Vol 5. Chapter 56: An Old Acquaintance?

Vinny himself found it incredible. They were clearly far enough apart that they could not hear each other speak, yet a few tiny gestures were enough for each of them to understand what the other was trying to convey.

Vinny remembered an article he had read in his previous life about telepathic twins. It was hardly an apt comparison, but what he and Kaleni had just experienced carried something of that same feeling.

Of course, he and Kaleni were not twins. He was not even from this world.

Maybe it was because they were thinking the same thing that he could understand her so easily.

With that thought, Vinny gave Kaleni the faintest nod in her direction, so subtle it was all but imperceptible.

When he looked over again, he saw that Kaleni had already returned to her carriage.

She had seen his answer. Vinny was certain of it.

As Kaleni’s personal guard, the black-haired knight had clearly sensed that something was amiss. She glanced toward the spot where Kaleni’s gaze had lingered, but saw nothing unusual. There was nothing there worth paying attention to.

Before long, the Saintess’s procession entered the church.

After seeing the Saintess and getting their fill of the spectacle, the townspeople could hardly keep standing around, staring blankly at an empty street. They all went home. No one had eaten dinner yet. Having seen Her Eminence and received her blessing, they naturally returned to the great question humanity had faced since the dawn of time: what was for dinner tonight?

The crowd had come quickly, and it dispersed just as quickly. A moment ago, everyone had fought fiercely for a good spot, nearly crushing one another in the press. Once the gathering ended, Vinny was soon the only person left standing there, deep in thought.

Vinny watched the Church convoy head toward the town’s church. It seemed Saintess Kaleni intended to stay there for the night.

How did the flow of time in this world compare with the flow of time in his own?

That was what worried Vinny most. If time in his world moved more slowly than it did here, that would be fine. If they flowed at the same rate, that would be fine too. But if time moved far more slowly here than in his own world, then he had a problem. The time he spent here might already amount to several days in his original world—perhaps even weeks or months.

In the worst case, if he returned too late, would everything have changed beyond recognition? The people he knew might remember him only from their school days, a fading wisp in the haze of their past.

Though the possibility was small, Vinny could not stop himself from thinking that way. He had always been afraid of loss.

No, that isn’t even the worst possibility. I’m getting ahead of myself, imagining I might still have years. If blackened Vinny is far stronger than I think, there may be no later at all.

Vinny realized that he had been trapped in a mistaken assumption all along. He had assumed that the blackened Vinny who had been sent to his world was synchronized with his own timeline, also living through the second-year period.

But there was no proof that the other Vinny was a second-year student at all.

Then there was the strangest part of all.

That blackened Vinny from a parallel world had gone to Vinny’s world, so why did it seem that Vinny had not arrived in the blackened Vinny’s world?

Logically, blackened Vinny looked extremely similar to the original Vinny from Carillian Citrus, the game Vinny had known in his previous life. If he truly was a Vinny who had escaped from the original worldline, then Vinny should have arrived in the original worldline as well.

Yet this place was obviously not the original worldline.

A parallel world could have only one Facilis in any given generation. Of that, there was no doubt. By Vinny’s reckoning, this was clearly an IF worldline—one where the Facilis Family had not suffered a break after Sophia and been reduced to a dead vein.

This world had its own legitimate Saintess. A second Facilis could not possibly appear.

Put another way, Kaleni was Vinny’s counterpart, while blackened Vinny must have come from some other parallel world.

Then why had Vinny ended up here?

Vinny stared toward the church for a long time.

So far, he was not entirely at a loss.

Perhaps he could find an ally in this unfamiliar world. And that ally was naturally...

Vinny checked the sky. He was not in a hurry. He wandered through the town for a while, only setting off toward the church after night had fully fallen.

Too many people were watching. To avoid causing Her Eminence any unnecessary trouble, it was better to go after everyone had gone to sleep.

“Sir, you’re out late. Aren’t you heading home to rest?”

A Radiant Cross Knight on patrol had spotted Vinny walking down the street and approached with a torch raised.

To protect Her Eminence, they had to watch for suspicious figures on the street.

“Sir Knight, I’m not from here. I have nowhere to stay,” Vinny replied politely.

“Not from here? Are you a traveler?” The Radiant Cross Knight looked over Vinny’s clothing. When the torchlight fell on the emblem over his chest, his expression shifted in surprise. “You’re a student of Carillian Academy?”

“Yes, Sir Knight. I’m from Camella Kingdom. For certain reasons, I haven’t returned to the Academy yet,” Vinny said.

“But if I remember correctly, Carillian Academy is starting its new term.” The knight fell into thought.

Even so, he did not press further. Unless necessary, they had no right to pry into a citizen’s private secrets.

“If you’re in trouble, you can go to the church and ask the clergy for help.” After confirming that Vinny was not suspicious, the knight nodded at him.

“Yes, I was just on my way to the church, Sir Knight.”

“Would you like me to show you the way?”

“No need. That illuminated church tower is hard to miss at night. I can see it at a glance.” Vinny politely declined.

“All right, then. Speak up if you need help.”

With that, the knight left.

Vinny followed the light of the church tower. When he reached the iron gates of the church courtyard, he found many fully armed Radiant Cross Knights stationed there. Every one of them rested a hand on the hilt of the sword at their waist as they patrolled both inside and outside the courtyard.

“Good evening, sir.” Seeing Vinny approach, several knights exchanged glances and came forward. “Have you come to the church because you are sick or injured? Or have you run into some trouble?”

“Or has someone powerful in the city been oppressing you? No one else is here. You can tell us.”

“Rest assured, sir. We are Her Eminence’s personal guards. We answer only to our commander and the Saintess. We travel with Her Eminence in and out of the Holy Capital, leaving no time or opportunity to associate with anyone else, much less form ties of interest with them.”

The knight seemed worried that Vinny might have reservations, so he added that last part.

Vinny had not even said anything yet. Hearing it, he was rather bewildered.

The way these Radiant Cross Knights behaved made it seem as though this was not °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° the first time they had handled something like this.

It was as if people had previously used the cover of night to come to the Saintess’s residence, hoping to accuse some powerful person of abusing ordinary citizens.

“No, everyone, I haven’t come to accuse anyone or seek help. I’ve come to seek an audience,” Vinny said.

“An audience?” The knight beside him did not understand. “Whom do you wish to seek an audience with, sir? You would not use that term for a priest, a nun, or even a Father.”

“Of course not. I wish to seek an audience with Her Eminence the Saintess.” Vinny lowered his voice.

“All right, sir. You may not trust us, and that is fine. I can take you to our captain instead. Would that work?”

Clearly, the knight had misunderstood. He took Vinny’s words to mean that Vinny thought they were unreliable, perhaps connected by interests to some local tyrant, and deliberately stopping people who had come to complain. That was why Vinny was lying and did not dare to tell them the truth.

“Caution is good, but really, sir, look at who we are. If the Radiant Cross Knights could be bought off by profit, then the Church would probably be rotten to the core already.”

The knight who had been silent until then spoke with a helpless sigh.

Impressive. The first thing he said was the blunt truth.

Very frank, too.

Yet it was true.

Vinny’s eyes had been opened. So this was what genuine Radiant Cross Knights were like.

Or rather, this was what knights who served the Goddess and the Saintess ought to be like.

“Everyone, I’m not here to accuse anyone. To be honest, your Saintess is the one who asked me to come.”

The knights exchanged puzzled looks.

“Sorry, sir. We haven’t asked your name.”

“My name is Vinny.” Naturally, Vinny could not give his surname if he wanted to avoid unnecessary trouble. “Please go through the trouble of passing a message to Her Eminence. Tell her that an old blue-haired acquaintance has arrived. She’ll understand.”

That only left the knights more confused.

Vinny? They had served beside Her Eminence for years and had never heard of or seen anyone by that name.

Besides, this late at night, Her Eminence had invited a man to what sort of meeting?

“I swear to the Goddess that I have told no lie. If Her Eminence says there is no such thing, you can arrest me on the spot.” Vinny smiled.

“...Wait here.”

The Radiant Cross Knights exchanged a look. One of them decided it was best to consult the captain.

After hearing the report, the captain was just as confused.

Vinny? A blue-haired old acquaintance? He had never heard that name before.

“Fine. Since the man puts it that way... What if it is something important?”

With a helpless sigh, the captain had no choice but to go to the sanctuary at the back of the church, which was closed to the public, and find his superior: the commander of the Radiant Cross Knights, the black-haired knight with shoulder-length hair.

“Vinny? An old blue-haired acquaintance?” Upon hearing the report, the black-haired knight frowned. “Another day. It is too late tonight. Her Eminence is already preparing to rest. She is not receiving visitors.”

“All right.”

The captain was helpless. Since his commander had said so, there was nothing else for him to say.

“Rina, what is it?”

Just then, Kaleni’s voice came from the room. After the door opened, Kaleni emerged, still wearing her Saintess ceremonial gown.

“It’s nothing, Your Eminence. It is late. Please get some rest.”

“That is not true. I clearly heard you just now. Someone came to see me, didn’t they?” Kaleni pouted adorably at Rina.

“You don’t know that person.”

“Who says I don’t?”

With that, Kaleni’s gaze moved to the knight captain.

“Your Eminence, he is a young man named Vinny. He calls himself a blue-haired old acquaintance and says that if we tell you, you will understand.” Under the Saintess’s gaze, the captain broke into a sweat and could only report the truth.

“Oh, he’s here~ Earlier than I expected.”

Kaleni’s eyes lit up. She looked like a child who had just spotted her favorite toy on the street, her eyes filled with little stars.

“Your Eminence, you know him?” Rina frowned.

“I do. More than that, actually.” Kaleni smiled softly, anticipation shining in her captivating heart-shaped eyes.

“Bring him in, quickly.”

“Your Eminence, this...” Rina was both confused and hesitant.

“As you command, Your Eminence.” ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

The captain accepted the order and left immediately.

Between the commander and the Saintess, he naturally had to obey the Saintess. If he stayed any longer, his own commander would start putting the pressure on him. Better to leave quickly.

“Your Eminence, you...?”

“What, are you worried about my safety?” Kaleni laughed. “Rina always treats me like a child. Do you think just anyone who appears out of nowhere can hurt me?”

“Even so, it is unwise to place yourself in danger when you can avoid it. This is too careless.” Rina lowered her head. “I have been by your side for years, Your Eminence, and I have never heard you mention a blue-haired old acquaintance. The name Vinny is even more unfamiliar.”

“Forgive my bluntness, but I do not know who this Vinny is. Still, if I have never met him, then this must be the first time you are meeting him as well. This is far too rash.”

“Please, Your Eminence. At least regarding your safety, I ask you to hear my advice.”

“Pfft.”

Kaleni merely laughed at Rina’s words. “Don’t worry about it, my adorable commander. You can be wary of others, but not him. You can trust him completely.”

“What...?”

That left Rina even more bewildered. To receive such a guarantee from Kaleni, she had even less idea who he was.

“Could he be... a relative of yours?” Rina could not help asking.

“Huh? Rina, you guessed it?” Kaleni arched a brow. “Seriously, no fun. Now it isn’t interesting anymore.”

“How could that be possible?” Rina’s eyebrows shot up. “Your Eminence, where could you possibly have a relative your own age?”

“Who knows?” Kaleni’s lips curved. “Until today, I thought the same thing.”

“But the world can be a very strange place, can’t it?”

The project’s locked terminology, continuity boundaries, and Holy Fall City ambiguity were applied.