After a beat, my brother spoke in an especially flat tone.

“Right now, only five Saintesses (including you) can save the people of your world from chaos. But since you lived in a different world until yesterday, that’s none of your concern. You don’t have to worry about it.”

“Are you seriously heartless?”

“Correct.”

He answered without a flicker.

“We’re world administrators. Not human. Honestly, even if the human mortality rate in your world skyrocketed, it would just mean a little more paperwork for us. Even if you choose not to live as a Saintess, you were dragged into this like an accident victim. There’s no need for you to feel guilty.”

Heartless jerk, yet he’s trying to comfort me. What’s with that?

“But,” the not-human wearing my brother’s face continued,

“Rio was killed by people who wanted to use her Saintess power.”

“…………What?”

My fuzzy, dreamlike consciousness snapped into razor-sharp focus.

“Once your soul fully synchronizes with that body, the memories engraved in the brain will become yours as well. You can decide how to live after that. It won’t be too late.”

“Rio was… killed? Why? Then why am I in Rio’s body?”

My voice cracked and shook.

“Rio was murdered, and her soul left the body. However, this world (which is sliding toward chaos and collapse) absolutely needs a Saintess Seed. So the world forcibly pulled in the soul it needed to keep Rio’s body alive. A soul that was the same as Rio’s, yet possessed far greater power: yours, Nagi.”

My throat burned.

“The seed never drained your soul, so right now you possess more power than anyone else in this world. You have the overwhelming soul needed to germinate the seed, now residing in a body that has already become a Saintess. And that power instantly revived Rio’s body the moment its heart stopped. This is the first time something like this has happened in our records. You could truly call it a miracle.”

“…A miracle?”

I could feel my confused heart growing colder and colder.

Rio was kind. Kinder than anyone I knew. I never liked her. But deep down I was a little jealous. Being able to treat everyone gently like that was definitely her strength.

Compared to her, I’m hopelessly twisted, un-cute… weak and dishonest. I never thought hearing she’d been killed would hurt this much, would make breathing this painful.

“You knew all this… so why didn’t you save Rio?”

“I told you. We’re administrators manage worlds. We don’t rule them. We normally never interfere with the actions of embodied beings. We’re only allowed the minimum intervention when the world’s balance is in danger of collapsing—like this case.”

I couldn’t understand. I knew I had no right to blame anyone for not saving Rio when I hadn’t done anything myself. My head understood that. But my heart absolutely refused to accept it.

Rio was dead.

“Did… my original body die too?”

If my soul is here in Rio’s body, that means the old Nagi’s body is empty. I don’t know what happens to a soulless body, but it can’t be okay.

Even a small, twisted person like me had tried pretty hard to live. I know my parents and brother loved and cherished me. Yet I’ve given nothing back. I’ve only been loved, only been protected. I haven’t done anything for them yet. That emptiness hurt so much.

But the heartless administrator wearing my brother’s face simply shook his head.

“That’s the part that surprised even us. Right now, Rio’s soul is inside your original body.”

“…Huh?”

I snapped my head up from where I’d been staring at the floor, biting my lip.

“Normally, when Rio was killed here, her soul would move on to a new body without retaining memories dependent on this flesh. But—maybe as a backlash from the world forcibly dragging your soul in, or because Rio’s body is still alive—Rio’s soul has settled into your body while keeping all her memories from this side.”

“So… Rio is alive? In my body?”

He nodded and narrowed his eyes slightly.

“She’s far from ‘fine,’ though. Like I said, she remembers everything—including the moment she was brutally injured and killed. You’re both still only fifteen. She can’t possibly stay calm.”

“But she’s alive.”

Even if it’s not her original body. As long as she’s alive, there’s hope.

Think.

What should I do now?

How can I save Rio?

“We… can never go back to our original bodies?”

“Impossible. This world has already accepted your existence and is stabilizing. Even if you died now, the world would never call for Rio’s soul again—she’s almost powerless after the seed germinated.”

“…I see.”

I can’t go home. I can never return to those ordinary, peaceful, happy days.

You’re telling me to accept that cruel truth all of a sudden?

I wanted to scream and cry, but my heart felt numb and my body wouldn’t move. If I collapsed and gave up now, I’d never be able to do anything.

Crying and despairing can wait.

Think.

I’m still standing on my own two feet. I can still walk.

Rio is the one who was killed just for being a Saintess Seed—she’s probably the one crying so hard she can’t even stand.

“Will… Rio eventually get all my memories too?”

“Yes. Synchronization should finish in about ten days.”

I clenched my fists.

If Rio, living in my body, gets all my memories—

“Heartless world administrator. Can you make Rio forget the painful things from this side… forget the moment she was killed?”

“If she agrees, yes. Confirming… Consent obtained. Deleting all information from one month before the moment of death onward from Rio’s soul memory, except surface layer. Confirmed massive stabilization of mental state.”

That was ridiculously fast.

“You guys work too quick!”

“We’re sharing information in real time with the team handling Rio. Oh, and Rio has a message for you: ‘I’m sorry. I was always jealous of Nagi, surrounded by such a kind family. This whole situation is definitely because, at the moment I died, I wished to be reborn in Nagi’s world next time. I’m really, really sorry.’ That’s all.”

My lips trembled.

So Rio knew about me too. She watched my life through dreams the same way… and was jealous of my perfectly ordinary, love-filled days.

“…That’s wrong, isn’t it? Our bodies swapping wasn’t her fault at all, right?”

“No. A single soul cannot cross worlds by will alone. Your current situation is purely this world’s doing. Rio’s words just now are extreme regret and self-loathing for having ‘stolen’ your body after she was supposed to die. Her judgment is severely impaired, so she’s fallen into overly negative delusions.”

“Watch your mouth!”

I stomped in frustration at the heartless phrasing.

I clutched my head, took a deep breath, and looked straight at the administrator.

“Tell Rio this.”

I never liked her.

She was cuter, sweeter, kinder than anyone—an “other me” I could never beat at anything. I was so jealous I hated it.

But—

“I love her.”

I don’t like her. But I love her.

It’s so contradictory it’s stupid.

Yet every feeling in my chest right now is undeniably real.

“I’m so glad Rio didn’t die… really, truly glad. None of this is Rio’s fault at all.”

So I wish—

“Don’t cry. Go to high school properly. Make lots of friends, eat tons of delicious food. And tell Mom, Dad, and Onii-chan I love them. Tell them thank you for everything until now. I’ll do my best here.”

I know Rio will make my family happy.

I believe that.

“So you too, Rio. Let’s both do our best. Together.”

If all my memories become Rio’s, she can live on as “Ogata Nagi” from now on.

Comments (0)

Trending Novels

I Became the strongest hero of the previous generation

Archmage on the bed

I was mistaken for an undefeated general

Healers in the martial arts world are obsessed

Became a genius Muggle in the Archmage Gallery

I Wove Earth’s History Into A Fantasy