceptable."
Kiriya’s expression immediately became serious.
He took Jeanne by the hand and started leading her toward the door.
"Come on. Breakfast first, then we’re buying clothes."
"Wait, is that really necessary?"
Jeanne had not even processed what was happening yet.
"Of course it is."
Kiriya explained as though the answer were obvious.
"You’re Ruler. There’s going to be fighting throughout this Holy Grail War, which means your clothes are going to keep getting damaged."
"One outfit clearly isn’t enough."
"You don’t seriously want to walk around town in your battle armor every time something gets torn, do you?"
"Um..."
Jeanne fell silent.
Annoyingly, he had a point.
And so she allowed herself to be pulled outside.
What Jeanne herself failed to notice was that, somewhere along the way, she had become surprisingly comfortable with this sort of casual closeness from Kiriya.
...
"Mmm. Breakfast here is wonderful."
After leaving the restaurant, Jeanne rested a hand against her comfortably full stomach and smiled.
"It’s really good."
Her expression gradually became thoughtful.
"In my time, there was never enough food."
"People fought over grain and supplies. Those disputes became conflicts, and conflicts became wars."
"And whenever that happened... there was always bloodshed."
A shadow crossed her face.
Many comrades and familiar faces from Jeanne’s life had disappeared into those wars.
But the sadness lasted only a moment before giving way to something gentler.
"Now, people can finally eat until they’re full."
She looked around at the peaceful city.
"If basic necessities are no longer so scarce, perhaps there won’t need to be as many wars."
"That’s true."
Kiriya nodded.
"After centuries of development and the efforts of countless people, hunger has been eliminated from a large part of the world."
"For the first time in thousands of years, ordinary people in many places can reliably eat their fill and have choices their ancestors could barely imagine."
He glanced toward Jeanne.
"That’s one of the reasons I reject Amakusa Shirou Tokisada’s idea."
Jeanne listened quietly.
"There are people who steal."
"And people who protect."
"There are people who kill."
"And people who save."
"There are people who destroy."
"And people who create."
Kiriya’s voice remained calm.
"Human beings have never consisted of only one side."
"Greed, anger, and selfishness are human."
"But generosity, humility, courage, and sacrifice are human too."
"That’s what bothers me most about Amakusa."
"He accepts the lowest parts of human nature as inevitable, but refuses to trust that people are capable of rising above them."
"Then he intends to erase all of it together."
Kiriya shook his head.
"That’s arrogance."
"Yes."
Jeanne nodded.
Then she held out her hand toward him.
"So we’ll stop him, won’t we?"
"Of course."
Kiriya smiled and took her hand.
Then he immediately started walking in another direction.
Jeanne blinked.
"Huh? Where are we going?"
"Shopping."
Kiriya looked back at her with complete seriousness.
"I’m going to show you the creative power of humanity."
...
"So when you said you were going to show me the creative power of humanity..."
Jeanne stared at rows upon rows of clothes filling the store.
"You meant shopping?"
Kiriya spread both arms proudly.
"Tell me this isn’t creativity."
Jeanne gave him a helpless look.
Kiriya grinned.
"Welcome to humanity’s playground of imagination!"