Chapter 12 - The Demon 『Laplace』
The Demon 『Laplace』
Translator : Elizabeth
The reincarnator 『Clara von Hermain』, who knew this world was a female-oriented Romance Fantasy game and was an expert on it.
Commonly known as 『Clara』, she formed an alliance with the Saintess Louise, a fellow reincarnator.
Their respective goals were completely different,
But rather, because of that, they could cooperate.
Physics-loving Louise’s goal was to make a laser in this world.
It was simple.
On the other hand, Clara’s goal was,
For herself, an extra, to win the ending instead of the Main Heroine.
The two were completely different types of goals.
Should we call it a turf war?
Because the parts of the pie they wanted didn't overlap at all.
Clara said she would help Louise with her thorough game knowledge, although she was an extra.
And Louise decided to use the point that she was a Saintess—in a sense, the most important character in this game—to help the blueprint Clara was drawing.
—However, she said it wasn't a normal ending.
According to Clara,
—The Main Heroine must be connected with the Main Male Lead, the Crown Prince.
—That way, we can safely reach a Happy Ending without a Bad Ending!
—Let’s dump all the troublesome stuff on the Main Heroine!
Just like the Normal Ending of the existing game, let the Main Male Lead, the Crown Prince, be with the Main Heroine, Iris.
When asked why, why leave the Crown Prince out,
—I mean, if I get together with the Crown Prince, it means I become the Queen!
—And do you know who is the person who sleeps the least and works every day in the Dawnbringer Kingdom?
—It’s the Queen……! I don’t want to become like that!
The children of the Royal Family, who inherited the blood of the Hero, were a match for a hundred in terms of martial power and were valor itself,
But in a peaceful era, they had no talent for government affairs, which make up most of the Royal duties.
Therefore, they say the lacking parts were always solved by bringing in a wise and smart woman from somewhere and seating her as the Queen.
And they say the current King is the most severe case in history.
If one works inside the Royal Palace, they sometimes mistake the King of this Dawnbringer Kingdom for a Queen.
The reality of the current kingdom is that the Queen essentially handles most of the Royal duties, enough for such words to come out.
—A.Ny.Way! So, first, we need to get close to Iris! We need to get close but…… probably you can’t, so I have to get close…… but unfortunately, I’m an extra…….
—If I somehow get close, I can tell her everything! How to target the Crown Prince, event scenes, favorite gifts, food, hobbies, ideal type, even dialogue choices, etc.!
—So if I really just somehow get close……!
So—
“Clara, Clara~! Here, I brought her! Irene, no, it’s Iris!”
—She said she got close.
“H-Hello, Lady Clara……! I am called Iris. That…… I am a Commoner Special Scholarship Student…… so I might commit this and that rudeness…… So, in a-advance…….”
The Main Heroine.
Iris hesitated, then quickly bowed her head and greeted her.
“……P-Please treat me well!”
The Main Heroine, who was suddenly presented before her eyes.
“Uh, uh…….”
Clara made small groans a few times for a moment,
“……Ehhhhh?!!”
And was suddenly startled.
Clara asked Louise bluntly with a face that said she couldn't understand.
“N-No, you! How on earth did you bring her?! The Main He…… Iris!”
It was understandable for Clara to react like this.
After all, today is the first day of the entrance ceremony.
But in less than half a day, she became friends with the Main Heroine and brought her in front of her eyes like this.
That the two were close could be easily seen just by looking at Iris slightly hiding behind Louise when Clara suddenly started shouting.
So she couldn't understand even more.
“That…… Iris? I’ll call you Iris? Anyway, Iris, you are being threatened, aren't you? You came here forcibly, right? Huh?”
“Y-Yes? Threatened……?”
“I mean! I’m asking if you were dragged here by her against your will! Yep, surely that must be it. Unless it’s by force, from the first day of the entrance ceremony…… No, no, in the first place, the Saintess getting close is narratively impossible…….”
Clara began muttering to herself as if it were serious.
Since it’s the entrance ceremony day, becoming friends from the first day is fully possible for someone with good sociability.
But that Saintess, although Clara also met her for the first time today, has shattered social skills enough for anyone seeing her for the first time to know.
Yes, she is a Saintess in the first place.
Saintess Louise.
She is the Semi-Final Boss in the game and an existence that must block the Main Heroine’s path.
She is no different from an existence that interferes with the Main Heroine at every turn.
She plays such a role along with the Duke’s daughter, Anastasia.
If Anastasia is a short-term Villainess Heroine in the early part of the game scenario.
Saintess Louise was like a long-term Villainess Heroine who covers up to the latter part of the scenario, blocking the Main Heroine until the very end.
—Shake, shake!
Clara grabbed Iris’s shoulders and shook her wildly.
“Y-You just couldn't refuse, right? Huh?! Right, for now, if a Saintess tells you to follow, you have no choice but to follow so…… But you feel it, right?!”
“Woaah! F-Feel what……?!”
“You will feel it. You definitely will! From that Louise, something, I don’t know why, but something like a dark aura that only you might feel, you feel it strongly, right?! Huh?!!”
Even in the actual game, the Main Heroine, Iris, feels a sense of incongruity when she first sees the Saintess.
That the Light Magic she uses is light, but something is strange.
Saying that for some reason, malice is felt in the light of Saintess Louise, which must be holy.
This was actually a foreshadowing that Saintess Louise is the Semi-Final Boss,
Therefore, no matter how much Saintess Louise pretends to be kind or close in front of her,
The one who never allows her heart and never withdraws suspicion,
Was the very Main Heroine of this game, Iris.
In other words, whether it’s a Bad Ending or a Happy Ending,
Narratively and gameplay-wise,
The two who can absolutely never become close were Saintess Louise and Main Heroine Iris.
Therefore,
“Ugh……! L-Lady Clara, were you also a person who views Lady Louise badly like the others?!”
It made no sense.
“A-And if someone is smart and a Saintess like Lady Louise, th-then using something like Dark Magic is as easy as eating cake……!”
It truly made no sense.
“Uh, uh? No, no, no! She can’t use it, she can’t! At least right now! Later when she awakens as the Semi-Final Bo…… A-Anyway, for a Saintess to use Dark Magic, that m-makes no sense! Huh? It feels bad, right? You should be feeling bad right now……! That’s correct!”
“Uugh……! Saying such things again……!! A-Although I heard the two of you were friends who knew each other beforehand……! S-Still, I think those words about the Saintess just now are ru-ru-rude!”
It was strange.
“I-If you are truly her friend…… A-Apologize! To Lady Louise……!”
“I mean, you weren't this kind of kid?!”
The Main Heroine has become strange.
『Introduction to Dark Magic Basic Theory』.
The professor in charge of that lecture, 『Snake the Nightshade』.
—Tap, tap, tat-tat.
After finishing the class, he was passing through the hallway with steps faster than usual.
Not running, but not quite sprinting either.
It seems as if he has something urgent.
Surely if that messy eccentric Saintess had seen him from the side, she would have been fashioning a twinkling golden poop with light in the air, asking if he needed to poop.
His face is still expressionless.
But to think of such a joke—one that would make him smirk very briefly—
Nonchalantly with his usual expressionless face,
Could be said to be a side of Professor Snake that others don't know well.
Because he, who is gloomy and never smiles, surprisingly had a personality that liked jokes.
—That’s why the situation was even more serious.
‘Haa…… Haa…….’
Right now, Professor Snake had no time to think of things like jokes.
Even though he wasn't actually out of breath or exhausted.
For some reason, he feels suffocated.
He feels like vomiting.
As if he encountered a higher being, not an existence of this world.
At that overwhelming unknown discomfort that humans dare not understand,
If only it were possible,
Professor Snake wanted to erase his memory of today right this instant.
‘Saintess…….’
The Elephant’s Dilemma.
The memory that paradoxically becomes clearer the more he tries not to think about it.
—Hm? Well~? I don’t know well if it’s correct, but for now, probably~ Ah, here, here.
—This part that goes zing~ around from this edge and returns to the beginning again, is this perhaps an Error Function?
—Isn't it to prepare for possible mana malfunctions?
The Dark Magic Imprint engraved on the back of Professor Snake’s hand.
The Saintess noticed it as soon as she scanned it, even though it must have been her first time seeing it.
—Then if an error occurs, the mana goes around like this and like that~
—Something like calling a library, one, two, three, four, five, six.
—Aha~ There are a total of six spells engraved, right?
The number of secret spells of the Nightshade family that the Saintess found within the complex patterns of the imprint.
Considering the family history, the current family generation is the 6th, so one unique Small Imprint per generation.
Total of 6 was correct.
She guessed it exactly.
Just by scanning the imprint once.
And that, by a person who knew absolutely nothing about Dark Magic until now.
Even by a Saintess who wields Light Magic, said to be the opposite of Darkness.
Even up to there, it was enough to give him goosebumps,
But back then, the Saintess went one step further from there.
—Mmm~
Swish, swish.
The memory of her index finger stroking the back of his hand.
It felt as if she was reading some information with her fingertips.
Although alarm bells were ringing in his head that he should pull his hand away right now.
He had to check.
He thought he must check.
Like that,
—Hm?
The Saintess,
—The sixth one is still incomplete? Why?
The fact that only people of the Nightshade family know,
—Aha~ Is it because you’re still in the middle of making it? For some reason, the connection was cut off~
She grasped it far too easily.
It was beyond the level of simply noticing.
If he kept offering the back of his hand like this,
Surely the family’s imprint would be thoroughly dug into by the Saintess, completely dismantled, and eventually exposed to the whole world.
Eventually, back then, he retrieved his hand only then,
And had no choice but to ask the Saintess.
—How on earth…… You definitely said it was your first time encountering Dark Magic…….
—Yes? Ah, right, right, first time~ But since there are so many things similar to what I usually do~
Even though it’s her first time seeing Dark Magic, she has done many similar things?
—……That cannot be. After all, Light Magic is completely opposite to the method of Darkness.
—It is not an optimized logical thinking system like Darkness, but closer to elemental magic based on images,
—Instead of human implicitness and experience, wielding magic close to a miracle with firm belief based on faith…….
At that time, Snake denied the Saintess’s words.
He tried to deny.
Even though he already had an assumption in his head about how the Saintess uses magic.
Saying that can’t be.
Saying such a thing is impossible.
Saying it shouldn't be so, he tried to deny it somehow.
—Ahaha~ Actually, I don’t use magic like that~
But it was useless.
—Roughly speaking, it feels rather similar to the Dark Magic method Professor Snake uses?
—Ah, of course, accurately speaking, Dark Magic also entrusts calculation to basic commands called Runes for now so…….
—I have to go deeeeper~ than here~
At that time, she spoke as if she was borrowing a higher principle.
—Mmm~ What to do? This is probably something hugely blasphemous so it’s a secret~
—But well♪ I didn't hide it well in the first place anyway~ Okay!
—Since Professor Snake showed me the back of your hand imprint, I’ll tell you a little bit too~
And the Saintess said.
—First Principles (Je-il-won-li).
A little seriously.
—Without relying on any assumptions or experiences, covering from the Microscopic world to the Macroscopic,
Yet still as if enjoying it,
—The most fundamental and basic principles or axioms, with only that—
With only the corners of her mouth raised slightly.
—Explaining phenomena,
—Deriving laws,
—And calculating results.
—This is the way I view the world, and the method to manifest Magic~♬
Snake couldn't understand those words properly.
No, he thought he shouldn't understand.
There was no faith in the Saintess’s method.
There was no Goddess in the Saintess’s method.
Only logic and calculation existed in the Saintess’s thinking.
Without denying God and the Goddess, she denied their existence. (Note: Implies she treats them as non-factors/unnecessary).
No, she didn't need them in the first place.
Therefore, although she is a Saintess, there was no faith, no Goddess, nothing in her ways and methods.
Both God and the Goddess were discarded by the Saintess.
He had no choice but to see it that way.
“……She is not something like a Saintess…… Such a thing cannot be a Saintess.”
The way she uses magic.
That mindset was already not human.
If anything, it was closer to that of a Demon.
But that was also incorrect.
“First…… Principles… she said…….”
That method of the Saintess has already surpassed even the Demon Tribe.
Surely they would also stick out their tongues in astonishment.
And worship her.
Upon seeing the Saintess’s magic.
Saying, clearly, it is the second coming of a demon.
“She hasn't fallen…… With just something like falling…… The Saintess is…… already…….”
Like that, the Saintess,
Will be called by that very 『Name』 found only in old legends.
Knowing everything about the present,
And perfectly deducing all pasts and all futures through it,
An existence possessing infinite intellectual ability—
“……The Demon itself.”
—The Demon, 『Laplace』.