Chapter 40: Looking for a Clue

"Please calm down, Ijuuin-san. You can just go to your office. You wrote it down, right?" Niito—me—said, trying to get Ijuuin-san to relax.

Even if the man had a terrible memory, he probably hadn't lied about sending the demo to the scenarist's place. There was no way he hadn't written down the name and address of the game's scenarist. The documents were most likely still at his office.

Sure, sometimes people relied on their memory when it came to their friends and families' addresses, but no one in their right mind would do that when it came to work. It had to be written down somewhere.

Ijuuin-san's face lit up. "You're right! I do have a document with Fiori's Turtle's full name and address. I even wrote it on my computer's notes app. I just need to go check."

People often forgot things. We'd end up storing the pieces of information we didn't use daily in our mind's drawers and, sometimes, they simply refused to come out afterward. That was why taking notes was so important—especially at work.

Phew, you scared me for a second.

We'd still be able to contact the scenarist. The only issue was that it would have to wait until Ijuuin-san could go back to his office. I couldn't really control when I visited this world, so I'd have to leave the matter in their hands.

Leaving that aside, something else was bugging me.

"Fiori... That's the name of my world, isn't it?"

And it also happened to be the writer's name...

Fiori was the name of the world in which the events of Kuon no Sanka took place. One of Verner's friends was called Fiora. Her name actually came from the name of the world, and it was pretty popular. It was kind of like the name "Yamato"—the former name of Japan—for Japanese people.

Anyway, my point was that people being called Fiori or Fiora in that world wasn't all that strange. It was much stranger for a Japanese person to pick out that name as their username. I had a bad feeling about this.

Maybe... No, that's impossible...

I'd started thinking that maybe, just maybe, the scenarist was that world itself, but that didn't make any sense.

Still, rewriting people's memories was something only a God could do. Everyone had forgotten the original scenario of Kuon no Sanka. They'd forgotten that Ellize was a piece of shit and seemed to think that I'd been Ellize all along. There was no logical explanation for this.

"It's not that weird, is it? Plenty of people pick their OC's name as their username," Ijuuin-san stated.

"True, but, um...you can't be sure that's all there is to it, right?" Niito—me—argued.

The two of them had been speaking pretty politely to each other at first, but they'd already switched to casual speech. Not that I cared much.

"Ijuuin-san, can you confirm something for me? In Kuon no Sanka, the world itself gives birth to a saint after sensing that a witch has awakened, right?" Niito—me—asked.

"Yeah, that's how it's supposed to go. When the world senses the birth of a new witch, it conveys its will to the mana that flows through the land, prompting the birth of a saint. At the end of the day, witches and saints are both created by the world itself."

Niito—me—and Ijuuin-san were discussing the premise of the story. Saints and witches only existed because the world willed it. It wasn't something you'd learn just by playing the game, but it was written in the developers' interview included in the strategy guide. Still, while all the players who'd read the guide knew that the world pretty much created saints and witches, we didn't know why. There had been rumors that the answer would be revealed in the sequel, but we'd already been waiting for four years with no release date in sight.

"As one of the developers, you probably know why the world does that, don't you?" Niito—me—asked.

Ijuuin-san paused before starting his explanation. "The scenarist did mention it, yeah. Originally, the witch was meant to be the world's proxy. She was created to humble the humans who'd grown too arrogant. She was meant to rule over humanity for all eternity to make sure they didn't go too far. But, the witch went mad—I'm not sure why—and she turned against humanity. At first, she only killed humans. Eventually, though, she started doing the very thing she'd been created to prevent—destroying nature. So, the world decided to create a new proxy—the first saint, Alfrea. While the first witch was eventually defeated, her grudge stuck to the saint, which turned her into the next witch. You know how Alexia cut out a part of her soul, and it ended up in Verner? That's pretty much what happened with the first witch—except with her whole soul, not just a small part. Anyway, having lost its proxy, the world decided to create another one...and you know the rest of the story."

So that's how it went, huh?

In the end, the true villain really was the very first witch. If she hadn't started messing around, none of this would've happened.

Urgh, some people are such a pain.

"I've got another question," Niito—me—continued. "All the players know that there're prophets that can predict the birth of the saint—they're mentioned in the game—but, uh...what's the deal with them? Why do they have this ability? The game's surprisingly cryptic about them."

Niito—me—was talking about prophets with an "s," but there was so little information about them in the game that I didn't even know whether there really were several of them or not. For all we knew, there could be just one—it was never explicitly mentioned.

For the time being, I guess we can probably assume there are, or at least have been, several prophets. After all, the guy would have to be several hundred years old if he's predicted the birth of every saint since the very start. That'd be crazy...

Either way, the existence of the prophets was crazy. They'd sense the birth of a new saint and warn the elites so they could collect the baby. However, just like Niito—me—had pointed out, we had absolutely no clue why they were even able to sense that in the first place. On top of that, while the existence of the prophets was crucial in the world of Kuon no Sanka, they never appeared in the game—in fact, they were only briefly mentioned at the start. People thought it was foreshadowing at first, but in the end, the story never touched on the topic at all.

Ijuuin-san crossed his arms and frowned. "I...don't know. I did ask, but the scenarist dodged my questions. At the time, I assumed that they hadn't given the prophets' role much thought, and that they simply needed them to exist as a plot device..."

He probably wished he'd been a little pushier and gotten answers at the time.

The developer looked at me. "Hmm..." he started, hesitating. "Ellize...san—I hope you don't mind me calling you that—do you know anything about the prophets? Since you live in that world, I assume you must know things we don't..."

"I'm afraid I don't... I've only been told that a prophet predicted my birth. I believe King Aiz will know more than me. I'll ask him when I go back to my world."

After the whole confinement incident, the old man had become super cooperative. He'd probably answer my questions without making a fuss.

Yup, being connected to important people is where it's at. Aiz must've met the prophets before. He's seen four—well, three if you removed me, the imposter—saints in his lifetime, after all.

"We all know what we have to do next. Ijuuin-san and I will try to contact Fiori's Turtle. You try to find a way to contact the prophets. I'm sure we'll eventually find a clue if we keep looking."

We all nodded.

Whenever I changed the storyline, the contents of the game would be affected, and everyone's perception would change—except for the three of us. For the time being, we had no idea how and why such things could happen. To be honest, I had a feeling whatever was at play far exceeded human understanding. Still, if we kept looking, we'd eventually find answers.

"There's one last thing I wanna mention," Niito—me—added, looking at me.

What was this about? It looked like something was bugging him. He turned on his computer in silence. After a few clicks, the home page of a famous video platform appeared on the screen, and he launched a video. We watched Ellize being confined and Verner and the others coming to save her. After that was the battle of the capital, but for some reason, Verner's party fought the crow in the game.

That's not really what happened, but whatever. Kuon no Sanka is a game, so I suppose it's fine if they rearrange the events a little bit.

After their battle, Ellize took care of most of the enemies, but the crow launched a last-ditch attack to take her out. Verner jumped in front of her, died, and then Ellize helped him breathe...mouth-to-mouth.

I mean...mouth-to-mouth is a thing in these situations, but...

Um...

WHAT THE HELL?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIIIIIIS?!

I haven't done this! I'd never do it! I know I just said games were allowed to twist the truth a little, but not like that!

The comments poured in super fast.

FINALLY!!!

Verner, move aside, let me take your place!

Change places with me, Ellize! I'll do it!

Oho, would you look at that? She could've used magic, but she chose to kiss him, didn't she?

Hang on. Wait a minute. I had used magic, hadn't I?! I'd put my hand over his mouth and sent oxygen into his lungs, right?! So why am I kissing him?! What the hell is wrong with you, Ellize?! They even made a damn CG out of it...

"So, if Ellize's affection level is under fifty, she'll treat Verner coldly and use magic to help him breathe. If it's over fifty, though... Lemme tell you, you're in for a very nice reward. You'll get a kiss! That's why you've got to die here, guys!" the streamer exclaimed.

What's up with this nonsense?! My "affection level" doesn't matter! I am not doing that!

What in the world was I watching? Was this really...me? Was this from a parallel world in which I actually fell for Verner?

What kind of new torture method is this?!

I was staring at the screen in disbelief when Niito—me—asked, grinning, "So? Did you do it?"

"No! I'd never fu—think of doing something like this! Why would I kiss him when I can use magic instead?!"

Phew. I'd almost dropped an f-bomb in front of Ijuuin-san. Thankfully, I'd managed to stop myself in time.

Anyway, I hadn't done it, and I sure as hell would never do it! Unless there was no other way... Then I'd probably do it... Time was of the essence when it came to cardiopulmonary arrest. There was no time to worry about the victim's gender in those situations. However, that only applied to cases where there was no other option. I wouldn't go out of my way to give a man mouth-to-mouth if I could avoid it.

"I figured... Which means there are additional scenes created to please the players. I'm not sure if we can really say that the contents of the game change depending on your actions anymore... Although I suppose it's not completely impossible that the 'you' of that timeline panicked so much that you forgot you could use wind magic and went for mouth-to-mouth out of desperation," Niito—me—said with a sigh, before looking at the computer screen with suspicion.

Up until now, we'd both been convinced that every event shown in the game had either happened to me, or could've if I'd picked a different route. This scene, however, stuck out like a sore thumb. It had most likely been fabricated.

Everything we'd assumed could very well be wrong. We had no way of being sure, though. We lacked information. It looked like we'd really have to find a way to talk to the scenarist or to the prophets if we hoped to elaborate a new theory.

I now had a goal to fulfill during the winter holiday.

The usual telltale signs warned me that I'd wake up soon. My time here was up for today.

Do your part, Niito—me. I'll do what I can on my side too. Oh, and you'd better forget you ever saw that scene, got it?!

◇

Good morning, everyone! It's your favorite trash saint, Ellize!

I woke up in a good mood, ready to tackle my new task. For some reason, I was always full of energy after coming back from the other world. I wasn't sure how to explain it, but it'd feel like some sort of...drowsiness or something...that'd always weigh me down would disappear at once. My mind and body were left refreshed, I felt stronger than ever, and my magic had improved.

I have no idea what happened, but hey! I'm not complaining! Everything's going swimmingly!

All right, I'll stop pretending.

I actually had a pretty good idea of what was happening. I was probably taking back pieces of my soul every time I visited the other me. That was most likely why I'd feel better and stronger after each dream. On the other hand, I imagined that Niito—me—must've ended up feeling even worse.

I probably shouldn't go to the other side anymore...

It wasn't like I visited him out of my own volition, though, so I probably had no say in the matter.

There's no point overthinking this. Let's summarize what I need to do instead.

The winter holiday would start soon. After that, it'd be time for the third semester—the last arc of the story. From now on, we'd be heading toward the ending—the final fight with the witch—at full speed... Or at the very least, that was how things were supposed to go in the game I knew of.

In the original game, Ellize'd be out of the picture for good at this point and Eterna awakened as the saint, regardless of the route you were on. Eterna would be scared to accomplish her duty as the saint, but Verner would comfort her, and she'd eventually make up her mind. The following events would then change depending on the route.

The issue, as you may have noticed, was that I was still very much in the picture. As for Eterna, she had no idea that she was the saint.

The third semester probably wouldn't follow the original plot.

I should still go over what I know, just in case.

There were a few events that occurred before the witch fight, but the most important one was the battle of the academy. After marching into the Lutein Kingdom, the monsters' army was supposed to keep advancing until it reached the academy. The students and teachers would fight the monsters, and a bunch of background characters would end up dying. Eterna would've awakened her powers, and she'd fight the enemy general—that demon monkey I'd beaten up a while back, remember?—with Verner. Without a leader, the monsters would end up scattering, and the academy would be saved.

In this timeline, though, I'd already gotten rid of the monsters' army, so there was a pretty good chance that event wouldn't happen at all.

Next would be the stalking-slash-kidnapping event orchestrated by the damn Four-Eyed Pervert. He'd always go for the heroine who liked you the most at the time, except if it was Alexia. If that were the case, then the event would be delayed slightly.

After that would be the witch fight. It could happen in a few different ways depending on the route you were on, but there were three main patterns: it'd occur in the middle of the semester, at the end of it, or not at all.

The conditions to trigger that last option were pretty specific. You had to reach the event where Eterna and Verner had a chat and encourage her to fulfill her duty as the saint. Then, you had to pick a different heroine as your girl while making sure that Eterna's affection was under a specific value, and that she was over level forty.

If you met the requirements, Eterna would make up her mind to live as the saint, and—after realizing that her feelings for Verner would never be reciprocated—she'd leave to fight the witch with her knights; all so that Verner could live happily with his lover. By the way, if you were on this path, Layla could die at this point depending on her affection level.

Needless to say, Eterna would become the next witch, and you'd end up having to fight her as the final boss instead.

Moving on to the middle-of-the-semester pattern—a classic on the other heroines' routes. The atmosphere of the game would suddenly shift, and even though you were still supposed to have quite a few days left to play, you'd end up facing the final boss. After you defeated the witch, Eterna would show up and deliver the coup de grâce. The game would then let you think that you had earned a happy ending...before throwing you for another loop.

Ellize's burdensome legacy would resurface out of the blue, and a mob of idiots who hated the saint would attack Eterna's village, killing her parents and her friends. This incident was partly due to the fact that Eterna had only taken her rightful place as the saint for a short time, and partly due to the fact that these people didn't have enough brain cells to differentiate Ellize and Eterna and never bothered to learn the saint's name.

The peasants were right to loathe Ellize, obviously, but they ended up directing their anger at the wrong person. As soon as they learned where the saint was from, they immediately attacked without stopping to think.

They're a bunch of idiots, really.

In the end, Eterna would lose faith in humanity and kill the mob, going down the path of darkness. Well, to be fair, she was doomed the moment she finished off the witch herself, but instead of getting five years of peace, humanity ended up getting zero.

Incidentally, the only way for the witch to survive was to hop onto Alexia's route. She'd end up joining you without a care in the world. Obviously, on that run, I'd just snatched up all of her equipment and sold it to buy other stuff after she'd joined my party.

This left us with the last pattern: the witch fight taking place at the very end of the game.

This only happened on Eterna's route, and you'd end up with a few exclusive events centered around Eterna which would push the battle back until the end. After you'd defeated the witch, Eterna would die in Verner's arms. It was less horrible than the other endings, but that didn't change the fact that no matter what you did, Eterna never got her happily ever after.

My poor darling...

As I thought, giving Eterna no screen time was for the best. She'd be happier that way.

Anyway, my main issue at the moment was that all this knowledge was pretty much useless now. Most of these events were triggered by Eterna's awakening. Besides, I'd already beaten up the monsters' army. The only big event that could still come up was Four-Eyed Pervert's stalking-slash-kidnapping arc.

I'd have to tread carefully since I had no way to predict the future anymore.

I really have no idea what's gonna happen moving forward... Oh well, I'm sure I'll figure something out. I'll have to if I want to achieve my goal.

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