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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: TushChen
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“What a strange occurrence! To think there would be someone who looks so alike!”
Elena tilted her head as if she couldn’t understand, adjusting the short blue cape draped over her shoulders.
They looked too similar to call it a coincidence.
It wasn’t only Elena who was surprised.
“…I’m startled.”
The girl with the slave seal on the back of her hand was also so shocked that she couldn’t close her mouth, which had opened wide.
The first to regain her senses was Elena?
“For now, let’s check your condition first. You look very thin.”
She spoke while examining the state of the slave girl.
The slave girl, who looked exactly like her reflection in a mirror, trembled slightly when Elena’s hand touched her.
As if she was afraid of human touch.
“Don’t worry. I won’t harm you.”
Elena’s smile felt bright and warm as if it could push away the darkness of the night.
Even I couldn’t take my eyes off that smile for a moment.
“Your condition isn’t very good. It seems like you haven’t been properly nourished, and you’ve been beaten severely. … What’s your name?”
“Elin…”
Elin…? The name was somehow… similar to Elena.
However, the name Elin was a name I had never seen even once in the novel, including the background settings.
“Elin. Wow, even our names are similar. It’s a pretty name. My name is Elena!”
As expected, the one who first faced her was Elena.
Then, who was this girl named Elin?
“What about this person…”
Elena looked at Nias, who was gently clinging close to my side.
“Ah, this person is…”
I lightly slapped Nias’ mouth, which was about to say something with a bright smile, to shut her up.
Nias covered her slapped mouth and protested with a wronged look in her eyes.
“As I said before, you don’t need to know yet.”
“Yet?”
I nodded and closed my mouth.
At least until it became clear what this situation was about, I had no intention of revealing my name.
Elena looked at me suspiciously for a moment, then turned her eyes back to Elin.
“One moment.”
She smiled softly and placed her hand on Elin’s shoulder.
“Nephthys, my goddess. Your holy grace…”
As she closed her eyes gently and recited a prayer in a solemn voice, a sacred light scattered from her hand and filled the alley.
Then, Elin’s pale complexion gradually began to improve.
The slave seal on Elin’s hand, which looked freshly imprinted, also slowly faded.
“They look just like twins.”
Nias whispered softly to me as she looked at the two of them.
“Twins…?”
I recalled the development of the novel and the background settings.
Elena meets the protagonist at 14, on his way to the academy, saving him from the attack of numerous monsters as their first encounter.
After that, throughout the main story, Elena’s past is not intensely focused on.
Because it’s an academy story, they are busy taking exams and hunting monsters.
On the other hand, if you include the story from the background settings, you can infer her past to some extent.
Before 14, Elena had already become a holy knight of Nephthys and infiltrated the church.
Actually, it’s odd to call it infiltration, as the church of the evil god Yuan had already lost most of its power due to continuous rejection and hunting by the churches that believed in the good gods.
It would be safe to think that Elena had taken refuge in Nephthys’s church.
‘Wait… but how did she become a holy knight of Nephthys?’
The holy knights of Nephthys, the god of light, warriors, and victory, have the meaning of being knights who fight on behalf of the god, but there is one more critical meaning.
The holy knights are candidates to become the next generation’s saint or holy maiden.
They accumulate virtues and demonstrate their faith in the god by acting as holy knights who follow the god’s will.
To become a holy knight of Nephthys, one must undergo many trials to prove their innate goodness.
It would be nearly impossible for her, the saintess of an evil god, to pass such trials.
‘There was no explanation written about that part.’
Was it a hole in the novel’s setting?
Or if it was simply not written…
While I was pondering, the sacred light emitted from Elena’s hand gradually faded.
“It’s done now.”
Elena’s voice, which seemed to spread a faint warmth, resounded in the dark alley.
Elin’s pale complexion had improved significantly compared to before. The wound on the back of her hand had also completely disappeared. Now, the only way to distinguish between them was their contrasting expressions.
“Thank you…”
Elena smiled at Elin, who spoke hesitantly.
“Well then… where is your home? If possible, I’ll take you there. If it’s too far, the adults at the temple will help.”
At Elena’s question, Elin’s face contorted.
Resentment, hatred, and sadness were openly expressed on Elin’s face.
“No… home. They all… these people.”
Elin pointed to the slave traders lying on the ground.
“Oh my, I’m sorry. I spoke without thinking.”
Elena’s eyes filled with sincere concern and apology upon hearing Elin’s words.
A tremor of perplexity and guilt could be felt in her voice momentarily.
This was strange indeed.
I couldn’t sense any hypocrisy in Elena’s attitude.
Then, was Elena’s hypocritical tendency also the type that awakens later?
‘No, wait… could it be…?’
Recalling something, I realized with a feeling of my mind clearing up.
‘…That’s how it is!’
Elena’s setting was quite fragmented.
There was a setting in which the Church of Yuan, which had already shrunk to its smallest size due to continuous oppression, suffered a fatal blow from some armed force other than the religion of the good gods and became extremely small.
Recalling that, all the answers were revealed.
‘Those armed forces were the slave traders. The slave traders had kidnapped the saintess of Yuan.’
I didn’t know if they kidnapped her knowing she was the saintess or not.
The reason why the saintess of Yuan could become a holy knight of Nephthys was also finally revealed here.
‘Today was the real day Elena was supposed to die.’
Elin kills Elena on this day. No, even if the story wasn’t this extreme, there were several possibilities for the reason behind Elena’s death. Elena could have met her demise in some kind of accident.
But this speculation was likely close to the truth. Having confirmed that her appearance is identical to Elena’s, Elin goes to the temple of Nephthys, pretending to be Elena.
Elin had no doctrine or faith in Nephthys, so she might have pretended to have suffered terrible things at the hands of those slave traders.
If she pretended to have lost her memory due to shock, they would have been deceived.
There was no possibility that Elena’s death was on any other day than today.
If Elena and Elin had appeared together at the temple of Nephthys even once, the priests would have noticed when they switched places later.
“Well, for now, come with me to the temple. I’ll feed you and let you rest. After that, let’s discuss together what to do next!”
At Elena’s suggestion, Elin hesitated for a moment before nodding.
I saw the light of wicked agony that flashed across Elin’s face.
“We’ll be going now. Thank you for your help. If we happen to meet again next time, I hope to hear your name then.”
Elena slightly bowed her head to me and took Elin’s hand, moving her steps out of the alley.
If I let them go alone like this, Elena would be a dead person.
‘They said it was a route.’
The author mentioned this route in the setting.
It meant there was another storyline.
The encounter between these two and me. The intertwined fates of these two would be tied together as a route to obtain the strongest weapon.
The survival of the girl named Elena could be an essential issue.
“Wait a moment!”
At my call, Elena and Elin simultaneously turned their heads.
“…?”
Seeing two identically beautiful girls turning around with the dazzling moonlight coming through the alley behind them was so captivating that I couldn’t take my eyes off them.
“Why are you doing this? Ah, if you want a reward, please come to the temple of Nephthys. The priests will surely give you an appropriate reward.”
“That’s not it.”
But I had no justification to stop them either.
Chasing after them would also be troublesome if I thought about the future.
Then…
“Wait, if you take Elin to the temple hastily, it could be dangerous for the temple as well.”
At my words, Elena’s eyelashes trembled finely.
“What? Who would dare to touch the temple of Nephthys?”
“Well, there are some crazy bastards in the world.”
I approached one of the men lying on the ground, groaning, and lightly kicked his face.
“Ugh…”
“Name.”
“…Ga..Gald…”
Thud!
“Not your name, the organization’s name.”
Fear rose in the man’s eyes at my words.
But a gun in front of your eyes is scarier than a gun 100 km away.
This time, I made sparks fly visibly on my hand.
“Wait a moment! That’s too harsh again…!”
“Ah, no! The Young Master has a plan in mind!”
Nias spread her arms wide, blocking Elena, who was trying to approach to stop me.
“How do you know…”
“Trust him! It’s really okay! It will definitely be okay!”
“Is… is that so?”
“Yes!”
That pushy way of speaking of Nias was overwhelming if you experienced it for the first time.
Elena also seemed at a loss for words and only threw a worried glance in my direction.
“Are you not going to say it?”
I brought my hand, where sparks fiercely flew, closer to the man’s face.
Just before the sparks hit his face, the man shouted, his whole body trembling.
“…Re… Red Snake! It’s Red Snake!!”
Having received a clear answer, I brushed my hand to extinguish the fire and knocked the man unconscious again.
“As I thought. These guys called Red Snake aren’t just slave traders. Listen carefully.”
I paused as if I was about to say something profound.
All eyes were instantly focused on me.
“…These guys are also a terrorist group against religion. They hate all religions, whether good or evil.”
“…There are such people? I’ve never heard of them!”
“I heard they infiltrated the church of the evil god Yuan as well. Thanks to that, the Yuan church was also nearly destroyed. I heard they showed unnecessary cruelty in the process. Cutting off arms and legs one by one while alive…”
Elena covered her mouth with one hand, spreading it wide as if startled.
Her silver eyes, filled with boundless goodness, widened considerably.
“Sca… scary! To torture like that… No matter even if they are apostles of an evil god…”
When Yuan’s story was brought up, Elin opened her mouth slightly as if she wanted to say something.
However, in the end, she didn’t say a word.
“If you take someone kidnapped by such cruel people to the temple of Nephthys…”
“That’s right.”
I nodded with certainty.
Of course, this was all a lie.
I had never heard of an organization called Red Snake until now.
I had simply woven a story based on the fact that they were an armed group.
“But it’s fine if it’s me. Come with me. I’ll protect you.”
“Protect…?”
Elena tilted her head.
Her eyes seemed to say, “Who are you to be able to do such a thing?”
I sighed and took off the hood I had been wearing sincerely.
Then, I slowly stepped out from the alley’s shadows and into the moonlight.
“The son of a duke.”
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