The Fake Saintess, the Real Saintess (1)
The moment I concluded that Serista had probably figured out I was the Saintess, my brain kicked into high gear.
If she truly was certain of it, then several things I'd been hesitating over would be resolved in one stroke. I would no longer have to tiptoe around her feelings and carefully feel out the right moment to bring the subject up.
‘Besides, considering the operation to take down McHart, this was something I'd have to tell her eventually anyway.’
It was only that learning I wasn't the sole keeper of this secret had made it a little easier to speak of. I couldn't tell how exactly Serista had discovered my identity, but as a high-ranking priest, she had more than enough means of finding out one way or another.
Fortunately, securing a chance to talk with her alone wasn't difficult. She was, after all, the healing priest assigned to treat the injuries I'd sustained during the evaluation tournament — and even now she was standing in my room, channeling holy power to mend my body.
"…By the grace of the Sun and the Goddess, may this small life be watched over…."
Until today, sharing a room with Agnes had left me almost no opportunity to be alone with her, but Agnes had already been discharged this morning, and only Serista kept arriving at her appointed hour to continue the divine treatments. There could be no better moment than this one for a private conversation.
If I could also bring Gehmajoshigi-gwat into the room right now, the whole discussion would go that much more smoothly — but hoping for things to line up that well was probably just my own greed talking.
"…That concludes today's treatment, Lady Lilith."
"Thank you, Lady Serista."
"I'll come again tomorrow at this hour, then. I'll take my leave now—"
"Oh, Lady Serista. Could I possibly ask you something before you go?"
"……"
She flinched — and then froze right where she stood.
Her reaction itself was suspicious enough, dripping with the look of someone hiding something, and my suspicion was steadily hardening into conviction.
"…Wh-what is it you're curious about?"
"You may not want to hear this from me, Lady Serista."
"Y-yes, go on."
"Lately, every time I receive treatment from you, I feel something sacred welling up inside my chest. I was wondering — could you check whether it's some kind of illness, or perhaps just a natural part of the healing process?"
"…Ah, that's…"
The instant she heard my words, her expression went rigid and she began mumbling evasively. That reaction was as good as an answer.
At this point, it was nearly certain she had noticed I was the Saintess — and what she almost certainly hadn't anticipated was that *I* would be the first to bring up the subject.
After all, there was no way for anyone to know on their own whether they were a Saintess or not. The whole bit about sacred power welling up in my chest was something I'd made up on the spot.
But that one question was more than enough to push Serista — who already suspected me — into spilling what she knew.
Unlike the vast majority of people who simply believed Serista to be the genuine article, she was one of the few beings in the world who knew she was a *fake*.
And finally — knowing Serista's deeply self-sacrificing nature, there was no doubt in my mind that she would choose to acknowledge me as the true Saintess right here and now, and…
"Th-that is… h-how…?"
"Yes, Lady Serista?"
"Well, how… interesting…."
"…I'm sorry?"
"N-now that I think of it, I have so many patients left to see today…! C-could I be excused first?!"
"W-wait just a moment! Lady Serista—"
*Slam!* — the door rattled shut.
"…—ta!"
But contrary to my expectations, the moment I'd half-revealed that I was the real Saintess, Serista bolted from the room as if fleeing for her life. Thanks to her wholly unexpected reaction, I was left sitting alone in the hospital room like a fool.
…This could get annoyingly complicated if I'm not careful.
⁎ ⁎ ⁎
After Serista had fled my room, I quietly mulled over what had just happened.
‘Was it the way I phrased it?’
Maybe I'd been a touch inconsiderate. I should have thought harder about just how terrifying it would be for her — a fake Saintess — to suddenly be confronted with the real thing.
‘At the very least, I should have reassured her about her safety before I said anything…’
That would have required Gehmajoshigi-gwat's cooperation, but still — revealing the truth about the Saintess while alone with her may well have been hasty.
Not that I could deny the crisis looming right in front of me. One way or another, I had to have the Saintess's power at my command before the noble exchange gala that Prince McHart would be attending.
My plan had been to casually broach the topic with Serista, then steer the conversation naturally toward a promise to pass the Saintess's power to her once everything was over. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect things to go sideways at the very first step — the reveal itself.
‘If I can't convince her today, I've only got about a day left. This is bad.’
I was quietly clutching my aching head over these thoughts when the door to the hospital room suddenly swung open — and this time it wasn't Serista, but a man walking in.
*Click.*
"Yo, Lilgirlchang."
…That little bastard's at it again. I *told* him to stop calling me that.
"…Don't go announcing that at the top of your lungs, you idiot."
"There's nobody in the hallway anyway. Almost everyone's been discharged except you."
"Still, have some caution. Unlike you, I'm in a situation where I absolutely cannot afford to be outed as a transmigrator."
"Ah, right. Sorry, sorry."
Gehmajoshigi-gwat sauntered into the room wearing a face completely devoid of remorse, and a quiet sigh escaped me.
He'd seemed so composed back on the gallery boards, so serious when he was actually playing through the game's story — but the instant I'd revealed I was a fellow transmigrator, his attitude had gone slack in the extreme.
"You weren't like this character until recently, were you? Back at Seraphin's after-party at the end of last year, you seemed perfectly normal."
"That was in front of the others, so I was holding back. It's only around you that I get this loose — I don't do this in front of anyone else."
"Then maybe keep some tension up around me too. The moment you open your mouth, it's Lilgirlchang this, Lilgirlchang that…"
"Well, sorry. It's just — when you run into a countryman after literal years, it's hard not to relax. Serista and Silena are close to me too, but I still have to keep up the whole 'dignified Hero' act around them. With you, though, there's no affection stat to manage, so."
"…I don't mind you being like that with me, but for the love of god, watch your mouth around everyone else. Every time I think about what keeps trying to escape your mouth during our group meetings, I still break out in a cold sweat."
"What can I say? I've seen your username on the Rua gallery more times than I've seen your face in person. Holding it in is genuinely not easy — it's automatic at this point."
…When you put it that way, maybe it really does slip out.
Come to think of it, I'd seen his gallery handle far more often than I'd known *him* in this world — back before I ever learned the man behind Gehmajoshigi-gwat.
Of course, in my case, I spent my first several years after transmigrating so busy just surviving day to day that memories like those got buried entirely.
"So where's Ethan? You're here alone at this hour?"
"Ethan? He's at the student council, obviously."
"…Ah, right, of course. Now that I think about it, he's still in his council term, isn't he."
"By the way — I heard you and Ethan are quitting the student council after just one year. Is that for real?"
"…Something like that. There's… a lot of complicated circumstances tangled up in it."
I didn't bother mentioning that the chief cause of those circumstances was the man standing in front of me — and Seraphin. I had a feeling he'd get weirdly uncomfortable if he heard he was the reason things between Ethan and Seraphin had soured.
Wait a moment. Come to think of it — if he'd gotten here before Serista, wouldn't I not have needed to worry about the whole Saintess problem in the first place?
"Perfect timing, actually. Hey."
"Hmm?"
"Since you're here, help me convince Serista. Casually pass her word that I might be the Saintess."
"Huuuh? Why so suddenly? Don't tell me you want to join the Hero Party?"
"Are you insane? Why would I join that? It's obvious I'd spend the next several years busting my ass. I got my fill of that in the game."
"Well, I mean… if we're calling it busting your ass, then yeah, that's accurate…"
He had, after all, followed my guide all the way to the brink of clearing the game, so he understood perfectly well that the Hero Party was a road of suffering.
"There's exactly one thing I need. To receive the consecration from Serista and awaken as the Saintess."
"Awaken as the Saintess… wh-what?!"
"What, got a problem with that?"
"It's not that I have a problem, it's just… is that even… possible…?"
"What is?"
"Didn't you and Ethan already go all the way? How do you awaken as a Saintess when you're not even a vir—"
*WHAM!*
"Kghk—!!"
My fist shot out of pure reflex and slammed into Gehmajoshigi-gwat's solar plexus. He doubled forward, clutching his chest.
"Are you a complete lunatic?!"