Fake Saint of the Year: You Wanted the Perfect Saint? Too Bad! Volume 4

By kabedondaikou and Yunohito

Ellize gave her life to save Verner’s and rid the world of the witch for good—or so she thought! Unfortunately, while the poor people of the royal capital are grieving the loss of their beloved (fake) saint, the witch’s curse strikes again! A giant abomination that contains the darkest emotions of all the previous witches materializes and marches on toward Ellize’s final resting place. But who else can save Fiori from the strongest, most wicked foe in its history if not for its greatest (fake) saint?

Bear witness to the true ending of Kuon no Sanka in the last volume of this thrilling comedy, followed by a collection of short stories!

• Language: English
• Publisher: J-Novel Club
• Release date: Mar 4, 2024
• ISBN: 9781718379619

Book preview

Prologue

I was falling.

I felt myself plunge down deeper and deeper, as though I were being sucked in by the darkness. At the same time, my consciousness became increasingly harder to maintain.

When I’d died for the first time, I hadn’t been aware of it. I’d passed out, and when I’d woken up, I’d found myself in another world. This was my first time experiencing death for real. Then again, I suppose death is usually a first.

The bog-like darkness that had engulfed me was so deep that I couldn’t hear the voices of the people around me any longer. Alone, surrounded by the silence, I looked back on my life.

For some reason I couldn’t explain, I’d been reincarnated in the world of my favorite dating sim, Kuon no Sanka ～Fiore caduto eterna～, as the one character I despised more than anything: Ellize, the fake saint.

I’d decided to approach things from a glass-half-full kind of perspective, so I’d taken it as an opportunity to change the tragic ending of the story. From there on out...a bunch of things had happened. Truly, my life as Ellize had been an eventful one. I’d faced a ton of unexpected incidents, but I’d done my best to handle them as well as I could.

I’d discovered that I hadn’t been fully dead, and that a part of my soul had remained on Earth. He’d let me know that my actions had somehow influenced the game’s story.

I’d wiped out the entire monster population, ensured that Eterna—the main heroine—stayed alive, and even saved a few other characters from certain death along the way. I’d met entirely new characters such as the first saint or the prophet. Hell, I’d even somehow gotten the game’s protagonist, Verner, to fall in love and confess his feelings to me!

In the end, I’d defeated the witch, Alexia, and given my life for Verner’s.

I sure picked a cool way to die, if I do say so myself.

I’d done everything—no, that was pushing it. Let’s say I’d done what I could. Now, it was their turn. The future ought to be shaped by the true inhabitants of this world, not some fake intruder who’d happened upon this world by mistake.

I hit the bottom. Those were my last thoughts before my drowsiness got the better of me. I was about to fall asleep when I suddenly noticed someone at the bottom of the pit.

It was a woman. She was pitch-black, as though she’d dropped a bucket of black paint over her head. She was sitting in a corner, grasping her knees and crying in a feeble voice.

Now that I was paying more attention, I noticed that she wasn’t alone. There were a bunch of other women, their faces just as gloomy, who were also weeping.

For some reason, I instinctively understood that these women were the previous witches. I reached out with my hand, but I was blocked by an invisible wall. Apparently, I couldn’t go over to the other side. I assumed that was because I was a fake.

How can I get to the other side...? Ah... I’m an idiot. I’m done for already.

There was absolutely nothing I could do anymore. Besides, I didn’t need to keep playing the role of the perfect saint. I turned my back to the weeping women and started walking off in the opposite direction.

Ahead of me was a bright light.

Chapter 71: Dark Clouds

Rain was falling.

The dark clouds that hung low in the sky blocked out the sunlight. Although it was the middle of the day, it was as dark as night. Water poured down from the sky, drenching everyone. It felt as though the heavens were crying along with the people whose tears blended with the rain.

Gloomier than the sky were the faces of the people. They were all looking at the ground. Some of them had dropped to their knees, unable to keep upright.

Ellize, the saint, was dead.

The news of her death had spread through the land faster than lightning. The fact that she was never the real saint had spread just as fast, but no one could bring themselves to call that girl, who’d accomplished so much for mankind, a fake. Instead, the church had decided to give her a new, more prestigious title. She was to be known as Ellize, the Great Saint.

Her funeral had been organized by King Aiz and became a grand affair. He’d decided to make it a state funeral, and countless people from all over the world had traveled to attend.

In Fiori, the dead were usually buried. However, no one could accept the thought of burying Ellize in the ground. Instead, Alfrea—at Supple’s request, who’d pleaded for something to be done to stop her body from rotting—had sealed her into a crystal, preserving her beautiful, youthful appearance.

Inside her crystal, Ellize looked exactly as she had in life. She simply seemed to be asleep.

After her funeral service was held, King Aiz had ordered the construction of a proper resting place for Ellize. In the meantime, the Saint’s Church was put in charge of protecting her body.

Each day, people would visit the church in which she was kept to pay homage to their saint before walking away, weeping.

Layla, the former head of Ellize’s guard, visited her master’s body every single day. She was there from morning to night, praying. She cried herself to sleep during the first few days, but eventually, she ran out of tears. Her face turned blank and emotionless, like that of a corpse. Her colleagues worried about her and tried their best to comfort her, but nothing worked. Layla was wasting away. She seemed to want nothing more than to join her master.

It was understandable. Besides, she wasn’t alone in feeling this way—the rest of Ellize’s guard was just as ashamed of themselves. They cursed their powerlessness.

After Ellize’s death, a letter had been found in her room. In her own handwriting, she’d confessed to being a fake saint. She insisted that she’d acted alone, and that the knights that served her weren’t to blame.

If this letter has been found, it means that I either died fighting the witch or was sent to the gallows for pretending to be the saint.

The very first sentence of Ellize’s last letter showed her resolve. There was not one word of complaint or regret in the entire text.

Ellize could have—should have, according to some—blamed others. After all, it wasn’t her fault if she’d been mistaken for the real saint. She’d been a baby at the time—an innocent victim of an adult’s mistake. And yet, she didn’t seem to resent anyone.

Until the very end, Ellize had only ever worried about others. She’d written that letter to defend her knights and their honor.

After reading it, her knights had wept. Tears streamed down their faces as they realized once again how useless they’d been. None of them had noticed that Ellize might have needed help. They’d never even considered it.

She must have felt anxious. Ellize had been separated from her parents at birth and forced to pretend all this time. A young girl who wasn’t even the saint had done what no one else could. She’d never shown weakness. She’d simply smiled to reassure everyone that everything was all right. She’d worried about the very people who’d dragged her into this hell—her knights.

It must not have been easy for her. No, it couldn’t have been easy. And yet, all they’d done was call her a miracle worker and let her deal with everything on her own. They’d never realized that everything Ellize had done had been a result of her hard work—they’d simply been content clapping along whenever she performed another feat of greatness.

On top of that, she’d been fully prepared to accept the death penalty when the truth came to light.

They were so ashamed of themselves—of their station. Had any of them realized the truth and supported her? Had any of them helped Ellize bear her heavy burden? No, they’d all failed her. If anything, they’d added to her burden.

They were the worst. They assumed that Layla felt the same way. No, as the head of Ellize’s guard and her closest comrade, she probably hated herself a thousand times more than the rest of them.

In addition to Layla, Fiora and John also visited Ellize every day. They gazed at her sleeping face and prayed.

Royals, nobles, and commoners alike indiscriminately thronged to the church. No one could bear to say goodbye to their saint, so they prayed by the crystal’s side.

In the midst of this all, two people’s absences were conspicuous: Supple and Verner.

◇

Ver, please eat... At least a little, Eterna said, setting a tray on Verner’s desk.

Don’t wanna, Verner replied, his tone devoid of emotion.

There wasn’t a hint of annoyance, anger, or even sadness in his voice. His eyes were clouded, and he couldn’t focus on anything. Eterna was right next to him, but he barely registered her presence.

Verner had fallen into despair, and he’d fallen much, much deeper than anyone else. Ellize had died for him.

Needless to say, Verner hadn’t done anything wrong. The witch’s powers that had been lurking inside of him had acted against his will. It had all been an unfortunate accident.

But if none of that had happened, Ellize would still be there. She would have been able to live at least a little bit longer. Verner had already been responsible for shortening Ellize’s life, but now, he’d also let her exchange her life for his. He hadn’t been able to give back to the one who’d saved him. Instead, he’d led her straight to her death.

No one could even imagine the depth of his guilt and self-hatred.

The attention everyone gave him only added to his pain. He wasn’t worth worrying about. He wanted them to loathe him, to kill him. Being the target of a torrent of insults might have made Verner feel better. In fact, he’d felt much more grounded when Layla had grabbed him in a fit of rage rather than when he heard Eterna fuss about him. The others had quickly held Layla back, but Verner was still convinced that she’d been right to direct her anger at him. She should’ve slain me on the spot, he thought.

He felt like everything was hopeless, but somehow, he was still alive. What was the point of his body clinging to life? Did he have any lingering attachments to the world? Any regrets? Did he hope that Ellize would come back to life?

Verner, his roommate said, I know this is hard for you, but please try to consider her feelings.

Verner couldn’t bring himself to care about what he was saying. He looked out the window. The world was supposed to be at peace, but the rain wasn’t stopping. Peace didn’t matter when you’d lost the sun. Light wouldn’t shine upon this world anymore.

If you don’t eat, your body won’t hold. Mr. Supple’s acting strange—he won’t come out of his lab—and you won’t eat... I hate this.

Verner didn’t care if his body failed him. His power wouldn’t let him die either way. He’d tried to kill himself several times, but nothing had worked.

Everything would be so much easier if he were dead.

That cursed power was still there, inside of him, and it wouldn’t allow him the luxury of ending it all. He felt as though the world was telling him that his sin was too great for him to seek an escape through death. He had to stay alive and suffer.

Outside the window, the sky was dark. Verner wondered if Ellize was out there, somewhere, above the clouds. Even if she were, he’d most likely never get to join her. How could he hope to be reunited with her? He’d driven her to her death.

Still, the sky truly was dark—unnaturally so. Was this what it meant for a world to lose its light? The heavy, dim clouds had merged and blanketed the sky, and they seemed to bring a bad omen. He could feel a sinister power—much like his own—coming from them. To Verner, they looked like they had a will of their own.

He suddenly leaped to his feet.

It wasn’t that he could feel dark magic coming from the clouds—the ominous clouds were made of darkness itself!

For the past few days—ever since Ellize had died, Verner assumed—they’d been slowly gathering in the sky. Soon, they’d take another form.

Why had he taken so long to notice?! Even if no one else had, he should’ve. No, he knew why he hadn’t—he hadn’t been paying attention to anything. His brain had pretty much come to a stop along with Ellize’s heart, and he’d spent his days moping and practically comatose. That was why he’d let something so huge go unnoticed for so long.

He was fed up with himself, disgusted by his stupidity.

A heinous killer with an axe was standing right in front of him, ready to harm innocents, but he hadn’t even bothered looking at him.

What happened, Ver? Eterna asked, confused.

She had no clue why Verner had stood up so suddenly. Although she was the saint, she’d only awakened a short while ago. She had yet to familiarize herself with her powers.

Eterna, bring me my weapon!

Huh? No! No way! I won’t let you hurt yourself once ag—

That’s not why I need it! A battle is about to start!

Eterna had hidden Verner’s sword away so that he wouldn’t try to commit suicide. However, Verner knew he’d need his sword.

The swirling darkness in the sky had almost reached its peak. It’d erupt any moment now. When that happened, chaos would befall their world.

Ellize had sacrificed herself to save this world. Even in his current state, Verner wasn’t about to let her life’s work go to waste.

I should’ve noticed sooner, he admonished himself. I should’ve!

Indeed, Verner could have noticed much sooner. However, that was the price he had to pay for letting himself waste away. His passivity had backfired, and now he wanted to kill himself for it.

Hurry up! There’s no time! It’ll start soon! Verner screamed.

◇

All the knights and soldiers, with the exception of Layla, had gathered in front of the royal capital of the Bilberry Kingdom. King Aiz and Alfrea, the first saint, led the troops. Profeta was next to Alfrea, looking at the sky.

Lady Alfrea, as you requested, we’ve gathered as many men as possible, Aiz reported.

Alfrea hummed. Good. Her voice was unusually tense.

Profeta was aware that something ominous had been gathering ever since the day Ellize had died. She’d already predicted that this something would soon materialize.

She’d warned Alfrea—who’d taken over Ellize’s position as the saint—and had asked her to get Aiz to gather soldiers.

Hey, Profeta, do you know what that thing is? Alfrea asked, storing mana in between her hands as she looked at the sky.

Whatever is left of Eve...I assume, the turtle replied.

Alfrea was ready to hit the mysterious enemy hard and fast. She didn’t want the battle to drag out. But as the thing in the sky gradually took form, she wasn’t sure that she could destroy it even if she were to use all of her strength. She wasn’t stupid enough to hold back in such a situation, but she had a feeling it wouldn’t work regardless.

Eve... Profeta said with a sigh. Originally, the witch was the world’s proxy. Do you have any idea why she went wild and started killing humans?

Alfrea snorted. How should I know? My mother was already being chased by everyone by the time I was born.

Eve, the first witch, was Alfrea’s mother. Although she treated her child with kindness, it didn’t change the fact that she was already a widely notorious, infamous witch wanted for her crimes. Eve had lost control before Alfrea’s birth, which meant the latter had absolutely no idea what had prompted this change.

Let’s rack our brains a little, Profeta said. You know about mana circulation, right? That’s how humans naturally recover mana and are able to use magic. Everyone does it automatically, but if you start doing it intentionally, you can speed up the process and increase your mana pool. That’s when the practice becomes risky. Whenever people expel mana outside their bodies, some of their excess emotions are ejected with it. Negative emotions in particular tend to be expelled this way. In a way, this is a self-purifying mechanism the world has given you. It stops people from holding on to their negative feelings and becoming evil. However, it also means that the air that surrounds us is constantly filled with negative emotions. And so, if someone circulates their mana too much, they’ll invite those inside their own body. If you let the process happen naturally, you’ll expel more negative emotions than you take in, leaving you with a positive balance. Once you start speeding up the process, though, you both expand your storage capacity and increase the amount of negative emotions you take in.

I know all that, Alfrea retorted with a pout. What’s up with you? Why are you trying to teach me the basics?

She felt as though Profeta was treating her like an idiot. Everyone already knew what she’d just said.

Hang on—I’m getting to the important part. I believe Eve’s mana circulation was off from the start. The world created her to act as its proxy. To achieve that, she needed to be strong, so I assume the world gave her a higher natural mana circulation speed. Over the years, she absorbed more and more negative emotions, until eventually, she couldn’t handle them anymore, and she lost herself. I think that when Eve died, her soul departed, but the sum of negative emotions she’d accumulated over the years remained, giving birth to a power with a will of its own. That condensed negative energy is what was left of Eve, and what turned the successive saints into heinous witches unable to control their negative emotions. This power must have grown during the past thousand years until it became...this, Profeta explained, looking at the sky.

Mother... How bothersome.

That’s the only thing you’ve got to say about her? Profeta sighed. Eve probably sealed you because she had an inkling this would happen. She put you in a state of suspended animation and let another saint be born, all so that she wouldn’t turn you—her only family—into a witch.

Alfrea closed her eyes and reminisced about the past. She couldn’t forgive her mother for sealing her. To this day, she was still pissed about it. However, if her mother hadn’t done that, she wouldn’t be here today.

She opened her eyes and looked at the sky. The dark clouds had taken the shape of a person. The faces of the successive witches rose to the surface one after the other as ominous laments filled the air. The dreadful spectacle chilled the soldiers to the bone.

Too much mana circulation makes you crazy, huh? My mother was the first to go crazy because of it, and the saints followed in her footsteps. At the end of the day, people suffered for over a millennium because of their own negative emotions. That’s ironic, Alfrea said.

The only exception I know of is Ellize, Profeta said, bringing up the name of the beloved young girl who’d passed away only a few days ago.

Alfrea didn’t answer, so Profeta continued.

I believe Ellize was suffering from the same defect as Eve. Those who are born with flawed mana circulation have exceptional magic abilities, but their hearts darken little by little. In fact, I’ve seen similar symptoms in others in the past. All of them were tremendously talented at magic—I would even dare call them geniuses. However, they were all—without exception—horrible people. Besides the witches, anyone else who suffered from this condition has marked history as an infamous villain. Ellize was confused with the saint at birth because of her remarkable affinity with magic and mana pool, but that wasn’t because she was naturally talented. She suffered from abnormal mana circulation.

But that doesn’t make any sense, Alfrea said. I’ve never met someone as pure and good as Ellize. She didn’t have a single bad thought.

That’s why I called her an exception.

Profeta didn’t know why Ellize had been able to remain sane while continuously circulating her mana to increase her capacity. Even if she had yet to go crazy like Eve, she should have at least shown some signs.

Profeta, being the kind of turtle she was, naturally had a couple of theories.

The first and most logical one was that Ellize’s soul was already pitch-black from the start. If she’d been an irredeemable villain from the get-go, negative emotions couldn’t have darkened her soul any further.

Profeta found that difficult to believe, though.

Another possibility was that Ellize was able to observe herself calmly from the outside, almost as though she were an unrelated outsider. With such a peculiar psyche, she might have been able to withstand watching her soul being slowly tainted.

That also didn’t make much sense. How could someone who cared so little about what happened around them pour all their energy into seeking peace?

What if Ellize was so big-hearted that she could accept every bad emotion without being tainted? No, that was also unlikely. A human couldn’t have such a forgiving heart. She’d have to be a goddess.

Profeta had no way to know what the truth behind the workings of Ellize’s mind had been, but she knew one thing: Ellize had given her life to protect this world. There was only one thing for her to do.

You know, Alfrea started, I’ve always wondered why I had to stay in that crystal for a thousand years, but I feel like I finally have my answer.

What a coincidence, Profeta answered. I’ve also just understood why I was given such a long life.

Alfrea increased her mana output, while Profeta stomped on the ground vigorously.

The