Reunion
“…….”
I stared blankly up at the podium. Unable to speak a word, I had even forgotten to blink. My gaze remained fixed on a single point atop that stage—on the face of the woman who had just ascended it. Julia.
Thump. Thump.
The crowd was clearly stirring, and Ernen was saying something, yet none of it reached me. My heartbeat was too loud, drowning out every other sound in the world.
Silvery hair that caught the light like stardust. Indifferent golden eyes whose emotions refused to reveal themselves. She had grown far taller than the girl in my memories, but it was unmistakably her. She had changed so much, yet somehow remained exactly the same. Even before hearing her name, the moment my eyes found her face, I understood. This was my Julia.
The shock scattered my thoughts. My mind simply stopped working. After what felt like an eternity, the first coherent idea that surfaced was:
She’s safe…
Back when I had no idea what had become of them. No matter how desperately I searched, I couldn’t find a single trace of information. Outwardly, I claimed I trusted them—that with their talents, they would surely be fine. But inside, it was different. What if the Dark Cult had captured them? What if, even if not the Dark Cult, some wicked soul with ill intentions had taken them? Or worse—what if they were already gone? Those anxious thoughts had haunted me constantly. Honestly, I felt that fear in every waking moment. I had simply tried to bury it.
When even the request I made to Bellka yielded nothing, I was truly devastated. Yet here she was. With my own eyes, I confirmed that Julia was alive and well. An overwhelming wave of relief washed through my entire body.
“…Thank goodness.”
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
Once my mind finally restarted, the next thought followed close behind.
She became a Saintess?
She had been appointed as the Saintess of Astrea, Goddess of Judgment. This development strayed wildly from the story I remembered from the game. At this point in the timeline, no Saintess should have been chosen at all—and even if one had been, Astrea never appointed them in the original script. From a setting perspective, it was an unprecedented event.
Throughout the long history of the Goddess Church, every woman chosen as Saintess had possessed profound, unshakable faith. Exceptional talent was common among them, but faith was the absolute requirement. Julia, as I knew her, had been the furthest thing from devout. She hadn’t shown the slightest interest in religion. Of course, eight years had passed since we parted. It was possible she had found deep faith in that time, but… I doubted it. A person’s fundamental nature doesn’t change so easily.
Julia had always been like a blade—sharp, solitary, self-reliant. She was the type to carve through any hardship with her own strength rather than lean on something external like faith or gods. The image of her devoting herself to religion and becoming a pious believer simply refused to form in my head.
At first, I found it strange. But then—
It makes perfect sense.
If it was Julia, this wasn’t strange at all. Her talent could fairly be called the greatest in the world. Astrea governed both judgment and martial prowess. There was no way the goddess wouldn’t have been captivated by such a gift. So her appointment as Saintess wasn’t odd in the slightest.
Having reached that conclusion, I looked at Julia again with fresh eyes.
You’ve grown up so well.
The adult Julia’s beauty defied description. She was so breathtaking it felt almost unreal. The reactions of those around her proved it. The news that a Saintess had been appointed and had arrived at the Academy was shocking enough on its own, but it didn’t explain why so many people had completely lost their senses staring at her. Her appearance was enough to make anyone forget themselves.
Still, I wasn’t talking about her looks. I had known for years exactly how beautiful she would become. After all, I had seen her in the game as the villainess. Visually, the current Julia and the game’s Julia weren’t all that different. There were minor variations in clothing and finer details, but nothing significant.
No—the difference lay in her aura.
It was as if she were an entirely different person. The Julia from the game had carried a razor-sharp, terrifying presence that kept everyone at a distance. And it wasn’t just aura. She had cut down anyone who approached her, friend or foe.
The Julia standing before me now was completely different. Her usual expressionless face still made her seem difficult to approach, but the chilling sharpness I remembered from the game was entirely absent.
She’s changed.
Julia had changed. The realization filled me with more joy than anything else. There was pride, too—after all, I had saved her and altered her fate. But above all, it was pure, unfiltered happiness.
The Julia of the game had been a creature far removed from happiness. A calamity given human form. A reaper descended upon the mortal world. No one could get close to her. She had always been alone, carrying out meaningless destruction and slaughter in solitude. I never saw inside the heart of that villainess version of her, but I was certain her life had contained no trace of joy.
That life had been rewritten. The villainess once feared by all had become the Saintess revered by all. She now had the chance to be happy. That alone was enough to fill me with gladness.
Only…
What do I do now?
Once the initial storm of shock and joy had settled, doubt crept in. If I followed my heart, I would run to her this instant. I would reveal who I was and pull her into my arms. But I couldn’t do that.
There’s no way she would believe me.
Even I wouldn’t believe it. That someone thought to have died years ago had possessed another person’s body and returned? If anyone said such a thing to me, I would dismiss it as nonsense or take it as an insult and beat them senseless.
Of course, I did have ways to prove my identity. I could speak of memories only the two of us shared, or mention things no one else could possibly know. But first I would need to get close enough to say them. Approaching a Saintess—a being of such exalted status—with nothing but a student’s rank was no simple matter. And even if I managed to get close, there was no guarantee things would unfold as I hoped. She might even suspect me of being a spy for the Dark Cult.
So there was no immediate way for me to prove myself—
…Haha.
A hollow laugh escaped me. I already knew the truth. These were nothing but excuses. I was simply afraid. Afraid of meeting Julia.
Eight years had passed. Some might call it a short time, but it was anything but. Eight years was more than enough to completely transform a person’s life. The evidence stood right in front of me. The ordinary girl I once knew had risen to the position of Saintess. So much had changed. And it wouldn’t only be her position. Her heart must have undergone countless transformations as well.
I was scared. Scared that Julia might have forgotten me. Or that I had become an unwelcome memory to her.
The time we spent together—me, Julia, and the others—had been only two years. Eight years had passed since then. By simple math, that was four times longer. In that span, she must have met countless people and experienced countless things. She might even have found someone precious. Memories, feelings, emotions—they all fade with time.
To her, was I still someone she would want to see again? Or had I become someone who no longer mattered?
“…….”
The empire and the entire continent were in an uproar. The Goddess Church had made a shocking announcement. A Saintess had been appointed—and not just one, but three at the same time. The continent had no choice but to tremble at the news. After all, it was completely unprecedented.
Saintesses had always been rare. In the long history of the Goddess Church, only a handful had ever appeared, with centuries often passing between each one. Yet now, three had been chosen simultaneously. It was impossible not to be astonished.
The people of the continent, initially stunned by the sudden declaration, soon began to rejoice. It was only natural. The emergence of Saintesses signaled the rising power of the Goddess Church, and the vast majority of people across the continent were its believers.
While the entire continent shook with a mixture of shock and joy, one place in particular was especially affected. The Academy of the Empire. The reason was simple: one of the three Saintesses whose arrival had set the world abuzz had just appeared within its grounds.