Nissia

  ***

  Taking a few breaths, I was surprised by how easy it was. I didn’t even break a sweat! It seems that all of the work I put in working as a baker really seemed to help. Looking around, I saw that many of my cssmates seemed to be out of breath and ready to colpse. To be honest, I’m a bit disappointed with how soon they quit, but as I didn’t want to stand out, I gave up at the same time they did. Another thing that I noticed was a missing voice…

  Looking over to the shaded chair I saw that Evelyn was missing. For some reason, she didn’t participate in this exam. Furthermore, she was mocking us with her sarcastic cheers. At least that’s what it sounded like for many of us. Maybe she got sent to timeout or something. No, this is a noble’s school. It’s probably called detention. Day one and already in trouble. I suppose she really is a viliness at heart. Still, I can’t help but think back to our first meeting. Thinking about it logically, she didn’t say anything threatening at least… My head hurts, let’s stop thinking about it for now and focus on css.

  …

  With the physical portion of the csses done, I’m looking at my score. Looks like I’m at the upper portion of the css. Though I say that, the top two in the css are who I expected. Rather, it was who should be there without me stirring up the pot. Regent twins Lloyd and Lna sport the highest scores. I’m sure it was like this in the game, so we should be following the story properly. Now that I think back on it, what about Evelyn? Where did she score in the css ranking? Wait. Didn’t she rank at the top of the css? Looking back at the now empty seat, I wondered why she wasn’t participating. Turning to one of my cssmates, I decided to ask.

  “Hey, what happened to that girl that was sitting over there?” I asked.

  “Lady Eytell?” He asked. “She has health issues so she may have gone to the nurses office.”

  “Health issues?” I asked.

  I don’t remember that from the game.

  “Yeah.” He nodded before remembering something. “Oh wait, you’re a commoner. Don’t you know her?”

  Obviously I do from the game, but I can’t exactly say that.

  “Only by name.” I shook my head.

  “Well, a few years ago she got into an accident and got stuck in the Dark Forest for a while. Supposedly her health has been bad ever since. So much to the point where she never left her house.” He said. “Also when she held a tea party a while back, she was deathly pale and was even forced by her uncle to retire early. Or so I’ve heard. I haven’t participated myself, so I can’t say if it’s true or not.”

  “Really?” I asked, surprised.

  I can’t say for certain, but I don’t remember that happening in the game. Thinking back to css, I noticed that she hadn’t talked to anyone. Does she have any friends? What about our first meeting? Looking back on it, she didn’t do anything bad. No, that can’t be true. She was mocking the css as we were doing the fitness test, sarcastically saying things like; “Nice one!” “You almost had it!” “Maybe next time!” “Oh wow, how impressive!” Wait… Is she actually being evil?

  …

  Not long after, I found myself with the rest of the css in a rge open room with what looked to be a bck crystal ball on a table. This was the moment… Looks like I’m finally going to learn what my elements are going to be. I know for a fact that one is going to be Light magic, but what about my secondary? Part of me wants it to be Dark magic, so I can have light and dark for like a cool duality thing, but dark magic has a bad reputation. So, let’s hope I don’t get it.

  Given my st name starts with a “C” I’m close to the start of the line. Everyone in front of me seems to have their expected reactions, so there's nothing unexpected going on… Okay, now it’s my turn. Stepping forwards, I take a deep breath and try not to trip. Arriving at the table, I looked at the crystal ball. Aside from the lights in the city, this is the first time I’ve seen something magical. It was… Odd… Something about it makes me feel uneasy. There were dark clouds swirling inside it, propelled by some unknown force. Even without touching it, I could feel that I was being watched and judged by some unseen force…

  “Please pce your hand on the crystal ball.” The teacher said.

  Nodding, I slowly reached out for it. Touching it, I was surprised by how cold it was. Suddenly there was a shock. Not a strong one, but a noticeable one. It didn’t hurt or anything, but it wasn’t what I expected. As my hand y on it, the color of the clouds began to change and started to glow softly. First it was green. Pnts, that’ll be useful. We’re always surrounded by pnts, so I should always have the option to use magic. Next was what I was waiting for. A soft golden glow. Huh? It’s not as bright as it should be… Oh well. That would be the holy magic that I expected. Seeing this, the teacher beside me quickly wrote something down in his book.

  I’m gd that he didn’t say anything. And because how I am standing, none of my cssmates can see this. Hopefully I can keep the holy magic a secret for a bit. It’ll get out eventually, but hopefully I have time to train it up so I can protect myself. Also, maybe I can see if Evelyn really is a threat or not. Anyway, now that I know what my elements are, I was sent back to my seat.

  Okay, using video game logic, I should be at the lowest level right now. I wonder if there is any way to check how strong my magic is. Maybe the twins will know. Although how can I talk to them? They are after all, they closest thing to royalty we have. Wait. Since I’m the saint, does that mean I have to marry Lloyd to make him the Emperor? Uh-oh. Um… No offense to Lloyd, but I really don’t want to marry him. Um… Okay so how do I avoid getting married?

  Lloyd

  ***

  As Nissia walked back to her seat, I couldn’t help but be confused. Why wasn’t there a golden fsh? Isn’t Nissia supposed to be a saint? The saint is supposed to be recognized by a bright gold light right? Why didn’t she react? What is going on? I need a moment to think…

  Shadow 19

  ***

  Well, the Crowned Regent seems wonderfully confused. All of his expectations suddenly dashed without so much as a peep. Luckily we were prepared for this. Had we used the standard equipment, there would be no hiding the fact that she has holy magic. Oh. I guess I should introduce myself. I’m Shadow 19. I am one of the shadows in charge of guarding the Regent Twins. Over the many years of my service, I’ve come to learn much about them. For one, the two of them are reincarnations from a pce called Earth. By reincarnation, I mean that they have memories of a past life. They are convinced that they were reincarnated into a world from some type of game. Not only that, but they have knowledge that seems to confirm their thoughts. They two of them know the identities of many saints and even made moves to contact a few of them. Though, only one of their attempts seemed to have had any success.

  The one that they came into contact with is one of the many current saints, Nissia Carter. She too is a reincarnation and with the others is trying to stop the rise of the Demon Lord. A noble dream, but they won’t have to worry about that. The so-called viliness, a wicked woman who is going to try and kill the saint and overthrow The Empire, is the solution. Young Lady Evelyn Eytell, who we are keeping a very close eye on, was granted powers by the goddess of the moon and has, on her own accord, gone out to fight demons as a Magical Girl. We suspect that she has the power to single handedly defeat the Demon Lord. In fact we are counting on it.

  Unlike our knights, our army, or even us Shadows, she can travel the entire Empire in a few hours. Just the other day she moved to the border region to defeat a swarm of demons that was gathering in a single night. We are very gd to have her. Although it is unfortunate how she is seen by the public, not to mention her ck of magic outside of her goddess granted form… Well, there's not much I can do considering my job of guarding the Young Twin Regents. I’m sure the Regents are pnning something about that anyway.

  As for our Little Crowned Regent, we need to keep an eye on him and his colborators. He has brought up the idea of having Lady Evelyn killed. We won’t allow that to happen, however what is more of a concern is his view of her. He may not directly harass or even speak to her, but his poor opinion on her has the possibility to rub off onto others. Given her already terrible reputation, even the Regent’s will have trouble fixing her image in the event of that.

  With such danger to a great asset to The Empire, why don’t the Regents simply tell him of the situation? That’s because of his past memories. Having watched over him for some time, we’ve come to learn that his personal values conflict with those needed to run the Empire, or even to know of us. And what of his sister? Well… She’s fun? That was rude. She doesn't want to rule The Empire, she doesn’t have the skill to run it, and it is very much fun to watch her run around and cause trouble. To think she can even knock out a horse with a single punch at such a young age… Truly fascinating. Hopefully for The Empire’s sake these two will grow and become worthy of becoming the next rulers of The Empire…

  Melody

  ***

  With the moon high in the sky, I looked at the enchanted notepad in my hands. This was a tool given to me by Uncle Aaron that allows us to communicate over long distances. And, although it is enchanted to allow this, it still isn’t waterproof. It is as strong as normal paper, which sucks considering how rare and expensive this is. As far as I know, the only people who own something like this are myself, Uncle, and the Regents.

  “YOU WILL RECEIVE A PACKAGE OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS THAT WILL HELP YOU INSCHOOL.” Uncle’s hand writing appears on my notepad as he wrote it.

  “WILLBE WAITING FOR THEM.” I replied just under it.

  “THAT WILLBE ALL.” Appeared shortly after.

  With our communications done for the day, I tore out the pages I used and put them in the small fire, before returning the notepad into my bag. Alright, so I now know the pn. Given my ck of magical ability, and the fact that the first few days of school will heavily use magic, I am going to be sick for the first week. Because of how I looked at my tea party, and how little I left the estate, it’s not going to be hard to convince people that I’m sick. So, that means no going out at all. As Evelyn at least. I can still go out and fight demons as Melody, so all is good. Taking my staff in hand, I turned myself invisible and flew out of one of the high tower windows.

  Okay, so where to first? I’ve dealt with all the rge swarms of demons in the interior of The Empire, so I guess I’ll head to the border regions. Flying quickly as well as silently, I head away from the capital. As I did so, I quickly thought about 38. I don’t think she or any of the other shadows can follow me when I fly, so I’m truly by myself right now.

  …

  Seven nests of demons were destroyed tonight! You know, this is kind of boring. I just fly over where I see a bunch of demons and then bst them from the sky. What? Unfair? Of course it’s unfair. As Orion told me, “If you’re ever in a fair fight, you didn’t pn properly.” As such, I’m not even announcing myself to them. Well, I do announce myself when people are around and the danger is low, so I’m not like a silent death all the time. Ah, I’m hungry. Let’s see if the bakery is open yet. Making myself visible, I fly down low to a familiar town. Oh! A line is already forming! Let’s hurry up. Landing silently, I took my pce in the line.

  …

  “Oh hey.” The owner said. “It’s you again.”

  “Hi!” I waved enthusiastically. “Can I get the usual please?”

  “Coming right up.” He said preparing my order. “So, get any demons recently?”

  “Yep. I took down seven nests st night.” I informed him. “There shouldn’t be any more demons in this area for a while.”

  “That’s good news.” He smiled, handing me the bag. “Thanks for taking care of us. I put a couple extra in there on the house.”

  “Thank you!” I smiled, handing him the owed amount.

  “Take care now.” He said.

  Waving goodbye, I took to the sky and headed back to the watchtower to get some sleep. But first, I open up the bag given to me and pull out a still warm cinnamon bun. Yummy. Every so often, I’ve been heading out to this town to get some. It was the only sweet from Earth that I could find, but it just so happened to be one of my favorites. That pce also has cupcakes! They’re good, but I like cinnamon buns more. It’s not just me. 38 likes them as well, so like usual I make sure to bring some for her. Some of the other Shadows get jealous of her and want some themselves, but haven't asked for any. Is it because of their pride or their job that prevents them from asking? Oh well. I got two extra, so let’s treat whoever is there to a snack!

  Grayburne