Prologue

Prologue

For the first time in forever, she had a dream.

It was about a classroom in Japan that didn’t exist.

Everyone was wearing different uniforms. Jackets, blazers, sailor suits… They didn’t go together at all, but for some reason, nothing seemed out of place.

Strangest of all was her own outfit. For some reason, she was wearing priestess robes.

Why would she be wearing such a cosplay-like getup at school? It should’ve felt strange, but nobody said anything about it.

As she smiled and chatted with all her friends in the class, a boy in a school jacket came up to her and casually asked a question.

“Hey, when’s that girl coming back?”

That girl? She tilted her head, uncertain who she was being asked about.

“You know, the one who sits there.”

The boy pointed at the one empty desk in the classroom.

She walked over to the desk and saw a flower on it. A simple, fake blossom, made out of white cloth.

Who was supposed to sit here…?

Ah yes.

She smiled and responded.

“I’ll bring her in soon, don’t worry.”

And myself along with her , she thought. Then we can introduce ourselves.

She chatted about her best friend as they all waited within the dream for class to start.

At the farthest western reaches of the continent, deep within the cathedral that towered over the holy land…

In the inner sanctum that outsiders were forbidden to enter, the head of the Faust, Archbishop Elcami, knelt on the floor to pray.

“O savior of our world, restorer of civilization…our great Lord. Preparations for the ceremony of thy glorious return are proceeding smoothly.”

She placed her scripture in front of her, and glowing letters of Guiding Force began to form.

A communication conjuring.

Elcami read the words…and began to tremble.

Soon, the seals of the Four Major Human Errors shall be broken.

All four of the Major Human Errors, set free?

Not long ago, a single pinky finger had escaped and wrought unspeakable damage across the land. What would happen if that seal broke completely?

The west was all well and good. The largest and fastest of the four, the Pure Concept Dragon , had been completely eradicated, turned to white salt. The Sword of Salt that did the deed was being watched over with great care by the highest caste, the Faust. In fact, with its warden gone, the astral vein occasionally came close to causing the phenomenon known as dragonblight, but that was only a vestige of the disasters Dragon could have caused—well within the acceptable range. There were no problems with the Star in the north, either.

However, in the east and south, the Human Errors were still alive and well.

Suddenly, one of the holy statues standing over Elcami began to laugh.

These were no ordinary sculptures. Like the altars found in all the churches, they were Guiding vessels that could facilitate long-distance communication.

Wherever they were, the person who was sending a transmission spoke casually to Elcami.

“Must be tough for you, eh? Bootlicking your way into becoming an Elder and all… Truly a laudable effort.”

This was obviously meant in mockery, and Elcami silently ignored it.

But the person speaking through the statue—undoubtedly another Elder, since no one else could make contact with this room—went on anyway.

“I can’t move, you know. Couldn’t you at least entertain me with conversation? Go on.”

Her manner of speaking had changed, and her voice was different from the one Elcami knew, yet there was no doubt about it.

“…Guardian, is it? What of Grisarika Kingdom?”

“Oh, I’ve finished cleaning up there already. Honestly, that woman’s successor did us all a favor, killing Orwell when she did. Repeating things over and over was a pointless farce. Now I need only wait for my darling little sister to return and see how she’s grown on her travels.”

Orwell was dead.

The death of a fellow holy woman, an archbishop like herself, gave Elcami no small amount of sentiment.

“You’d better step up the good deeds in her place, Magician. I’m quite busy here, you know.”

Having said all she cared to, she promptly hung up. Anger bubbled in Elcami’s stomach at the selfish behavior.

“Every last one of them is so…!”

Infuriating. It was all so infuriating.

Archbishop Elcami had nothing left to believe in anymore. From the moment she’d become an Elder, everything and everyone was against her. Still, she went on to boast to the empty room.

“Just you watch from the other side, Orwell.” She spoke to her late comrade who’d been unable to become an Elder. “This world is just getting started.”