Charlotte

  ***

  With my head pounding painfully, I slowly came to. What in the world just happened? The st thing that I remember was…

  “Evelyn!” I cried out, sitting up.

  From me fell a bnket and as I was now wide awake, I found myself in a rge white walled tent. Looks like I’m alone and… in the medical tent? Why am I here? As I wondered this, familiar shapes entered the tent.

  ““““Charlotte!”””” My friends called out to me.

  Looking over, I saw them enter the tent. Seeing them I was relieved, although my eyes lingered on Evelyn. She looks normal? Bandaged, but normal. That’s odd, I remember her having bck hair… I wanted to get out of bed to greet them, but my body ached and reacted sluggishly.

  “Are you okay?” Evelyn asked, with a worried look in her eyes.

  “Of course she’s not okay, you beat her up!” Nicole said.

  “I did not!” Evelyn defended herself.

  “Look at her!” Olivia said. “She can barely move!”

  “I- I can move…” I said.

  Truthfully, my whole body hurts to the point where it’s probably an understatement to call it “aching.” And my arm, oh my arm… But I’ll keep that to myself for Evelyn’s sake.

  “Look at her!” Chloe pointed at me. “She was out for three days because of you!”

  “Th-three days…?” I was out for three days!?

  “S-she hit me pretty hard too!” Evelyn said.

  “Yeah but you can take it!” Nicole said. “You beat an actual demon out of her!”

  “!?” There was a demon in me!?

  “And then some for good measure!” Chloe said.

  “!?” She kept hitting me after that!?

  “I’m sorry!” Evelyn said.

  “Apologize to her, not us!” Olivia pointed at me.

  “I’m sorry I beat you up!” Evelyn bowed to me. “But you kind of deserved it-”

  “Not like that!” Olivia spped her on the back of the head.

  “I was fighting the demon, not you!” Evelyn continued, bowing even lower. “I didn’t mean to hurt you at all!”

  “O-okay…” I was still greatly armed by the series of revetions I just heard. “Do you mind expining what exactly happened to me?”

  “Ah well, about that…” Evelyn rubbed the back of her head, not making eye contact.

  …

  Wow… Apparently I was in serious trouble. It seems like a demon took over my body the moment Evelyn beat the two wolf demons. That was what was speaking in my voice and making my body move on its own. After I lost consciousness from the first attack, the demon partially appeared from my body. Evelyn fought it, and because it was using holy magic to attack, it weakened itself, letting her beat it. And so another thing…

  “I…I have holy magic…?” I asked.

  “Yeah and pretty strong too!” Evelyn said cheerfully. “A lot stronger than mine. I was really surprised.”

  “Yeah, everyone heard about it, and you could see the fshes of light from the camp.” Chloe said.

  “People were saying that it was on the level of a Saint!” Nicole said.

  “A-a s-saint?” I asked. That can’t be true…

  “I wouldn’t be surprised if people started calling you the Saint now.” Evelyn said.

  “That’s too much responsibility…” I said.

  “I’ll bet.” Olivia said.

  “That’s not even including the Demon Lord issue.” Chloe said.

  “I’m sure that Melody will take care of him.” Nicole said.

  “She’s probably looking for him right now.” Evelyn nodded.

  “I hope so.” I nodded. “I don’t want to fight the Demon Lord.”

  “Even if you do, I’ll be there right next to you with my spear!” Evelyn said triumphantly.

  “Given your record, I would prefer it if you weren’t.” I said.

  “WHAT!?” She looked taken aback.

  “Yeah, you’ll probably take her out long before the Demon Lord gets the chance.” Olivia said.

  “I would never!” She said.

  “I don’t know.” Chloe muttered. “You did just say that she deserved to get beat up…”

  “You’re imagining it.” She said quickly, averting her eyes.

  “Maybe you can dress the Demon Lord up as yourself and Evelyn will beat him for you.” Nicole suggested.

  “Oh, that's a good idea!” I said.

  “I’m sorry I’ll never hit you again.” She once more bowed. “Unless you really deserve it.”

  “I really need to avoid angering you…” I muttered.

  “““Mn.””” Nicole, Olivia, and Chloe agreed.

  “I-I’m harmless. I promise…” Evelyn muttered pathetically.

  Hearing that, I smiled, gd to know that Evelyn was back to normal. Or, at least whatever counted as normal for her.

  Aura

  ***

  With our contract nearing it’s end, I fondly looked out over the students as the sun set. Some of which were almost bearable. I mean really, invoking “royal privilege” to try and get someone else to do their undry? What a joke. I guess some things never change. Though I say that, I can’t help but admire them. Aside from a few issues, they seemed like they were genuinely trying their best. And then there was Evelyn… That girl. She certainly is a lot calmer than before.

  Watching her and her friends just outside the medical tent, I couldn’t help but feel calm. Admittedly she did put one of her friends in there, but that was for a good reason. After all, how does one deal with a demon taking over someone’s body? I wonder if she needed to use that other form to deal with it? Well, regardless, there’s nothing I can do about it. Still though, seeing her bandaged hands, I can’t help but feel worried for her. Especially given what I heard with the wolves.

  I’m not sure what her guardians were thinking, but was it wise to send her out here given her past? Many of us have been checking in on her regurly since the encounter, but is it enough? She may look fine, but I’ve seen her staring up at the moons at night. Rather it would be a singur moon for her, right? Looking up in the sky, I tried to see if I could spot it, but had no luck. Although I have no proof of this, I suspect that it only appears for us when she transforms. I wonder where it is now? Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter. With light quickly fading, I headed to my tent to write up today’s report. If she’s still awake, I’ll check in on her ter tonight…

  Lloyd

  ***

  Once more I found myself eating breakfast with everyone else. Having long grown used to demons such as the horned rabbits we’ve been hunting, none of us seemed to care or even worry for our health. According to some rumors, eating demons would lead to one eventually becoming a demon. However outside The Empire, eating demons seems to be normal. Well, Levi never ate any of them before, but let’s just say that it’s because he’s royalty.

  Regardless, none of us suffered from these meals. What we did suffer from however was Evelyn. Gncing over, I shuttered and saw her eating with her friends, like normal, but it was far from it. After she had returned, bloodied and carrying Charlotte over her shoulder, we learned a bit about her condition. Apparently over use of magic and accumuted stress can cause her hair and eyes to change color. I don’t think that was a thing in the game, so I’ll need to investigate it a bit further. She’s back to normal right now but still, I can’t help but worry about her. Both for her health and because… Okay, I’m not going to beat around the bush. She’s scary.

  Every time I see her, I can’t help but see her covered in blood, looking at me with those mad eyes. It also doesn’t help that she has a habit of carrying her spear around… It’s always in arms reach, and whenever Levi gets near her, I see her slowly reaching for it. We already had an incident, and I don’t want there to be another one before the trip ends. Speaking of the incident, Lna and I learned certain things during it…

  Taking a quick gnce at our surroundings, I tried to find those ninja looking guys, but found none. Apparently me and Lna were under constant surveilnce by so called “Shadows” who are our protectors. How long has this been going on? Far too long… Sitting next to me, Lna was eating quietly with somewhat dejected eyes. After all, everything that we had wanted to keep secret, such as us being reincarnations or how often we wet the beds in the past, was fully known to our “Shadow Guards.”

  Not only that, but Mom and Dad knew this too. They also know of our little outings to look for Saints like Nissia, and our pns to deal with Evelyn in the event she turns evil. I’m not going to lie. It makes you a bit paranoid knowing that you’ve been under constant surveilnce for your entire life. They could be watching me whenever I go to the bathroom… Always watching me- no us… Wait…? Doesn't that sound a bit familiar? Looking at Evelyn, I saw that raven which has been following her around tely. Could that “Raven” be the same thing as the Shadows? Next time I see them I’ll need to ask.

  Will they even tell me? Considering what they told me, we weren’t even supposed to know about them at all, let alone have them answer my questions. Looks like I’ll need to ask Mom and Dad when we get back… Hopefully they’ll give us some answers. Hopefully they aren’t mad for keeping our past lives secret…

  Evelyn

  ***

  “You can do it!” I cheered in. “Hit 'em hard!”

  “Make sure they don’t suffer!” Charlotte added.

  Sitting on the sidelines of today’s “hunting” trip, Charlotte and I were cheering on our friends who were challenging a dwarf hog. I was unable to participate because of my broken hand. It’s fixed now, but the teachers didn’t want me to injure myself any further. Also, I was scolded by Aura, and I don’t want to go through that again. As for Charlotte, well, that’s my fault. After our little “fight” a few days ago, I realized that my story wouldn’t be believable if she was uninjured. So, I may have hit her a few too many times with the back of my spear, but don’t worry! She was healed up just fine! She has Saint's magic, so she’s healthy! She’s still in a bit of pain, but her life isn't in danger! I would never put my friend’s life in danger! I may have fractured her arm, but don’t worry about it!

  As we watched Chloe, Nicole, and Olivia fight the hog, I couldn’t help but notice that Charlotte didn’t raise her arm very high… Um. I’ll visit her ter on as Melody just to make sure she’s fine. Thinking that, a familiar voice sounded in my head.

  “They aren’t very good at this, are they?” Angelica asked.

  Gncing up, I saw her perched in the trees above us with 38 not too far behind her. Yeah, 38 is a bit suspicious of the sudden appearances of a Raven sticking with me. Especially given my past comments about “The Raven” and telling her about how a wandering soul can take over something else’s body. What an amazing coincidence.

  “They’re trying their best.” I responded.

  “We’re in like the mid game, they should be better.” She said.

  “Again, we aren’t in a game.” I said.

  “Aside from you, as Melody, everything else is exactly the same.” She said.

  “Well, if we are in the game, mind telling me where the Demon Lord is so I can beat him up?” I asked.

  “It’s randomized, so I can’t help you there.” She said.

  “Then anything else that can help me?” I asked.

  “You can transform into a magical girl, what more help do you need?”

  “Anything I can use when I’m not Melody?”

  “Well, you aren’t really using your magic, so why not start with that?”

  “Yeah, I’m bad with holy magic.”

  “Obviously, your specialty is dark magic.”

  “I can use dark magic?”

  “You’re the original vilin. Of course you can use it.”

  “How do I use it?”

  “I don’t know, I just got here. Just like normal magic maybe?”

  Having learned all about the theory of normal magic as well as other specialty magic of this world, I opened my hand and tried conjuring a very simple fme. Already knowing the feeling of dark magic due to my constant run-ins with demons, it wasn’t that hard to call on it. As soon as I did so, I felt something warm in my hand. Looking down, I saw a small bck fme burning just above my hand. That was surprisingly easy… Very quickly I closed my hand and extinguished the fme. Carefully looking around me, I saw Charlotte look at my hand, look at me, and then look back at our friends, pretending that she saw nothing. Gncing up, I saw 38 looking at me with tired eyes. I’m sorry, I’ll wait till no one is around to try messing with this.

  “Come on, hit ‘em hard!” I said.

  “What she said!” Charlotte cheered with me.

  Good. Let’s just pretend like that never happened.

  “This wasn’t your best idea.” Angelica said.

  “I didn’t think it was going to work.” I argued.

  “Well, whatever.” She said, spreading her wings. “I’m going to go fly around for a bit.”

  “Have fun.” I said.

  Keeping my eyes on my friends as she took off, I hoped that maybe 38 would ignore her if I didn’t pay her any mind. Although as I already said, she is very suspicious of her. I need a pce for her to stay when we get back. If she stays at my pce she’ll attract too much attention, and at school, who knows what people will do to her? Okay, tonight I’ll transform and bring her to Nissia’s parents pce. She should be fine there for a short time and hopefully it’ll give me time to find a hideout for her. Wait.

  …

  Can I make her invisible? My invisibility has gotten a lot better, and I can turn other things invisible, so can’t I just make her invisible? Wait, no. I might only be able to do that as Melody. Yeah, never mind. Well, I hope that she likes sweets, because she’ll be there for a while… I want a cinnamon bun now. Hmm…

  Okay, new pn! As soon as I can, I’ll head out and look for a fox or something to put Angelica in. That way, she’ll be less suspicious and also, I’ll have a cinnamon bun and make sure that Charlotte is healthy. Yep! That’s a good pn! Maybe I’ll try that dark magic as well. Who knows?

  Lna

  ***

  With our trip coming to an end, I felt fulfilled. Mostly. I killed my first demon, and it was a bit traumatic. It was one of the horned rabbits, a big fat one that had very soft fur and probably would have made a great pet. I just had a sad for dinner that night, not wanting to eat him. Evelyn, however, made sure to tell me that he was as delicious as all the others. I’m not sure if she was mocking me, or trying to make me feel better. She was giving me a sort of sarcastic smile and somewhat hostile look. Although that might be because whenever I look her in her eyes, I see her covered in blood and that’s scary. But then again, she did get me some candy from the mercenaries' storage, so she was being nice? Regardless, I was back to eating meat the next day.

  What was I talking about? Oh right, our trip is coming to an end and the teacher are telling us how many demons we “hunted” both from our individual groups and the css altogether. Well, we aren’t like one css, but rather students from like four csses or something. So, what does that have to do with anything? Well, we are going to have a feast and we were tasked with bringing something to the table. So, what am I bringing to the table? Nothing!

  Given the recent demon attack, none of the people involved were allowed to leave the camp due to safety reasons. That being said, someone considered that rule to be a suggestion. And by someone, I mean Evelyn.

  “Evelyn!” Aura yelled out.

  “I’m back!” Evelyn happily waved, entering the gates. “I got a thing!”

  With sweat on her forehead, she struggled to drag what looked to be a boar, behind her.

  “What in the world are you doing!?” Aura questioned. “Where did you go and where did you get that!?”

  “I was just out for a bit.” Evelyn said.

  “Going out for a bit doesn’t mean coming back with a boar!” She said.

  “I just ran into it!” She argued.

  “Look me in the eyes and tell me that!” She said.

  “I did!” Evelyn said. “I was just out looking for a fox and this guy just came out of nowhere!”

  “So you were out hunting!” Aura accused.

  “Well…” She faltered a little. “But that’s the point of the css!”

  “Remember when you were explicitly told not to go outside the walls?” Aura asked.

  “That was like for the others, right?” She asked.

  “No!”

  “Oh. Oops. Better luck next time?”

  “You’re doing night watch.” Aura sighed.

  “Yay!” Evelyn cheered.

  “That’s a punishment.” Aura said.

  “Boo!” Evelyn cheered just as enthusiastically.

  “This is hopeless…” Aura sighed.

  How…? Looking over to her and her friend's tents I saw her friends, who didn’t look at all armed by this. Not only that, but Evelyn’s spear leaning against a tree. Her boar spear, specifically designed to deal with boars, wasn’t used at all for hunting the boar that she had with her. As six mercenaries went to move the boar, I saw her pull out her knife which was sticking out from just behind its head. She must have severed its spinal cord… But how did she get that angle? Did she drop down on it just like the stories about the horned rabbits?

  Once again, many of us looked at Evelyn in fear… That boar was definitely bigger than her, and from what Dad told me, they need several soldiers to deal with them… I REALLY need to make sure not to anger her in the future…

  Grayburne