Chapter Text
It was some time after the bi-annual martial tournament that Verner started seeing a man hanging out around Lady Ellize.
He had messy black hair, dark brown eyes and the stubble on his chin made him seem older than he probably was.
At first, Verner guessed he was a new professor.
“Hello, my name is Fudou Niito, I'm Lady Ellize’s attendant.” The man, Fudou Niito, said with a polite smile on his face.
Verner doubted “attendant” meant bodyguard, one look at his thin and untrained body told him that much, he most likely handled Ellize’s personal needs.
What bothered him was how easily Niito spoke with Ellize, as if they were long-time friends.
It made Verner wonder if there was some kind of special connection between them that he didn’t know about.
Fudou Niito wasn’t sure what happened.
One minute, he was going to sleep, preparing to dream about Eterna, and another he was washed ashore with his clothes dampened.
From there, he wandered the forest for two days, trying to figure out where the hell he was.
He thanked his lucky star that he ran into Ellize before he starved to death or got eaten by monsters.
Well… “ran into” wasn’t quite right. A monster had already cornered him, and he was seconds from becoming its dinner when she appeared.
When he thought, Ah, I’m going to die , several beams of light pierced the monster’s body and the most beautiful girl he had ever seen descended from the sky.
Ellize.
Her hair was the exact shade of sunlight at its warmest, the kind that made gold look cheap. Her eyes were a green so vivid they could have been stolen from the heart of a forest. Her face was the kind you’d think a god had obsessed over for a thousand days and nights, shaping every curve, every line, until perfection itself would feel insecure standing next to her.
That’s how her appearance was described in the game, but now that he saw it for himself, it still somehow exceeded his expectations.
Ellize landed gently on the ground, “Are you alright?” Her voice soft.
She wore that perfect saint’s smile, the kind everyone thought was pure and kind, but Niito knew better. That smile was fake as hell, and from the look in her eyes… she didn’t recognize him at all.
Figures. This girl never bothers to remember any guy’s face. What a piece of shit.
Niito tried to get up, but he forgot his ankle was sprained from the running he did to escape the monster.
Ellize noticed, knelt, and healed him without a word.
Then she stood back up, that warm smile still on her face.
She’s waiting for the praise I’ll do for her, isn’t she?
Fine.
“O glorious saint, thank you for saving my humble life!” Niito said, as high-pitched as possible.
Ellize’s eyebrow twitched a little at the O glorious saint .
“I am Fudou Niito, how can I ever repay you for this?”
“It’s nothing to be thankful for, I seek to aid those who suff–wait, what?”
There we go.
“Hello, Ellize.” Niito smiled a little smugly at Ellize’s dumbfounded face. “I’m Fudou Niito.”
Ellize here!
So I sneaked out from Layla’s supervision and I intended to kill some monsters to starve off my boredom, but fate seemed to have something else in store for me because in this ten minute journey, I found myself.
Literally.
Fudou Niito stared at me, his face the same as the one I saw in my dream yesterday.
Needless to say, I was shocked.
“H-How did you come out of the dream?”
“I told you it wasn’t a dream, and who the hell knows? I opened my eyes and tadam! I’m here.”
‘Niito’ threw his hands up to accompany his tadam!
His voice sounded hoarse, it seemed like he hadn’t been drinking anything so I conjured water into his hand.
‘Niito’ drank it greedily.
“Ha! That felt nice.”
No, wait. I shouldn’t let my guard down yet. He could be a shapeshifting monster wearing my old face. I need to make sure…
“What’s Fudou Niito’s favorite character?”
‘Niito’ raised an eyebrow, before nodding as if he understood what’s going on.
“Eterna”
“What’s his favorite porn genre?”
“Tentacles porn.”
Damn, he’s actually me! What the hell is going on?!
I took a proper look at him. He was basically skin and bones, his hair matted with dirt, face equally filthy. His shirt and pants were covered in both dirt and fresh monster blood. All his wounds had now been healed but from the tear of his clothes and the blood that accompanied it, he seemed to have been attacked many times already.
“You look horrible.” I commented.
“No shit.” he said, deadpan.
Niito’s stomach grumbled.
“…When’s the last time you ate?” I asked.
He tilted his head, thinking. “What day is it?”
I frowned. “The 12th.”
“Of…?”
“Not-August.”
“So around the middle part of the game.”
“Yes..? What does that have to do with—”
“I haven’t eaten in two days.” Niito cut me off. He probably just realized there’s no use asking for a date since it was different here from Japan. “None of these plants or mushrooms looked familiar and wildlife that couldn’t kill me in one hit disappeared to who knows where. I was about this close–” he held up his fingers. “–to testing if tree bark was edible.”
I stared at him. “…You would’ve tried eating a tree?”
“Better than trying to eat something that eats back.”
I couldn’t decide if he was being funny or just serious in a depressing way. Niito’s stomach growled again, and I gave up.
“I’ll ask you the rest later. Let’s get you out of here.”
I grabbed him by the arm and took off, flying out of the forest.
Me and Niito landed in front of the saint castle.
Niito took a look around before he spoke up.
“Ellize, can you put in some words for me, I need a job.”
“I thought you were going to freeload at my place.”
“Nah, I don’t know how long I’m going to be here, might as well secure a lifeline while there’s still one to hold.”
Niito said that casually, he knew of my plan to sacrifice myself to kill the witch.
Well duh, he’s me, of course he would know what I think.
“Okay fine, I’ll make you my attendant or something.”
I never had a personal attendant since it would be quite stressful to have someone who would keep an eye on me at all times, Layla was already enough, thank you very much. However, I wouldn’t need to worry about him since he was me, and he knew exactly what I was like.
“Thank you very much, Lady Ellize.” Niito said the word ‘Lady’, mockingly.
Inside the castle, the first person we saw was Scotterbrain.
“Who is this man, Lady Ellize?” Layla grabbed the helm of her sword, eyeing the man who looked less than homeless up and down.
Woah, Scotterbrain, ease up! It’s me!
“Please calm down, Layla, I hired him today, this man is going to be my new attendant.”
Niito tapped his chest with his right hand and gave a small bow. The gesture was fine but it didn’t change the fact that he looked like he lived in a tree hollow. The small clump of dirt that fell from his hair when he bowed… yeah, that probably didn’t help either.
I should have dumped some water on him first.
Nitto smiled and spoke in a voice that is reminiscent of a businessman.
“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
A few days after Ellize brought him to the saint castle, Fudou Niito finally managed to land his first job.
While normally the process for hiring someone who would have close proximity to the saint would require an extensive background checking, qualification checking, etc. to make sure they were the best of the best.
But since Ellize vouched for him, the church decided to be lenient about it and offered him the job that Ellize told him about. Layla would be the one who asked him about his background.
Since my background in this world was empty, I need to make something up, maybe I’ll be an orphan. The world with Medieval settings had a lot of orphans, right?
The vows were the same old ceremonial stuff: Never harm the saint, protect her with your life, blah, blah, blah. Niito skimmed through until he got to the actual job description, which could be summed up as he needed to manage the saint’s schedule and running errands for her.
Doesn’t seem that hard.
Incidentally, there was no one who served as Ellize’s personal attendant because Ellize herself refused.
“ ‘I don’t want to be given more special privileges than I already have’ was what she said.” Layla said a little proudly, quoting Ellize.
Bullshit, she just didn’t want anyone glued to her side.
Up until now, Layla had been covering the job herself, however, she was mostly just managing Ellize’s schedules.
Layla gave him a sharp look as she looked at him signing the contract paper.
“Let me make it clear, you will NOT be assisting Lady Ellize with bathing or managing her wardrobe.”
A promise of death came from the look in her eyes.
Who would want to? I mean, she smelled pretty damn nice and she was the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen, if I didn’t know there was me inside her, I would probably make her my number one waifu tied with Eterna, but with the curse knowledge inside my head, my son went down as easily as a wet spaghetti whenever I see her.
Niito didn’t say any of that and simply said “Understood.”
A week passed by, Niito had grown accustomed to his work. There was something resembling daily routines now.
He accompanied Ellize to the academy, carried her things, and handled whatever little chores popped up. Somewhere along the way, he’d also ended up meeting Verner and his group of friends, who seemed to treat him with respect like he was someone with credentials.
He was not, whether in this world or that world, he didn’t even graduate high school.
As a servant, Niito didn’t have to attend classes himself, a fact he considered one of the few perks of this job. He would just stand off to the side while Ellize went through the motions of being a diligent student. Every so often, she’d glance his way with an expression that subtly said you lucky bastard , before turning back to maintain the illusion of paying attention.
LMAO.
Sometimes, he was dragged off to the side to handle the financial side of the saint castle, seeing as how he had a “high level” mathematical knowledge, they saw him as a useful person to be there. Niito didn’t mind, it was an excellent way to improve his credentials without him having to put much effort into it.
Niito’s relationships with his coworkers were, in his opinion, “decent.”
He was aware of what he had to say to please people, he was probably the only one (beside Ellize, who was also him) who could take the stock phrases from novels and dating sims and actually adapt them into functional social tools.
He neither had the prettiest face in the universe nor the magic to make the light reflected just right for him though, so he had to be more careful about what he said.
Viscount Fox liked people who acted more than they talked, so Niito stayed professional in front of him.
Rex, one of the background saint guards, valued loyalty and chivalry, so Niito kept a straight face around him and occasionally joined him and the other knights for drinks.
The fact that there were only twelve saint guards also helped, it made him able to remember each person more easily.
The only one who he seemed to have a rocky relationship with was Layla. She’d been wary of him from the start, and she still was.
Niito was certain, well, ninety percent certain, that he never let his scumbag nature slip ever since he came to this world, the only one who he could ask for confirmation on this matter was Ellize who was just as emotionally detached as him.
If there was one thing he could think of that was different from the others, it was how he first met her.
First impressions tended to stick for a long time, I showed up in front of her covered in smudge and dirt. Maybe she thinks I am a filthy peasant and doesn’t deserve to be in this place…Nah, who am I kidding, this is Scotterbrain, she wouldn’t care about that.
In the game, she was a chivalric and honorable character, the white knight archetype who didn’t judge Verner by his common birth and even became his lover depending on the route the player took.
So why does she dislike me?
No matter how much he wracked his brain, he could not figure out the reason for her dislike.
Part of Niito suspected she might have one of those “cool anime veteran warrior” abilities to see someone’s true nature just by looking into their eyes or something. If so, then she probably saw him for exactly what he was: A broken man who treated life like a game he was playing with his own body.
That, or she was just jealous of him spending a lot more time with Ellize since he stole half her duties.
Layla wasn’t quite sure what to make of the man Lady Ellize had brought in.
Fudou Niito was a strange man.
He wore a dark suit with yellow sleeves, the clothes fit for a royal servant, unlike his filthy tunic which was made from strange materials at the beginning.
On the surface, he was a strange mix of traits. He seemed gloomy and unenthusiastic at first glance but he handled his work with surprising skill, he was quick-witted, serious and saw logic clearer than most.
He could neither use magic, nor have any skill with the swords but he held some scholarly knowledge. His skill with numbers and math was far higher than Layla would have expected from a commoner.
When Layla asked, Niito told her.
“I am an orphan, the orphanage I stayed in was run by a rather clever priest. He was the one who taught me everything.”
“His name is…Fibonacci.”
“You wanted to donate money to the orphanage? Thank you for your kind gesture, but I’m afraid that that orphanage no longer exists.”
“I don’t know if Father Fibonacci and the others survived or not, I wasn’t at the orphanage when the monsters attacked.”
Whether those were true or not had yet to be confirmed, Niito looked to be in his mid twenties, Lady Ellize had begun her activities seven years ago. Being an orphan was a common story back then.
Still, something about him had felt wrong from the moment they met. It was in his eyes, his dark brown eyes that held no light. At first, she thought it was the look of someone who had fallen into despair. She had seen an individual with that kind of gaze countless times before.
If Lady Ellize hadn’t insisted that he be made her attendant, Layla would simply dismiss him as one of the many unfortunate victims of the witch. But now that Niito was one of Ellize’s closest confidants, Layla had the duty to watch him.
She could not deny that she had a quiet envy of him getting to spend more time with Ellize, so there were times where she might be a bit…worked-up over looking out for any flaws he might have, but she was still a knight, she wouldn’t let any personal feelings impaired her judgement.
The main reason she did this was out of concern for if the man was dangerous to Ellize, not physically of course, there was no way that weak man could ever harm Ellize, but what if he was a bad influence on her, or worse, tried to manipulate her?
Layla couldn’t allow that, so she watched him.
And the more she watched, the more she understood. That look in his eyes that she dismissed as despair was not despair at all. It was apathy, they were the eyes of a man who cared for nothing beyond his own self-interest.
The realization unsettled her. When she tried to warn Lady Ellize about him, her master only replied, “That’s just how he is.”
Layla didn’t know if Lady Ellize’s confidence came from knowing this man in the past or simply from choosing to see the good in him. Her master wasn’t naive, she knew there was evil in the world, but she always chose to forgive first.
So, if Lady Ellize believed Fudou Niito was not too far gone yet, Layla would stay still and continue to observe him.
“Miss Layla, the students had come to visit Lady Ellize, they told me they had something important to say to her.”
“What do they need?”
“It concerns the potential treason of headmaster Dias.” Niito said without batting an eye.
While Layla had grown used to his presence over time, she couldn’t deny that sometimes when those dark eyes looked into her, there was a moment, which went away just as quickly as it appeared, that those eyes had terrified her.
“I still can’t believe the headmaster is working with the witch... He was the head of Lady Alexia’s—the previous saint’s—guard...”
Niito heard Layla grumbled out while leaning back in his chair. Verner and his group of friends plus Supple Ment had just delivered the news: Headmaster Dias Dias (a name Niito still thought sounded ridiculous no matter how many times he heard it, not that Supple Ment was better.) had been working for the witch and that Aina had fallen for his smooth talk.
Niito looked at Ellize, she looked happy to finally have the justification she needed to deal with Dias. While Dias was an opponent whose stats equal Layla in the game, Niito could tell what Ellize was thinking with that face that still seemed to hold nothing but a warm smile.
Barrier, magic enhancement, and...there! All righty, none of your attacks work on me now. Too bad, bro!
Just as Ellize began to rise from her seat, Niito stepped over and leaned close.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to storm in to capture the headmaster right now.” he whispered.
“But why? We should get him out of the way first, shouldn’t we?”
Niito agreed, the earlier they got rid of him, the better, but…
“Then, what about those other spies? Most of them were members of Alexia’s guards, it would be hard to find the justification to capture them, and even if you succeed in capturing the headmaster, I doubt he will give you the name of every spy, which now included some clueless students.”
“Then what do we do?”
“I don’t know. Haven’t thought that far yet. Just thought I’ll tell you my opinion first.” Niito wanted to shrug but decided against it because of the eyes that were on him.
Ellize’s eyebrows slightly twitched.
That was when the door bursted open and Supple Ment came rushing in, claiming to have the plan to expose every single spy working under Dias.
“I understand,” Ellize said. “I shall leave this matter in your hands, then. I’m sure you will live up to my expectations, Mr. Supple Ment.”
Supple Ment looked ready to lick the floor.
“Oh... To think I’d hear your lovely mouth say that you have expectations for me! Oooooh! What an honor! These words alone can sustain me for ten— No! For a hundred years, at least! Please leave everything to me, my dear saint! I, Supple Ment, will do everything in my power to satisfy your expectations!”
To Niito’s eyes, Ellize looked disgusted at his antics.
Just like in the game, Niito thought. This guy is comedy gold.
Two weeks had passed, and Supple Ment had come back with the list of spies he had gathered.
Niito looked at it for a few seconds and determined that the list was legit. There were twenty-four names, and they were all the names of the former members of Alexia’s guards with some unknown students' names sprinkled in every now and then.
This guy…despite being a pervert, he is quite capable.
In the other routes, Supple wasn’t fleshed out much, he would appear at the start of the game to dump exposition on how great the saint was, and would occasionally appear later on in some sort of comedic scenes.
Layla didn’t seem to take the fact that the previous saint’s knights all betrayed humanity well, though. She accused Supple of crime against humanity.
“They’re all respectable people! Certainly, they’ve retired from the saint’s guard because of their age, but they’ve decided to continue to devote themselves to our great cause by raising new generations of knights! I won’t let you mock such devoted and honorable individuals!”
“I’m not trying to mock them,” Supple Ment retorted. “I don’t care if they served the previous saint faithfully. The fact that they’re betraying humanity now is proof enough that they’re lowlifes. Layla, you need to stop thinking that everyone values their oath and pride as much as you do.”
“How dare you?!” Layla roared, grabbing her sword.
“Calm down, Miss Layla, let’s look at this objectively.” Niito made his voice as calm as possible to try to defuse the situation, but it seemed to rub Layla the wrong way.
“You! Are you colluding with him?! I should have known not to trust you!”
Layla looked ready to draw her sword.
Waahhh, scary, Scotterbrain…
“I’m just saying that if Dias had turned to the witch, who’s to say it isn’t possible for the others to do it as well. Not to mention, he also had a lot of admirers, so some of them may decide to follow his lead.”
“Shut up, you scum!”
Welp, I’m not getting through to her.
Niito knew that trying to appeal to an emotional person was a fool's endeavor, so he gave up before her anger led her to slice him.
“Layla, calm down,” Ellize finally stepped in. “It’s just as Mr. Niito said, if even the headmaster decided to turn against us, we cannot rule out the possibility that the other knights did as well.”
“That’s true, but…”
Layla reluctantly let go of her sword.
Niito almost laughed—funny how the same argument could be rejected outright from him, yet accepted without question from her.
So she sees me as a scum on par with Supple Ment.
He could tell that Layla disliked him to a certain extent, but it was nice to get a confirmation.
Ellize hesitantly turned to look at Supple.
“Mr. Supple, could you tell me how you compiled this list?”
“What a remarkable question!”
Supple Ment then explained how he secretly swapped the Stil’s Bird that the witch's followers used to the ones he trained himself. He told us that he would call for a meeting inside the training hall to round them all up.
And with that, the stage had been set to trap the headmaster and Alexia’s followers.
Niito was a liability in battle, he knew that much, that’s why he mostly stayed in the background during the confrontation between the headmaster’s faction and Ellize’s faction.
Mostly.
“I’m going to comfort Aina for a sec.” Ellize said.
“Enjoy yourself.”
Ellize almost chuckled.
As for Niito, he prepared himself to watch the most exciting matchup of tonight.
Layla vs Dias, a duel between the current head of the saint guard and one of her most illustrious predecessors.
Silver flashes cut through the air and metallic sounds echoed through the training room as the two fighters moved in circles, exchanging position several times.
And here we go, Layla on the advance, blade angled low for that precision thrust! BUT! Dias meets her halfway with flawless guard! Ladies and gentlemen, there are sparks of flame flying all over the place, please watch out for your eyes!
Layla circles right and strikes! And Dias mirrors her like a reflection! OH! Both blades connect at exactly the same angle, same timing, it’s a perfect cancel! No ground lost on either side! And while I’ve been blabbing here, they’ve already pulled that stunt five times in a row, as far as I can tell! Folks! The fight was at such a breakneck speed that you could not take your eyes off for a second!
Dias feints left and swings right, I fell for it! But Layla’s not! She ducks and goes for a thrust but Dias is not having it! He pulls his sword back for a parry and prepares the downward slash! Layla answered by kicking his leg and bending just out of reach so the blade flew past her hair before firing back with a counter-slash that Dias blocked before creating a distance! That distance lasts for one second as their blades crash into each other again!
Not a single strike gets through! It’s like they’re dueling inside each other’s heads, predicting every move before it happens!
You could watch this for hours and still not see a winner… unless someone makes a human error! And right now? Not a chance!
“Every saint becomes a witch, eventually.”
It seems realizing this, Dias had decided to go for the psychological attack instead! He’s playing the “your beloved master is doomed” card! Distracting Layla with the potential future that Ellize would turn into a witch!
Layla stepped back, there’s a sign of fear on her face.
“Are you still in shock? I understand... I only learned about this terrible truth after Lady Alexia defeated the previous witch. When she died, her dark powers invaded Lady Alexia’s body. At the start, she was still herself. She didn’t understand what had happened and was quite shaken. I urged her to get treatment and took her back to the saint’s castle. While she was undergoing treatment there, I went to the king. I had to report the witch’s death, you see. Do you know what happened then?”
“I was suddenly restrained by the king’s men. They didn’t explain anything; they simply threw me into a cell,” Dias stated.
Layla looked shaken, the psychological move is efficient! What a great play by Dias…..
Hmm?
Isn’t this bad?
“After a few days, a minister came to tell me the truth. He explained that turning into a witch was the fate of all saints. He said that they’d tried to slay Lady Alexia as soon as she’d returned to the saint’s castle, but that she’d fled. ‘You’re a good knight,’ he told me. ‘Please forget about the previous saint and devote your life to protecting the next one. We need you.’ I pretended to accept and became a teacher here...” As he spoke, Dias punched the wall in anger a few times before concluding. “I’ll protect Lady Alexia, no matter who I have to face,”
Shit.
Niito leaned forward, the levity gone from his mind, Layla seemed really out of it.
Ellize seemed to still be comforting Aina, damn she, she’s enjoying herself hard.
Having a pretty girl cry on your shoulder, I’m jealous but this is not the time.
He made a hand signal in Ellize’s direction, once she noticed, Niito pointed towards Layla. Ellize made no attempts to move.
Don’t you notice that Layla is in danger? Look, look! Layla is barely holding her guard?! You told me you were just as good in swordsmanship, surely you see it?!
Layla didn’t manage to resume her fighting stance. She didn’t know what to do or how to react to what Dias had just said.
“I see you lost your will to fight. I understand,”
Niito ran towards Ellize while preparing to yell.
“Layla is in danger!” Niito roared. Ellize looked startled.
Dias swung his sword straight at Layla, intended to finish her off.
From where Niito stood—slightly to the side, about two meters back—it was obvious what would happen next.
With Layla’s unwillingness to move, the sword would cut through her, her body would fall down and blood would pool beneath her body.
It was an entirely predictable sequence.
Before he could think, he shouted out. “Dammit, move!” and shoving Layla out of the way.
Layla stumbled away, eyes wide, and the sword slashed through the air where she’d been a second ago…and where Niito now was.
Right before it could connect with him, however, it was split in half from the hilt. The two pieces flew out of his hand. It was Ellize’s work. She’d used a blade made out of mana to block Dias’s sword, and she’d destroyed it in the process.
After Dias was defeated by Ellize and the witch’s followers were seized by the knights, things had finally calmed down enough for Niito to realize something.
“Come to think of it, there’s no way you wouldn’t notice it.” Niito said, looking at Ellize.
While Ellize looked like she was still comforting Aina, she was still keeping a look around. They both knew it would be bad if anyone from the saint’s faction died after all.
“I was really surprised when you jumped in to save her, you acted like Verner just then.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“You’re me, take a guess.”
Ellize looked the same as always, though Niito could see some subtle judgemental stare in there.
It wasn’t a compliment.
If Niito were to explain what happened back then, it was like a quick time event. He only had one second to choose between act or don’t act.
So he panicked.
And from his experience, choosing act would generally lead to a better outcome.
And there was also… well, the basic human instinct, as much as Niito told himself that he was a piece of shit, he wasn’t so far gone that he could watch someone die in front of him and do nothing.
Niito always thought that those who would take the hits for others were reckless idiots. Why do they risk doubling the casualty count? If it were him, he wouldn’t do that.
Then again, he forgot himself, he was also an idiot.
By the way…
“You told Dias your secret?”
“The one that started with F, yes.”
“Fudou?” Niito teased.
“the one that started with FA” Ellize reworded dryly.
“Got it.”
Niito didn’t hear what she said, but judging from how Dias bursted out laughing in that situation, he could guess what it was that she had said.
He was a little bit shaken by the fact that Ellize had told Dias about the fact that she was a fake saint, where there’s smoke, there’s fire and all that. But when he considered that Dias was arrested for being the follower of the witch, if he blurted out “Ellize is a fake saint!” He would probably get executed on the spot.
Niito looked around the training hall, Everyone kept sneaking glances at Ellize, only to drop their eyes to the floor or stare straight ahead, no one spoke anything.
“Damn, everyone is looking depressed as hell.” Niito said with a hint of chuckle.
“My thoughts exactly.”
Those people were just told that their greatest and most beloved saint would become the most heinous witch if they defeated the witch after all.
One day, Ellize decided to ask him.
“Can’t you just tell me how Ellize’s route will go from start to finish?”
Niito looked up from the pile of documents on his desk.
Took you long enough.
“No, I can’t. Any piece of media concerning Ellize’s route just kept loading infinitely on my screen. I could never see anything beyond what had already happened on your end.”
“It wasn’t…the internet, right?”
That was what he assumed at first as well.
“No, I tried going to the internet cafe once. It didn’t work there either. I also tried playing Ellize’s route myself, but the screen always faded to black and the game always crashed after the tournament finished.”
“I see, well, that’s too bad. I thought I could cheat my way to victory.”
“Though, I could see what happened to you in the other routes.”
“Wait, really?”
Niito nodded.
“In all of the route except Ellize’s, Ellize got imprisoned and died without ever facing the witch.”
“What?”
“No idea, it wasn’t explained in detail what happened.”
In the other routes, the main cast only knew that Ellize had been imprisoned through a scene that depicted her sitting on the bed in a luxurious room.
Since she took the dark power of Verner, Ellize’s lifespan was shortened, she had about one year left to live, so there was also a short scene depicting her dead before near the fight against the witch.
They both had the same questions in their mind.
Would he be willing to die without ever facing the witch?
And they both reached the same answer: No.
If he knew he was near dead, he would have done everything he could to kill the witch before then, his sole purpose in being here was to give Eterna a happy ending, after all.
“My theory is that what happened in the other routes were simply what-ifs.” Niito suggested.
“That makes the most sense, I guess.”
“Still, the imprisonment event happened around a month and a half from now, just to be safe, you should be cautious around that time.”
Ellize mumbled an acknowledgement.
They both left it at that since it felt useless to speculate more on something that they could not prove. And even if it did happen, Ellize could just break out to kill the witch anytime anyways.
I was bored out of my mind when someone knocked on my door.
The man who stepped in had neat black hair, dark brown eyes, and wore Niito’s usual clothes. If you squinted, he even looked a little like Niito, except better.
“Who are you?” I asked politely, he must be a pretty big shot to be able to walk into the saint’s bedroom without getting cut down by Layla.
“Seriously?”
“Nah, I’m just joking, but what happened?”
His hair actually looked smooth, his skin looked clearer and his slightly visible cheekbone (courtesy of him owning less than half his soul) didn’t blemish his appearance anymore. He actually looked neat and above-average.
Still not comparable to me, of course, but it would be an unfair comparison since I’m using like ten spells at all times to maintain my perfect appearance.
“The maids were the ones who did this to me, they weren’t happy with how I looked, so they forced skincare on me. I can’t deny that I was curious about it, too… so here we are.”
Normally, Niito never bothered grooming himself. He knew he was average-looking and didn’t care. Apparently, the maids disagreed.
“You look like you can belong in an otome game, as a second cousin of the supporting character.”
Niito’s expression soured.
“That’s a trash compliment.” He paused. “Besides, I am in a game. Supporting character to the main heroine, remember?”
He smirked.
Gah! I forgot that this world is set in a nonsensical thing like Ellize’s route!
But what in the world does he mean by “main heroine”?! Is he betraying our sacred blood oath—that Eterna shall forever be number one?!
“Don’t even talk about that…the Ellize’s route isn’t real and I ain’t a waifu.”
“The game said otherwise.”
“That’s not true.”
“Search your feelings, you know it to be true.” Niito intoned, dropping into an absurdly deep voice, quoting a certain laser-sword-wielding chosen one.
The silence was palpable before I chuckled and we both laughed.
Today, the academy had a dance party.
Verner looked towards Ellize, who was sitting in the chair in the far end of the grand hall.
While for the last few days, Verner was concerned about the fact that Ellize would become the next witch, he eventually chose to place his trust in her. If Ellize said she wouldn’t become the next witch, then surely she wouldn’t.
She was a miracle worker, she made the impossible possible, so she must have another miracle in store for him—for them to see.
No, what concerned Verner right now was something more trivial.
Ellize had recently gained a new attendant.
That wasn’t really new news. However, Verner had recently learned something about him that put him on edge.
He, Aina and Eterna were sitting around talking about something, when Lady Ellize and her attendants (Mr. Niito and Miss Layla) arrived.
“May I join you?” Lady Ellize said with her melodious voice.
“Of course!” Verner said as fast as he could.
The conversation then went around until it inevitably got to the curious new attendant that followed Ellize around all the time, Fudou Niito.
“Mr. Niito?” Eterna said nervously.
Mr. Niito blinked too many times before replying.
“What is it? Eter—Miss Eterna?”
“How did you come to be Ellize’s attendant?”
Nice, Eterna! Verner gave a thumbs up in his mind, that’s what he wanted to know as well.
Mr. Niito thought for a second before replying.
“I was saved by Lady Ellize back when I had no place to call home and I was wandering around aimlessly, Lady Ellize had given me purpose and a new life for me, now I vow to serve her for as long as I lived.” Niito’s voice did not waver in the slightest.
Verner was impressed by his dedication, this is the kind of resolve he ought to have to be able to stay alongside her.
No one saw how Ellize sideeyed Niito as if to say what a graceful bullshit.
There’s a law of small talk that, given enough time, it will turn into guessing someone’s age.
Granted, it was called small talk for a reason, you were not supposed to talk that long, but the three of them were happy at having a chance to talk with Lady Ellize that they continue finding things to keep going. Niito was simply the unlucky target this time.
“Thirty-eight?” Aina guessed.
“No.” “No.”
He and Eterna said simultaneously. That was just plain wrong no matter how you look at it.
Eterna scrutinized Mr. Niito’s face.
“Thirty-two?” Eterna said, Verner almost laughed at that. While he could understand that his messy hair and unhealthy face could make him seem older than he was, it still was far too much.
Eterna saw his not-laugh face and pouted at him.
“Then what do you think, Verner?”
Judging by how Mr. Niito looked, Verner guessed he was around mid-twenties.
“I think he’s around twenty-four.”
“Uh, how old are you, Mr. Niito?” Aina decided to put an end to this.
“I’m eighteen.” Mr. Niito said, his face as stoic as always.
Everyone dropped their jaws, except Layla and Lady Ellize.
This man is older than Ellize by only two years.
How?
“You looked as old as my dad.” Aina did not mince words.
At that, Ellize let out a quick snort.
So now that he knew that the man who was always beside Ellize was barely older than her, could anyone blame him for seeing Mr. Niito as his rival?
Not to mention that, since that time, Mr. Niito had gone through some improvement, he actually looked handsome now compared to his previously…not-as-good appearance. He even heard some girls talking about how they want to dance with him at this event.
When the time for dancing had come, everyone practically fought to dance with Ellize, Verner stepped over the corpses of his rivals, dodged the rolling bodies of the challengers, paid no mind to Layla’s icy glare and Niito’s unreadable expression before approaching Ellize and kneeling before her.
“Lady Ellize, may I ask you for a dance?”
He could’ve swore he heard Niito laugh at that moment.
As Niito looked at the shooting stars Ellize had created, his eyes wandered to Ellize and Verner who seemed to be having a moment outside on the balcony.
Look at you, acting like a proper heroine.
He couldn’t wait to tease her about this, maybe laugh at her face for good measure.
She never really realized how things looked from the outside, not that he was much better. She was him, after all. And if there was one thing they both agreed on, it was that they were both idiots.
For his part in the dance party, there were a few girls who invited him, but he went to dance with only Layla who had insisted on it, though she most likely invited him out of politeness (or some obscure etiquette that Niito couldn’t remember) rather than interest.
Since the incident with Dias, he and Layla had not talked much, they talked only when work was involved. That arrangement suited Niito just fine. He knew she disliked him, and he could hardly fault her for it. If their roles were reversed, he wouldn’t want to chat with someone he couldn’t stand either.
Despite his multiple missteps in dancing that vaguely resembled an attack on her feet, Layla managed to avoid them all and made their dance actually look good in the outsider’s eyes.
“Niito, I know it is late to say this but thank you for your help back then.”
It must be because he made a confused expression that Layla clarified.
“You saved me from Dias.”
Ah, that one…
Honestly, Ellize would have saved her anyway. All he did was put two people in danger instead of one, it was a useless action that warranted no thanks.
“You should give your thanks to Lady Ellize instead of me.”
Layla, seemingly about to say something, closed her mouth before continuing on with their dancing.
After the dancing session and Niito’s miserable experience finished, Layla nudged him.
“Niito, after the party, can I have some of your time?”
“Sure.” He replied, and Layla gave a small nod in return.
After Layla escorted Ellize back to her room on the fifth floor of the academy, she left the guarding of the door to the other saint guard and walked ahead of him down the stairs.
It seemed like whatever it was, she didn’t want Ellize to hear it.
Niito was led to one of the guest rooms at the academy.
Layla opened the door and stepped aside, taking up the position of a guard by the door.
There, sitting on a sofa near the window was an old man with a commanding presence. His hair, once blue, had faded to silver, but there was nothing fragile about him. His eyes were the color of blueberry. His frame was still broad and sturdy, a man who had once wielded a sword and could probably still do so if needed. He was flanked by two knights who wore the symbol of the royal guard.
King Aiz And Ai Bilberry XIII, the king of the Bilberry Kingdom.
Niito immediately bowed. His etiquette wasn’t flawless, he barely had a month of training in this kind of thing, but it was neat enough to pass.
“Be at ease.” Aiz’s deep voice resounded.
Niito raised his head up, and that was as far as his etiquette lessons could carry him.
What was he supposed to do next after the king told him to be at ease?
Actually being at ease? No way.
He wished Ellize were here to tell him how to bullshit through this. She was experienced in this sort of thing.
“I have something I wish to speak with you about,” the king continued, his voice even. “It will be brief, so there’s no need to sit, Niito.”
Aiz looked straight into his eyes.
“What do you think about Lady Ellize?”
Two-faced, show-off, piece of trash, but since she paid my bills…
“She is the most noble person I’ve ever met.” Niito answered.
The king showed no reaction.
That got Niito thinking, was his answer too short…or too bland?
The people in this world praise Ellize like crazy. I don’t know what King Aiz is like, the game doesn’t tell much about him and I never open his wiki page (does he even have one?) but he’s probably a card-carrying member of the Ellize Fan Club too. Most nobles are, since Ellize is not interested in politics, they can admire her without worrying about any political implication. He’s probably waiting for me to continue, just look at him, that serious face looks ready to listen to whatever I have to say.
He breathed in and continued.
Time to cringe.
“She is light itself.”
The first sentence and he already wanted to give up, why the hell did he open with that?
His mouth had moved on its own when he thought about cringe plus praising Ellize. What he just said was Supple Ment’s first line from the exposition dialogues in the start of the ‘new’ Kuon no Sanka .
Oh well, since he already started with it, he might as well steal the rest of Supple’s lines and say them here, after removing all the creepy bits, of course.
“She is the one person who will never turn away no matter how shameful or sinful we are, the one who listens when no one else bothers, the one who treats even the most vile and evil beings as though they are worth saving. She does not see rank or bloodline, she does not look down on anyone, and she never seeks reward for what she gives.
Her words carry weight because she never speaks for herself, only for the sake of others. Her actions inspire others not because they are grand, but because they are genuine. She does what must be done even when no one is watching, even when no one would know to thank her. She is the person who binds people together without needing to command them. In the face of anger, she chooses patience, in the face of betrayal, she chooses forgiveness, and even when her heart had broken because of their betrayal, she never seeks retribution upon them. That is why people follow her and trust her, and why she is beyond compare.”
Niito kept going, he would ride on his embarrassment for as long as he could.
“There has never been a saint like her, and there never will be again. Lady Ellize is the only one who can bear this world on her shoulders, and she does so without complaint, without hesitation and without asking for anything in return. Her deeds had spoken about the integrity of her heart, Lady Ellize would step into the filthiest homes without hesitation if it meant helping someone. She restores forests through miracles, revives rivers poisoned by monsters, and returns life to lands everyone else abandoned. She holds a power no other saint in history has ever possessed, and yet she never flaunts it, never wields it for herself. Because of her, humanity has reclaimed what was lost, be it hope, their humanity or Mother Nature, even the lands that were the domains of witches and monsters for generations now belong to us again. Countless lives continue because she refuses to rest when she hears of someone’s suffering. There is no measure for her worth, no scale large enough to weigh what she has given us, what she has given humanity as a whole.
She carries all of our doubts, our fears and our failures on her shoulders, and yet she never lets them weigh her down. She is the one proof that hope is not a lie, the one reason humanity endures at all. Without Lady Ellize, there would be nothing left but despair. That is why I say, without doubt or question, she is the most noble person I have ever met….”
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
How’s my fucking recruitment speech for the cult of Ellize, Your Majesty?
King Aiz stared at him with an unreadable expression before he nodded when he noticed that Niito finished speaking. Layla’s eyes went wide, she had never seen Niito talk this much before.
I’m dying of embarrassment here, please tell me I at least earned approval with that whole monologue! Was that nod an approving nod or a “shut up already” nod?! If it was the latter, I’m really going to cry!
If Ellize ever hears about this, I’m finished.
King Aiz spoke at last, “...That she is, even among the four saints I’ve seen, she is the greatest among them. There is even talk among the upper ranks of the church of creating a new title solely for her.”
Niito nodded, mostly because he didn’t want to say anything to praise Ellize further.
King Aiz leaned back in his sofa.
“How is she in the academy? I heard she found some clues that the witch was hiding there. Is there any progress on that end?”
I guess this is the main thing that he wants to talk about.
“While it was true that Lady Ellize had found some clues that the witch was hiding inside the academy, there had been no concrete proof yet, the witch had been elusive so far.”
Niito lied through his teeth. He and Ellize knew exactly where the witch was.
King Aiz eyed Layla for a second before he nodded.
“That’s good, please continue searching for the witch.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
King Aiz then leaned forward.
“And also, tell Lady Ellize to rest sometimes.”
Pardon? She did nothing but rest these days, what are you talking about? Especially because there is no event occurring around these times.
“She has been resting well, Your Majesty.”
“You’ve been negligent as an attendant, then. You yourself said she shoulders more than most adults twice her age. No one is unbreakable, Niito. Not even her, even if you chose to believe so, exhaustion will catch up with her eventually. It is your duty to see past the surface and force her to rest before she collapses. Do not mistake endurance for invincibility.”
“I…understand, Your Majesty.”
She didn’t endure anything, Your Majesty, just yesterday she was bragging to me about how she felt blessed to see Eterna’s boobs swaying in the bath.
"Good.” Aiz let the atmosphere settle down for a moment before continuing, “One last thing, inform Lady Ellize that the kings will convene a week from now, the venue will be at the saint castle. She can expect a formal invitation in due time."
A meeting between kings?
Was there an event like that? It must be one of those events that never appeared in the game since it got nothing to do with the main character.
Why are they holding it at the saint castle, though?
Suddenly, a thought occurred in his mind.
The time for Ellize’s confinement arc in the other route was a month from now, since he knew the time at least, he had talked to Ellize to look out for anything that seemed wrong.
Yet, now that he considered, he and Ellize had overlooked a crucial detail: the cause of her confinement. Who else but the royal families could imprison Ellize? Even the original Ellize, who was a certified piece of trash, needed royal consent before they exiled her.
The more he thought about it, the more he was wary of the king in front of him.
King Aiz leaned back, his tone settling into something final.
“I wouldn’t take your time any longer, direct my advice to Lady Ellize.” King Aiz said, before dismissing him from the room with Layla.
Damn, I never noticed it but he had that look of an evil mastermind. Was he the one who ordered Ellize’s confinement in the other routes? He probably was, right? But how can he make Ellize stay still?
Niito felt like there was a factor that he wasn’t aware of that could be the answer to his question, and that frustrated him somewhat.
He didn’t notice the odd expression Layla gave him.