Chapter 53 — In which foundations are suspicious

Eternity was a very unlucky concept.

Everything has a beginning.

And so everything also has an end.

To be eternal was to break the laws of the Universe and destroy one’s fate.

But Fate had another name.

Death.

Eternal and immortal.

Those were two things that went against Fate and Death.

And were also two things that Saffaron and her siblings despised the most.

So when hearing the name ‘Eternal Happiness Foundation’, Saffra couldn’t help but be wary.

Of course, it may have been just a coincidence..

It’s human nature to try to escape death and bad feelings.

For most people, eternal happiness would seem like a something to strive for. A fantasy, a dream for better future.

If the foundation’s goal was to create a better future, such a name was only fitting.

According to what she heard from Apric and Tangeri’s parents, the foundation denied it was involved in the kidnapping.

The people, who picked up Apric didn’t belong to the foundation and only disguised themselves as such.

That was quite a reasonable explanation.

Eternal Happiness Foundation was popular and famous. It was easy to use their name to kidnap people.

Still…

Saffra tapped her arm in thought.

“Something bothering you?”

Mimosa, who was sitting across from her, asked.

The two sisters were currently alone, drinking afternoon cold tea, after completing organizing all work for today and unpacking.

“That foundation. Can you tell me about it?”

If there was such a foundation in Flavun, Mimosa had to know about it.

Most of her political moves included some sort of social help, so she would have a thorough understanding of anything charity related happening within Flavun’s borders.

“I can… But I’m afraid I won’t be able to offer much.”

Yet there was a surprise waiting for Saffra.

“Why?”

“Their main base of operation is Purplus.”

“Ah…”

Well, that wasn’t that much of a surprise.

Though the relationships between states were tense, they still had exchanges.

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And foundations that were focused on charity work and didn’t involve themselves into politics or trade were free to roam between borders.

Most of those foundations would originate in Purplus.

‘It’s terribly twisted, but they somehow preserved Am’s spirit.’

Perhaps because Am was a Saint and often traveled between places, preforming all kinds of miracles.

The records about him, about his personality and even some of his speeches and teachings were quite well-preserved.

The Purplus, whose power centered around the religion and worship, naturally tried to follow their greatest saint in as many ways as possible.

One of those ways was doing charity work, which Amaranth was famous for.

‘They’re doing what Am loved the most, while accomplishing it through something he hated the most.’

The people of Purplus had a good idea what Amaranth’s character was like.

And yet it slipped their minds that he also hated slavery.

‘My and Ver’s images were also terribly deformed.’

Almost no records were left about what Saffaron and Vermillian were like.

A lot of information about their lives and personalities were from outside sources.

The inside sources were probably destroyed by traitors after the siblings’ deaths.

But even the outside sources, even if they were truthful in the beginning, with time were twisted.

Saffaron was mainly known for her leadership and battle abilities.

The songs were praising her as a star of the battlefield.

But in truth, though Saffaron fought a lot, most of her battles, the worst of her battles, weren’t on the battlefield.

The true battles Saffaron fought were after warriors left and all that was left was debris and scourged earth, and hundreds of people who lost everything.

Vermillian was mainly known for his genius in magic.

He was known as a sage, the highest wisdom. Someone who communicated with the Universe.

But in truth, most of his time Vermillian spent trying to explain the basics of math to random children he met on the street.

The true knowledge he sought was how to make all knowledge available to everyone.

300 years after their death.

Flavun was the land, which saw more wars than any other.

And Rubrun was the society, which hid the knowledge behind contracts, money and connections.

It was kind of funny.

But she didn’t laugh.

“If their headquarters are in Purplus, any ledger checking or inspection would be impossible… So you only have ‘surface’ information.”

“That’s correct.”

Mimosa’s power couldn’t reach something in Purplus.

So if there was indeed a problem with the foundation, she probably wouldn’t be able to find any evidence of it on her, Flavun, side.

“All I know is that they’re founded by an amalgamation of temples and wealthy merchants.”

“They’re probably trying to gather ‘good merits’.”

“Yes, it appears so. In Flavun their main objective is to help young noble children with their education and their families with their financial problems. In Purplus and Rubrun they mainly build orphanages.”

“Is there any particular reason why they don’t build orphanages in Flavun?”

“There is no law that would stop them. So it’s probably a… personal preference.”

“They’re aiming for noble children then.”

Foundations may not openly take part in politics, but they were still a political tool.

If the noble was helped by some organization, they would be more inclined to back up that organization in the future.

“What about kidnappings?”

“There indeed had been quite a few incidents of this sort, but there is nothing out of ordinary about them. The people involved truly didn’t have any connections to the foundation, and their modus operandi matched all the other cases of this type, which happen to different organizations.”

“So there was really nothing…”

And yet Saffra couldn’t get rid of that feeling…

That foundation, that name… it made her weirdly uncomfortable.

*-*-*

“My Lady.”

Late at night, when Saffra was about to go to sleep, Tangeri, who was putting out the lights, suddenly stopped her works and spoke up.

Her voice and face were very serious.

“Please speak.”

Saffra put down the pillow she was toying with and sat up straight.

“Do you think that ‘Eternal Happiness Foundation’ is truly innocent?”

All evidence pointed to that being the case, but from how the two ladies-in-waiting and their parents spoke about it, they didn’t seem to believe it.

Rather than answering the question, Saffra asked:

“Do you have any clues?”

It marked that they both didn’t believe in the foundation’s innocence, and she planned to investigate it.

“They can’t be called clues… They’re rather my and Apric’s speculations. Our parents may know more, but they don’t seem to be willing to share with us about it.”

It indeed seemed that their parents weren't sharing the whole truth.

For example, they knew about Golderodi, but though Apric and Tangeri heard about the foundation’s recommendators, they didn’t know Golderodi’s name.

Therefore, they didn’t associate her with them when they met at the General’s manor.

‘… they probably have a good reason, though.’

After observing Apric and Tangeri’s parents for a bit, Saffra was sure that though the two pairs were chaotic and apparently one of them had tendency to fall for scams, they were smart people with some unique skills.

“First. Golderodi’s parents died from the plague a few years ago, right?”

“That’s what the death report states, yes.”

A few years ago, a terrible plague spread across Flavun.

It was contaminated but claimed many lives.

“You may confirm it later with the records, My Lady, but this area was one of the few free areas, which the plague didn’t touch. There were only a few deaths from the plague. All of them but two were among people, who weren’t from this area and moved in after the plague started. The only exception were Golderodi’s parents.”

“… You think it was arranged?”

“I don’t know what I think, My Lady, but I don’t believe that something like this happened without reason.”

If Saffra didn’t know better, she would think that Tangeri is a believer of some fate god.

Tangeri continued:

“Second. The person I met today. My old friend Monachra.”

Tangeri’s face turned grave.

“I don’t believe that person was Monachra that I knew, My Lady.”

*-*-*