The Fake Saintess and the Elf Warrior

After saying that, Tatia gave Mitian a terrifying smile she had never seen before.

Jasmine's self-doubt

The first week or so of the new semester felt like an eternity for all sorts of people. So much happened in that short time, changing many people's perspectives and disrupting much of the balance that had been maintained until now. There were good and bad things. Some became more positive, while others became disillusioned and negative. And then there were those who channeled their disappointment and negativity into motivation, seemingly remaining positive and optimistic.

In short, after everyone had learned some things they wanted to know or didn't want to know, a delicate balance was established among them. And so, without anyone disrupting this balance, half the semester passed.

Three months of study is enough time for a person to discover their talents and understand their own strengths and weaknesses. The adventurers, having made tremendous progress, set off for the next three months with hope and dreams in their hearts. But for those who gradually recognize their limits and understand their own capabilities, it is an unbearable ordeal. Watching the gap between themselves and their companions widen, their self-doubt deepens.

Jasmine, who cultivated for almost ten years before becoming a saintess, is an example of this.

Her friend Naka had leveled up from Lv4 when she first enrolled to Lv9 in the blink of an eye. Meanwhile, she herself was only Lv4, the same level Naka had been three months prior. Naka had leveled up five times, while Jasmine had only leveled up two.

It was perfectly normal for Jasmine to be inferior to Naka, and she had no objection to that. However, the other new students in the beginner class, even those who were not as good as Jasmine when they entered the school, had all surpassed her now. Some of them weren't even saintesses, but merely nuns who hadn't yet received their ordination from the church. For example, the hero's sister who had once teamed up with Naka.

Pais's talent was truly remarkable. She had only been a nun for a few months, yet she already possessed magical power and skills surpassing Jasmine's at this stage. While growth in a small village couldn't be as rapid and efficient as this intensive training, watching herself gradually fall behind others from her initial top-ranking position, her ranking constantly hitting new lows, severely damaged Jasmine's confidence time and again.

"Ha...am I really not suited to be a saint...?"

During her free time, Jasmine lay on her bed in the dormitory, talking to herself. The weather outside mirrored her mood—a violent storm with thunder and lightning. It was already the end of the year; such weather shouldn't be happening. It seemed as if even the heavens were deliberately using this weather to reflect Jasmine's current state of mind.

"Molly (Jasmine)"

At that moment, Naka made a muffled sound and walked over. She was carrying a plate of sliced ​​apples, one half of which she was holding in her mouth, while she handed the other half to Jasmine.

"Oh, thank you."

Jasmine sat up, opened her mouth, and took a big bite of the apple. She chewed it. Naka sat down beside her bed, also eating her half-eaten apple.

Naka had long noticed Jasmine's recent strange behavior and understood what was troubling her. However, an individual's abilities and limits are determined at birth; they cannot be forced. If even Mitian, as a teacher, couldn't help her achieve academic success, Naka had no say in the matter.

Jasmine had been encouraging and supporting herself during her low period. She wanted to become stronger and achieve her dreams. But now, he felt powerless to do anything for her. At least peeling an apple for her would be the bare minimum of a reward.

As the two ate apples, Naka's eyes were fixed on the listless Jasmine, who in turn gazed out the window at the rain scene, a sight they had become accustomed to.

The heavy rain seemed to have touched Jasmine, and she suddenly started talking about the past.

"Do you remember what happened two years ago, Naka?"

"Two years ago?"

"Yes. It was the day I first doubted my own abilities, and it was also the day you first visited my home. The weather was just like that day too (※See the side story 'Two Saintesses')."

"It seems there is such a thing..."

Her thoughts drifted back to her hometown two years ago. The day she felt equally dejected after failing to save the village boy. Her mood, and the weather outside, were exactly the same as on that day.

"Two years have passed, but I seem to have grown nothing compared to who I was back then... I'm still upset about the same thing... Honestly, at this rate, when will I ever be able to return home in glory and cure my father..."

"It's okay. There are still three months left. You can still try to advance further."

Jasmine was confused and anxious about her future. Naka also felt a little bad for her and couldn't help but offer her comfort.

Two years ago, Naka had only offered to treat Jasmine's incurable child as a test of her abilities as a saintess. Whether Jasmine was happy or not, whether she could become a saintess, was completely irrelevant to her at the time. But now things were different. Though Naka didn't say it aloud, she had always wholeheartedly supported Jasmine. This was a small wish that shouldn't exist in the Demon King's heart.

However, Jasmine understood that Naka was just saying things to cheer herself up. She responded helplessly.

"Going higher? Maybe... but it's still so far, so very far from the height I want to reach... I'm so envious of you, Naka."

"Envious of me?"

"You're already so amazing, and Ms. Mitian still gives you extra lessons. And me? I learn slowly, and the teacher treats me like I don't exist..."

"No, this..."

Mitian's approach to her seemed less like individual tutoring and more like she had ulterior motives. And since that conversation, Mitian hadn't offered her any further guidance. However, Jasmine was unaware of this, and Naka couldn't explain the complex web of events. This only intensified Jasmine's feelings of imbalance and injustice.

"It's okay. It's the right choice to focus on nurturing talented students rather than wasting time on a student like me who only disappoints the teacher. I didn't take it to heart. Really."

Naka, of course, understood that this was just a lie she had made up to avoid any misunderstanding. Since that was the case, Naka also had something to say.

"Mari"

She stood up, walked over to Jasmine, and pressed her face close to hers. Their noses were only centimeters apart.

"What are you doing?"

Jasmine was genuinely startled when Naka suddenly leaned in so close to her face halfway through their conversation. She shifted back slightly. But Naka immediately caught up again. The distance between them didn't decrease at all.

"I believe you, Jasmine, will be the top scorer in this graduation exam."

"Huh...what? Me?"

Seeing her serious expression, Jasmine thought she was about to say something. Unexpectedly, what she uttered was utter nonsense that even Jasmine herself couldn't believe. Jasmine laughed three times, waving her hands in denial.

"No way, no way. This year's top scorer will either be you or that Pais. I'll be thankful if I can avoid coming in last."

"I'm serious."

Naka's expression held no hint of a joke. However, Jasmine only felt that Naka's excessive praise was a sarcastic jab at her. Therefore, she said somewhat irritably...

"Stop making fun of me, Naka. It's not funny to joke about other people's sad stories."

"I'm not joking."

"...Naka, haven't you had enough?"

If Naka had readily admitted it was just a joke, or that she had said something against her will to boost her morale, Jasmine would have simply laughed it off. But the more Naka emphasized her seriousness, the more Jasmine felt slighted. Her resentment began to grow.

"I'm not joking. First, tell me if you actually want to be the top scorer. I'm not asking if you think it's possible, I'm just asking if you want to. If you don't, then just consider this a joke."

"...think"

It's impossible to say you don't want to compete. No matter what you do, being number one is always the most prestigious throne that everyone is scrambling to claim. It's just that many people, in the pursuit of being number one, give up competing with others for various reasons. But someone who "never wanted to compete from the beginning" is almost nonexistent. Jasmine is no exception.

To receive one-on-one training from a top adventurer in the kingdom's elite adventurer group is an unparalleled temptation and honor for any adventurer. Securing such an opportunity would significantly shorten the gap between Jasmine's reality and her dreams. Even if it were just a dream, Jasmine still wanted to seize this unique opportunity and not let anyone else have it. Faced with Naka's question, Jasmine ultimately nodded.

Seeing that Jasmine still couldn't deceive her truest desires and thoughts, Naka smiled.

"If you want to, that's great. Don't worry, I'll make you the top student."

"You want me to become the top student? What methods do you have? How can you help me? Do you know anyone at this school?"

"no"

"Can you brainwash all the examiners?"

"No, not exactly."

"It's neither this nor that, isn't it all just nonsense? So how could you let me be number one? It's ridiculous..."

"You don't need to worry about that."

"...Say whatever you want."

Until the very end, Naka kept spouting nonsensical and pretentious nonsense. Jasmine had simply run out of patience to continue. She decided to stop discussing this empty, pretentious topic and shoved Naka away from her.

Having said that, Naka stopped talking and continued eating the half-eaten apple.

She knew that no matter what she said, Jasmine wouldn't believe her. But she truthfully revealed her desire to help Jasmine and her possession of the means to help Jasmine rise from the bottom to the top and win the championship. The only problem was that Naka couldn't reveal the specifics of that method to anyone.

Perhaps to change her mood, Jasmine, observing the rainy scene outside, suddenly remembered something.

"Don't you feel this way, Naka? It's been raining a bit too often lately. It feels like every time we get a break, it's raining and thundering outside."

"Really? I haven't really noticed that..."

"Wasn't it the same when you insisted on buying medicine for that boy before? Although it was much heavier than today's rain... By the way, it's been such a long, long time since I've seen the boy."

"..."

The moment Jasmine mentioned Tatya, Naka froze. The apple in her hand fell to the floor and landed on Jasmine's blanket.

"What's wrong, Naka?"

In Jasmine's view, Naka had suddenly fallen silent when asked about her boyfriend. It was very strange. Turning around, she saw that Naka's face was ashen. No one would consciously make their expression so pale unless something had happened. Jasmine quickly asked...

"What happened? Could it be... that brat has found someone new?"

Naka remained silent. But Jasmine interpreted her silence as tacit agreement. Furious, she immediately jumped off the bed, cracking her knuckles.

"I warned that kid that if he dares to betray you, I'll take his life... Well, kid, since you really dare to cheat, you must be prepared to risk your life..."

The more Jasmine talked, the more determined she became. Just as she was about to head to the boys' dormitory to fight Tatia, Naka stopped her.

"No, that's not true. He didn't cheat on me."

"Then what happened?"

"...It's a long story."

Naka had been pondering Frost's words to her for the past three months. But ninety days had passed, and she still hadn't found her true feelings, nor had she found a suitable opportunity to communicate with Tatya. Three months had passed; how was she? Naka was deeply concerned. But whenever she thought of going to see her, the image of the attack Tatya had shown her would replay in her mind. Her instinct remained to reject Tatya. Until she was truly mentally prepared and had found the answer she needed to give, she planned to continue maintaining her distance from Tatya. This was also to allow Tatya to prepare herself for what she needed to do.

But the one who suffered the most was Jasmine, who had been on the sidelines the whole time. All their conversations today ended with vague, incomprehensible remarks that left Jasmine completely bewildered. After all that talking, Jasmine hadn't gained the slightest bit more information, and her mood hadn't improved at all.

It was absolutely terrible.

Preliminary assessment

Jasmine wasn't the only one troubled by the same problem. Tatsia was one of them too.

Since giving Mittian her ultimatum in the school cafeteria, she hadn't seen her again. Although she hadn't seen Naka in the past three months either. During this time, she had completely devoted all her energy to the Hero Class courses. Having not initially aspired to be number one in the graduation exams, she now had no interest in any ranking other than being the top scorer. All this effort was solely for the purpose of becoming "the most useful person to Naka."

She even exceeded the requirements of the lessons Wolse assigned. After class, she would stay behind for independent training. And she never did anything foolish like self-harm again. This pleased Mitian greatly. She believed it was thanks to what she had said to her that day.

Even so, a gap gradually appeared between Tatia and Oz. They were equal in level when they first met, and Tatia won their subsequent sparring match. However, she gradually found herself struggling. In later sparring matches, she lost more often than she won. Even though she trained more than Oz, Oz's improvement was more significant. Tatia had now risen from Lv9 to Lv17, while Oz was already Lv18—a full doubling of his level. His outstanding performance even earned praise from Worth, who initially had reservations about him. His immeasurable potential finally proved that Fros's judgment, which had strongly endorsed him, was still accurate and ruthless; he was beginning to demonstrate his true value. This made Tatia extremely anxious.

Unlike Jasmine, who was nearing the bottom of the class, she was considered one of the top students in this year's freshmen. However, her troubles were even greater than Jasmine's.

Tatia's only goal is to win the championship. Even second place would be tantamount to utter failure for her. But simply being anxious won't do any good. Anxiety that can't change the facts will only breed a very negative mindset.

By the third month, Tatia's gaze towards Oz had changed. He was no longer simply someone who annoyed her, nor a roommate she should get along with, nor a worthy rival to compete with. Instead, he was one of the obstacles preventing her from being with Naka. If he won the top draft pick, it meant Naka would abandon Tatia and team up with Oz.

Tatia would rather disregard the consequences than fail to stop such a thing.

One night, Oz was fast asleep. It was late, and everyone in the boys' dormitory was already dreaming, just like him. But one person was different. She quietly pushed open the dormitory door at that time, returning to her room from the bathhouse.

For the past three months, whenever Tatiya wanted to take a bath, she would deliberately choose the last moment before closing time. If there was no one there, she would go in and bathe; if there were, she would wait until everyone had left. If there were still people around by closing time, she would leave and come back another day. Although she was occasionally told she smelled, in short, for these three months she managed to clean herself before her body odor became unbearable without being seen or noticed by anyone. At this moment, she had just come out of the bath. Her whole body was still radiating a light mist, and her hair was still wet.

After tidying up the towels and washbasin, Tatia didn't immediately go back to bed. Instead, she went to Oz's bedside. Looking at him snoring without any guard up, a dark, secret emotion welled up in Tatia's eyes once more.

"If it weren't for you, I would definitely have won first place this time..."

She raised her hands and reached for Oz's neck.

"If you disappear..."

Even if she disliked him upon their first meeting, it was only to the point of not wanting to see him or talk to him. Recently, Oz hadn't done anything to provoke her, but Tatia's feelings for him had now escalated to the extreme of hatred: murderous intent.

"..."

Just as her fingernail touched Oz's throat, her hand stopped. Was this really the right thing to do? She suddenly began to reflect.

"If I strangle him, he'll definitely wake up. If he resists, can I really control him...? Hmm, if my weapon hadn't been confiscated, I could just stab him in the neck... But even if I did kill him, what would I do with the body? Carry it downstairs and bury it overnight? No, I can't dig a deep hole in one night, and the marks would be very obvious. Once discovered, my chance to be the top scholar will be over..."

Of course, it wasn't out of a sudden pang of conscience, or a feeling that it was a grave mistake, an unforgivable act. After much deliberation, she withdrew her hand. It was simply because she thought that killing Oz now would create far too much of a mess to clean up.

Oz, completely unaware of his brush with death, was still lost in his dreams. Looking at him like this, Tatia said viciously.

"Consider yourself lucky to have escaped with your life. But you'd better not let me catch you in the act..."

After saying that, she turned and went back to her bed, and soon fell asleep.

Tatia spared Oz today. But if she finds an opportunity to properly dispose of the body, Tatia is confident she will act without hesitation.

In a school where everyone is watching, such opportunities are naturally very rare. And so, Oz and Tatia managed to study together peacefully for another month.

The fourth month has already passed, and less than half the time remains until the final exams. Tatia has doubled her efforts this month, and while the gap between her and Oz has narrowed slightly, at this rate, she still won't be able to surpass Oz by graduation. This has led to Tatia's resistance and hostility towards Oz growing even stronger.

At first, she would at least put on a show. But for the past two weeks, she's stopped pretending altogether, openly displaying her disgust for Oz. Even when Oz tries to talk to her, chat with her, or suggest a sparring match, Tatia completely ignores him, treating him like air. This leaves Oz, who has no idea what she's thinking, utterly bewildered. He really doesn't know what he's done wrong to offend her. However, since Tatia doesn't want to talk to him, and not wanting to make a fool of himself, Oz gradually falls silent. When the two of them are together, the atmosphere in the dormitory is as cold as an iceberg.

This situation lasted for about half a month. Until the end of the fourth month, Wolse mentioned something like this in class.

"It's almost the fifth month. Before the final exams, the school has decided to conduct a diagnostic test to assess the students' learning progress. Therefore, a week from now, a large-scale live-fire exercise involving students from all professions will be held. Everyone's weapons will be returned to them for real combat. The exercise will take place in this simulation training hall."

Upon hearing this news, the heroes were all eager and ready to try their luck. Tatia and Oz were no exception. However, Tatia's goals were somewhat different.

"Great... Even if Oz is killed, it'll be considered an accident, right..."

Tatia was absolutely confident she could defeat all the other heroes except Oz. This meant she was certain she would encounter Oz in actual combat. Tatia secretly resolved that the day of the practical training would be the day she eliminated this most troublesome pest.

But Worth didn't finish her sentence. She took a deep breath and suddenly changed the subject.

"However, this exercise isn't about you fighting each other directly. That's for graduation exams. This practical exercise involves teams battling training monster dolls controlled by the school's simulation devices in various environments within this training hall. Rankings will be based on the number of monster dolls defeated within a set time, their strength, and the adventurers' energy expenditure. Don't worry, while those monsters are diverse and their strength is almost identical to real monsters, we've taken precautions to ensure the students' safety. You won't actually die. At most, you'll feel some pain or be unconscious for a few hours. This is just to test your ability to handle different monsters in different environments."

Upon hearing "no one will die," Tatia was immediately filled with disappointment. Even if it wasn't a direct confrontation between heroes, she could create the illusion that Oz was killed by a trained monster and find an opportunity to kill him. If he was just a puppet that couldn't kill, then there was no one to shift the blame onto. Oz's death was postponed once again.

Tatia was unaware that her current thoughts were strikingly similar to Naka's when she killed other adventurers.