A Favor from the Future Saintess
“……”
After Alice left, I stood there alone, dazed and empty. A voice reached me.
“Are you alright?”
I turned my head on reflex. There, I found a pair of bright, sparkling eyes looking straight at me. She wore the robes of a priestess. Shining golden hair, and eyes of a pale red… no, closer to pink. She was a girl who looked far too young to be wearing the official vestments of the Goddess Church.
I had never seen her face before. Yet I recognized her identity instantly.
Rita Alberix.
Her name was Rita Alberix. And her identity was… that of a Saintess.
She was the sole Saintess appointed by the Goddess Church, suddenly chosen when the world fell into chaos in the latter half of the game. That was who she was.
Anyone who had properly played Elion knew Rita without exception. Her role was simply that significant. Since the main enemy of the game was the Dark Cult, the Saintess—who possessed the opposing power—was treated with immense importance. To exaggerate only slightly… no, without any exaggeration at all, it wouldn’t be wrong to say the game literally could not progress without her. She was an essential character.
Because of that, she was a highly recognizable figure, and to me, she was also a very familiar one. I could picture her appearance clearly even now.
…She’s so young.
Compared to the Rita in my memories, the girl before me looked quite childish. Well, that was only natural. The latter half of the game—when she would be appointed as Saintess—was still several years away from this point in time.
Looking at her, I felt a strangely refreshing emotion. After all, Rita’s childhood had never been depicted in the game. Seeing the younger version of a character I knew so well—and even held some affection for—in the flesh was a surprisingly fresh experience.
But that feeling was soon swept away by another realization.
I had changed her future.
In the game’s story, she became a Saintess. And though I couldn’t be certain, she probably would have been chosen here as well—if there had been no major variables. But a colossal variable that didn’t exist in the game had appeared.
Me.
I had intervened in this world and drastically altered its flow. I saved the girls who were supposed to be captured by the Dark Cult and turned into villainesses. As a result, the villainesses who should have existed disappeared, and the girls who were meant to become villainesses became Saintesses instead.
And because of that, Rita would never be appointed as Saintess.
The possibility wasn’t zero, but it was so close to zero that it might as well be. A Saintess who had already been appointed rarely lost her position, and as I had mentioned before, the appointment of a Saintess was not something that happened frequently. Even when the Dark Cult cast the shadow of destruction over the world, only one Saintess was ever appointed.
Moreover, the Dark Cult in this world already seemed to have lost much of its former power. So even if Alice were to step down from her position for some reason, Rita would likely never become a Saintess.
When my thoughts reached that point, my feelings grew complicated.
In a sense, it wouldn’t be wrong to say I had stolen the position of Saintess from her.
I didn’t feel guilt… exactly. I wasn’t that sentimental of a person, and I hadn’t done any of this on purpose. Most of all, becoming a Saintess wasn’t necessarily a good thing for her.
In the game, she had been appointed because a Saintess was needed. The world had fallen into chaos due to the Dark Cult’s full-scale activities. She had been chosen to quell that chaos and protect the world. In such a situation, there would have been no time for her to enjoy the luxuries that came with the title of Saintess.
In fact, the game never once depicted Rita looking happy about her appointment. Instead, she only lamented and grieved over the increasingly chaotic state of the world.
Therefore, this outcome could not be considered a bad thing for her. If Rita ever learned the truth, she probably wouldn’t resent me.
…Well, not that I could ever tell her.
More precisely, I couldn’t tell her.
The unknown restraint placed on my body was still in effect. After discovering its existence, I had tried various ways to circumvent it—such as attempting to reveal the truth to someone other than Juliana or Lana. The result had been complete failure. I couldn’t speak about the past or anything related to the game even to people who had no connection to those events. It seemed the restraint wasn’t limited only to those girls.
Still, just in case, I opened my mouth with the intention of telling her the truth.
As expected.
The moment that thought crossed my mind, my body and mouth froze on their own. I let out a small sigh and looked at Rita once again.
I could roughly guess why she was here. She had probably followed Alice. I had been so shocked by meeting Alice and earning her hostility that I hadn’t noticed earlier, but it was obvious if I thought about it for even a moment. Alice belonged to the Bellinu Church, and so did Rita. It seemed Rita was acting as Alice’s assistant priestess.
It was a convincing choice of personnel. Rita was an outstanding individual in many ways. She was remarkably intelligent, and in terms of ability, she had no equal among those her age. Even at this point—before she had become an adult—her holy power in both quantity and quality was probably on par with high-ranking priests. It was no wonder she would eventually be chosen as Saintess.
Since she already received the Goddess’s favor, there was no need to verify her character. In every aspect, she was the perfect candidate to serve as the Saintess’s assistant.
…Anyway.
After organizing my thoughts to some degree, a question occurred to me belatedly. Why had she remained here even after Alice left?
Logically, she should have followed after Alice. But she hadn’t. Why?
Is she worried about me?
If it was the Rita Alberix I knew, that was entirely possible… but I couldn’t be sure.
I should answer her first.
No matter how much I thought about it, I wouldn’t find an answer, so I decided to reply.
“…I’m fine.”
I spoke in as calm a voice as I could manage. She stared at me with those distinctive, unusually large eyes.
“You don’t look fine at all……”
…Hmm.
I swallowed a groan inwardly. It seemed my condition was obvious even from the outside. The shock of earning Alice’s hostility must have been greater than I realized. If it showed so clearly on my face…
What should I do?
Should I make up an excuse, or just admit it honestly? While I was pondering, Rita suddenly spoke again.
“I’m sorry.”
It was an unexpected apology. When I looked at her with a slightly bewildered expression, she added,
“It’s about what the Saintess said.”
“…Ah.”
Only then did I understand the reason for her apology. She was apologizing to me on Alice’s behalf, acting in her capacity as assistant priestess.
“The Saintess cares very deeply for the other two Saintesses. So I think she was simply worried.”
Worried, huh… That explanation wasn’t entirely unreasonable. In fact, from Alice’s perspective, there was no way I would look trustworthy. My reputation and rumors were at rock bottom, after all. I didn’t know the details, but she had likely already used the Church’s intelligence network to verify the truth of those rumors. And she had probably come to the conclusion that I was approaching the two girls with wicked intentions and that they were being deceived by me.
In the end, it must have been out of concern for them that she had spoken to me that way.
“It’s alright,” I said again. “It’s not strange for her to think that way. If I were in her position, I probably would have reacted similarly.”
It wasn’t a lie. I genuinely believed Alice’s reaction was justified. However, even though my head understood that, my heart still ached. It hurt as if it were being torn apart. But I had no intention of showing that here.
“So there’s no need for you to apologize either, Priestess. Please raise your head.”
At those words, Rita lifted her bowed head and looked at me.
“……Hmm.”
Then she began to examine me from head to toe with eyes that seemed to be searching for something, thinking about something.
“……?”
What kind of intention was behind that gaze? I watched her actions with a somewhat puzzled look. Then, suddenly, she spoke.
“Alright. I’ve decided.”
“Pardon…?”
When I reacted with obvious confusion at the abrupt statement, she gave me a bright smile that perfectly suited her age and said,
“I have a favor to ask. Will you hear me out?”
It was a sudden, almost bewildering request. However—
“Uh… yes. Well, if it’s something I can do.”
I accepted. It was the result of a mix of slight fondness, guilt, and gratitude toward Rita. I also calculated that the Rita I knew wouldn’t ask for anything too strange.
…At least, that’s what I had thought.
.
.
.
“What the hell is this situation?”
…At least until I found myself facing Alice’s icy, sharp gaze once more.