I Became the Academy’s Pink Airhead

If asked to pick the most surprising memory since coming to this world, the top spot would naturally be when [Priest of Erosion] suddenly appeared as the first boss.

Four wings blocking the moon.

Hundreds of chaos insects covering the north.

And [Priest of Erosion] standing against the flames…

Those memories still occasionally showed up in dreams.

After spending a year preparing to see the original ending and gathering all three juniors, when I saw the black lizard appear saying ‘Hehe, not a chance’, I really thought I was going crazy.

‘Well, now I feel like no matter how messed up things get, it’s better than then. So I won’t be that surprised anymore.’

Men grow through frustration.

No matter how much I let memories of the Three Kingdoms flow away, the truth remained.

Other times I was greatly surprised…

Hilde’s surprise confession punishment,

Hilde’s surprise kiss-peck punishment,

Hilde’s surprise wedding punishment, and so on.

‘…Somehow Hilde’s share seems a bit large.’

Anyway, except for Hilde’s outrageous actions, I thought there weren’t many surprising elements left in this academy city.

But the unchanging truth that pink airheads must be pathetic.

That cliché confident thought was shattered today.

I felt my heart drop to my toes again.

Trembling like a 1000x sensitive woman, I had to ask back:

“What… did you say…?”

“Jinsu! Ji-in-su! Jinsu! Abubu—☆”

No doubt about it.

That kid just said ‘Jinsu’.

…My real name from my past life.

Hearing that, my mind went blank.

“…”

A few minutes ago… When Nella, the theology department head, said Alvit and I should take turns having 1-on-1 meetings with the ‘spirit of the sword’. I confidently shouted I’d go first, and immediately arrived at the empty meeting place.

There was the ‘spirit of the sword’ being held by Nella.

But as soon as I arrived, that pink-haired kid called my past life name without hesitation.

Calling it right as I entered without holding back… Well, I had no time to mentally prepare.

‘I didn’t know hearing a Korean name in this world would feel so awkward.’

Wondering if maybe the kid was just babbling,

I moved around slightly here and there with crab steps…

Rustle…

Rustle…

But the kid pointed at me with chubby fingers and said again:

“Jinsu! Jinsu!”

“…”

An undeniable situation.

That translucent pink kid… the ‘spirit of the sword’ correctly said my past life name.

Huh…

‘Is this the divine power possessed by the ‘Just Big Tree’?’

The World Tree’s power is roughly at a cosmic level, so maybe it sensed my original name like a mountain spirit.

If I didn’t have knowledge of the original work, I probably would have lost my faith before this miracle and become a pink nun. Then while doing good deeds for wild girls like Hilde, I’d pathetically get addicted to drugs and suffer unspeakably lewd acts.

With a scene of someone passing by the church muttering ‘Was there a watermill around here?’, it would end with a close-up of the wet floor in a BAD ending.

That was a pink airhead’s destiny.

…

…

…

I got too agitated and my thoughts went wild.

I shook my head and inwardly shook off the strange thoughts.

‘I need to fix this habit of talking nonsense inside when surprised.’

Nella saw me like that and let out a small laugh.

“Huhu. The spirit seems to really like you, Saintess.”

“I-Is that so—☆ Why would that be when I haven’t done anything yet~?”

“Huhu… Is that so? Then that too must be fate.”

Nella didn’t say anything particular after that. She just watched the actions of me and the pink spirit with a faint smile.

I shrank from Nella’s smile that only slit-eyed characters would make.

‘Why is she smiling so meaningfully when she’s not even slit-eyed?’

-Ah I see… So that’s how it is.

-So it has become that way.

-But you don’t need to know that.

…It was roughly that kind of smile.

Though she appeared in the original work in charge of handing over the holy sword,

I don’t think she gave off such a meaningful atmosphere.

To begin with, it felt strange that the [Saintess] appeared now.

‘When I heard Urd’s words, she said it originally existed in this world view but… was forgotten for some reason, and was a [Fate] belatedly discovered by Clara after the original work.’

But the ‘spirit of the sword’ knew.

“…”

A quiet space in a deep forest beyond the fields and paddies.

Though it was midday, somehow an eerie atmosphere flowed.

“…”

Through that, the pure cry of the pink spirit echoed again.

“Jinsu—! Jinsu—!”

The spirit raising both hands and repeatedly shouting my name.

It cheered with sparkling eyes as if truly happy.

“Abuu—☆ Jinsu, Jinsu—! I wuv Jinsu—☆”

I get it so please stop calling me.

‘Hearing my male name from my past life called in a baby voice keeps feeling like it’s scolding my current fallen pink self.’

…

No way, right?

It must be my imagination.

“…”

To begin with, the spirit of the sword wasn’t a character that thought so deeply. Strictly speaking, it was just a child moving by instinct… literally a spirit.

‘Wasn’t it just a role to pass on the holy sword… roughly a fairy-like existence that typically appears in fantasy elements like Excalibur…?’

But one thing is certain amidst the confusing situation… was that the ‘spirit of the sword’ knew my name, which I hadn’t even revealed to Urd or Hilde who knew my past.

I had no idea how this was accomplished.

“…”

Feeling like I lost everything from the start, I couldn’t even answer.

‘I thought I’d just quietly swear ‘I’ll set an example as the [Saintess]—☆’ and be done…’

While inwardly worrying about how to handle this situation, I was moving around with crab steps to avoid the pink spirit’s pointing finger shouting ‘I wuv Jinsu!’.

Suddenly Nella opened her mouth in a relaxed voice:

“Are you surprised?”

“Y-Yes?!”

Of course I was damn surprised.

I thought my heart had dropped with a thud.

‘Could you pick up my breasts if they fell on the floor there?’

But Nella didn’t even pretend to look for lost items on the floor and just continued speaking:

“The spirit of the sword… said it felt a very familiar energy from you.”

“U-Um…? Familiar? Though I’m a cute girl☆ I shouldn’t have a common impression—☆”

Does she mean the [Saintess]’s energy?

Since the spirit of the sword has existed since the era of the [Three Heroes], maybe it knows about the forgotten [Saintess] too.

“Uteah—☆”

“The spirit of the sword said you have already become an excellent [Saintess of Sacrifice]… that there is nothing more to tell you.”

“Oh my—☆ That’s strange… I haven’t particularly sacrificed anything…”

“Tete—♪”

“The spirit of the sword said your scars are already proof that you have realized and found your own [Fate]. Girls with the fate of [Saintess] can handle greater power of [Fate]… the more they lose precious things and get hurt.”

“…”

“The slowest and most painful path… It said even if it added words here about the next destination you should go to, which you yourself know best, it would only be a hindrance…”

H-Honestly, stretching “Tete—♪” to that extent seems forced.

…But I didn’t particularly challenge Nella who was pretending not to hear it say ‘Jinsu’.

‘Or is she filtering and interpreting even that word in her own way?’

Watching Nella’s appearance from earlier, it seemed like she was directly hearing the spirit’s will through some religious faith something.

Isn’t she adding her own opinion to that?

“…”

Well, it seemed the spirit of the sword intuitively knew I was raising my juniors with a firm goal. And I already knew I was a [Saintess] from hearing it from [Golden Witch]…

‘Hmm… I just confirmed what I already knew. Not very helpful.’

Looking at the atmosphere, it seems like I should make a pitiful smile here… say some Saintess-like lines and withdraw. But somehow it felt unsettling to just pass over whether calling my past life name was a coincidence.

I finally spoke about what had been bothering me:

“Um… Among the words the spirit of the sword said☆ I wonder what it meant by calling me ‘Jinsu’…☆ Ah, could it be an exclamation meaning ‘cute!’ in an ancient language—♪”

“…”

Nella looked at me closely, then smiled and said:

“Before you were fragmented by [Fate]… When you were living as a [Saintess]. The most respected person. It said a similar energy flows from you.”

…

…

…

‘…What?’

Realizing the spirit of the sword’s identity, my mind went blank again with the sudden shock.

“…”

I couldn’t help but understand even if I didn’t want to.

The ‘spirit of the sword’ was my senior.

And…

“…”

An ancient outsider.

An outsider in this game world.

The person respected by the previous era’s [Saintess].

A man who led the [Three Heroes] but at some point started helping .

The Prophet’s name was ‘Jinsu’.

“…”

Even if I didn’t want to… I had no choice but to intuitively understand.

* * *

Alvit approached the lakeside Nella had told her about. She said Alvit must face her own [Fate] here to be able to possess the sword.

“…This is the holy sword.”

There was a completely rusted longsword stuck in the water’s edge. Of course, it was completely worn down to a shape like a black branch due to time and moisture.

“…”

A shape that looked like you’d get tetanus just from grabbing it. But for some reason, Alvit reached out towards that sword as if entranced.

She came to be in this place for this.

She must pull this out to move on to the next step.

Her mother’s prophecy.

Her friends’ words.

Her Senior’s and her own fate.

Such thoughts flashed through her mind.

“…”

But…

The sword was firmly stuck in the ground and didn’t move.

Though it looked like it would fall over if a small child came and tapped it, it didn’t budge at all as if it had been driven in with a stake several meters long.

“…Why?”

Alvit stood holding the sword for a long time. She heard the faint cry of a hawk and the sound of giant wings flapping in her ears.

-Still… lacking…

“…”

What…?

Wasn’t this her [Fate]?

“…”

Alvit tried to pull out the sword.

She even mobilized ether and tried using force.

She tried digging up the surrounding ground to take it out from below.

But the sword still didn’t move.

“…Why.”

Alvit stood blankly at the lakeside. Gentle waves lapped at her feet, wetting her legs. The chilly wind by the lake rustled her hair.

“What am I lacking?”

A month passed from then.

Alvit still couldn’t pull out the sword.