"Who said you could enter without permission?"
She turned around slowly.
"Lena."
Rain-soaked footsteps echoed in the tent. Soon, a white-haired girl stepped out of the darkness and into the barracks.
A boy with his hood pulled low accompanied her, but Israphel’s gaze remained fixed on Lethe.
"It has been a while, Lady Israphel."
"What do you want?"
"I have an urgent request."
Israphel scoffed.
’A request? You’re asking me for a favor now?’ Ignoring the girl, Israphel pulled a quill from her inkwell and hovered it over a letter.
"I am busy. Leave—"
"I require immediate use of the teleportation magic circle."
Israphel’s quill paused.
"The teleportation magic circle? Where are you trying to go this time?"
"I must go to Professor Anna on the frontline. Immediately."
At those words, Israphel nearly lost control of the fiery anger flaring in her chest.
"This is ridiculous. I have been patient with you, but really."
Israphel slammed her quill down, the sharp clack echoing in the quiet tent.
"Why should I send you to Anna first? There are plenty of priests here who are far more competent and hold higher positions than you! Even if I were to go myself, there is absolutely no reason a mere servant like you should go to her first!"
"There are two reasons."
Lethe cut her off calmly, raising two fingers.
"First, we are going to stop the war. Everyone here, yourself included, only wants to win. No one is trying to end it."
"Stop the war?"
Irritation crept into Israphel’s voice.
"This is a war that no one has been able to end for nearly a hundred years. Do you honestly think your mere determination will solve anything?"
"It will not be simple, no. It will likely require several miracles. However, that is Professor Anna’s will. She intends to stop this war."
Israphel’s lips trembled at the mention of Anna’s name.
Lethe folded one finger down.
"And second, we can help Professor Anna achieve the ending she truly desires."
"You mean stopping the war?"
"No, not that."
Lethe furrowed her brow as she continued.
"If you still do not know what that is, then I have nothing more to say to you."
"Are you provoking me?!"
Just then, a memory flooded Israphel’s mind. Her mouth fell open.
’It was the night before Anna was dispatched to the Dark Alliance’s territory, right after the Sealed Book had been discovered.’
"Israphel, I have something to tell you."
’She had spoken like someone bidding their final farewell.’
’Or someone facing death.’
’Anna had called out to Israphel with a sad smile.’
Israphel violently shook her head, snapping out of the memory. It was a moment she desperately wanted to forget.
"It seems you have an idea," Lethe said with a crooked smile.
Seeing her smirk, Israphel shot up from her seat, her face twisting with raw emotion.
"This is all because of you!"
With bloodshot eyes, she marched over, grabbed Lethe by the collar, and slammed her against the wall.
"Anna changed because of you!"
Lethe’s eyes narrowed.
"Because of me?"
’This is dangerous.’
Simon watched Lethe, his stomach sinking. She was fundamentally a calm and rational person, but anything involving Anna was the sole exception. When it came to her, Lethe became radically emotional and impulsive.
"Calm down—"
Raising a hand to stop Simon, Lethe glared at Israphel, her voice turning sharp.
"If you have a conscience, search your heart and think for a second!"
This time, Lethe grabbed Israphel’s collar right back and dragged her forward. Overpowered by the girl’s sheer strength, Israphel groaned as she was shoved backward.
"Do you honestly think Professor Anna has been happy all this time?"
"What?"
"You, of all people, should know! The religious life, the life of a Saintess, being dragged out every single day to a battlefield she never wanted to be on, worked to the bone! Her prayers were not proof of devout faith! She was merely using prayer to endure the nightmare!"
Lethe slammed Israphel against the wall, the impact rattling the barracks.
"Has she not done enough?! She squeezed out miracles time and time again to save the Holy Federation! Are you really going to let your own selfish desires hinder someone who finally mustered the courage to seek her own happiness? How is that any different from saying, ’Please stay here and continue being miserable just for my sake’?!"
Israphel slumped to the floor, her eyes wide with shock. Lethe turned her back on the fallen woman, panting heavily.
"If you will not help us, we will hijack the teleportation magic circle ourselves."
Israphel stared in stunned silence.
Lethe began to stride away. Simon looked back and forth between them, unsure of what to do.
’This is a problem.’
Richard and Anna, the main parties involved in the incident, couldn’t be helped, but Nephthys’s instructions had been clear: avoid interfering with the values of people in the past as much as possible.
"I just—"
Israphel’s trembling voice broke the silence.
"I just wanted to be like her. She is my goal and my dream. If she disappears, then I... I am nothing."
She began to cry.
"I am nothing..."
"Ugh, seriously!"
Scratching her head in intense frustration, Lethe marched right back over.
"You don’t know anything!"
"Excuse me...?"
"Do you have any idea how incredible you are?"
She roughly shook Israphel by the collar.
"Professor Anna might be the one to open a new era, but you are the one who practically sustains it! So stop wallowing like an idiot!"
"W-Wait!"
Simon pulled Lethe away. He noticed the edges of her eyes had turned red.
"You don’t know how many lives you will save! How many wars you will prevent! You are a true hero!"
"What...?"
Israphel stared at Lethe in utter bewilderment. Even as Simon pushed her back, Lethe huffed and shouted.
"Pull yourself together, Israphel!"
Simon and Lethe slipped out of Israphel’s barracks and headed deep into the frontline headquarters, where the teleportation magic circle was being prepared.
Lethe peeked her head out slightly, observing the area ahead.
"Lethe."
Simon still sounded upset. For once, Lethe flinched and carefully studied his expression.
"I said I was sorry."
"It’s not me you should be apologizing to. How could you provoke Aunt Israphel like that? The plan was to just leave if we couldn’t get through to her."
"Seeing her sitting there with that miserable look on her face, acting like her life was over... it just made my blood boil. I couldn’t control myself. I am sorry."
Lethe closed her eyes in regret. Since she seemed genuinely remorseful, Simon let it drop.
’I suppose I should consider this a relief.’
Looking on the bright side, Lethe thankfully hadn’t directly revealed the future.
It would have been dangerous if she had explicitly said, "In the future, you will accept Anna’s ’Essence of Miracles’ and become the ’Saintess of the Divine Sea." But simply declaring that she would become an incredible person and save people was something anyone could say, time traveler or not.
Come to think of it, Israphel falling into a deep depression out of guilt might have been an even more dangerous outcome.
Since the Secret Society had already altered the past, dealing with variables was inevitable. In hindsight, Lethe might have made the best possible choice to ensure Israphel didn’t completely break down.
"We are here," Lethe whispered.
The teleportation magic circle glowed faintly up ahead. The workers had been up all night constructing it.
Now, they had to hijack it and arrive before the imminent "Betrayal of the Legion Commander" incident could unfold.
"Let’s go, Lethe."
"Understood."
Fifteen people were currently preparing the magic circle.
It was a heavy guard, but they had to manage somehow.
Simon circled far around to the back and cast the ’Sleep’ curse on two workers in the corner. Lethe silently caught them as they collapsed and dragged them behind a wall.
"Thirteen left now."
The remaining thirteen were busy working on the circle. Suddenly, one of them spoke up.
"Anred! Where did you go?"
Simon tensed.
They were looking for one of the men Simon had just put to sleep. Simon and Lethe exchanged anxious glances.
"I asked you to help with the circuit work! What are you doing?! Are you not going to answer? Anred!"
Simon fell into thought.
’Should I mimic his voice? Or should we just stay still?’ But if they stayed hidden, Anred’s failure to return would only raise more suspicions.
"Let’s make a move," Lethe suggested, opting to strike first. Having no better ideas, Simon nodded.
Just as the two were about to rush out, a sudden chill ran down their spines.
They sensed a presence right behind them. The two stiffly turned their heads.
"You’re working hard."
Israphel had appeared out of nowhere, a gentle smile on her face. Simon tensed, his face pale with shock.
’Is she planning to arrest us?!’
"Are the preparations going well?"
However, Israphel walked right past them, acting as if they were invisible, and approached the workers.
"Yes, ma’am! If it is just one or two people, we can send them right now!"
"We just need to finish the circuit work—"
An explosion echoed in the distance, and several mana lights flickered out.
Plunged into sudden darkness, the startled workers looked around frantically.
"What’s going on?"
"Seeing as the lights are out, it seems there is a problem with the mana power generator."
Israphel smiled and pointed ahead.
"I will watch over the magic circle. Hurry and repair it."
"Y-Yes, ma’am!"
The workers rushed off in a group. Israphel skillfully deployed a divine barrier to conceal the area, then gestured toward Simon and Lethe.
"Are you helping us?"
Lethe walked over, bewildered.
Israphel placed her palm in the center of the teleportation magic circle to finish the circuit, then activated it using her own authority.
"This is not for you. It is for Anna."
As she gestured again, the magic circle glowed brightly.
Simon and Lethe stepped onto it, and Israphel stepped back.
"Lena, you were right. I always thought I was acting for Anna’s sake, but in truth, I might have been doing it for myself."
The magic circle hummed to life, its runes flaring up in rapid succession.
"I will probably never understand why Anna loves a necromancer. However—"
She smiled.
"This time, regardless of my own interests, I will act purely for her happiness."
The teleportation magic circle activated.
The two of them slowly began to levitate off the ground.
"If Anna is going to stop the war, the Holy Federation’s offensive will need to be delayed, right? Leave that to me."
"Lady Israphel..."
Lethe’s voice trembled. Israphel offered a soft smile.
"For the record, I am not doing this because I believed your sweet-talking nonsense about me succeeding Anna or saving people. I am not that great of a person. I started as Anna’s servant, and my self-assessment is quite objective. Still—"
The two of them floated fully into the air. Israphel waved her hand.
"For Anna, I would make this same choice over and over again."
’It was the night before Anna was dispatched to the Dark Alliance’s territory, right after the Sealed Book had been discovered.’
"Israphel, I have something to tell you."
’Anna had called out to Israphel with a sad smile, speaking like someone bidding their final farewell. Or someone facing death.’
"I am leaving to do something strange now."
"Anna...?"
"The world around me has changed drastically. Recently, all because of one trivial incident."
’She smiled sadly.’
"I might throw away everything I have built up until now. It might even go against the will of the Holy Federation."
"Wait, please calm down! I don’t understand what you’re saying!"
’Anna, who had never acted like this before, was speaking with incredibly serious eyes.’
’She was being completely sincere.’
’It was clear she had made a momentous decision.’
’Shocked and bewildered, Israphel cried out desperately.’
"Throw away everything you’ve built up until now? You said it yourself! It was one trivial incident! How could you throw it all away over something so trivial?!"
"But," Anna smiled brightly.
"What if those trivial two days shone brighter than my entire life up until now?"
’A blinding light erupted.’
’Radiant divine power overflowed from her body.’
’Israphel stepped back, her mouth hanging open. Suddenly, the world was blanketed in clouds, and the resonant blast of heavenly trumpets echoed through the air. White feathers fell like snow, and the magnificent pillars of heaven emerged.’
’It was an astonishingly pure and clear divine power.’
’Pure divine power was a symbol of absolute faith. The energy Anna manifested in that moment was even clearer and purer than the power she had used to perform countless miracles in the past.’
’And there stood Anna, smiling with that heavenly spectacle behind her.’
’She had made her choice. Her divine power was vivid, as if the Goddess herself were supporting her resolve.’
’Please don’t go. Please stay by my side.’
’In the end, Israphel couldn’t bring herself to voice such selfish words.’
’Anna turned her back.’
"Thank you for everything, Israphel."

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