A week has passed since the start of the second semester. Phew!
Fortunately, nothing out of the ordinary happened. The masked girl disappeared again, my abilities returned to normal, and I didn’t face any major issues during classes. I studied, understanding things while rewinding time as usual… The subjects were full of useful knowledge for living in this world, so I had no problem getting through them.
“So, rewinding time is something even the Goddess can’t do. This world is thoroughly physical. Sure, there are things like magic and whatnot, but in the end, the results they yield can’t go beyond the laws of physics,” said Ada, our physics and mechanics teacher. Yawn!
I listened to her explanation with half-hearted interest. Well, I would have thought the same. Even if the physics of this world wasn’t as advanced as what I lived in during the 21st century, and even if the talk about time changing leading to parallel worlds was nonsense, it was only natural to think that way generally.
No one in this world or any other could turn back time. Not a single person. Just like science evolved from geocentrism to heliocentrism, if I couldn’t scientifically prove my abilities, I wouldn’t have a way to explain them to others.
So I didn’t feel the need to comment on her words.
But there was one person who didn’t think so.
“Uh, teacher?”
Johannes.
He wasn’t a significant character in the original story, and it was the same in this world from what I could tell. He never interacted with me in the first place. He was just someone I remembered because he was in the same class and I memorized the names of the named NPCs from the original work.
But I still remembered his basic setting. He was a devout follower of the Goddess.
“I believe it’s hard to accept that a divine being can’t do something,” he said.
“Oh really?”
But Ada didn’t seem particularly interested in his question.
Had she been working here for a decade or something? Starting in her early twenties, getting married, and becoming the ‘Strange Baroness,’ while still continuing her teaching career, she must have received countless questions like that.
“Yes, that’s correct. For example, in the holy texts of the Goddess—”
“Does it give examples of being able to turn back time? Like winding a clock?”
Ada cut him off with a bored expression, silencing the student, and shrugged her shoulders.
“Let me ask you something. Do you think winding a clock is the same as turning back time?”
“Uh… no, not really…”
“I think so too. Even if we say the world is like a clock moving in a set direction, if the Goddess rewinds it, time itself still flows. The hands just move backward. From the Goddess’s perspective, time continues to flow in one direction. She’s just reverting the situation, but you can’t say she’s literally turned back the timeline.”
“Uh…”
Johannes looked around, then spoke up.
“But if that’s the case, isn’t it just the same as turning back time?”
“From our standpoint, yes. But not from the Goddess’s perspective, right? The position of the stars, the location of the fallen sand, the flow of the water would all return to their original states. Nevertheless, absolute time itself can’t stop flowing. The Goddess who rewinds the clock can feel time flowing outside the clock.”
Johannes tilted his head.
Honestly, I found myself slightly agreeing with him.
*
I’m slowly engaging in conversation with Mia Crowfield.
We weren’t really the best at talking before, but leaving it as it was felt a bit off.
And I genuinely liked almost all the heroines from the original work, including Mia Crowfield. Mia’s parents were the kind of people no one could possibly like, but she was a character who never forgot what she suffered and tried to overcome it.
I also liked Claire, Alice, Charlotte, and Roti. This included even the commoner heroine, whom I hadn’t had a proper encounter with yet.
There was only one heroine I… didn’t really like.
“My name is Sophia Bianchi. From this month, I’ll be studying with all of you. Nice to meet you.”
The girl with purple hair, purple eyes, and a gentle gaze bent at the waist, greeting the students. Ding dong!
She exuded an air of elegance that was different from Alice or Charlotte, imbued with humility rather than confidence.
Simply put, rather than a royal or an empire, it felt closer to the elegance of a clergy member.
Yes, the girl greeting us over there was none other than the heroine from the Papal State.
Originally, she was supposed to appear from next year.
I had to desperately hide my shocked expression. If Alice saw my face now, she would probably react in one of two ways: either look extremely serious or burst into laughter. Maybe both at the same time!
“Sophia comes from the Kingdom of Velbur. She received approval from the Empire to study with all of you here.”
Carolyn, the homeroom teacher who was with Sophia Bianchi, introduced her that way.
That’s a lie.
Sophia Bianchi is from the Papal State. However, in the eyes of the Papal State, only clergymen are officially considered ‘citizens’.
Of course, most of them are orphans brought from other countries.
Among those orphans, the ones with exceptional abilities or deep faith mostly become clergy, and even if they don’t, they at least live as nominal capital residents. In reality, they are no different from praying citizens.
Sophia Bianchi had shown great potential since childhood and could become a member of the clergy—and she enjoyed her position as one.
She found it so delightful that she kept her spot there.
So…
Sophia’s purple eyes turned towards me. When our gazes met, those crescent-shaped eyes curved. An innocent gaze that puts others at ease. Ding!
So, that character is like that.
A character aimed at middle school syndrome. Covered in blood after a battle, yet laughing away.
It reminded me of an embarrassing phase I had with friends when I was in middle school.
…I really dislike her.
*
Even if she genuinely had that power, it wouldn’t be middle school syndrome anymore. Honestly, in my situation, viewing this as a game was not something I could relate to much. After all, she’s not even a character that exists in reality.
Moreover, this character, at the beginning, was initially portrayed as extraordinarily powerful and was supported heavily in the storyline.
In the first part, there was an event where characters introduced had lost to her at least once in battle. And even the way they lost wasn’t due to hard-fought effort but rather an “Oh, did I mismanage my power?” type of situation, which made it even more infuriating!
Though it’s said that the stats don’t carry over between parts, it felt a bit questionable, to say the least.
Eventually, she does come around to some degree and joins the party, but that bad first impression lingered, leading me to dislike her. To put it frankly, I felt more inclined to declare my hatred.
But…
“Silvia.”
With her constantly trying to act friendly, it was incredibly uncomfortable.
If only she had come out as antagonistic like in the games, I could’ve clearly shown my dislike, but—
“Let’s have lunch together.”
“Do you have plans after class?”
“Oh, are you heading to a café? Can I go along too?”
With such assertiveness, I found myself without a way to respond. At least with Mia Crowfield, she openly expressed her discomfort and dislike towards me, so I could behave rudely back, but this girl was different.
“Sophia.”
The only silver lining was that I wasn’t the only one feeling uncomfortable about this.
Alice, noticing Sophia, who had by then joined us at the café, commented, “Uh… Was she from Velbur, right?”
“Yes, she’s from Lutetia.”
“Really?”
Hearing that, Charlotte quietly gazed at Sophia Bianchi.
“But I’ve never seen you before.”
A student from another country, even having received approval from the Empire, had transferred in—a noble class to boot. If so, she should have been someone of note, yet Charlotte hadn’t seen her even once…
“I’m a bit awkward in social circles. Also, my family’s only of a knight rank, so I rarely had a chance to meet a princess in person.”
If she said that, it left no room for Charlotte to doubt.
“…Alright?”
Even while tilting her head, Charlotte let it go for now.
“Lady Bianchi.”
“Please just call me Sophia.”
I ignored her response and shot my question straight.
At the sound of my words, Sophia Bianchi’s eyes curved like a crescent moon again.
“No, not at all.”
…What a straight-faced answer. BAM!
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