The Last Saintess Arrives
The last saintess, Lana, had left the Academy. And with her departure, my daily routine changed as well. The treatment sessions that had happened every single day were now gone. I felt a quiet loneliness because of it, but I didn't let myself drown in that emptiness. Part of it was because I knew this wasn't a permanent farewell, but there was another reason too. It was because I would finally get to meet the 'last one.'
Alice.
With Lana gone, the final saintess—Alice—would soon arrive at the Academy. It wouldn't be long before I could see her. I wonder how she's grown. Eight years had passed. I was genuinely curious what kind of person Alice had become. Of course, I wasn't talking about her appearance. I'd already seen what the adult version of her looked like through the game. What I meant by growth was related to her personality.
All three girls had wildly different temperaments, but Alice's stood out the most. It wasn't that she was objectively the strangest—it was simply that she had been a bit pricklier than the other two. Lana had always listened to me obediently. Julia was hard to read, but for some reason she'd followed my words without much resistance from the very beginning. Alice, on the other hand, had been constantly snappy with me.
In the early days after we first met, it wouldn't have been an exaggeration to call her outright hostile. That attitude of hers hadn't changed much even as time went on. Even after several months together, even after a full year had passed, she still snapped at me. But I understood. I knew it couldn't be helped.
Alice had always been an unusually wary child. I could guess where that wariness came from. It was probably because of the harsh life she'd lived. She'd experienced things far too cruel and exhausting for someone so young, so she couldn't easily trust people. Because I knew that, I never hated her for it. If anything, my heart ached for her even more.
It would have been nice if I could have stayed by her side long enough to heal every last wound in her heart. But I couldn't. Instead, I ended up placing an even heavier burden on her shoulders.
That day. The day the Dark Cult's underlings and Roderick appeared before us. I had asked something of Alice. I asked her to look after the other two girls. It was a request made because I trusted her. Unlike the other two, Alice was a child with strong wariness and the ability to suspect others. If she were thrown into the world without me, she would have to doubt everyone. So I gave her that role.
It couldn't be helped. There was no one else I could ask. But just because it was unavoidable didn't make it any less cruel. To burden a child who could barely take care of herself with the responsibility of protecting two others—it was far too heavy a load for a twelve-year-old girl to bear. Even now, that fact filled me with guilt and regret.
“I hate it! I hate it…!!”
Even now, if I close my eyes, that memory comes back vividly. The day I died as Gunter. The first time I ever saw Alice cry after we met.
“Why? Why! Why are you trying to die however you want?! You saved us however you wanted, and now you're trying to die however you want?!”
Sobbing, Alice had screamed those words.
“Open this right now!! If you do… if you do……”
“Then… I'll specially forgive you… okay…? Please……”
The sight of Alice crying and finally revealing her true feelings was so heartbreaking that even now, just thinking about it makes my chest tremble. For a moment, I had even wanted to follow them.
But I couldn't. I turned my back on Alice's plea and teleported only the girls away. It had been a necessary choice to save them, yet that moment still remained painfully clear in my heart.
Because of that, I was nervous. I wondered what the current Alice looked like now. How had those eight years changed her? Had her consistently sharp tone softened even a little? Had she learned to speak politely to her elders? Maybe she had become gentle and refined, fitting for a saintess, just like Lana.
I couldn't know how she had truly changed. But there was one thing I hoped for. I hoped that whatever change had come, it was a positive one. Not in the sense of becoming a better person, but in the emotional sense. I hoped she had learned to see the world a little more positively. The child who had known nothing but suspicion toward the world had finally escaped the Dark Cult's grasp. I prayed she could now look at this world, at her own life, with even the slightest bit of positivity.
I hoped she had become even a little bit happier.
“……”
Gazing at the sky dyed red by the setting sun, I quietly savored that anticipation.
“……”
“……”
In Ernen's office, only silence reigned. Ernen was not the type of person who enjoyed pointless small talk with his subordinates, so silence often fell over this space. But the silence now was different from usual. Unlike ordinary quiet, this one was unbearably awkward and heavy.
Naturally, the cause was Ernen himself.
“……”
Sitting in his chair without saying a word, staring down at his desk, Ernen's face was anything but bright. This expression of his had started appearing not long ago. To be precise, ever since the day of the spar between Kyle Berwen and Sebastian Ebenros.
At the time, Ernen had been certain of Sebastian's victory. No, it wasn't just him—everyone had thought the same. Who could have predicted Sebastian's defeat when he had even worn the Ebenros family head's exclusive artifact for the match?
But that certainty had been brutally shattered. Sebastian had lost to Kyle. And overwhelmingly so. The sight and the result had left Ernen both greatly shocked and deeply shaken. Sebastian's defeat meant the end of his plan.
Ernen had intended to drive Kyle out of the Academy and create a place for himself at Saintess Lana's side. But with his final lifeline—Sebastian—defeated by Kyle, the plan had failed completely.
Of course, he hadn't given up entirely after that duel. He had continued trying to create points of contact with Saintess Lana and approach her. But those attempts had also failed. The reason was simple. Saintess Lana had not allowed it.
She hadn't ignored him outright or pushed him away too obviously. But Ernen had noticed. He had realized that she harbored hostility toward him. There was no way he could approach someone like that, and in the end, Ernen had gained nothing.
And then Saintess Lana had left the Academy.
Ernen was now caught in a state of intense anxiety. It was only natural. He had let two out of three chances slip away without achieving anything.
Kyle Berwen…!
Ernen's eyes burned with fury. He believed this situation was entirely Kyle's fault. It would have been an unfair accusation from Kyle's perspective, but that was how Ernen saw it. Both with Saintess Julia and with Saintess Lana, he believed Kyle had stolen the place that should have been his.
In reality, nothing would have changed whether Kyle was there or not. But Ernen genuinely resented him. Perhaps it was simply that he needed someone to blame for this situation where the word "failure" loomed over his head. Ernen himself didn't bother thinking that deeply about it.
He simply hated Kyle. He loathed him. He would have hated anyone, but the fact that it was Kyle of all people only fueled his rage more. The fact that he had been pushed aside by that worthless trash who had been kicked out of his own family.
After quietly burning with anger for a while, Ernen finally let out a long breath.
“…Haa.”
He barely managed to calm his fury. It wasn't over yet. He still had one chance left. His final opportunity.
Saintess Alice Blaze. She would soon arrive at the Academy.
“Has contact been made?”
“…Yes, sir. They say she'll arrive shortly.”
At his subordinate's reply, Ernen rose from his seat. The last saintess would soon reach the Academy. He intended to go out and greet her personally. Since this was his final chance, he planned to make a strong first impression right from the start.
That's right. There's still a chance.
It was only one opportunity, but it remained. In the first place, aiming for multiple saintesses had been greedy. If he could secure even one, his plan could still succeed. With a saintess, he could borrow the power of the Goddess Church and use that strength to seize the throne from his brother.
Clinging fiercely to that future, Ernen headed toward the Academy's main gate. It didn't take long to reach it, and he immediately spotted the carriage. It was a massive carriage that naturally drew the eye. Overwhelming just to look at, clearly no ordinary vehicle, it soon came to a stop in front of the Academy.
And then.
The carriage door opened naturally. With the clear sound of heels—
Clack—
She appeared. Crimson hair that gave the illusion of countless rose petals scattering in the wind. Eyes like burning flames that had been turned into jewels. A woman of such unreal beauty that her mere presence didn't just overwhelm the crowd—it made the entire area seem brighter. Everyone held their breath. Ernen was no exception.
After seeing the previous two saintesses, he had thought he was used to such beauty. But that had been a mistake. Beauty this otherworldly could never become familiar.
Thump. Thump.
Forcibly suppressing the agitation in his firmly resolved heart, Ernen barely regained his composure and approached the woman.
“Welcome to the Academy, Saintess.”
Ernen was confident that his smile and greeting were flawless, even by his own standards. At those words, the woman's ruby eyes turned toward him. Then her beautiful red lips parted, and she spoke.
“What the hell is this?”