Chapter 106
Chapter 106
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: Saintess Descent (3)
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“Fuck—! That motherfucker!!”
The empty lot behind Priviti Hall, where no one was around.
A sign reading [Doppelganger's Graveyard] was planted in the flower bed.
One of Pharenchia Academy's famous spots.
There, Caroline irritably tossed the magic cube onto the ground.
“Selling a measly 50-gold item for double!? You crazy scamming bastard!”
No, she hadn't thrown it that hard.
Because it was expensive.
Even thinking back on it made her anger boil over.
She could never have imagined the price jacked up just because of the word "Uncle." She figured she'd been caught off guard for not knowing academy prices.
“Hah, no wonder his eyes looked like total shit from the stage...”
She wanted to storm over and demand her money back right then, but she didn't have time.
The transfer students' "class placement exam" was starting soon, and she absolutely needed this cube for it.
Pharenchia Academy students roughly chose their career paths upon reaching their second year.
Those with talent in swords and martial arts joined the Knight Division; those suited to magic and academic research went to the Magic Division.
Originally from the Bloodletter Brigade, Caroline had been outstanding in physical prowess, but that was in the past.
Just looking at her completely softened arms and thighs made it obvious her combat ability had plummeted.
The new "saintess power" she'd gained instead was her only means of maintaining her position in the church—
“Damn, I'm gonna be late.”
She wasn't cut out for espionage or assassination, let alone saintess duties, which were at rock bottom for her. All she could do was sigh.
Since when had her life gone so off the rails?
Her steps toward the exam hall felt heavy.
It had all started when strange sunlight shone into the rundown shack the brigade used as a secret base.
She later learned the dawn light(?) that followed her everywhere was proof she'd been chosen as a saintess.
A being loved by the gods.
But why her? Caroline couldn't comprehend it at all.
A saintess was supposed to be someone exceedingly virtuous.
Pure of heart, faithful to doctrine, practicing their religion through deeds—a servant of Hella.
At least, that's what she'd been taught.
But the blood on her own hands was impossible to call virtuous by any normal standard.
“Did Hella fall to corruption or something...?”
She didn't hesitate to make irreverent remarks. To her, faith was just a plate holding the holy supper of survival.
From her childhood in Solzbeji's back alleys to becoming an inquisitor and now a saintess, she hadn't prayed much.
“And why did the church abandon me, a saintess?”
She understood the suspicion—an inquisitor becoming a saintess was fishy.
They might suspect her of secretly freeing prisoners or sparing those she should've killed.
In fact, all her brigade connections had been cut off immediately.
But for the church as a whole, wasn't a saintess's value immense?
They'd dumped her in Pharenchia without a proper delegation and expected her to get missions from her former subordinates. It was too much.
“Hoo...”
Arriving at the exam hall, she lit a cigarette behind the wall.
Like the white smoke obscuring her view, she felt there was something she didn't know.
Even setting aside the demons, the two nations hadn't often been on good terms throughout their long history.
Simply put, it stemmed from differing views on magic.
Monarch valued holy magic above all, while Penheim dabbled in many but always led with elemental magic.
On top of that, nobles and priests—two ruling classes hard to coexist—preached their own doctrines, making their rivalry incomparable to Earth's.
Naturally, from the moment Caroline entered the exam hall, the proctor and all students couldn't help but focus on her.
The problem was that I was there too.
“Why'd you call me here?”
“Take this.”
The first test: solve the magic cube within the time limit to demonstrate the proctor's presented spell.
In the exam hall filled with the clacking of cubes turning, Erzebet slipped something into my hand.
She must've thought it drew less attention than meeting alone.
She seemed inwardly relieved.
“A pendant?”
“Shh. Be quiet. Don't tell anyone I gave it to you—just wear it.”
She spoke without taking her eyes off Caroline, who was boredly solving her cube.
“Listen well, Louis. Saintesses have a special power. To explain it in terms you get, it's like unique spells. Depending on talent, they can use up to about seven.”
“Twelve.”
“Pardon?”
I replied curtly.
“Twelve. Maximum.”
The mysterious power unique to saintesses: Saint Radiance(?).
Terra said the twelve unique spells implanted in me were modeled after it.
Erzebet's ancestor, Eris with the greatest talent in history, had wielded twelve.
To counter the most well-known one, Erzebet had given me this pendant.
“Twelve... Anyway, one of them demands truth from a saintess's words. Every saintess in history could detect lies. That necklace will block her noticing your lies exactly three times.”
“Then why give it to me? Wear it yourself, Princess.”
“If Caroline Magdalena had any sense, she wouldn't dare ask me rudely to my face. She seems more interested in you, so I'm giving it to you. And...”
Through her neat bangs, eyes like molten amber glared at me.
“You have a lot of secrets, don't you?”
“...”
Why did she know so much about the Holy Kingdom and saintesses?
What secrets did she share with the royals, and what was her connection to me?
Disappointment, bitterness, and helplessness at not reaching the truth seeped from her words.
Yet I had nothing to say to her as she silently handed over the necklace.
“Time's up! Please submit your cubes forward.”
At the proctor's words, students placed their cubes on the small floating platforms in front of them.
Scores were assigned based on how many they'd solved.
Sharon Milbran, Decker Carmel, Isol Dorenia... The transfer students' rankings scrolled by, with Caroline's name quite high up.
With Bloodletter Brigade skills, solving a cube loaded with second-year level spells was child's play.
Now in the academy as a saintess, Erzebet would face even more fatigue.
Indeed, the nonstop background checks over break and even dispatching the Royal Guard showed how tense all of Penheim was.
As I put on the necklace, I reached out to Piy on Erzebet's shoulder.
“Don't push yourself too hard. Worrying won't change a thing.”
“Huh?”
Her shoulders lightened suddenly, and she whipped her head around in surprise.
“This is Penheim. Pharenchia. The kingdom's top academy, watched by the royals, Luhillen, even the Reincarnation Duke Chairman. Whatever their goal, they can't act recklessly.”
“Are you... comforting me right now?”
“I took this much, so a little courtesy is the least I can do. While I'm at it, one more thing...”
Comfort? This was closer to duty.
When I'd refused the king's offer of his daughter if I defeated the demon king, I'd made one promise in return.
Especially since this involved the Holy Kingdom, not just Erzebet personally.
“If you ever need my help, come to the canteen.”
“Louis? For real...? You've hated me coming by all this time...”
I leisurely stroked the tuxedo cat as Erzebet floundered in genuine fluster beside me.
Too bad—no cat to heighten the mood at a time like this.
“You tried to take the canteen, after all. Oh, not just that, but no joint ownership for you, Princess. Lots of people are already eyeing it.”
“J-j-joint ownership!? Hold on, Louis. Even setting aside it'd be a massive loss for me... What crazy nonsense is that!?”
Was it that weird?
I was just saying I didn't need royal power for canteen ops.
Seeing her blush and fan herself, she still lacked a leader's cool demeanor.
Brunhart—a name meaning "steel heart"—felt a bit wasted.
“Shh, keep your voice down. The saintess is right in front—calm yourself.”
“D-do I look calmable right now? How dare he insult a princess of the realm...!”
“Hey, stay put. Oi, do something about your owner.”
“Piy, bite Louis... Kyaa!? N-no, Piy, stay away!”
She still had a long way to go.
Leaving Erzebet chased by her own familiar, I exited the exam hall too.
'That guy...'
Caroline eyed the scammer—no, canteen owner—flirting with the princess like a hawk.
Even if the academy downplayed status, a mere canteen owner showed zero tension next to Erzebet Brunhart.
The princess, embarrassed by something, blushed like a ripe persimmon and couldn't even speak.
Too far to hear the conversation, but enough to arouse suspicion.
Confirming Louis leave the hall, Caroline finished the remaining tests and was assigned to the Magic Division.
Though she'd arrived at Pharenchia without connections, not all hope was lost.
Not every noble in the kingdom was hostile to Monarch.
Especially professors from Alios Magic Tower specializing in holy magic and their associates saw Caroline as a supreme treasure.
Holy power overflowing from head to toe, blessed by the goddess.
And though an inquisitor, a church heavyweight versed in holy magic secrets unique to the Holy Kingdom.
The nobles' fawning like she was a kindly angel was grating, but slipping into their circle easily created opportunities.
The next day.
In her first class, Caroline subtly asked a noble lady she'd befriended about the canteen owner.
“Oh, Sir Louis?”
“Sir...?”
At his name, the lady of House Canophe blushed prettily. Caroline barely hid her disgusted expression.
“Yes~. Such striking dragon eyes, tall and handsome, and so kind too. Last summer by the aquatic garden, he accidentally bumped into me and was so worried...”
“Scammer confirmed...”
“Not just me—girls talk about him all the time. Some even put letters in the mailbox by the canteen. There were sightings of Luhillen carriages collecting them at dawn, but probably just rumors. Oh, is the Saintess interested in him too?”
“Ha, haha! Interest... you could call it that, I suppose...”
Caroline forced a smile.
It was hard to believe this was the same guy who'd offloaded a magic cube on her for 100 gold.
Just as she felt the need to dig deeper on Louis, the Canophe lady said:
“Then go see Miss Adella.”
“Adella?”
“Yes, Adella Sylvestra of the first years. From House Roshiar.”
Hearing Roshiar, a woman came to mind: the cool-aura student always by Louis's side, seeming a bit dim.
“She probably knows Sir Louis best.”