Gulp.
She swallows a dry gulp.
Oh, nice.
Now that it’s well-roasted, should I take a bite?
Just as I was about to pop a warm, freshly roasted marshmallow in my mouth…
[Partner, how about giving the Saint a bite too? Don’t you think it’s kinda sad?]
The Black Prince chimes in.
“Uuuuu…. Ziiiii….”
Turning around, I see the Saint staring at me intently, making strange sounds with her mouth.
Wait, you’re Makoto?
Making those sounds with your mouth?
This is ridiculous.
[Huh? Partner? Honestly, you brought a lot of marshmallows. I just think she looks sad. So, please.]
The Black Prince’s voice rings in my head.
Seriously, that lecherous personality is a pain.
I guess there’s no helping it.
To shut the noisy Black Prince up, I might as well toss her a marshmallow.
Like the Black Prince said, I did bring quite a few marshmallows, and I could spare one to win the favor of the infinitely useful Saint.
She’s just a bit annoying, that’s all.
Without saying a word, I take out another marshmallow, skewer it, and roast it.
“Uuuuu, human. Are you daring to deceive her now…?”
The Saint mumbles from behind.
Without saying anything, I offer all the roasted marshmallows to her.
“Here.”
“I-is this for me?!”
The Saint’s eyes widen as she sees the steaming marshmallow.
“Hmm, hmm. Are you offering me daily sustenance? Well, I didn’t particularly wish for it, but if you insist on offering, I shall graciously sample it. Consider it an honor.”
Beatrice coughs awkwardly, steadies her fluttering gaze, and puts on a serious face.
Yet her eyes are fixed on the marshmallow skewer.
What a show-off.
“If you keep rambling nonsense, I won’t give it to you.”
Whoosh.
I retract the marshmallow I was extending toward her.
“W-wait! D-don’t do that… that’s too cruel…! How can you give it and then take it back?!”
Immediately switching to a pathetic mode, the Saint puffs out her cheeks and starts tearing up.
Seriously, I don’t get why she’s acting like this when she won’t even get anything back.
[Partner, you’re not really thinking of not giving it to her, right?]
The Black Prince asks, slightly surprised.
‘It’s just a joke. What do you think of me to be so serious about this?’
Honestly, I’m a bit hurt.
I’m not that petty of a person.
[Hmm. A terribly narrow-minded tsundere cool kid?]
‘This guy.’
[Ah, ha ha ha! Just kidding, just kidding.]
The Black Prince awkwardly laughs.
“You’re making me laugh.”
“No matter how I look at it, this doesn’t seem like a joke.”
“Well, it’s not like I should be trying to reason with the Black Prince seriously.”
“Anyway.”
“Thank you. I’ll eat well. If I don’t, you won’t give me any.”
“The saintess really needs to work on her habits.”
“If she keeps doing this, it’ll be troublesome for cooperation later.”
“The original protagonist managed to coax the saintess with his ‘kindness,’ but as the Black Prince said, I’m just a narrow-minded little man.”
“I have no intention of playing the nanny to Beatrice like that loser Yuji.”
“To do that, I need to tone down her temper early on.”
“How dare you, a mere human, say something so humiliating to the saintess of the Red Lotus…?”
“If you don’t like it, then don’t eat it.”
“Uuuuuuu… that’s so unfair…”
The saintess puffs up her cheeks at my words.
She glances back and forth between me and the roasted marshmallow, hesitating.
“…I-I can do it, right? Thank you… I’ll eat well…”
Beatrice bows her head slightly.
“Here.”
Since she followed my words, it’s time to reward her as promised.
I’m not that petty of a person.
I’m someone who keeps my word.
Beatrice accepts the marshmallow with polite hands.
She bites into the roasted marshmallow.
Beatrice’s red eyes widen.
“It’s d-delicious…!”
She’s always loved sweet things, so it’s no wonder she’s enchanted by the taste of the roasted marshmallow.
“Is it tasty?”
When I ask, Beatrice looks startled.
She tries to feign a serious expression and responds.
“Uh, well, it’s not something I can’t eat.”
“Aren’t you still playing that act? You know it doesn’t work in front of me.”
“…It’s really delicious…”
Beatrice mumbles shyly, hesitating.
Crackle.
The fire pops as it burns.
The ambiguous dawn sky shows neither night nor morning.
I take a bite of the steaming, hot marshmallow.
Yum.
Roasted marshmallows are tasty, but for some reason, they taste even better while I’m on night watch.
“It’s cold…”
Swish.
Beatrice moves closer to me.
She sticks a new marshmallow on a skewer and asks while roasting it again.
“Not sleeping?”
“…I can’t sleep…”
Beatrice puffs up her cheeks.
If you’re right in front of the horse’s quarters, that makes sense.
I used to eat ramen instead of sleeping when I was on duty right in front of them too.
“Then are you going to stay here?”
“…Uh, is that not okay…?”
Beatrice shakes a little.
Her gaze falls to the ground.
“Do as you please.”
It’s not like this spot is mine, and if she doesn’t want to sleep, I don’t need to worry more.
I poke the fire with a stick.
Sparks fly up into the sky.
An awkward silence stretches between Beatrice and me.
Come to think of it, it’s just the two of us here.
This is the moment.
“But why did you come here?”
Beatrice.
What in the world made her go through the hassle of transferring under disguise to St. George Academy to be here?
What’s the reason for the completely different course from the original story?
I finally have the chance to ask the one who twisted the original story.
Beatrice rolls one of her eyes.
Beatrice rolls her eye.
“Well, that’s…”
A quick glance.
Her eyes turn towards the marshmallow.
Want more, huh?
Without a word, I stick a marshmallow onto her skewer.
Beatrice’s eyes widen at the sight of the marshmallow.
“Now tell me.”
“I-I came to meet the… D-Daangshin…”
As she says this, Beatrice’s face turns bright red, lips pressed shut.
Me?
“Why on earth?”
Question marks float in my mind.
Surely, that can’t be a romantic confession.
Did I do something to catch the saintess’s attention?
“If it’s you who keeps interfering with the plans of the Messiah… then maybe… maybe you’re someone I can collaborate with…”
The saintess wriggles her fingers, her face still flushed.
[Ah, so that’s it… the Messiah… ]
The Black Prince mutters with an unusual seriousness.
Messiah.
The mastermind who killed four of the Five Crowns ten years ago and injured Seira, leading to the current situation.
Now that his name came up, the Black Prince couldn’t help but take things seriously.
“Is that all?”
The saintess nods.
Hearing her words finally makes the whole situation click into place.
A sigh escapes me.
This is driving me crazy.
She’s supposed to come personally to recruit the protagonist’s opponent, which is an event from the original story’s book 14.
In other words, it was bound to happen at some point.
But that it’s happening earlier? Totally my fault.
Because I’ve been actively crushing the New World League’s schemes, not allowing even the bottom-level villains or the 13 Apostles to escape, confirming all their deaths.
Because of that, the saintess picked me as the Messiah’s opponent earlier than the original protagonist.
“Damn it.”
I’m getting a headache from confirming the butterfly effect in such an unexpected place.
“Are you… mad?”
“No. So, at the hotel pool back then, we agreed to cooperate, right? Then your goal was achieved, so why are you still here with me?”
The saintess flinches at my gaze.
Beatrice’s face turns red again.
She fidgets with her fingers, touching the poor marshmallow, and says,
“W-Well… because it was… fun…”
Fun?
A light smile appears at the corners of Beatrice’s mouth.
“…Since I came to my senses, I hadn’t stepped out even once from the Cult. Like a bird in a cage. Surrounded by people wanting to use me… So…”
She places her hand over her chest.
“I liked it here. No hidden intentions, no one trying to use me… Just pure kindness shown to me… People who are gentle… I liked it here. Just a bit longer… I wanted to enjoy this everyday life. Even if it’s a relationship filled with lies and a fleeting dream…”
Beatrice closes and opens her eyes.
“I wanted to be Trixie Smith, not Saint Beatrice, until that dream ends.”
Tap, tap.
The glowing embers of the fire illuminate Beatrice’s face.
A bird in a cage.
In the original story’s book 17, Beatrice spoke similarly to the protagonist.
But hearing it from her own mouth leaves me speechless.
It resonates with my situation too.
“That’s a term that also applies to me.
The relationships I’ve built as a reincarnated person are almost a cascade of delusions and misunderstandings, and for me, who is trying to return to my original world, this damned world feels like a fleeting daydream.
And the unbearably kind people around me trust me so easily, treating me with pure goodwill like I’m some kind of fool.
“…It just is.”
I must return.
Thinking this, I steady my heart.
But maybe, just like Beatrice, there’s a desire within me to live as ‘Kim Deok-Sung’ in this world instead of my original self.
Perhaps a desire to settle down in this excessively kind world exists within me.
In that moment.
I shake my head vigorously to erase the faces of those who popped into my mind.
I can’t settle here.
I’m going back.
For my family left in the original world, my father about to retire and my sick mother.
“Yeah. Thanks for telling me.”
I then hand her another marshmallow.
Beatrice, receiving the marshmallow, beams with a big smile.
In the distance, dawn approaches.
It’s almost wake-up time.
*
Morning.
After finishing my breakfast with the leftover kimchi stew from yesterday, we gather to set the schedule.
The first person to voice an opinion is none other than:
“I want to go to the open sea!”
It’s Beatrice.
She speaks in her haughty middle schooler tone.
“Oh, Trixie! You want to play in the water too? I feel the same way! I want to enjoy some fun in the sea with you, Kim Deok-Sung. I even brought a floatie!”
Then Evangelin, sitting next to her, chimes in.
She shows off her floatie.
When the heck did she inflate that?
“Water play again…?”
We had our fill before coming to the deserted island, and now they want to play in the water again.
Honestly, I’m not thrilled about doing it again.
Just as I was about to say that—
“Deok-Sung.”
Rin looks at me.
“I… I also… want to play in the sea with you.”
She says shyly, her face turning red.
Rin’s dark blue eyes glance over at me.
Seeing Rin like that makes my heart weak for no reason.
Damn it.
Ever since yesterday, I can’t treat Rin like before.
I’m really going crazy.
[Partner. How about just accepting it?]
Sigh.
Fine, I’ll give in.
“Let’s just go to the beach.”
“Are you really? Thank you, Deok-Sung.”
Rin smiles faintly.
Now I feel a bit more at ease.
After the meeting ends, I lead the group toward the beach.
Swish swish.
I see the quiet beach of the deserted island where the protagonist’s party played in the original work.
Unlike the summer school beach packed with students, here’s a wide stretch of empty white sand with waves crashing gently, like a private beach.
Seeing it in person, the scenery is quite nice.
“Wow! It’s the ocean!”
Evangelin shouts her cliché line while admiring the sea.
Soon, I know Rin, Evangelin, and Beatrice will dash toward the ocean like something out of an anime.
You don’t even need to see it to know.
Thinking that I should just relax in the shade instead of joining them, suddenly—
“Glurk!”
Beatrice covers her left eye, hidden by an eye patch, with her right hand and yells.
“Glurk! The red lotus demon eye awakens! Kahhhhk!”
What?”
