Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter Title: Chapter 18: The First Princess - (Complete)
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Ciris Leisander was the most critical spoiler in Throne of the Academy, a true deus ex machina.
She was the lubricant that lent plausibility to developments that might otherwise feel contrived.
Indeed, every bizarre or awkward turn in the plot was revealed in Act 4 to be part of Ciris's scheme.
Take Act 1, for instance. Sophia, the fallen noble, had been able to enroll at Erebos Royal Academy thanks to Ciris's arrangements.
At the Full Moon Festival, when the Shade appeared and Sophia fled to the underground treasury, the demonic sword placed there had also been Ciris's stratagem.
In other words, across her seven regressions, she had compiled the perfect攻略 guide and brought it to life. She was a true veteran player in every sense.
"So, which sin should we start with?"
Ciris, seated across from him, spoke with an air of excitement.
"Confess the sins you bear, Sister."
"I'm a bit nervous. I've never confessed my sins to anyone before. Nothing said here will leak to others, right?"
"Of course not. Never."
"Haha, that's reassuring."
Ciris let out a shrill laugh, unbefitting a princess.
At first glance, she seemed like a mischievous prankster.
"Then... shall I start from just two years ago?"
But the reality was far different.
No ordinary person could endure seven apocalypses with their sanity intact.
"I poisoned my father's teacup. It was a drug that turns one into an idiot."
Exactly.
Just like this.
*
Ciris had become aware of her regression on her nineteenth birthday.
A lavish banquet. Intruders burst in, turning the royal palace into a bloodbath. Ciris was run through the throat by a sword and died.
When she came to, she was back a full year in the past.
She thought it was a bad dream. But when the same day, the same hour, brought the same future a year later, Ciris realized this was the cruel fate imposed upon her.
"I executed the spies who hadn't even committed their crimes yet."
Thus, Ciris hunted down the masterminds behind the palace raid. She rooted out every traitor hiding in the royal court and had them executed.
She thought that would be the end of it. But as her twentieth birthday approached, an organization called Shadow drove the kingdom to ruin.
From that point on, Ciris understood this was a deadly game of chicken hanging on the kingdom's very survival.
"It was after that when I slipped the idiot drug into Father's tea."
Loop 3.
She felt her status as princess had its limits.
Father was a foolish king, the epitome of incompetence. He could never resolve this crisis.
So she dosed him with a brain-melting drug, seized power, and ruled the kingdom. It wasn't difficult with foreknowledge of the future; she became a flawless sovereign without a single mistake.
"I once killed dozens in a single night."
She used that power to do what was necessary.
Shadow's headquarters, the source of doom, lay beneath a rural village. An out-of-control ultimate calamity there threatened to destroy the kingdom. Ciris mobilized the army.
She erased the village from the map. Hundreds of villagers burned to death.
It was in Loop 4.
"...I didn't intend it, but I also rejected the Lord's grace."
Loop 5.
To resolve the incident Archbishop Balua had caused, she waged war on the Church herself.
The cathedral's stained glass was dyed red, followers of the god turning swords on each other, flesh scattering in a blasphemous tragedy.
"In the end, I'm a butcher who slaughtered dozens. For every family that lost loved ones, multiply that number. For those indirectly harmed, multiply it several times over."
All for the greater good.
Of course, by now, even the guilt had long faded to a blur.
Ciris was worn thin.
"What do you think? Can even a sinner like me be forgiven by the Lord? If I die, can I go to heaven?"
As she openly confessed her sins, Ciris was intensely curious about what expression the priest on the other side of the partition wore.
So she asked.
In Loop 6, after warring with the archbishop, she had confessed to some clerics who demanded she relinquish her princess's power. Pure curiosity: how would others react?
The responses were usually one of two: 'heinous sin' or 'sacrifice for the greater good.'
Disappointing answers.
To Ciris, at least, they weren't much different.
What about this one?
"I am in no position to judge those sins."
"Hm? And?"
"But I can share my impressions."
A gentle voice.
Perhaps because of the confessional's cramped space.
Ciris found the priest's voice quite pleasant.
As that trivial thought crossed her mind, Priest Leo continued.
"Aren't you already refusing to forgive yourself, Sister?"
Those words left Ciris, uncharacteristically, speechless.
"...What do you mean?"
"You don't truly seek forgiveness or understanding, do you? You've already resigned yourself."
"..."
"You just wanted to unburden your sins to someone under the guise of confession. Like talking to yourself."
Indeed.
Ciris felt no real pangs of conscience.
She was used to it by now.
This priest must have picked up on that from her tone.
"That said, having heard your story, I do have one piece of advice."
"...What is it?"
"You've worked hard. Committing so many sins must have required no small diligence. My condolences for your labors, Sister."
Instead of judgment, the priest empathized, acknowledged her efforts, and affirmed her. Ciris let out a hollow laugh.
Were these words from a confessor?
Normally, they'd condemn the sin, recite penitential prayers, or tie it to scripture with guidance.
Before a sinner guilty of patricide and massacre, wasn't this far too serene?
Most clerics were half-mad, but this Priest Leo was an outlier among outliers.
"Hah."
Air escaped between her teeth.
Absurdity drew a laugh from her, and in a playful tone, she asked,
"So, in your eyes, priest, can I go to heaven?"
"Whether you go to heaven is for the One above to decide. A lowly priest like me wouldn't know."
The One above.
Blasphemous phrasing for a priest.
"Then, what should I do?"
"Don't worry about it. Rest well today. The world won't change if you take a single day off."
"Haha."
And it was true.
The past seven loops. Over twelve years by the calendar.
Years wasted.
A single day wouldn't change much.
"Kuk, heh heh heh, ahahaha!"
Ciris laughed heartily for the first time in ages, wiping tears from her eyes. To the blond priest beyond the partition, she said,
"You seem like a fun priest, Father."
"...I'll take that as a compliment."
"Of course it is."
Ciris rose from her seat.
She'd only meant to test the waters, but she'd been the one swayed.
She, the princess who foresaw every future, moved by a mere lowly priest's words—it was infuriating.
But not a bad feeling.
*
Ciris left the chapel straightaway.
Waiting outside was her guard knight, Beatrice.
"Tris, did you bring it?"
"Yes. Here it is. The report on that priest."
Beatrice carefully handed over the dossier. Ciris had asked her to investigate Leo before entering the chapel; this was the result.
"Leo. No family name. From a rural orphanage. Became a priest under the orphanage director priest..."
A single-page report. Too scant even for its brevity.
"Truly ordinary to the point of insignificance."
"Yes. No irregularities in his prior activities."
Beatrice's intelligence network was excellent.
At minimum, this Priest Leo wasn't with Shadow or Archbishop Balua's vanguard.
"What shall we do?"
Ciris shrugged.
She had no idea why this priest was assigned to the academy unlike in previous loops. Not omniscient, she could only assume some overlooked detail.
"If you command his elimination, I'll act at once."
Beatrice said cautiously, hand on her sword hilt.
"Hmm..."
Originally, Ciris was cold and calculating.
Variables were to be removed unconditionally.
Only if everything fell under her control could she save the world—or so she believed.
"No. That won't be necessary."
Ciris turned her head, spotting a pure white bird perched in the nearby woods, staring at them. Its eyes gleamed with brilliant gold.
"Come to think of it, the Saintess Candidate was recently put under house arrest, wasn't she?"
"Yes. Discipline for repeated class refusals."
"..."
Ciris frowned.
Another event absent from memory.
This seventh loop had derailed from the very start.
Part of her wanted to end it all and return to her eighteenth birthday...
"Your Highness."
Beatrice spoke cautiously then.
"What is it, Tris?"
"Did... something good happen?"
"Pardon?"
"You're... smiling right now."
At Beatrice's words, Ciris touched her lips unthinkingly.
Her rigidly set mouth curved ever so faintly into a smile.
"Haha."
A dry laugh escaped her.
Ciris handed the dagger from her bosom to Beatrice and approached the carriage.
"Let's head back, Tris. Much state business awaits."
"And the priest...?"
"Hold off."
Whatever the case.
As the priest said, resting fully for one day shouldn't be amiss.
"Ah, right. Tris."
"Yes."
"Take 'that' from the carriage and deliver it to the priest."
Beatrice's eyes widened.
"...Your Highness, you're serious?"
"When am I not? Besides, he seems worth the investment."
All variables in this loop stemmed from him.
Sword Saint Sophia, the changes in Saintess Candidate Elise. Ciris hadn't observed the outcomes.
The board was already in disarray.
So, why not expect the best possible results?
"Heave-ho."
Climbing into the carriage and sinking into the plush sofa, Ciris was enveloped in languid comfort.
Her smiling face reflected in the carriage window. She knew well the reason for that smile.
"This loop won't be so lonely."
A modest sentiment.
*
"Whew, somehow got through it."
All my energy drained after dealing with Ciris and sending her off appropriately.
Princess Ciris was an unpredictable wildcard.
So I affirmed her as positively as possible.
'I never sought forgiveness for my burdens. If hell exists, that's my place.'
In the original story, she said something similar herself.
Good thing she left satisfied without protest.
Cleaning would have to wait until tomorrow.
Thus, at dusk,
As I went to lock the chapel doors, I couldn't help squinting at the dazzling radiance spilling from the offering box.
There sat a small glass vial containing light as if the sun itself were bottled within.
"...No way, could this be...?"
Original Act 4.
The royal family's greatest treasure, personally bestowed by Princess Ciris upon the protagonist's party after overcoming a grand trial.
Its name...
"Tear of the Sun..."
Why was it here?