episode_0153

I asked Athena, who was carefully caressing the crystal ball, and Mari, who was still smiling brightly, to give me some time alone.

Surprisingly, the two of them obediently accepted my request.

The two, with satisfied looks on their faces, said they would return in the evening.

So, the place I came to after having some alone time was my dorm room.

I walked to my bed without looking back and collapsed on the ground.

I should have been at the academy by now, but I just didn’t feel like going.

“Sigh…”

I couldn’t shake off the great worry in my heart.

[Why are you like that, disciple?]

While I was feeling my heart pounding alone, a familiar voice came into my head.

“You came today too….”

[…..They were often attached.]

“Yes..?”

[Hmm…hmm…no. Anyway, what are you so worried about?]

The teacher coughed a few times and then asked.

I feel like I’m beating around the bush for some reason… I guess it’s just my imagination.

Well, anyway, that wasn’t what was important right now.

“Sigh….”

I let out a deep sigh again.

What on earth should I do?

As I was alone again, ominous thoughts began to swirl around me again.

This worry that was troubling my heart was that all the information in the original work had been destroyed.

The fact that the Demon King, who should have been waiting for the hero in the Demon World, suddenly invaded the Academy was a painful shock to me.

A situation that completely deviates from the original content.

If this were to happen, it would mean that everything I knew about the future would be useless.

It meant that it wouldn’t have been strange for the Demon King to invade at any time, and it wouldn’t have been strange for war to break out at any time.

I was so nervous that I ended up biting my fingernails without realizing it.

I wasn’t able to think much yesterday because I was so out of it.

In fact, I couldn’t hide this feeling of unease all along.

I was so scared and afraid that the people I loved would die without me knowing.

‘..I have to think…why did the Demon King attack first..?’

He struggled to hold his head in his hands and agonized.

Did something change because Athena became a good person?

Did Lily, who became a warrior and reached the rank of Grandmaster, decide to invade first?

Or is it because of Sephir’s betrayal…?

If not that, then again-

‘…..It seems useless.’

I lamented inwardly.

Even if I knew the reason in the first place, what could I do?

I don’t have the strong spirit of other protagonists, nor the clever mind to plan things out. Can I really save this world without the help of the original?

A novel that would have originally had a happy ending. All the misfortunes that deviated from the original were all caused by me.

In the end, it must have been my incompetence that caused this to happen.

Once again, terrible delusions began to plague my mind.

…..because of me.

Because of me, people-

[Disciple.]

“Ah.”

The Master’s call in my head pulled me out of my thoughts.

I looked down at the stinging pain I felt in my hand.

I must have bitten my nail so hard that blood was trickling down my fingernail.

…Here it goes again.

I thought I had gotten a lot better, but once I started driving, my anxiety kicked in again.

I’ve heard that mental illness can only get worse, not better. Is that really true?

[Talk to your teacher about your worries. What are you so anxious about?]

“…I’m scared.”

When the Master refused to listen to my words, I buried my face in the bed and spoke in a weak voice.

“The world is becoming more and more dangerous, but I can’t do anything about it..I’m so scared that I’ll just give up and lose the people I love..”

Now, they are more precious than my life.

Even if I get hurt, I will never, ever watch them get in danger.

But despite that will, what can I do?

The most hopeful path right now is…

Gather people and invade the Demon Realm right away.

It was to strike the player first before the demon world could do anything.

But even that was no longer confident.

Originally, I thought the power would be sufficient, but…

I started to have some doubts.

I’m worried that the Demon King’s army might be stronger than the original.

Aside from the Demon King, there may be other hidden forces behind it.

Now that I have confirmed that the original work has been ruined, I can no longer trust anything in the novel.

[How about talking to the goddess once?]

After thinking for a while, the teacher spoke carefully.

“No..Is it a being that the goddess can meet if she wants to meet it..?”

I grumbled to my teacher with a slightly upset heart.

Come to think of it, when I first met the Master, when I was curious about the existence of the Celestial God, the Master told me to ask the Goddess.

This isn’t some neighborhood police station. How could I possibly meet a saint whose voice I can only hear from time to time?

[Can we meet?]

“…..Huh?”

The teacher’s words sounded as if he had read my thoughts.

[Goddess, what can I not meet?]

I felt embarrassed by the teacher’s voice that spoke lightly as if it was nothing serious.

…..Huh?

Can we meet?

really?

* * *

Regis Academy is a lively and laughter-filled place.

But in this class B, there was only an endlessly heavy silence.

And that too, because of just two girls.

“……”

Ariel is absorbed in a book with a black cover and no text or pictures, while Iris continues to stare at an empty space.

From morning until lunchtime and until classes were over, they maintained a cold silence without exchanging a single word.

Since they were the most influential people in the class, and they were acting like that, the other students had no choice but to watch out for them and be quiet.

In the end, no laughter was heard from Class B for the whole day.

“Isn’t Ariel’s expression too scary..? And why is the saintess so low-pressure..”

“Hey, what are you going to do if you hear me..! Don’t talk to me.”

“No, if this keeps up I’m going to dry up and die too..”

“….That’s true, but.”

Students who couldn’t stand the atmosphere were quietly whispering in the back of the class.

Other students probably don’t think much differently from these two.

When everyone desperately wants their mood to improve.

The classroom door opened with a creak, and the savior appeared.

“….Sarah?”

Ariel spoke for the first time today.

At her words, Iris opened her eyes wide and looked toward the classroom door.

A petite brown-haired schoolgirl comes in, catching the students’ attention.

But she was a popular student with a pretty face and a strange charm that flowed from her. Sarah. She was out of breath in front of the classroom door.

Ariel and Iris see her and run away.

“Hey… Sera-yang. What the hell happened? ”

“Explain it to me right now.”

Sarah smiled awkwardly as if she was embarrassed by the burdensome gazes of those who ran towards her.

“Uh…umm…I…don’t have time right now…”

As she spoke, she grabbed Iris’ hand urgently and continued speaking.

“Iris, more than that. Can you help me?”

“Yes..? What kind..?”

Iris stared blankly at Sarah’s hand that she was holding for a moment before answering.

“Umm… I don’t think this is the place to talk about this. Do you have a moment right now?”

“Yes..Yes! It’s okay! If it’s Hera, then of course..!”

Iris, who answered absentmindedly, realized her slip of the tongue and looked around with an expression of regret.

But fortunately, no student seemed to have felt suspicious, so I let out a sigh of relief.

“Good. Then let’s go somewhere together.”

“….Yes!”

Iris answers with a blush on her face, wondering where the gloomy atmosphere from just now has disappeared.

But, quite the opposite, Ariel spoke to Sarah with her eyes darkened beyond recognition.

“Sarah..don’t you have anything to say to me?”

“Ah..Ariel..”

Sarah flinched for a moment at the eerie voice, but then shook off her embarrassment and answered Ariel.

“I’ll tell you everything…Iris and I’ll go somewhere quickly and come back right away.”

“…..”

“I’m sorry. Please wait a moment and I’ll bring it right away.”

After leaving those words behind, Sarah grabbed Iris’ hand and ran out of the classroom.

Ariel was left alone in the classroom.

She was just looking at the place where Sarah had just been standing with empty eyes.

“As expected….I’m weak….”

Ariel, who had been muttering to herself, held the book in her hand more tightly.

A book with a cover made entirely of black.

It was an unremarkable book, except that it had no title.

But if you look very closely, you can see a very small pattern.

A very small design drawn on the corner of a book.

A pattern so large that it is difficult to see unless you squint your eyes to look for it.

That pattern.

There was a strange and ominous pattern of an upside-down cross, which symbolizes the Catholic Church.