Promise
Saycell Grace.
She was taking a warm bath with a restless feeling.
The two-person room in the Special Dormitory had the feel of a one-room layout, yet the presence of two beds and gold-embroidered decorations ensured there was never a dull moment.
For a girl raised in a family that could be counted on one hand in the Kingdom, the space was more than adequate.
“Huu…”
Saycell let out a sigh.
Living together with the Saintess, and the command that had just arrived… well, no matter how one put it, it was an order she could not refuse.
- Monitor the Saintess.
When her family had practically exiled her, she had not cared in the slightest. Yet the moment she became classmates and roommates with the Saintess, her father’s call came.
Monitor the Saintess, and get close to her to build rapport.
The world was cruel.
Saycell sighed and turned off the hose from which water had been flowing, then wiped her body with a towel.
As she had grown, various parts of her body had developed, but to her they only felt like hindrances.
'If I try to get close, I haven’t even been able to say a single word yet.'
Still, once the bath was over, she would really try to speak to her.
Saycell was the sort of person who did what she said she would. In any case, she would talk and see. There was nothing more terrifying than living alone with an uncomfortable person.
She stepped out of the bathroom wearing a bathrobe.
But…
“Eh? Gone?!”
She searched the bathroom, the changing room, and the hallway in front of the dormitory.
Yet there was no sign of anyone.
At the entrance stood the security guard and dorm supervisor; she could not have slipped out.
Should she say something or not? While she was hesitating, a breeze stirred.
Turning toward the direction the wind had come from, she saw an open window and curtains fluttering in the night air.
“Could she have jumped…?”
The Special Dormitory was an eight-story building. Of course there were balconies and footholds below, but with ordinary courage it was impossible.
Yet the opponent was the Saintess, whose magic power measured 9999. It was not impossible.
“Haa…”
Saycell clutched the back of her neck.
After finishing the dormitory inspection at night, I had been lying on the bed in the dormitory.
The academy’s dormitory assignment had made no sense to me.
Room assignments were supposed to be decided by grades or abilities, yet the dormitory was chosen according to bloodline and family.
I knew tossing and turning in anger would accomplish nothing.
I had fallen into a room next to mine.
The other three who shared the room with me did not particularly dislike it…
- Wow, I saw her in the measurement room! She was close to the Saintess, right?
- Her magic power was really high, I’m jealous~.
Not every noble who entered the academy came from a high family. Like Haru, whose position was narrow, or those who fled from their families and arrived, had also come.
For that reason, she had seemed to welcome me, a plain commoner she saw for the first time, with open arms.
After greeting the foolish noble girls who knew nothing of the world’s dangers, following the supervisor’s words that it was time to sleep, I lay down on the bed.
It was fluffy. Aside from the four-person room, it was a place that could truly be called a perfect nest.
Yet sleep refused to come.
Lying on my back with eyes wide open, I stared blankly at the ceiling of the dormitory.
What had become of Eli going to the Special Dormitory.
She had also left Haru behind. And I had to build up my strength to prepare for the events that would unfold in the original novel.
If things stayed like this, even fighting monsters would mean dying in an instant. At the very least, I had to reach the level of Ophelia.
Tick. Tick.
The quiet sound of the clock hands flowing filled the air.
In any case, time was passing, and tomorrow would arrive.
With a philosopher’s heart, I closed my eyes to sleep. From tomorrow, the harsh academy life would begin. I had to steel myself.
Kriiiik.
The sound of the door opening came faintly.
It seemed the dorm supervisor was doing a patrol.
But usually they would patrol from outside; why would they need to come inside?
I decided to pretend to be asleep with my eyes closed. The dorm supervisor was also a professor at the academy. It would be terrible if I was found not sleeping.
Go away. Go away. While praying in my heart to go away and closing my eyes, the footsteps grew louder.
It sounded as though they were approaching me.
Curious, I slightly squinted one eye and peeked.
It was dark, so I could not see clearly, but from the silhouette she was wearing the academy uniform, and she had long, swaying hair.
It was a familiar face.
I muttered the name that came to mind.
“Eli…?”
“Shh.”
She whispered with a gesture to be quiet.
“How did you come here…?”
“I sneaked in.”
“Sneaked…?”
Sneaked? Was it that she had jumped over the window frame?
I broke out in cold sweat.
The Kingdom Academy was a place with strict rules. If it was discovered that I had sneaked into another dormitory room at night, it would not end with just a warning letter.
“Sneaked… what if I get caught.”
“If I get caught, it’s not like that. Even if I get caught, since she’s the Saintess, it should be fine.”
Eli said that and smiled.
I could see her anytime at the academy if I had time tomorrow. But wondering why she had come to find me with some urgent matter, I opened my mouth to Eli.
“What happened?”
“What happened… well, I just wanted to see your face. I was busy too.”
“Eh?”
Eli, who had come to see my face despite the risk.
I wondered if she was lying now, so I looked at Eli. Because it was dark, it was hard to tell, but from the slightly changed atmosphere it did not seem like a lie.
“… Were you disturbed while sleeping?”
“No, I wasn’t sleeping. Rather, I couldn’t sleep at all and stayed up all night with my eyes open.”
“Really?”
I thought she was feeling guilty for bothering me, so Eli’s expression was dejected. When I said I was fine, her color improved. And Eli seemed to want to say something, hesitating.
And in that state, Eli and I just stared at each other blankly without saying a word.
Since Eli seemed to have something to say, I was quietly waiting, but Eli did not open her mouth.
“Eh… You wanted to say something to me, right?”
“It’s there… well…”
Eli stopped there and looked outside, exactly at the dormitory window.
No matter how much I was, I could tell if she showed it like that.
I smiled wryly and said in a voice only Eli could hear.
“Since it’s weird to keep talking here, shall we go outside?”
I could not talk continuously in the sleeping dormitory. But that would mean breaking the dormitory rules together. Eli might have found it hard to say to me.
Eli and I opened the window and went out quietly.
Fortunately, the dormitory I lived in was on the first floor, so there was no need to take risks.
“Uuu… it’s cold.”
It was a cold night weather, perhaps because it was early spring.
Since it seemed too noticeable to walk on the main road, we decided to walk on the path next to the stream.
Because of the cold, I walked holding my arms with both hands.
Looking at Eli following silently, I smiled bitterly and said.
“If you wanted to talk outside, you should have said so.”
“… Yeah.”
Eli gave a powerless smile at my words.
Lately, Eli had become a smiley person, and she smiled often.
She was like a golden retriever if compared to animals.
I wonder what kind of animal I would look like.
“… Therese is in class 1?”
“Yeah. I had a mock duel in today’s class.”
“I see.”
After that, Eli and I walked along the path and talked quietly.
It was a rather ordinary conversation.
I mainly asked about Eli.
“After the magic power measurement today, it was quite a big deal, right. Was that okay?”
“… Actually, it was quite a difficult situation, but Professor Diane came and helped. Even after that, she helped me with various things.”
Did Diane go to Eli right after class ended? She seemed to casually interact, but unexpectedly, she was a deep-thinking person.
It was unexpectedly fun to know the behind-the-scenes story that could not be known in the original novel.
After that, we continued talking.
I told her that I got a 3-second cut by the girl named Ophelia in today’s mock duel, or that Haru was probably lonely by herself now, or that the academy’s food is really delicious, etc.
Also, Eli said that because she had many things to do as the Saintess, she would not be able to participate in normal academy classes for a while.
In addition, the Saintess would be busy with a schedule from now on. She seemed dissatisfied that she could not be with me, but Eli seemed to be trying to fulfill her responsibilities as the Saintess.
- Because I’m the Saintess. It’s something no one else can do, so I have no choice but to do it.
Eli, saying that with her back to the night sky, felt somewhat pitiful.
We talked like that for more than an hour.
The dawn was slowly deepening. I thought if I did not sleep now, it would interfere with tomorrow’s activities, so I tried to say let’s go back.
“Eli.” “Therese.”
Saying at the same time.
I gestured to Eli to speak first with a puzzled feeling.
“No, Therese should speak first.”
“No. Eli first, I’m really not a big deal.”
If I say let’s go back first, isn’t it better not to?
At that, Eli seemed to want to say something, opening and closing her mouth.
What did she want to say? I looked at Eli with a curious gaze.
Eli twisted her fingers this way and that and said.
“… Well, a month later…. a month later. There’s a memorial day, right? Will you go see the fireworks with me then?”
“Fireworks?”
Fireworks a month later? The sudden question made me tilt my head.
It seemed there was definitely such an event.
I remembered the setting that every year at this time, various magic fireworks were held at the royal palace…
“… It’s not like I have to go. Haru will be there too. If we have time, both of us, meaning that. Either way is fine.”
“Uuu…”
Did she think I was having a hard time?
In any case, if we were going together, it was like playing together as always?
Her fidgety attitude and red face looked like she was asking for a date from her boyfriend.
'Ah. We’re girls. There’s no way.'
I shook my head.
I heard that friends between girls are different from friends between boys.
Eli liking me was purely because she liked me as a childhood friend.
Eli and I are like family.
“Let’s go together.”
“Really? You promised.”
Eli’s expression brightened.
Eli seemed like a child who was hard to understand but easy to understand. Most had smiling expressions, but that smiling expression had to be read well.
After that, we exchanged a few light words and parted with “see you tomorrow”.
“… Haa.”
I waved at Eli leaving and saw her off, and I sighed.
I lied.
I could not go see the fireworks with Eli.
Because the first event in the original novel would happen a month later.
But I could not say I would not go.
Even though I knew I could not keep it, I said it as a lie.
A month later. The memorial day for the fireworks.
On that day, a terrorist attack occurs in the central plaza of the kingdom.
Unknown perpetrator, unknown cause.
Large demonic beasts with miasma poured out one after another, massacring the kingdom citizens who came to watch the festival.
Soldiers and knights came out to repel the beasts, but it was insufficient.
No matter how strong the knights were, it was nearly impossible to resolve the incident without casualties in the wild area where the beasts were rampaging.
Eli had the bad luck of not being able to go to the scene immediately because of her duties as the Saintess that day.
If there was no saint, it would not be strange if hundreds or thousands died that day.
Because there was a saint, it could end with dozens dead.
Because there was a saint.
But now there is no saint.
The saint that should be in the original novel is not here now.
There was no need to look for the cause. The only foreign substance that was different from the original novel was me.
Because of me. So I had to take responsibility.
I had to replace the saint.
“… Hic.”
I grabbed my trembling hands.
It will be fine.
Everything will be fine.