The Blue-Haired Fallen Angel

Leaving behind the blue-haired girl's roar that sounded like the Heavenly Demon herself, Kaien and I slipped out of the cafeteria. On our way out, I nearly got caught in her fierce grip and dragged straight off for training... but Kaien's reminder that we had to receive the oracle together as the Hero's proxy made even the Heavenly Demon relent. Of course, she still ground her teeth and growled that we'd settle it later in training. What could possibly go wrong?

“....Partner.”

“Hm?”

“Not Kaien. Partner.”

“...Right. Thanks, partner.”

When I called him partner, Kaien gave a satisfied nod and smiled faintly. If I were a woman, I probably would have squealed at that smile. The fucked-up part was that in the past, just seeing it would have pissed me off. These days, though, I didn't feel that familiar anger boiling up inside me at all.

Is this some hidden effect of the Companion of the Hero title?

It was possible. My growing tolerance toward Kaien had started right around the time I began training at the church for the Hero Appointment Ceremony. The pieces fit too neatly.

Fuck. Thinking about it that way was disgusting. The Goddess wasn't some BL-obsessed freak trying to ship me and Kaien, was she?

“What are you thinking about so deeply, partner?”

“...It's nothing. Just wondering why Olga called us. Do you have any idea?”

Kaien shook his head, looking equally clueless.

“I'm not certain, but it must be something important. Perhaps stopping a scheme by the Demon King's army, or eliminating a corrupted figure who's been trading with them.”

“...That's definitely possible, especially with the dungeon practicum right after midterms.”

Senia's very first death flag: the dungeon practicum. Students from each class would head to a half-cleared dungeon prepared by the Academy to learn how to fight demons and explore dungeons properly... or so the official story went. In truth, it was basically an Academy-sponsored picnic with demon hunting tacked on.

Just like how nobles in my original world's history had hunting cultures, the nobles here enjoyed hunting goblins and low-level magical beasts. Scheduling the practicum right after midterms was meant to give stressed students a breather, but the demon attack would flip the entire mood.

In the original novel, that sudden genre drift from light academy vibes got absolutely shredded by readers.

Because of that attack, Teacher Senia—who had taken over leading the class for homeroom teacher Sergei—died, and a class of over forty students was reduced to fewer than twenty. The rest became demon food.

Kaien would protect his classmates from the demons only to lose in the end, barely surviving thanks to Shao Mei arriving just in time. The kids I'd recommended all dropped the novel at that point, calling it shit, and started ignoring my other recommendations. I'd enjoyed it precisely because of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that darkness, though...

Anyway, from what I remembered, the mastermind behind the monsters was always the same. Demon General Gartuka. A high-ranking demon who handed Kaien his first defeat.

A general is someone even Olga would take seriously... Should I make sure to kill him properly this time?

The bastard who showed up leading only a detached force without his royal guard would cause over fifty student deaths across all classes combined, plus two professors. He was a villain designed to showcase the world's cruelty, but he'd already died by my hand twice. Back when I was desperately trying to save Teacher Senia, I'd beaten him three times and let him escape once.

Looking at it that way, this might not be such a hard quest after all.

*

“Huh? Find what?”

My prediction missed by a mile. No, this was so absurd I couldn't even process what kind of nonsense I was hearing.

“Oh dear, it seems my explanation was insufficient. Allow me to explain properly once more. Is that all right, Sir Kaien?”

“No—when you suddenly call us over and tell us to go find an angel, what exactly are we supposed to make of that...?”

When I pressed Thomas the Angel Fanatic with clear disbelief, the priest scratched his brilliant golden hair and gave an awkward smile.

“Ah, I see. Since you're the Hero Kaien and Artin, the Companion of the Hero, I assumed you'd already been informed to some degree... My mistake?”

I glanced at Kaien. He ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shook his head. Just to be sure, I checked the quest window in my status window, but nothing like that had ever appeared.

“Since neither of you seems to know, I'll explain in greater detail... You simply need to locate ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠an angel somewhere in human territory.”

“That's not a detailed explanation at all. Where in the human world are we supposed to look for this person?”

The search parameters had only changed from location unknown to somewhere in the human world. That was it.

“...Well, I'm not sure where to begin. Usually when I say this much, people immediately head out to search...”

“Shouldn't you start by explaining why you're suddenly asking us to find an angel in the first place?”

“Ah.” Thomas nodded, finally catching on.

“The Hero and his proxy—”

“If you skip the five W's and one H again, I'll rip your teeth out with the Goddess's own grace.”

“...Ah, yes.”

As expected, Priest Thomas had been about to launch into another long-winded, fanatical explanation. It was a mistake the man often made when he got overly excited, but I couldn't figure out what had him so worked up this time.

“While praying yesterday morning, I experienced a miracle. I heard the Goddess's revelation!”

Damn it. He was hyped up because he'd experienced a miracle.

“A miracle? What exactly did the revelation say?”

“Ah, I can still see it clearly. An angel with spread wings descended to me and whispered the Goddess's will into my ear with the gentlest voice...!”

“...So what was the actual message?”

Giving up on interrupting, I let him continue. Thomas's eyes sparkled with excitement as he took a deep breath and shouted.

“It was a revelation commanding the Hero and the Hero's Companion to find the angel who has fallen to the earth! She is a noble angel who chose a lofty and holy sacrifice by deciding to descend in order to aid the Heroes!”

“...An angel fell to the ground? To help people?”

“Yes, exactly!”

The moment I heard it, I thought this had to be bullshit. Across four regressions I'd seen angels descend and return, but never one who stayed on the ground. Still, this was Thomas the Angel Fanatic—the only priest capable of summoning an angel to earth without a choir or support order. When it came to angels, he was reliable.

“If that's true, this is serious... Did you learn anything about her location, appearance, or characteristics?”

“No! After delivering the message, the angel returned to heaven!”

Shit. This was a quest with absolutely fucked difficulty.

“Then how are we supposed to find this angel? Did she fall from the sky, so maybe her skin turned black or something?”

“...What kind of nonsense is that? Just because an angel fell from the sky doesn't mean their skin would turn black. Now, if they originally had dark skin, that would be different.”

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense?”

Unfortunately, the lore from that demon-hunting game I'd played in my original world didn't apply here.

“We can't exactly search the entire world... What do you think, Kaien?”

“...Well, we could release the spirits to search for anyone radiating divine power.”

“Any method is acceptable. The sooner you find her, the better. If a true angel has descended to the mortal realm, our church would very much like to receive her!”

Those sparkling eyes of his showed that the miracle experience and news of an angel's descent had only deepened his already burdensome fanaticism.

“Still, we're in the middle of midterm season. Would it be all right to start looking after exams?”

“...B-but it is the Goddess's revelation. Shouldn't we resolve it as quickly as possible?”

He had a point. An angel would be incredibly helpful.

It was then that the status window quest alert appeared before my eyes. So an angel really had descended.

“We can probably take our time, right? It says we have thirty days even though the revelation was just received.”

“Ooh!? Sir Artin, you received a revelation as well?! As expected of the Companion of the Hero...! A sacred being worthy of the Saintess's kiss! Would you care to discuss the contents of the revelation with me?”

“No thanks. I have a lesson with the Heavenly Demon today, so we're done here! Let's go, partner!”

“Ah, wait! Sir Artin, at least tell me what it—”

Before Thomas could grab me, I dragged Kaien out of the priest's office. If that man caught us, attending the Heavenly Demon's class today would become impossible. Though, given her current mood, missing it wouldn't be the worst thing. Still, between a maniac and a whiner, the whiner was definitely preferable.

“Receiving a revelation... means a quest appeared in your status window, right, partner?”

“Yeah. Since you don't have a status window, you can't get them, huh?”

“...Correct. Could you tell me what it says?”

I nodded and shared the contents of the status window with him.

“...It's quite specific. And it says you must take good care of her?”

“I have no idea. This is my first time with a quest like this too...”

I understood that the angel Sardiel had made a noble decision, but why was the quest telling me, not the Hero, to look after her?

“Maybe it's a linked quest?”

“Linked quest...?”

“Completing one quest unlocks several more that follow it.”

The fact that it had singled me out specifically suggested this quest came with a mountain of rewards.

Was Artin's ridiculously weak physical stats designed for exactly this?

By completing linked quests, I could gain companions and power. That might let me catch ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up to Kaien's insane growth rate. Even if the rewards weren't physical stats, having an angel as a companion would be an enormous benefit. Thinking back to the third round, when descended angels could slaughter demons with a single swing of their swords, she'd be stronger than most companions by far.

“...Still, how are we supposed to find this angel Sardiel?”

I didn't know any angels, and even Thomas the angel expert had no clues. Should we just search using divine power?

She'll probably be pretty, though. The angel I saw at the appointment ceremony was gorgeous.

Recalling that day, I remembered the blue-haired angel who had winked at me. An angel like that would be more than welcome no matter how long it took to find her.

“...Huh?”

Why the hell did this suddenly pop up?