The Eve of the Entrance Ceremony (2)
"Saintess Aria."
Before we entered the Academy grounds, Danas called out to me as I curiously took in our surroundings. Back when I had first become the Saintess, I had already gained the ability to scrutinize my environment with meticulous precision, but after channeling divine power day in and day out for so long, the range and fidelity of my spatial awareness had naturally expanded. Where I once could barely discern the crude outlines of faces and expressions, I could now perceive emotional nuances without even concentrating, effortlessly tracking multiple individuals all at once.
Because this sensory sphere did not rely on physical eyesight, I could vividly observe the people behind me—catching every murmur on their lips and registering every flicker across their features. Furthermore, through an instinctive reading of ambient thought waves, I had developed a knack for seeing straight through people, even if it fell short of Asselina's Divine Eye. I could clearly sense what was running through Danas's mind as he looked at me.
He was worried sick about me. And beneath that worry lay a deep, aching gratitude.
"Saintess, you have already saved more than enough lives."
"[Yet there are still so many I could not save.]"
"Did His Holiness the Pope not strictly instruct you never to harbor such thoughts?"
"[...]"
Good grief, this man has turned into an absolute nag ever since he became my escort knight.
I puffed out my cheeks in a silent pout.
"You have already... exerted yourself far beyond your limits in the Demonic Realm."
"[Yet we failed to conquer the Demonic Realm.]"
The reason the Demonic Realm teemed endlessly with demonic beasts was simple: an executive commander of the Demon King's army was deeply entrenched beneath its frozen earth. Having cleared the game countless times in my past life, I knew all too well that conquering the Demonic Realm was impossible without the Hero.
Even so, I had marched into that frozen wasteland for two primary reasons. First, I needed to fully blossom my innate talent for divine power. Grinding on the front lines by desperately saving lives was infinitely more efficient than holing up in some grand cathedral to practice spells. Second, thousands of people sacrificed their lives every year just to contain the monsters spilling out of the frontier. Having attained the Saintess class—possessing a demigod vitality that rendered me virtually unkillable—turning a blind eye to such slaughter felt entirely unbefitting of the role.
And lastly, of course...
It was peak concept-roleplay... and honestly, it felt so damn good...
If someone asked me to pick the happiest period of my life since arriving in this world, I would declare without hesitation that it was my time in the Demonic Realm. My mere presence had slashed the mortality rate of the northern frontier forces by a staggering eighty percent, so you can imagine just how aggressively I spammed my abilities. It was not without reason that the soldiers there worshipped me like a literal, flesh-and-blood god.
During my stay, my body was never once intact. Losing an arm or a leg while healing others was practically a daily routine; on certain days, despite already being blind, my eyes were violently gouged out. Beyond that, I died and came back to life more times than I could count.
Naturally, it wasn't true death. Because the sheer volume of critically wounded soldiers was overwhelming, the trauma and physical destruction I absorbed would accumulate faster than my body could regenerate, eventually plunging me into unconsciousness. Once enough time passed and my flesh pieced itself back together, I would simply wake up again, so it wasn't a major issue for me. The real problem was that during the hours I lay unconscious, those in dire need of immediate care couldn't hold on and perished before I could lay hands on them. While I could resurrect those who had only just stopped breathing, severe physical desecration made revival impossible, leaving behind casualties I simply could not save.
In the beginning, watching real people die in front of me had left me so shaken that I couldn't even stomach a meal, but prolonged exposure to the Demonic Realm had gradually numbed me to the horror. If anything, it only drove me to push my limits and drag every soul I could back from the brink of the abyss.
It was grueling, but man, was it thrilling.
Thanks to that brutal regimen, my divine power pool had ballooned astronomically, to the point where I felt confident I wouldn't lose against an ordinary high-ranking demon. Given that I had transmigrated on the highest difficulty setting, pumping my stats early on and gaining firsthand experience in life-or-death combat had been invaluable. Besides, just seeing people walk away alive who were scripted to die in the original timeline brought me genuine joy.
The only downside...
Was whether this could truly be considered a good thing, given how intensely the people around me reacted. Danas, having personally watched me teeter on the verge of death over and over while feverishly treating the wounded, had developed an almost suffocating overprotectiveness toward me.
"Therefore... I pray with all my heart that you live as an ordinary student here at the Academy. Make friends with peers your own age, laugh, and study... No one in this world would ever dare fault you for living as a young girl ought to."
See? Listen to him. He was fussing over me like he was my own father.
Well, to be fair, eliciting that exact kind of reaction was the whole point of roleplaying this tragic concept.
"Then... I shall take my leave here, Saintess."
As if he had said everything he came to say, Danas offered a deep, respectful bow and beat a hasty retreat, almost as if he were fleeing the scene.
"[Ah...]
We had only just reunited after so long; it would have been nice to chat a little longer. Still, I couldn't very well chase after someone who had already bolted into the distance just for some idle banter—especially right outside the Academy gates.
He could have at least walked me inside before leaving. What a waste.
Well... time to go unpack, I suppose.
As was customary in an elite institution like this, aristocratic status and social hierarchy were largely disregarded within the campus walls. Besides, this was an academy located in the heart of the Empire, and I had already grown strong enough to swat aside nearly any ordinary foe with ease, so I had adamantly refused an escort detail. Aside from Danas, no one had accompanied me, and now that he was gone, I could complete the admission procedures without any annoying fanfare.
I let out a quiet sigh of relief. The Saintess job came with absurd perks, but the crushing social formalities that accompanied it were an absolute nightmare for someone with my gamer sensibilities. Keeping those thoughts to myself, I stepped through the grand archway and walked into the Academy grounds.
Phew... This is so refreshing.
Looking back, ditching the knight escort was hands down the best decision I had made. If an entire contingent of Holy Knights had marched alongside me, rumors would have detonated across the campus within minutes, sparking a massive circus over the Saintess's arrival. Thanks to going solo, not a single person recognized me all the way to the dormitories.
I had briefly worried that the dorm matron might see through my identity, but the rumors circulating through the Empire merely mentioned that a Saintess was enrolling this term. My actual appearance remained largely unknown to the public, so the matron handed me my room key without the slightest suspicion. It was a massive relief. Had my cover been blown right out of the gate, my plan to slip in under the radar would have gone up in smoke.
Before putting the grand strategy I had meticulously drafted into motion, my intention had been to drop off my luggage and exchange a polite greeting with whoever was assigned as my roommate, but...
Nobody's here.
The dorm room was dead quiet. Feeling a little sheepish, I set my bags down onto the floor.
Man, I'm exhausted...
Two whole years had passed since I was dumped into this world. Over that time, my physical vessel had gradually matured, growing closer to the custom avatar I had initially designed. That said, I hadn't designed her to look like a statuesque, fully-grown adult in the first place—she was customized as a fragile, petite girl crafted specifically to trigger everyone's protective instincts, so the visible growth wasn't drastic. Even after grinding through two brutal years in the Demonic Realm, my physical muscle mass stubbornly refused to increase.
Thanks to the Saintess's innate passive trait that constantly maintained my body in peak physiological condition, I never suffered from muscle soreness or exhaustion, but having zero physical strength was still inconvenient. Carefully tucking my belongings into a far corner so they wouldn't get in the way when my roommate arrived to unpack, I turned around and slipped out the door.
Which leaves only one thing left to do.
My grand plan.
Calling it a 'plan' was an exaggeration—it was essentially just building rapport to assemble the standard, optimal meta-party capable of taking down the Demon King. I intended to seek each member out personally, and my very first target was none other than the Hero.
I wonder if he's arrived yet...
If he was on campus, I knew exactly where he would be. In the game, players who chose the Hero class could do whatever they pleased, but when left unselected, the role defaulted to its canon backstory: a commoner boy who learned the blade under an eccentric wandering master, traveled the world, and miraculously pulled the Holy Sword from its pedestal during a ceremony in the imperial capital, becoming hailed as humanity's chosen savior.
A brainless training fanatic like that had only one possible habitat.
He was guaranteed to be at the training grounds.
Alright, time to sprint for the training field.
If I wanted to crush the Demon King and figure out a way back home—or failing that, satisfy my masochistic urges by saving lives while kicking back in a peaceful world without fear of an apocalypse—I needed to get on his good side as soon as possible.
With my divine senses guiding the way, I set off toward the Academy training grounds.