The sorcerer stared at Edith for a long moment as if uncertain, then soon smiled and said,
“It seems you came because you have something you are curious about. May I speak first?”
“…Speak.”
It was Luzbel, who was standing as if protecting Edith, who said that.
“Your soul has been damaged.”
“What?”
Why was he suddenly talking about souls?
“The proper soul arrived, as if by coincidence, in a body that had originally been empty.”
“…What?”
A body that had been empty.
If it was Edith, she could understand those words at once.
Startled, she looked at the sorcerer, and the sorcerer, as if not finished yet, continued speaking with eyes closed.
“You have not lived a normal life.”
Fortunately, Luzbel didn’t accurately understand what those words meant.
“I was in a vegetative state for a long time. Is that what you are referring to?”
He might have just guessed roughly.
If the sorcerer agreed here, she could be certain he was a fraud.
However, the sorcerer didn’t agree with Edith’s words.
“Is it not you who knows best that it is not that?”
“!”
“Did you think it was a coincidence?”
“…”
“You were merely toyed with by a twisted fate.”
“Twisted fate?”
Edith opened her mouth to ask something more, but the sorcerer suddenly opened his eyes wide and issued an order for them to leave.
“Who? Why?”
“Well. Sorcerers are widely scattered, and there are even groups that form their own factions, so I cannot give you a definite answer as to who.”
“A faction…”
That meant another sorcerer could be linked to another noble and using their abilities.
Since the sorcerer had said that Edith becoming a vegetative state wasn’t a coincidence, it could be inferred that there had been some vile scheme behind it.
Of course, she couldn’t blindly believe everything this person said, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of deceiving her.
Besides, what exactly did twisted fate mean?
“I cannot know in detail who did what, but it certainly appears that a forbidden act was committed.”
“A forbidden act?”
“I cannot tell you anything more.”
“Suddenly?”
“It is literally taboo. If you become a sorcerer, I will tell you.”
Even when she stayed and kept asking, the answer remained the same.
“Still, you are fortunate, my Lady. Because you came to find me.”
At that moment, Luzbel, who had been silent, asked,
“Is it possible to switch souls through sorcery?”
“It is possible.”
“It is… possible?”
“Yes.”
“Then is it possible that the damage to Edith’s soul was caused during that process?”
“Please leave now.”
There was still much she wanted to ask, but the sorcerer closed his mouth as if he had nothing more to say.
Just in case, she returned the next day, but the place where the sorcerer had been staying was already empty, leaving behind only cold traces, as if he had departed.
***
Luzbel didn’t understand what the sorcerer was talking about.
However, Edith didn’t seem to think the same, as she looked quite serious.
“Soul…”
Luzbel also mulled over the words that souls could be switched.
He wondered if Edith might be the victim of that.
No matter how he thought about it, there were far too many strange things.
Until now, it had only been suspicion, but after hearing the sorcerer’s words, he became certain.
Edith was Aisha.
Then since when?
“Is there anything you can guess?”
“…I am not sure.”
But Edith didn’t reveal anything clearly.
Precisely because of that, it felt like there was something she knew that he did not.
This matter.
Something about it wasn’t ordinary.
The sorcerer who infiltrated House Valencia, and perhaps someone might be targeting Edith.
***
The day after they failed to find the sorcerer.
Early in the morning, Edith visited the temple. As expected, Luzbel followed her, but she wasn’t particularly worried.
It was his claim that it was dangerous, but that wasn’t a reason to follow her into the prayer hall.
“I will meet him alone.”
“…Do so.”
Luzbel narrowed his eyes, but soon seemed unable to come up with any excuse to insist on accompanying her, and agreed.
In the end, using prayer as an excuse, she easily secured the prayer hall and immediately sought Reminus.
[Hello, have you been well? More importantly, what brings you here today?]
The moment the prayer hall doors closed, he appeared with a bright light, as if he had been waiting.
[Why did you leave Luzbel over there?]
“Reminus.”
[What is it?]
Reminus, who had been casually greeting her, lowered his voice slightly when he saw Edith’s unusually serious expression.
“…I really did live in Korea and then transmigrated here, right?”
[Huh? What are you suddenly talking about?]
From the moment Luzbel asked about souls, Edith had begun to doubt her entire life itself.
She didn’t even have the mental space to worry about the complicated implications that he might know something.
She wanted to meet Reminus and receive a clear answer.
That the sorcerer had only said useless nonsense, that talk about a damaged soul and twisted fate had nothing to do with her.
“I heard something strange.”
So she told him everything that had happened, without leaving out a single detail.
[…]
Reminus, who she had expected would laugh and say how could she believe the words of a mere human, didn’t respond.
“Why are you not saying anything?”
[Is there something wrong with your memories?]
“My memories?”
[Yes, your memories from when you lived in Korea.]
Even if asked whether there was something wrong, Edith’s memories had never been complete in the first place.
Even when she first woke up in Aisha’s body, she had adapted quickly without feeling much discomfort.
At the time, she had thought it was because she couldn’t perfectly remember who she had been or what kind of life she had lived.
“I am not sure. I have fragments of memories. The clearest among them were memories about this novel.”
[…A novel. To be precise, it is not merely a simple novel.]
“What?”
[It is a world that truly exists. You and Aisha simply encountered fragments of a world that flowed in, in the form of writing. But… if the existence you suspect is Aisha…]
Reminus, who mentioned Aisha in a slightly heavier tone, fell silent for a moment.
[If it is Aisha… you may have accepted her most intense memories.]
“That means…”
[I need to confirm it.]
As if deep in thought, he soon asked:
[That sorcerer said your soul was damaged?]
“Yes.”
[A soul… why did I not think of it sooner?]
“What?”
Reminus, in his form of light, moved closer. It felt as though she would soon be enveloped in light.
[I will check. Stay still.]
“Alright.”
As soon as Edith gave her permission, light wrapped around her entire body. Warm energy spread through her, and Edith felt her mind grow hazy.
And when she finally regained her senses, Edith saw her body collapsed on the floor of the prayer hall.
— “Huh?”
Startled, Edith looked around in panic, and realized someone was standing beside her.
She didn’t need to ask who it was. The moment she saw him, she knew who it was.
It was Reminus, who until now had only appeared as a simple mass of light.
— “What is this?”
[I temporarily removed your soul from your body.]
— “No…”
[Hm?]
— “What happened to your face…?”
Edith stood there with her mouth slightly open, staring at Reminus.
She had never really imagined what he would look like.
She had thought there would be limits to imagining a god by human standards, and she hadn’t been particularly curious either.
But her expectations hadn’t been wrong.
It was an appearance that could never be imagined by human imagination.
As expected of the Sun God, a dazzlingly radiant handsome man…!
— “My god. My god.”
[Can you see my true form?]
— “Yes, how could you hide a face like this…?”
Weak to beauty, Edith had completely forgotten why she had come to the temple in the first place, and made a fuss in admiration.
The serious atmosphere had completely shattered in an instant.
Reminus seemed amused by Edith’s reaction.
[Huhu. What do you think of this body?]
— “It is the best!”
It was an arrogant question, but his appearance was so extraordinary that it didn’t feel arrogant at all.
With looks like that, even a flawed personality would be acceptable.
— “No, with looks like this, you should have told me sooner!”
[Haha.]
After enjoying Edith’s praise for a while, Reminus seemed to come back to his senses and pointed at Edith’s body lying collapsed on the floor.
[More importantly, now is not the time for this.]
— “Ah, right!”
Only then did Edith notice her body sprawled carelessly on the floor, and she asked:
— “Can you see anything now? Am I damaged somewhere?”
In truth, Reminus had been sensing an intense energy from Edith for some time now, strong enough to make him wonder why he hadn’t noticed it the first time he saw her.
This was undoubtedly the soul of the Saint he had been searching for.
He had thought only the body was the vessel of the Saint, but that wasn’t the case.
