Change
The goddess Eru.
At that very moment, she was being thoroughly scolded by her aide.
“You bestowed a sacred relic for no reason other than that she was cute? And you acknowledged her on the spot, no less?”
There were only four seats available for those who could be recognized as apostles of the gods. And she had half-given one of them away simply because the girl was adorable. Being rebuked for it was only natural.
“A-Ah, no. She was simply far too much after this one’s own heart. There was nothing for it.”
“In a situation where the world itself could perish, what possible help is ‘cute’ supposed to be?!”
Eru herself thought the aide had a point.
And yet.
“I-It was not given for her looks alone. Reina possesses skill befitting that appearance as well.”
“Compared to the heroes of previous generations, she hardly seemed exceptional.”
That might have been true, but…
“Are there not heroes who blossom late?”
“Hah. If she had any real promise, it would have shown already. Had you designated someone else as hero, they would have finished off the evil apostles by now.”
That was when it happened.
Ding-ding-ding.
Eru’s notification window began chiming endlessly.
“What is the meaning of this?”
A flood of alerts like this could only mean something major had occurred. Had the evil gods pulled some scheme?
Sweating bullets, Eru checked the window. A moment later she broke into an amused grin.
“Just as I thought! This one’s eye for talent has never been wrong!”
“L-Lady Eru?”
Her aide asked what was going on. Instead of answering, Eru simply showed her the notifications.
[Eru! I heard the apostle you picked just gave an evil god’s apostle a good thrashing?]
[Your apostle—just what kind of kid is she?]
[Eru, let’s talk about that child a bit…]
[Just how did she manage it so quickly…]
“Ahem. Do continue with what you were saying earlier.”
Eru puffed out her chest with pride. The aide could only open and close her mouth soundlessly.
Th-This isn’t how it was supposed to go…
“Well? Speak!”
Under Eru’s prodding, the aide finally found her voice.
“…Lady Reina is a most excellent apostle. I believe she deserves more generous support.”
“Hmm. This one is of the same mind. Therefore, bring me everything that can be given right now. Quickly!”
When I opened my eyes, a pure white ceiling filled my vision.
It was the hospital inside the Academy.
“Awake, are you?”
“Teacher Anin.”
I turned toward the voice and found Anin standing there.
“Teacher, so about that…”
What had happened to Lutin? I remembered Ceryll pounding him with her fists, but I had blacked out right after that and had no idea how things had ended.
“The bomber is locked in the underground dungeon. Thanks to the Great Goddess’s barrier, not even an apostle of an evil god can escape from there. You may rest easy.”
Having read the original novel, I knew full well how formidable that prison was.
“I see.”
I let out a sigh of relief. It did not last long, however; my expression soon darkened.
He already knows Lutin was an apostle of an evil god.
Of course Anin would have figured that much out. But if he had learned that…
…then he probably already knows I’m the one who shattered Lutin’s magic circuits.
The only thing capable of breaking the curse that protected an evil god’s apostle was the divine power of a true apostle. In other words, there was a high chance Anin believed I was the one who had resolved the incident.
…If that weren’t the case, he wouldn’t still be here waiting for me to wake up.
And, well, I really had been the one to do it. I sighed again. This time, I might not be able to talk my way out of it.
…I could claim Ceryll did it, but then the evil apostles would start targeting her.
Now that Lutin had been defeated, the remaining evil apostles would almost certainly be hunting for whoever was responsible. That meant the odds of drawing the same unwanted attention as in the original story had risen sharply. If I redirected that attention onto Ceryll, I might stay safe myself.
But…
…I don’t want to do that.
A few days ago I would have shrugged and told myself Ceryll was strong enough, that she would become an apostle of the gods anyway, and dumped everything on her without a second thought. I could no longer do that. Ceryll had believed in me. She had believed in me even when I hadn’t been able to believe in myself. I could not repay that trust with betrayal.
“Teacher.”
In the end, the safest path for me was to secure the Academy’s protection. I was about to confess that I had been the one responsible.
He already knows it was me anyway.
But then—
“Hmm. I have no idea who it was, but I’m grateful someone took down that apostle of an evil god.”
Anin’s sudden words made me freeze.
“Seems it was the work of some apostle of the gods who just happened to be passing by. Seeing as they simply left afterward, I imagine they didn’t want this turning into a major incident. Well, heroes of that sort exist too. So we decided not to dig any further into the matter.”
My eyes went wide. Anin was the type who was endlessly curious about heroes. And he had decided not to investigate at all?
…More than that, the imperial family must be frantic trying to identify the apostle.
They would have been hounding him to find out who it was. And he had still chosen not to dig?
“Ah, and you and Ceryll seem to get caught up in incidents rather often… so the Academy has decided to watch over the two of you a little more carefully. Protecting students is, well, the Academy’s duty, after all.”
He was even promising the very protection I had been hoping for. Of course, according to the original plot, the Academy’s protection never proved all that helpful—but something was still better than nothing.
“…You don’t think one of us—me or Ceryll—might have been the one who defeated the evil apostle?”
“It’s not that the thought never crossed my mind, but…”
Anin glanced at me almost warily before continuing.
“After teaching the two of you, I’ve come to realize you are far too lacking to become heroes. Yes. You are not heroes! Absolutely not heroes! You can never become heroes!”
Well. Maybe not me, but Ceryll was destined to become one.
“Therefore I don’t believe for a second that either of you defeated an evil apostle.”
It seemed he genuinely didn’t know I had done it… yet hearing him declare it so firmly left me a little irritated. After all, Lutin had been defeated and the people had been saved by Ceryll and me. Not that I had wanted recognition. More people knowing would only make things harder. Still.
Pat.
Just then Anin rested a hand on my head.
“…There were no fatalities. Some were injured, but every single one of them only lightly. Thank you.”
He stroked my hair with surprising gentleness, as though acknowledging the effort I had put in.
“…Why are you thanking me?”
“Without meaning to? Haha. A-Anyway.”
He abruptly changed the subject. Suspicious.
“To think we would capture two evil apostles… an unexpected harvest indeed.”
W-Wait a second.
“Two?”
Hadn’t we only caught Lutin?
“Truth is, I received word that an evil apostle had entered the royal capital, so I was secretly tracking the fellow.”
Come to think of it, something like that had happened in the original story as well.
…Right. That was why no one had been assigned to the bakery when Lutin’s tragic bombing occurred—they never knew he was there.
And in the original, Anin had even lost the trail of the apostle he was chasing. The reason had been simple.
Stealth.
Yes—that evil apostle had acquired the talent known as Stealth. A talent that completely erased all sound made by the user for three seconds. Using it, the apostle had silenced every footstep and slipped away into the darkness with ease…
Wait. Hold on.
…Stealth is something I have now.
The post-acquired talent called Stealth that I had seized in the mines. It had become one of my new powers. In other words, I had stolen it from its rightful owner. Because of that, the original apostle had never obtained it, and as a result…
Anin managed to catch him.
I had already derailed the original story, and now I had created yet another divergence.
No… still, better to have an evil apostle locked up than running free.
Right. Let’s look on the bright side.
My body was fine, so I decided to head back to my room. First, though, I went to find Ceryll.
“Reina, what’s up?”
“…Are you all right?”
“Yeah. Looks like you’ve recovered pretty well yourself.”
Ceryll smiled as she said it. I looked at her and spoke.
“Thank you.”
Ceryll had believed in me. She had told me I could do it. I felt genuine gratitude toward her for that.
“I’m really glad you were there, Ceryll.”
I meant every word. Because of her, we had been able to save those people.
“It’s kind of weird hearing you be so honest…”
Ceryll teased lightly. I averted my gaze as I answered.
“Still, I wanted you to know.”
“Yeah. I heard you loud and clear.”
She smiled, and I found myself smiling back at her.
“Then… see you tomorrow morning.”
“Huh?”
“What?”
“I think that’s the first time you’ve ever told me ‘see you tomorrow.’”
Until now I had always treated Ceryll as a nuisance. Naturally I had never said anything like “see you tomorrow.” Had my uncharacteristic behavior shocked her?
“…Forget it if you don’t want to.”
I added belatedly, but Ceryll only shook her head.
“No way! I’m happy about it! Keep saying things like that from now on.”
She leaned her upper body right into my space as she spoke. I had gotten used to a lot of things, but this kind of proximity still threw me off.
“Okay.”
Even so, if it was Ceryll, closing the distance a little felt all right.
“You’ve changed, Reina.”
“Have I?”
“Yeah. The old you was great, but I like the you right now just as much.”
Ceryll gave a soft, bashful smile.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means I like every version of you.”
I snorted a quiet laugh.
“I like that side of you too, Ceryll.”
“Huh?”
Her eyes went round. Feeling suddenly embarrassed, I hastily added,
“…As a friend, I mean.”
“Uh…”
Her eyes grew even wider. What? Had I said something wrong?
“Reina… just called me her friend.”
That was the part that shocked her?
“All this time, whenever I got close you put up walls and insisted we weren’t friends… and now…”
Well, I had done that, yes…
“I didn’t mishear that, right?”
Ceryll asked again as if needing confirmation. I scratched my head and replied,
“…I think of you as a friend, Ceryll. Sorry if that bothers you, but…”
“Bother me? It’s the opposite! No—being friends isn’t enough! I want something more than that!”
Something more?
Like best friends, maybe?
Best friends, huh…
Having that kind of relationship with Ceryll might not be so bad.