Delivery Error

It was far too short to be called a sword.

"It's a blade... well, it is a blade, but—"

"Wait. Isn't that a kitchen knife?"

A stir ran through the students in the waiting room.

Until the instant she closed her fingers around the blade and drew it from that blaze of gold, Sia had worn the look of a girl who possessed the entire world.

"Eh... eh?"

When she saw that what she held was not the Holy Sword but a stubby kitchen knife, Sia blinked, staring blankly at her own hand. Her face asked the question for her: why on earth was there a kitchen knife among the treasures of the Hero Party?

I knew it was the genuine article.

"To think she'd be chosen by the Kitchen Knife of the Mess Swordsman."

I'd never seen a selection like this in my life.

The Mess Swordsman...?

You know that fake Predation ability I claimed I had? There's an original power that one's based on.

Mm, I-I remember. The one that's basically like eating monsters to raise your stats, r-right?

That's the one. It's the ability belonging to the Hero Party's cook.

The cook was one of the Hero Party members?

If you judged him on blade work alone, he was better than the Hero.

His true name was unknown. They simply called him the Mess Swordsman — the Hero Party's cook in the most literal sense of the word, a man who slaughtered monsters and ate of their blood and flesh. Before he joined the party, he had lost his family to Abaddon and gone half-mad, wandering the land butchering every monster he could find. They'd called him the Sword Demon, if I remembered right. Of course, the previous Hero who'd gone looking for a man like that and taken him in as a comrade had been an eccentric in his own right.

B-but why S-Sia, of all people? Dorothy's a way better cook.

Surprisingly, being good at cooking isn't actually one of the conditions on the Mess Swordsman's kitchen knife.

Maybe because the Mess Swordsman himself was written as a genius chef? I didn't know the details either.

There were four conditions for being chosen by his kitchen knife.

As if by some exquisite coincidence, Sia satisfied every last one.

I'd been half-certain that Sia or Siwoo would be chosen by the Holy Sword. If it wasn't Sia... then did that mean it would be Siwoo?

What will you do?

Sia, who had been staring blankly at the Mess Swordsman's kitchen knife in her hand, gave a small nod.

"I'll accept it!"

Sia p-pulled a kitchen knife instead of a sc-scallion...

That's incredible too, you know.

It might have looked like a short, ordinary kitchen knife, but that was no replica like the Holy Sword. It was a genuine treasure left behind by a member of the Hero Party. It ranked among the top three artifacts you could obtain from the Treasure Selection event. Sia had not the faintest reason to refuse it.

Unlike the other treasures, she couldn't simply walk out with it. It had been a long time since anyone had inherited a relic of the Hero Party.

"White Ghost?"

"How to use it. Baba Yaga and I'll teach you."

They decided to run it past Baba Yaga and White Ghost first — handling instructions, a user's manual, the official handover, that sort of thing.

"Next, Siwoo."

"Yes."

Every gaze in the room swung toward him, all of them wondering whether her older brother would be chosen by a treasure just the same. Even under that crushing weight of attention, Siwoo smiled easily and walked into the selection chamber.

"I'll be right back."

Just as Sia had, he strolled unhurriedly among the treasures.

And when Siwoo at last reached the hall, he too was chosen by a treasure the Hero Party had left behind.

When the brilliant light faded, what appeared before him was a shield. The Shield of Conviction, once wielded by the Hero.

True to its name, only someone with an unbreakable will to shield others — someone who had sworn to protect the people they held precious — could receive the shield's choice.

A shield, huh.

I-it isn't the Holy Sword this time either?

That's strange.

I'd been sure one of the two of them would be chosen by the Holy Sword. If one became the Saintess and the other the Hero, the whole picture would have been perfect. Had I gotten greedy?

In practice, they'd spent two years growing somewhere my hands couldn't reach, so I hadn't been able to steer their direction. I'd assumed that if I just left them alone, they'd grow along the scenario all by themselves. Maybe that had been the mistake.

Whatever. It doesn't matter.

The Holy Sword here was a fake to begin with — a replica, a kind of symbol and nothing more. A marker that announced to the whole world that its bearer possessed the qualities of a Hero. A symbol of new hope, and at the same time a canary in a coal mine, proof that calamity was on its way. As an actual treasure, its value fell far short of the genuine articles Sia and Siwoo had just been chosen by.

What are the c-conditions on the Holy Sword?

About the same as in every ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠other story you've ever seen.

Protect the world.

Simple. But only someone who sincerely believed it, and lived it, could pull it off. Because it tested the wielder's will at a purity of one hundred percent, even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in the original game it was the kind of achievement that took countless resets and a serious streak of luck. Replica or not, starting out with a Hero's heart and actually being chosen by the Holy Sword was about as easy as plucking stars out of the sky.

"Next, Tiss."

"Yes."

The attention on me was every bit as heavy as it had been for Siwoo and Sia. Two people in a row had just been chosen by treasures, and now the snow-white girl who'd taken down Cheon Geomhwa was walking in? If I'd been in their seats, I'd have wanted popcorn.

Unlike the audience, I really wasn't thinking much of anything. I didn't even glance around. I just walked straight ahead.

Right. At that point, I really did set off like I was taking a pleasant stroll.

Right up until a fanfare as loud as the two before it crashed down, and brilliant light poured over me.

Siwoo had drawn the shield. Sia had drawn the kitchen knife. On top of that, White Ghost's book sat vacant, and I was already carrying the Saintess's Ember.

So which of the remaining treasures had picked me?

There shouldn't have been anything left.

And I still hit the jackpot.

W-why?

The ominous thought that flashed through me was of Baba Yaga. She too had been an advisor to the Hero Party, an extra member of sorts, and she had donated her grimoire to this place.

No. No way.

That old hag had been singing apprentice, apprentice this whole time. Don't tell me I actually had to become a witch?

Please. Anything but that.

I prayed with everything I had.

"Oh my god, T-Tiss Unnie!"

"Angel-nim, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you're amazing!!!"

"Oho. To think someone would be chosen in this generation."

"Heeh~ that white kid. They said she took down Cheon Geomhwa — guess she wasn't actually a scrub?"

"I-is that even possible?"

Cameras fired in a frantic burst of clicks.

The heavy weight in my hand sent nausea rolling up my throat.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

Damn monkey's paw.

Just as I'd prayed, I had not been chosen by Baba Yaga's treasure.

Instead, I had been chosen by something far more serious. Something enormous.

"Fuck."

W-w-w-w-what?! T-Tiss? What is this?!

I don't know.

Why. Why?

Those were the only words left in my head.

Why is this thing glowing in my hand right now?

Instead of an answer, light burst in every direction — not gold, but rainbow, as if to inform me I'd just won the grand prize.

White Ghost's tail whipped back and forth as fast as it had the first time she'd met Siwoo and Sia.

Please don't be happy about this.

I wanted so badly to cry. Not a single tear came.

"How many reacted just now?"

The one chosen by the most treasures was, unexpectedly, Dorothy. A flower bracelet, a waterdrop necklace, a staff of the earth — a whole handful of nature-aspected relics had answered her.

And then, at last, in the hall where the Hero Party's treasures were gathered—

"Huh?"

A golden mark bloomed on the back of Dorothy's hand. The symbol of the Sun God, and proof that its bearer possessed the qualifications of the Saintess. It was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠another treasure the Saintess had left behind: the Holy Stigma.

White Ghost and Lionel both watched with genuine interest. Neither of them had expected a poacher girl who'd wandered the forest to be chosen by the light.

What were the odds that a girl who didn't even exist in the original would survive, make it here, and be chosen by the light?

Mary would have a heart attack if she knew. She'd groaned and agonized just to let Dorothy go to the Academy — and now her precious little sister held the Saintess's qualifications, a blank check for a brutal future.

T-Tiss, you're not exactly in a position to talk about other people.

Shan, could you let me run away from reality for just a second?

Uh... s-sorry?

Thanks.

"With this, the advanced class has completed the selection ceremony. Those whose names are not called, return to your classrooms."

When the Treasure Selection was over, Siwoo, Sia, Dorothy, and I were held back. A temporary conference room had been set up in the hall inside the selection chamber. We waited there while the rest of the students went back to class.

And after that? It went exactly the way everyone could have guessed.

The Academy, of course, exploded. The students who'd watched me get chosen by the Holy Sword were never going to sit quietly. The moment they reached their classrooms they pulled out their terminals and started telling everyone they knew what had just happened in the selection chamber. The rumor tore across the net in an instant.

A monumental first class? To hell with that. The Academy was run ragged fending off reporters and journalists pouring in from every Area. At first people were unimpressed — the entrance ceremony raid had barely blown over, and now this again? — but once they heard the reason for the uproar, the mood shifted to understanding all at once.

"The master of the Holy Sword has appeared!!!"

"What?"

Well. Of course. Someone had been chosen by the Holy Sword. Replica or not, that name carried a special meaning.

If I'd been just another ordinary student heading back to class, I'd have been hammering at my terminal and tearing into popcorn, calling it a fun day. If only that weren't my story — and if only that Holy Sword weren't sparkling away right over my head this very second.

Oblivious to how I felt, the Holy Sword poured out an even more brilliant five-colored light than usual, as if telling me to be proud of it.