The Saint's Secret Letter

Wherever she went, she drew every eye.

The young Saintess who had only just received her 'Calling' in the Holy Federation.

She was still a student, so instead of the Holy Saintly Robe she wore the Efnel uniform. Sweeping back her white hair as it billowed like waves, she walked with starlight glittering at her every step, blessing her path like a trail of embroidery.

A beauty so radiant it borders on the sacred.

Her jade-white skin bore not a single flaw, and every gesture overflowed with grace and dignity. Her softly blooming voice carried worry and respect for the Federation's citizens, and the residents could only bow their heads in reverence that welled up from the deepest part of their hearts.

"Saintess."

The paladins escorting her bowed politely and spoke to her, and the Saintess answered with a benevolent smile.

What could they be discussing? Surely something about the will of the Goddess, or the lives of the Federation's people.

The residents prostrate on the roadside simply honored and admired her, praying only that the Goddess's infinite blessing would follow wherever she went.

But reality was slightly different.

"Saintess! This afternoon's schedule requires you to complete Professor Rahl's assignment!"

"Please grant us permission to escort you to the next location!"

At the paladins' urging, Lethe slowly turned around.

"Hmm-?"

Then she tilted her head and smiled. It was truly a benevolent smile fit to summon a halo — and yet, strangely, those burly paladins were cowering like frightened rabbits.

"Y-you must prepare for the afternoon schedule......"

"I believe today's schedule is empty?"

It was the Saintess's textbook-gentle voice, yet somehow the paladins' trembling would not stop. No — their faces were growing paler by the moment.

"P-Professor Rahl has added an etiquette training session."

"Etiquette training?"

Ha. With a short sigh, the corner of her mouth twisted.

"And who exactly gave anyone permission to add that?"

The veneer of pretense stripped away, and her voice turned cold as ice.

As everyone rolled their eyes in silence, the senior paladin barely managed to move his frozen jaw and continued.

"E-Efnel sent a request......"

"You think every request gets accepted, you idiots?!"

Her waist spun like lightning and her leg cut through the air, and in moments a picture-perfect kick slammed into a paladin's helmet. Launched skyward, the paladin performed a good six rotations before hitting the ground with a 'khak' and rolling across the floor. The junior paladins promptly averted their eyes.

'Here we go.'

'The Saintess of the Stars' three-stage emotional shift.'

In her first year, Lethe had been somewhat hot-tempered, but she was still a typical priestess of devout faith. Then, starting from the summer vacation of her first year, she had emerged as a merciless tyrant and rebel. Rumors swirled endlessly about what on earth she had experienced during that break.

Afterward, when she received the Saintess baptism and her training began, she seemed to have lost some of her spirit, obediently doing whatever the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠elders told her.

And then, second year.

Now ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Lethe was becoming a complete being, slipping freely between the image people expected of a Saintess and her own ferocious true self.

Only the paladins who attended her all day long, walking on eggshells, were withering away under her whims.

"Ha. Honestly."

Confirming there were no residents nearby, Lethe perched on a nearby rock with maximum delinquency.

"Hey. Get up."

"......"

The fallen paladin didn't move a muscle. Lethe waggled her index finger up and down again.

"Get. Up."

When that chill, frosty voice rang out, the fallen paladin scrambled over and snapped to attention before her.

"Ha. Good grief, for crying out loud. This is ridiculous."

How could such vulgar words come out of such a beautiful face?

The paladins had been baffled at first, but now, seemingly used to it, they bowed their heads sharply at rigid attention.

"What is it this time, exactly?"

"W-we are deeply sorry!"

"Am I not doing a great job playing Saintess lately?"

"Yes! Truly a model for all priestesses!"

Needless to say, it was a lie. If someone like her were a role model, the Holy Federation would have collapsed long ago.

"Did I ever once ask you for a single day of rest? And now you tell me no because today is 'such an important day'?"

"B-but......! Professor Rahl said that because of the bishop assault incident——"

"He got hit because he deserved it! That perverted Saintess-worshipper bastard!"

The paladins' mouths fell open, faces ashen. Even if she was a demigod above humanity, to disparage a bishop like that!

"Anyway. I'm resting today."

"W-wait a moment! Saintess!"

Rising from the rock and walking toward the women's dormitory, she clasped her hands together and smiled sweetly.

"That being the case, do take care of the cleanup for me~"

Then she blinked and winked, and a star popped into existence with a twinkle.

"Saintessss!"

Lethe strode straight into the forbidden territory of the Efnel women's dormitory. The senior paladin sprawled on the ground stretched out his arm and screamed her name at the top of his lungs, but there was no chance of her coming back.

The Efnel ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠schoolgirls enjoying tea time on the terrace all smiled at the entertaining spectacle.

"Those knights got it again today."

"It's pitiful, really — working themselves to the bone for such meager pay."

"My older brother wants to be a paladin. I'll have to talk him out of it somehow."

Tap tap tap tap.

Back at the dormitory, Lethe was striding down the corridor at a brisk pace, an irrepressibly giddy smile plastered across her face. By the time she reached her own room, her steps had turned into an outright skip.

Bang!

"I'm here! Ririnet!"

The freckled girl who had been rolling around on the dormitory bed whipped her head up. It was her roommate and closest friend, Ririnet. She clapped her hands together and murmured playfully.

"Gratula Mi Kibilis. To behold the daughter closest to the Goddess——"

"Augh! How many times have I told you not to do that!"

Lethe said it as if utterly sick of it, slamming the door behind her with a bang.

Truthfully, the Saintess had no need to use the school dormitory — she could have lived in luxurious comfort in an extravagantly grand mansion on Sky Island, waited on by a staff of servants.

But for some reason, Lethe had refused the mansion and insisted on the dormitory.

People praised the young Saintess's incorruptible choice, finding it admirable — but there was another reason entirely.

"More importantly! The letter! Did the letter come?"

"Oh, of course! You mean that mysterious letter the old woman brought, right?"

Part of it was that she didn't want to part with her roommate Ririnet — but her true purpose was this letter.

If she moved up to the mansion, she could never receive the letters that came from Anna in the Dark Alliance.

Ririnet, her collaborator, kept silent about the letter as well. She only suspected that someone precious to Lethe existed beyond the border.

"Here it is!"

When Ririnet held out the letter, an ecstatic flush rose in Lethe's cheeks and her eyes sparkled brilliantly.

Whoosh!

Then Ririnet tucked the letter into her own chest, and Lethe's expression turned as frigid as the bitter winds of the polar regions.

'Fun!'

Her playful mood triggered, Ririnet repeated the game of offering the letter and snatching it back, and each time Lethe's face swung between heaven and hell.

'Ahh, how can a Saintess possibly be this adorable——'

Smack!

"Don't play with people!"

Struck down by Lethe's kick, Ririnet rolled across the floor of the room. Lethe cradled the letter preciously in her arms and dashed off.

Her posture in handling Anna's letter was one of extreme solemnity.

She began with a ritual bath, emerged fresh and dry, and put on the sacred Saintess garment. She knelt demurely on the carpet and laid the letter on the floor as though it were some priceless treasure.

"O Goddess. Thank you for allowing my teacher's letter to arrive safely again today."

With hands clasped, she offered a reverent prayer.

The moment of the year when Lethe's faith and divinity reached their peak.

All the mana in the air transformed into divinity and became a curtain of pure white light. Stars appeared in broad daylight, and a cascade ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of radiance poured down from the heavens as if a god were bestowing revelation. The Saintess's faith was rewriting nature itself.

"Ooooh!"

"The Saintess is receiving revelation!"

The paladins waiting outside the women's dormitory threw themselves to the ground at the sight of that magnificent phenomenon.

This was proof of the divine — a sight that made faith well up involuntarily in all who witnessed it.

"Saintess Lethe. They're putting on their show again."

Ririnet snickered, watching through the window.

"Let them be."

Lethe replied indifferently and finished her prayer. With both hands lowered and resting neatly on her knees, she steeled herself for a moment and drew a single deep breath.

'Time to open it.'

A letter from Teacher Anna, whom she respected more than anyone in the world.

The pillar and driving force of her Saintess training and her life at Efnel.

With trembling hands, she broke the seal and opened the envelope. With a soft rustle, a single sheet of white paper slid out.

That refined, elegant handwriting.

It was definitely a letter from Anna.

'......'

She carefully set the paper down on the floor and rummaged through the envelope.

Nothing came out.

Swish—

Refusing to give up, she flipped the envelope over and shook it out thoroughly.

But no matter how hard she shook it, not a speck of dust fell out.

'......What?'

Her expression drooped.

'Not even a letter from that brat this time, eith——'

"Saintess!"

Wagh!

Startled by Ririnet suddenly calling out to her, Lethe jumped and froze stiff.

"Wh-what?! You scared me!"

"? Why are you so jumpy?"

Ririnet rolled over in her wheeled chair, gliding closer.

"You had the letter paper out and you were just shaking the empty envelope around. I thought you'd broken."

"......Mind your own business."

"And why is your face all puffed up?"

Lethe snapped.

"Since when!"

Wondering what had gotten into her again, Ririnet blinked her eyes, then cleared her throat — ahem — and opened her mouth with a sly grin.

"Aha, I see. You were looking for whether there were two letters, weren't you?"

"......"

"One would be from that person as always, and the other one would be from who-o-o, I wonder?"

"Ran!"

Crash!

With the sound of a shattering window, a white dragon burst out of nowhere and seized Ririnet, pinning her flat against the ceiling.

"Waaah! Wh-why are you doing this!"

"Oh, quiet! I told you not to interrupt me when I'm reading my letter!"

Lethe barked and gestured with her hand. Ran wiggled the tip of her tail and tickled Ririnet's armpit. She writhed all over, letting out a suffocating stream of laughter.

"Khh! Khahahah! For-forgive me...... ehehehe!"

Coolly ignoring the commotion, Lethe knelt reverently on the floor once more and picked up Anna's letter.

'No, seriously — how long has it been since we parted, and he can't manage to send even one letter?'

For a moment, her eyes blazed with furious rage.

'Ugh, fine, I give up! Just you wait until I see you on the battlefield. Son of Anna or not, I'll tear you to shreds, thoroughly.'

Growling under her breath, she read on through Anna's letter. Savoring Anna's elegant penmanship at least gave her some small comfort.

Happy time slipped by in an instant, and there was already the final line.

'!'

Lethe's eyes flew wide open.

'......That idiot.'

A smile, as if by magic, settled on her lips.

'If something like that was going on, you should have told me ages ago!'

She had once sent a letter to Roke Island through her acquaintance, the Inquisitor Metin.

Never would she send one first — she was merely letting him know the method. That was all. She swore this to herself over and over, then immediately sat down at her desk and took out her quill.

"Ugh! Kahahahaht! Saintess Lethe! Save me——!"

"Oh, be quiet!"

Simon's midterm preparation continued.

Attending his other classes, he slipped into the Mutant Club basement whenever he found a spare moment to study how to make use of Manus.

He had promised Aaron that he would show him the finest Dullahan among all his classmates.

No ordinary Dullahan could possibly beat the Guardian Dullahans the other students would build. In particular, he knew that both Asseraz and Hector had gotten their hands on Guardian corpses.

Between the two of them, completing a Guardian Dullahan was a given — and they would surely add something extra, some peculiar power on top. The only way to surpass that lay in Manus's strength as an Ancient Undead.

'This is hard.'

Tearing at his hair, Simon kept at his research.

And this weekend, too, the Dullahan Special Lecture was scheduled. Aaron had ordered everyone to attend without fail, even on the weekend.

And on that day of class.

"I hereby announce the department's most crucial performance assessment, to be conducted immediately after the midterms."

The content of the fateful performance assessment — the one everyone had assumed would relate to the Dullahan — was finally revealed.