The Fake Saintess and the Elf Warrior

Misha, who should have continued with her work, suddenly stood up from her chair for some reason and stretched out her right arm towards her sister's back. But after Mitian responded, she simply rubbed her eyes and then sat down again.

"No, it's okay..."

"Honestly! You always say I'm weird, but I don't think you're quite normal either!"

After a lighthearted joke between sisters, Mitian left Misha's office.

Misha sat back down in her chair. She pinched the corner of her eye hard. She shook her head. When she opened her eyes again, everything was normal.

"I guess I'm overthinking it..."

She sees nothing unusual now. She doesn't think there's anything wrong with her eyes.

She interpreted the fact that her sister's figure seemed to become indistinct and even gradually transparent as a hallucination caused by her exhaustion.

Under the cover of night, Mitian stood on the roof of the teaching building, gazing up at the starlight.

It was already very late. The next day would be the final hurdle for all the students: the graduation exam. Teachers and students alike were going to bed early to prepare for tomorrow's battle. But she was different. It was winter, and she felt the cool evening breeze on her skin, closing her eyes. Although the cold spread from her feet throughout her body, and the chill seeped into her through the gaps in her clothes, she remained motionless.

She was here for a reason. She was waiting for someone. She had so much to say to that person. Even though it was this quiet time of day, she was confident that he would arrive on time.

"Teacher Mitis"

Soon, the voice she had been waiting for finally rang out behind her. Only then did Mittian properly move and turn around to face the person she had summoned.

"I believe you will come, Naka."

The short, silver-haired saint standing not far behind Mitian was none other than Naka, the woman Mitian longed for, the woman Tatsia also longed for. In her hand was a letter. It was something Mitian had entrusted to her.

Naka was naturally annoyed at being called to this rooftop so late at night, where there wasn't even anywhere to shelter from the cold. Besides, she already had many complaints about Mitian. She said somewhat irritably...

"We haven't seen each other outside of class since that conversation a few months ago, have we? What? Are you planning to give me some extra tutoring today?"

"Of course not."

Mittian shook her head. The extra tutoring was merely a means for her to get closer to Tatia through Naka. Since neither Tatia nor Naka had reached an agreement, there was no longer any need for extra tutoring... But to be honest, she still greatly admired Naka's talent as a saintess. Tutoring her individually wasn't entirely out of personal motives. The reason she had called her here was naturally something else entirely.

"So, Ms. Mitian, what do you want to say? I hope you can finish quickly; the exam is tomorrow, and I want to go to sleep early."

Before Mitian could even get to the point, Naka already seemed impatient. Mitian understood that Naka's current attitude stemmed from her hostility towards Mitian for trying to take Tatsia from her. After much deliberation, Mitian finally found a way to get Naka to talk to her calmly. She remembered a question Naka had asked her on the first night of class. Naka hadn't brought it up in the months that followed, but Mitian hadn't forgotten it.

"Naka, do you want to know about Little I... or Ijima?"

"Varied..."

Naka was taken aback upon hearing the name. Even though it was difficult to see her expression in the darkness, Mittian could imagine the stunned look on Naka's face. She smiled slightly, casting this tempting bait towards Naka.

"Let's have a heart-to-heart talk, Naka... about Yi's background and his purpose."

Igmamitian and that being

Mitian's first meeting with Naka was also the day she found Vilia's daughter, Tatia. At that time, her attention was entirely focused on Tatia, who looked almost exactly like Vilia. She paid no attention to Naka.

But later, in order to get closer to Tatia, Mitian also turned her attention to this girl who possessed what every woman dreams of: a youthful appearance that was completely inconsistent with her age. It was then that Mitian discovered something important that she had overlooked.

This girl possesses something that shouldn't belong to her.

"What is Ijima's purpose?"

Naka murmured to herself. She really hadn't expected Mitian to suddenly bring up this topic at this moment without any warning.

Ijima was none other than a high-ranking official in the Adventurers' Guild of Isard Town. Naka had encountered many unexpected situations during her adventures in Isard Town and had also noticed a secret monster modification project. After a series of events, Naka finally focused her attention on the man named Ijima.

Therefore, at the beginning of the semester, she inquired about Ijima from Mitian, a seasoned adventurer. At the time, Mitian didn't offer any particularly valuable information. Naka only planned to ask again later. In the past few months, Naka hadn't mentioned the topic to her. It wasn't that Naka had forgotten it. Rather, there were other things more important to her. Because so much time had passed, Naka assumed Mitian had forgotten. But in fact, Mitian hadn't forgotten that seemingly insignificant conversation at all.

"Yes, Naka, you're investigating Yi, right? You want to know what Yi has been plotting all along, what his purpose is... Am I right?"

Naka had initially asked a simple question: Did she know Ijima? Mitian answered that she did. Their conversation about this man ended there. Naka hadn't revealed her reason for asking about him. Mitian hadn't asked either. But now, Mitian had revealed the truth. Naka neither confirmed nor denied it. Instead, she asked in return...

"...Why do you think that?"

"It's very simple. Because of this thing."

Mitian pointed with her index finger to the necklace hanging around Naka's neck, the one that had fallen from the green wolf that Vilia had transformed into.

"I'm very familiar with the emblem on this thing. It's because it's a magic circle used in the monster modification experiment proposed by Little I.

"you..."

Naka hadn't uttered a single word from beginning to end. Yet, Mitian had recounted the events she had encountered so casually. Clearly, she had known all along. Before Naka could say anything, Mitian could already guess how shocked Naka was.

"After all, I guessed your thoughts, so it's understandable that you're surprised... Actually, the night you asked me about Xiao Yi, I didn't know what you wanted to do. Maybe it was because it was too late. I only saw this thing hanging on your chest the next day. I was very surprised at the time too. Why would you have this? I guessed many possibilities. Are you also one of the people who knew about Xiao Yi's experiment? That's unlikely. Otherwise, you wouldn't have asked me about Xiao Yi. So I was thinking, did you... encounter a modified monster? The kind that you can't kill no matter how you kill it, and it's extremely ferocious?"

"..."

"It's no use you not saying anything. I understand. You accidentally killed one of the monsters and found this on its corpse. Then, through some means, you concluded that Xiao Yi is related to these monsters... Am I right? Wow, you really hit the jackpot. According to Xiao Yi, those monsters won't die unless their fatal weakness is hit. I thought all adventurers who encountered them would run away in panic..."

"Teacher Mitis"

Now that she had seen through everything, Naka no longer concealed anything. In retaliation, she directly addressed another meaning behind Mitian's statement.

"Enough with the nonsense. I'd like to ask, how do you know these things?"

"Oh?"

"Please don't play dumb. I haven't said anything about monster modification since I entered this school. How do you know?"

"...Well..."

Mitian scratched his head somewhat sheepishly and gave Naka an apologetic smile.

But there was absolutely no sincerity in that smile. There's only one reason:

"Because I was also one of the participants in that experiment."

"What...?"

"Alright, alright. Let's not talk about me now. Didn't I say I wanted to talk to you about Xiao Yi and my purpose? Don't worry, I won't tell Xiao Yi that you're investigating him. Because I've already withdrawn from that experiment..."

"You've quit?"

"Yes. That was many years ago..."

Mittian closed her eyes. Her mind raced, replaying scenes from a day years ago before her eyes.

It was a midsummer night. Mittian returned to his residence after finishing his day's work.

By then, she had become a teacher at the adventurers' school. The busy work kept her, still relatively inexperienced, breathless every day. She would collapse into bed as soon as she got home.

But that day, she had barely collapsed onto the bed when there was a rapid knocking at the door. It was already around 11 p.m. when she got home. It was extremely rare for someone to knock at that hour. Judging from the knocking, it sounded like something urgent was happening.

Just in case, Mittian checked the visitor's identity through the glass in the door. By the moonlight, she saw an old acquaintance she hadn't seen in years: Ijima was standing in the doorway.

Mitian was quite surprised. This was Sunflower Town, and Igima had just joined the leadership of the Adventurers' Guild in Isaad Town a few days ago. He should be busy with work, yet he had made a special trip from a place that would take two days to travel by carriage to get here. And he didn't see anyone else around him. It seemed he had come alone.

Although Mittian had absolutely no interest in men and was even somewhat averse to them, she believed that Ijima had neither the guts nor the reason to do anything to her. His coming from so far away at such a late hour also piqued her curiosity. Mittian opened the door, grumbling all the while.

"Xiao Yi? Are you crazy? Why are you here looking for me in the middle of the night?"

"First published on 705u.com - Book Club"

Ijima didn't even glance at her. Instead, he looked around cautiously, only asking in a low voice...

"Sister Mi...is anyone home right now?"

"I'm the only one here... so what?"

Like a thief afraid of being caught by the soldiers, Ijima, upon hearing that no one was home at Mitian's house, forced his way through the crack in the door without waiting for an answer to Mitian's question, nearly knocking Mitian over.

"Hey! A grown man barging into a young girl's room late at night, are you trying to assault her?! I'm calling for help!"

"I'm sorry, Sister Mi... but I really have an urgent matter."

"Is it urgent?"

Once inside, Ijima relaxed a little. He first apologized to the host for his rudeness, and then did something even more rude: he grabbed a water glass from the table and downed the water in one gulp.

"Hey! What are you doing! This is my favorite cup! How dare you, you jerk, touch it like that!... Ugh! I don't want this cup anymore, I'll buy a new one tomorrow!"

"I'm so sorry, Sister Mi... I was just so thirsty..."

"If you're thirsty, go buy some water! It's such a long way from Isad Town to here, there are plenty of places to buy things along the way, aren't there? Besides, why did you come all the way from Isad Town to find me? What about your job?"

"About this..."

Even after confirming with Mitian that no one else was in the room, Ijima still cautiously glanced around. Then, lowering her voice, she spoke in a barely audible whisper.

"I've come here to ask for your help."

"What did you say?"

His voice was too soft, and Mittian didn't want to put her ear close to the man. Therefore, Mittian didn't hear him clearly the first time. Ijima only raised his voice slightly the second time.

"I need your help!"

"How can I help?"

"actually..."

Mitian still vividly remembers what Ijima recounted back then. It was simply too shocking. Before Ijima spoke of it, Mitian had never imagined such a thing could happen. When Ijima first spoke, she said she couldn't believe it at all.

"I have a way to transform monsters into soldiers who serve us, instead of those who serve the Demon King."

Who would believe such a thing upon first hearing it? Mitián certainly couldn't. She simply managed a loud "Huh?"

"What nonsense are you spouting? Making monsters work for us? We can't even fully control ordinary cats and dogs. Listening to your rubbish... if that's all you're saying, then I'm kicking you out."

"No, I'm not talking nonsense! I'm serious!"

What evidence do you have?

"evidence..."

When asked for concrete information, Ijima lowered his head and stammered, unable to give a coherent answer. Mitian sighed at the time wasted on him and pushed him towards the door.

"Alright, alright, keep your sleep-talking to your dreams. Don't talk about it at other people's houses. I'm going to sleep."

"Wait! It's real...! I..."

At that time, Igima had only recently become a leader and wasn't as eloquent in official speech as he would later become. He still possessed a strong sense of awkwardness. Furthermore, Mitian was older than him. For the time being, he could only utter some empty rhetoric, which did nothing to strengthen the persuasiveness of his arguments.

Just as Ijima was about to be pushed out the door by Mitian, at that moment...

"Don't be so impatient. It wouldn't hurt to listen to his side of the story, Miss Mitterrand."

In Mitian's home, which should have been inhabited only by the two of them, a third voice suddenly appeared.

Mysterious organization

Mitian was quite certain that he had locked the door immediately after Ijima entered. He had come alone. There had never been anyone else in his house before, except for himself.

So, where did this sound come from?

Shocked and panicked, Mitian turned her head towards the direction from which the sound came. It was towards her dormitory. But there was no one there. She looked to her left and right, but saw nothing that could be making human voices.

"Here it is."

Just as Mittian was wondering what was going on, the voice suddenly sounded again from behind her. At the same time, it felt like something warm was placed on her shoulder. Mittian screamed "Ah!" and instinctively ran forward.

After creating some distance, Mittian cautiously turned around and looked at where she had just been. Finally, she found the owner of the voice that shouldn't have been there.

The person standing there was a tall, thin man dressed in a long black robe. He stood less than a step behind him, his hands behind his back, craning his neck. The sensation that had just appeared on Mitian's shoulder was precisely his chin.

Was this person male or female? Based solely on the voice, Mitian couldn't tell. It was a voice that seemed to have been manipulated by magic. The gender couldn't be discerned from the tone. But regardless of his gender, Mitian couldn't tolerate this suspicious-looking fellow touching her without permission. More importantly, he was an intruder who had trespassed on someone else's property without permission. Mitian grabbed a pair of scissors and pointed them at him, shouting a warning.

"Who are you! How did you get in!"

"Don't be so wary of me, Miss Mitis."

The robed man approached Mitian slowly, speaking in a relaxed tone. In the dim night, all Mitian could see was endless darkness beneath the robe that concealed his figure and face. Mitian's fear was reaching its limit.

At this point, she no longer cared about the law or how it felt to live there. She had a terrible premonition that if she didn't kill him, she might regret it for the rest of her life. Besides, he was the one who broke in without permission. Even if the homeowner attacked him, it would all be his fault.

Mitian simply closed his eyes and forcefully thrust the scissors forward. They pierced the robe, and also penetrated his flesh.

...But the robed man didn't utter any painful groans. Nor did he collapse as Mitian had expected. Instead, he reached out, grasped Mitian's wrist, and gently pulled the scissors from his own body.

"Miss Mittian, violence is no good. I'm here to discuss something very important to you, how can you treat me like this?"

His tone was as calm as if nothing had happened. Mitian clearly felt the touch of the stab that had pierced his flesh. But not a drop of blood flowed from the tear in his robe. The scissors in his hand weren't the result of a "white knife in, red knife out." They were as clean and tidy as if they had never been used. In fear, Mitian's hands, losing their grip, unconsciously loosened their hold on the scissors. With a "clatter," they fell to the ground.

"What...what are you going to do..."

Her trembling vocal cords could barely manage to squeeze out these words. Mitian watched in despair as the unknown entity reached out its hand and drew ever closer...

"Don't scare her like that, High Priest. She'll be frightened if you come in without greeting her."

Unlike Mitian, Ijima casually patted the robed man on the shoulder, as if chatting with an old friend. The robed man responded naturally.