It had been about a week since the "oracle" of the goddess descended upon <Central Prism Academy>.
Twitch—
Orange cat ears twitched constantly. The only sound in the quiet room was that of a pen moving across paper.
Scratch, scratch…
“Hehehe—☆ Is there anything else you’d like to know~☆ The Goddess knows everything, everything—☆”
Rota was diligently listening to Urd’s words and jotting them down in her notebook. Over time, her initial wariness of this space had faded, leaving only curiosity in its place.
“Hehehe…☆”
Seeing this, Urd smirked, feeling a sense of pride. Reciting knowledge from the "past" as if it were an oracle was more satisfying than she had expected.
Listen well to your senpai and help those in need~♪ Indeed, the will of Yggdrasil exists to help people…! Even when she said simple, universally accepted truths, seeing her juniors nod seriously as if they were hearing some profound wisdom… it gave Urd a strange, ticklish feeling.
Encouraged by this, Urd, in a proud tone, casually dropped some information about the magic that "Rota of the past" used to practice.
“Yes♪ If I were to give you advice in the spirit of ‘Yggdrasil,’ I’d say that it’s more romantic to weave spells with a poetic rhythm~☆”
Twitch—
Rota’s eyes sparkled like jewels as she looked up, intrigued by the topic related to her specialty.
“Romantic…? What do you mean? Be specific! Isn’t the order of the incantation what’s important?”
“Uh, well…♪”
This was unexpected.
Urd, who had been explaining things in a ‘Clara’-like manner based on the little information she remembered, was momentarily at a loss.
‘Uh-oh—☆ I don’t actually know much about magic…’
If Rota were to suddenly question her authority with something like, ‘How can someone as incompetent as you be a goddess?’ Urd wouldn’t know what to say.
…
‘Well… maybe if I explain it well, she’ll understand—☆’
Urd continued her explanation, internally sweating.
“Oh, no☆ Um… well… oh! Yes—☆ Think of it like chirping birds instead of a golden cat! Ka-boom—! Shoosh~☆ How about that? Like pigeons flying up at a train station? Hm?”
“Birds… hmm… a longing to fly in the sky? The ‘story’ that stems from that is theological…!”
Urd desperately tried to recall the vague "past memories" and describe the way "Rota of the past" used magic.
Luckily, perhaps due to the enthusiasm with which she flapped her arms like wings, Rota seemed to ponder for a moment before nodding as if she understood.
Then, shyly, she asked the next question.
“So, what’s next? …?”
The awkward and belated honorifics made Urd burst out laughing.
“Hahaha—☆ What’s this~♪ Suddenly, you’re being all formal? Just talk to me like before—☆”
“Oh… it's just that after talking with the Goddess… it felt like I was talking to Clara-senpai, so I… It just felt a bit disrespectful when I thought about it…”
“…”
“My habit of talking casually with my friends just keeps slipping out…”
“…”
Urd suddenly remembered the "Rota of the lost time."
“…”
The junior who kept a subtle distance from the clumsy and trouble-prone Clara until the very end.
The "Rota of the past" usually stuck close to Albite, and, true to her habit of bearing problems on her own, she had a tendency toward independence.
‘She was a kind-hearted kid inside, but she was firm about her own domain—☆’
But…
‘The Rota of now’ strangely followed ‘Clara’ well and didn’t seem reluctant to share her concerns.
‘Yes… I see.’
She had changed. Same person, but different.
“…”
It was a fact that she repeated to herself several times… The junior in front of her was not the same one she had known. Even in just half a year, the difference felt like an unbridgeable gap.
After all, it was ‘the Clara of now’ who had led this girl to change so much.
“…”
Urd put considerable effort into recalling the ‘forgotten past.’ That was why she had become a goddess and entered the ‘Well of Fate.’
‘What I saw in the past was…’
This world is destined for [destruction]. It was a realization she came to only after defeating the ‘Dragon.’
“…”
Ultimately, <Ratatoskr> succeeded in awakening the ‘Dragon.’ Because of that, the [Dragon Crouching in the Abyss] began to rampage.
Her juniors—[The Fate of the Three Heroes]—had succeeded in stopping them all. So… she thought her world had been saved by her juniors.
‘But what appeared afterward…’
The two divine beasts—the ‘Snake’ and the ‘Wolf’—who were revived with the "power of death" left by the Dragon. The power they held was beyond what the Academy City, which had exhausted all its strength to stop the [Dragon Crouching in the Abyss], could handle.
As a result, all the students, including the Osaek, perished.
“…”
It was only then that she became aware, far too late, of her [Fate] as the [Saint of Sacrifice].
Because she had been too weak. Because she had reached the [Fate] of being the [Saint of Sacrifice] far too late.
“…”
It was too late. So, she sacrificed everything to turn back time. She thought that if she could just start over, she could reverse it.
But…
She had realized, far too late, that every miracle comes with a price.
The [Sacrifice]… had severed her soul from everything.
‘Who would have thought that the void left by the [Sacrifice] would be filled by another soul.’
The world she had turned back was different from the previous one because of the outsiders who had flowed in from another universe.
“…”
Urd stopped her thoughts and looked at Rota in front of her.
“Goddess…?” “…Yes♪”
As much as the time had changed. As much as the soul had changed. Another threat was coming to this city.
“…”
Because this world is destined for [destruction]. If so, she would… [sacrifice] herself to stop it.
The ‘Well of Fate,’ which she had reached just by following the flow. And the ‘new Clara’ she met through fate.
Urd made a resolution to herself.
This time— ‘I must help the other me… the other saint.’
That was the task left for her, the one who had been deemed unworthy.
A lukewarm summer breeze blew into the auditorium, which had been set up like a campsite.
Ever since we had our encounter with the gentle Goddess of the past, we had been living in the auditorium, which we had decorated like a campground.
‘That chick dropped a strange white powder all over the place, so we couldn’t take it back to the dorm.’
We held oracle sessions two or three times a day. This time it was Rota’s turn, so we decided to wait outside.
‘Well, even if it’s called an oracle session, it’s more like casual chatter that ends up coming out.’
Strictly speaking, Urd—‘Clara’—was also a student of <Central Prism Academy>. So, to keep her from feeling lonely, we’d have these ‘oracle sessions’ as an excuse for some girl talk.
“…”
It might sound odd, but… I felt like she was also a junior I had to take care of.
“…”
There were things that we had exchanged between us… so now, she was someone I couldn’t just leave alone.
‘I’ve told Hilde about the existence of [The Nameless Hawk] and the ‘Well of Fate,’ but…’
A goddess who resides in Yggdrasil, which is considered a divine entity in this world. And the ancient divine beast of order—[The Nameless Hawk]—who had once helped humanity in the distant past.
The news that these two divine beings had suddenly appeared at <Central Prism Academy>, which had been forgotten, was shocking even to Hilde. Because of that, she seemed unable to fully grasp the story.
In the end, we decided to discuss it in detail later.
‘I wonder how Hilde will react when she finds out that Urd looks exactly like me?’
The Ascendant… the past goddess Urd, no matter how you look at it, was just Clara. In other words, her appearance wasn’t much different from mine.
If she encounters her in that state, what will she say? Will she be happy, thinking it’s some kind of Clara 1+1 sale event? Will she rush forward like a gamer storming a convenience store to buy a character collaboration product?
I was half curious, half nervous.
“…”
Honestly… if I saw her getting excited over another pink-haired girl, I think I’d feel a bit jealous and lonely.
… … …
“…?”
I suddenly flinched at the strange feeling I had.
“What the heck—☆”
Oh.
What is this? I’m acting like a totally jealous girlfriend.
“…”
I couldn’t help but lower my head.
‘Damn it…’
Do I have to admit it?
‘I’m on the verge of completely falling into the pink-haired trap…’
Ever since that day we dressed up together, it feels like the ‘pretty side’ of my thoughts has been accelerating.
‘At some point, I even started to forget things about my past life.’
Bit by bit… Little by little… It felt like my past life was fading away.
But was that terrifying? Honestly… I wasn’t sure.
Isn’t life about slowly forgetting and changing as you go on?
Hilde. Frida. Nina. Selma. Maya. The Osaek of Academy City. The juniors of <Central Prism Academy>. The dwarf merchants in the shopping district.
And so on…
As much as I’ve forgotten, the things that filled that space were meaningful, So it didn’t feel meaningless to forget. If you think of it as just a continuation of life, you can accept it calmly.
‘Or is this also Clara’s fate… the fate of [Sacrifice]?’
…
The fate of [Sacrifice], huh. Have I ever really sacrificed anything?
‘I don’t remember doing anything as dramatic and noble as a firefighter.’
When you think of a saint, there’s an image of something sacred and noble. But all I remember is handling things as they came up, as best I could.
“…”
I thought about this as I sipped the cold tea in my cup.
Slurp—
‘Feels like I’m at some kind of retreat.’
I sat in a chair, sipping the cold tea, and watched Albite, who was checking the health of the chick… [The Nameless Hawk]. For reference, Kara was out on an errand for the dwarf merchants in the shopping district.
[The Nameless Hawk] let out a pathetic cough.
“Cough—! Cough, cough…! It feels like something burned inside my nose…! Cheep…!”
“Hmm… I think the acid refluxed because you’ve been going in and out of your throat too much…”
Albite examined the giant chick’s throat, then went to the dining hall and mixed hot water to make it lukewarm. She carefully poured it through a kettle, letting it trickle down its throat.
[The Nameless Hawk], who drank the water with its head stretched out like a baby bird being fed, felt its burning throat cool down and shed tears of gratitude.
“Sniff… thank you, [Hero]…! Cheep—! When I regain my great wings, I will carry you through the skies of this world first…!”
“No thanks.”
“Oh—! I want to regain my strength quickly so I can give you the great holy sword—! Cheep—!”
“I already have a sword.”
“Then why not use both! Cheep!”
“Dual, dual-wielding…? That sounds complicated…”
Albite pushed away [The Nameless Hawk], who was trying to embrace her out of gratitude. The summer breeze blew through <Central Prism Academy>.
“…”
I watched the scene and muttered to myself.
“So peaceful—☆”
At that moment, I sensed a large number of presences passing through the school’s front gate from afar.
“This isn’t good—☆”
What kind of delinquent students want to get beaten up today—☆
I thought as I stood up… but the people who entered weren’t delinquent students.
“We have arrived at the land of the oracle, sisters! This is the place the Spirit of the Sword spoke of—!”
“Is this the place?!”
“Yes, sisters!”
“My goodness, the traces of the great Yggdrasil and Norns are here…!”
“Oh, how did we fail to notice it sooner?”
“Could it be that the fate of [Hero] and [Saint] lies here…!”
“What a humble and dignified place!”
“Oh, look at that broken window…! What theological significance could that have?”
They were hundreds of pointy-eared elves, neatly dressed in white uniforms, from <Holy Alfenheim High School>.
Albite, seeing them, muttered under her breath.
“Uh…? What are they doing here…?”
“Who knows—☆”
“Cheep—! They are students with a familiar scent. A very fragrant and nostalgic smell of Yggdrasil…! Cheep!”
“Do you know how annoying your way of talking is?”
“Cheeep…”
Twitch—
The elf students’ ears twitched. Then, hundreds of pointy-eared students rushed toward us all at once.
“There they are! There are the [Hero] and [Saint] chosen by the Spirit of the Sword!”
“No, that noble divine beast…?!”
“The God of Order!! The embodiment of Order!! It’s the divine bird!!”
“Capture it!! Capture and revere it—!”
What the heck is this…?