Velrose's voice was submissive. She could tell that Sathya was a stronger magical beast than her, and it was only right for a stronger “Senior” to guide her.
Furthermore, she realized she had misunderstood the two of them.
The moment she transformed into a magical beast, it felt as if she had unleashed all her power, rising from the ashes. The world took on a completely new look, and she felt as if she could do anything.
Because of this, she now knew that the girl from earlier was almost certainly Tina.
“Tina... Sister Tina? How could that be...” Sathya fell into confusion.
“I can't confirm her identity. She just felt very similar, and maybe I saw wrong.”
“She can't be Sister Tina.” A look of disbelief appeared in Sathya's hollow eyes. “Sister Tina is human, and she's a human who is very good to me. I like her...”
But before Velrose could argue further, Sathya shut down.
Clutching her head, she began to mutter to herself.
“If it really is her, what should I do... Sister Tina turned into a monster for me? Has she been keeping it from me all this time? How could this happen? How much pain has she endured...”
Seeing Sathya like this, Velrose felt a pang of heartache. She naturally understood this obsessive affection.
Moreover, she was also suppressing her own murderous intent toward humans, the Church, and Babarol.
“Senior, it's not confirmed to be her yet. Please don't be so sad.”
“You're right.”
Sathya remembered that tomorrow was the birthday party.
Yesterday, Lavertis had approached Tina before she did, and she heard that Sister Tina had readily agreed to attend the birthday party. Tomorrow, she would get all the answers, no matter the cost.
Sister Tina, have you been lying to me this whole time?
...
“So you took the Chaos Mask just to go meet that magical beast?”
That night, in the Leaflight society lounge, the Astral Sage came in person to discuss their next steps with Tina.
Tina had finished washing up and walked out wearing cute, pink pajamas, holding a cup of tea in her hand. Her completely relaxed and leisurely attitude struck the Astral Sage, Miranda, as particularly bizarre.
Tina seemed entirely unaware of just how dangerous magical beasts were.
“Yeah.”
Tina sat down gracefully. Even in her casual pajamas, she still looked like a proper lady.
“But by the time I arrived, Sathya had already dealt with the magical beast~”
“Dealt with it?!”
“Mhm. The magical beast that attacked us has been killed by Sathya.”
Seeing the Astral Sage freeze, Tina smiled and said, “Now, I have a task to entrust to you.”
“...Please speak.”
“Help me spread the word that Sathya killed the demon. With concrete proof, the world is now at peace.”
Miranda looked helpless. “Everyone will naturally find out in a few days anyway.”
But Tina shook her head. “No, it needs to be faster. After all, your mission is to protect Sathya and make her the Saintess. Your words carry the same weight as the Principal's.”
Miranda nodded.
However, she still felt that something was off.
Something wasn't right...
“Could it be that you were the one who killed the demon, and you want to give all the credit to Sathya?”
“If you want to think so, there's nothing I can do.” Tina shrugged.
“Then that must be the truth~ You really do like her. And to think you could actually defeat a magical beast... You are far more terrifying than I imagined.”
Tina shook her head and immediately changed the subject. “You went to the library, right? Did you get any news about your sister?”
“I did.” Miranda nodded. “That was her final notebook, and it recorded information about Lystra. She must have gone to look for Lystra's ‘demon experiment’...”
“But that so-called experiment doesn't exist at all.” Tina took a sip of her tea.
“You really... Do you know everything?”
“I just know a little bit. Also, I have some bad news for you. I'm afraid the Lystran who knew the most, Velrose's mother, has already died at the hands of Babarol.”
“General Babarol?!”
General Babarol was once known to the world as the “Iron-Boned Hero.”
Decades ago, he had led armies to defeat the pirates of the northern ocean and the nomadic nations sweeping south multiple times. Even after retirement, he remained powerful, currently serving as the Knight Commander of the Holy Academy's garrison. Yet due to his heroic exploits in his youth, the people of the Empire still referred to him as “General.”
In reality, he was Principal Ulrich's second-in-command and a key figure in executing the “Sacred Mutiny.”
The paladins he led and the slave army he raised in secret would become the main force of the Sacred Mutiny, and their very first target to pillage was the Holy Academy.
Tina told Miranda to keep a close eye on Babarol and the Principal at all times, while also promising that she would definitely help her find her sister.
Early morning.
Tina was awakened by the noise outside the dormitory.
Getting out of bed and opening the window, she could see countless students milling around the girls' dormitory.
They were all students from different societies.
“Where is Lady Saintess?”
“Is Lady Sathya here...?”
“The hero, Lady Sathya!”
Naturally, they were all admirers who had come to congratulate Sathya.
She got up, washed, and went downstairs as usual. Squeezing through the crowd, she headed to the school's first cafeteria for breakfast. She had just ordered red bean buns, soy milk, and tofu pudding when she ran into a familiar face.
Her orange-yellow long hair was dazzling in the sunlight.
Velrose.
Smiling, she greeted Tina and sat across from her, holding a steaming rice ball in her hand.
“‘Starcinder Society Attacked by Magical Beast, Heroic Apprentice Saintess Sathya Saves Students, Successfully Eliminates Magical Beast’... Have you seen this headline, Tina?”
“...”
Tina looked up and glanced at her.
Then, she tilted her head, her eyes filled with confusion.
“Who are you again?”
“I am an apprentice Saintess of the Starcinder society... oh wait, I'm now part of the Leaflight society. Please guide me, Senior~”
“...”
Tina was a bit speechless and didn't know what to say, so she simply asked the natural question any normal student would have.
“Why?”
“Doesn't Senior know? The Starcinder society has been disbanded now. All of its core members died at the hands of the magical beast. So, I proposed that Leaflight and Starcinder simply merge.”
“I see.”
Tina took a small bite of her breakfast, swallowed it, and then spoke.
“That doesn't seem to have anything to do with me. Besides, I already gave up my position as Saintess to you anyway.”
“It has nothing to do with Senior?”
“How could it?” Tina just wanted to get away from this girl as quickly as possible.
But what the other girl said next completely shattered any thoughts she had of playing dumb, causing a strong wave of murderous intent to surge within her.
“But wasn't it Senior who told me that I must disguise myself as a human, or else I would be caught?”
Velrose tilted her head, finally explaining her reason for coming here.
“Sathya is in a very dangerous position right now. Do you still want to keep this up, Senior?”
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