Sasha Kreutzev left saying that she had been unable to get a solid grasp of the situation.
Afterwards, Kanzaki Kaori leaned against the back of the dining hall chair she was sitting in and stared at the ceiling.
(What I should do…)
The circumstances were different for her than for Orsola. She was one of the fewer than 20 Saints in the world. Her battle potential was similar to that of the nuclear weapons the science side had. Once it came to war, she wouldn't be able to stick with only words; she had the ability to truly accomplish something and thus she would be made to act directly.
(How can I carry out the meaning carried in my magic name…?)
She didn't have enough power to decide the overall winner of a large war, but she could completely alter the progress of a local part of the conflict.
And it was possible that that small victory could start a chain reaction that could affect the war as a whole.
There was a mountain of options spread before her eyes.
Kanzaki was troubled by this war not because she couldn't do anything but because she could do something.
(The power that only I possess, huh? That certainly is an arrogant way of thinking. I'd rather be getting a headache from that washing machine than this.)
She sighed.
Her benevolent spirit made the burden of her power as a Saint seem even greater. Essentially, she felt that she was better off than those around her due to her powers so she had to save even more people in exchange. Depending on one's viewpoint, this could be taken as her looking down on others. It was quite an ugly character trait.
To Kanzaki, people like Orsola or "that boy" who were powerless (Kanzaki felt that that way of viewing of them needed work) and yet reached a hand out to others were almost too bright to look at.
"Kanzaki-san. What is it?"
As Kanzaki had been slowly thinking, Orsola had reentered the dining hall.
Kanzaki found it hard to meet her gaze, so she continued to stare at the ceiling.
"…I'm embarrassed by my own lack of discipline. It scares me to think that someone this immature was the leader of the Amakusas even for a brief time."
"The road to maturity is not an easy one. It's simple enough to want to understand the teachings of the Lord, but truly understanding that path is extremely difficult. In fact, I feel that I said something rather immature before."
"You did? I mostly agreed with what you said. Just because there's a war doesn't mean you should stick to a path of killing. I completely agree."
"Hee hee hee." Orsola giggled for some reason.
Kanzaki looked over at Orsola while still leaning back in her chair.
"Mostly, you say?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Oh, nothing. That just means that you feel there is a different reason to fight. It seems Tatemiya-san and the others were right on target when they said that there is someone you love in Academy City."
Kanzaki fell backwards in her chair.
She yelled while still lying on the floor.
"Wh-why would they be saying something so inaccurate!? What's going on in the Amakusa Church!?"
"My, my. It was when Knight Leader nervously showing up in Japantown with a single flower in one hand and the substitute pope, Tatemiya-san, was speaking with him. The Knight Leader wanted to invite the Amakusa Priestess to a dance, but Tatemiya-san told him it wasn't going to happen and they got into a heated argument. In the middle of all this, Tatemiya-san shooed Knight Leader away with his hands telling him that the Priestess prefers to lead younger guys than to be led by older guys and then mentioned what I said earlier. It has become something of a legend."
"B-but that's completely untrue! And why has that been passed around as a legend!! Dammit, Tatemiya Saiji! There are better excuses you could have come up with!!"
"Also, during this incident, another Amakusa member, Itsuwa-san, was heard to comment 'I-I have to do my best!!'."
"Why are you saying that like you're a news anchor reading from a teleprompter!?"
Kanzaki was making quite a fuss over this, but Orsola was being true to her habit of not listening to others. She smiled faintly, mentioned something about the stock of black tea, and headed into the kitchen.
Now that Kanzaki had much too late become aware of how the situation had spiraled out of control, she could do nothing but be dumbfounded and blush.
But then…
"Gyaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!"
Now she heard Agnese's scream coming from outside the dining hall.
"Agh! If it's not one thing, it's another!!"
Kanzaki stood up and ran out of the dining hall.
She didn't know exactly where the scream had come from, but she knew the general direction, so she intently ran down the hallway.
She spotted Agnese Sanctis sitting on the floor outside the changing room.
As Kanzaki approached, Agnese pointed towards the changing room while still sitting down.
"Th-the washing machine… The washing machine…"
An unpleasant noise came from Kanzaki's temple when she heard Agnese's broken up words.
It was that washing machine again.
It had caused a problem before breakfast and now it was causing another one before the previous one could be dealt with.
Her head was full of thoughts on the war and people saying she had fallen in love and now it was the washing machine again.
(Is that thing really some detestable high-tech AI spy sent by Academy City!? I can't imagine it would cause this many problems otherwise!!)
Kanzaki entered the changing room with enough intensity that she felt she would simply chop the thing in two with Shichiten Shichitou if it caused any more problems.
The bath was a large type that was rarely seen in the West and the changing room was large as well. She knew the washing machine should be in a corner of the changing room along with a scale.
She turned her gaze in that direction.
Academy City's useless piece of trash of a washing machine that had taken the color out of her yukata's obi and malfunctioned while washing a futon was…
Making a loud washing noise.
It was properly washing the futon that had been stuffed inside it.
"Wha-…?"
Kanzaki had trouble breathing.
The washing machine was sold as being quiet, so it was irregular for it to be making this much noise. That meant that it was forcing itself to move. It was over its designed maximum load and had been ordered to go through an operation far from its normal operating environment. Even so, it had endured and endured and endured and was finally carrying out its task of washing an entire futon.
(Amazing…)
All strength left Kanzaki's body and she fell to her knees on the changing room floor.
Her feelings of anger had turned to ones of raging embarrassment.
(I was just reflecting on my own immaturity, and now this…)
That washing machine had had a giant futon there was no way it could wash stuffed inside of it, had nevertheless had its switch turned on, and had Kanzaki give up on it and leave. And yet it had been working on its own the entire time since. It had endured the pain and suffering continuing to do what it should and it had finally accomplished its supposedly impossible task. And yet she had been about ready to cut it in two…
The washing machine said nothing.
Its AI had no conversation functionality, so that was obvious.
But Kanzaki Kaori heard it nonetheless.
She heard the voice of the washing machine.
"Kanzaki-san. I did it."
"~ ~ ~ ~!!"
Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.
No words came to her. She merely threw Shichiten Shichitou aside and embraced the square body of the washing machine like it was a long-lost family member.