“You just don’t get it, do you? My people have a long history of interpreting His Word correctly. If your reading was correct, then the Lord Eltania would be depicted by the Wasteland card.”
Melissa covered her mouth in triumphant scorn. Her demeanor pissed me off, but I decided not to give her shit for it. Emboldened by her little victory, she gave a smug little cough and continued. “A balanced scale carries a positive meaning. So this is how the words should be interpreted: War is upon us, but the Hair of Sulberia will bring harmony to the globe. In other words, you will be the key to saving the world from demise.”
But thankfully, her analysis was worth listening to.
Come to think of it…I don’t actually know what happened in the former timeline after I died.
If I used the word of Gods of the Moon as a reference, they probably offered Mylene unto their Sovereign God and He descended to the Earth from hell or whatever.
In that case, the world’s demise seemed pretty fucking possible. Just Pearlman—one of their cronies—was powerful enough of a mage that even a group of your biggest generals combined couldn’t beat him. If it came to all-out war, even a fully actualized future Colette would have bad odds.
And if the god these assholes worshiped wanted a world of chaos, the demise of the world wasn’t a far cry from that.
“It’s just a hard story to swallow,” I said. Whether it was still plausible or not was another matter entirely.
“I agree with you. I couldn’t believe that stupid bitch would be the key to saving the world.”
“Mee-yow… I agree with ya, though.”
“That’s why I observed you, so I could make sure. I needed to find out what kind of person you were. And I believe you’re trustworthy. Besides…you’re kind of a meddler. Right after you joined the academy, you did nothing but get into fights… But I found out later that most of the kids you beat up were bullies.”
“Bah!”
She gave me too much credit. I’d only done the bare minimum to protect myself, along with all the poor saps near me. In the end, I had put the fires out, but I hated being misunderstood.
“So…? Why’re ya bothering to tell me that?”
An indescribable discomfort crawled on my skin, so I averted my eyes and threw my hands up in the air.
Seemingly unperturbed, Melissa nodded. “Truth be told, there’s so much more I’d like to ask you…but I won’t request anything from you now except this: if you ever see any signs that connect to the prophecy I read at this table, please tell me.”
“That’s nice, but ya can’t do shit about it.”
Reading prophecies was noble and all, but the real issue was that this was serious shit. Not the sort of thing a little rabbit who couldn’t even beat Albert in a fight should stick her neck into.
I snorted condescendingly, but Melissa held her gaze and said, “You may be right. But I love the Kingdom of Eltania, and if I could help preserve the peace the Lord Eltania loves so much, it would be a beautiful thing. If there’s anything I can do help, I want to do it.”
The look in her eyes wasn’t something you’d see from a cowardly brat. This was just a hunch, but Melissa didn’t exactly seem all that talented. That’s why I assumed she was only saying that to get me to trust her…but I got the sense that maybe she had something different in mind.
She believed in Eltania and wanted to save Eltania—it seemed like this mosquito-bite-chested girl actually believed that with all her heart.
And that belief…was probably linked to Melissa’s final moments in the alternate timeline.
After a long pause, I replied, “But I find it hard to believe that Eltania actually likes peace.”
But to that extent, even a poor sap who loved Eltania died a pointless death that sparked a war. I found it utterly impossible to believe that this Lord Eltania was all that great.
I cursed under my breath, haunted by my ghastly past.
Seeing this, Melissa shook her head sadly and answered, “No. You’re wrong. I think—” Then, after a moment’s hesitation, she banished her insecurities and looked right at me. “I know that is why you are here now.”
I was tempted to cut her down with a sarcastic quip…but I was speechless.
That was why I had been brought back to this moment in time as the one with the Hair of Sulberia. No matter how hard I pondered my situation, I still couldn’t understand the reason or the implications behind it.
But could you blame me? I was shoved into the body of a bitch who was hated by just about all her subjects in the alternative timeline. It was some sick joke from God—that was my only explanation.
My other theory was that it had something to do with the gift a certain imperial princess gave a certain stray dog.
“Shit…”
But pondering that any further wouldn’t bring me the answer I wanted now.
Okay, so I was right all along. From my point of view, the Lord Eltania is a piece of shit.
Finding myself annoyed, I thrust my good-girl mask back on and said, “Have we quite finished our conversation? I believe Princess Colette has secured our permission to be off campus, but we still shouldn’t stay out too late. Perhaps we should head back soon.”
“Hm…okay. I guess we’ll call it a day for now.”
Melissa didn’t press me any further.
“The Hair of Sulberia will save the world from destruction”… Is that really why I’m here? I’m just a common mercenary. A guy like me wouldn’t be given such an important role in the first place. But those are some pretty fucking bold words to hear after I’ve been through hell.
If it was really true, I wouldn’t feel better until I landed a punch in that god’s face.
“Excuse me, sir, could we please have the check?”
“Sure. Two Earl Greys comes to this.”