ODGD 13

Chapter 13

I suddenly recalled the thirteen-year-old Meteor. By now, was that Meteor struggling desperately to save the world?
Perhaps regretting that the Demon King’s daughter had died, taking with her a vital clue.

The life I lived in that tutorial round, ending in death while trying to save him, felt futile—yet not entirely meaningless.
Even though I hadn’t reunited with Father, at least the male lead survived, which meant the Demon King would eventually be destroyed.

In this world, I resolved to survive no matter what, to meet Father again, and to protect peace as well.

Meteor’s voice continued:

“I don’t know if you’re aware, but in this world only thirteen noble houses can produce children born with holy power. And even then, it’s mostly men. No woman has been born with holy power in over 150 years.”

Of course, I already knew this.
So I could guess what Meteor was about to say.

“And a Holy Knight must be born with holy power.”

“Hmm.”

Yes. Naturally, he assumed I had no holy power.
And he was right—by nature, I wasn’t born with it. In this world, there was no way to acquire holy power later in life.

But with the system’s help, I had changed my class to Holy Knight and gained holy power.
My divine power was even at Level 17.

“So do you understand how absurd it is when you say you want to become a Holy Knight?”

“Hmmmm.”

When I hummed twice in response, Meteor frowned faintly.

“I don’t know what that strange reaction means. Anyway, you probably just blurted out that you wanted to be a Holy Knight without understanding what it entails….”

He shook his head and rose from the dining table, clearly no longer interested in continuing the conversation.

I scratched the skin under my nose idly as I watched him go.

Just you wait.

The moment it’s revealed I have holy power, the Temple will be begging to take me in.
That was the moment I was most looking forward to.

Meanwhile, in the tutorial world—where everyone still remembered the Delight father and daughter.

It had already been two weeks since the pink-haired girl had vanished together with a demon spawn.
But the world went on unchanged.

The Holy Knights were busy across the land eradicating demons, and people continued to die at their hands.

The only change was that the search for the Demon King’s daughter had been abandoned.

“Haa.”

After finishing his demon-cleansing duties for the day, Meteor returned to his dormitory room in the Temple.
His face was as blank as it was when he mechanically slew demons. Ever since the girl’s death, he had been like that—expressionless.

His days flowed the same as ever, but he felt nothing inside.
Because he no longer knew what he was supposed to feel.

He leaned back in his chair in the quiet room. The moment he closed his eyes, thoughts of the girl arose as always.

At first, everyone had lamented her death.
After all, she might have been the key to defeating the Demon King faster—yet she had been taken so meaninglessly by a demon.

They had lost the crucial clue that was the Demon King’s daughter.

But before long, people forgot Crescent.
Only Meteor remained unable to escape that death.

For two years he had chased Crescent Delight.
For two years, there hadn’t been a single day he didn’t think about the Demon King’s daughter.

And when he had finally, after all that time, met her face-to-face—she had disappeared from the world so swiftly, so absurdly.

She died trying to save me…

How could that be?

Meteor was confused.
No matter that she was the Demon King’s daughter—no, especially because she was—the fact that she had died saving him was unthinkable.

He had sought her out intending to imprison her within the Temple, and yet he ended up owing her his life.
It made no sense.

Had she truly died? Meteor didn’t want to believe it.
Ordinary people, when consumed by a demon, vanished without a trace.
Did she really disappear like that?

And it had been a low-grade demon, not even one linked to the Demon Realm—it had been destroyed on the spot.

But she’s not an ordinary person—she’s the Demon King’s daughter.

The idea that the Demon King’s daughter had been erased by a mere demon felt ridiculous.

This dissonance only deepened his confusion. Rising from his chair, Meteor began pacing the room.

He couldn’t accept the fact that someone else had died in his place.
He was the one who saved others in danger—never someone who lived at the cost of another’s sacrifice.

So he couldn’t let Crescent Delight be forgotten.

If she was the Demon King’s daughter, perhaps she hadn’t been destroyed.
Perhaps she had ridden the demon’s power into the Demon Realm.

Meteor seized on that sudden thought like a thread of hope.

…Yes. I’ll go to the Demon Realm.

Even if everyone else had given up searching for the Demon King’s daughter, he had to keep going.

With a new purpose, Meteor left his room.
And the room, now empty, fell silent.

From a height no mortal could reach, unknown beings looked down at him.
They tilted their heads in unison toward the vacant room.

<‘Dragon Slayer Sylvester’ furrows his brow. Why hasn’t the tutorial world ended?>

<‘Lily Druid Gabriella’ says that with Crescent dead, this world should have ended—but even forcing termination doesn’t work.>

<‘From Maid to Saintess—Astina’ protests that such a thing is impossible.>

….

The Saints fell silent, still puzzled.

A tutorial was only a tutorial.
Without Crescent—the protagonist—the tutorial world should not exist. Even without their intervention, it should have ended naturally.

Yet time in the tutorial world continued to flow smoothly.

Which could only mean—
A fundamental change had occurred, one that broke the basic settings.

That was the only explanation the Saints could accept.

<‘Lily Druid Gabriella’ suggests they wait and see. Something about this Meteor feels like he’s going to act outside the basic settings.>

The other Saints all nodded in agreement. If he was going to cause trouble, then things might actually get interesting.
An unexpected spectacle indeed.

<‘Dragon Slayer Sylvester’ raises one corner of his mouth.>

It had already been more than two weeks since I arrived at the Duke of Pluto’s household.

Abundant food, kind servants, and an endless stream of new dresses and shoes filling my wardrobe almost daily…!

“T-This is way too much!”

I couldn’t hide my shock as yet another massive order of dresses was displayed before me.
Every piece was made exactly to my size, in every design imaginable.

There were simple day dresses for outings, elegant tea gowns, dazzling evening dresses fit for banquets, and even charming casual wear.
Each one had the sheen, sparkle, and fine detail of the highest-class ateliers.

The ornate ones overflowed with frills, packed with flower decorations in every shape and color.

Though she had already bought me plenty, the Duchess seemed to think it still wasn’t enough.

When my jaw dropped, Rearwyn gracefully covered her lips with a hand and laughed.

“Clothes for little girls are just too lovely to resist. I couldn’t help myself imagining you in them, Crescent, and ended up buying all these. Hoho.”

“Ahaha, thank you.”

I forced a laugh, trying desperately to hide my awkwardness.

No.
This isn’t right.
Don’t treat me this well…!

“B-But really, a few everyday outfits are more than enough for me.”

“Oh my, Crescent, you’re truly such a frugal child.”

No, it wasn’t frugality—it was shame. The Demon King’s daughter had no right to accept all this from a Holy Knight’s household…!

The Duchess came over and patted my head gently.

“From now on, there’s no need to make do with just a few. Don’t be frugal, Crescent. Wear whatever you want, eat whatever you crave, do whatever your heart desires—indulge yourself without restraint!”