The Saintess Appears
As I stared at the countless messages, I reacted differently than before. I simply accepted them. Honestly, compared to the performance evaluation, this wasn't all that difficult. 'Well, I prepared thoroughly this time.' I had the crimson necklace, and I'd grown quite a bit in the meantime. On top of that, I'd even made plans. It should be more than enough to rescue the Saintess on the second route.
“Baran? What are you doing? Why aren't you coming out?”
At that moment, Sherry knocked on the door. I quickly opened it and stepped outside.
“My apologies. I was lost in thought for a moment.”
“That’s understandable. Anyway, let’s hurry. Everyone else has already come out.”
I nodded and followed Sherry out of the ship. There, I saw a man in pure white armor talking with the professors.
'He must be the guide NPC.'
He was basically an extra, just like me. No wonder I couldn’t even remember his name.
This place hasn’t changed much from before.
Miroel commented as she looked around the Holy Federation. Well, unlike the Manchester Continent, this place focused heavily on faith, so its development was somewhat lacking. Of course, the difference between here and the Manchester Continent wasn’t that big.
'Honestly, compared to modern times, they’re both about the same.'
While I was thinking that, the sound of footsteps approached.
Step. Step.
The guide knight, having finished speaking with the professors, walked over to us. He opened his mouth with the kindest smile imaginable.
“Hello, everyone. My name is Gawen, and I’ll be your guide for this academy visit.”
The students clapped at his introduction. Soon after, Gawen began listing today’s schedule.
“First, we’ll take a leisurely tour around the city. Once we’ve seen everything, we’ll head to the lodging. Of course, after you unpack your belongings, I’ll give you free time, so please don’t make such disappointed faces.”
It seemed the students’ expressions had been obvious, so Gawen quickly added that. The embarrassed students scratched their cheeks and gave awkward laughs.
“Then I’ll begin the tour right away. Please pay attention and follow closely.”
With those words, Gawen took the lead and began guiding us.
Following Gawen’s guidance, we slowly explored the Holy Federation. As expected of the capital, the streets were bustling with people.
'Hmm, but it’s just… average.'
While most of the students looked around with fascination, I felt nothing in particular. To be honest, it was probably because I’d seen it so many times in the game.
'Or maybe it’s just because of my Calm trait.'
As I thought that and memorized the paths, Gawen spoke again.
“You’ll have free time until evening, so please unpack your luggage and return before sunset.”
““Yes!””
With that, the tour finally ended. Everyone headed to their assigned rooms. I did the same and went to the one prepared for me.
It’s not bad at all.
“Yes. It’s quite decent.”
They must have given us proper consideration since we were from Edin Academy. The room wasn’t too small. Compared to a single room, this was more than enough. I roughly placed only the things I needed inside and stepped back out.
'Let’s get out quickly.'
I needed to leave before running into the female group. To prepare properly for the upcoming episode, I had to memorize the layout completely.
'Even though Gawen gave us a tour…'
He hadn’t gone into much detail. Before I could encounter the girls, I quickly left the building. As soon as I stepped outside, Miroel spoke in a slightly surprised voice.
I thought you would go with your party. How unexpected.
“I just felt the need to properly memorize the paths this time.”
Well, there were other reasons too, but I kept those to myself. Miroel smiled softly and wrapped her arms around me.
Hmm. Then let’s explore together this time.
I nodded and began walking.
'Hmm, let’s head to the church first.'
Although Gawen had shown us around, we hadn’t gone inside the church yet. The blessing from the Saintess would happen in the evening.
'I need to check it out beforehand.'
I already knew roughly how the episode would unfold. What worried me, however, was the butterfly effect. The protagonist I had played in the game had always been male. But look at Luden now. The protagonist was a girl. On top of that, the story had already diverged quite a bit from the original.
That was why I needed to see how the Holy Church had changed.
This place hasn’t changed much either.
Miroel gazed at the massive church before us, seemingly lost in sentiment. She was probably remembering her old companions. Feeling curious, I asked her in a quiet voice that only she could hear.
“Master, what was the first Saintess like?”
Hmm. There’s so much to say, but if I had to summarize… she was a kind fox.
“Pardon?”
What on earth did that mean? The Saintess’s setting was that she was kind to everyone. But calling her a “kind fox” was a phrase I couldn’t quite understand. As I pondered that, she let out a small sigh and continued.
She was kind, but every outfit she wore was incredibly revealing, you know?
“Ah.”
I still don’t understand why she wore those clothes. Though now that I think about it, maybe she was trying to seduce the Hero Kyle.
I knew that the first Hero, Kyle, and the first Saintess, Janne, had feelings for each other. Still, wearing revealing clothes just to look good in front of Kyle seemed a bit excessive.
'Or maybe not. It does sound somewhat plausible.'
Anyway, that wasn’t important right now. Whatever the first Saintess wore had nothing to do with me anymore. What mattered was taking a proper look inside the church.
I stepped into the church. Inside, people were praying before a statue of the Goddess.
'So that’s the Sun God.'
The statue looked far more detailed than it had in the game. Even though it was just a statue, it gave off a powerful aura.
'Come to think of it, there was never a proper design for the Sun God.'
There had been settings for both the Demon God and the Sun God, but strangely, no actual designs. The Demon God’s face was obscured by dark demonic energy, and the Sun God was blocked by light.
'Hmm. Maybe they just never set it properly?'
After organizing my thoughts for a moment, I shook my head.
'Well, thinking about it now won’t give me any answers.'
For now, I needed to examine the inside of the church properly. I sat down on a chair in front of me and clasped my hands together as if praying. At the same time, I focused Mind's Eye.
'Let’s see…'
The entire interior of the church appeared in my vision. Countless pieces of information flooded into my mind. Normally, I wouldn’t have been able to endure it for long and would have released Mind's Eye. But perhaps thanks to my recent growth, I could hold on a little longer than before.
I scanned the church as quickly as possible, right up to my limit.
Drip.
Suddenly, a metallic taste filled my mouth. It seemed I had pushed myself too hard and my nose was bleeding.
D-Disciple?! Your nose is bleeding!
Miroel cried out in alarm. If I kept using it any longer, it felt like my brain would burst. I deactivated Mind's Eye and let out a shallow breath.
“Hoo…”
My head was spinning from the recoil of using Mind's Eye. Looking at it this way, it felt like I was only taking losses, but it wasn’t without gain. As expected, the development wasn’t following the original story exactly.
'I had a feeling this would happen.'
There were far fewer priests inside the church than I expected. Even the paladins who should have been present were nowhere to be seen. I had suspected it, and sure enough…
'The Saintess has escaped.'
That’s right. The Saintess had secretly slipped out. From the Holy Church’s perspective, this must have caused quite the uproar. She was called the daughter of the Sun God, after all. How could they not panic when she sneaked out alone?
'Well, the heretics must be sweating bullets right now.'
Anyway, things were proceeding exactly as I had predicted. There was no need to stay here any longer. Instead, I needed to make natural contact with the Saintess as soon as possible.
'Shall we go, then?'
With that thought, I headed toward a place where the Saintess might be.
I had arrived at the starting point of the main episode. I looked around to see if Luden was there, but just as I expected, she was nowhere to be found.
'Of course. I knew Luden wouldn’t be here because of the butterfly effect.'
Unlike the original story, the current protagonist had quite a few friends around her. Plus, she was a girl, not a guy. So she was probably walking around with her party instead of being alone right now. Or maybe there was another reason.
'I wonder when we’ll run into each other.'
From what I remembered, the Saintess would be wandering around the street stalls wearing a robe. At this time of day, we should be crossing paths soon.
Just as I was thinking that—
Thud!
“Ah!”
Suddenly, someone bumped into my shoulder. When I turned my head, I saw a woman with white hair who had dropped her ice cream and fallen to the ground. She looked up at me with eyes that seemed as if she had lost an entire country.
The moment I saw her, I gave her a kind smile.
'The wild Saintess has appeared!'