Evelyn

  ***

  With a new school year having started, many new students entered the campus. Having arrived at the academy I got to see many awestruck students gawking at the opulent buildings. Some of them were pretending not to be surprised, but it wasn’t working. Smiling at that, I heard a commotion behind me. Turning, I saw a familiar carriage coming to a stop, with many people stopping to stare. Ah, it looks like I definitely need to help. Standing just inside the school grounds, I looked to the carriage’s window.

  With a curtain covering it, I saw slight movement. Just peeking out behind it was a worried looking eye. Nervously darting about between the students, it finally nded at me. Giving a reassuring smile, I gave a polite wave. Instantly, it looked relieved. Shortly after, the door opened from the inside. Stepping out were familiar faces. With light blue hair and simir eyes was the suspected saint and her sister, my two friends, Charlotte and Amber Lottaway. Seeing some nobles gather their courage, I decided to get in the way, and spoil any pns they may have had.

  “Charlotte, Amber!” I called out happily. “It’s been so long.”

  It really hasn’t, I visited their house a couple days ago to have a “private party.” It was actually just a cover to give both her and her parents a break from the constant tea parties that were being forced upon them. Although I am a kid, I am still a duchess, and I took priority over most every other noble! Would this count as abusing my position? Well, even if it is, Charlotte’s family didn’t compin. I was a welcome relief to others trying to insert them into their affairs. But the less about that the better.

  “Evelyn!” Charlotte called out to me happily.

  “Sis!” Amber cutely followed.

  Haha! Take that everyone! I’m their special friend! Coming up to me at a brisk pace, the two greeted me warmly. Many people who wished to greet them had now missed their chance. Although Charlotte may be a noble, she wasn’t exactly high up there when compared to others. Charlotte, and by extension her family, could safely be approached by wealthy commoner merchants. Obviously there were formalities you needed to adhere to, but she wasn’t unapproachable as a person.

  I, on the other hand, was a different story. Although most rumors about me in school died down, many people looked at me with apprehension. New students especially. Not only was I said to have a bad attitude, but I was a duchess. Even among nobles, few could carelessly approach me. To put it simply, I’m a deterrent. As long as I’m here, no one would dare approach them! Obviously I can’t be by their side all the time, so what about when I’m gone? Well, we have a pn for that…

  “Thanks for waiting for us.” Charlotte said with a somewhat troubled smile.

  “Obviously, we’re friends after all.” I smiled confidently.

  And bam! You all heard it! These two are my friends! Even the dumbest of you should know that they’re under my protection! Hopefully word of this spreads quickly among the new students. I don’t want anyone weird trying to make close with them. But now that our little show is over, let’s go ahead and get out of the sun.

  “Let’s go check to see what csses we got.” I said.

  “I hope we get the same css this year.” Charlotte said.

  “I wish we could be in the same css…” Amber mumbled.

  “Oh, I’m sure you’ll have plenty of friendly people in your css.” Charlotte said.

  For her cssmate’s sake, I sure hope they’ll be nice. Although Charlotte isn’t officially recognized as the Saint, both the Regents and Church know that she is. They already tested her magic, and priests have gotten visions telling them of Charlotte. So, it’s her alright. All they need to do is announce to the world that she’s the Saint. And then there’s the problem…

  Under normal circumstances, the Saint would be protected by the nations of the continent until she is strong enough to go on and fight demons and eventually the Demon Lord. In some cases she would lead a coalition army, and in others she would have a party of “Heroes” from every kingdom and travel the world and fight demons. But one small problem with that…

  I may have beaten almost all the dangerous demons around here… Why not all of them? Well, that’s because Nissia’s dad brought up the issue of having too many “non dangerous” small demons such as horned rabbits. They would overpopute, eat up all the pnts, and ruin things for us humans. So yeah.

  That aside, there's not many dangerous demons around anymore. If the Saint were to travel around to beat demons, she would need to leave the continent to find any sizable group of them. Not only that, but nations outside the continent wouldn’t exactly be open to having foreign troops in their borders. And if she’s in a small group, they wouldn’t be open to having such a great asset leave their kingdom. As Melody, I’m strong enough and fast enough so that’s not a problem even if they tried, but Charlotte isn’t like that.

  Not only that, but how would the common folk feel if the church were to suddenly say that some, from their point of view, random girl was named the Saint? Especially since I’ve been out in the world for years saving people from demons and natural disasters. Despite how many times I’ve publicly denied the position of Saint, many people still call for me to be named such. So… This is sorta my fault?

  Yeah… I didn’t even think about this when I went out to help people. I’m not even a believer of this world’s goddess. Well, I’m not saying that she doesn't exist, but I’m a forever follower of Celistea. And I’m not just saying that because she’s probably reading my mind right now! Celestia is awesome! She gives me p pillows, comfy hugs, and she’s good at brushing my hair! Ain’t no other goddess doing that for me! Okay, so Orion might also do that, but Celestia if you’re listening to me, just ignore that st bit!

  What was I talking about? Oh yeah. So anyway, lots of problems with Charlotte being named as the Saint. Some of which I caused, but let’s not worry about that. Anyway, let’s go check out the css list!

  Though we weren’t exactly rushed for time, we hurried in so that we would get out of sight of everyone who may bother us. Also, we were hoping to find our friends since at least Chloe stays in the dorms after all.

  Lloyd

  ***

  Once more, it’s time for school, and time for new problems. Given the arrival of new students, I was wondering how many of them would try getting close to me or Lna. For that particur reason, the two of us weren’t exactly looking forward to the first few days. That aside, there is another thing to worry about…

  “Ah, it looks like we’re in the same css.” Evelyn said.

  “So we are.” Charlotte said.

  “Lucky, I want to be in the same css.” One of their friends said.

  “Well, at least we’re sharing a css.” Another said.

  “We can still meet up during breaks so it isn’t the end of the world.” Said a third.

  Charlotte… I hadn’t paid much attention to her before, but it seems like she’s The Saint. Not a potential Saint like Nissia and her friends, but a proper Saint. The priests even got dreams from the Goddess about her! The thing is that with Melody around, many people would have difficulty in accepting her as the Saint. Melody is just too dang good at her job! I don’t even remember the st time I heard about a demon attack! And unlike traditional Saints, Melody does all of her work for free. She doesn’t accept any payment and even refuses free things from stores. The only time I heard that she got something for free was a free sample that was open to everyone.

  With someone like that, anyone else, no matter how good, doesn’t look like a saint. Not only that, but Melody herself says that she isn’t the Saint. And anyone who is so humble as to refuse the title of Saint obviously is the Saint. According to Mom and Dad, this caused Melody great annoyance. Speaking of annoying, why don’t they let me meet her? They talk to Melody all the time, but I’m not allowed to see her. Why not? I can be trusted!

  Or so I say… In reality Mom and Dad are… cautious of me and Lna. When those “Shadows” saved us when that demon took over Charlotte, a few things were expined to us. To put it simply, Mom and Dad are worried that our past lives are influencing how we view this world. Lna told them that this wasn’t true, but then they told us of how we may have pnned to get rid of Evelyn back when we thought of her as the viliness… So, our memories may be influencing us a bit… Admittedly that pn was more of mine than hers, but it’s still clear evidence that there is some merit in their concerns.

  As for our retionship with our parents? Well, surprisingly not much has changed. They’re still our parents, and we’re still their children. All that has really changed was that Lna is a bit more tomboyish and Mom and Dad were very gd that they don’t have to give us the Talk. You know, the birds and the bees, where babies come from, what happens when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much. We’re all very thankful for that.

  Also, because it’s no longer a secret, we’ve been able to talk to them pretty openly about our past lives. Thanks to that, some innovations may be down the line. Nothing too major given the fact that we were like highschoolers when we died, but some things that will hopefully make people’s lives here easier. Also, Lna started a store under a false name, because she wants that “Cash Money” to escape if she needs to. I’m sure that Mom and Dad also know of this pn, but they seemed happy to grant her wish. As for myself? Well, let’s leave that for another time.

  “Looks like we got separate csses.” Lna said.

  “Seems like it.” I nodded.

  Gncing at her, I saw her public face, but I can tell that she was annoyed. Unlike before, she’s going to have to deal with all those troublesome nobles trying to use her all by herself. It’s not like she’s unprepared for it, but let’s wish her luck anyway.

  “Goodluck with your new cssmates.” I said. *Have fun with the idiots, loser.*

  “Oh, you’re too kind.” She smiled. *Eat shit and die.*

  Ha ha! Cssic. She’s totally going to try and kick my ass the next time we’re alone. I’ll get her some sweets before then. That should calm her down.

  Looking at the css list, I couldn’t help but notice eyes on us. It’s nothing out of the ordinary for us, but this time, Evelyn’s gaze was among them. She seemed a bit jealous… Ah, that’s right. Her brother is going to be attending here starting today. Could they not have a good retionship? Thinking back on the game, I know that it probably wasn’t good. But having long since learned that the game isn’t reliable, I thought that maybe things might be different. I wonder what css he’s in…

  Scanning the board, I saw it. Robert Eytell. He’s going to be sharing the same css as Charlotte's sister. Is this fortunate or not? I suppose I’ll have to wait and see…

  Melody

  ***

  Flying through the night sky, vilgers cheered as the smoke dissipated. I would have loved to stay and help with the clean up, but the vibration in my pocket tells me that more people are in need. This was already the fifth vilge tonight that has been attacked. After so long with no major attacks, why now? Maybe the demons had time to increase their numbers? These guys only have animal intelligence, so maybe I shouldn’t read too much into them. No… Since Charlotte awakened as the Saint, the Demon Lord is probably around as well. I wonder what he’s pnning…

  Well, whatever. I can worry about that ter. Right now I see another red glow in the distance. Readying my staff, I once more took aim at the demons.

  “Moon beam!” I shouted.

  Flying high in the sky, beams of light flew from my staff and destroyed the demons in an instant. Casting another spell, the fires which had previously burned houses were put out.

  “Healing light!” I called out.

  Various people in the vilge had a pale glow around them as injuries were healed. Before they could even realize what was going on, I sped off to the next site. On the way, I dealt with any dangerous looking demon I could find. Luckily all of the demons around have been rather weak. I must have gotten rid of all the potential strong ones. Well, maybe. A single Magical Girl can't stop all of the evil in the world, and there are plenty more demons outside this continent that I haven’t thinned out, but I can sure try!

  …

  There were three more incidents that I had to deal with tonight. By the time I ended up coming home, the sun was already rising. Not wanting to be te so early in the school year, I transformed as soon as I entered my room to get ready.

  “Shouldn’t you get some rest?” 38 asked, appearing next to me.

  “I’ll be fine.” I said.

  “You’ve got bags under your eyes.” She pointed out. “And it wasn’t just tonight. You’ve been doing this for over a week!”

  “It’ll be fine.” I said. “I can just cover them up.”

  “Seriously…” She sighed.

  Moving to the closet to get a change of clothes, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Turning, I saw 38 looking at me annoyed. I sense I’ve done something wrong…

  “You’re taking the day off.” 38 said. “Get some rest.”

  “I’m not even that tired.” I said.

  “You were out all night again.” She said. “You are resting today.”

  “But it hasn’t even been a week! I can’t miss school so early in the year.” I argued.

  “Too bad. Regent’s orders.” She said.

  “I’d like to see that in writing.” I said defiantly.

  “It’s all in here.” She said, showing me an official decree.

  “Oh…” I honestly didn’t think she would have it…

  Reading it, I saw that it basically gave 38 permission to order me to stay home if she or others feel concerned for my health. It’s signed by both Regents… Surely that isn’t necessary, right? I can look after myself… Well, regardless of my opinion, it looks like I’m going to be missing school today. So much for wanting to get perfect attendance this year…

  Grayburne