Saintess Elly
Elly, the Saintess
One of the three archbishops in the Kingdom Church.
Alicia von Arcasia.
A woman with pure white skin and white hair, whose age could not be measured.
Alicia swept her white hair back and frowned at the documents laid out before her.
The Saintess Elly, who possessed immense mana.
The girl named Elly who had just been baptized was the third Saintess she had personally performed the baptism ceremony for.
Ruga. Seraca. And Elly.
"Haa... it's a sorry sight for a ghost..."
The three Saintesses she had baptized all had platinum-colored hair and eyes. However, this was not recorded anywhere in the history books.
Moreover, most historical records and accounts related to the Saintesses had been erased by the Church or the Kingdom.
Countless Saintesses had undoubtedly appeared throughout history. It was said that Saintesses had existed since the beginning of human history.
But not a single Saintess had been properly recorded in history.
It was all vague descriptions.
But she, who had lived through seeing the Saintesses herself, remembered it.
She had lived over 300 years, and she had seen three Saintesses so far. She had conducted three baptism ceremonies. She had seen two of the Saintesses living, and this would make the third.
So she knew.
The birth of a Saintess was not a blessing but a harbinger of misfortune.
Two Saintesses had caused great turmoil. And the third would too.
Many people would die again. A great war would break out.
She could only sigh at the cruel coincidence.
"Sera... it's Sera again."
All the Saintesses she had seen so far had shared the baptismal name 'Sera'.
Was it coincidence, or fate?
If it was fate, then what meaning did this have?
"Oh my, I thought I was dreaming of seeing that Saintess, but you are truly beautiful!"
"Hey, Elly... may I call you 'nim'?"
"Ah... you can call me anything."
Break time.
Elly was the most popular.
She was beautiful, had a pretty face, and her beautiful platinum hair and eyes, with their beautiful colors, were enough to capture the gazes of men and women alike.
On top of that, she was a Saintess, seen only once in a lifetime.
It would be an enormous stimulus for young ladies tired of noble society.
Elly had wanted to sit next to me, but since there was no seat, she ended up sitting in a seat that was neither close nor far.
Even while laughing and chatting with the others, she kept glancing at my bandaged side.
It seemed like she thought I had gotten injured.
If she thought that, she had completely misunderstood. I had gotten the wound willingly.
In other words, this could be called a glorious wound.
"Why are you smiling alone like that?"
"... Is my face strange?"
At Ophelie's words, I stiffened and hardened my expression.
"No, it's because your face is pretty. Why are you smiling?"
"It's nothing..."
It was embarrassing to admit that I had been smiling foolishly, so I couldn't say it.
That aside, Elly was on my mind.
Ah, we made eye contact again.
When I waved my hand slightly, Elly flinched and turned away, avoiding my gaze.
But she kept glancing towards me, as if she had something to say.
A bit puzzled, I rested my chin on my hand.
Elly from childhood had been straightforward, trying to shake me up, but now she was more cautious, often groaning to herself.
She didn't want to be hated by me.
But since I didn't hate Elly over small things, I could be a bit honest.
I saw Ange excitedly pressing Elly, and even though she had high self-esteem, being a Saintess was amazing.
Elly smiled brightly and said something, and Ange blushed while waving her hands wildly.
What were they talking about?
"... They seem close."
At Ophelie's words, leaning on her chin, I smiled and agreed.
"Ah... yeah, I guess."
I thought they were close. Honestly ranking them, Elly was number one, Haru second, and Ophelia third, I suppose.
I didn't know how Ophelia thought of me.
"What's with that vague answer?"
Ophelia pouted.
"I do think we're close."
I do think we're close. And every time I see Elly, I feel a tingling in my chest. But am I thinking about Elly as much as she thinks about me?
I often think that the relationship Elly has with me, the expectations she has, and the relationship I want with Elly might be something else.
"Is that so... Your expression is too plain, you know."
"What kind of expression is 'plain'?"
Are they comparing human faces to tastes?
Thinking about it, there might have been other meanings, but since I was uneducated, I didn't know.
"If you're that close, why don't you run to Elly right now? Instead of staying with me."
"You look busy, so later."
Afternoon. Practical training time.
In the end, Elly hadn't secured even a moment alone with me all day, either surrounded by other students or called by a professor.
I thought to myself that I was lucky, but it made me a bad person. I glanced at Elly.
Elly had already finished the practical training and was resting.
Although the image of Saintesses is that they only heal, this work is different. Saintesses can also use offensive magic like destructive rays.
Elly had demonstrated first, destroying a mid-level element in one hit.
An element was an artificial elemental spirit summoned to simulate demonic beasts in combat training.
The class was meant to replace fighting against demons and monsters with elements.
Since we couldn't go to the border areas where real monsters were, we used elements instead.
And Professor Diane controlled the elements.
A 5-meter tall, over 2-meter wide giant element was not easy to destroy.
On top of that, they summoned elements of attributes opposite to the ones students mainly used.
For Ophelia who used fire, they summoned water; for the student who used water, lightning.
However, since holy attributes had no weaknesses, they summoned neutral elements.
The element I was facing was no different.
Kwaang!
The fist the element dropped shattered the ground.
Even with the mana shield Professor Diane had made, real combat was terrifying.
Just as wearing a bulletproof vest doesn't make bullets harmless.
"Professor, be a little gentler..."
While being gentle with the other students, why me?
I said it with that resentment, but Professor smiled faintly and said,
"I've been watching Therese train lately, and I see talent sprouting. I'll help you too."
"No, what?! Aaaah?!"
Kwaaang!
The element had just slammed down with both hands.
I hurriedly backed away and barely dodged.
This person... really wants to catch a human.
The element, still holding the ground with both hands, lifted it and threw debris at me haphazardly.
Boom. Bububuk!
Thinking I couldn't dodge, I created a huge tower shield with mana and blocked it.
Over the past four days, I had briefly learned about mana usage from Ophelia.
The magic I mainly used was weapon creation magic and physical enhancement magic.
Traditional elemental magic required a lot of knowledge like magic circuits, but mine didn't.
The incantations were simple, the circuits simple.
Of course, with professional knowledge, weapon creation magic's efficiency and performance increased immeasurably.
But I could cover it with some tricks.
It didn't have to be in weapon form. As long as it had constant mass and mana, it was a weapon.
I widened the distance and created a huge golden spear with mana.
It looked more like a giant toothpick than a spear, but so what.
As long as it could pierce, it was a weapon.
I lifted it over my head, stepped with my foot, and swung my shoulder with full power.
Throwing Spear.
Pew!
With a sound of piercing air, sand smoke spread everywhere due to the shockwave.
The spear I threw flew quickly, piercing the element's shoulder.
Kwa-jik.
The element's shoulder pierced by the spear wobbled.
It wouldn't be able to swing its fists like that.
The element had no weaknesses except its core, and the core, the weakness, was protected by a hard mana shield.
So, I thought it would be better to throw one arm to reduce attack power, and it seemed like the right choice.
I charged towards the element with empty hands.
The element swung its fist in a pitiful way, but I slid through between its legs.
Compared to Ophelia's sharp attacks, this guy's attacks were too slow.
I stood up and summoned a hammer the size of my height.
It was an oversized hammer over tens of kilograms. Originally too heavy to lift, but since I had already summoned it while holding it up, no problem.
Now, I just had to swing it down.
Using physical enhancement, I swung the hammer with all my might.
When I stabbed the hammer into the element's back, with a refreshing sound "Kwa-jik!!" the element's back was shattered.
And at the same time as the hammer's summoning ended, I created a sword and stabbed it towards the exposed core.
With a sound of shattering glass, the core crumbled powerlessly.
"Indeed, well done. Therese! Amazing mana utilization."
Professor clapped "clap clap clap".
The other students also applauded. Ophelia had the expression of a teacher looking at her student, and Elly had a worried face as if I might get hurt.
As expected, it was worth rolling around with bandages all over my body.
Thanks to the hard work over the past four days.
I greeted Ophelia with my eyes.
I also smiled at Elly.
After class, I went to find her to get special training from Ophelia again, but
"I'm sorry. I have something to do. How about spending time with your friend today?"
She was rejected.
Elly would be busy for a while anyway, so there wouldn't be much time alone with me.
She had been called by the professors now, so I had asked Ophelia to make time.
I had been alone all day because I couldn't talk to her as she looked busy.
Without Ophelia, the time disappeared instantly.
What to do in the future was unclear.
I didn't know why or when the terror incident would happen a month later, and even if I knew, could I stop it with my power?
I thought I should just tell everything to Elly.
I sighed and sat on a chair near the academy entrance.
To go from the academy to the dormitory, I had to pass here, so I decided to wait for Elly here.
I sat on the chair until the blue sky turned orange.
Then, Elly appeared, walking wearily.
"Elly~"
I waved my hand and called Elly.
Elly looked around for a moment, then found me and her face brightened.
"Tere. You've been waiting all this time?"
"Yeah. Two hours."
"Two hours...? Sorry..."
"What do you have to apologize for, Elly."
With that, I walked with Elly to the classroom.
After a long time, the atmosphere was a bit awkward, but we walked together for a while.
"You look busy. What kind of work do they usually give when they're called?"
"It's nothing special. Just asking about events, whether they can go to the capital, whether they have any work planned, etc."
"It's troublesome."
Elly twisted her curly hair.
And looking at the bandages around my neck and arms.
"... More than that, Tere, what are those wounds? Who hurt you? Or did you get injured? In today's class?"
Elly asked with a fierce look.
"No. I asked my classmates to teach me harshly."
Elly leaned her face close to mine with that.
"... It's that red-haired person, right? You got hit by them?"
When I leaned my face close, I pulled my head back slightly and said.
"Yeah, but I asked them to hit me. They're a really good person."
"With wounds all over like this?"
Elly brought her finger to my cheek.
It was a small scar from when I fell.
When Elly's hand touched it, it stung.
Elly looked at me for a moment and said.
"Hey... Tere. Can I sleep with you today?"
"Eh?"
The dormitories are different.
I looked at Elly with that question.
There, Elly had a blushing face.
"Yeah. Okay."
Since sleeping together wasn't a big deal, but if caught, I might get in trouble, I nodded with that thought.