*
Pina Grancia lamented in her room.
“I deliberately came in second. Licht.”
She had no idea that the man named Licht wanted to obtain a Mana Rose.
She left the arena, and at the awards ceremony, she received a rose and truly expressed her joy.
“…I got played.”
From the beginning, the target was the Mana Rose. Her sharp eyes quickly realized that. As she thought about the guy in the Black Knight helmet…
“Hehe.”
She couldn’t help but chuckle. The initial reaction he showed when seeing her body was adorable. It reminded her of a little puppy running away in fright.
“…Pervert.”
In truth, he wasn’t that much of a pervert. He had even taken off his outer garment to cover her up, and seeing him struggling not to look at her figure was amusing.
‘His neck was as red as an apple.’
Initially, she was very embarrassed when her Masterpiece was stripped away. She thought she might not be able to protect her close friends anymore now that one of her strengths had collapsed.
“…He was kind. Licht.”
However, Licht had intentionally created shadows to obscure her visibility, so that her gender would not be revealed to the audience or other academy students.
‘Well, if Licht’s words are to be believed, the Magic Hat has the power of deception.’
If a precious person had been deceived by the Magic Hat, that could explain it. She must have been terrified of someone disguising themselves as a familiar face.
Finding out the truth was scary, but it was something she would have to do someday.
She couldn’t help but feel that if Licht had asked her about her gender and she had simply said she was a girl, this wouldn’t have happened.
‘It’s partly my fault…’
She had already hinted to the academy professors, Schartines, and Nex to hide her identity as much as possible.
Nex, who was skilled at deceiving others, calling her a Crown Prince must have played a big role too.
“…Is it okay to be weak around Licht?”
Licht was someone who gradually touched her heart. He told her it was alright if she didn’t have armor.
She thought that being strong meant everything, but his words wanted her to rely more on others.
In fact, what Pina really needed wasn’t thick glass armor, but someone trustworthy like Licht.
“…But he’d probably dislike hair like this.”
She took off her helmet and removed her armor. Her pure white hair fell to her waist. She stared at herself in the mirror, adjusting her hair.
“It’s ugly.”
The extreme stress from past events caused this.
This was the reason her hair and tail colors were different from her family’s.
The day she thought the Magic Hat killed her mother. It was a scar of the guilt she could not erase about herself, who had done nothing at that time.
If the audience or Licht had seen her, they would undoubtedly feel uneasy. There was always a possibility of rumors circulating that she might not be of royal blood.
She stopped touching her hair, which she did with a sorrowful look. Even with this part of her, she needed to become stronger. Licht said that he reached his position by being weak.
‘But why did he want to obtain a Mana Rose?’
As she kept thinking about Licht, a contradictory point tugged at the corner of her mind.
If he sought the Mana Rose to use magic, the Dragon Heart she received for coming in first would have been more useful. It was the same medium, but it was a dragon’s heart.
‘Could it be because of that person?’
The Nameless Saintess. No matter how she looked at it, it seemed like it would be her. The man rarely showed such emotions. Pina’s golden wolf-like eyes narrowed.
“…I’m jealous.”
Licht was someone who could become a Sword Master, and he was the one she talked about when going to fight the Demon King. Surely the present Saintess was her acquaintance, Schartines.
‘The next Saintess. The next Saintess…’
Who on earth was she, that even Laplace or the Sage couldn’t find her? Maybe she was under the protection of the God of Light.
Had they maintained contact even before coming to the academy? From the way they spoke, it seemed that was the case. Her keen eyes were piecing together the situation she had seen.
‘Even making me come in second, and then not showing up for the match.’
No matter how she looked around the audience or asked the Imperial Guard for help, there was no sign of the “Nameless Saintess.” Initially, no one in the audience knew Licht either.
‘…I still don’t know much about you, Licht.’
That was one of the reasons Pina thought of Licht as a Hero. Dennis among the Ten Heroes also had few known past deeds, so not many people knew him either.
He seemed to have too many secrets. He always stumbled over his lies, which would have led to him getting caught quickly.
“Now, it doesn’t matter.”
She gazed at the Dragon Heart in the small box. Now, whether he was a Hero or not,
it didn’t matter to Pina if the Nameless Saintess was more important to that man.
“I… have to tell him.”
Unknowingly, the man named Licht was gradually becoming a precious person to her.
She didn’t want to think poorly of him because of the Heroes of the Hero Church.
“…”
She looked at her reflection in the mirror. Reflecting on the events of today, she revisited the stories told by Licht.
It was okay to be weak.
It was okay not to have armor.
To rely on people a bit more, those warm words of encouragement.
All those things made today a precious day for her. So much changed within her that she wanted to circle today’s date in red and celebrate it as an anniversary.
While deep in thought, Pina made a slightly sulking expression. The way Licht had been embarrassed kept swirling in her mind.
“…What’s good about this chest? Silly.”
In response to that, Pina tried on the light gloves crafted for her by the dwarves. Unlike glass armor, her feminine figure was distinctly revealed.
“Pervert, Licht.”
She was still a bit angry about her still-developing chest. If it were smaller, it would have been easier to hide her identity, and Licht wouldn’t have been surprised at seeing her body.
“…I’m not taking off my armor yet. I’m worried that perverts like Licht will come after me.”
Once again, she placed her hand at the center of her chest and donned the Masterpiece. Thanks to the layers of heavy gloves, her body was finally concealed.
Where had that previous version of her gone? Once more, she assumed the form of a glass knight, a tall, imposing knight who went by the alias Mardol.
“So, please wait just a bit longer.”
But even dressed in the same glass armor, she was Pina Grancia, who had shed a little of the burden in her heart.
Pina gathered Licht’s outer garment and the Dragon Heart and left the Imperial Palace.
*
After the awards ceremony for the year-end exam, I returned alone to the male dormitory.
“…Luckily, I have time to sort out my thoughts.”
Kainel had headed to the imperial blacksmith with Ariel to see if they could make a staff from the World Tree’s leaves.
I opened my notebook. No matter how I thought about it, there were many discrepancies with the information I had known.
“Is it because of the past prequel? Something important is starting to not add up.”
Thus, I started jotting down information about Mardol Grancia on one side of the paper. The main character of [Grand Hertz Academy], wearing a Masterpiece.
“A Glass Knight. It’s a fitting nickname.”
At times, he was sharp, almost like a mirror reflecting myself back.
The main characters of [Night Heart Trilogy] each had their own nicknames, so it would make sense.
“I couldn’t break the Masterpiece, but I confirmed the gender.”
Initially, I tried to break her glass armor, but I kept failing, and I had to find another way.
The source of mana was the heart.
So, the best I could do was momentarily sever the connection with the heart to unbind the glass armor. The helmet didn’t seem to be made separately, as it didn’t come off.
“The reason her voice kept modulating was because of the helmet.”
A low rumbling voice. It was excellent equipment to mistake her for a man. It seemed like it was of the same quality as other Masterpiece-level gear.
In the end, a fake was a fake. There was no way a sword that wasn’t a Holy Sword could completely sever the connection, but I was quite disappointed.
“…”
As the figure of Mardol I saw today floated in front of my eyes, I shook my head vigorously. She lacked the presence that our Saintess had. I shouldn’t be fooled by such shallow tricks.
‘Get a grip, Lee Soo-hyun.’
I knew that even in the game, if I got involved with another female character, I would immediately deviate from the Saintess route. It should be the same here.
[Kainel♡Ariel 34% ‘NEW!’]
At that moment, a transparent status window popped up before my eyes.
Was this the business from that pastry shop finally settling? This annoying status window was nearly useless. The fact that it wasn’t real-time calculation made me even angrier.
Excluding Nex, it had never been helpful for me. Mardol even indicated that he was a new character for this story.
‘I even got a penalty when I tried to deal with the Magic Hat in advance.’
Thinking about it, the Creator probably wanted me to deviate from the Saintess route and pair me up with Mardol, the main character of [Grand Hertz Academy].
That must not happen. I would just stay as a comrade. After all, in my current weak state, I needed help.
“Mana Rose… I secured it well, so there’s no more problem.”
I regained my focus and looked at the blue rose in the vase in front of me. Our Saintess would be truly happy if she received it.
“I knew blue roses existed, but seeing one in person is truly amazing.”
The blue rose, soaked in mana. What was the language of flowers again? It was probably about overcoming the impossible. I didn’t know much about such things.
“I wonder if our Saintess… is okay.”
Thinking about her, who seemed to be involved with the Demon King, I couldn’t help but feel worried.
In fact, the powers aren’t perfect. There should normally be some traces left. Even if there were cases like the White Lily that Laplace or the Sage wouldn’t know about.
“…If I search, I’m sure I’ll find a clue.”
Dennis vaguely remembers the Celestial Demon. I also know it.
Magic Hats are the same. I could find victims by cross-referencing the names on the attendance sheet and those who were in the classroom.
—Knock, knock.
While pondering various variables, there was a knock, and a visitor arrived.
“Licht, are you there?”
A rumbling voice. There was no doubt it was Mardol. He only comes trying to block me whenever I think about our Saintess.
Even if she’s the main heroine, isn’t this a bit much? This is the male dormitory.
“Yes, I am.”
I sighed and turned the doorknob.
*
While two men and women were about to meet in the academy’s dormitory, somewhere in the Demon King’s Castle…
“It seems there is a hero I don’t know at the academy.”
A man wearing round glasses finished moving his pen.
“A person other than those intending to overrule my power.”
In his hand was a book filled with countless calculations, with white paper densely written to the point of turning black.
“It’s best to go check personally.”
The man put the black mask given by the Magic Hat into his possession and prepared to leave his seat.
“…Even you won’t be able to unravel the two portions of my power. Hero.”
The Demon King of All Knowledge. Head Ake.
“Fate cannot be changed.”
He was targeting someone at Grand Hertz Academy.
*
