Chapter 11: Chapter 10: Confusion

Ha ha ha! Flatter me more! Flatter the greatest genius of this world! Here, healed! Easy as pie! Oh, wait... Did I mess up?

I was currently having a blast healing people and basking in my accomplishments. I'd done a wonderful job of dealing with the monsters, if I dared say so myself! Thanks to me, the event had come to an end with a total of...zero casualties!

As long as someone wasn't dead, I could heal pretty much anything. Seriously, I'm such a genius that it even scares me sometimes.

As Ellize, I realized all over again how much of a monster she was. She was practically a bugged character at this point.

It made sense for her to be strong, since the player was meant to fight her in the second part of the game. I guess the writers had no choice but to make her into a dumbass who wasted her insane talent by playing around instead of training in order for the player to have a shot at beating her.

Not that I was complaining. Thanks to the setting, I got to enjoy being completely OP and I was here for it.

"After rain comes fair weather," I said in English.

Blurting out random sentences in English makes me sound so cool, for real! Everything ends up sounding like a killer move name! Guess it's time for my third super technique!

I activated my spell, and a rain of fine light particles showered down on all the injured students left in one go. If I went around treating them one by one, it'd take hours.

All right, BAM! Everyone's healed! Doooone!

"But Ellize, will your spell even heal people inside buildings?" you ask? Fear not! Although my magic rained down, it wasn't really water, so it could easily pass through roofs and ceilings.

If there was a flaw to my spell, it'd be that it affected literally everyone inside the casting area. If someone was hurt, it'd heal their wounds, but if they were already doing fine... Well, they'd have some extra energy for the day. They'd probably feel a little hyper until tomorrow, but oh well. Couldn't really help it.

Aight, Four-Eyed Pervert, I'm done. There shouldn't be anyone else who's hurt, but meh, I'm too lazy to check. You can do it, right? You guys—teachers—should try to actually be useful every once in a while, got it?

"Of course, saint! Please leave it to me! If I may... What you've accomplished here today is nothing short of a miracle..."

Sorry to disappoint, bro, but miracles aren't a thing. I'm just way too OP compared to these weak-ass monsters.

There was no reason to burst his bubble, though, so I kept that thought to myself.

Now that I was done dealing with this mess, it was time to go back to the classroom and resume my favorite activity: admiring my darling Eterna.

I wondered if Eterna had sensed the underlying creepiness of my stares—she was starting to become a little sensitive.

Ah, I knew I was looking at her butt too often...

I mean, I got it. It was kinda gross, after all. I was actually starting to understand it all too well, in fact, as I was also on the receiving end of a creepy dude's gaze—damn that Four-eyed Pervert!

I decided I'd apologize for staring so much later on, and— Wait. Where was Eterna? She'd vanished from the classroom for some reason.

Had she gotten so tired of being ogled that she left?

Hey, Ver! Kiddo, d'ya have any idea where your future wife is?

"Eterna? Now that you mention it... She left, didn't she?"

NERVER?! Are you for real?!

No, wait, his name was Verner. Whatever! SAME THING!!!

How the hell did you not notice that your waifu wasn't here?! It's the main route, it can't be that hard to stay focused on it, now, can it?!

"Now that you mention it"? "Now that you mention it"? Do you want me to punch you in the face? You're not even trying to woo another heroine, so what the heck are you doing?!

"L-Lady Ellize! If you're looking for Eterna, I saw her walk out of the classroom."

Finally, an eyewitness! Good job!

I remembered this girl—Fiora. She was pretty cute with her shoulder-length blond hair, so it helped. She was the one I'd healed some time ago. The one with the scar on her face who couldn't walk... Oh, and who'd been kidnapped by Farah along with Eterna and Verner.

"I also saw her leave. She looked down and went that way," a male student said, pointing in a direction.

And you are...? I just can't remember dudes. I can't.

I probably should've asked him who he was, but I decided to thank him with a smile instead. Whoever you are, thanks, I guess.

"Are you sure, John?" Verner asked.

So that's what he's called.

"Yeah... She looked like she was brooding over something," he answered.

It looked like he and Verner were pretty close. Now that I thought about it... I had a feeling he might've been one of the hostages that time...or maybe not? No clue. Maybe that was how they'd become close, though. Getting kidnapped together had to count for something.

"Let's go after her! I'm a bit worried," Fiora blurted out before leaving the room with Verner and the random dude in tow.

I should probably follow them... I know how it goes! We're going to Egypt, right?! I'm so in.

"Lady Ellize, if you're thinking of following them, let me come too."

Oh, there you are, Layla!

How reliable. Layla was a very capable person, so having her tag along was reassuring.

"If our saint is going somewhere, my duty is to follow... My dear students, please study by yourselves for the time being."

Oh no. I swear to God, I don't need you, you four-eyed bastard.

Talk about a messy party... It made sense for Verner, the main character, and Layla, one of the dateable heroines, to tag along, but what was with the rest of them?! Fiora didn't even appear in the game, no one cared about some random dude, and we even had a low-tier villain following us around.

Then, of course, there was the cherry on top—me, the trashy fake.

You couldn't have found a better cast for a comedy.

Anyway, our ridiculous group went after Eterna, but as you might've expected, we were too late. We couldn't find her anywhere.

"She should be this way. It's very faint but I can feel her mana," the damn Four-Eyed Pervert said, sounding for all the world like a self-confident ass.

Wait, could he be...much more talented than I expected? Right! Being a stalker must mean he's good at this sort of stuff! You're doing great for once!

While I was incredibly skilled at making everything explode with magic spells, I'd never even tried to track someone's mana. Hey, even the worst of lowlifes had to have good points, right?

We followed Four-eyed Pervert around and eventually made our way to the cliff located right outside the academy. Violent waves were crashing against the rocks.

Seriously, who thought it was a good idea to build a school here of all places?

Okay, I was being a little mean. The academy hadn't actually been built on a cliff—it had been erected on high ground, and the cliff just happened to be a little further down.

Anyway, that wasn't important. What really mattered was the fact that my little Eterna had gone over the fence and was standing at the edge of the cliff. One more step and she'd fall.

What the hell are you doing, sweetie?!

Verner, seeing Eterna in such a dangerous spot, freaked out. "Eterna! What are you doing there?!"

No, but for real, what's going on?

"Don't come near me!" Eterna yelled back, taking another step further. One of her feet was almost off the cliff now.

Uh oh. If she steps back again, she'll really fall.

She wouldn't die even if she did, but still. First, I had to get her to calm down and ask her why she was doing this.

"I... I must disappear!" she exclaimed.

"What are you talking about?!" Verner shot back.

While listening to the two lovers quarrel, I tried to make sense of what she'd just said. What made her act this way in the game?

I was proud to say I'd finished every single route and read every guide there was. Despite that, I still couldn't remember an event where Eterna threatened to jump off a cliff. Then again, small events were hidden everywhere, and people were still discovering them years after the game first came out. While there were strategy guides, it was hard to be sure they were exhaustive.

So how did this happen? Had she grown tired of waiting for Verner because he was too focused on his damn muscles?!

"Everything... Everything's my fault! It's my fault Miss Farah became weird... And it's also because of me that the monsters attacked everyone!"

Huh? What're you saying, girl? How are these incidents your fault? I don't follow.

I failed to understand why Eterna had suddenly gotten that idea. I'd told them very clearly that Farah had been controlled by the witch, and today's incident was also the witch's fault. Eterna didn't have anything to do with any of it.

Anyhow, first I had to get her to calm down. I could see how on edge she was.

"Please calm down. I can see your heart is unsettled. Come back to us, then we can—" I tried to reason with her, but she cut me off.

"I told you not to come near me!" she screamed.

I didn't get why, but she was getting even more agitated. Was she reacting like that because of me? Did she really think I was gross?! Aaargh, I shouldn't have stared at her butt! I really shouldn't have!

"You don't need to lie to me anymore, Lady Ellize... I-I know everything..." she continued.

What?! Uh oh... Did she figure out I was a fake?! Did she figure out I was a piece of shit all along?!

I shouldn't be too surprised—she was the saint, after all. She was bound to notice that she couldn't get hurt and figure out that she was the real deal. Unless it was really that butt thing...

It's not what you think, Eterna! I-I was just being possessed by some evil spirit, I promise! It forced me to think of how thick and juicy your ass is. I'm sorryyyyyyy!!!

No, wait... If it was really about that, why would she try to commit suicide? Did she plan to show to everyone that she couldn't get hurt even by jumping off a cliff to prove that she was the saint?

How foolish of you, Eterna. That idea...would totally work, damn it!

I tried to speak up again. "I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say. Could you please come this way first and—"

"I knew you wouldn't understand... There's no way someone like you could understand my feelings..."

If you put it that way...

It was true, I probably couldn't understand. I'd spent my time pretending to be the saint and stealing her rightful spot. She was a victim, and I was the one responsible for her suffering. It wasn't really my fault that Ellize and Eterna had been switched at birth, though. If anything, the true culprit was that hack of a prophet who messed up when predicting which baby was to become the saint.

So don't hate me! It's not my fault!

Or so I thought, until Eterna dropped a bomb on me.

"How could the saint understand the feelings of the witch?!"

I see, I see. You're the witch... That comes as a surprise. But you know, being a fake saint isn't a walk in the park either—

Wait...

What the heck had she just said? The witch? Not the saint? Did she really say "witch"?!

Uh...

Sorry, but...WHAT?!

Even I was left speechless by Eterna's sudden declaration. I felt like a racer who'd just passed a long, straight tunnel, only to be sent flying off course unexpectedly by a random passerby.

N/A NOT FOUND. N/A NOT FOUND. N/A NOT FOUND.

First of all, the saint and the witch could NOT be the same age. A new saint was always born after the previous saint had died or after she had turned into a witch. For us to be the same age, the previous saint would've needed to kill the witch as a literal baby! Then, she would've had to turn into the witch instantly so another saint could be born.

Even if Eterna had no way of knowing all that, she should've at least learned that the saint was always born after the witch appeared in school—it was written in every textbook.

Speaking of these textbooks, the students weren't expected to buy them when they enrolled. They were passed down to the newer students by their upperclassmen every school year, so they were pretty old and dirty.

Anyway, this generation's witch had started doing horrible things and growing her army of monsters right after I'd been reincarnated into this world—or in other words, back when Eterna and I were basically toddlers.

Eterna had grown up in a small isolated village, but she must've at least heard of how scary the witch was, hadn't she? If she knew the witch was already terrorizing people when she was a child, why would she ever think that there was another one, let alone assume that it was her?

Even if she'd somehow gotten that idea, declaring it publicly like she'd just done was insane! Regardless of whether it was the truth or not, the witch was the common enemy of every human in this world—including the saint. Now that she'd said that, she risked getting killed for it.

Image here:

"The witch?! Lady Ellize! Step back!"

"Eterna, this is a very serious declaration you just made... While it's completely impossible for you to be the witch, you can't just joke about such things."

Hey! Layla! Four-Eyed Pervert! Stop trying to fight her!

I jumped in front of the two of them and stopped them with my hand while keeping my eyes on Eterna. She looked frightened.

How did we end up like this...?

"Wait, Eterna! You can't be the witch!" Fiora yelled.

"He's right! Don't you remember?! Miss Farah kidnapped you too last time! You almost died!" the random guy added.

They were completely right. If anyone stopped to think for a minute, it was clear that there was no way she was the witch.

However, the next moment, Eterna took out a knife and grasped the blade tightly. No matter how many times she tried, she couldn't draw any blood.

Everyone froze.

"I've never gotten hurt," Eterna explained with a detached tone.

Argh, this is starting to become messy.

All of a sudden, Eterna was a much more credible witch in everyone's eyes. Naturally, she wasn't, but she'd managed to sow the seed of doubt.

When I'd last explained how witches and saints could get hurt, I'd said that they could hurt themselves. However, they could only do so in specific ways. The saint could hurt herself because the power of the saint worked on her. Putting it the other way around, it meant that as long as she didn't use her powers, she'd remain unharmed.

For instance, if Eterna had decided to wield the knife as a weapon and tried to cut open her hand, she would've succeeded because her powers would've gone through the knife she was holding. The blade itself wouldn't harm her, so just gripping the sharp edge wouldn't do anything. For the same reason, jumping off the cliff wouldn't do anything to her, nor would trying to hang herself.

"Sir... Only the witch or the saint can hold a knife like this without getting hurt, right?" she asked Supple Ment.

"That's...right," he confirmed.

"We all know that there's already a saint. There's no way Lady Ellize could be the witch, so...it must mean that I am! That's the only way this can all make sense..."

Ah. I finally found the answer I was looking for.

Now I understood how she'd reached that conclusion.

Instead of noticing that she had the powers of the saint and jumping to the assumption that I had to be a fake, she'd deduced that she was the witch. In her mind, I couldn't not be the saint.

Now that I'd finally figured it out, I understood where she was coming from. It made me realize all over again how different our ways of thinking were. Like, if I had been in her shoes, my first reflex would've been to doubt Ellize. That was just how I was. I had a hard time trusting people, and I was naturally suspicious of any new person I met.

Eterna was the reverse. She trusted people and wouldn't doubt them unless she had ironclad reasons. That was how she'd ended up like this. In a nutshell, Eterna was such a good girl that it had led to the giant misunderstanding.

Anyway, it wasn't the time to marvel over how wonderful she was. I needed to focus, otherwise she'd be branded as the witch.

The cliff situation wasn't really that pressing. What mattered was making sure that people didn't actually believe she was the witch. If that happened, everyone would start going after her.

Fortunately, there was a fairly straightforward solution to that problem—I could just come out as the fake.

Now, although it was straightforward, there were two issues with the idea. First, I'd be sentenced to death for impersonating the saint. Second, if I, the fake, disappeared, the witch would definitely try to kill Eterna—and she certainly had a shot considering Eterna's current level.

All in all, I kind of wanted to avoid being outed as the fake right now. Then again...if I didn't say anything, Eterna, the real saint, would be treated as the witch.

Should I come out and say it? Fuck... What should I do?

If I blew my cover now, all my careful planning would've been for naught.

I didn't want to accept the death penalty for the time being, so I'd have to go on the run. The difficulty would spike from easy to lunatic in a split second. But letting Eterna be branded as the witch didn't sit right with me...

Guess I don't have a choice.

"Eterna, you're mistaken. The saint is—"

"No! Don't come near me, I said!" she screamed again.

Right as I was about to spill the beans, Eterna tried to take another step back. This time, she fell right off the cliff.

SERIOUSLY?!

Eterna let out a surprised yelp as she started falling. "Ah," she blurted out, an idiotic expression plastered on her face.

Damn!

Her fall had been so sudden that I hadn't reacted fast enough. I activated my flying spell as quickly as I possibly could and flew toward Eterna.

For some reason, Verner jumped right after me—yet another unforeseen event.

WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!

He'd most likely jumped on instinct to save the heroine.

I get how you feel Verner, I really do! But you can't fly! What the hell are you hoping to do?!

I grabbed Verner's arm in a hurry, but he dragged me down with him. How was that idiot so heavy?! How much did he even weigh? Argh! It had to be because of all his stupid training! I hadn't had enough time to stabilize my spell, and I think I hadn't used enough mana to strengthen myself.

Long story short, I ended up falling too.

We were rushing toward a dangerously sharp rock that stuck out. If we hit it at full speed, Verner would definitely get badly hurt. Even his dark powers wouldn't protect him from something like that. He wasn't the witch, after all; he'd only gotten a little portion of her powers by mistake.

AAAH! We're gonna crash! Wasted!

I barely managed to get us to dodge the rock, but the sudden turn threw off my balance, and we fell into the water.

Ew. Salty.

◇

His body had moved before he even realized it.

Ever since Eterna had screamed that she was the witch, Verner's brain hadn't quite managed to follow. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't make sense of it. It was completely impossible for her to be the witch, and he couldn't see the situation as anything other than Eterna having a temporary bout of madness.

Still, he realized that what she was saying put her in a dangerous situation. He wanted her to calm down and sit so they could have a proper talk about all of this.

Sadly, Eterna hadn't given them enough time to convince her of her foolishness. She'd ended up falling over the cliff...with Ellize following right behind her.

Verner couldn't quite remember what happened next. Before he knew it, he was rushing toward the crags too. His body had most likely made the decision for him before any conscious process. Had he thought about it before jumping, he would've realized how utterly pointless it was. Ellize could fly; she didn't need him. On top of that, she was the saint. Even without her ability to fly, she wouldn't have gotten hurt at all.

Verner's heroic leap was basically nothing more than a suicide attempt, yet another nuisance for Ellize.

Aah... I'm such an idiot...

That was Verner's last thought before he blacked out.

The next time he opened his eyes, he was lying down in some cavern he'd never seen before. He looked to his side and saw Eterna's face. She was out cold.

That was when he noticed a light illuminating the cavern, floating around and emitting enough light and heat for them to feel comfortable. It was like a portable bonfire.

"Are you up?"

As soon as he heard the voice and saw Ellize's gentle smile, Verner jumped to his feet. He had gotten up so fast that even he was surprised.

He finally put two and two together and understood that even though he had inconvenienced her once again, Ellize had saved him.

He was pathetic... He wanted nothing more than to protect her, but he'd been the one who needed saving. Again. For the third time.

His debt toward her kept on growing.

"I must say, you scared me. I didn't expect you would jump so suddenly," Ellize said.

"I-I'm sorry... My body moved on its own..."

"I know that you did it to help your precious friend. I wish I could praise you for your bravery, but what you did wasn't brave—it was reckless."

"You're right..."

"Still," Ellize added after a long pause. "The fact that you were able to jump down immediately to save your friend shows how noble your heart is. That's very commendable of you. Still, please cherish yourself just as much as you cherish your friends."

The first word that popped up in Verner's mind was "no!" He wanted to deny it. He hadn't jumped for Eterna. She was a dear friend to him—irreplaceable, even. She was almost like family to him.

He had once lost everyone he'd held dear because of the power that dwelled inside him, and the people of her village had been kind enough to welcome him with open arms nonetheless. Even among the people of that village, Eterna had always been the closest to him.

He loved her a lot and wanted to protect her, that much was true. However, when Eterna had fallen, he hadn't been able to react immediately.

It wasn't that he didn't care about her. He'd just been level-headed enough to make a logical decision: Eterna had demonstrated that she couldn't get hurt, so falling off that cliff likely wouldn't have killed her. On the other hand, if he were to follow her, he'd lose his life for no reason. It made more sense for him to go down the cliff with everyone to look for Eterna. That was the correct answer.

And yet...when Ellize had jumped, he hadn't been able to follow the same thought process. Before he knew it, he'd already jumped, even though Ellize needed him even less than Eterna did.

I get it now... I finally understand my feelings for her...

Verner stopped himself from putting his feelings into words and lightly tapped his closed fist against his heart. It wasn't the time or place to say it. A confession from an immature man like him would only be a nuisance to Ellize. He decided to conceal his feelings for the time being and focus on what was important right now.

"Lady Ellize, I've been thinking about it... Could Eterna have the same issue as me?" he asked.

"The same issue as you... You're right! That's a possibility!"

"Yes. I... I can't say I've never gotten hurt, but I definitely don't get hurt as often as others do. After my family threw me out and I was banished from my village, there were many instances where I should've died many times, but didn't. That power kept me alive... Even when I didn't have anything to eat or drink, I couldn't die."

The saint and the witch couldn't get hurt by anyone else but themselves or the other. Everyone believed that this applied only to the two of them, but there was an exception—Verner.

He was neither the saint nor the witch. That much was obvious, given that he was a man. And yet, he held a power that was very similar to that of the witch.

That was how Verner had concluded that Eterna was most likely just like him.

When he told Ellize, she had looked like a god-given realization had suddenly hit her.

"That works... It's certainly a good explanation," she continued. "Eterna isn't the witch, she just happens to have similar powers."

Verner shared his worries with her. "Lady Ellize... I can't help but wonder if Eterna is having trouble controlling her powers... Just like I did in the past..."

Ellize nodded pensively.

Before Verner had met Ellize, he had also been unable to control his powers. He'd wandered around without daring to settle anywhere for fear of hurting people again. What if Eterna was also like that?

Ellize shot a glance at Eterna before shaking her head.

"No, that isn't the case. I can't see any trace of her powers having gone on a rampage. She hasn't hurt anyone. She was just unlucky... The coincidences piled up, and she convinced herself that she was at fault."

"I-I see... That's a relief," Verner said with a sigh.

Ellize smiled at him in return, but Verner immediately averted his eyes. He could feel how hot his face was, and he was certain his cheeks were bright red to match. Hopefully, the dim light would help him hide it.

"Let's go back. Everyone must be worried. We can tell Eterna what really happened to her when she wakes up," Ellize said.

"Yes."

That was when Verner noticed something strange—Ellize's sleeve had been torn off, and under the shredded fabric...was a cut.

"Lady Ellize? Your arm..."

"My arm? What's wrong with my arm?"

"Hmm... You... You got hurt."

Ellize reached with her other hand to touch the cut, a puzzled expression on her face.

When she removed her hand, her skin was as perfectly smooth and unblemished as always, and a red piece of thread dangled between her fingers.

"Looks like a piece of thread was stuck to my arm. It must have come off my uniform when I fell," she said with a light tone.

"A piece of...thread..."

What an embarrassing mistake, Verner thought.

Ellize couldn't get hurt, so he'd freaked out over nothing. If he'd taken a second to think about it and gotten a better look, he would've noticed it was just some thread immediately, he concluded.

Had Verner truly been able to think things through, though, what he would've noticed was that Ellize's story didn't hold up. Verner wore the academy's male uniform, which was black and blue. Eterna wore the same uniform, which for girls, was white and green. Ellize...wore the exact same clothes as Eterna did.

That meant none of them had any red fabric on them, so how could a piece of red thread find its way on her arm?

However, for the time being, Verner remained blissfully ignorant of the obvious discrepancy in Ellize's story.

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