Interlude 1 – The Saint’s Destiny
—I have still not forgotten that day.
The order Lord Svell gave me. ‘Please ■■■■■, won’t you.’
‘Lord Svell! Please, reconsider… I cannot do such a thing!’
Until that day I had listened for Lord Svell’s voice and been faithful to every word of it, as a Saint should be. That day was the first time I ever argued back.
‘There is no one but you, the Saint, of whom this can be asked. You are to ■■■■■ the Chosen, and ■■■■■ what the miasma has defiled.’
What Lord Svell commanded me to do that day ran against every conviction I had built up in myself.
But Lord Svell told me this would be the last thing she would ever leave me.
‘Reshia. I am about to ■■■■■, and ■■■■■ this distorted history. The price is that I shall not come through it whole.’
‘—!’
‘You are to ■■■■■, remove the Chosen, ■■■■■, and when the moment opens, strike down ■■■■■. Do that, and the history that went wrong can be set right.’
I could hardly bring myself to nod.
‘Reshia…’
‘You are telling me to ■■■■■?’
‘I am. If you do not ■■■■■, there will never again be ■■■■■.’
I agonized over it. Whether to accept what Lord Svell said, or to search out some other road and put a different proposal to her. But no plan that would let me ■■■■■ came to me.
‘Must I truly… must I truly ■■■■■?’
‘It is the one way the distorted history can be returned to what it was. With ■■■■■ swallowed by the miasma still in this world, history will go on down the wrong road.’
‘…I understand. Everything as Lord Svell’s heart wills it.’
‘Thank you, Reshia. Be sure to ■■■■■, won’t you.’
I wanted to be rid of ■■■■■. Otherwise I would certainly lose sight of myself.
I am the Saint, who offers absolute faith to the Lord God.
Even so, my resistance to obeying Lord Svell’s command to ■■■■■ stayed exactly as strong as it had been.
—And so, in place of simply obeying, I put forward one request of my own.
‘…Lord Svell, please ■■■■■. If you will, then I am certain I can bring your dearest wish to pass.’
‘…Very well. I shall grant your request.’
For an instant Lord Svell’s face looked as though it wavered, but she accepted my request and ■■■■■ for me. So that I would waver no further. So that I would ■■■■■.
‘Now. It is nearly time. I shall ■■■■■ in order to ■■■■■. The fate of the world I have entrusted to you.’
At the hour of the ending, those were the words Lord Svell left me.
‘Please leave it to me.’
Having ■■■■■, I was able to take Lord Svell’s words simply as they were given.
I will not stop again. What remains is the covert work of one devout Saint, faithful to the command of her Lord God.
I swore upon this body that I would carry out my mission and prevent the altering of history, my own precious mission, which will remain in no one’s memory and no one’s record.
‘…Now, then. Shall we begin? Setting the world to rights.’
I went back through time, and set about removing the threat that would lead the world to ruin.
Along with that great mission, Lord Svell entrusted me with the power of the mighty Divine Beasts.
‘With this power, surely, ’
A history of war without end.
Just as Lord Svell wished it, I will strike down ■■■■■ and take back the history that is true.
“Lady Reshia. The Kingdom’s army has engaged the Imperial army. It appears they have begun the taking of the Dyrst region in earnest.”
One of the Order’s soldiers made his report on the Kingdom’s movements. I had been steeped in the memory of the past; I raised my face and turned my mind at once to the present.
“I see… then it is all as planned. When the two armies have crushed one another and worn themselves down, shall we begin our own invasion.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Fufu. Just how much the Empire’s Chosen can manage… I shall do them the favor of watching personally.”
If they imagine that holding the memories of the past means everything will go as they please, then I shall have to do them the kindness of correcting that misunderstanding. They must be taught the cruelty of a history that repeats, and the recklessness of trying to overturn what is fated.
“Priest.”
“Yes. What is it, my lady?”
“I am entrusting one of the Divine Beasts to you. Should you meet the enemy suddenly and find the situation beyond your own strength, only then, use this child to remove whoever stands in your way.”
I sent the White Serpent over to the priest standing beside me.
“I-Is that truly permitted?”
“It is. Take the greatest care not to let it come to harm, won’t you.”
“Understood.”
The priest stood there delighted with a Divine Beast at his side, and I glanced at him sidelong and let out a deep breath.
—With that, the preparations are perfectly in order.
“…We advance by degrees. Begin the march into the deep forest near the Dyrst border.”
The Order’s army formed up in clean, unbroken ranks and began to move without a sound.
“Lady Reshia, let us be certain to take back our holy land.”
The recovery of the holy land… ah, yes. This was a recovery of the holy land, wasn’t it.
“Yes. So it is.”
I put on a smile for him, mounted the Black Serpent’s back, and went forward.
—Now. Let me teach them personally what one of the Chosen is truly capable of.
This battle is my mission itself, the one Lord Svell laid upon me.