The Young Princess Kills Everyone: Re
The summer of year two.
It was announced during homeroom in the morning after the short summer vacation.
“Three names from our class have been appointed for the next world creation.”
The classroom became quiet.
Mitis felt frantic for another reason as tension spread through the classroom.
(Three……)
Her hopes were not completely dashed.
However, the possibility of them being the three names mentioned was close to zero.
She peeked at Ceres, who was also staring at Mitis.
She looked anxious now, which was unusual for someone who was always joking around.
But staring at each other was not going to help.
They just had to wait for the names to be announced.
“Vent Tempestus.”
“M-Me!?”
Vent, a male student with short hair, was shocked.
He was a student who triumphed in luck rather than studies, and was a little sultry.
“Nix Nivis.”
“Alright!”
The next name belonged to a serious young boy, Nix, who was 2nd rank in the school year and surprisingly made a victory pose.
Even someone calm and quiet like him was very happy to be chosen as a candidate.
At that point, Mitis and the others lost their objective of becoming gods together.
They just had to pray that Luno’s name would not be called now.
Mitis closed her eyes.
She joined her hands and prayed hard.
And then-
“Luno Aplix.”
The name was called.
A few sighs of relief were heard in the classroom.
Mitis and Ceres did not show any reaction, and just stared at Luno, who was sitting in front of them.
“A briefing will be held now. The three of you promptly go to the designated classroom.”
“……Yes.”
A cold reply.
That was the only emotion Mitis could get from Luno.
She did not show her face, and left the room with somewhat stiff movements along with the other students.
(Luno is…… the only one who got elected. I didn’t…… I didn’t work hard enough……!)
Mitis looked down and clenched her fists under her desk.
Then, the teacher surprisingly spoke again.
“Ah, also, Mitis Aplix and Ceres Sanctus.”
“H-Hahih!”
“Hyah!”
Mitis and Ceres reflexively replied in excited, strange voices.
They did not expect to hear their names, so they were not ready for this.
“Head to a different room than the other three.”
The two were handed a printout.
(Why a different room……?)
They read the text, which said the words ‘reserve god cadets’.
◇◇◇
Only Mitis and Ceres were called to this room.
First, they sat on their chairs.
“We’re not going to become god candidates, right? It says spare, so.”
“But I think we still got picked for something. Maybe like secret god candidates.”
“What?”
“Warriors chosen to fight the devils running rampant in this world.”
“You read too much manga……”
“Don’t be like that, Mitis! I’m scared, so just go along with it!”
“So even you get scared, huh?”
“Of course. They only called Luno, so……”
“……Yeah.”
At the very least, things did not seem like they would lead to the outcome of these two becoming gods together with Luno.
Currently, they only had a very tiny shred of hope.
They waited for a while until a female teacher entered the room.
The two sat upright and straightened their backs.
“Hello, Miss. Mitis, Miss. Ceres. You two are probably confused right now.”
“That’s right.”
Mitis replied honestly, and the teacher smiled: ‘Hehe.’
“I believe it’s already written on the printouts, but you two have been elected as reserve cadets. You’re reserve personnel in case a candidate fails to become a god or drops out during world creation.”
“So we’re spares.”
“That’s right. This year’s world creation is a particularly big project with 20 participants, so it’s highly possible there will be drop outs. As such, we increased the usual number of reserves from 1 to 2.”
“So you’re saying we still have a chance?”
“If something happens, yes. So keep in mind that you will be treated like normal students until something happens.”
“I understand.”
“Okay.”
In other words, the students who were actually chosen to be candidates were going to be treated differently from now on.
Maybe Luno was not even going to take classes in the same classroom any more.
The thought of that made Mitis feel very lonely.
“By the way, why is it me and Mitis?”
Ceres asked straight on.
Indeed, Mitis also thought it was too much of a coincidence that Luno’s two acquaintances were chosen for this.
“I heard that it’s because of convenience. Because even if you have to join halfway through the process, things will go smoothly since you’re Luno Aplix’s friends.”
“I see.”
Honestly, Ceres wanted to hear that it was because of her achievements.
But she did not have the option to indulge herself like that.
There was still a chance that the three could stay together.
That hope alone was enough to say that they avoided the worst possible outcome.
◇◇◇
That night, Mitis and Ceres asked Luno a barrage of questions after returning to their dorm.
“How did it feel to become a god?”
“Did you get some crazy power!? Like emitting an aura from your hands!?”
“You’re still Luno, right?”
“Wait, can you see through our underwear with your godly powers? Aaah, look as much as you want!”
“U-Umm, please calm down. They just gave us an explanation for today.”
The two pulled back for a moment after hearing that.
They still could not calm down, however.
Ceres seemed to be making fun of things, but she was just trying to cheer everyone up.
“I can’t believe they only chose you, Luno……”
“I’m still a candidate. Something might happen until the world creation is actually conducted. Besides, you two were chosen as reserves, right?”
“That’s true, but……”
“Reserves are reserves, y’know. It doesn’t seem like the teachers will treat us any differently either.”
“Oh, I see……”
Luno was evasive, because she was clearly going to be treated differently now that she was chosen as a candidate.
Gods were above human beings.
A privileged class that even the academy’s teaching staff kneeled before.
“I heard a rumor.”
Mitis opened her mouth to speak while looking down.
“Is it true that the students who become gods move to different rooms in the dorm too?”
“It looks like that’s what some students choose to do. It’s up to us, so I will stay here, obviously.”
“Oh, that’s a relief.”
She put her hand over her chest with relief.
Luno also breathed a sigh after finally seeing a smile.
“Well, there’s no point talking about it when nothing has started yet anyway.”
“……Maybe.”
“Okay, I’m just a human being, so. I still dream of being together with you two forever.”
There was no hesitation in those words.
Indeed, there was no room for hesitation.
As long as Luno was still Luno, nothing would get in the way of that wish.
◇◇◇
That day was a turning point, as Luno stopped taking classes in the same classroom.
Mitis and Ceres received a special curriculum where they took classes on the duties of a god in addition to their normal ones.
The teachers still treated them the same, though.
The humans chosen as god candidates began their physical and spiritual transformation when they were connected to an installation inside a cradle.
Their literally inhuman bodies possessed high physical ability, and obviously never suffered from the present world’s diseases.
In short, reserves very rarely had to fulfill their duties as reserves.
When Luno and the others became flawless gods that never got out of their cradles, Mitis and Ceres would be considered normal students again.
So there was no need to give them any praise.
“It’s a bit lonely to study with just the two of us in a special room, isn’t it?”
“It doesn’t feel any different from our classroom to me.”
“Because Luno isn’t with us anyway?”
“Because you’re with me in both.”
“Oh……”
They conversed quietly while holding their pens and looking at their notebooks.
The stern middle-aged teacher standing on the teacher’s platform still heard them, though.
“No whispering!”
He shouted in such an impactful voice that it almost felt like they were in the military.
The two’s shoulders trembled.
With that, Mitis and Ceres both quietly focused on their class.
Mitis was still distracted, however.
What was Luno doing right now?
Then, the teacher noticed that Mitis was not focusing, and coldly said:
“Luno Aplix is on a stage different from yours. Simply thinking about unnecessary things will count as impoliteness.”
“……Huh?”
Mitis reflexively glared at the teacher.
Ceres’s cheek twitched due to the suddenly tense mood.
But the teacher was not agitated.
“Mitis Aplix. I know your family’s past, and how you were adopted by the Aplix family. You’ve had a very blessed environment, and even entering this academy is too luxurious for you.”
“I am honored to receive your compliments.”
“On top of all that, you were chosen as a spare just because of your close relationship with Death God. Let me tell you that I opposed it, because someone with dirty blood should not even be chosen as a spare.”
“Umm…… Who’s that Death thing?”
“It’s Luno Aplix’s name as a god.”
“Puh!”
Mitis almost blurted out what she really thought about that.
Ceres also turned her face away.
The teacher clenched his teeth after seeing this reaction.
“It’s a sublime name based on a tarot card.”
“Aah, sorry. I think it’s too advanced for someone like me to understand.”
“At any rate, even the thoughts of someone with such vulgar senses can sully a god.”
“Yeah, that’s a big worry.”
“Definitely.”
“I also think that no one other than the wonderful people dragging an inferiority complex behind them after not being chosen as a god and claiming to be a disciple of the gods while carrying extremely lame names and still trying to look cool to students should be allowed to be close to a god. Yes, teacher, I completely agree.”
Ceres muttered next to Mitis: ‘Whoa.’
Anyone could see the real intention behind these words, and a vein floated up in the teacher’s temple.
“So, teacher, angels such as ourselves who are insufficient to become gods must have your wonderful guiding will to lead us.”
“Tsch!…… The word ‘angel’ signifies a condition where someone is given the blood of a god and is interrupted during the process of transformation to become one. Never use it again, understand?”
“Thank you very much, that will be useful to know.”
Mitis continued her shameless performance.
The teacher continued shaking in anger as the class continued.
◇◇◇
After school, Ceres stretched her body when she left the classroom.
“Hnnnh, I’m so tired! Alright Mitis, let’s go get Luno!”
“What about your club activities?”
“I told them I’d take a break after I became a reserve.”
“Hmmmh……”
“What’s with the suspicious look?”
“You look like you’re relieved that you finally quit.”
Holding her bag in her hand, Mitis walked past Ceres’s side.
Ceres panicked a little after Mitis hit the bull’s-eye, but she quickly ran after her friend.
“Don’t tell anyone, okay?”
“So I was right.”
“I mean, those people are nothing like the ones in a normal club. I even saw people trying to get rid of each other.”
“That happened in our class too, right?”
“Yeah, I heard about people intentionally giving their friends wrong info about tests.”
“Someone also got kicked down the stairs because she was about to be elected as a candidate.”
“That’s a crime!”
“The official stance is that it was an accident, though.”
“Can this academy really raise a proper god? No, I guess they put things like that into consideration as well when choosing candidates, but still.”
Ceres sounded uneasy.
She could only say these words because Mitis was the only one here.
But there was no knowing when and where a teacher would be watching.
“Even the teachers claim to be servants of the gods, so the students are kicking each other down and struggling for power. But I think that as long as you’re human, things like that are unavoidable.”
“So you’re saying there will always be bad people in big crowds?”
“Something like that.”
“Then isn’t it pointless for human beings to become gods? It’ll be disastrous if gods start fighting each other in the new world they create.”
“I think…… maybe things like that do happen. The cradles are closed, so we don’t know what’s going on inside. But maybe-”
Mitis stopped walking, and hung her head down.
“What’s wrong?”
“……If they remove even the seeds of struggle like that when someone becomes a god, then that person is no longer human. It’s the same as dying.”
“Mhm……”
Ceres also stopped and squinted her eyes after these words.
Everyone felt strange.
But they were all taught that it was ‘right’ to try to become a god, and none of them could say anything.
A while back, a thesis written by a certain university professor had become topical.
It was about research regarding human instincts.
Generally, living creatures tried to leave their seeds behind.
Humans were different, however.
The only reason they left seeds was to create new worlds.
It was all a process to create a superior individual and channel it towards godhood – that was human instinct.
But recently, that instinct seemed to be fading.
The cause was unknown.
The younger the individual, the stronger that trend was. The text explained that one day, humans will stop throwing their lives away to become gods.
Of course, it was laughed at as an outrageous theory, and the professor was even forced to resign.
But the reaction was different in Mitis’s age.
They were convinced that they found the answer to the gap between them and the ideology of the adults.
Indeed, the children of this day were different from the people that came before them.
Not all of them wholeheartedly wanted to become gods.
The adults, their parents, and the world said that it was ‘right’ and that it was ‘good’, but there was still doubt.
“I’d be fine with becoming gods if the three of us can be together. But to tell you the truth, I’d rather the three of us stay together as humans, and I definitely don’t want one or two of us to be left out.”
“I think so too. That’s why I don’t want to be left behind……”
They all tried their best.
They all did the best they could.
As a result, they were separated.
They were praised.
But it brought Mitis and the others no joy.
“……Things aren’t going in a good direction right now.”
“Mitis?”
“We have to do something. I gotta do something, by my own hands, before it’s too late……”
Saying that, Mitis looked at the palm of his hand.
Ceres sensed a coldness in Mitis’s eyes, and she frantically ran up to her, and looked at her up close while putting her hands on Mitis’s cheeks.
“W-What?”
“Stop it.”
“Huh?”
“I don’t want to lose you too. I don’t want to be left all alone!”
Ceres shouted with tears in her eyes.
Mitis was shocked, and bitterly smiled.
“I’m not going to leave you behind.”
“But you seemed like you were planning on going somewhere.”
“I won’t go anywhere. Even if I do, we’ll go together.”
Mitis put her own hands over Ceres’s hands and squeezed her fingers.
Ceres replied in a shaky voice, ‘mhm……’, and buried her head in Mitis’s chest.
The two knew what happened to the people who turned into gods in this academy.
They used to think that was somebody else’s problem.
But after realizing that was going to happen to Luno as well, Ceres felt so afraid.
Mitis felt the same way, of course, but her will to resist was stronger than Ceres’s.
So, until her friend who buried her head in Mitis’s chest calmed down, Mitis continued stroking her head and comforting her.
◇◇◇
A dozen minutes after that.
Mitis and Ceres were walking side by side in the schoolyard.
They were heading for the cradle.
It was time for Luno to return after the day’s classes finished, so they were going to meet her there.
However, Ceres’s cheeks were a little red, and she was restless.
“Are you gonna keep holding my hand?”
Mitis spoke with a half smile after looking at Ceres.
“Getting comforted like this is pretty nice. I’m embarrassed too!”
“When was the last time? When you lost in the track-and-field tournament?”
“Don’t remind me!”
Ceres yelled.
Mitis cackled and laughed.
The two approached the area with the cradles while joking around.
Then, three people in uniforms walked up to them from the front.
“Ah, it’s Luno! Hey! Your beloved brides are here to meet you!”
“Ceres, how can you say that in public……?”
“You gotta say it too. Luno! Would you like to eat? To bathe? Or……!”
“……No, I’m not gonna say it even if you look at me, okay?”
“Or would you like Mitis first!?”
“Don’t say it yourself!”
Ceres joked around, almost as if her bashfulness from earlier was completely gone now.
Her voice was quite loud, and Luno was definitely close enough to hear her.
“Huh, Luno isn’t looking this way.”
“Maybe it’s because she’s busy chatting with those two.”
She was walking together with Vent and Nix from the same class.
They were never that friendly, but maybe they hit it off after being elected to be gods together.
“I guess my love power alone isn’t enough……”
“It’s plenty enough, so don’t worry about that.”
“Then why isn’t she responding!?”
“Well…… Maybe it’s because you keep saying embarrassing things? C’mon, maybe she doesn’t want them to know you’re her friend.”
“That’s a huge shock!”
Ceres displayed an exaggerated reaction.
She continued calling out to Luno.
The volume of her voice did not change even when Luno was right in front of her eyes.
Luno acted like she did not even notice Ceres’s presence, and let alone respond, she did not even glance in Mitis’s direction.
Then, she simply walked past them.
“W-Wait…… Is she ignoring me?”
Ceres anxiously looked over at Mitis.
Meanwhile, Mitis’s heart beat loudly with an ill sense of tension.
She put her hand over her chest and clenched her fist tight.
Sweat dripped from the palm of her hand.
(It’s still the first day, isn’t it? There’s months until the world creation, but if this is how it is already on the first day, then-)
She was just too focused in her chat and failed to notice them.
Mitis wanted to believe that.
No, even if that was true, it was impossible for Luno to not notice Mitis and Ceres there.
Luno continued chatting with Vent and Nix, and kept walking.
Mitis wanted to shout her name.
But she was afraid of getting ignored, and could not say anything.
She just clenched her fist tighter.
For a moment, Luno had a strange expression on her face. Mitis noticed that momentary facial expression, when Luno’s face looked like it was not Luno’s but something else’s, and Mitis’s chest pounded so hard that it hurt.
Yet Luno smiled right after.
“Ah, Mitis…… and Ceres? Did you come to pick me up!?”
She talked from the heart, as the human Luno.
“Y-Yep…… Didn’t you hear her?”
“Yeah, I was talking to you so loudly!”
Ceres stood next to Mitis and pouted.
It was an expression of discontent which she could only display because she felt relieved now.
“I’m sorry, I think I was too concentrated on our conversation. Probably.”
As Luno spoke, Vent and Nix were behind her and looking at Mitis and Ceres with a cold gaze.
Then, the corners of Nix’s mouth twisted into a scornful smile, and he opened his mouth to talk.
“Heh, you didn’t get a response because you got her name wrong.”
“Who are you supposed to be?”
Nix was not perturbed by Mitis’s provocative response.
“I’m Judgment.”
“I asked for your name.”
“I have no other name. He is Wheel of Fortune, and she is Death God.”
“Are those the names from your game of make-believe inside those cradles?”
“Call me Judgment!”
Nix walked up to Mitis and grabbed her by the chest.
“Ugh…… uh……”
He had a small stature, but he held Mitis’s body up with a level of strength that was unthinkable for his physique.
Ceres looked at Mitis bitterly struggling, and tried to grab Nix’s arms.
She was confident in her athletic abilities, but-
“Let go! I don’t care if you’re a god candidate, you’re not allowed to use violence!”
Nix’s arms did not even move an inch.
“It’s not humans who decide whether we are allowed to do something or not; it’s gods.”
“You sound like some weak villain…… who dies in the opening part of a manga!”
“You dare mock a god!?”
“Please stop it, Judgment!”
Nix immediately stopped after Luno said that.
He looked at Luno, and spoke in a displeased tone of voice:
“Why do you side with a girl like this?”
“She’s very precious to me.”
“That’s a worthless sense of value for a god to hold.”
“We’re still humans! We’re not some great things just because we underwent a little treatment in a cradle!”
“……Hmph.”
Nix let Mitis go, and Mitis landed on the ground while staggering.
Luno and Ceres stopped her from falling.
Mitis breathed heavily as she fixed her wrinkled collar and glared at Nix.
“Ugh, you don’t get it.”
Then, Nix sighed and turned his back to the three.
Vent also seemed fed up as he left with Nix.
Luno quietly spoke when she noticed Mitis still glaring at them from behind.
“I’m really sorry.”